Review: A Widow’s Charm by Caitlin Paxson A Widow’s Charm Author: Caitlin Paxson Published: 2nd April 2026, Hachette UK Read: March 2026 courtesy NetgalleyUK  My Thoughts: A Widow’s Charm is an enchanting historical cozy fantasy roman…

#bookreview A Widow’s Charm by Caitlin Paxson @HachetteUK #read #book #review #fiction #historical #fantasy #cozyfantasy #romantasy #debut #SpeccyFicChal #2026GreatCanadianReadingChallenge #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #AWidowsCharm
bookdout.wordpress.com/2026/04/02/r...

Review: The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula The Geomagician {The Geomagician #1} Author: Jennifer Mandula Published: 31st March 2026, Penguin Books UK Status: Read March 2026 courtesy Netgalley My Thoughts: The Geomagician is a debut hi…

#bookreview The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula @PenguinUKBooks #read #book #review #fiction #historical #histficreadingchallenge #fantasy #SpeccyFicChal #2026NewReleaseChallenge @Netgalley #TheGeomagician Learn more at Book’d Out
bookdout.wordpress.com/2026/03/26/r...

The Strongs and the Weaknesses. Book Review for “The Moonshine Women” by Michelle Collins Anderson. Summary: "Every batch of Strong moonshine has its own special flavor, thanks to the secret ingredients that matriarch Lidy Strong adds to the barrels of fermenting corn mash. Whether a bucketful of golden peaches, a ripe melon or juicy, jewel-toned berries, that extra “something something” is what makes the Strong “shine” so prized—and allows the family to survive after crop prices plummeted in the wake of the Great War.

#Bookthreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon The Strongs and the Weaknesses. My #bookreview for #TheMoonshineWomen by Michelle Collins Anderson, on my #bookblog now. Thanks John Scognamiglio Books for the ARC of this #womensfiction #novel via @NetGalley #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge

Mr. Wroe’s Virgins by Jane Rogers Years ago I did one of those beach getaways in which a ton of people get together and rent a big house for the weekend. During one of our more quieter and sober moments a few of us wandered into to…

maphead.wordpress.com/2026/03/26/m... #booksky #europeanreadingchallenge #histficreadingchallenge

A Bookseller in Madrid by Mario Escobar How could I not resist Mario Escobar’s 2025 historical novel A Bookseller in Madrid when I came across it one Saturday afternoon at the public library?  A piece of historical fiction by a Spa…

maphead.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/a... #booksky #europeanreadingchallenge #2026immigrationreading #CloakDaggerChal #2026booksintranslation #histficreadingchallenge

Review: A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman A Far-Flung Life Author: M.L. Stedman Published: 3rd March 2026, Penguin Australia  Status: Read March 2026 courtesy Penguin Australia My Thoughts: The long awaited second novel from author of The …

#bookreview A Far-Flung Life by ML Stedman @PenguinBooksAus #read #book #review #fiction #historical #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #AussieAuthor #AFarFlungLife Learn more at Book’d Out
bookdout.wordpress.com/2026/03/11/r...

Women Widening Worlds With Words. Book Review for “The Temple of the Muses” by Jane Davis. Summary: "London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington resolve to fight despair not with charity, but with books. Convinced that reading is the surest path out of poverty, they launch a daring experiment to price books so low, even apprentices and servant girls might afford them.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon Women Widening Worlds With Words. My #bookreview for "The Temple of the Muses" by @JaneDavisAuthor, on my #bookblog now. This sequel to "The Bookseller's Wife" is the 2nd Chiswell Street book. #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #2026BookishBooks

The Colony of Good Hope by Kim Leine Wanting something I could apply towards multiple reading challenges like the European, Historical Fiction and Books in Translation reading challenges back in 2024 I grabbed a Kindle edition of Dani…

maphead.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/t... #booksky #europeanreadingchallenge #2026booksintranslation #histficreadingchallenge

Review: All In Her Hands by Audrey Blake All in Her Hands {Nora Beady #3} Author: Audrey Blake Published: 24th February 2026, Sourcebooks Landmark  Status: Read February courtesy Netgalley  My Thoughts: All In Her Hands is the third …

Review: All In Her Hands by Audrey Blake @Sourcebooks #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #historical #NoraBeady #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #readingchallenge #InHerHands
bookdout.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/r...

