Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted October 17, 2026 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

After a busy week last week with lots of library books and lots of reading, this week’s been a bit quieter!

Books acquired this week

This month’s British Library Crime Classic was their Christmas release, which is how they usually do things, and that dropped onto my doormat this week:

That’s it, after the recent excesses, hahaha. I haven’t been back to the library this week, since I haven’t done a lot of reading in that time.

Posts from this week

Time for the usual roundup! Reviews first, and as ever, they’re not books I read this week but reviews written sometimes quite a while ago, since I try to keep things varied and plan in advance.

History: A Woman’s Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering, by Elinor Cleghorn (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
Poetry: Dream Work, by Mary Oliver (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
Fantasy manhwa: Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, vol 3, by Sleepy-C, Umi & singNsong (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)

And as usual, I really mean it when I say 3/5 stars means I liked a book! I know other people have other rating systems, but I stick with the old Goodreads definitions that were around over twenty years ago now.

Here are the other posts from this week:

And that’s it for the week! I hope to get back to posting more reviews again, since work should be quieting down a bit for now (though just in time for the Christmas/New Year rush, ack).

What I’m reading

As ever, I’ll start with the books I’ve been reading in the last week! Mostly last weekend — I didn’t get as much reading time as I’d have liked during the workweek, this time round. As I mentioned last week, I want to be clear: these are just the books I’ve finished this week, and I’m not saying I recommend them at this time. You’ll have to watch out for my reviews for that! Please don’t read them because I mentioned them and then blame me when you don’t like a book that I’m planning to give one star… 😉

For this weekend, I’m a chunk of the way into Rachel Harrison’s Black Sheep and Francis Vivian’s Dead Opposite the Church, so those are my priority to finish. I’d like to read more of The Summer Hikaru Died as well… but otherwise, I’m not sure. I’ll probably go by whim!

Hope everyone else has a great weekend.

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at The Book Date.

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (manhwa), vol 3

Posted October 16, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

by Sleepy-C, Umi, singNsong

Genres: Fantasy, Manga
Pages: 248
Series: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (manhwa) #3
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
With all the food destroyed by the goblin, Dokja’s group is forced to venture into the dark tunnels teeming with vicious creatures. But in the cruel new world, monsters are not the most dangerous enemies. When the atrocities committed by the “Major Group” come to light, chaos ensues in Geumho Station. And amidst the bloodshed, Huiwon’s true power awakens...the Time of Judgment is nigh!

The third volume of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint manhwa covers the aftermath of the group’s arrival at the next station, and their trek to Chungmaro Station. The pacing and storyline all feel pretty much the same as the light novel, so you could almost read them interchangeably (except that the volume numbers don’t match up due to the formats, and maybe missing out on some of Dokja’s internal monologue here and there).

I really love Huiwon; though she’s introduced through a “damsel in distress” type situation where sexual assault has been attempted and she’s in bad shape, that’s a key part of how her character evolves and why she gains the abilities she does. It doesn’t feel gratuitous to me, though I’ve seen some other people complaining about it; amongst all the other violence in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, it feels significant that it’s mostly not sexual. The story doesn’t want to focus on that, even while we’re seeing a post-apocalyptic breakdown of society: it’s just important that Huiwon was so vulnerable, that people were so vile to her, more so than stealing food or attacking her or something like that.

Still, your mileage may vary and it’s worth keeping in mind that that’s part of Huiwon’s origin story, and may be touched on again.

I continue to enjoy Dokja’s scheming, of course, and I look forward to getting to the “cinema” section in the manhwa (maybe next volume? or the one after?).

N.B. This is being posted a couple months after I read it and I’ve actually read up to volume 10 by now and have 11 coming up on my TBR.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: book reviews, books, manga, SF/F, singNsong, Sleepy-C, Umi

Book Blogger Hop: Bookish Escape Room

Posted October 16, 2026 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

It’s Friday, so it’s time for the Book Blogger Hop again, hosted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer. I’ve made my own image from a stock photo (credit: Anna Shvets) to avoid adding images created via generative AI to my blog. Feel free to use it too if you would like!

This week’s prompt is about designing a bookish escape room:

If you designed a book-themed escape room, what puzzles would be part of it?

I have no idea about anything specific, but I’d steer away from using details of specific books in order to appeal to a range of bookworms, using mostly general knowledge. There might be some puns on the names of authors and titles of books, for example, but they’d be guessable by people with a general knowledge of literature.

