Happy Saturday! Last weekend before Christmas, and as ever I’m inundated with presents to wrap, ready to spoil my loved ones mercilessly.
Books acquired this week
I’ve been getting some early Christmas presents, which is lovely, along with some bribes (the two volumes of manga) to help encourage me when I was feeling meh and having difficulty getting up and getting to work.
Aaand then while I was doing some Christmas shopping, I ran into a seasonal romance that sounded fun… And a bit more importantly, a localish queer bookshop had a window smashed in and lost a day of trade in the week before Christmas, along with the till being robbed. To show support, I bought a few more presents there, and also used the opportunity to snag the second volume of MDZS, and a book for myself that I’d been eyeing for a while.
And let me just take a moment to offer that bookshop a little more support, too: The Bookish Type are back up and running now, but a lost day of trading on the week before Christmas can be a big deal. They have a pay-it-forward programme where you can buy a book for someone who can’t afford it, and a large online shop. If you’re in the UK, I recommend taking a look (and I imagine the pay-it-forward option should work worldwide).
Posts from this week
As usual, here’s a roundup of the reviews posted this week:
- Non-fiction: The Dead of Winter: The Demons, Witches and Ghosts of Christmas, by Sarah Clegg (4/5 stars)
- Classic mystery: The Secret Adversary, by Agatha Christie (3/5 stars)
- Romance: Cruel Winter With You, by Ali Hazelwood (2/5 stars)
- Fantasy manga: A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, vol 1, by Misaki, Momochi & Sando (4/5 stars)
- Horror: What Feasts at Night, by T. Kingfisher (4/5 stars)
What I’m reading
First up, the usual sneak peek at books I’ve finished reading which I plan to review soon! As you see, it was a quieter week around here than the last couple of weeks, but that’s fine! I’m making up for it this weekend.
As for what I’m reading now, there’s another volume of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation awaiting me, for a start, and I’m already partway through a book of short stories that feature mysteries set at Christmas, Crimson Snow. Other than that… who knows?
Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, as usual!
I added What an Owl Knows to my library list. I somehow missed seeing that Jennifer Ackerman published this bird book in 2023.
It’s great that you are trying to support the bookstore that had a window broken and was robbed. I hope your efforts will result in many additional sales.