This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is: “Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026”.

I’ve already listed some of my most anticipated historical fiction releases in a recent post, which you can see here. I’m listing below another ten books that I either found out about after putting that post together or that fall into other genres – so these are not necessarily my *most* anticipated books, but are still some that I would like to read.

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1. Strange Buildings by Uketsu, tr. Jim Rion (26th February 2026) – I loved Strange Pictures and Strange Houses, so I can’t wait for this one. It seems it will be in a similar format, with clues and secrets hidden within pictures and floorplans.

2. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (26th February 2026) – This fantasy novel sounds very different from the other Kate Quinn books I’ve read, which were historical fiction, but I’m still interested in trying it.

3. The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski (5th March 2026) – This is a debut novel, so I’m not sure what to expect but it’s a 20th century family saga and sounds appealing.

4. Airing in a Closed Carriage by Joseph Shearing (10th March 2026) – I noticed that this is one of the upcoming titles from British Library Crime Classics in the first half of the year. I’m particularly intrigued by this one as I’ve read two other books by Joseph Shearing (a pseudonym of Marjorie Bowen).

5. The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín (26th March 2026) – A collection of short stories about people living far from home. I’ve had mixed experiences with Tóibín’s books so I’m hoping this will be a good one!

6. Son of Nobody by Yann Martel (2nd April 2026) – I haven’t read anything by Martel apart from Life of Pi, which I liked, and this new one about the Trojan War sounds interesting.

7. A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz (23rd April 2026) – This will be the sixth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery series. I’ve enjoyed all five of the others so I’m looking forward to this one.

8. The Fourth Queen by Nicola Cornick (9th May 2026) – I can’t find any information on the plot of this book yet, but Nicola Cornick is an author I usually enjoy reading. Most of her novels are historical fiction with dual timelines and a touch of the supernatural, so I’m assuming this will be similar.

9. She Walks at Night by Seishi Yokomizo, tr. Jesse Kirkwood (21st May 2026) – Another Japanese book I’ll be looking out for this year. This is the eighth book featuring the detective Kosuke Kindaichi to be published by Pushkin Press; I’ve read all of the others and they’re always fascinating!

10. Whistler by Ann Patchett (2nd June 2026) – I’m sure this one will be on other people’s lists this week too. I’ve only read two Ann Patchett books so far and loved one but not the other, so I’m curious to see what I’ll think of this one.

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Do you want to read any of these? Are there any new releases you’re looking forward to in the first half of 2026?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books Set in Snowy Places”.

I love books with snowy settings! Here are ten I’ve read and reviewed on my blog:

1. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey -The first book to come to mind is definitely Eowyn Ivey’s beautiful retelling of The Snow Maiden set in 1920s Alaska.

2. The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie – This very enjoyable standalone mystery is set in a small village cut off from the outside world by snow.

3. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton – I loved all the winter imagery in Wharton’s classic novella – it reflects the bleakness of the plot as the title character falls in love with his wife’s cousin.

4. Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman – Set in 1141 during the period of English history known as the Anarchy, heavy snowfall and a long winter siege both play a big part in the story.

5. Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden – I loved all three books in this historical fantasy trilogy set in a wintry medieval Russia (The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower and Winter of the Witch).

6. The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett – This book, the fifth in Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles, is set mainly in 16th century Russia where the cold, bleak landscape matches Lymond’s own state of mind as he deals with the traumas of the previous four novels.

7. The Fake Wife by Sharon Bolton – A large part of this novel is set outside on a snowy night as the police search for a woman who has gone missing after leaving her hotel.

8. White Corridor by Christopher Fowler – I reviewed this book, part of the Bryant and May mystery series, just last week. Our two elderly detectives become stranded in a line of cars during a snowstorm with a killer on the loose!

9. Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye – My favourite of Kaye’s Death In… romantic suspense novels is set at a ski resort in Kashmir, which makes for a very atmospheric and eerie setting.

10. Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards – A recent read set in the tiny, remote village of Midwinter where a group of people are taking part in a murder mystery game during a period of heavy snow.

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Have you read any of these? Which other books set in snowy places have you enjoyed?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone”.

When I first saw this topic I thought I would struggle to put a list together as I tend to stick to the sort of books I know I’ll enjoy. However, after thinking about it I was able to come up with ten books I enjoyed that are definitely out of my comfort zone – for ten different reasons! Here they are:

1. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi – A graphic novel

2. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller – Post-apocalyptic fiction

3. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt – A Western

4. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis – Audiobook

5. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde – A play

6. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett – Written in an unusual style

7. Amours de Voyage by Arthur Hugh Clough – A narrative poem

8. Live Alone and Like It by Marjorie Hillis – Self-help nonfiction

9. The Epic of Gilgamesh – An ancient epic

10. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian – Nautical fiction

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Have you read any of these? Which books have you read that are out of your comfort zone – and did you enjoy them?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf”. I’ve modified this slightly and have listed ten books from my Goodreads ‘to-read’ shelf. This includes books that I already own as well as books that are on my wish list. I used a random number generator to select ten random titles.

1. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell – Non-fiction about poverty in the two capital cities.

2. The Norman Pretender by Valerie Anand – A sequel to Gildenford, about the Norman Conquest of 1066.

3. The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna – A novel about a woman renovating a farmhouse in Croatia.

4. Appointment in Paris by Jane Thynne – A spy thriller set in the 1940s.

5. The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny – Historical fiction set in the 16th century.

6. Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes – Another spy novel by an author I still haven’t tried.

7. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather – One of several books by Cather I would like to read.

8. Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant – Historical fiction set in an Italian convent.