I imagine there could be something with organising books, possibly with a clue to how they should be organised (I think alphabetical by author is usually the sensible way, but I know other bookworms prefer to make rainbows, sort by book title, or sort by height)… perhaps to open a secret panel or something like that.

If I were to design something specific, it’d be an escape room based on some kind of vintage mystery, and I’d definitely put some decipherment in — if possible, based on a Playfair cypher, as a reference to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Have His Carcase. I don’t think those need to be too difficult, if you left some way to decipher the key word in the room, and I know I’ve written notes to my wife in Playfair cypher once or twice, and they did get deciphered!

I’m not really very good at coming up with stuff like this, though, so generally I’ll leave it to the enthusiasts!

Tags: Book Blogger Hop, books, discussion

Review – Dream Work

Posted October 15, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Dream Work

by Mary Oliver

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 96
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
Dream Work, a collection of forty-five poems originally published in 1986, follows both chronologically and logically Mary Oliver’s American Primitive, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1983. The depth and diversity of perceptual awareness, so steadfast and radiant in American Primitive, continues in Dream Work. Additionally, she has turned her attention in these poems to the solitary and difficult labors of the spirit, to accepting the truth about one’s personal world, and to valuing the triumphs while transcending the failures of human relationships.

I liked Dream Work a bit more than A Thousand Mornings, but I’ve developed such high hopes for Mary Oliver’s poetry, and this collection didn’t quite hit the spot either. There were more poems that I loved here, at least, and as always the whole thing is suffused with her love of the world exactly as it is, her attention to detail, and her ability to find joy.

The poems in this collection are perhaps a little less wide open and accessible than some of her later ones, which gives her a bit more room for depth, but at the same time, that accessibility is something I enjoyed about her work. Not that these poems are particularly difficult, at least not in the deliberate “I’m writing something difficult just to be difficult” sort of way, but they are a bit less… straightforward. That’s very much a matter of taste, in any case!

Overall, a good collection, though not a favourite.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: book reviews, books, Mary Oliver, poetry

WWW Wednesday

Posted October 14, 2026 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

What have you recently finished reading?

I think the last thing I finished was Yuta Yagi’s Why I Adopted My Husband, which is about the practicalities of getting around the fact that gay marriage isn’t legal in Japan. I don’t think it’s super useful for most people outside of Japan, honestly, because the issue (and solution) is pretty specific to Japan.

Still, if you’re researching and if you want to read some commentary about what it’s like to be a gay couple in Japan, this could work.

What are you currently reading?

I have three books on the go that I started more or less at the same time, because I was having difficulty settling down. The first was John Wiswell’s Wearing the Lion and… I don’t know. I don’t disagree with Hera that Zeus is a dipshit, but the narration is grating on me in general. It’s hard to say exactly why, because I don’t think the Greek myths have to be treated with dignity or anything. Maybe it’s just a tone I don’t get on with in general.

I’ve also started Rachel Harrison’s Black Sheep, which has been cited by several people I know lately as their favourite of her books. I’m not far enough into it to judge, really, but I was relieved to have a character with a decidedly different (less mopey) feel to Willa in Kiss Slay Replay or Annie in Cackle. Something about those two characters was a little similar, but Vesper does feel a bit different.

Aaaand I’m also digging into The Demon Overlord’s Retirement Plan, which is fun so far. I’m curious where it’ll go, because I’ve heard comparatively little about the plot.

What will you be reading next?

Uhhh, let’s focus on my current reads first, mostly! Don’t tempt me to pick up more, ahaha. But I would like to read more of The Summer Hikaru Died; I’ve read three volumes, and I definitely want to read more.

Tags: books, WWW Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Autumnal Colours

Posted October 13, 2026 by Nicky in General / 22 Comments

Just a couple of weeks ago I already did a variation on this theme, and swore I’d try to do ten more totally different ones for this week. So let’s see what I can do!

Plenty of reds, yellow and oranges there! I think I win (at my self-imposed game, haha).

Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday

Fantasy with Friends: Fantasy Worlds to Live in

Posted October 12, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Monday means Fantasy with Friends time! All the prompts are hosted at Pages Unbound, if you’d like to join in. This week’s prompt is about fantasy worlds you’d want to live in:

What fantasy world(s) would you want to live in? Why?

None, really. I know that’s a really boring answer, and it’s also the same answer I give to questions about what period you’d like to travel to. I like where I am, mostly! Obviously there’s things I’d change in the wider socioeconomic and political environment, if I could wave a magic wand, but I have few regrets about my life, where I live, what I do, etc.

