My Week in Books – 29th December 2024

My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Tuesday – My take on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Most Recent Additions To My Wishlist.

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. 

Saturday – I took part in the In 2024… My Life in Books tag.


New arrivals

Agricola: Warrior by Simon Turney (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

In Nero’s Rome, ambition is a dangerous thing…

Agricola has won renown for his military exploits in Britannia. Now returned to Rome with his new family, he seeks to rise further – but life in the greatest city on earth proves more difficult than he expected. Roman politics are on a knife-edge – often literally. The Emperor Nero is unpredictable, the manner of his rule unstable.

Agricola soon finds himself posted to the troublesome province of Asia Minor. The local governor is ambitious and dangerous. Falling foul of such a man could mean certain death… and yet a rebellious young warrior like Agricola cannot stay silent for long.

When Agricola experiences personal tragedy, he seeks revenge. Rome, meanwhile, burns in a great fire… but further tumult is to come in the wake of Nero’s death. Agricola must tread a careful path to stay alive through the Year of the Four Emperors… a year of blood and ruin throughout the empire.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (eARC, John Murray via NetGalley)

Everyone in the village said nothing good would come of Gabriel’s return. And as Beth looks at the man she loves on trial for murder, she can’t help thinking they were right.

Beth was seventeen when she first met Gabriel. Over that heady, intense summer, he made her think and feel and see differently. She thought it was the start of her great love story. When Gabriel left to become the person his mother expected him to be, she was broken.

It was Frank who picked up the pieces and together they built a home very different from the one she’d imagined with Gabriel. Watching her husband and son, she remembered feeling so sure that, after everything, this was the life she was supposed to be leading.

But when Gabriel comes back, all Beth’s certainty about who she is and what she wants crumbles. Even after ten years, their connection is instant. She knows it’s wrong and she knows people could get hurt. But how can she resist a second chance at first love?


On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading


Planned posts

  • Book Review: The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner
  • Book Review: The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

My Week in Books – 22nd December 2024

My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books On My Winter 2024/25 To-Read List.

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 review of The War Widow by Tara Moss

Saturday – I shared my review of Orbital by Samantha Harvey.


New arrivals

Start A Religion, Stay Out of JailStart a Religion, Stay Out of Jail and Other Absurd Tales by Logan J Medland (ecopy courtesy of Raw Earth Ink)

Pets: do they secretly hate us? Could starting a religion allow one to live one’s entire life as a tax write-off and are the cost-to-benefit ratios worth it? What if the donut shop around the corner stays open all through the sleepless nights and its only patrons were every person you’ve ever known? Could this indeed be heaven? What happens when the delivery driver falls in love with one of his customers? Is there redemption for the students who planned and executed their teacher’s demise, just to get out of doing their homework? Would you survive the apocalypse if you built the world’s most well-planned bomb shelter? Is simply surviving enough, or would you need trustworthy companionship as well? Is cheese the most perfect food?

Find out answers to these questions and so much more…


On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading


Planned posts

  • Book Review: The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner
  • Book Review: The Silence of Scheherazade by Defne Suman