Reading what my friends are reading – Yesteryear

Posted on October 27, 2026 by Yrsha

Not one but two of my book circle friends have recently read this, S and J, and really enjoyed it. I had no other choice but to read this book that everyone is talking about!

Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke
Original title: Yesteryear (2026)

Elevator pitch: A seemingly successful tradwife influencer wakes up one morning in a reality close to hers, but back in time?

5% in: We’re building up this tradwife, and we have these “my kids are not allowed to have screens but that’s what I’m really making a living off” vibe. It’s still a lot of build up and I can see that there’s still a whole bunch of stuff that we haven’t gotten to know yet.

The main character is not very likeable. We sense that there is a lot that she isn’t telling us, we get to know things just a while before the viewers do. She thinks that she has this big purpose and that the viewers are dependent on her. This far in, it’s a little unclear what the relationship between Natalie and her husband is. It feels like she is running the show, and that they are making a lot of money off her influencing career rather than the farm?

This is another book where we jump between timelines and I just want to be in the current one and not get all the history…

100%: This was addicting, very easy to just keep reading. I can understand the way her followers kept following because there was something magnetic about her persona (even though it was toxic). I think this is a great example of things we see on social media, people following what they want to see and maybe also what they want to hate. And beneath it all, we don’t see the real thing. And I guess that’s the whole point of the story; to make you question what you see and raise the discussion.

I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the story and reading it. But it was captivating. I’m a little tired of these stories where you think it’s going to be a straight line and then you get all of these flashbacks.

I did like how it twisted a bit in the end and the resolve of it all and surprised me in which way it went.

I gave this 3 out of 5 stars – I appreciated it.

S rated this 4,5 and J rated it 4 so I was a bit lower than both of them with my 3. Knowing what they usually like, my guess (if I wouldn’t have known what there rating was) would have been that they enjoyed it more than me. From us it got an average of 3,8, not too bad!

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Down the TBR-hole #28

Posted on October 25, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

Prince of the Palisades – Julian Winters
I’m not really feeling a pull towards this one so I’ll let it go.
Verdict: Goes

De bortglömda namnens bok / The Book of Lost Names – Kristin Harmel
I’ve been thinking about starting this book for some time now, I’ll be started any day now.
Verdict: Stays

See No Evil – Victoria Laurie
This is the 17th book in the Psychic Eye Mystery series. I’ve really enjoyed reading this series and I thought this was the last one but apparently there’s been one more released this year!
Verdict: Stays

The Mimicking of Known Successes – Malka Ann Older
This seems to be a mystery novella set on Jupiter. It’s available for me at my audiobook service so I’m adding it to that shelf.
Verdict: Stays

The Awakening – Nora Roberts
Dragons? Yes, please. I’ve actually started to read this one but I think I got sidetracked and had to return it to the library. It’s still on my to-borrow shelf and I’ll loan it again at some point to restart it.
Verdict: Stays

We Met Like This – Kasie West
As we might by now, I’m a big fan om Kasie West’s work. This was her adult debut and I’m really looking forward to reading it. Either I’ll buy it or put in a request at the library for them to buy it, I think many more will want to read it!
Verdict: Stays

The Baby Dragon Café – Aamna Qureshi
Once again there’s dragons and my interest is immediately intrigued. I know my mother happens to own this book so I’m planning to borrow it at some point in time *smirking face*.
Verdict: Stays

The Kingpin of Camelot – Cassandra Gannon
This is a recommendation from a friend, I’m planning on reading it.
Verdict: Stays

Ship of Spells – H. Leighton Dickson
This sounds like it could be fun! Adding it to my audiobook service shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Emily Wildes atlas över älvornas riken / Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands – Heather Fawcett
This is book number two in the series Emily Wilde. I loved the first book and this is waiting for me at home to pick up. I just need to decide if I want to reread the first book before starting this one…
Verdict: Stays

Behooved – M. Stevenson
This book sounds silly and fun and I’ve looked at it a couple of times in the bookstore but not been able to decide if I think it’s worth buying or not. I guess time will tell.
Verdict: Stays

