Summer arrived! And then left again? I’ve done some lovely walks and bike rides but this week has been a washout.

Three of this month’s books were memoirs, including my favourite read One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake. I was genuinely inspired by it.

This month’s films haven’t been top tier but there’s still so much great TV to make up for that. We watched the third and final season of Derry Girls, which was of course amazing (and has the best soundtrack). We’ve also been watching What They Do in the Shadows and have just started Only Murders in the Building. And my list of TV shows to watch just keeps getting longer.

Books read

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake
I’ve followed Cloake’s food writing for years. Her “How to cook the perfect…” column for the Guardian hits just the right practical, experimental note and her sense of humour makes for fun reading even when it’s not a recipe I’m likely to ever make. This is the first of her food-and-travel memoirs, based on her 2018 journey around France by bike and train. Her aim was to sample the best versions of her 21 favourite French foods, while keeping to a fairly tight schedule. I loved this so much I’ve started building up my cycling stamina in the hope that one day I might manage a similar adventure (but probably not in France).

A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris
I bought this thriller after reading a free sample of the first chapter on Harris’s website. It’s told from the perspectives of Rebecca Buckfast, the new young headteacher of a traditional grammar school, and Mr Straightly, who has been teaching Latin at the school for decades. A dead body has been found on school grounds. Is this linked to a boy who went missing decades ago? Or perhaps to a recently retired teacher who was almost certainly abusing children? Or perhaps both those are only tangentially linked to the story that Buckfast unfolds. A fun thriller with strong feminist themes.

The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto
This is the tale of three teenagers who run away from their lives in Pakistan and England. Their beginnings are all very different but they wind up in the same place – physically, if not emotionally. I don’t want to give away too much, but this novel examines religious extremism and the different reasons people might turn to it. A rip-roaring adventure but I will admit I didn’t really buy the emotional journeys, even while the real-world journey was brilliantly told.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
This was exactly what I needed after the dark and emotionally unsatisfying Runaways. In Eleanor & Park the teenage title characters get to know one another when forced to sit together on the school bus. Though very different, they gradually discover they have a lot in common – particularly music and comics. Strangers become friends become inseparable. But along with all the sweetness are some serious realities. As if poverty, neglect and abuse aren’t difficult enough, they lead to lies, shame and misunderstandings that can prevent them from being dealt with. An excellent book.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
This is one of those books that truly feels like the author is just chatting to you over a drink or three. Obviously I don’t really know Kaling but if you’ve watched a few seasons of The Mindy Project, this is pretty close to the same voice. She’s funny, smart, self-deprecating and manages to make both serious and silly subjects very entertaining.

Against Memoir by Michelle Tea
Two memoirs could not be more different than these last two books. Aside from the fact that neither tells a linear life story. Tea’s book is more of an essay collection really, grouped by subject matter. It opens with a series about queer art and artists, from Valerie Solanas to Minor Threat. Then there are essays that directly address queer issues, such as Tea’s visit to Camp Trans – an annual vigil held outside the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival to protest the festival banning trans women from attending. And finally, there are more personal essays – from the summer she spent losing jobs when she was 16, to telling her friends that she is now sober after finally confronting her alcoholism.