Category: My Week in Books

On the blog last week

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Best Books I Read in 2025.

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 responses to the Classics Club 26 in 2026 questionnaire.

Saturday – I took part in the Six on Saturday meme, sharing six things from my garden this week.

Sunday – I shared my sign-up post for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026.

New on my shelves

Carrion Crow by Heather Parry (Pushkin Press via NetGalley)

Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames. For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs. Beeton’s advice and longing for life outside.

Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good. Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name – her husband’s name, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won’t do. Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.

Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray. And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading Benbecula and The Pretender from my TBR pile and listening to the audiobook of Mary Anne, the first book on my new Classics Club list.

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Look out for…

• Book Review: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Book Review: The Huntingfield Paintress by Pamela Holmes
• Book Review: Tin Man by Sarah Winman
• Book Review: Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor

On the blog last week

Monday – I shared my Q&A with Jodie Morgan, author of cozy mystery Murder at the Summer Cheese Festival, plus an excerpt from the book.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Most Recent Additions To My Bookshelf.

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 the fifty books on my second Classics Club list. Something to keep me occupied until December 2030!

Friday – I published my wrap-up for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025.

Saturday – I took part in the #6Degrees of Separation meme, forging a chain from The French Lieutenant’s Women to J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement. I also participated in the Six on Saturday meme, sharing six things from my garden this week.

New on my shelves

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Macmillan Audio)

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny weather-lashed island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. As Shearwater risks being lost to rising sea levels, the island’s researchers have fled, and only the Salts remain.

Until, during the worst storm in living memory, a stranger washes ashore. The family nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, but it seems she isn’t telling the whole truth about why she’s there. And when Rowan stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a recently dug grave, she realises that she’s not the only one on the island with a secret.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading Whale Fall and The Eights from my TBR pile and listening to the audiobook of Wild Dark Shore for my book club.

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Look out for…

• Book Review: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Book Review: The Huntingfield Paintress by Pamela Holmes
• Book Review: Tin Man by Sarah Winman