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The Artless Flat-Hunter by Joanna Jones – #ABookADayInMay – Day 8
One of my favourite tropes in a book is house-hunting – particularly when it is done for comic effect. There is something so delightfully funny about the contrast between an estate agent’s...
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Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri – #ABookADayInMay – Day 9
I absolutely loved the short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, and naturally was keen to try more by her. It’s taken a while, but today I read Whereabouts – first...
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Our Town by Thornton Wilder – #ABookADayInMay – Day 10
I recently started listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (read by Meryl Streep, no less) and quickly decided to pause. I don’t know how much of the novel is about putting on a production of Our Town...
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The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim – #ABookADayInMay – Day 11
When I was looking through my Virago Modern Classics bookcase to see if I had anything that would work for this month, I was pleased to see that The Solitary Summer (1899), though about 190 pages,...
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A Little Stranger by Candia McWilliam – #ABookADayInMay – Day 12
I bought A Little Stranger (1989) by Candia McWilliam at a National Trust secondhand bookshop, not knowing anything about it but intrigued by the enthusiastic quotes on the back – and, I’ll admit, its...
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Horror! Horror! Horror! by Edith Olivier – #ABookADayInMay – Day 13
Under normal circumstances, I would run in the other direction from a book with ‘horror’ in the title, let alone three times. But I also love Edith Olivier, and was interested when Snuggly Books (!)...
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The 27th Kingdom by Alice Thomas Ellis – #ABookDayInMay – Day 14
The 27th Kingdom (1982) by Alice Thomas Ellis sounds like it might be a fantasy novel, and the curious cover to my edition makes it seem like some sort of water-based dystopia. Well, the title is just...
View ArticleFight by Preston Sprinkle – #ABookADayInMay – Day 15
This is barely a blog post – just noting that, on an evening journey to visit a friend in Milton Keynes, I finished my audiobook of the moment: Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence (2014) by...
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On the Calculation of Volume (vol.3) by Solvej Balle – #ABookADayInMay – Day 16
Ladies and gentlemen, this is personal growth. I’m actually reading a series without gaps of years between the books! I wrote about the second volume in Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume series...
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Letter To My Daughter by Maya Angelou – #ABookADayInMay – Day 17
My village book club chose Letter To My Daughter (2008) by Maya Angelou and it’s handy that it’s 175 pages – indeed, because it is split into 28 short chapters, each of which gets a numbered page...
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Catching Fire by Daniel Hahn – #ABookADayInMay – Day 18
I knew I had to buy Catching Fire (2022) by Daniel Hahn as soon as I heard about it – and, boom, it’s not even three years since I bought it and I’ve read it! Such speed and agility. I don’t know why...
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Queen by Birgitta Trotzig – #ABookADayInMay – Day 19
It is appropriate that I follow a book by a translator with a book in translation. Queen by Birgitta Trotzig was published in Swedish in 1964 and has just been published in a translation by Saskia...
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The Driveway Has Two Sides by Sara Marchant – #ABookADayInMay – Day 20
I’m continuing my reading of Fairlight Moderns with The Driveway Has Two Sides (2018) by Sara Marchant – with another lovely cover illustration by Sam Kalda. Honestly, I can’t speak highly enough of...
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Old Soldiers by Paul Bailey – #ABookADayInMay – Day 21
I really should read more by Paul Bailey. Whenever I do, I’m reminded what an excellent writer he is. And Old Soldiers (1980) is another tour de force from him. It feels odd to call a novella a tour...
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Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation by Rachel Cusk – #ABookADayInMay – Day 22
I know Rachel Cusk is revered by many, but I have to confess my only attempt with her fiction was a mixed blessing. I thought the writing was stunning, and the book had no momentum at all. I don’t...
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Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan – #ABookADayInMay – Day 23
At the end of Kick the Latch (2022) by Kathryn Scanlan, there is quite a curious note from the author. She writes: Kick the Latch is based on interviews recorded in person and by phone in 2018, 2020,...
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They by Helle Helle – #ABookADayInMay – Day 24
The UK has entered something of a heatwave, and I read They (2018) by Helle Helle entirely outside, in a couple of different parks in Oxford. It was originally in Danish, and translated by Martin...
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#150: A Q&A special! (part 1)
Thank you so much for all your questions for episode 150 of ‘Tea or Books?’! https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/tea-or-books-150.mp3 Because we had so many questions, we’re doing...
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A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi – #ABookADayInMay – Day 25
The heatwave continues, and I spent some time in the garden reading A Bookshop in Algiers (2017) by Kaouther Adimi. It was originally published as Nos richesses and translated by Chris Andrews as Our...
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The Propeller Man and Other Stories by Gerard Lewis and Lizzie Shannon-Little...
A quick post today about a book my friend and her partner wrote – The Propeller Man and Other Stories by Gerard Lewis and Lizzie Shannon-Little, illustrated by Alexandra Ricketts. A bit of a cheat for...
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Dishwasher Safe Thank You Letter: Peas in a Podcast #23!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/peas-23.mp3 After a mere year’s break, Colin and I are back with our very intermittent podcast! This one is looking forward to our trip to...
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The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff: #ABookADayInMay – Day 27
Today’s book is a re-read. I recently re-read 84, Charing Cross Road for my book group, and I’ve read it umpteen times over the years – as well as seeing the stage play, the film etc. But I haven’t...
View ArticleOrdeal By Innocence by Agatha Christie – #ABookADayInMay – Day 28
I read all of Ordeal By Innocence (1958) on a long coach journey, and what better way to make the hours go by than with Agatha? I didn’t know anything about this Christie, nor had I seen the TV...
