bookshops

Books in the Wild: Airport autumn 2026 edition

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Slightly belatedly as we’ve been back a few weeks now, but for this Saturday’s post I’ve got my thoughts on the bookshop selection at Birmingham airport.

I’m going to start with a disclosure: I was disappointed with the selection this time. I think that’s partly because I’ve actually done quite a good job of getting (and reading) advance copies of some of the autumn releases this year, but I think there was actually quite a lot of repetition in what was here and not as much variety. This is the top of the airport fiction chart and I’ve already read the Lucy Foley Miss Marple, I’m pretty convinced that Yesteryear and Taipei Story will have big Kindle price drops at some point and I don’t want to read them enough to pay these prices and then we have a lot of thrillers that aren’t really my thing.

In the bottom half of the chart you can see some of the stuff from the top half filling some gaps (or is it vice versa?) and then the Hawthorne and Horowitz that I read back when it came out in the spring, and the Mel Giedroyc (twice!) which I read and (surprisingly) really, really loathed. The Kathryn Stockett has had mixed reviews and is really long so I skipped on that, and I’ve actually already got the Richard Osman so I was pretty short on choices for the traditional holiday Buy-one-half-price.

Moving to the airport non-fiction, we have my two purchases (as you know) Regime Change and The Cauldron, but I’ve already read the Kennedys and the Windsors thanks to a Kindle offer, I still haven’t read the Miriam Margolyes book I already own, Journey across Japan is actually a follow up and the Patrick Radden Keffe is about the death of a child and although the other books of his that I’ve read have been really good, I know that I’m not in the headspace to read about that. I was tempted by the Lucy Worsley, but I wasn’t sure how much new stuff would be in there, and I was also tempted by The Beckhams, which is by Alexander Larman who has written some books on the Royals that I’ve read – but it was really skinny and the print was large so I didn’t think it was worth it!

Swan Song by Charles Spencer was the big release at that point – and I don’t know if you can tell but that’s in actual hardback format, not airport paperback, which is why I’m including this one. I’m not bothering with anyt of the other paperback-paperback photos, because it really was the usual suspects – Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and other Taylor Jenkins Reid books, lots of Colleen Hoover, Frieda McFadde etc and also quite a bit of Alexandra Potter. I had been hoping for the latest Three Dahlias or the new John Green Hollywood Ending in Airport format but no such joy.

Hey ho – if you’re going through an airport soon, may your bookshop visit be more satisfying!

series

Series Redux: Philippa Gregory

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Covers of The Constant Princess, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen's Fool and The Virgin's Lover

Philippa Gregory has a new book out this week, so I’m taking the opportunity to point you back at my post about her Tudor series that I wrote (gosh) four years ago. Her new one this week is called Royal Witch and is set in 1420 and is once again a fictionalised version of a historical person – this time Eleanor Cobham, who was a lady-in-waiting to Jacqueline of Hainault at the court of Henry V. The blurb suggests that this is one of her more magic-is-real novels – but as ever the line here is very blurry and Goodreads has this listed as the (new) first book in the linked series of Plantagenet and Tudor novels which ends up in the Tudor Court books that I was writing about in that original post.

And since that post back on Platinum Jubilee weekend (what a long time ago that seems now) there is a new Tudor book too – The Boleyn Traitor about Jane Boleyn, who has figured in earlier books in the series (and not in a postive light!) as she is the wife of Anne Boleyn’s brother George. The Boleyn Traitor came out in hardback last year and paperback over the summer, and won fiction book of the year at the British Book Awards in May. Of the two, I’m more likely to read The Boleyn Traitor than Royal Witch on account of my spotty relationship with books with magic, but I’m so far behind on these at this point – and the to-read pile is so huge there’s no chance of it happening for quite some time!

Have a great weekend!

Book previews

Out Today: Legends and Lattes Graphic novel

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The graphic novel version of Legends and Lattes is out in the UK today. I will admit that I didn’t know that this was a think until the start of the month, but now I know it is – I want it! I’m not always the most visual reader (if that makes sense) so I’m excited to see what it looks like in this format. I’ve really enjoyed the Legends and Lattes books as you may remember and this is actually the second Travis Baldree release in as many weeks – last week we had Tales from the Territory, which is a collection of five short stories in the world and which I also need to get my hands on, but as it’s hardcover only at the moment that may not be as soon as I can get my hands on the graphic novel.

books

Recommendsday: South Korean books

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This month it is a year since Baek Se-hee, the author of I Want To Die but I want to eat Tteokbokki died, at the age of just 34. It spawned an outpouring of love for her and for her work and so today I have for you a few South Korean books in translation. Her writing was a memoir, and I don’t really have anything else similar to that, but I do have some fiction – and if you liked any of the Japanese books in translation I recommended a few weeks back, then there are some that have a similar feel here.

Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee Hye*

Yoojin is the proprietor of the Book Kitchen which is cafe-bookshop and a retreat. Across the course of the book we meet the people who come to visit over its first year and see how their trip changes them and their lives. It’s described as for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but I actually think it is closer in many ways to What You Are Looking for is in the Library. It’s quite low key and definitely fairly low peril but I really like the variety of people who come through to visit and the insight into life and culture of South Korea. I read it in an evening without really moving from my reading spot.

DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee

Copy of DallerGut Dream Department Store

Penny is a new employee at a department store selling dreams. It’s her big chance and a huge opportunity for her and across the book we follow her as she learns how the job works, gets to know the other employees and the people behind the dreams that they are selling. This was everywhere about two years ago – I picked up a copy soon after it came out, started reading it and then promptly left it at a friend’s house and didn’t get it back for a year. And then when I did it went back on to the pile and I forgot about it. It had been so long since I started it that I did start again when I finally sat down to read it. This is also low peril, but has more focus on Penny and her life than it does on the dream customers and how their lives are changed (compared to the Book Kitchen I mean). It’s quirky, magical and escapist. There is a sequel now – it’s described as a duology and I can’t quite work out if I liked it enough to read it.

Baekjo laundry Has a Neat Answer to All Your Problems by Lee Jae-in*

Eunjo has been forced to move back to the coastal town she grew up in after the university she was attending was closed down before she could graduate from her fashion design course. Without a degree, there is no one who wants to hire her so when her parents decide to retire, she takes over (with no enthusiasm) their laundry shop. It’s sandwiched between a newly renovated apartment complex and one still awaiting work and he has a lot of baggage about growing up there. But she starts to notice mysterious things happening around the complex and decides to try and figure out what is happening. I think this has a great premise, but I think it’s let down by the translation. It switches from first person to third person at times for no real reason and there are jumps backwards and forwards that are never really explained, and plot developments that occur with no explanation. At first I thought it was a style thing, but as it went on and it got more confusing I put it down the translation. Which is a shame because I think it might have been trying to be a sort of low stakes mystery type of thing but just not pulling it off. Hey Ho.

That’s your lot today, please take care of yourself and if you’re struggling with your mental health, you are not alone and there are organisations who can help you.

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Seventh Sinner

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Here we are with another book on the week – and it’s yet another mystery novel!

This time it’s the first book in an Elizabeth Peter series that I haven’t previously read – The Seventh Sinner is the first to feature librarian Jacqueline Kirby. Written in the 1970s, this is set in Rome and our main character is Jean, a student in the city on a fellowship and along with her friends waiting to see if their work has been enough to secure a further year’s funding. She’s been having a great time in Italy – right up until the point where she finds one of the members of her group bleeding to death in a catacomb. And then the accidents start – or is someone actually trying to kill Jean. With the help of Jacqueline, can she stay alive to finish her studies?

This is quite of its time, but it’s an atmospheric mystery in a great setting with a some of the humour that you might expect if you’ve read the Vicky Bliss which started at a similar time or her historical Amelia Peabody books. If you’ve read or are used to reading books from the seventies it’ll probably work for you. I really enjoyed it and as you know from Books Incoming I’ve got the next two to read in the series already

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 12 – October 18

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Happy Monday everyone. Back to earth with a bump and a much shorter list this week. And I’ve got a busy week coming so no guarantee that I’ll be able to do any different this week. Hey ho.

Read:

The Shippers by Katherine Center

Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno

Back to You by Ann Liang

Death of an Englishman by Anna Beer

Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair by Ashley Herring Blake

Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters

Started:

Murder at the Ritz by Jim Eldridge

Still reading:

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

One book and one ebook

Bonus picture: I was going to post another picture of my view from the commute which is now pitch black but luckily I have something more cheerful…

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

not a book, tv

Not a Book: Rik Mayall Magnificent B’Stard

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I’m back with another documentary pick this week – apart from Quarterback at the start of September it’s been a very theatre heavy three months both on the blog and for me generally because I’ve spent a lot of time away from home, which typically means I’m spending my evenings at the theatre or reading books rather than watching something on a screen.