A Modern Cinderella – Louisa May Alcott
After having read Little Women, I was curious to see what else Alcott has written. This seems to be a short story collection, where one of the stories is a retelling of Cinderella. This is available at my audiobook service and I think I’ve already added it there (there’s many editions to choose from and I didn’t scroll all the way down to see if one of them was indeed there).
Verdict: Stays

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 11
Number of leaving books: 1
Total amount of leaving books: 68
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: –
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 2
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 251

We don’t have too many books left in this series now (I think we have enough books for two more posts) and I can tell by the books on here that most of them still sound really intriguing. I want to start them all at the same time! Since I’ve written these posts spread out over a long time, there’s been a whole bunch of books added since we started. But I’ve also read a whole bunch, many because of doing this series of posts.

Are there any in this batch you think I should prioritize?

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Weekly update #100 – visit by a cold

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Yrsha

I’ve been stuck with a cold this week, not the most pleasant visit. I’ve been working from home and felt a little sorry for myself. It’s been this state of not enough ill so that I can’t work but also not healthy enough to have energy to many other things. Hopefully it passes soon and it’ll get back to normal!

I just finished a reread of Smoke Bitten, number 12 in the Mercy Thomson series by Patricia Briggs. It was as good as the last time! I’ve also started my next reread in the series, Soul Taken. After that one is read, I can finally read Winter Lost which is the latest released in the series!

I have also started to read this month university book circle book Homegoing (Vända hem) by Yaa Gyasi. We are having our discussion of this book next weekend and to make sure that I finish it in time, I downloaded an app (Leaf) in which I can add which date I want to have finished a book and it calculates how many pages I have to read a day to finish it in time. It’s not a tricky thing to calculate by oneself but I thought it would be fun to tryout the app! At the moment, I have to read 32 pages a day to finish it in time. My predictions of the book was that I would find it a bit difficult to read (story wise) so I didn’t want to find myself in a position where it would be a struggle to finish it in time. So far, 10% in, it’s been surprising. It is not a pleasant story but it’s not unpleasant to read, if it makes sense. I fear it might change when we come further into the story though.

How the Tetris blanket going? I don’t think I’ve made many squares since last update, perhaps one or two? I’ll throw in a picture of the attached squares, maybe this is a better way to view the progress of the blanket (and I won’t have to put all the squares out every time). Otherwise I’ve done 107 out of 200 squares.

I have been crocheting on another project (shown in the first image) because I happened to go past a yarn store and found a nice yarn that I wanted to make a cardigan from. This has been very easy to work on now when I’ve been home ill, not many ends to weave in and not a lot of thinking needed when crocheting.

I’ve continued to scour magazines for mentioned books. I’ve looked in magazines from Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Spain, Norway and India. I’m thinking I might write a separate post about this at some point.

So far, I’ve put most of the magazines in the same shelf, some have gotten their own. There are many books that haven’t been on my radar before. Many books are new, some are in languages that I’m not comfortable enough to read in yet and a few are books I’ve actually read before! I’m looking forward to diving into these mentions to see which I’m interested in reading and also which magazine that mentions books most according to my taste!

What are you reading at the moment?

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A Wolf in the Garden

Posted on October 21, 2026 by Yrsha

I picked this up after writing my Down the TBR-hole post and decided to give it a shot since it is included in my audiobook service.

Wolf in the Garden – Allegra Hall
Original title: A Wolf in the Garden (2023)
Series: Lost Moon: Unravelling Monsters Universe #1

Elevator pitch: The supernaturals came out two years ago, her ex is her new client and he’s a … wolf.

I debated for maybe 80% of the book whether or not to abandon this book. At first because I had read in a review that it was going to be a lot of focus on certain activities and maybe not so much on the plot. When we got maybe a fifth into the book, this was when I started to think, this can’t be it, right? For a very long time I hope that we would get more of the plot, because I could think that the plot was a little intriguing. And the longer we didn’t get a plot, the more I was thinking that the turning point is coming soon. Towards the end, I thought that no, we’re not going to get much more plot but I don’t have so much left anyhow so I can as well finish it.