View ArticleA slightly chaotic end to #ABookADayInMay
I always knew I wouldn’t be able to post for the final days of A Book A Day In May, but entered into it optimistically anyway. Frankly, I’m amazed that I have managed to post every day for almost the...
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A great big pile of books from Hay-on-Wye
I went to Hay-on-Wye at the beginning of the month, but it’s taken me a good while to get around to listing all my spoils. And, goodness, I bought a lot of books. I was actually really encouraged by my...
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The books I bought in Canada!
Back-to-back haul posts! Though there was quite a gap between the book-buying excursions – and this one was all the way to Canada. I’ve just come back from a couple of weeks visiting Calgary, Banff,...
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The Friend in Need (1957) by Elizabeth Coxhead
There’s always a danger, when reading a novel almost 70 years old on a potentially sensitive topic, that it will not be readable by today’s standards. When I saw that The Friend in Need (1957) by...
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Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart
As mentioned in my Canada haul post, I chose Ordinary Wonder Tales (2022) by Emily Urquhart after looking through all the books in a bookshop that had ‘Canadian author’ or ‘Canadian press’ slips in...
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Unnecessary Rankings! Magnus Mills
I thought I had read almost all of Magnus Mills’ books, but I’ve just checked the list on Wikipedia and I’m still wading in the shallow waters. He’s written 16 novels (or novellas) and four...
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Blood on the Cat by Nancy Rutledge – #ReadingTheMeow2026
I had forgotten that Reading the Meow 2026 was coming up until I started seeing blog posts appearing, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to fit anything in. I also couldn’t think what to read, since I...
View ArticleA century of brilliant books
Apropos of nothing, I decided to put together a list of a book I’d recommend for every year of the 20th century. Because, why not! And also, I’m musing over doing A Century of Books again next year,...
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StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany
Obviously all any of us can talk about is the heatwave. Oooof! I am very grateful for aircon in the office, and just about surviving the nights (even Hargreaves the cat has decided that sleeping under...
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This Side Jordan by Margaret Laurence
It’s no secret that I love Margaret Laurence, particularly her novel A Jest of God, but I’ve always been a bit nervous of reading her debut novel. This Side Jordan (1960) breaks one of my cardinal...
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Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr
We’re continuing the Canadian literature here, and there will be others to come, as I get around to writing about the books I read on my holiday to Calgary and Vancouver. Up today is the first book...
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#151: A Q&A special! (part 2)
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/tea-or-books-151.mp3 Thanks again for all your questions for our special Q&A episode of Tea or Books? It took longer than planned, but here...
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Wild Dogs by Helen Humphrey
When I was in Canada, one of the books I was looking out for was Wild Dogs (2004) by Helen Humphreys. I believe she has only written two novels set in contemporary Canada, and that was precisely the...
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The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe
And the Canadian reading continues! I read The Book of Eve (1973) by Constance Beresford-Howe on the plane home from Canada having picked it up in Fair’s Fair in Calgary. It was one of the bookshops...
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A memoir of sitting for a Lucian Freud portrait
I don’t remember where I first heard about Man with a Blue Scarf (2010) by Martin Gayford, but it had been on my mental tbr list for a good while before I stumbled across a copy in Hay-on-Wye. It’s...
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StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany
Happy weekend! It feels like the heatwave here will never end, and let me tell you, I have largely forgotten to water my garden. But I might be going punting for the first time since 2007 this weekend,...
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Five From The Archive (no.15): Books about Trees
Apparently today is National Tree Day in Australia. Now, I’ve never been to Australia (or, indeed, to the Southern Hemisphere) but a post on five novels featuring trees on Brona’s Books inspired me to...
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#152: Novels about women’s home life vs work life, and The Professor’s House...
Elizabeth Strout, Willa Cather, and women’s lives – welcome to episode 152! https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/tea-or-books-152-1.mp3 In the first half, Rachel and Simon discuss...
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StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany
Happy weekend, y’all. I’ll be writing a sermon on Colossians, making only my third sermon appearance at my church, so wish me all the best with that! Otherwise, just getting ready for Women in...
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Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
Earlier this year, I read Daniel Hahn’s excellent translation memoir Catching Fire, and I loved the experience so much that I jumped at the chance to read essays about translation by Jhumpa Lahiri –...
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On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle
I’ve changed as a person. I’m becoming one of those people who reads sequels/series in relatively quick succession! I started Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume series in January, and I’ve...
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The Flying Fox (1956) by Mary McMinnies
A couple of years ago, I read The Visitors, Mary McMinnies’ extremely good, extremely long novel about British government officials and their wives working and living in a thinly disguised Krakow. It...
View ArticleMichael Cunningham’s autobiography
I’ve over at Shiny New Books, talking about Michael Cunningham’s new autobiography(?), Unsayable. Here’s the beginning of my review, and you can read the rest at SNB… When Michael Cunningham set out to...
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Deborah by Esther Kreitman
For Women in Translation month, I pulled Deborah (1936) by Esther Kreitman, translated from Yiddish by her son, Maurice Carr, in the 1940s. It was a gift from a Virago-loving friend called Alex back...
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#153: Do We Care If Writers Exaggerate? and When The Cranes Fly South vs Only...
Liars, Lisa Ridzen, and Debbi Voisey – welcome to episdoe 153! https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/tea-or-books-153-1.mp3 In the first half, we talk about our expectations of truth...
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The Scheme for Full Employment (2003) by Magnus Mills
I was keen to introduce my book group to Magnus Mills, and also to choose one of his books that I hadn’t read yet – so earlier this year I got them reading The Scheme for Full Employment (2003). Read...
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What does a pram do if it doesn’t have any wheels? Peas in a Podcast #24!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Aug2026.mp3 It’s episode 24 of the podcast I do with my twin brother, and as always we cover all the most important issues of the day. Enjoyyyy
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