#TopTenTuesday The Play’s The Thing – Books Set in Theatres #TuesdayBookBlog

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books I’d Like to Re-Read. Re-reading books is something I almost never do so I’ve come up with my own topic – Books Set in Theatres. Links from the title will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

  1. Traitor’s Legacy by S. J. Parris – the body of a young heiress is found on the site of a theatre in Elizabethan London but what was the motive for her murder?
  2. Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor – the Lyceum theatre in 1878 is the setting for a love triangle involving theatre manager Bram Stoker, actor and impresario Sir Henry Irving, and actress Ellen Terry
  3. The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath – Charlie Grice, one of the great stage actors of the day, dies suddenly. His widow Joan, the wardrobe mistress, is grief-stricken but begins to realise Charlie was a man of many secrets
  4. Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson – Anna Treadway, a young dresser at the Galaxy Theatre, sets out to investigate the disappearance of actress Iolanthe Green after a performance one evening
  5. Murder at the Theatre by Greg Mosse – as opening night of a new play approaches, a body is found concealed behind the scenes in the theatre
  6. The Improbable Adventures of Miss Emily Soldene by Helen Batten – the true story of a woman who became a leading lady of the London stage and an impresario with her own opera company
  7. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon – in 5th century BC Syracuse, two unemployed potters come up with the crazy notion of staging Euripides’ play Medea in a quarry using Athenian prisoners as cast
  8. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters – the fortunes of Whitstable oyster girl Nan King are changed forever when she falls in love with cross-dressing music-hall singer Kitty Butler
  9. Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham – Julia Lambert is the greatest actress in England but off stage she’s bored with her handsome husband and is flattered by the attentions of a shy and eager young fan
  10. Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn – on a sultry afternoon in the summer of 1936, a West End actress accidentally interrupts an attempted murder in a London hotel room

My Week in Books – 6th July 2025

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday was a freebie and given the date (1st July) I came up with Books That Are The First In A Series. I also did a Mid-Year Check-in on my bookish goals this year.

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 historical novel One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter.

Thursday – I shared my Top 3 June 2025 Reads.

Saturday – I took part in the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a book chain from Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser to Talland House by Maggie Humm. I also published my review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, one of the books on my list for 20 Books of Summer 2025.


The Predicament by William Boyd (Viking via NetGalley)

Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.

As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel’s reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realisation: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher.

Brick Dust by Craig Jordan=Baker (eARC, epoque press)

This sprawling saga of family and class is told by an enigmatic narrator, a hoarder of documents, who is trying to lay out a history of the Nacullian family. As the jumble of their lives is pieced together we witness them migrate, marry, work up library fines, die, build bridges and Morris dance.

Brick Dust is a comedic tale about the struggle to make something solid, when all we have is dust?

I’m listening to the audiobook of The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel from my 20 Books of Summer list, I’m reading The Last Apartment in Istanbul by Defne Suman from my NetGalley shelf and a review copy, Green Ink by Stephen May.


  • Book Review: The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
  • Book Review: A Beautiful Way to Die by Eleni Kyriacou
  • Book Review: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid