WWW Wednesday: 5 November 2025

WWW Wednesday is a meme that is hosted by Taking on a World of Words. It's a very simple premise of sharing with others The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading? 
What did you recently finish reading? 
What do you think you’ll read next?

What am I currently reading?

It's been awhile since I read any non-fiction and this featured in ABC Radio National's countdown of the Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and so this one appealed to me. It's a lot more serious, and sometimes that way he writes about Australia's First Nations peoples doesn't sit well with me, but so far its... good. I mean, I'm not getting all excited about it, but its ok. 

What did I finish reading?

Again inspired by ABC Radio National's countdown of the Top 100 Books of the 21st Century, I just finished Piranesi by Susanna Clark. I really really liked it - highly recommend it. It's very unique and emotional and suspenseful and so many things. I need more time to reflect on it before I can properly describe it. 

What is up next?

Normally I don't plan ahead but I need to get my book club urgently so next up its The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor for my Literary Wives Book Club. I know nothing about this book whatsoever and it's nice to approach a book from a completely neutral beginning. 

Review: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

This one was recommended to me by a colleague who knows my taste in books, and she was absolutely right. Maisie Dobbs really hit the mark. I love detective fiction of the Agatha Christie kind, those clever mysteries with a sharp, observant lead. But this one felt different. It isn’t as light or cosy as some detective stories. It’s got a quiet sadness to it that come from the shadow  of the war and never quite lifts.

The story begins in 1929, when Maisie opens her own private investigation business in London. Her first case seems simple enough: a man wants her to find out if his wife is having an affair. But the more Maisie digs, the more she uncovers a much bigger and sadder story. The book moves between the case and Maisie’s past, showing how she went from being a housemaid to a Cambridge student to a nurse on the front lines of the First World War to a female detective.

The war is right at the heart of this book. It's part of the setting and of the characters. Everyone is carrying some kind of loss or regret from it, and Maisie is no exception. The mystery turns out to be less about who did what and more about understanding how people live with the things that happened to them.

Maisie herself is wonderful. She’s strong and moral and incredibly thoughtful, but there’s also a real gentleness to her. She wants to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. Watching her put the pieces together, both in the case and in people’s lives, is so satisfying.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s detective fiction, but with more depth and emotion than I expected. I’ve already read the second book in the series, and I’ll definitely be reading them all.

4 stars: I loved it. 

October 2025: What I read

 I am completely all over the place at the moment. In August I didn't read much at all. In September I went crazy and got through so many fabulous books. In October I hit an all year low - only finishing 3 books and abandoning 1 half way through. 

The three that I did manage to finish

Firstly, Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows by JK Rowling, a book I've read so many times I barely sure that it even count as a book read anymore. Then I listened to an audio book - Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh which I really enjoyed. And the first book I read in the month of October was the latest in the THursday Murder Club series, The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. Definitely the worst in the series and to be honest bad enough that I will probably stop this series now. 

The book I abandoned

This is going to be highly controversial, but I abandoned Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner. I know this is in so many Top 100 books and one of the books that is often spoken about as one of her bests - but I couldn't get into it. I made it quite far, and I am determined to finish it, I just couldn't right now. 

Although I can see the appeal of the reflective tone, the challenge for me is that I used to work as a criminal defense lawyer and did quite a few jury trials during that time. I have personal experience of working with clients who have done terrible things for inconceivable reasons, which makes me less inclined to want to reflect on why people do these terrible things to one another. 

ABC Radio National's Top 100 Countdown of the Best Books of the 21st Century

All isn't lost though, I did spend a good week listening to the aforementioned countdown and have a quite a few thoughts which I share another day. 

Six degrees of separation (Nov): From We have Always Lived in the Castle to Bel Canto

The meme is hosted by Books are My Favourite Best and is described thus: On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book. Each person’s chain will look completely different. It doesn’t matter what the connection is or where it takes you – just take us on the journey with you.

This month’s chain starts with We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Not only have I never read this, but I've never even heard much about before now. From what I understand, it’s a gothic story about two sisters living in isolation after a family tragedy. It sounds eerie and full of dark family secrets. 

That immediately makes me think of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, another unsettling tale in which an isolated house becomes a character of its own. 

From there, I’m moving to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which also has the grand house, the secrets, the ever-present sense of dread. 

My next link is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Both books centre on young women discovering their strength amid loneliness and mystery. And of course, there’s the appeal of a dark, brooding man with secrets.

From Jane Eyre, I’m leaping to Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which tells the story from the other side of Mrs Rochester. I didn't enjoy this books at all but it does reframe a classic and remind us that every story depends on who’s telling it.

That brings me to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, one of my very favourite books of all time and happily voted as number 2 in the ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century recent countdown. I thought of this one because it is a story that commonly appears in fiction, but reframed as a tale told from the perspective of death - that tells the story of a family brought together by circumstance and having to come together i nextreme circumstances. It's above love and what it means to be human.

Finally, that leads me to Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, which is less about what happens and more about the people at its heart. It’s a story about strangers drawn together by crisis, learning to create a kind of family out of circumstance.

So there’s my chain. It's perhaps a little dark but if I were trying to think in a good light I would say that they about connection and people trying to make sense of those around them. 

