BOOKMARK August 2025 Book recommendations
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August titles
All books are available from Adventure Into Books in Blairgowrie.
All change and no change as I take on the Adventure into Books mantle and begin sharing my monthly recommendations, though this month Kate has added a few for good measure.First up is the latest historical thriller from Laura Shepherd-Robinson: The Art of a Lie; followed by a different century and country for the next book: Summer at Mount Asama by Masashi Matsuie.
Taking a darker turn, next is a new Nordic crime novel Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdottir and keeping with crime fiction, is a new psychological crime thriller from Liam McIlvanney: The Good Father.
Flying off to a cosy corner of space, we have a warm-hearted Sci-fi from Becky Chambers: The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet and lastly, I’d like to finish with a classic genre-defying, novel by Italo Calvino: If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller - this remarkable novel leads you through many different books including a detective adventure, a romance, a satire, an erotic story, a diary and a quest. But the real hero of them all is you, the reader.
Shaun Donald
BOOKMARK friend
PS: The Adventure into Books Book Blether Group meets at 7pm on the first Wednesday of each month. On 6th August, we’ll be meeting to chat about The Paris Peacemakers (ISBN: 9780749031329, paperback, Allison & Busby, 2024). All are welcome.
The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
(Pan Macmillan, 2025)
Historical Fiction
Laura Shepherd-Robionson: The Art of a Lie (ISBN: 9781529053722), a favourite BOOKMARK author. Set in 1749, in the London parish of St James’, our protagonist, confectioner Hannah Cole, is struggling to keep her shop going after the murder of her husband. An unexpected inheritance from her husband allows her to begin offering the new, expensive delicacy of ‘iced cream’ and things start to look up. But her success also attracts the unwelcome attention of rival businesses and the local magistrate, putting her inheritance at risk. Full of twists and turns, and intriguing characters, a delight for Shepherd-Robinson fans.
Summer at Mount Asama by Masashi Matsuie
(The Indigo Press, 2025)
Fiction
Summer at Mount Asama by Masashi Matsuie (ISBN: 9781917378000). It’s 1980s Japan and a group of architects are competing to design the new National Library of Modern Literature in Tokyo. Architecture graduate Toru Sakanishi has escaped the heat of Tokyo and migrated for the summer to the rural surroundings of Mount Asama, where he encounters four remarkable women who will change his life. Exploring tensions between modernity and tradition, the book is described as a ‘gripping story of love, art and life’.
Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdottir
(Orenda, 2025)
Crime Fiction
Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdottir (ISBN: 9781916788602). Marsi’s sister, Stina, disappeared ten years ago: her bloodstained jacket was found at the exact location where Marsi had been expecting to meet her pen pal. Marsi had been writing to the pen pal using her sister’s name. When Marsi gets a letter from her pen pal she’s terrified he is coming for her next. ‘Pacy, chilling and atmospheric’.
The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney
(Bonnier Books, 2025)
Crime Fiction
Liam McIlvanney: The Good Father (ISBN: 9781804186978). When their child, Rory, disappears after a day playing on the beach, his parents’ lives don’t, immediately, fall apart. They hope, they dig for the truth, they carry on. But desperation mounts, the canker of mistrust spreads and when the truth does start to emerge, their world shifts beyond anything they imagined
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
(Hodder & Stoughton, 2016)
Science Fiction
Becky Chambers: The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet (ISBN: 9781473619814, paperback). When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The ship, which has seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past. But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for when the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet.
If On a Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino
(Vintage Publishing, 1992)
Fiction
Italo Calvino: If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller (ISBN: 9780099430896, paperback). You go into a bookshop and buy If on a Winter's Night a Traveller. You like it. But there is a printer's error in your copy. You take it back to the shop and get a replacement. But the replacement seems to be a totally different story. You try to track down the original book you were reading but end up with a different narrative again. This remarkable novel leads you through many different books including a detective adventure, a romance, a satire, an erotic story, a diary and a quest. But the real hero of them all is you, the reader.