Category: Events

Nonfiction November: Week 2 – Choosing Nonfiction

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This week’s prompt for Nonfiction November is hosted by Frances of Volatile Rune – and here it is:

There are many topics to choose from when looking for a nonfiction book. For example: Biography, Autobiography, Memoir, Travel, Health, Politics, History, Religion and Spirituality, Science, Art, Medicine, Gardening, Food, Business, Education, Music. Maybe use this week to challenge yourself to pick a genre you wouldn’t normally read? Or stick to what you usually like is also fine. If you are a nonfiction genre newbie, did your choice encourage you to read more?

I’m not very adventurous when it comes to nonfiction and tend to stick to the same few topics most of the time:

History e.g. The Brothers York by Thomas Penn; Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones

Memoir e.g. The Oaken Heart by Margery Allingham; A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell

Biography e.g. Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin; The Real Enid Blyton by Nadia Cohen

True crime e.g. The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale; Murder by the Book by Claire Harman

I don’t often read any nonfiction that falls outside of these categories, but I’m always open to trying new things and I think participating in Nonfiction November is a good way to find books on other topics that I might enjoy.

So what have I decided to read during Nonfiction November this year? First, I’m trying to finish The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor, a very long book that I’ve been reading for a few months but keep putting aside to read other things. It’s about the relationship between Richard II and Henry IV…so yes, another history book! I’ve also just started reading 100 Books to Live By by Joseph Piercy, which I have from NetGalley. I don’t seem to read much nonfiction about books and literature and I have no idea why!

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How do you choose which nonfiction books to read? Do you stick to the same topics or do you like to challenge yourself to read something different?

My Year in Novellas – #NovNov25

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Novellas in November 2025 (hosted by Cathy of 746 Books and Rebecca of Bookish Beck) officially started yesterday and we’re invited to begin by posting a “My Year in Novellas” retrospective looking at any novellas we have read since last year’s NovNov. When I looked back over the year, I was surprised to see how few novellas I’d actually read in the past twelve months – only seven. I’ve listed them below with links to my reviews.

For the purposes of this event, anything under 200 pages can be classed as a novella.

Fire by John Boyne (163 pages) – This is the third novel in Boyne’s Elements Quartet and is narrated by a surgeon who works with burn victims. I’m hoping to read the final book, Air, this month.

Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong (144 pages) – A tense and suspenseful noir thriller about a psychopathic babysitter.

The Ghost of Madison Avenue by Nancy Bilyeau (120 pages) – Perfect for Christmas, this is a ghost story set in and around the Morgan Library on New York’s Madison Avenue.

Woman in Blue by Douglas Bruton (144 pages) – I loved this book about a man who finds himself drawn to Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter and the story of the 17th century woman depicted in the painting.

Ice by Anna Kavan (194 pages) – A strange and fascinating dystopian story in which the narrator pursues a pale, white-haired girl around a world rapidly becoming engulfed by ice.

Clear by Carys Davies (160 pages) – A beautifully written novella set in Scotland during the Highland Clearances.

The Stepdaughter by Caroline Blackwood (128 pages) – A dark psychological thriller about a woman who develops an obsessive hatred for her young stepdaughter.

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Do you like reading novellas? Have you read any good ones during the last year?

Nonfiction November: Week 1 – My Year in Nonfiction

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I’m taking part in Nonfiction November which starts today and is hosted by Heather of Based on a True Story, Frances of Volatile Rune, Liz of Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home, Rebekah of She Seeks Nonfiction and Deb of Readerbuzz.

This week, Heather has posted the following questions for us to answer:

Week 1 – Your Year in Nonfiction:

What books have you read?
What were your favorites?
Is there a topic you want to read about more?
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I’m not someone who reads a huge amount of nonfiction, but this year I’ve read more of it than usual – seven books so far and I am in the middle of an eighth. Here are the links to my reviews:

1. Britain’s Greatest Private Detective by Nell Darby
2. That Dark Spring by Susannah Stapleton
3. The Crying of the Wind: Ireland by Ithell Colquhoun
4. Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie
5. Masquerade Balls in Regency Britain by Anne Glover
6. The Living Stones: Cornwall by Ithell Colquhoun
7. A History of England in 25 Poems by Catherine Clarke

These are all either history, true crime, memoirs or travel books, which isn’t very surprising as these are the topics I tend to always be drawn to when it comes to nonfiction. Of these seven books, my favourites are Christie’s Come, Tell Me How You Live, her account of accompanying her archaeologist husband on digs in Syria in the 1930s, and A History of England in 25 Poems, which I found fascinating (and much more of a history book than a poetry anthology).

I’m hoping that taking part in Nonfiction November will encourage me to read more nonfiction and find some new books and authors to add to my nonfiction TBR (which is much, much smaller than my fiction TBR).

Do you like to read nonfiction? Will you be joining in with Nonfiction November this year?

#1925Club – My Top 10 Reads from 10 Years of Clubs!

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As part of 1925 Club (hosted this week by Karen and Simon), we’re invited to join in the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the clubs. Yes, beginning in 2015 with 1924 Club, the club reading weeks have now been held twice annually for ten years! I’ve taken part in all of them and have discovered lots of great books, as well as being inspired to try some new authors for the first time. Having looked back at all the titles I read for the various club years, I have picked out ten favourites to highlight below. The books are listed in order of publication year.

1. Beau Geste by P.C. Wren (1924 Club)
Part adventure novel, part mystery, this was the book I read for Simon and Karen’s first club ten years ago and it was a great choice.

2. The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (1940 Club) – I really enjoyed this first book in a trilogy following the lives of Lucilla Eliot and her children and grandchildren. I must read the second book soon!

3. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie (1951 Club)
This is one of Christie’s standalone thrillers (no Poirot or Miss Marple here). It’s great fun and has a very engaging heroine in Victoria Jones.

4. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962 Club)
I missed out on reading Joan Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles as a child, so I took the opportunity to read this one for 1962 Club!

5. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (1965 Club)
The first in Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series and another children’s book that I came to as an adult and loved.

6. Chocky by John Wyndham (1968 Club)
As someone who doesn’t read much science fiction, I didn’t expect to love this novel about a boy with a very unusual imaginary friend, but I found it fascinating!

7. God is an Englishman by RF Delderfield (1970 Club)
This is the first book in Delderfield’s Swann Saga about a family who establish a haulage business in Victorian Britain. I will definitely be reading the next book at some point.

8. Don’t Go to Sleep in the Dark by Celia Fremlin (1970 Club)
A wonderful collection of thirteen dark, unsettling stories in which Fremlin creates tension from domestic settings and everyday situations.

9. Castle Barebane by Joan Aiken (1976 Club)
Another Aiken book, this time a very entertaining adult Gothic novel set in 19th century Scotland.

10. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (1977 Club) – A surprisingly dark and poigant Pym novel, about four lonely people who share an office. It has stayed with me because of the sadness I felt for the characters.

Some honourable mentions:

Live Alone and Like It by Marjorie Hillis (1936 Club)
The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes (1940 Club)
Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham (1944 Club)
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (1954 Club)
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (1977 Club)

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Have you read any of these? If you join in with the clubs, what are the best books you’ve read for them?

Plans for November

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November is always one of the busiest months in the book blogging calendar and having seen other bloggers planning ahead, I thought I would do the same. There are lots of different events happening in November and I like to support as many as I can, although I don’t always manage it.

First, there’s Nonfiction November which has five co-hosts this year: Heather of Based on a True Story, Frances of Volatile Rune, Liz of Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home, Rebekah of She Seeks Nonfiction and Deb of Readerbuzz. There are weekly prompts to take part in and I’m already thinking about my answers to some of them. I also have a review I would like to post and reading-wise I’m going to focus on finishing my current non-fiction read The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor and I may also read 100 Books to Live By by Joseph Piercy which I have from NetGalley.

