#WWWWednesday – 11th February 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!


Time of the Child by Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)

Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in the little town of Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from his community. A visit from the doctor is always a sign of bad things to come.

His youngest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed her chance at real love – and passed up an offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

But in the advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter’s lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall (The Borough Press)

Cambridge, 1942. Twins Tessa and Theo had always shared everything – until the summer Tessa spent studying in France. She hasn’t been the same since. But before Theo can find out why, he is recruited by the RAF and disappears into the skies.

Determined to carve her own path, Tessa joins the clandestine Special Operations Executive, slipping into the shadows of occupied France. It will be dangerous work, but France is the home of her greatest love – and her darkest secret. Tessa has many reasons for wanting to return.

Two years later, only one of them comes home.

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson (Headline)

The Two Roberts by Damian Barr (Canongate)

He will stay like this forever, Robert’s arm draped round him. They will be forever twenty.

Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is on his way. After years grafting at Lees Boot Factory, he’s off to the Glasgow School of Art, to his future. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls – and never leave his side.

Together they will spend every penny and every minute devouring Glasgow – its botanical gardens, the Barras market, a whole hidden city – all the while loving each other behind closed doors. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent will take them to Paris, Rome, London. They will become stars as the bombs fall, hosting wild parties with the likes of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Smart. But the brightest stars burn fastest.

My Week in Books – 8th February 2026

Monday – I shared my sign-up post for the What’s In A Name? Challenge 2026.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books Covers With Striking Typography. I also published my review of historical novel Julia Sleeps by Zoe Caryl

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 list for the latest Classics Club Spin.

Friday – I shared details of the twelve books on the longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026. I also published an excerpt from Baked Tapes, the debut novel by Bob Christenson.

Saturday – I took part in the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a book chain from Flashlight by Susan Choi to The Huntingfield Paintress by Pamela Holmes.

The River Days of Rosie Crow by Rebecca Stonehill (ARC, Stairwell Books)

Modern day: following a breakdown, Rose Crawford retreats to a quiet village. Discovering an old family tree and intrigued by their similar name, she is drawn to a woman named Rosie Crow who died young. As curiosity pervades her, Rose feels herself settling into a new skin, reconnecting with a latent love of storytelling.

19th Century Norfolk: Rosie Crow is spirited, illiterate and deeply connected to the land. She longs to communicate the stories she believes the river tells her but when worsening rural poverty stirs up disquiet, her differences – combined with entrenched witchcraft superstition – become the catalyst for devastating consequences.

Paper Sisters by Rachel Canwell (Northodox Press)

May 1914, and as the First World War approaches, three women are living, trapped between marsh, river, and fen. Their lives held fast by grief, the past, and the looming presence of a hospital. A hospital which has never admitted a single patient.   

Eleanor longs to escape. To make a life with the man she loves, leaving her sister and all her ghosts behind. 

Clara’s marriage is crumbling and violent, although she yearns for peace and security for both herself and her children.   

Meanwhile, Lily, determined that nothing should change, will do anything to prevent life and her family from moving on. No matter the cost.

I’m reading Time of the Child, one of the books on the shortlist for the Winston Graham Historical Prize 2026, The Shock of the Light from my NetGalley shelf and listening to the audiobook of Room 706.


  • Book Review: Room 706 by Ellie Levenson
  • Book Review: The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall