what i've been reading this week
19/5 — 25/5
hello! my weekly recap is coming a bit late this week and i have no excuse—yesterday was literally my day off so i guess i was just being lazy. it was a very nice week, however! got to celebrate the launch of Elaine Feeney’s incredible new novel (my review is here), went to an early screening of The Salt Path where Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs showed up, went to Wide Awake festival to see my beloved CMAT and Kneecap, and finished the week on Sunday evening by seeing BIIRD—an incredible group of 11 Irish women playing Irish trad music, couldn’t recommend them enough. all of that to say it’s been a busy week, so i’m sure you’ll not be surprised that i didn’t read too much - and the books i did read, well, it was a mixed bag. so let’s chat!
if you want more book recommendations from me, you can find me at @ReadsByRoss on TikTok and Instagram!
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
Look, I have such a love/hate relationship with Hallett’s books. When she’s good, she’s phenomenal, and when she misses, I think she misses hard. Her newest one, which is out in September, felt like it fell somewhere right in the middle for me. A whodunnit set in a pub around a pub quiz, it kind of seemed like it didn’t quite stick the landing (aka having a resolution that felt interesting and rewarding enough after 450 pages), but also did contain some clever and fun reveals throughout. I’d give it a 3/5, but would probably be way more inclined to recommend The Appeal or Alperton Angels if I were reading her for the first time.
Significant Others by Armistead Maupin
My game plan with the Tales of the City series this year was to space them out and read maybe one a month so I can savour them for much longer but I’m finding that almost impossible! These books are just so entertaining and so comforting, and considering this reading month has felt more slumpy than others, I can’t help but turn to pick up the next in the series. This is the fifth one, and we are reunited with the beloved Barbary Lane characters once more in all their relationship, career and life woes. I love this series and am currently reading the sixth - I don’t want them to end!
What have you read this past week? Let me know! I’m going to see Kylie Minogue tonight and I am bursting with excitement!! See you next week x
I was at Wide Awake too!