[Rewind] July 2017



There's really not much to rewind this time! July has been a rather dismal month in terms of blogging. I fell into a reading slump too, though funnily enough finished two 5-stars books immediately after. I do have some things to talk about though, so I hope you'll read on!

New to My Shelves

I went to Oz Comic-Con last month and spotted Wires and Nerve while walking around the artists market. As it turned out, it was Douglas Holgate's (the illustrator) stall! My friend and I had a nice chat with him about how Wires and Nerve came to be, and he signed our copies for us. I adored Iko, so I'm really looking forward to reading this!

I've also been approved for Starswept by Mary Fan on NetGalley. The synopsis caught my eye, and I'm totally here for a diverse sci-fi story!






Reviews

↠ Laurinda by Alice Pung / ★★★★★ (I posted this one in June, but I never did a June rewind post, so I'm sneaking it in here!)

Other Things on the Blog

I only did one other post this month, and that was this list of the books on my current TBR. I've already finished three out of the four books on the list, so I'm going to have to line up new ones soon!

Challenges Progress

↠ Goodreads challenge: 23/30 books
↠ Discussion challenge: 5/24 discussion posts
↠ ReadDiverse2017 challenge: 8 books
↠ #RockMyTBR challenge:  1 book
↠ Backlist Books challenge: 7 books

Around the Blogosphere

↠ Clara discusses ways to pick your next read.
↠ Laura talks about how to know your idea is a keeper.
↠ Shannon discusses things she likes about your blog.

In Life

↠ I started my next (and hopefully last) placement for my course! It has me working with older adults, and I'm absolutely amazed by how much they have seen and done in their lives. It hasn't all been sweet and easy though. I'm not always sure how to communicate with them, particularly with those who have dementia. Sometimes it's sad, because ageing isn't easy, and the current generation of older adults have lived through at least one war. My other placements have had me working with children and teenagers, so there's a lot of things I don't know yet. I'm absolutely fascinated though.
↠ I went to Oz Comic-Con! I wanted to go see Alyson Hannigan, and I'm so glad I did. She came across as sincere and lovely, and she was really funny in person too! Though now that I've seen both her and David Boreanaz live, I probably should watch Buffy...
↠ For the first time since 2015, I'll be going home to Indonesia! It's only a short trip, and a part of me is stressing about leaving in the middle of semester, but I'm going for a wedding so the timing can't be helped. I'm looking forward to the trip and seeing my friends and family, though not so much to the international flights!

In Store for Next Month

Those 5-stars books I mentioned earlier? There shall be reviews coming up for them! I also have two discussion posts in mind. Fingers crossed I get to them all! 

How was your July?
Did you read any good books? Link me to your latest/favourite post of the month!
Do you have any plans for August?

[ARC Review] A Purely Private Matter by Darcie Wilde

Texture by patzbone at Deviant-Art

With A Useful Woman, Rosalind Thorne became one of my favourite lady detectives in literature. So when A Purely Private Matter came out, my expectations for it were off the chart. Thankfully, it rose to the challenge. The mystery was delightful in its twists and turns, but it was the characters that, once again, won me over.

The best thing about the cast of A Purely Private Matter is how alive they all are. Pretty much all of the characters seem to have a history and motivation, even if they only show up for a handful of pages and we never know what their full story is. This is also true for the ones we're meant to care about. We learn a little more about Rosalind's history in this book, particularly the sister who disappeared in the series of events that had Rosalind going from a lady of sufficient means and respectable family to where she is now - carefully budgeting and living on the fringes of the haute ton. I liked knowing more about a character's family, and in this case, I felt that meeting her sister sheds some more light on Rosalind's character.

The mystery admittedly at times felt like a soap opera. (Murder, secret pasts, and love affairs, oh my!) Given that the murder victim is an actor, however, it all felt fitting. The title is also perfect considering the nature of the mystery. Many aspects of the mystery should be a purely private matter, but they can't remain so in light of the murder. Plus, I enjoyed how it read like celebrity scandals (where private matters are often forced to become public), but in a historical setting.