9. Zofloya, or The Moor by Charlotte Dacre – A 19th century Gothic novel

10. Transcription by Kate Atkinson – Yet another wartime espionage story!

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Have you read any of these? If so, let me know what you thought.

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Literary/Bookish Candles I’d Make (Pick a book and assign it a fragrance or fragrance combo that would make a nice candle.)” (Submitted by Heather @ The Frozen Library)

I thought this would be difficult, especially as I’m not someone who buys a lot of candles, but I actually found it surprisingly easy and fun to do. I’ve picked a combination of two or three scents for each of the books below, based on either the title or the setting. Let me know what you think!

1. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is about a young woman who works as a florist and learns how to communicate using different flowers to represent emotions. As a companion candle, I’ve chosen a floral fragrance of rose, lily and violet.

2. In Tracy Chevalier’s At the Edge of the Orchard, a couple try to establish an orchard in the Black Swamp of Ohio. An apple and cinnamon candle quickly came to mind!

3. The next one is obvious. I’ve matched Wild Strawberries, the second book in Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series, with a strawberry candle. I wasn’t sure which other scents would go well with strawberry, but a quick google search suggested rhubarb.

4. Shadow of the Moon by MM Kaye, a book I loved, is set in India during the Sepoy Mutiny. This made me think of two scents associated with India: jasmine and sandalwood.

5. Moving away from floral and fruity scents for a while, my next candle combines chocolate, vanilla and almond. It represents Midnight in Everwood by MA Kuzniar, a retelling of The Nutcracker set in a sugar-filled fantasy land.

6. In The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the first in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, Sherlock Holmes has retired to the Sussex countryside to become a beekeeper. I’ve paired a honey and lemon candle with this one.

7. The Seas by Samantha Hunt is set in a lonely coastal town and features a girl who believes she is a mermaid. I think a seaweed and samphire candle is appropriate!

8. Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie is a Poirot novel in which a murder takes place at a children’s Halloween party. I’ve put together a warm, autumnal candle of pumpkin, ginger and caramel.

9. In A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton, an elderly woman reflects on her life in Nagasaki and her memories of the atomic bombing. It’s a beautiful novel with some very moving moments. My candle combines Japanese fragrances of cherry blossom, mimosa and pear.

10. I hope it’s not too early to mention Christmas! Inspired by a true classic, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a suitable candle could include pine, balsam and nutmeg.

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What do you think? Would you buy any of these candles? And have you read any of the books associated with them?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books With Occupations in the Title (Submitted by Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)”.

There were lots of books I could have listed here, but I’ve chosen ten with different occupations in the title and have restricted myself to only using books that I’ve reviewed on my blog.

1. The Bookseller of Inverness by SG MacLean – Historical mystery set in Scotland in the aftermath of the failed 1745 Jacobite Rising.

2. The Tutor by Andrea Chapin – A fictional account of a year in the life of William Shakespeare.

3. The Glassmaker by Tracey Chevalier – This novel follows the story of a family of Murano glassmakers through several centuries.

4. The Butcher’s Hook by Janet Ellis – An unusual, unsettling novel set in Georgian London and with a protagonist more anti-heroine than heroine.

5. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor – Historical fiction about the life of Grace Darling.

6. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon – Non-fiction about a woman who starts her own dressmaking business in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

7. The Professor by Charlotte Brontë – Classic Victorian novel narrated by an Englishman who (like Brontë herself) becomes a teacher at a school in Brussels.

8. Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac – In this Golden Age crime novel from 1935, an author disappears without trace, leaving the police questioning whether he ever even existed.

9. The Pharmacist’s Wife by Vanessa Tait – A dark historical novel set in Victorian Edinburgh.

10. The Glovemaker by Stacia Brown – A glovemaker’s assistant is accused of killing her illegitimate child in 17th century England.

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Have you read any of these? Which other books with occupations in the title have you read?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books with a High Page Count

The books I’ve listed here all have more than 800 pages. There are others that I read before I started blogging, but I’ve only included books that I’ve actually reviewed on my blog. Not surprisingly, most of them are classics.

1. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1536 pages) – I read this epistolary 18th century novel as part of a year-long group read and probably wouldn’t have made it to the end otherwise. I liked it overall but it was so repetitive!

2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (1456 pages) – I loved the story but could have done without so many digressions. It’s one of the books on this list that I really think could have been a lot shorter!

3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1440 pages) – This was another group read, although I abandoned the schedule after a while to finish it at my own pace. I enjoyed it, but liked the peace sections much better than the war!

4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1312 pages) – This is one of my favourite books of all time, so I don’t mind the length at all and would have been happy for it to be even longer!

5. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (1168 pages) – This bleak but fascinating Norwegian classic is technically three separate books, but often packaged together in one volume. My edition was translated by Tiina Nunnally.

6. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman (1080 pages) – This long, detailed and gripping account of the life of Richard III is one of my favourite historical novels.

7. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1056 pages) – I read this slowly, over the course of a year, which suited its episodic structure. I found it much more entertaining than I’d expected.

8. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1024 pages) – I’ve read a lot of very long Dickens novels, but decided to limit my list to one book per author. This is one I remember enjoying.

9. The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye (964 pages) – Another of my favourite historical novels, set in 19th century India and following the story of a British orphan raised as a Hindu.

10. Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon (930 pages) – I loved the first three or four books in the Outlander series, but I feel that the more recent ones have been getting weaker as they get longer and longer! Still looking forward to book ten, though.

Honourable mentions: The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope (928 pages), Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (922 pages), The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (912 pages) Paris by Edward Rutherfurd (848 pages), The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (832 pages).

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Have you read any of these? What are the longest books you’ve read? Laura is hosting Doorstoppers in December later this year, if any of these books appeal – but better get started now!