On the blog last week
Monday – I published my review of Conqueror by Simon Turney, the fourth and final book in the Agricola series.
Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books With Nationalities in the Title. I also shared my final update for the 20 Books of Summer 2026 reading challenge. Plus I shared my review of historical mystery Seething Lane by Jack Jewers.
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.
Thursday – I shared my August 2026 Wrap-Up. I also published my review of spy thriller Cold Sunset by William Boyd.
Saturday – I joined other gardeners for #SixonSaturday sharing six things from my garden this week. The first Saturday of the month means it’s time for another #6Degrees of Separation. My chain took me from Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams to Lost Property by Helen Paris.
New on my shelves
Two books that couldn’t be more different. The first a book club pick, the second a book on the Booker Prize longlist…
Three Summers by Karen Swan (Penguin)
Italy, 1957: The summer of innocence
Amongst the lemon trees, Rafaella Parisi impatiently waits for the summer visitors to arrive in her small fishing village on the coast of Puglia. She may be dating Fon Giannelli, but there is one person she longs to see: Cosimo – son of the wealthy Franchetti family.
1958: The summer everything changes
After a devastating accident at the lavish Franchetti villa, Rafa makes a vow that changes the course of all their futures…
1961: The summer they meet again
When Rafa and Cosi’s worlds collide, Rafa faces an agonizing choice. Is she willing to risk the life she has for the future she once dreamed of?
The Disappearers by Marlon James (Review copy, Hamish Hamilton)
The Disappearers is Marlon James’s triumphant return to the Jamaica of A Brief History of Seven Killings – a place of heat and chaos, and of danger for anyone outside the heteronormal.
So when eight gay men meet for the first time, in Kingston in 1988, answering the casting call for an openly queer play, they are already taking a big risk. But that is nothing compared to what rains down on them when a mob descends on one of their rehearsals.
By the end of this night, one man is dead, all are injured, and two subsequently disappear. As the survivors heal, each man finds he must confront the bigotry and homophobia that the attack laid bare. Some try to forget; some embrace their rage; and some simply vanish – but all are forever scarred.
As one of the victims puts it, ‘there’s a difference between when something ends and when something stops’. And this story won’t stop until both the disappearers and the perpetrators have been tracked, along trails both hot and cold, and an ending reached.
Epic and intimate, violent and forgiving, The Disappearers is a tour de force which only Marlon James could have written – both an unflinching portrait of the hatred and shame faced by gay men in a society which refuses to accept them, and a deeply human story of acceptance and insight.
What I’m currently reading
I’m reading The Newer World by Sebastian Barry from my NetGalley shelf and Miss Veal and Miss Ham by Vicki Heywood, a book purchased after hearing the author speak at Winchester Books Festival in April.
Look out for…
- Book Review: Farewell to Eden by Sebastian Faulks
- Book Review: Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson
- Book Review: A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan
What Cathy Read Next... 