I enjoyed that Adam Harkness had a more active role both in the story and the investigation. Rosalind is clever and resourceful, but unfortunately there are places that a lady can't go in that time period. I liked their interactions together, and would love to see them collaborate some more. In fact, I almost think they'd be a more interesting pair if there wasn't any hint of possible romance between them. Almost. Her attraction to him and her old suitor does add to that sense that Rosalind is caught in the middle - not between two suitors, but rather two worlds - but I'm still not sold on the love triangle.

Overall, this is still a series that I would recommend to fans of historical cosy mysteries. I'm looking forward to the next installment already!

(I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not influenced my opinions of the book.)



Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:
❥ Goodreads Challenge




Title: A Purely Private Matter (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries #2) ❙ Author: Darcie Wilde ❙ Publisher: Berkley ❙ Source: Netgalley ❙ Release Date: 2 May 2017

Rosalind Thorne has slowly but assuredly gained a reputation as “a useful woman”—by helping respectable women out of some less-than-respectable predicaments. 

Her latest endeavor is a tragedy waiting to happen. Desperate Margaretta Seymore is with child—and her husband is receiving poisoned pen letters that imply that her condition is the result of an affair with the notorious actor Fletcher Cavendish. Margaretta asks Rosalind to find out who is behind the scurrilous letters. But before she can make any progress, Cavendish is found dead, stabbed through the heart. 

Suddenly, Rosalind is plunged into the middle of one of the most sensational murder trials London has ever seen, and her client’s husband is the prime suspect. With the help of the charming Bow Street runner Adam Harkness, she must drop the curtain on this fatal drama before any more lives are ruined.

[Cake Break] Making a Comeback, Maybe


I love Jamie at Perpetual Page-Turner's feature here, where she talks to her readers as if they are meeting up for coffee. I adore getting to know a little more about her this way, so I'd like to follow her lead and maybe make some connections myself! I'm adapting it slightly because I go for sweets over coffee. So, grab something sweet to eat and chat with me?

[The List #4] Books I'm Attempting to Read Next


The List is a feature where I hold myself accountable regarding my TBR. This (hopefully) stops me from picking up new books despite my a pile of unread books.

 Or at least, that is what this feature usually is. This time it functions a little differently, since I've found myself in that dreaded reading slump. I blame Real Life. I'm trying to pull myself out of it by hyping myself up for all the books that are waiting for me!

[Review] Olmec Obituary by L.J.M. Owen

Texture: left-unspoken.net

I love cosy mysteries and lady detectives, so naturally I was intrigued by the premise of Dr. Pimms, Intermillenial Sleuth: Dr. Elizabeth Pimms, Canberra-based archaeologist-slash-librarian, sets upon solving thousands-year-old cold cases. It's a brilliant idea. As the first installment in the series, Olmec Obituary did a great job setting up the methods of Elizabeth's detections and introducing the core cast of characters. Its inclusion of various cultures is fabulous, but there are moments that gave me pause. 

One of my favourite parts of Olmec Obituary is the murder mystery and the detective work. Since the death Elizabeth investigates happened 3000 years ago, the usual detecting procedures don't apply. She can't go around interrogating suspects or inspecting crime scenes. Instead, she hits the books, talks to experts, and works with very old bones. There's a fair sprinkling of explanations around the methods she uses, like radiocarbon and dental non-metric analysis, which was easy to follow. It could be the nerd in me, but I really enjoyed reading about Elizabeth working.

My other favourite part of the book is the family dynamic. Family plays a huge part in Elizabeth's life, and we see both the support she receives from them and the conflict and resentment she feels for them. Her grandparents are a welcomed presence in the story, in turn comforting as well as helpful. It's worth noting that Elizabeth is biracial, half-Welsh, half-Chinese, and I really enjoyed that we got to see both sides and how their influences entwine in her home. In contrast to this, however, I was less taken by the conflict between her and her sister. While at the heart of it the conflict is deeply bitter, I felt that their clashes come across as childish at times. 

