My Week in Books – 14th June 2026

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On the blog last week

Tuesday – My twist on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books Featuring Handwritten Documents. I also shared my review of A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie, the book chosen for me in the latest Classics Club spin and also book 3 of my 20 Books of Summer.

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.

New on my shelves

Maria, Maria by Jennifer Galvão (Proof copy courtesy of Penguin and Women’s Prize)

Amidst the vast, sunlit cornfields of Portugal, Maria Lucilia receives a letter. The note is from her husband, Benedito da Silva, who is in exile – serving a punishing seven-year sentence as a fisherman with the White Fleet. But Bene cannot read or write.

In the icy port town of St John’s, Newfoundland, another woman welcomes Bene into her life and composes a letter to a stranger across the sea. Maria Alvares, a widowed shopkeeper, knows the uneasy power she wields – the other woman, lending a voice for the man she loves to reach the wife he left behind.

Though thousands of miles stand between them, the two Marias are drawn irresistibly to know each other. Slowly, in the margins and footnotes of the letters, a deep connection emerges: fears, hopes, and secrets neither woman has spoken aloud. What grows between them has the power to sustain – or undo – them both.

What I’m currently reading

I’ve nearly finished Country People by Daniel Mason and Deception by Alan Parks, both from my NetGalley shelf and out next month. And I’m reading an ARC of Murder at the End of the World by Akane Araki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood. All three are on my list for 20 Books of Summer. Now I just need to get up to date with writing reviews…

Look out for…

  • Book Review: Paper Sisters by Rachel Canwell
  • Book Review: Dwell by Rue Baldry

#SixOnSaturday – Six things happening in my garden this week

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Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations.

I should think we’re all pretty bored by now of talking about the weather so I’m just going to get straight on with my six:

One – Our two buddleia got attacked by something last year. One that had been there for years died completely. This one looked sickly all summer but is currently looking much more like its old self.

Two – Anonymous shrub rose brightening up the area under an apple tree.

Three – I expect the bees will soon be moving on from the lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) pictured last week to this large clump of rose campion (Lychnis coronaria).

Four – If you look carefully you can spot the first evidence the gooseberry sawfly caterpillars have arrived.

Five – Another unwelcome visitor – a lily beetle. It’s the first one I’ve ever spotted. It didn’t live long after the photo was taken.

Six – Alchemilla mollis just coming into flower.

A bonus one… We invested in a makeover of our total mess of a front garden last year. An overgrown, invasive hedge was removed, the scrappy old lawn was dug up, raised beds were built and new turf was laid. Since then I’ve been gradually adding shrubs, perennials and bulbs in the raised beds and borders. It’s still a work in progress – isn’t every garden? – and perhaps I should have labelled the second one ‘Now’ rather than ‘After’ but here’s a record of the changes.

Do check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post. If you fancy taking part yourself but don’t know where to start, here’s the participant’s guide.