The Art of Rebellion and/or Conforming. Book Review for “The Dream Life of Sukhanov” by Olga Grushin. Summary: "At fifty-six, Anatoly Sukhanov has everything a man could want. Nearly twenty-five years ago, he traded his precarious existence as a brilliant underground artist for the perks and comforts of a high-ranking Soviet apparatchik. Once he created art; now he censors it. His past is a shadow, repressed to the point of nonexistence.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon The Art of Rebellion and/or Conforming. My #bookreview for "The Dream Life of Sukhanov" by @OlgaGrushin, on my #bookblog now. This is a beautifully written story set in pre-fall of the #USSR, is very relevant to today! #histficreadingchallenge #BeatTheBacklist

Sirens on the High Seas. Book Review for “The Determined” by Rachel Rueckert. Summary: "1721, Spanish Town, Jamaica. Captured, convicted, and pregnant, twenty-three-year-old Anne Bonny faces the gallows. When writer Captain Charles Johnson enters the garrison, she strikes a deal: she’ll tell this opportunistic fool her story if he sends a doctor to her friend, Mary Read, who’s battling prison fever. Prior to their arrest, life at sea had offered Anne and Mary freedom that few women knew.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon Sirens on the High Seas. My #bookreview for "The Determined" by @Rachel_Rueckert, on my #bookblog now! Thanks @KensingtonBooks for the @NetGalley ARC of this fascinating women's biographical novel. #histficreadingchallenge
#2026NewReleaseChallenge

A New Recipe for Death. Book Review for “To Kill a Cook” by M.W Akers. Summary: "Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It’s 1972, and she is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for anything--or anyone--that gets in her way.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon A New Recipe for Death. My #bookreview for "To Kill a Cook" by M. W. Akers, on my #bookblog now. My thanks to @PutnamBooks for the Edelweiss ARC of this fast-paced #murdermystery novel. #histficreadingchallenge
#2026NewReleaseChallenge
#CloakDaggerChal

For the Love of Syntax. Book Review for “Confessions of a Grammar Queen” by Eliza Knight. Summary: "Bernadette Swift, a young copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, is determined to become the first female CEO in the publishing industry. But first she needs to take the next step up that ladder with a promotion that her boorish and sexist boss wants to thwart. Seeking a base of support, Bernadette joins a feminist women's book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she's inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon For the Love of Syntax - my #bookreview for "Confessions of a Grammar Queen" by @ElizaKnight, on my #bookblog now. This was fun, even with the #romance and a dog narrating some chapters! #histficreadingchallenge
#BeatTheBacklist #OOCZ2026
#2026BookishBooks

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026 Sign-Up #histficreadingchallenge The start of a new year means it’s time to sign up for some reading challenges. This one is a no-brainer – the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader…

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026 Sign-Up #histficreadingchallenge #HistoricalFiction #BookSky
whatcathyreadnext.co.uk/2026/01/11/h...

Hollywood and it’s Resistances. Book Review for “Typewriter Beach” by Meg Waite Clayton. Summary: " 1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard 7-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer” in a charming little Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage for a secret rendezvous. There, she is awoken by the clack and ding of a typewriter at the cottage next door.

#BookThreads #booksky 📚💙 #bookstodon Hollywood and it's Resistances. My #bookreview for "Typewriter Beach" by @MegWaiteClayton on my #bookblog now! OMG! A character with MY last name (no relation, though)! And what a story, too. #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #BeatTheBacklist

A 17th Century Modern Woman. Book Review for “Anneke Jans in the New World” by Sandra Freels. Summary: "It’s 1630, and Anneke Jans has just arrived in the fledgling colony of New Netherland with her husband, Roelof, and their two young daughters to create a new life for herself and her family. One of very few women in the colony, Anneke quickly realizes that she will need to make her own rules if she is to survive.

#BookThreads #booksky 📚💙 #bookstodon
A 17th Century Modern Woman. My #bookreview for "Anneke Jans in the New World" by Sandra Freels. Thanks @SheWritesPress for the @NetGalley ARC of this fascinating #biographicalfiction #womensfiction novel! #2026NewReleaseChallenge #histficreadingchallenge

2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Wrap-Up The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge has become one of my favorite reading challenges. It’s fun because I’m a lover of history and it synchs so well with other reading challenges I …

maphead.wordpress.com/2025/12/28/2... #booksky #histficreadingchallenge

Challenging Myself in 2026 These are the challenges I’m attempting during 2026. Each challenge has its own page (under the Challenges menu at top) where I’ll track my progress, you can click the hosts name to learn more and …

Challenging Myself in 2026 with #ReadNonFicChal #SpeccyFicChal #cloakdaggerchal #HistficReadingChallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #2026GreatCanadianReadingChallenge Learn more at Book’d Out
#readingchallenge bookdout.wordpress.com/2025/12/28/c...

Winter Blood by Allan Martin I’ve read a mere handful of novels set in the small Baltic nation of Estonia. Two years ago it was Sofi Oksanen’s When the Doves Disappeared followed last year with Allan Martin’s Death…

maphead.wordpress.com/2025/12/26/w... #booksky #europeanreadingchallenge #histficreadingchallenge #CloakDaggerChal

Quick Review: Floreana by Midge Raymond #read #bookreview #fiction #histficreadingchallenge #readingchallenge #crossingcontinentschal #Floreana

TCL’s 2025 Reading & Blogging Challenge Progress Post! Happy December! With the year almost at an end, and since I don't have a book review for today, I thought I'd let you all know how I've been doing with the reading and blogging challenges I set for myself. They include: 2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 New Release Reading Challenge 2025 What's In a Name Challenge 2025 Cloak & Dagger Challenge (NEW)

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon TCL's 2025 Reading & Blogging Challenge Progress Post! Today, I'm updating you on my progress with my yearly challenges. Like: #histficreadingchallenge #2025NewReleaseChallenge #BeatTheBacklist #WIAN25 #CloakDaggerChal #LetsDiscuss2025 and much more! Enjoy!