Novellas in November is hosted by Rebecca at Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books. For the purposes of the event, novellas are classed as anything under 200 pages (even nonfiction). I’m planning to read at least two novellas: Air by John Boyne, the final book in his Elements quartet, and The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas, a Norwegian author I discovered recently.

It’s also Margaret Atwood Reading Month in November, hosted by Marcie at Buried in Print. Last year I started to read The Blind Assassin but got distracted by other things. I would still like to read it but am not sure I’ll have time for such a long book this November. I do have a few of her other books on the TBR, including Surfacing which is also a novella so would count for more than one event.

Caroline of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat and Tony of Tony’s Reading List are hosting German Literature Month, where the only rule is to read books that were originally written in German. I’m not sure what I’ll be reading for this either; I have an unread volume of short stories by one of my favourite German authors, Hans Fallada, but could decide to try a new author instead.

Finally, November is also SciFi Month hosted by Annemieke of A Dance With Books, Lisa of Dear Geek Place, Mayri of Bookforager and Imyril of There’s Always Room For One More. I probably won’t be joining in with this as I don’t read much SciFi, but I’m including it here in case anyone else is interested.

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Are you planning to take part in any of these? And is there anything else happening in November that I’ve missed?

#1925Club – Some previous reads

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1925 Club, hosted by Stuck in a Book and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, starts on Monday and we will all be reading and writing about books published in that year. 1925 was a great year for publishing – I have previously read and reviewed six books on my blog and thought I would list them before the week begins. If you haven’t decided what to read yet, maybe you can find some inspiration here, although some of these are now out of print.

Don’t forget, this is also the 10th anniversary of Simon and Karen’s clubs and we’ve been invited to celebrate by highlighting some of our favourite reads from earlier clubs. I’ll be doing that next week, but first here are my previous reviews of 1925 books:

The Professor’s House by Willa Cather – This quiet, reflective novel about a Professor in his fifties looking back on his life as he prepares to move house was the first Willa Cather book I read.

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie – One of Christie’s early thrillers rather than a detective story and the first of several books to feature Superintendent Battle.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham – I loved this beautifully written book set in 1920s China during an outbreak of cholera.

Glorious Apollo by E. Barrington – This is a more obscure one! A fictional biography of Lord Byron with a focus on three of the women in his life.

These Mortals by Margaret Irwin – A fantasy novel inspired by Shakespeare and following the story of magician’s daughter, Melusine, and her companions the Cat, the Raven and the Snake.

The Little Chronicle of Magdalena Bach by Esther Meynell – This novel imagines that after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, his wife Magdalena decides to write a chronicle of their marriage and their lives together.

I’ve also read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which I haven’t reviewed as I read it before I started blogging.

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Have you read any of these – or any other books published in 1925? Will you be taking part in 1925 Club next week?

Nonfiction November: Week 5 – New to my TBR

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Here’s the final weekly topic for this year’s Nonfiction November:

Week 5 (11/25-11/29) New To My TBR: It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! (Deb)

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The Great Silence by Juliet Nicolson
(Lisa at Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)

The story of the period from 1918-1920, as people adjust to a world at peace following the end of the Great War.

Divine Might by Natalie Haynes
(Stephanie at Bookfever)

I’ve read some of Natalie Haynes’ fiction, but this non-fiction book tells the stories of several Greek goddesses including Hera, Demeter and the Furies.

Maiden Voyages by Siân Evans
(Margaret at BooksPlease)

A book exploring the lives of women at sea during the Golden Age of transatlantic travel.

Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
(Lisa at Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)

A book about the experiences of the two million ‘surplus’ women faced with remaining spinsters due to the loss of so many men during the First World War.

Hunting the Falcon by John Guy
(Kay at What? Me Read?)

The subtitle Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage That Shook Europe tells you what it’s about!

Victorian Britain Day by Day by Nicholas Travers
(Mallika at Literary Potpourri)

A collection of important events in Victorian history, arranged by the day of the year on which they occurred.

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Have you read any of these? Did you take part in Nonfiction November and if so, what did you add to your TBR this month?