I suppose if I’m to play the game here and pick, it’d have to be something with portal fantasy: I can be here, but I can also visit a fantasy world. Preferably one without dire events, thanks: Narnia or Fionavar in times of peace and plenty, say. I’m a wuss!

If the question were about visiting other fantasy worlds for some brief period, if I could get a safe conduct so I’ll be totally fine… well, there’s plenty. Middle-Earth, for one.

But mostly, I like this world, even with all its flaws.

Tags: books, discussion, Fantasy with Friends, SF/F

Review – A Woman’s Work

Posted October 11, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

A Woman's Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering

by Elinor Cleghorn

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 416
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
Mothers make history. For centuries, motherhood has sparked social and political change. Yet the acts of growing, birthing and nurturing children - and the power they hold - have been pushed to the margins, overlooked in our narratives of the past.

In A Woman's Work, Elinor Cleghorn reveals the mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists, and community leaders who have shaped this extraordinary history. They include Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval nun and mystic with pioneering views about the maternal body; Mary Wollstonecraft, who laid the intellectual groundwork to release motherhood from male control; and Sojourner Truth, who drew attention to the abhorrent treatment of mothers under chattel slavery.

Beginning in the ancient world, we learn how in each era, the patriarchy constructed its own idealised notion of motherhood - from the misogynistic dogma of the early church and the stigmatisation of single mothers in 17th century England all the way through to the post-war myth of the perfectly contented housewife. But we also learn how mothers of all classes and circumstances fought back, and lobbied to be valued, respected and supported - not as reproductive vessels, but as people.

A Woman's Work is a radical and inspiring new history of mothering, and a timely reminder that the fight for reproductive freedom is far from over.

Elinor Cleghorn’s A Woman’s Work feels like an obvious thematic follow-up to her previous book, Unwell Women, which I liked a lot. From delving into why women have been sidelined medically and distrusted about their own experiences, it isn’t much of a step to discussing how motherhood has been devalued, the way it’s been constructed by men instead of people who actually give birth, the limits that have been placed on women (and people perceived as being women)… and the problems that has caused for them.

It would be easy to be really gender essentialist in this book, but Cleghorn does use terms like “birthing people” at times, focusing on people who’ve been treated as mothers in general — which does usually mean women, and does mean that in many cases in this book because that’s the nature of a lot of the historical evidence we have about mothering.

It’s not as directly my interest as her previous book was, but I did enjoy it and find her discussions of mothering in different societies, and where those ideas came from, what they were influenced by, etc. At times it’s a little depressing, when you think about how recently some of those attitudes were widespread, and how easy it would be to slip-slide back into them (and how we are already doing so, or never did as much better as we’d hope).

Overall, it’s hard to say it’s “enjoyable” given the topic, but it’s interesting, and worthwhile.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: book reviews, books, Elinor Cleghorn, history, non-fiction

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted October 10, 2026 by Nicky in General / 34 Comments

Hurrah, it’s the weekend again! And I have no plans (that’s a good thing).

Books acquired this week

I finally finally ended up going out for a ride on my bike this week, which means I made it to the library for the first time in a while! So here’s what I picked up on that adventure.

I picked up The Beheading Game because someone tantalised me by saying they felt there are links to the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in it, so I’m curious about that, despite it not being totally my thing… and I picked up a bunch of poetry collections almost at random because they were on a display, I didn’t know any of the poets, and I do like to explore poetry lately.

I did also get a book in the mail for review from Orbit/Hachette, too!

I actually got another one as well, but I’ve put it aside until I can get the first book in the series, as I hadn’t realised it was a sequel when I requested it (the email was not super clear, or I was daft, I don’t know which).

And finally, my rabbits (helped by my wife, of course, who definitely wasn’t the actual source) bought me two books on Kobo, and I accumulated enough Kobo Super Points to get myself a third:

So that’s quite a lot of new books on my plate this week. Oh nooo, etc.

Posts from this week

As ever, let’s do a bit of a roundup. Since it’s a busy time, I haven’t managed to post a review every day — the review posts are all ready to go, since I write reviews as soon as I finish a book generally, but I kept forgetting to come back and send a review post out as well on days I had other features. Still, there’s been a post every day, so there’s plenty to catch up with!

First up, the reviews:

Fantasy: Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die, by Greer Stothers (1/5 stars, “didn’t like it”)
Historical romance: After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine, vol 1, by Liu Gou Hua (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
Classic crime: The Duke of York’s Steps, by Henry Wade (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)

As ever, please do take my rating definitions literally! If it says I liked it, I liked it, even if you don’t use 3/5 stars that way. And these aren’t books I’ve read this week — those are discussed in the next section below!

