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

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

~

It was the end of August – the time when owls hoot at night and flurries of bats swoop noiselessly over the garden. Moomin Wood was full of glow-worms, and the sea was disturbed. There was expectation and a certain sadness in the air, and the harvest moon came up huge and yellow. Moomintroll had always liked those last weeks of summer most, but he didn’t really know why.

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (1948)

~

Freedom of speech, in advance of experience, will lead you into saying some foolish things, while freedom of thought may run you into irreparable errors – of which the greatest is supposing that love is a matter for the scientists and doctors.

Miss Granby’s Secret: or the Bastard of Pinsk by Eleanor Farjeon (1941)

~

Sheltered in the old boys’ bonhomie of the Flying Corps, he had been slow to realize how much more character was worth than pedigree. But rubbing up against all sorts and depending on the man next to you, he had come to see that competence, decency, and grit were not the sole purview, or even the natural gifts, of the well-born.

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson (2024)

~

Now I am doing the thinking.

‘So are you saying that perhaps a home does not need a roof?’

‘Perhaps not, Tibb. And besides, home can be a person as much as a place.’

A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike (2024)

~

Freedom is never absolute, it seems, and therefore escape, despite what they tell you, yields no final destination.

In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas (2023)

~

‘But you know everything,’ Mary countered.

‘Some knowledge is not mine to impart,’ he replied, and would say no more.

Mary I: Queen of Sorrows by Alison Weir (2024)

~

‘Some parts I still remember. Like the part about the candle flame that does not lose its brilliance till the moment it’s extinguished, and how, like that candle, we all carry flames of truth within us, and of justice, that should only be extinguished by our deaths. Yet, see how easily a candle is put out.’ She took the pewter snuffer in her hand and killed a flame. ‘And so it is with truth, and justice,’ Anna said. ‘Especially with justice.’

The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley (2024)

~

“It’s human nature to overcomplicate what is fundamentally simple,” said Spector. “Magicians know that. We thrive on the knowledge. And so – in some instances – do killers.”

Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead (2024)

~

It’s astonishing what the human heart will do to make allegiances. Loneliness is a kind of glue that can bind us to the most unlikely strangers.

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley (2019)

~

‘There are other ways to rule. Sometimes the true power is in the shadows. Someone who stays out of the light, and watches others shrivel and burn in its glare.’

Hera by Jennifer Saint (2024)

~

‘A panther isn’t the same as a monkey,’ Gerard said after a pause. ‘But is either one less than the other? A stupid question, you’ll say, and rightly so. The same applies to human beings. Being different – that’s normal. Everybody’s a little different from everybody else. I’m not the same as you. As for being less or more important on account of the colour of your skin or who your father is – that’s nonsense. Oeroeg is your friend, isn’t he? And if you can be friends with him, how he can he possibly be less than you or anybody else?’

The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse (1948)

~

The joy of history is it’s everything that ever happened and everyone who has ever lived. Whatever your story is or was, it is worthy of being told.

Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton (2024)

~

Favourite books read in August:

The King’s Messenger and Cabaret Macabre

Authors read for the first time in August:

Rosanna Pike, Eleanor Farjeon, Kai Thomas, Alice Loxton, Tove Jansson

Countries visited in my August reading:

England, Canada, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Indonesia, Greece

~

Reading notes: August has been mainly devoted to completing my 20 Books of Summer list and also taking part in two reading events – Women in Translation Month and Moomin Week. It’s been a varied month, with a mixture of historical fiction, non-fiction, children’s fiction, mythology and crime! I’m also pleased that I could add Swedish and Dutch to my list of languages read in translation this year.

In September I’m looking forward to some suitably autumnal reading as this year’s R.I.P. challenge begins. I’ll post more about that soon, as well as a look back at my 20 Books of Summer reading.

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