Earlier this week we had a child free night away in Liverpool! A few days before I was scrolling Twitter and saw it coincided with Steve Cavanagh visiting Waterstones and holding an event/signing hosted by Luca Veste.

This was meant to be and so 2 tickets were immediately purchased! On Tuesday evening we had an early meal at Mowgli (amazing – highly recommended) and arrived at Waterstones just before 6.30.

Our local Waterstones doesn’t hold these kinds of events, and prior to this I’d been eyeing up the signing at Meadowhall but I am so pleased the stars aligned and allowed me to see the talk!

Firstly, Steve and Luca are clearly great friends and this made the whole event very entertaining. I have read several of Steve’s books before now and have attended an online Q&A with him before, so I knew he would be entertaining. But Luca Veste is new to me and I thought he was very funny and a perfect host!

Kill for Me Kill for You is Steve’s new release and is a standalone. My previous reads have all been from his Eddie Flynn series so I am excited to read something different. Don’t fear however, Steve is currently working on the next Eddie novel to be released (hopefully!) next year.

The set up for Kill For Me Kill For You is intriguing. The tag line:

She will kill your worst enemy. All you have to do is kill hers.

This is inspired by Strangers on a Train but we were assured there are lots of twists and turns, and nothing is quite as simple as it sounds!

After the talk, and questions from the audience, it was time to get our books signed. I couldn’t resist picking up Luca’s book too and am excited to read that too. Luca has a new book out in September (Trust in Me) and the tagline for that is incredible (go check it out!).

Both Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste were lovely to meet and kind enough to sign my copies of their books.

It’s made me want to find more author events to attend (online or face to face) as it’s so fascinating to hear a little of the inspiration and processes behind the books.

Thank you Steve, Luca and Waterstones Liverpool for a fabulous evening.

July was not a good month for reading – which is why I have chosen to lump it in with June for this wrap up!

In June/July I read 6 books. 1 audio book, 4 ebooks and 1 physical book. 1 book was a re-read

Wrap Up

I listened to the audiobook of Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell after a recommendation from What Victoria Read on Youtube. This was a fascinating read and I loved the discussion on the language of cults and cultish behaviour. I also enjoyed (is that the right word?!?) the peek behind the scenes into life inside a cult. It sent me on a Netflix binge for cult documentaries!

Cuckoo In the Nest was the Book Club pic for Jules at The Reading Paramedic and this was a strong 4 star read for me. I had a brilliant time with Jackie and really enjoyed the story in her voice. The topics were tough in places, but Jackie’s humour shone through. It was a real highlight of the month to join the book club discussion with Jules and the author, Fran Hill, and learn more about the book and it’s origins.

My youngest is getting into the Harry Potter films and this made we decide to re-read book 1, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which I read via ebook.

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths was the next Ruth Galloway novel for me to dive into. This is book 9 so the final book 15 (just out in paperback I believe), is getting ever closer. I enjoyed the setting of this one, and as ever the personal lives of the main characters are just as interesting as the mystery itself!

I was completely drawn in by the title of Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater and had to read it. This was a 5 star read and I was completely taken with the story of Roach and Laura. No spoilers, but I loved the book shop setting and although neither character was particularly likeable, I was desperate to know where the story would go. And the ending….

Finally, I read my first Val McDermid book in July. The set up for 1979 really intrigued me as it is the start of a series where we will go back and revisit our main character Allie Burns every decade (the sequel is 1989). I love this idea and can’t wait to see how Allie, a journalist at the bottom of the pile in a local newsroom, will fare through the decades. Allie was a really likeable character to me, and I can’t wait to see what she is up to in 1989.

What have you been reading this month?