My Week in Books – 26th May 2024 – What Cathy Read Next…

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I made a visit Down The TBR Hole to decide the whether books I’ve still to read should stay or go. Spoiler: most of them stayed!

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Authors I’d Love A New Book From.

Wednesday – I published my review of The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley as part of the blog tour. And 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.

Thursday – To ~~celebrate~~ mark the start of the General Election campaign in the UK, I shared a list of Ten Novels About Politics.

Friday – I published my long overdue review of All Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman.

Saturday – I shared an update on my progress with this year’s When Are You Reading? Challenge.

Book cover of The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley

New arrivals

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (eARC, Canongate via NetGalley)

He was ready to die for love. He just needed to find the right girl.

October, 1891. Butte, Montana. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains. The city is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers.

Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and balladmaker, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Just as he feels his life is heading nowhere fast, Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington.

A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly and they strike out west on a stolen horse, moving through the badlands of Montana and Idaho. Briefly an idyll of wild romance perfects itself. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are soon in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast . . .

The Days of Our Birth by Charlie Laidlaw (eARC, courtesy of the author)

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.

A beautiful story sensitively told about how love and friendship can conquer everything, including time, to a point.

In This Ravishing World by Nina Schuyler (eARC, Regal House via NetGalley)

In This Ravishing World is a sweeping, impassioned short story collection, ringing out with joy, despair, and hope for the natural world. Nine connected stories unfold, bringing together an unforgettable cast of dreamers, escapists, activists, and artists, creating a kaleidoscopic view of the climate crisis.

An older woman who has spent her entire life fighting for the planet sinks into despair. A young boy is determined to bring the natural world to his bleak urban reality. A scientist working to solve the plastic problem grapples with whether to have a child. A ballet dancer endeavors to inhabit the consciousness of a rat.

In This Ravishing World is a full-throated chorus— with Nature joining in— marveling at the exquisite beauty of our world, and pleading, raging, and ultimately urging all of its inhabitants toward activism and resistance.