September fruit. A poor harvest this year – the blossom and the insects didn’t come at the same time!

Recommended viewing:

The Woman in the Wall BBC***** Excellent drama based around the people and communities involved in the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland.

DNA Season 2**** Enjoyable follow up to Season 1. BBC iPlayer

Into Death Valley with Nick Knowles. Ch 5. **** Fascinating.

BBC Proms especially Chineke with Akugbo playing Haydn’s trumpet concerto. Mostly on iPlayer. I won’t give the series stars because it really does depend on your tastes so check the programmes before watching.

Recommended reading: (a good crop for September – better than the pears)

Fiction:

Mr Mercedes by Stephen King***** for the writing but I didn’t personally like it and particularly hated the planned attack on a concert which mirrored, for me, the attack on the Manchester Arena so recently.  

Just Stay Away by Tony Wirt***** Gripping thriller where a young boy threatens the main character’s sanity. Amazon freebie when I got it but it’s cheap and it’s on KU.

Midnight in the Renaissance Elevator  by various authors ***** Excellent anthology centred round a misbehaving elevator at a writers’ con which inspired the collection. There’s a mix of heat, paranormal elements, etc. but the standard is consistently high and I can guarantee that you’ll enjoy at least the majority, whatever your personal tastes. However, I ought to warn you that Remi Varlow’s story is a teaser for a series and not just a story set in the ‘verse of a series so unless you know their writing and think you might continue, you could skip it. The anthology is sold in aid of a charity, The Trevor Project.

Woods of the Raven by Mary Calmes***** A small town witch deals with incursions by evil fae. Good use of myth and legend, and a nice slow burn romance.

Stone Heart by Jenn Burke***** A lovely ending to the gargoyle trilogy.

Magic Burning by Kaje Harper***** Superb addition to the Carnival of Mysteries series.

Gluttony and other hungers by TJ Nichols***** Bittersweet finale to the Mytho series though I believe there’s to be a spin-off novel about two minor characters. The focus here was mostly on the wedding (plus the hate crimes surrounding it) and was a fascinating look at cultural differences.

Speaking in silence by Jackson Marsh***** Excellent mystery for the Larkspur Academy men. This time, an earldom for Archer is at stake.

These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall**** Excellent crime story despite being written in present tense. Unusual main character who creates memory banks with holograms etc.

Roustabout by Morgan Brice (Carnival of Mysteries)**** A great addition to the series. Both MCs are also people with magical powers so it’s just that bit different.

Repairing Destiny by Geneva Vand**** Nicely told YA mm fantasy adventure involving a prince and his mate.  Reviewed in more detail for Scott Coatsworth.

Non-fiction:

The Fallen Stones by Diana Marcum**** (Non-fiction) Fascinating account of a journalist’s sojourn in Belize, writing about a butterfly farm that supplied the living butterfly exhibits worldwide. It was made more interesting in that it brought real life elements to Julie Bozza’s The Butterfly Hunter trilogy and NR Walker’s Imago series both of which I loved.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling**** (Non-fiction).Interesting explanation of why we get the wrong impressions about various world issues. I got more than an average score on the initial questions so maybe I’m not the target audience. For those I got wrong my guesses (which might still have been wrong) were mostly informed by more up to date data. The book was published pre-covid and pre the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine.