#TopTenTuesday Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024 #TuesdayBookBlog

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Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024. Here are mine, many of which I’m fortunate to have ARCs of via NetGalley. Links from each title will take you the book description on Goodreads.

  1. The Trap (Alias Emma #3) by Ava Glass (publishes 1st August) – ‘She has just one week to catch a killer’
  2. Cabaret Macabre (Joseph Spector #3) by Tom Mead (publishes 1st August) – ‘An atmospheric and puzzling mystery that pays homage to the greatest writers of the genre’s Golden Age’
  3. Berlin Duet by S.W. Perry (publishes 1st August) = ‘From silent era Hollywood and the nightclubs of pre-war Vienna to the ruins of Soviet Berlin, a moving, ambitious story of an enduring love amidst the devastation of war’
  4. The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable (publishes 15th August) – ‘From the jewelled palaces of Venice to its mud-licked canals, a story of one woman’s irrepressible ambition and rise to the top, of loss and triumph’
  5. Heart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan (publishes 15th August) – ‘A stunning, lyrical novel told in twenty-one voices’
  6. Six Lives by Lavie Tidhar (publishes 29th August) – ‘Six lives, connected through blood and history, each rooted in the dirt of their inheritance, look to the future, and what it might hold’
  7. Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers (publishes 29th August) – ‘A life-affirming novel about all the different ways we can be confined, how ordinary lives are built of delicate layers of experience, the joy of freedom and the transformative power of kindness’
  8. Precipice by Robert Harris (publishes 29th August) – ‘A spellbinding novel of passion, intrigue, and betrayal set in England in the months leading to the Great War’ 
  9. Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd (publishes 5th September) – ‘From the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, an accidental spy is drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession’
  10. Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans (publishes 5th September) – ‘Funny, sharp and touching… a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal’

There is so much to look forward to! What books are you eagerly anticipating?

Book Review – The Days Of Our Birth by Charlie Laidlaw @claidlawauthor

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About the Book

It was a perfect relationship until time pulled them apart.

The Days of Our Birth delves into the intricate bond between Peter and Sarah as they navigate their formative years. Spanning from their sixth birthday through two decades, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of Sarah’s placement on the autism spectrum.

With a blend of humour and poignancy, the book intricately weaves together themes of love and friendship, unravelling the tale of two individuals who grapple with their emotions for each other, even though they remain unacknowledged.

Format: ebook (294 pages) Publisher: Rampart Books
Publication date: 27th June 2024 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find The Days Of Our Birth on Goodreads

Pre-order/Purchase The Days Of Our Birth from Amazon UK [Link provided for convenience, not as part of an affiliate programme]

My Review

The Days Of Our Birth charts the relationship between Sarah and Peter over the course of twenty years starting with their childhood friendship – a friendship formed partly because they are next door neighbours and partly because they were born on the same day – and ending in the present day. Along the way we drop in on them, so to speak, at various points in their lives, sometimes on birthdays but also at other significant moments as well. (The story does not unfold chronologically, sometimes looping back on itself, so keep an eye on the chapter headings.)

Peter’s story is a coming-of-age narrative charting life events such as his first sexual encounter, his travels around Europe and the emerging evidence of his literary talent. Although he experiences personal tragedy there are many light-hearted moments, such as his father’s culinary experiments. Peter is the one person who accepts Sarah just as she is, becoming her supporter, confidante and companion. He doesn’t care that other people, including his best friend Cal, think it strange he and Sarah walk hand in hand and yet, as Peter approaches adolescence, he does begin to wonder about the nature of their friendship.

Sarah’s story sensitively explores what it is like to be on the autistic spectrum, to be aware that you see the world slightly differently than other people and that they will make assumptions about you because of this. Sarah’s fierce intelligence sees her ostracised by her school classmates and nicknamed ‘Psycho Sarah’. At times she even makes deliberate mistakes to avoid standing out, a kind of ‘self-harm’ she re-enacts periodically over the years. Even when she has forged a successful career and knows she makes a valuable contribution, she still feels something of an outsider despite her attempts to modify her behaviour to match what she thinks others expect.

Sarah and Peter each have things they admire about the other. Peter appreciates Sarah’s ability to observe people, to piece things together and make sense of situations, to see things he misses. ‘She’s able to look under people’s skin and peel away at them, layer by layer, like an onion’. Sarah admires Peter’s willingness to improvise, to do random things without needing to plan every step of the way as she does.

Although the bond between Peter and Sarah persists over the years, it is periodically tested, in some cases almost to breaking point. There are mis-steps, misunderstandings and periods where they lose touch. But although their relationship changes over time it does so in a way they could not have imagined or hoped. I wasn’t the only one with tears running down my cheeks at the end.

Don’t be put off by the fairly uninspiring cover because The Days Of Our Birth is a thoughtful, beautifully written story about the bond between two people.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of the the author.

In three words: Tender, insightful, absorbing
Try something similar: This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech

About the Author

Charlie Laidlaw is a PR consultant, teaches creative writing, and lives in East Lothian. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and was previously a national newspaper journalist and defence intelligence analyst. He has lived in London and Edinburgh, and has two children.

His other novels are Everyday Magic, The Things We Learn When We’re Dead, The Time Between Space, Being Alert! and Love Potions and Other Calamities.

Connect with Charlie
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