My Week in Books – 8th December 2024

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My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I shared My Top 5 November Reads.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was a freebie and my choice was Books with Periods of Time in the Title.  

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. 

Friday – I looked back at the Bookish Goals I set myself in 2024.

Saturday – I joined the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a book chain from Sandwich by Catherine Newman to Talland House by Maggie Humm.

New arrivals

The House with Nine LocksThe House with Nine Locks by Philip Gray (eARC, Vintage via NetGalley)

In post-war Flanders, Adelais de Wolf’s family is slowly, inexplicably falling apart: her mother evermore lost to religious devotion, her father to alcohol. But with the death of a beloved uncle, Adelais finds herself in receipt of an unexpected legacy: a shuttered house in a rundown district and its contents – contents which hold the promise of wealth and independence. All that is required is application, nerve, and a willingness to operate outside of the law.

Adelais stifles her doubts and her fortunes are transformed. But with her rise comes complications: her victimless crimes may not be as victimless as she supposed. Nor has she counted on the singular fanaticism of Major de Smet of the Federal Gendarmerie, a brutal detective who never forgives and never forgets.

Caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse, will Adelais find that her new life comes at too high a price?

Mrs Hudson and the Capricorn IncidentMrs Hudson and the Capricorn Incident by Martin Davies (eARC, Allison & Busby via NetGalley)

It is spring in Baker Street, and London is preparing itself for the wedding of the season – an international spectacular in which the young and popular Duke of Krasnow, a political exile from his native land, is due to take the hand of the beautiful and accomplished Princess of Rovenia – a union that will heal the divisions between her family and the duke’s. But the stakes are high.

When the princess disappears in dramatic circumstances, other members of the British establishment are quick to call on Mr Sherlock Holmes and he, in turn, looks to his redoubtable housekeeper Mrs Hudson, and housemaid Flotsam, to assist in this puzzling case.

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Time of the Child by Niall Williams
  • Book Review: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

#6Degrees of Separation – A book chain from Sandwich by Catherine Newman to Talland House by Maggie Humm

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It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation.

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own six degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post.   You can also check out links to posts on Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees.

SandwichThis month’s starting book is Sandwich by Catherine Newman set in Cape Cod. It’s a novel I’ve not read or even heard of before now and, based on the description, probably not a book I’m likely to pick up.

Links from each title in the chain will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

Fairly predictably my first link is food-related and something you might use when making a sandwich.  Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton) features a female serial killer who is also a gourmet cook. 

The Language of FoodEliza Acton, the main character in The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs, was definitely not a serial killer but was a pioneering cook. She was the author of the first recipe book aimed at domestic readers, Modern Cookery for Private Families. 

Miss Graham's Cold War CookbookMiss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees also features recipes but this time as a way of communicating coded messages as part of an operation to root out Nazis trying to escape prosecution after the end of WW2.

In Mr Standfast by John Buchan, it’s John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress which is used to decipher coded messages between Richard Hannay and his comrades who have been given the task of tracking down and destroying a network of German spies during WW1.

Hannay’s adventures take him to, amongst other places, the Isle of Skye which is also the setting for To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

Talland House in St. Ives, Cornwall is where Virginia Woolf spent many summers as a child and Talland House by Maggie Humm is a historical fiction novel featuring characters from To the Lighthouse.

My chain has taken me from Cape Cod to Cornwall via the Isle of Skye. Where did your chain take you this month?