A quieter month finally. Fatigue kicked in a little after our busy summer so I’ve read less than usual but the four books I finished were all good, two of them excellent.

Last week I saw Elif Shafak speak about her new book There Are Rivers In the Sky. As expected she was smart, eloquent and humane. And the new novel sounds amazing, of course, but I also realised there are still several books from her backlist I haven’t read yet. So my to-read list got longer again.

Books read

The Engagements by J Courtney Sullivan
This wasn’t quite the novel I had expected it to be, which I know is never a good basis from which to write a review. It begins in 1947 with copywriter Mary Frances Gerety coming up with the famous line “A diamond is forever”. As a woman at a large ad agency she daily faces belittling misogyny and she knows her client De Beers is classed as a cartel by the US government. It’s an intriguing starting point – but Gerety’s is just one of five stories interwoven here. They are linked by diamond engagement rings and each is a good story independently; it just didn’t follow-through for me.

Hijab Butch Blues: a Memoir by Lamya H
This pseudonymous memoir uses stories from the Quran as starting points to discuss topics including feminism, gender and sexual identity. Which seems like an unlikely combination but of course queer Muslims exist. And as Lamya wants to make clear, it is possible to be devoutly Muslim, wear a hijab and abstain from alcohol, and be a feminist and a lesbian. All these things can be true. She is clear and passionate, entertaining and eloquent. I learned a lot from this book.

Unladylike Rules of Attraction by Amita Murray
I needed a fun, light read and this was just the ticket. It’s a sequel (sort of) to Unladylike Lessons in Love, which I read in August. That was the story of Lila Marleigh finding love in Regency London. This is the story of her sister Anya, a court musician who has unexpectedly inherited a large fortune from an elderly friend. But she will only receive the money if she marries within four months. Which of the uninspiring shortlist of suitors will she say yes to? And will she survive the attempts on her life by the family who think she stole their inheritance?

An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie
This novel was a staff recommendation at a local bookshop. Sayon is a young Black man from Stapleton Road in Bristol. He dreams of buying a house in Clifton for himself, his girlfriend and his best friend Cuba to escape the violence and police harassment. And thanks to years of dealing drugs he’s well on his way to having the money to do it. But in a world where murder is a part of life can he see the dream to fruition, or will it be safer to accept the sanctuary of the church or the mosque? I really enjoyed this book, not least for its familiar and yet unfamiliar setting in a corner of my home city that I don’t know.