How’s it been another week already? It started off quite gruelling, as my first exam was a doozy, but hopefully I’m managing to rest and recharge before the final two on Monday and Tuesday. And then I’ll have done all assessed work for my degree!
Last weekend was of course my little trip with my wife and a friend to York to the bookshops there, where I gleefully spent time in Criminally Good Books and Portal Bookshop. Let’s get onto the book haul, shall we?
Books acquired this week
I spent most of my money in Waterstones and Criminally Good Books, this time, because I had some stamp cards full in Waterstones and I wasn’t somehow in much of a mood for fiction. In the end, I only got two novels!
I was interested in reviewing The Otherwhere Post for Postcrossing’s blog (where I do a semi-regular feature reviewing books about post/mail/etc), so that was a bit of an impulse buy. I’m not entirely sure if The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association will be for me, but I did see some enthusiastic reviews about it (most recently calypte’s review, though that was posted after I bought it), and I thought… why not? If I don’t like it, then no harm done.
Other than that, it was all non-fiction (and mostly history), some of which I’ve already devoured. Let’s start with the books I snagged in Criminally Good Books!
They had a whole shelf on plants and poisons that really I should’ve dragged my friend in to see, since he loves plants, but honestly I figured he’d probably read them (and maybe isn’t as interested in stuff pertaining to crime and crime fiction as I am). I’m quite curious about Stony Jack and the Lost Jewels of Cheapside, which promises to talk about the antiquities trade in Edwardian London, about which I know almost nothing.
More treasures await, though! Here’s the rest of my haul, including two gifts from my wife when I made eyes at highly illustrated and quite expensive books (the first two below).
My usual eclectic mix, as you see! You’ll notice another candidate for review on Postcrossing’s blog, too: The Postal Paths, by Alan Cleaver.
I’ve already dug into some of the new books, as you’ll see in my sneak peek of books I’ve reviewed that will get posted to the blog… eventually. But first, the usual recap of the week!
Posts from this week
I’ve been busy, but not too busy to keep posting reviews — thankfully I write them long in advance, and have a huge backlog, so I even managed to post on my exam day.
- Poetry: The World’s Wife, by Carol Ann Duffy (3/5 stars)
- Non-fiction: The Graves: Srebenica and Vukovar, by Eric Stover and Gilles Peress (4/5 stars)
- Non-fiction: Jane Austen in 41 Objects, by Kathryn Sutherland (4/5 stars)
- Fantasy/romance manga: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, vol 1, by Kazuki Irodori (3/5 stars)
- Fantasy: Hemlock & Silver, by T. Kingfisher (5/5 stars)
- Classic crime: Cat and Mouse, by Christianna Brand (1/5 stars)
And there was quite a chatty What Are You Reading Wednesday post, too.
What I’m reading
As promised, let’s talk about the books I’ve read this week which I’ll be reviewing on the blog (eventually). The reviews are already written, really, but I have such a backlog to actually post!
There were a couple of rereads, too, so it really wasn’t a bad week as far as reading goes, despite the 13-hour exam on Monday.
Over the weekend, I have ambitious reading plans, as usual. I’m just finishing off with The Medieval Scriptorium (Sara J. Charles), and then I probably want to focus on some fiction for a bit and reading A Case of Mice and Murder (Sally Smith). Other than that, perhaps a little more of my reread of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, and if I finish that… who knows?
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, as usual!
What a wonderful stack of books! I just started The Grimmoir Grammar School and it seems a bit on the goofy side. I hope I end up liking it.
I’m eyeing those poisonous plant books, how fascinating. Good luck on the rest of your tests
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT by Tim Weed – Review
It seems like The Grimoire Grammar School is probably lighter/funnier than I usually go for, but I thought I’d go out of the comfort zone a bit and see!
And thank you! I need the luck, it’s going to be a gruelling couple of days, but I can’t wait for it to be over.
Congratulations on finishing your degree. I remember that amazing relief!
The Grimmoir Grammar School looks interesting. Hope you enjoy your new books.
Val recently posted…Stacking the Shelves 6-7-25
It’s not my first degree, but I swear it’s been the one that’s been most struggle — I’ll be so happy to be done.
Thank you!
Oh my! Most Delicious Poison? No Ordinary Deaths? Yes, I shall add these to my list. Postal Paths and Beneath Our Feet also sound interesting, though they may be difficult to find here in the US.
Good luck with your last two assessments!
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: It’s Summer: Swim Class and Seashells and Butterflies and My Guitar and Gardening Plus a Little Hope
I’ve been meaning to check out Most Delicious Poison for a while, so I couldn’t resist it. 😀
Thank you!
I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday with my 2 sons and daughter in law. We’re all readers except my youngest son. Nobody bought a book! How is that even possible?
Are you sure you’re all well?! :p
You always have such great books!! I read eclectically too!
My son and I joined up with Postcrossing last year. We are having a lot of fun with it! How cool that you write for their blog!!
Eclectic readers unite, hehe. 😀
And, ah, cool! I actually help out with support emails as well and similar tasks, it’s such a cool project.
Glad you have had time to read some of your new books. Good luck on your last exams!
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older @m_older @older.bsky.social @tordotcom @tordotcom.bsky.social
Thank you, I’m so ready to be done, hahaha.
Oh my what a variety of books and topics. You could participate in my genre project because I’m pretty sure at least fifteen different categories are covered!
Anne@HeadFullofBooks recently posted…Sunday Salon — June
Hahaha, you’re not wrong!
A 13 hour exam sounds brutal!
Lots of interesting books here. I like the cover of Most Delicious Poison!
Have a great week!
Marg @ The Intrepid Reader recently posted…This Week…
Yeah… it’s really difficult. Yesterday’s was “only” 12 hours, at least! And today’s the last. They’re generous in some ways (open book, lots of time), but they are really complex exams.
I’ve tucked into Most Delicious Poison already, I couldn’t resist…
Thank you for the pingback 🙂 I hope you enjoy the daftness.
calypte recently posted…The Paradox Paradox – Daniel Hardcastle
I’m looking forward to it! A bit of light reading seems indicated now my exams(/entire degree!) are over with…
I tagged you https://mybookworld24.com/2025/06/22/the-lgbti-community-book-tag-original/ enjoy!
Ah, cool. I don’t do tags (at least not right now, super busy with moving), but thank you for highlighting your post!