There were moments when the villains felt a little caricature-ish at times in their actions and descriptions. At one stage, flecks of phlegm gathered at the corners of one of the characters' mouth because he was growing angry. A colleague called Elizabeth out, in front of everyone else they worked with, on not wishing her a happy birthday. I felt that their characterisations could use with more subtlety. 

My biggest issue about Olmec Obituary, however, revolves around a couple of lines regarding the Chinese characters. Full disclosure: I come from a diaspora and immigrant background, so I bring  my experiences of the assumptions some people make of my background and language skills when they first look at me to my reading. These experiences are why I cringed at the following occurrences in the book:

The first is when Elizabeth meets Mai, the aforementioned colleague, and remarks that Mai looks similar to Nainai, her Chinese grandma. Then it comes as a surprise to her that Mai has an Australian accent. Later in the book, she's talking to Nainai and is struck again by the fact Nainai's English is so much better than her French grandma's. Now, I think there's a plotty reason as to why Elizabeth noticed the similarities between the two Chinese women's appearances, and she may be coming to it from an archaeological perspective about bone structures or something. The delivery, however, at first read as if it was going to be an ignorant comment about how Chinese all look alike. I thought the comments about the accent and the English fluency were weird, particularly given Elizabeth's own background, as it seems underlined by an assumption that Mai would've been foreign, or that French people would be better at English by default. Other readers might not have an issue with this at all. To me, unfortunately, they stuck out. 

Overall, Olmec Obituary is a fun and interesting approach to the cosy mystery genre, and I enjoyed its focus on family. It made an effort to include a diverse cast, but there are moments in the book that jarred in my mind regarding its description of its POCs.

(I bought and read a finished copy, thinking that my request for a review copy was not going to be granted. But then it was! So I do have a review copy, but this review was formed on the basis of the finished copy.)



Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:
❥ Goodreads Challenge
❥ The Backlist Books Reader Challenge
❥ #ReadDiverse2017

Title: Olmec Obituary (Dr Pimms, Intermillenial Sleuth #1) ❙ Author: L.J.M. Owen ❙ Publisher: Echo Publishing ❙ Source: Bought ❙ Release Date: 1 August 2016

"Archaeologist Dr Elizabeth Pimms thoroughly enjoys digging up old skeletons. But when she is called home from Egypt after a family loss, she has to sacrifice her passions for the sake of those around her.

Attempting to settle into her new role as a librarian, while also missing her boyfriend, Elizabeth is distracted from her woes by a new mystery: a royal Olmec cemetery, discovered deep in the Mexican jungle, with a 3000-year-old ballplayer who just might be a woman.

She soon discovers there are more skeletons to deal with than those covered in dirt and dust."

[Book Talk] How I Accidentally Went on a Book Ban



I have been trying to put myself on a book budget - if not an outright book ban - for the last two years. Last year, it was overly ambitious and I failed miserably. This year, I actually haven't been keeping too close an eye on my book budget, until I was writing my May rewind post. I realised then that I hadn't bought a new book since March! How did that happen?

[Review] Laurinda by Alice Pung


You like to think that within you there is quiet courage and conviction, a sense of righteousness that is not judgmental. That's what you like to think about yourself. But you're wrong. You are not truly good until you are tested, and even then you might become a worse person.
In the hands of another writer, Laurinda may look a lot like Mean Girls. There's the rich, beautiful, shrewdly intelligent girls reigning over a private all-girl school. There's the outsider - the scholarship student, a daughter of refugees - being drawn into their orbit. In the hands of Alice Pung, though, Laurinda is a sharp observation of the power politics of teenage girls, the struggle of forming an identity when your public and private selves can't be one and the same, and even casual racism.
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