Here are the non-review posts:

What I’m reading

As a quick note, it’s come up a few times that people assume me posting books I intend to review here constitutes a recommendation, so just to clarify: nope! I didn’t enjoy all of the books below, and at least one was a one-star read. I review everything I read, regardless of whether I liked it. If you see me post a book in the ‘What I’m reading’ section then try it yourself and don’t like it, that is not my problem. Even if the book is racist/misogynist/transphobic/etc, I don’t put a warning/disclaimer on this bit because I’m purely showing people what I’ve been reading; you’ll have to wait for my review (or ask me!) if you’re really keen to know my actual thoughts. Yelling at me about it or calling me out on your blog isn’t going to help anything!

Anyway! It’s been a good week for reading, thanks mostly to the month-long readathon I’ve been taking part in on Litsy! It’s been encouraging me to read some novellas and shorter books, and honestly that’s been nice, since sometimes it means taking a chance on something new to me. Here’s a sneak peek at the books I’ll be posting reviews for sometime in the foreseeable future…

As for this weekend’s reading, I want to focus on finishing Rachel Harrison’s Kiss Slay Replay and dig deeper into my actual October TBR, but I’m also planning to read some poetry and manga for palate-cleansing purposes (inasfar as trying different horror manga is very palate-cleansing, I suppose), and more of The Summer Hikaru Died because it’s really good so far.

In the end, as ever, it’ll be whatever my whim drives me to, though!

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at The Book Date.

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – The Duke of York’s Steps

Posted October 10, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Duke of York's Steps

by Henry Wade

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 280
Series: Inspector Poole #1
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Henry Wade's The Duke of York's Steps intricately weaves a tapestry of suspense, intrigue, and social commentary set against the backdrop of post-World War I England. The novel is marked by Wade's sharp prose and attention to psychological depth, creating multifaceted characters whose lives intersect in unexpected ways. The narrative unfolds with a sense of foreboding, as the protagonist navigates the underbelly of society, exposing themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the societal changes of the time, showcasing both the personal and communal challenges faced by the British populace in a rapidly evolving landscape. Henry Wade, notable for his mastery of detective fiction, brings his own experiences and keen observations of English society to his writing. Having served as a soldier during the war, Wade deftly captures the disillusionment that many felt upon returning home. His deep understanding of the human psyche and social dynamics informs the nuanced characters and plot twists that are hallmarks of his style. As an accomplished author whose works reflect a keen awareness of contemporary issues, Wade's insights elevate his narrative beyond mere entertainment. Readers seeking a gripping blend of mystery and social exploration will find "The Duke of York's Steps" to be an essential addition to their collection. Wade's engaging narrative invites the reader into a world rich with complexity and moral ambiguity, challenging them to ponder the implications of personal choices against the broader societal shifts of the period. This is not just a novel of suspense but a commentary on the human condition, making it a compelling read for those interested in literature that reflects both timeless themes and specific historical contexts.

The Duke of York’s Steps is a classic crime story written by Henry Wade, an alias for a baronet (Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet) who wrote a surprising number of detective novels which are surprisingly hard to find — I got this one via Kobo Plus US, and none of his books seem to be available on Kobo at all in the UK, and precious few elsewhere. I’d have expected a crime writer baronet to have a bit more novelty value!

In any case, I quite enjoyed The Duke of York’s Steps; it’s fairly slow and methodical, with Inspector Poole working carefully to unpick the mystery and avoid jumping to too-obvious conclusions. There are a few oddities, like all the male characters being attracted to Inez Fratten, daughter of the deceased… including her own “half-brother” (who, in the course of the story, is revealed to be no blood relation of hers — and almost as soon as he learns that, they’re clearly headed somewhere romantic, which is more than a bit weird, even if she already knew).

I mostly found myself liking the characters, at least in the limited sense where they seemed enough like decent and interesting people to give me firm opinions about who I wanted to be the culprit, and who I decidedly did not. I was kind of sad about the outcome, though it made perfect sense once that piece was finally revealed. I’d been to some degree “taken in” by that character; overall, the way it works itself out is pretty neat, if dramatic, albeit with a convenient “instant karma” death that adds little.

Overall, I’d happily read more of Wade’s work — if I could! It’s not fast-paced stuff, but I enjoy this kind of methodical mystery.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: book reviews, books, crime, Henry Wade, mystery