BOOKMARK July 2025 Book recommendations
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July Titles
All books are available from Adventure Into Books in Blairgowrie.
Light and jolly to the dark and mysterious, and a few in-between. Something for everyone.First up is this year’s winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden; The 2025 International Booker Prize Winner, Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq and the human essence is also elegantly captured in Fredrik Backman’s My Friends
A couple of familiar BOOKMARK friends next. First, D.V. Bishops’ Carnival of Lies and The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry.
A couple of non-fiction books to finish off with. The first, Skirly Crag by Helen Percy and The Sound of Many Waters: A Journey along the River Tay by Robin A. Crawford
Kate
BOOKMARK member
PS: The Adventure into Books Book Blether group meets at 7pm on the first Wednesday of each month. On 2nd July, we’ll be meeting to chat about For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain (ISBN: 9781526647931, paperback, Bloomsbury, 2024) – a fascinating book and author. All are welcome.
PPS: On 2nd July, Adventure into Books will be celebrating its fifth birthday! An excuse for bunting, gifts, and extra shortbread! Pop in if you’re passing.
PPS: On 1st August, the bookshop enters a new chapter, when Ralph and I step out, and Shaun Donald steps in. Ralph and I aren’t going far – just enjoying a bit more time to come to BOOKMARK’s marvellous events. I hope you’ve enjoyed my recommendations. Shaun has plenty more up his sleeve.
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
(Penguin, 2025)
Fiction
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden (ISBN: 9780241999776). The novel starts in The Netherlands, in 1961, with Isabel tending her late mother’s garden. She lives a solitary, isolated, regimented life. Her peace is disrupted by the arrival of her brother and his new girlfriend, Eva. Her presence leads to a shattering revelation that forces Isabel to reconsider everything she has known.
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
(And Other Stories, 2026)
Non-Fiction
The 2025 International Booker Prize Winner, Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq (ISBN: 9781916751163, paperback), takes us further afield, to the girls and women in Muslim communities in southern India. Exposing the fault lines of caste, class and religion, family and community, the stories bite deep: vivid, surprising and human.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
(Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Fiction
Fredrik Backman’s My Friends (ISBN: 9781398516397, hardback). Teenager Louisa has become custodian of a famous painting. Most people don’t notice the three tiny figures depicted, sitting at the end of a pier, but they capture Louisa’s attention and set her on a path to find out more about them and the painting. Backman’s characters are awkward, quirky and highly relatable; and of course the tale doesn’t quite follow the path you might expect.
Carnival of Lies by D V Bishop
(Pan Macmillan, 2025)
Historical Fiction
D.V. Bishops’ Carnival of Lies (ISBN: 9781035041947), which is the latest book in the Cesare Aldo series. Set in the winter of 1539, Aldo learns of plans to assassinate the ruler of Florence, Duke Cosimo de Medici. The plotters have also managed to steal the duke’s journal, which is full of dangerous secrets. Aldo must hunt down those responsible, but the trail leads him to Venice: a city full of lies and enemies; the one place Aldo has sworn to never return.
The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry
(Canongate, 2025)
Historical Fiction
The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry (ISBN: 9781837263431). It is 1854, in Edinburgh and Sarah Fisher is helping fund Dr Will Raven's emerging medical practice in exchange for being secretly trained as a doctor. The non-appearance of a new servant prompts Sarah to investigate, exposing the plight of numerous women caught up Edinburgh's many brothels. Meanwhile, a prominent member of society has fallen from the Scott Monument, and Raven is asked to establish whether this was suicide and, if so what drove him to his death. A brilliantly plotted, engaging story.
Skirly Crag by Helen Percy
(Luath Press, 2026)
Nature
Skirly Crag by Helen Percy (ISBN: 9781804251904, hardback) is an entertaining collection of tales from a shepherdess. There are tales of people (some good, some cantankerous, some rogues, lots of character) and of the animals she cares for: sheep, as you might expect, but also her dogs, hares, chickens, a bull…. Not an easy profession, but an engaging read, from the comfort of an armchair.
The Sound of Many Waters: A Journey along the River Tay by Robin A Crawford
(Birlinn, 2025)
Nature
The Sound of Many Waters: A Journey along the River Tay by Robin A. Crawford (ISBN: 9781780279114, hardback). Geographically, the narrative follows the course of the river, as it collects up tributaries and then flows into the sea. However, it also depicts what the river has meant to people over time – a means of transport, source of food, place of sport, place to wander.