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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Put one foot in front of the other, and she would get to the other side. Now she knew there was no other side to grief, no other place to get to. You never got through it, not in the way you might get through an illness or a wild storm or an examination. It never went away. Instead, it became a part of you.

The Lost Château by Dinah Jefferies (2026)

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You can’t win when you’re fighting someone who doesn’t know there is a fight.

The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott (1948)

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If Ares saw this, I think, if he were made to confront the consequences of his wars, would it stir any flicker of regret in his iron soul? He can fly away from the carnage, his chariot pulled by fire-breathing, bronze-hooved horses, and never have to think about it. It’s goddesses who hear the prayers of the grieving, just as Demeter said. Never the gods.

This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint (2026)

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‘Love is a precious thing and needs nurturing. The love you have is a good basis for the future, but sometimes you must work to keep it alive’.

The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir (2026)

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This was the time when the rush for the spoils filled a corner of the forest with the yelping of hounds, the cracking of whips, the flaring of torches. The appetites let loose were satisfied at last, shamelessly, amid the sound of crumbling neighbourhoods and fortunes made in six months. The city had become an orgy of gold and women.

The Kill by Émile Zola (1872)

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“One must live as if it would be forever, and as if one might die each moment. Always both at once.”

The Persian Boy by Mary Renault (1972)

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Because the truth makes a kind of deep sense, even when it appears fantastic. Truth weaves the world together. Lies shatter things and the truth restores.

The Forever Summer by Lulu Taylor (2026)

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For no story is truly lost, as long as there’s someone willing to tell it. And someone willing to listen.

No Fair Maidens by Kim Willis (2026)

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They’d worked together, just like Bill taught them, and when else did women like them ever get the chance to do that? When the only thing you’re expected to achieve in life is a decent marriage, every other woman is your competition, not your collaborator.

The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn (2026)

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Favourite books read in July:

The Rose and the Yew Tree, The Scandalous Ladies Football Club and The Forever Summer

Authors read for the first time in July:

Lulu Taylor and Kim Willis

Places visited in my July reading:

France, England, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, Persia, India, Wales, Scotland

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Reading notes: After a slow June reading-wise, July was a better month for me. It was also quite a busy month – I was away for a week visiting family in Lincolnshire, bought a new car and went to see The Odyssey, but still managed to find plenty of time for reading. I’ve now read 14 of my 20 Books of Summer and I’m sure I’ll be able to read the rest in August, especially as I’ve already started two of them. Fitting in all the reviews could be a problem as I still have some outstanding from this month as well, as you can see above, but I’ll do my best! August is also Women in Translation Month and I have at least one book lined up for that.

How was your July? Do you have any plans for August?