On the blog last week
Monday – I shared an excerpt from historical novel Tethered Spirits by Corinne Hoebers.
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.
Thursday – It was Christmas Day, duh.
Friday – I shared my version of the book tag In 2025… My Life in Books.
Saturday – I published my review of Odin’s Game by Tim Hodkinson.
New on my shelves
A Wildflower Year by Frances Tophill (Kyle Books)
Experience a year through 60 wildflowers, beautifully pressed, illustrated and described.
Throughout the year, Gardeners’ World presenter Frances Tophill has collected and documented 60 beautiful wildflowers. For each species, she eloquently describes its importance and unique features, as well as their habitat, when they can be found, and what other species you might expect to find nearby. She also explains whether they are edible and their possible medicinal uses.
Wildflowers have a crucial role to play in the fight to preserve our vital biodiversity, combat climate change and support pollinators. A Wildflower Year is both a month-by-month ode to wildflowers, and a useful tool for identifying and growing your own.
The Eights by Joanna Miller (Penguin)
They knew they were changing history. They didn’t know they would change each other.
Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world’s most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms on Corridor Eight. They have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship.
Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Beatrice, politically-minded daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way – and her own friends – for the first time. Socialite Otto fills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they won’t be enough to distract her from her memories of the war years. And quiet, clever, Marianne, the daughter of a village vicar, arrives bearing a secret she must hide from everyone – even The Eights – if she is to succeed.
But Oxford’s dreaming spires cast a dark in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever.
The Pretender by Jo Harkin (Bloomsbury)
Kill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.
The year is 1483 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.
But history has other plans for John.
Stolen from his family, exiled – first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland – and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick – and rightful heir to the throne.
Far from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits – and the slippery counsel of his host’s daughter, the unconventional Joan – to navigate the choppy waters ahead.
What I’m currently reading
I’m reading Whale Fall and Tin Man from my TBR pile, both relatively slim books that I hope might get me (for my own satisfaction) closer to my Goodreads challenge target.
Look out for…
- Book Review: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Q&A/Excerpt: Murder at the Summer Cheese Festival by Jodie Morgan
What Cathy Read Next... 