Review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto has been on my TBR list for many years, but I didn't prioritise it until a colleague at work recommended Ann Patchett to me as one of her favourite authors. It won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2002 and was number 98 on the New York Times Best 100 Books for the 21st Century list, so it seemed life the perfect place to start. I’m glad I finally read it. 

The story begins with a lavish birthday party in an unnamed South American country. A world-famous soprano Roxanne Coss has been flown in to perform for a wealthy Japanese businessman who loves opera. The house is full of politicians, diplomats, and high-society guests. But then, suddenly, the house is full of armed guerillas intending to kidnap the President, who, inconveniently, stayed home that night. So begins a hostage situation that lasts for months.

It sounds like the set-up for a thriller, but Bel Canto isn’t that kind of novel. The novel is tense, but not of the propelling, page-turning kind. What surprised me was how still the novel felt. It felt as though everyone, captors and captives, took a deep breath in and didn't let it go. What Ann Patchett seemed interested in was what happens between the hostages and their captors. How did they adapt and connect with one another. 

Over time, the opera singer keeps singing, the captors play soccer with the hostages  and an odd, tender kind of family forms within the walls of the vice president’s mansion. No one speaks the same language and there is only one interpreter but ultimately they are communicating with a different type of language that allows them to find something beautiful and human in the middle of fear and imprisonment. 

As you can tell, I did enjoy Bel Canto, even though I tend to prefer novels with a bit more momentum. This one meanders softly, beautiful but slow. Maybe Patchett was trying to have the story reflect Roxanne Coss's music. Patchett wants you to understand all of the characters, regardless of their side. 

It’s the first Ann Patchett I’ve read, and I can see why she’s so beloved. I think I’ll be trying more. I was thinking of readingTom Lake next, but if you have a recommendation please let me know. 

3 stars: It was good, I liked it

What I Read: September 2025

After a quiet August, my September went off. It was a month of cozy murders, clever detectives, and (just to keep me balanced) one sprawling generational epic. I think it was a month of murde,r rather than anything challenging, to counter balance my challenges at work - but regardless it was a great month. 

Working backwards, I ended with The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, which I absolutely loved. It’s historical crime fiction at its slow-burn atmospheric best. Then came a run of classic and not-so-classic detective stories. 

I finally met Lord Peter Wimsey Dorothy L. Sayers books Whose Body? Clouds of Witness and Unnatural Death (on audiobook, wonderfully narrated by Richard Meadows), and I was hooked. The narration really brought it alive.

Then I fell down a Maisie Dobbs rabbit hole. I read Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. Both are thoughtful, quiet mysteries set in the shadow of World War I. Maisie is such a refreshing detective. She is introspective, kind, and methodical. I am going to read the whole series. 

Australia made a strong showing too, with Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson which was pure fun. Plus A Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson and Death on the Water by Kerry Greenwood (a Phryne Fisher audiobook). There’s something comforting about returning to witty dialogue, eccentric detectives, and tidy resolutions which I think was what I was looking for recently.

And then there was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, the outlier of the month. Sweeping and serious.

I began the month with The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith which was heavier and much longer than everything else I read, but still deeply satisfying. It’s probably what tipped the balance of the month from “cozy mystery” to “crime marathon.” I love this series, and while it isn't the best of the series (a little repetitive), I must say that I enjoyed that it was a little shorter than the others. 

September was the month of murder and mystery, but also of comfort reading. It was a great reading month that got me out of my more recent funk. 

Review: Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L Sayers

I’ve been on an audiobook streak lately now that my new job involves an hour long drive to and from work and recently I have used the time to dip into Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels, my first time reading (well, listening to) her work. As a long-time Agatha Christie fan, I wasn’t sure how they’d compare but I needn’t have worried. These are clever, funny, and have a lot of different layers to them.

I listened to three in a row, Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death, all narrated by Richard Meadows, who deserves his own round of applause. He did an incredible job with the voices. Lord Peter has a slightly flippant upper-class drawl, Parker is the model of a stedy policeman, Bunter has  a slow deferential manner. His narration brings the characters alive and makes you forget you’re listening to a single person.

Whose Body?

The first book introduces Lord Peter Wimsey, upper-class amateur sleuth. A naked body turns up in a bath wearing only a pince-nez, and Peter can’t resist investigating. The plot is intricate and I was hooked immediately to the series. 

Clouds of Witness

This one really stepped things up. Peter’s brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of murder after a man is found shot outside their family lodge. The trial scenes are gripping, and Peter is able to demonstrate his more serious side occasionally. 

Unnatural Death

This one was probably my favourite of the three. It’s darker  and a little more unsettling. An old lady dies under seemingly natural circumstances, but Peter isn't convinced. What follows is a twisty investigation involving inheritance and deception. It also introduces a new character, a Mrs Climpson who is devout but nosy and is such a fascinating example of people from that time in history. 

That said, Sayers does rely on some conveniently timed coincidences like Mrs. Climpson just happening to pick the exact apartment she needs at the end. Very narratively convenient. 

In short, I absolutely loved these. Compared to Agatha Christie's novels I feel like they are less about solving the murder yourself and more about watching the reasoning unfold.