I’ve neglected Spell the Month in Books in the last few months. It was only when I saw a few posts in my blog feed that I remembered all about this meme.
It’s perfect timing actually because ithe current heatwave in the UK has frazzled my brain so much I don’t think I have the energy to write a book review.
Usually there is a theme for each month (making it doubly difficult) but our host — Jana of Reviews from the Stacks — is otherwise occupied by the demands of a new baby. So we get a free choice.
I’m taking a very easy option by spelling the month with books that are on my wishlist. Two of these are new publications that might make it onto the Booker Prize longlist (the announcement is due Tuesday, 28 July 2026).
J
John of John by Douglas Stuart
I’ve yet to read Shuggie Bain, the novel which gained Stuart the Booker Prize in 2020. I’ll get to it one day. In the meantime his latest novel John of John has caught my attention. It’s set in the isolated, religiously strict community of the Isle of Harris in Scotland during the late 1990s and has been described as a modern day version of the prodigal son parable.
U
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
This is a 2015 debut novel by Nigerian-American author Chinelo Okparanta Set in 1960s Nigeria it follows the story of Ijeoma, a girl growing up in war-torn Nigeria who must come to term with her sexuality and the conflict this presents in society. This will fit nicely into my Adventures in African Literature project.
L
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
I’ve yet to read a book by Maggie O’Farrell I haven’t enjoyed so I have high expectations for her newest novel. Land is a multi-generational story whic begins in the west of Ireland in 1865 with Tomás and his young son, Liam, who are mapping the country for the British Ordnance Survey in the aftermath of the Great Hunger.
Y
Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota
The Year of the Runaways by British author Sunjeev Sahota was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. The narrative focuses on the lives of three Indian men who live together with other migrant workers in a house in Sheffield, England. One of them is married but his wife barely knows, or wants to know, him and lives separately in a flat.
.If you fancy having a go at Spell the Month, you’ll find all the info you need on the website of the host, Reviews From the Stacks.
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