A selection of quotes and pictures to represent July’s reading:

commonplace book
noun
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

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To know when to use the truth was the essence of successful deception.

N or M? by Agatha Christie (1941)

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“Mom says life isn’t fair and that’s all there is to it.”

“Your mother says that to justify the fact that she isn’t being fair to you,” Mrs Grace said calmly. “Which is mostly what people mean when they say ‘life isn’t fair’. It isn’t, which is why people should endeavor to be more fair to one another, not less.”

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (2024)

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No harm in that, thought Gabriel. I, too, read to escape; and dreams are so often more satisfying than the reality that awaits us when we stop reading.

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith (2024)

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“And while I was becoming interested in the business, I discovered something else: some books are for selling and others are for keeping. Becoming a book collector is like joining a religion: it’s for life.”

The Dumas Club by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1993)

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‘Travelling is all very well,’ she said at last, ‘but it is a fine thing to have a home.’

The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden (2024)

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‘I’ll give you a rule, Edward, one your father taught me, take it to heart. Only fight when you have to. Though always look ready, and as if you would win.’

The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite (2024)

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That Lady Blakeney was in love with her own husband, nobody could fail to see, and in the more frivolous cliques of fashionable London this extraordinary phenomenon had oft been eagerly discussed.

“A monstrous thing, of a truth, for a woman of fashion to adore her own husband!” was the universal pronouncement of the gaily-decked little world that centred around Carlton House and Ranelagh.

The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (1908)

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I could see that, on their own, fine words of regret and sorrow were not enough but I couldn’t help but feel that if truly meant, they were the start, otherwise there was no acceptance of wrongdoing.

House of Shades by Lianne Dillsworth (2024)

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Favourite books read this month:

The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst and A Case of Mice and Murder

Authors read for the first time this month:

Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Sally Smith

Places visited in this month’s reading:

England, US, Spain, Portugal, France

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Reading Notes: My 20 Books of Summer reading is continuing to go well: I have now read 16 books from my list and have reviewed 14 of them. I think I actually have a good chance of completing this challenge for the first time ever! I was pleased that I also managed to fit in a book for Spanish and Portuguese Lit Month (the Pérez-Reverte), even if it wasn’t a complete success.

In August, as well as trying to complete my 20 Books of Summer I’m looking forward to joining in with Moomin Week and have Finn Family Moomintroll lined up for it. It’s also Women in Translation Month, so the Moomins book will count towards that – and maybe I’ll also have time for The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse.

How was your July? What are you planning to read in August?