Happy weekend! Here’s hoping the forecast spoke true and we’ll be getting some cooler weather here, because the heat is incredible. It is definitely too bloody hot (a song which is stuck in my cranium something fierce).
Books acquired this week
I wasn’t intending to get any books this week, but I definitely wasn’t going to say no when my wife had the opportunity to grab me volume two of The Wife Comes First, and I’d been looking for volume three of Guardian for a long time and panicking about the fact that almost nowhere had it…
I really want to get round to the next volume of The Wife Comes First sooner or later… and honestly I should start on Guardian before long, before I forget all the details of the world! The mythology is pretty complex, after all.
Posts from this week
As ever, there have been a lot of posts this week, so I’ll do a bit of a round-up. First, the reviews!
- Graphic novel: Lady-Bird, by Fabrice Sapolsky and Dawn J. Starr (1/5 stars, “didn’t like it”)
- Fantasy: Solo Leveling (light novel), vol 8, by Chugong (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Sci-fi/fantasy/romance: Clean Sweep, by Ilona Andrews (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Non-fiction: 20th Century Fashion in Detail, by Claire Wilcox and Valerie D. Mendes (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Poetry: Parallax, by Sinéad Morrissey (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
- Crime: The Last Escape, by E.C.R. Lorac (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
As ever, those don’t necessarily reflect this week’s reading, since I hold back reviews to try to get a diverse range over time.
Before we get into what I’ve been reading this week, here are the other posts I’ve made this week:
It’s been a lot for such a horribly hot week weather-wise! Unusually for people in the UK, my wife and I have a couple of portable A/C units, which have been lifesavers for us and the rabbits.
What I’m reading
I think last week I’d already fallen into my old habit of swapping between books after reading only a chapter or two, and rotating through that way. I’ve mostly kept that up this week, and I still think it’s working well for the way I’m feeling lately and is maybe a bit more natural to me than focusing on finishing a given book — unless the mood takes me, which it did a couple of times this week.
So without further ado, here are the books I finished reading this week:
I’m honestly impressed I finished everything, given general busyness and the heat — but my reading time was quite high this week, actually! Helped by one late night with a toothache after dental work (which fortunately settled down and was just because it was new, this time) where I couldn’t resist starting a new-to-me E.C.R. Lorac…
Anyway, this weekend I’m reading volume three of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, have returned to Rachel Reid’s Game Changer, am knee-deep in Charlotte Booth’s Lost Voices of the Nile, and have started on Sophia Smith Galer’s How to Kill a Language. I’ll probably stick to those, though I have earmarked some library books that I really need to get round to, so it’s possible I’ll start on one of those.
Hope everyone has a good weekend — and to those in areas where it’s been really astoundingly hot, hope you’re doing alright and that the hot weather has ended or will end soon. Hang in there!
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’ve been hearing about the heat in your part of the world, ugh, I hope there’s a cool down coming soon. Hopefully books and AC will help!
It’s a little cooler today and should be much more normal temperatures starting tomorrow, thankfully! Even the cooler weather today comes as a relief.
Very hot and jealous of your air con. Every year we look at it, but as a mid terrace we don’t have a lot of options. Downstairs is also one open plan space so we aren’t sure if it would work. We are in Kent so in one of the hotter areas.
It would definitely have been rude to say no to a book when offered so I completely understand
Hope that your tooth is now better.
Have a good rest of the weekend!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2026/06/27/stacking-the-shelves-156/
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog recently posted…Stacking The Shelves
Ours are just portable units with hoses that poke out of the window. It’s not the most efficient, so it’s a bit expensive in terms of energy use, but it’s a lifesaver in this weather. Hope you’re surviving okay!
Thankfully my teeth just hurt on the day I had the work done and is now settled down — thanks for asking!
I hope you are able to stay cool in the awful heat in the UK. We focus on keeping hydrated when we are outdoors. Enjoy all those lovely books.
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: Northern Cardinal Chicks, Butterflies and Bees, an Alligator, and Some Gulf Coast Toads
Fortunately the heat has broken and today’s a pretty normal day! It almost feels cold in comparison, since it’s 15 degrees celsius cooler than it was two days ago.
Yes – it’s a whole lot cooler here, too. My grandson has an aircon unit in his bedroom as he simply cannot handle the heat – but you’re right about how greedy it is! Let’s hope the coming week is kinder to all of us, Nicky:).
I don’t know that I’d say it’s greedy! I feel very lucky that we had the option, and privileged, but I don’t see it as greedy; I think it’s something we should expand access to, in this warming world. Particularly since it got up to 38C here, a temperature at which our rabbits would have died (as wild rabbits would be underground in such weather).
Sorry the heat has been unbearable! We are going into a heat wave this week, and I hope you do cool off for a bit. Enjoy your books!
Cindy’s Book Corner recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #215 Sunday Post #212 Sunday Salon #206
Looks like we have a week of cooler temperatures, and then it’ll go back up — but so far, they don’t think it’ll be as high. Fingers crossed!
I’m glad you had some way to mitigate the heat, I hope the weather cools off quickly.
Thanks for sharing your week, happy reading!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon
Luckily the heat broke yesterday and now it’s quite pleasant! Almost cold by comparison, haha, since it’s 15 degrees Celsius cooler.
Sounds like you had a great reading week. We’ve been having hot, humid and rainy weather. I’ve just been staying home. Hope you have a great week!
Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews recently posted…The Weekend Review – June 27th-29th
We definitely stayed home all week during the heatwave, but it’s a relief to be able to go out again now the heat’s broken for now.
I do the same thing – read a couple chapters and then switch books! I have had to limit myself to only three books at a time, though, because more than that slows me down and finishing everything gets frustrating.
Karis @ This Side of Storyland recently posted…The Sunday Salon #6
Yeah, I’m kind of in the frustrating place at the moment, have a few too many books on the go. Oh well!
I hope things cool down for you! Have a good week.
Bree @ Bibliophilebree recently posted…Sunday #48
Thank you! So far so good — the heat broke on Sunday here.
I hope your weather cools down. Ours is supposed to be extreme heat tomorrow but we have aircon. I’m sad you didn’t love Clean Sweep more. Ilona Andrews is my favorite.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
The heat broke on Sunday, which is such a relief!
I enjoy Ilona Andrews’ work a lot, but I think Clean Sweep isn’t maybe the best on its own… I always enjoy their books more once I’ve got into the world.
I tend to swap out books too – unless one seriously grabs me. Even when a book grabs me, I still tend to switch between a fiction and a nonfiction. As a rule, nonfiction usually requires less emotional energy from me, and that can be helpful. Her is hoping Northern Europe cools down ASAP!
Olivia recently posted…Weekly Reading Update 6-27-2026
I have the same thing with non-fiction! I read a lot more non-fiction when life’s busy/exhausting.
My thoughts are with my European friends going through this heatwave. In parts of the US we routinely get temps that reach those highs and beyond and even then it’s uncomfortable, I can’t even imagine how rough it is to experience this when not used to it and without AC! Glad you guys have it and hope things have cooled off a little and continuing to do so. Stay safe!
Thankfully it’s over here for now — it was so intense!
Our heat wave in the midwest US was about a week after yours – just wrapping up last night/today. Luckily we do mostly have air conditioning, but ours broke! :O Back to cozy and comfy today, luckily. Great reading productivity! My goal this weekend is to prioritize the things I want to do 🙂
I think it was also less humid for you guys, from what I heard from coworkers! But it’s still so tiring for it to be so hot.