#WWWWednesday – 22nd July 2026

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!


Little Spark by Jess Kidd (Canongate via NetGalley)

A secret cannot stay locked away forever

Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn’t know where she came from, but she knows she’s different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.

For years, she was ‘Little Spark’, the star of an electrifying travelling act – until it went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.

Now she’s been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.

But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years – and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.

The Draw of the Sea by Wyl Menmuir (Aurum)

The ocean fires our imagination, provides joy, solace and play but also wields immense destructive power. The Draw of the Sea explores communities whose lives revolve around the coast of Cornwall and the Isle of Sciily. In the specifics of these livelihoods and their rich histories and traditions, Wyl Menmuir captures the universal human connection to the sea.

Into this seductive tapestry, Wyl weaves the story of how the sea has beckoned, consoled and restored him. Funny and uplifting, personal and profound, The Draw of the Sea will delight anyone familiar with the intimate and inescapable pull of the sea.

The Eagle & the Wolf (Age of Attila #1) by Gordon Doherty (HarperCollins)

As Hun hordes and Germanic tribes maraud through Imperial lands, two legendary men – Attila the Hun and the “Last of the Romans” General Flavius Aetius find their fortunes entangled with the chaos.

Flavius Aetius, a noble Roman son, is an outsider in a savage land. He has been banished, given as hostage to the barbaric Huns and sent to the edge of the world.

What the Huns do not know, however, is that his father and mother have been murdered in a coup. He is an orphan, with no value at all. His life hangs on a lie.

In this new harsh world, he manages to find one grudging ally, a young boy named Attila.

A brotherhood is formed. One that, the shamans foretell, will shatter the world. (Review to follow)

The Knife Maker of Venice by David Gilman (Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

1604. As pirates seeking slaves to sell in the markets of North Africa terrorise the coasts of Europe, headstrong Richard Sheriff and his sister Elizabeth are torn from their Devonshire home and thrust into a waking nightmare.

Richard’s skills as a blacksmith see him fetch a high price, but the pirate captain has other plans for Elizabeth and once they are separated, Richard has no idea of his sister’s fate. They must both learn to survive on a deadly voyage into the unknown.

Sold into servitude in Venice: glittering, vicious city of secrets, he is apprenticed to a knife maker. Richard’s talents soon win him renown… but haunted by his sister’s absence, he vows never to stop looking for her, knowing she would do the same for him.

First he must survive that city of ghosts. Will the siblings live to see each other again, or will they join the myriads lost to Venice, where life is cheap, profit is all, and escape nigh-on impossible?

My Week in Books – 19th July 2026

Monday – I shared an update on my progress with the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday was Books on My To-Read List by New-To-Me Authors.

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 published my review of The Millionaire Waltz by Anthony Quinn.

Saturday – I joined other gardeners for #SixonSaturday sharing six things from my garden this week..

Mithim by Catrina McNally (Mercier Press)

Wexford, 1657. Ireland is on its knees.

Eight years after Cromwell’s army burned Killenea Castle to the ground, Mithim McMurrough – daughter of a Gaelic lord, healer and last keeper of her family’s secrets – is living alone and in hiding in the depths of a Wexford forest. The soldiers are moving closer. And the past is closing in faster still.

Fierce, lyrical and steeped in Irish mythology, the Celtic tree calendar and the forgotten wisdom of the Gaelic healing women, Mithim gives voice to a noblewoman who refused to disappear quietly into the wreckage of conquest – who carried her people’s knowledge into the dark, and who will risk everything to find out who survived.

Julia Wakes by Zoe Caryl

It’s 1946, and Evie is back on stage where she belongs, her voice ready to soar in the theatres of Scotland. One question shadows every note she sings: Is the brilliant young trumpet player who stole her heart under the Indian sun still part of her future?

Myles has dreams of his own, bold and uncompromising, and Evie dares to believe she can build a life where love, family, and a glittering career all shine together. Yet the climb toward “having it all” is steeper than she imagined; as Evie’s star rises, she seizes bright, shining moments of opportunity that strain the fragile balance between career and home, and when life delivers an unexpected miracle, she learns how deep the unbreakable bonds of love really are.

Her journey in the spotlight carries her across the world, taking her far from her beloved Glasgow, bringing moments of breathtaking joy and quiet heartbreak; Evie strives for love, whilst never turning her back on the extraordinary gift that has been given to her – her voice.

Inspired by a true story, Julia Wakes celebrates the resilience of a woman who refuses to give up on her dreams, and the fierce, enduring love that ultimately defines her legacy. This is a story for anyone who has ever reached for that bigger, brighter star, and refused to let go.

I’m reading Little Spark by Jess Kidd from my NetGalley shelf and I’m listening to the audiobook of The Draw of the Sea by Wyl Menmuir.


  • Book Review: Country People by Daniel Mason
  • Book Review: Land by Maggie O’Farrell
  • Book Review: The Eagle & the Wolf by Gordon Doherty