Australian Neapolitan Intrigue. Book Review for “The Italian Secret” (Billie Walker #3) by Tara Moss. Summary: "Naples, 1943. Deep within a secret network of underground tunnels, a woman takes shelter from a wartime air raid and prays her husband will return home safe. Pacific Ocean, 1907. A girl embarks on a lonely journey to begin a new life far from home. Sydney, 1948.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon Australian Neapolitan Intrigue - my #bookreview for #TheItalianSecret (Billie Walker #3) by @taramossauthor on my #bookblog now! Thanks for the @this_is_edelweiss ARC, ! #histficreadingchallenge
#2025NewReleaseChallenge
#CloakDaggerChal

Review: Pilbara by Judy Nunn Title: Pilbara Author: Judy Nunn Published: 28th October 2025, HarperCollins Au Status: Read November 2025 courtesy Reid Books ++++++++ My Thoughts: Set in the late 1800’s moving from the rolling h…

REVIEW: Pilbara by Judy Nunn @HarperCollinsAu #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #HISTORY #historical #histficreadingchallenge #readingchallenge #AussieAuthor #Pilbara bookdout.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/r...

Shrimps and Sink Pits. Book Review for “Seascraper” by Benjamin Wood. Summary: "Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach and scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon Shrimps and Sink Pits - my #bookreview for #Seascraper by #BenjaminWood on my #bookblog now. I read this for #NovNov25 #NovellasinNovember #histficreadingchallenge #2025NewReleaseChallenge and #6DegreesofSeparation for December! #FridayFiction #FictionFriday

Review: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson Title: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club Author: Helen Simonson Published: 4th June 2025, Bloomsbury  Status: Read October 2025 courtesy Bloomsbury/Netgalley ++++++++ My Thoughts: ‘…

Review: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson @Bloomsburypublishing #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #historical #histficreadingchallenge #readingchallenge #TheHazelbourneLadiesMotorcycleandFlyingClub #booksky bookdout.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/r...

Budapest in Pieces by Richard Wake Last November I concluded my review of Richard Wake’s The Spies of Zurich by saying I’d like to read more of Wake’s Alex Kovacs espionage novels. Last week I decided to follow-up …

maphead.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/b... #bookreviews #europeanreadingchallenge #histficreadingchallenge #booksky #CloakDaggerChal

We ARE in Kansas, Toto! Book Review for “Before Dorothy” by Hazel Gaynor. Summary: "The greatest journey is the one you least expect…Kansas 1932. When news reaches Kansas that her beloved sister has tragically died, Emily Gale must become a mother overnight. Her sister’s orphaned child, Dorothy, desperately needs a home. But Emily doubts her ability to fill her sister’s shoes; her life on the barren Kansas prairies is no place for a child.

#Bookthreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon
We ARE in Kansas, Toto! My #bookreview for #BeforeDorothy by @hazelgaynor.bsky.social, on my #bookblog now. This novel isn't about OZ, but rather Auntie Em, and her Depression Era journey in the prairies! #histficreadingchallenge
#2025NewReleaseChallenge

Review: Melaleuca by Angie Faye Martin Title: Melaleuca Author: Angie Faye Martin Published: 4th June 2025, HQ Fiction Australia Status: Read October 2025 courtesy Harlequin/Netgalley} ++++++++ My Thoughts: Melaleuca is an impressive de…

Engrossing and affective Review: Melaleuca by Angie Faye Martin @HarlequinAus #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #crime #mystery #AussieAuthor #Ausreading #cloakdaggerchal #histficreadingchallenge #readingchallenge #Melaleuca
#booksky bookdout.wordpress.com/2025/11/06/r...

Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell With the exception of Thomas Glavinic’s Pull Yourself Together every novel I’ve read that’s set in Austria has been a work of historical fiction. Some like Allison Pataki’s Sisi: …

maphead.wordpress.com/2025/11/06/v... #booksky #europeanreadingchallenge #histficreadingchallenge #bookreviews

Minor Austen Women Re-Imagined. Book Review for “Ladies in Waiting” by Various Authors. Summary: "In honor of her 250th birthday, eight authors have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Jane Austen’s minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from Pride and Prejudice’s snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of Sense and Sensibility’s Eliza Williams and much more.

#BookThreads #booksky 💙📚 #bookstodon Minor Austen Women Re-Imagined - My #bookreview for "Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen's Unsung Characters" by various authors. Thanks to @GalleryBooks (@SimonandSchuster) for the @this_is_edelweiss ARC. #histficreadingchallenge
#2025NewReleaseChallenge