I went through a strange, and very unusual, period in September 2023 when I didn’t feel like reading! Fortunately, I’ve got my mojo back now and more than made up for it in October.

I did finish four books in September:

• The Guilty Couple by C L Taylor
• Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth (non-fiction)
• The Apartment Upstairs by Lesley Kara
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab

Both Lesley Kara and C L Taylor are favourite authors of mine and I have read everything they have written. I really enjoyed The Guilty Couple. A woman comes out of prison determined to get revenge on the husband who framed her and win her daughter back. Although I did guess the reveal, I enjoyed all the twists and turns of the plot and loved the characters.

The Apartment Upstairs wasn’t my favourite book by Lesley Kara but if you love a well-written psychological thriller with a strong plot then you can’t go far wrong with this author. However, if you haven’t read any of her books before, I would start with her first novel, The Rumour.

I won’t lie, Being You by Anil Seth is a very difficult read. Consciousness is a complex subject and as a lay person, I probably only understood about 10% of this book! It did raise some very interesting questions though and made me re-evaluate what I thought I knew about the nature of consciousness.

Lots of people have recommended V E Schwab to me and I enjoyed immersing myself in this fantasy world across four parallel Londons. I will definitely read the others in this series. Really strong, interesting characters and vivid world building made for a propelling read.