Tag: Currently Reading

On the blog last week

Monday – I published my review of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie, longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was a freebie on the theme of Halloween.

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 crime mystery A Pretender’s Murder by Christopher Huang.

Thursday – I published my Q&A with Ross Gilfillan, author of historical novel In Leicester Fields.

Friday – I shared My Year in Nonfiction, the first weekly prompt for Nonfiction November.

Saturday – I participated in the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a book chain from We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson to The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler.

New on my shelves

The Forgotten Daughter by Anirudh Joshi (author review copy)

In the rain-slick alleys of Kamathipura, truth is a luxury few can afford.

When Meher disappears, the city shrugs—but one man refuses to forget. Vishy, a solitary book seller with a past he won’t speak of, begins a quiet rebellion against apathy. As he searches for Meher, the shadows grow darker, and the cost of remembering becomes unbearable. 

The Forgotten Daughter is a story of grit, grief, and the fragile hope that someone, somewhere, still cares.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading The Assassin of Verona from my TBR pile, The Matchbox Girl from my NetGalley shelf and I’m listening to the audiobook of Swan Song.

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Look out for…

• Book Review: Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey
• Book Review: Transcription by Kate Atkinson
• Excerpt: A Knock at the Door by Peter Rowlands
• My Top 3 October 2025 Reads

On the blog last week

Tuesday – For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic I shared a list of Books To Make You Smile.

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 shared an excerpt from historical novel In Leicester Fields by Ross Gilfillan.

Saturday – I published my Q&A with Zoe Caryl, author of historical novel Julia Sleeps.

New on my shelves

The He Was Gone by Isobel Booth (eARC, Crooked Lane Books)

When attorney Elizabeth English and her husband, Paul, catch up to their energetic sons at the end of their hike, they expect to find the two boys waiting by their car. It’s been only minutes since Henry and Nick bolted ahead. But when Elizabeth and Paul emerge from the trail, Henry is gone, and all Nick says is that he saw a lone truck leaving the lot shortly after Henry went to the bathroom.

Gritty park ranger Hollis Monroe launches a massive search and teams up with a local detective to investigate the possibility that Henry was kidnapped. Elizabeth and Paul aren’t sure which is worse: their six-year-old lost in Rocky Mountain National Park or scared and bound in the back of a stranger’s pickup.

The search drives the couple to their breaking point, and secrets they have been keeping from each other are revealed for Henry’s sake. With every hour that passes, finding Henry becomes less likely, and Elizabeth becomes ferocious in her determination to make the impossible come true and find her son.

Dark is the Morning by Rupert Thomson (eARC, Head of Zeus)

Sometimes love isn’t where you belong.

Gino, a troubled young man, suddenly realises that his childhood sweetheart Franca can give his life the happiness and stability he needs. They seem made for each other, and move to a remote house in the countryside. Franca soon gives birth to a son so handsome that people come from miles around to see him – but his sheer beauty causes Gino to doubt that he is truly the boy’s father.

Descending into pathological jealousy towards a married man who had been Franca’s lover, Gino is unable to stop himself imagining the worst, and embarks on a violent path that has catastrophic effects on those around him.

Julia Sleeps by Zoe Caryl

Glasgow 1936. In the very heart of the city, Evie Jameson, the child of a poor tenement family is determined to follow her dreams of becoming a singer, but must persuade her loving family of where her vocation truly lies. Her path is paved with triumphs and setbacks.

‘The world is bigger than Glasgow – do you want to see it?’ her agent challenges her, sparking excitement in her heart. ‘Yes! Yes, I do!’ she exclaims, and her resolve only deepens when war breaks out and she is called on to serve her country. The conflict thrusts Evie into dangers and adventures she could never have imagined, but amid the chaos, will she also find love?

From London in the blitz to magical, mysterious India her courage and integrity are put to the test and she must draw on the strength forged by her proud Scottish heritage.

Inspired by a true story, Evie’s tale is one of nostalgia, ambition and resilience where true friendships and love shape both the woman and the singer she is destined to become.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading The Assassin of Verona from my TBR pile, The City And Its Uncertain Walls for my book club and I’m listening to the audiobook of Swan Song

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Look out for…

• Book Review: Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey
• Book Review: Transcription by Kate Atkinson
• Book Review: A Pretender’s Murder by Christopher Huang
• Q&A with Ross Gilfillan, author of In Leicester Fields