August 2026 Reading

I squeezed in quite a few books in August, thanks in part to several days off in Cape Cod at a lovely house my sister rented (I accidentally left behind one Boston Library book which she had to take back to NYC with her - oh well, the BPL eventually got it back and, ironically, neither of us liked it so stopped reading after a few pages). I enjoyed rereading Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series, after visiting Galway, where they are set.

The best books I read in August were Regime Chance by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan - such a vivid depiction of the Trump White House you would think you were in the room with these vile, callous individuals - and The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. I raced through the early Three Pines books but now I am reluctant to read them too quickly because there is a year to wait for the next one. However, there is both one I haven’t read and a new book coming out in October. I also really enjoyed The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, a historical novel set in Ohio just before the Civil War.

Suspense

The Child by Fiona Barton (2017) (audio) (multiple narrators). I listened to this book driving up and back from visiting my friend Ellen in Maine, then discovered during the afterword that it had been edited by our former colleague, Danielle! It’s told from several points of view: a grieving mother whose infant was stolen from the hospital, a woman who buried her infant in a housing development, and the newspaper reporter following up on a tiny body that has been found. I liked Kate, the reporter, and will look for the first book in this series.

Ironwood by Michael Connelly (2026). I understand that Harry Bosch is aging and Connelly needs to find younger characters to take center stage but Detective Sergeant Stilwell, assigned to work on Catalina Island due to office politics, is not a very interesting character and I don’t like his insecure girlfriend. The actual mystery was interesting and I appreciated the crossover with Renee Ballard, who collaborates with Stilwell on a case.  His books are now priced at $32.00 - that's a lot!  I got mine from the library.

The Scholar (2019) and The Good Turn (2020) by Derva McTiernan (reread). I continued my reacquaintance with this series with book 2, in which Detective Cormac Reilly’s girlfriend is the first on the scene at a tragic death and becomes a suspect. Although Cormac tries to protect her, he also wonders if she could be involved in criminal activity, and their relationship suffers.

In book 3, Cormac has angered his chief by investigating what he is sure is a corrupt department, and is put on leave (even though we know he is right!), while Garda Peter Fisher is targeted for associating with Cormac, and is relocated out of Galway, with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head, to work for his horrible father. Book 4 does not appear to be out in the US but I was able to get a copy on eBay.

The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Melissa Fung (2026). In this collaboration by the author of the Three Pines series and a Canadian journalist, a global terrorist plot is traced to China and (seemingly) the only people capable of stopping it are a Chinese-American dissident and her estranged daughter. My review.

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny; narrated by Jean Brassard (2024) (audio). In the 19th book in the series, Garmache becomes worried that there is a traitor at Sûreté du Québec. When he starts investigating the death of a young marine biologist, he uncovers a plot to destabilize Quebec’s water supply by causing panic that would ripple across North America.

A Deceptive Devotion by Iona Whishaw (2019). I was really taken aback by Lane Winslow’s sixth mystery in which a British agent comes all the way to King’s Cove, British Columbia to warn her about a fleeing Russian defector. When Russians start turning up, Lane is pulled back into the WWII secrets she hoped to leave behind, just when she should be planning her wedding. My review.

Historical Fiction

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier (2013). Honor Bright accompanies her sister across the Atlantic to marry an acquaintance, but when her sister dies before they reach Ohio, she has nowhere to go except to the man who would have been her brother-in-law, which is extremely awkward. Who can blame Honor for marrying the first eligible man she meets? Getting along with his family and being exposed to the ills of slavery are equally traumatic. My review.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (2023). I’d had this on my TBR for a while but moved it up after reading Clothes in Books’ posts about fortune tellers. It was clever and well written but I found the Square of Sevens sections boring, the heroine increasingly unlikable as the story continued, and I only kept reading for the final denouement.

The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown (2026). This is a dual-timeline murder mystery set in an English country manor, when an ambitious professor discovers the long-lost manuscript of a Reformation-era prophetess. I haven’t read it yet but my mother liked it so much I asked her to do a Guest Review.

Fiction

Iris in Winter by Elizabeth Cadell (1949). Iris, who wants to be taken seriously as a reporter, is given an assignment to investigate an episode at a prep school, conveniently located in the town where her sister has just rented a house. Soon she and Caroline have collected every misfit in sight, including a bevy of eccentric neighbors, school personnel, and even their brother. I liked the hungry little boys always turning up at tea time! My review.

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson (2026). When Caroline, spending a year in Massachusetts on a writing fellowship, gets involved with Van Whittaker, she does not anticipate how close he is to his high school friend group and how that will threaten their relationship. This had some very funny parts and I think was just as good as her first book, Pineapple Street. My review.

Nonfiction

Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (2026). Regime Change covers the first year of Trump’s second presidency—a term liberated from every constraint that defined his first. The generals who once told him no are gone, and the lawyers who remain have learned to pick their battles. His administration has flouted court orders and claimed powers that Congress once checked. What remains is a President willing to take enormous risks that have toppled heads of state and taken the country to war again in the Middle East; an imperial President operating almost entirely on (flawed)(idiotic)(spiteful) instinct alone.

Fantasy

I read Sabriel, book 1 in Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, as part of my 20 Books of Summer, and found myself curious about what would happen next, so read Lirael (2015), Abhorsen (2003), Clariel (2014), and Goldenhand (2016) this month. Lirael was the best.

Romance

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score (2022). This was about a good twin, Naomi, on the run from a fiance who was wrong for her, heading to the middle of nowhere to help her bad twin, Tina. The locals have all suffered from Tina’s antics so do not welcome her identical twin but there is an 11-year-old who needs her, a niece Naomi and her parents did not know existed. This reminded me a lot of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books but cruder.  I can live without the crudeness.

And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison (2026). Two rival meteorologists are sent to the middle of nowhere to cover a big winter storm. Surprise! There is only one room available at the hotel. I had enjoyed First Time Caller back in February, which launched the series, and this was also appealing, albeit predictable, with characters you could almost imagine knowing. I look forward to more from this author.

YA

Stateless by Elizabeth Wein (2023). Stella North has been chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, but she is consumed by a secret in her past she does not want anyone to know. She is not the only participant with a secret. And it is 1937, the world is in bad shape (what else is new) , and now she is afraid someone is trying to kill one of the pilots. This is by the author of my favorite, Code Name Verity, and was one of my 20 Books of Summer.  My review.

20 Books of Summer - I got sidetracked by traveling and by many library books with short due dates but I have read 14 of 20, with six more to read.