So that’s September over and done with. It was, to say the least, a slightly strange month. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a tad trying living through history as it happens. It would be nice to just take live in the time that skips the chapters in the future history text books for a little while.

The very end of September saw me attend Capital Crime, a 3 day book festival celebrating all things crime. I only attended for one day, on Friday 30th September in a rather wet and windy Battersea Park. There I met up with fellow bloggers who I chat to all the time on Twitter but rarely or never see in real life. I also attended some fascinating (and funny) panels with William Ryan, Zoe Somerville, Anita Frank, Johana Gustawsson, Tariq Ashkanani, Chris Whitaker, Erin Young, Mark Edwards, Will Dean, Suzie Edge, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Abir Mukherjee and Anna Mazzola. I missed far more panels than I went to. I managed to bring some books home with me, and I got some others signed. Some of them did get rained on though so came home a bit more wrinkled than expected.

Here’s what arrived this month:

1. The Memory of the Air by Caroline LeMarche, sent for review by Heloise Press.
2. Amazing Grace Adams, sent for review by Michael Jospeh.
3. The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin, sent for review by Sphere.
4. Exiles by Jane Harper, sent for review by Pan Macmillan.
5. Dazzling by Chikọdịlị Emelụmadụ, sent for review by Wildfire.
6. Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet, sent for review by W W Norton.
7. War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott.
8. Death on the Down Beat by Sebastian Farr.
9. Final Acts edited by Martin Edwards. These last three were sent for review by the British Library.
10. A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor, sent for review by Michael Jospeh.
11. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, sent for review by 4th Estate.
12. The Herd by Emily Edwards, sent for review by Penguin.
13. Marple by various authors, a purchase made via Litalist.
14. Cuckoo in the Nest by Fran Hill.
15. Arrested Song by Irena Karafilly. Both of these were sent for review by Legend Press.
16. Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.
17. Outside by Ragnar Jonasson.
18. Here to Stay by Mark Edwards.
19. A Long Shadow by David Beckler. These four were in my goodie bag from Capital Crime.
20. Follow Me to the Edge by Tariq Ashkanani, a purchase from Capital Crime.
21. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, a purchase from Hatchards.

This is what I read:

1. Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood.
2. The Darker Arts by Oscar de Muriel.
3. Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow.
4. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston.

I also gave three books to a friend who kindly cat sat for us. So that’s 21 in and 7 out. Not balanced but not as many new arrivals as usual (if it hadn’t been for Capital Crime the incomings would have been in the teens, something I can’t remember happening in a long time), so my groaning bookshelves will be grateful of that. I hope whatever you read you enjoyed and that October is a good month for you.