Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted September 26, 2026 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Oof, I’m so glad it’s the weekend! It’s been a busy week, but this weekend should be a pretty good one for staying in to read, crochet, play video games and recharge.

Books acquired this week

Last week I wrote that I was heading out to bookshops in York over the weekend, and hoping to pick up some spooky-themed reads to fit in with the Haunted Shelf readathon. It was really fun last year, but I didn’t read a lot of seasonal/spooky/creepy books… so I decided to fix that.

I had some success, so here’s a peek at the books I got while in York, mostly at Topping & Company and Portal Bookshop. Of course… they’re not all spooky, because I did find some other books I couldn’t resist.

First up, here are the books going straight on my Haunted Shelf list:

And yep, you do see a sneaky non-fiction about ghosts in there. But wait, there’s more…

All in all, I made really good use of the remaining National Book Token balance I had left, plus my recent payment from selling books to World of Books (that’s my referral link, which would get you an extra £5 on a first trade, by the way).

And finally, I did also get an advance copy in this week, something I’d totally forgotten I’d requested:

Somehow I’ve never got round to reading anything of Wexler’s yet, so hopefully this’ll be the time!

Posts from this week

Here’s the usual roundup, starting with the reviews, including a rare five-star review!

Fantasy: The Poet Empress, by Shen Tao (5/5 stars, “loved it”)
Mystery: Tenant for Death, by Cyril Hare (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
Non-fiction: Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, by Helen Pearson (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
Non-fiction: A Short History of the World in 50 Lies, by Natasha Tidd (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
Manga: Cat + Gamer, vol 7, by Wataru Nadatani (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
Fantasy romance: The Wife Comes First, vol 4, by Lv Ye Qian He (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)

As usual, a quick note to believe me when I say that 2/5 stars is a book that I found “okay”, and 3/5 stars really does mean I liked the book! As usual, as well, most of these reviews are for books I read a while ago: I write the reviews as I go, but hold my posts back a little so I don’t spam you all (given I read more than one book per day when I’m in the right mood), can post plenty of variety in genres etc, and have plenty in the tank for a quieter time.

Aaaand here are the other posts:

What I’m reading

It’s been a pretty good reading week; I think my deliberate leaning-in to mood reading has been working out well for me. Certainly last weekend I had more than one instance of sitting down and reading a book all in one go, which is always a lovely feeling.

Here are the books I’ve finished this week that I plan to review (less a manga that isn’t worth reviewing here):

Over the weekend, I’m still leaning into mood reading heavily, knowing I’m going to try to do some more directed reading in October for Haunted Shelf. Still, I’d like to finish the classic mystery I’m reading at the moment (Harriet Rutland’s Knock, Murderer, Knock!) and perhaps the third volume of The Villain’s White Halo, since that finishes off the series.

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.