On the blog last week
With the distraction of being a member of the judging panel for the Winston Graham Historical Prize over, I applied myself to catching up with reviews. Still some to go though…
Monday – I published my reviews of Words for Patty Jo by Jill Arlene Culiner and The Pretender by Jo Harkin, shortlisted for the Winston Graham Historical Prize and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026.
Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books With Green Covers in honour of it being St. Patrick’s Day.
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. I also published my review of short story collection What Remains After a Fire by Kanza Javed, longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2026.
Friday – I shared my review of Ravenglass by Carolyn Kirby.
Saturday – I joined other gardeners for the #SixonSaturday meme, sharing six things happening in my garden this week.
New on my shelves
Bane of Bernicia (The Bernicia Chronicles #11) by Matthew Harffy (Head of Zeus via NetGalley)
Returning from a dangerous mission to Rome, warlord Beobrand looks forward to peace at home, but bloodshed remains his constant companion.
While bringing criminals to justice Beobrand believes he has discovered a secret alliance between two of Bernicia’s the Picts and the Mercians.
He hastens to warn his king, but finds Oswiu distracted, preparing to marry his eldest son to the daughter of former adversary Penda of Mercia, who remains as slippery as ever.
Dismayed, Beobrand finds himself blamed for breaking the truce with the Mercians, and must fight once more for his life. Worse, Penda insists on taking Oswiu’s young son as a hostage.
Beobrand is surprised when Queen Eanflæd concocts a plot to rescue her son and orders him to take part. It will take all their guile to achieve their goal… and keep their heads, when half the kingdoms of Albion want Bernicia destroyed.
Prey (Spoils of War #11) by Graham Hurley (Head of Zeus via NetGalley)
1943. The war is turning against the Third Reich, but the Luftwaffe are eagerly exploiting a lethal blind spot in the RAF’s Lancaster bombers with their innovative upward-firing cannon.
MI5’s Tam Moncrieff lobbies ceaselessly for a solution in the face of officials’ indifference. His quest sees him accompanying a bombing raid deep into Nazi Germany that will change the course of the war.
The target is the Nazis’ flagship city of Nuremberg. With bright moonlight and clear visibility, the conditions are perfect… for the enemy. The Luftwaffe are jubilant as they take out plane after plane.
With so many men dead or captured, can RAF Bomber Command overcome their darkest hour, when the predators have become the prey?
Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan (Doubleday)
In 1973 Moll Gladney goes missing from the Tipperary hillside where she was born. Slowly her parents, Paddy and Kit, begin to accept that she’s gone forever. But she returns, changed, and with a few surprises for her family and neighbours.
Nothing is ever the same again for the Gladneys, who learn that fate cares little for duty, that life rarely conforms to expectation, that God can’t be relied upon to heed any prayer.
A story of exile and return, of loss and discovery, of retreat from grief and the saving power of love.
That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack (Canongate)
1957. Sonny is working on a whaling ship in the South Atlantic, reckoning with the most vicious storms he has ever seen. It’s a brutal way to make a living. When he finally returns to his Shetland home to build a life with his wife and young son, the legacy of his time at sea is felt by all of them.
In present day Shetland, Jack is an old man, living alone in the cottage where he grew up, in the shadow of a hill. And it is here, one evening, that something appears on his doorstep. Something that throws off the rhythm of his solitary existence in the most profound way.
This is a story of unlikely friendship, longing, the power of music and the pull of home. It is about a life revisited – and reimagined.
What I’m currently reading
I’m reading a review copy of Sweep the Cobwebs Off the Sky and listening to the audiobook of The Wasp Trap, my book club’s pick for March
Look out for…
- Book Review: Love Lane by Patrick Gale
- Book Review: Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
- Book Review: A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia
- Book Review: Sweep the Cobwebs Off the Sky by Mary O’Donnell
- Book Review: The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
What Cathy Read Next... 