#TopTenTuesday Books Set in Places I’ve Visited #TuesdayBookBlog

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Top 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 Bookish Places I’ve Visited. I’ve been fortunate to have visited quite a few countries, especially on cruises, and I love when I come across books set in a place I’ve been to… or the other way around. Links from each title will take you to my review.

  1. Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan
  2. The Last Apartment in Istanbul by Defne Suman
  3. Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson (Crete)
  4. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Sicily)
  5. Venetian Vespers by John Banville
  6. Daughters of Naples by Diana Giovinazzo
  7. The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly (Vienna)
  8. Woman in Blue by Douglas Bruton (Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam)
  9. The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Barcelona)
  10. House of Beauty by Melba Escobar, translated by Elizabeth Bryer (Colombia)

My Week in Books – 23rd August 2026

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On the blog last week

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Book Series I Want To Catch Up On. I had no difficulty coming up with ten.

Wednesday – As always #WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.

Saturday – I joined other gardeners for #SixonSaturday sharing six things from my garden this week. I also published my review of historical novel The Knife Maker of Venice by David Gilman.

New on my shelves

V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death by Kathryn Harkup (ARC, Bloomsbury Sigma)

Fourteen novels. Fourteen more poisons. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s all made-up …

Agatha Christie is renowned for her creative ways of killing off ill-fated characters with poisons, drawing on her extensive checmical knowledge to add intrigue to her ‘whodunit’ plots. But how is it that some compounds prove so fatal, and in such tiny amounts?

The follow-up to Kathryn Harkup’s best-selling A is for Arsenic, this book features fourteen more poisons from Christie’s works. Exploring the science behind these deadly substances, their use in real-life murder cases, and how feasible is it to obtain, administer and detect them, V is for Venom is a celebration of the science used by the undisputed Queen of Crime.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading Farewell to Eden by Sebastian Faulks from my NetGalley shelf, The Correspondent by Virigina Evans for my book club, and listening to the audiobook of Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.

Look out for…

  • Book Review: Conqueror (Agricola #4) by Simon Turney
  • Book Review: Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson
  • Book Review: A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan
  • Book Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans