Hello from London! We’ll be driving home today, but we still have the morning here and a late checkout from the hotel…
And of course — as mentioned in my post on Wednesday — I am now once more a graduate, for the fourth time! All went well, and I’m officially The Bibliophibian, BA (Hons), BSc (Hons), MA, MSc, and an alum of Cardiff University, the Open University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine/University of London.
Don’t ask what’s next, because I’m still resting! The MSc was seriously hard work, along with life stuff in the last year or two. But I’m sure I’ll be back to studying sooner or later.
But you’re all here for the books…
Books acquired this week
Hold onto your hats, it’s going to be a wild ride. My wife and I saved up for months so we could go on a book spree to celebrate my graduation, and we certainly managed to do that. I’ll split the new books into at least two posts, maybe three, since it’s nicer to be able to chat about individual books rather than have an overwhelming wall of them, and I won’t be getting othernew books for a bit (except maybe some to review).
For this post at least, since it covers a couple of indie bookshops, I thought it’d be nice to group them by where I picked them up. So let’s start with the first books I got this week, from the Victoria & Albert Museum! Sadly their fashion gallery is closed, just when we’d have loved to take a look at more of these garments for real… but we did get to see some of the kimonos and other Japanese items in the Japanese gallery.
I’m not honestly sure why there was a bunch of Beatrix Potter merchandise and books, but I wasn’t complaining. I love the fact that she was actually a naturalist and a close observer of nature.
On the way back from there, I ducked into an indie bookshop while my wife was getting snacks and bubble tea: South Kensington Books. I didn’t really intend to get anything, but I found there were waaaay too many books jumping out at me to be ignored…
Once I got back to the hotel and could look them up better, I found a couple of these have few or no reviews on StoryGraph, which I actually find fairly exciting. It’s nice to get my hands on something a bit more niche thanks to the curation of indies.
Next up, we have a book from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, which is smallish but crammed full of artifacts. It’s not very heavily curated: there are lots of display shelves and cases packed with finds, which have their labels with them but not a lot of context or sorting. Still, you can find artefacts from Amarna, which is a personal interest, and some fascinating pieces definitely jumped out at me. The display of a beaded dress, some cloth fabric remains and the display of ushabtis are a highlight, along with a pot burial that is a bit macabre.
Meanwhile, the gift shop yielded up treasure for me:
On Thursday we meant to hit quite a few indie bookshops, but the dwindling budget and my aching feet meant we stuck to Waterstones Piccadilly, Forbidden Planet Megastore, and Gay’s the Word. We trekked out to get the books from Waterstones and Forbidden Planet to the car, so I haven’t catalogued them yet… but here are the books from Gay’s the Word, the oldest queer bookshop in the UK. First, some poetry…
But don’t worry, it wasn’t all highbrow!
I had no idea volume seven of Fence was out! As for the others… well, I’m curious to know at least a little about the Heated Rivalry hype, and I’m unlikely to ever get round to watching the series (I barely watch anything unless it’s over dinner, when me and my wife watch Taskmaster or Gladiators at the moment). I’ve been wanting Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die for ages, and Straight Acting was just a random choice.
Posts from this week
I made post drafts ahead so I could keep up with posts as usual while away, so there’s plenty to round up! Reviews first:
- Romance manhwa:Â Tied to You, vol 2, by WHAT & Chelliace (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
- Fantasy: Nightshade & Oak, by Molly O’Neill (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
- Poetry: Duino Elegies, by Rainer Maria Rilke (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
- Classic crime: Sky High, by Michael Gilbert (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
- Non-fiction: Cat Tales: A History, by Jerry D. Moore (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Fantasy/horror graphic novel: Carmilla: The First Vampire, by Amy Chu & Soo Lee (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
- Fantasy romance: Twig’s Traveling Tomes, by Gryffin Murphy (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
- Poetry: Black Cat Bone, by John Burnside (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
As ever, don’t forget many of these reviews are from weeks ago, since I hold ’em back to try to create a diverse mix of genres in my reviews. The books I’ve been reading this week are discussed in the next section below! ↓↓↓↓↓
Other posts:
What I’m reading
It’s been a bit of a weird week for reading, given I’ve been busy with planned outings and tired from a lot of walking, but I did finish some books this week, all the same! Here’s a peek at the ones I intend to review (eventually) on the blog:
Folk Song in England is quite the chonker, but at least I got it finished before the trip! I enjoyed Mary Oliver’s poetry quite a lot, and the Fashion in Detail series from the V&A is always good, so it was a good reading week.
As for reading this weekend… well, we’re traveling home today which is quite the drive, and it’s my sister’s birthday dinner tomorrow, so we’ll see. I hope to dig into more of my new books, though; I’ve started William Tyndale and the English Language and Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries, so it’d be nice to finish those at least!
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.
I love seeing your book hauls. Sounds like you had a fun shopping trip, not to mention you got another degree out of it!
Let’s face it, the degree was an excuse… 😉
Wow! Congratulations on your latest degree!
And what a great reward to bring home all those lovely books!
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: A Holiday in Smithville
Thank you! And yes, thanks to some saving up, a gift from my mum, and some extra indulgence from my wife, I’ve been well spoiled!
Hurrah! Huge congratulations 🙂 I’m curious to find out what direction the next one will end up taking you 😉
calypte recently posted…The Incandescent – Emily Tesh
There may or may not be bets about whether I’ll have enrolled for something new by the start of the next academic year. (I am insistent that the answer will be no!)
That copy of Somewhere There Is A Sky For Us is stunning!
Keira @Keira’s Bookmark recently posted…March Book Haul | Stacking the Shelves
It definitely caught my eye!
Blue Horses looks good. I enjoy her poetry.
Harvee recently posted…Codebreakers and Wordhunter: Mystery Novels
I really liked both collections, definitely going to read more of her work!
Congratulations! And how lovely to be up in London and spending money on books. An interesting pile of books too.
I love Egyptian stuff. It’s always the section that I want to visit in a Museum (as well as Dinosaurs ).
Have a lovely rest of the weekend and enjoy the downtime.
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2026/03/28/stacking-the-shelves-childrens-book-edition/
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog recently posted…Stacking The Shelves – Children’s Book Edition
Egyptology and dinosaurs are definitely major draws for me! When I visited my in-laws in Canada with my wife, we practically made a beeline for the museum in Drumheller. So good.
Hope you have a good week!
Many, many congratulations on finishing your MSc! As an American, where a college education is very costly, may I ask the costs in England?
Olivia recently posted…Weekly Reading Update 3-28-2026
Thank you! I think in total the MSc cost me about £20,000. Maybe a little more than that, because that’s the amount if you pay in full right away, and I did “pay as you go”, which is slightly more expensive.
Congratulations on your newest academic honour. My daughter is currently doing her MSc while my son is doing his MA.
I love how you chose to reward yourself and I look forward to seeing the rest of your haul.
Wishing you a great reading week
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon
Thank you! And wow, you must be very proud of them.
Congratulations to you! That’s wonderful!
You have an interesting stack of books to read. I hope you enjoy them. Have a great week!
Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews recently posted…The Weekend Review – March 28th-March 30th
Thank you! 😀
Congratulations on graduating!
I love Mary Oliver’s poetry.
Karis @ This Side of Storyland recently posted…The Sunday Salon #3
Thank you!
And yes, it’s lovely, very accessible too.
You have quite a nice mix of new books. I hope you have a great week. Congratulations on your graduation!! That is exciting.
Cindy’s Book Corner recently posted…Imperfect Justice
Thank you! 😀
Congrats on your studies and the diversity of books you read.
Thank you! Though I don’t think reading a wide range of books is necessarily better than not; whatever people enjoy, right?
Congrats on your graduation!
Bree @ Bibliophilebree recently posted…Sunday #35
Thank you!
What a wonderful time in London and many congratulations on completing your degree! I’ve just nicked across and bought Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die – it looks hilarious. Thank you for pointing it out. I hope you have a lovely week.
Thank you!
And yes, Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die was on my wishlist for a while, I’m glad it’s out now! It looks like a lot of fun.
Have a great week! 🙂
Thank you!
That Beatrix Potter book looks amazing. I love her illustrations. And that she was was accurate. Congrats on your new degree!
My Sunday Salon: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/03/sunday-salon-no-kings.html
I’m enjoying it so far! I thought I knew a fair bit about her, but actually there’s a few surprises, so that’s nice.
Congratulations!! And what a great way to treat yourself after all of your hard work!
Thank you! 😀