Emma Orchard's debt to Georgette Heyer is evident throughout A Gentleman's Offer. Orchard, a former copy editor at Mills & Boon, makes this overt — she writes in her acknowledgements how she began with Heyer fanfiction during the Covid lockdowns and then moved onto her own original characters. As I've been exploring...

Every new year, I think about the bookshop where I worked as a teenager. Specifically, a shift I always did on 24th December. While the shop was open that day, we were very busy with last-minute Christmas shoppers. Then after closing the staff stayed for an extra two hours to turn what had been a festive wonderland...

This is the 1965 Pan paperback edition of The Black Moth. The novel was originally published by Heinemann in 1921.I began The Black Moth with very little information beyond its biographical context. Heyer first invented the story to amuse her younger brother Boris during an illness; her father, overhearing its...

At the beginning of 2025, I set an intention for my year: Reading A Lot, But Differently. Now that the year has ended, I want to assess how I did. I certainly accomplished the first part of it — I read 121 books last year, the most since I've been keeping records — but did I do the second part, the "differently"...

This was a brilliant Christmas present from my husband. It's partly a non-fiction exploration of the history of British sheep and wool, partly a directory of all the different breeds with notes on their suitability for knitting/spinning, and partly a book of knitting patterns that suit certain heritage wools.I've...

This is my copy of Jandy Mac Comes Back, the 1952 Collins edition.Jandy Mac Comes Back is a grand reunion in book form. I imagine that a devoted Elsie J. Oxenham reader devouring it when it was first published in 1941 would have revelled in all of the detail about what beloved characters from earlier titles in the...

October:Hallowe'en Party by Agatha ChristieI re-read this for the Halloween episode of Shedunnit, and was pleased to find it better than I remembered. There's a folk horror, pagan element to it that I rather enjoyed.Third Girl by Agatha ChristieA less successful Christie, mostly because of her attempts to be up to...

The most popular link last time was the pixelated fireplace, with this piece about the age (44) at which millennial women begin to feel old second. Did Jane Austen Invent the Wellness Guy? Yes she did! And there's a whole section in my most recent book (which could still be purchased as a holiday gift, there is...

The most popular link last time was this incredible video, with this xkcd comic second. I'm always here for an Emily Gould essay. Here, she's investigating the supposed "cliff" that women experience at the age of 44, when the physical effects of aging really start to kick in, apparently.A chef explains why she quit...

Dead Man's Folly by Agatha ChristieI was a reader of Christie long before I saw any of the film or TV adaptations, so I formed my own imaginary versions of her characters long before I saw any actors interpreting them. But for some reason, with this book only, the 2013 ITV version with David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker...

The most popular link last time was this list of things that aren't doing the thing, with this piece wondering if you are Actually Trying second. Somehow, the most insightful thing I have read/seen about contemporary social media usage is this Google Slides presentation. It's got over 400 slides but they're really...

The most popular link last time was this piece about packing for a 25-city book tour, with this look at Dua Lipa's dream job second. If you're a productive procrastinator like me, you might need this: Things That Aren't Doing the Thing.Pictures of Glenn Gould at the piano in 1956.I love a very specific Wikipedia...