This is a TV documentary about the comedian Rik Mayall who was one of the pioneers of alternative comedy in the 1980s. I’m too young to remember that – but old enough to remember the repeats of various of his shows being on BBC 2 and for him to have been an anarchic presence in the general realm of showbiz. I knew the main contours of his life, but not the details – and this filled in the gaps with archive footage and talking heads interviews with all of the key players – including audio recordings of Mayall, who died unexpectedly of a heart attack aged 56 in 2014.

It’s hard at this point to understand how revolutionary or groundbreaking things that seem commonplace now are – whether it’s the Beatles in music, naturalism arriving in movie acting or alternative comedy – which was different in the UK compared to the US. So many of British comedy’s big names are people who came up through the alternative scene that it’s hard to remember that they were once outside the mainstream. Anyway, if you like comedy history, this is a good watch. If you remember anything about the era it’s even better, with some moments of real sadness – such as Mayall’s children talking about the impact of the quad bike accident on their father and Adrian Edmondson (his longtime collaborator) talking about his regret that the two of them didn’t get over the breakup of their relationship before Mayall’s sudden death.

There’s no trailer for this one, so I’ve used it as an excuse to post (possibly) my favourite scene in all of Blackadder – Mayall’s scene stealing turn as Lord Flasheart, stealing a bride away from the altar. I can (and do much to Him Indoors’ distress) recite every word of this scene. It’s just glorious. Woof!

This was on Sky Documentaries and actually quite a long time ago back in June – see my comments above about how little time I’ve spent at home that mean it’s taken me this long to watch it – but you should still be able to find it on Now.

The pile

Books Incoming: Mid-October 2026 edition

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It is a landmark month – the final Thursday Next is in my grubby little hands and here it is in the photo too. Will I start to read it straight away or will I re-read the others first (as has theoretically been my plan for a year but that i haven’t actually carried through on…) The airport purchases on the way to the holiday were Regime Change (which I read on my sunlounger) and The Cauldron (which I didn’t). See You at the Finish Line came from Saucy Books, the Edmund Crispin came from Gower Street Waterstones, and the Kimberly Akimbo playscript came from the theatre when I went back to see it again. I’d actually read that one before I even got it home, and I’ve also read The Shippers which was a pre-order as I mentioned in the Kindle Offers post.

And finally we have a late arrival – a very of it’s time cover here on this Elizabeth Peters omnibus which I picked up after the third book Die or Love (title handily hidden under the price sticker!) was mentioned on one of my favourite podcasts because it’s set at a book convention. This reminded me that there is an Elizabeth Peters mystery series that I haven’t read. This one isn’t on Kindle in the UK so it’s second hand or nothing and the omnibus of the first three was only a couple of pounds more expensive than the three book version and so here we are. I wasn’t expecting it to arrive so fast, so it gets its own solo photo because it arrived this very morning after I’d already taken the photo (and shelved) the others!

Have a great weekend!

series, Series I love

Series I Love Redux: Thursday Next

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The final Thursday Next book is finally out in the wild! It’s twenty five years since The Eyre Affair brought Thursday into the literary world – and thirteen years since she burst into my life and it’s been a long, long wait to see what the last chapter of Thursday’s story has in store – because book seven was already out by the time I started the series. I both can’t wait to read it and have a sense of trepidation about reading it in case it doesn’t live up to my hopes. I pre-ordered my copy more than a year ago – and hopefully it will have turned up by the time you read this. Anyway – if you’re still waiting for your copy do go back and read my original posts about the series.

Book previews

Out this week: New Bonnie Garmus

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Bonnie Garmus’s debut Lessons in Chemistry was one of my favourite books of 2022 and so it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that her second book Peck & Peck which came out on Tuesday is the book that I want to mention this week. Per the Blurb: It’s 1982 and Batter Grey has just finished college and he’s working in the Gap because having an ear for poetry hasn’t got him a proper job like his friends have. But then he scores a job at a prestigious poetry journal, only to discover that it is way more dysfunctional than he could have imagined. I am very much looking forward to reading this one – and I’m expecting it’s going to be absolutely everywhere given the success of Lessons in Chemistry.