The points that spoke to me:
-It was set on New Zeeland.
-The setup of the story with the supernatural creatures recently having come out in the open.
-Plants.

The points that didn’t speak to me:
-For one minute plot, we got 20 minutes detailed intimate scenes.
-The main characters already had a history and we didn’t get a build up or chemistry between them.
-The “problem” between the characters was solved very quickly. I usually find this nice in a story that it doesn’t drag out the problem longer than necessary but I would in those cases assume that the rest of the story does something else interesting.

I gave this book 1,5 out of 5 stars – I was a bit bored

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Down the TBR-hole #27

Posted on October 18, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

Mr. & Mrs. Witch – Gwenda Bond
A Mr and Mrs Smith retelling with witches? I’m adding it to my audiobook shelf.
Verdict: Stays

To Have and to Heist – Sara Desai
I like a good heist book, I’ll keep it.
Verdict: Stays

Flirting with Forever – Cara Bastone
I’m not sure how and when I added this to my TBR but I’m feeling like I could go without reading this one.
Verdict: Goes.

Whisky Business – Elliot Fletcher
I admit that I added this mostly because of the title, I liked the pun. I almost started listening to the book but switched when they read the triggers. Do I want to give it another try? How much is the title worth? I think I’ll let it go.
Verdict: Goes

A Wolf in the Garden – Allegra Hall
I’m a little hesitant with this one but it’s available for me as an audiobook so I’ll give it a try before deciding. Adding it to the audiobook shelf. A quick review check says it’s rather focused on the unclothed parts and it’s quite long so I’m getting the more sceptic, I might find it a little boring.
Verdict: Stays (for now)

Happy Medium – Sarah Adler
This sounds like a fun read! I’ll keep it.
Verdict: Stays

Funny Story – Emily Henry
Recommended to me by a friend, stays.
Verdict: Stays

Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
I’ve been told from several people I know that they want me to read this, so I’ll oblige.
Verdict: Stays

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow – Zoulfa Katouh
Recommended to me from a friend, I’ll read this.
Verdict: Stays

Sing Me to Sleep – Gabi Burton
I’ve been gifted this book and really want to read it!
Verdict: Stays

Norrskenet bedrar – Maria Lindgren
I bought this book directly from the author, another book I really want to read!
Verdict: Stays

Convergence – Etta Pierce
I think I’d like to give this a try.
Verdict: Stays

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 10
Number of leaving books: 2
Total amount of leaving books: 67
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: –
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 2
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 252

It’s a mix this time. A couple that I really want to get to right this moment, a few that I’ve lost interest in and a couple in between. Can’t wait to start reading!

Any suggestions on where to start?

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Weekly update #99 – scattered reading

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Yrsha

I’m in a indecisive mood when it comes to audiobooks. I jump between them and can’t really decide on what to listen to. I decided not to continue one, paused one because the plot was a bit silly and the narrator a bit squeaky and am trying another one. Let’s see if I’ve landed on one to continue.

In my very ambitions moods, I’m thinking that I can give a progress image each week showing how far I’ve come since the week prior. But after laying them all out, I realise that it might not be a weekly thing. We’ll see. Since last time, I’ve made 7 squares and I’ve also attached one yellow and one orange block to the blanket. It’s perhaps not so easy to see in the images but it feels like I’m making progress on several fronts! I’m not looking forward to hiding all the threads when I’m finished. I do hide the ones in each square anyway but when I’m adding them together these loose threads are going to increase quite a bit.

Physical reading wise I’m also reading several books at once. One for a challenge I’ve not yet told you about, one for the work book circle and a few started that hasn’t been prioritised. I should start reading my next university book circle pick but I’m mostly in the mood for continuing my re-read of the Mercy Thompson series in order to get to read the last one.

What are you reading at the moment?

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Down the TBR-hole #26

Posted on October 11, 2026 by Yrsha

It is time for another round of Down the TBR-hole, where I go through the books in my To Be Read shelf on Goodreads and try to decide if I still want to read them (should they stay) or not (should they go?).

Sweethand – N.G. Peltier
This book sounds cute, it could be good if it’s made right. Not available for me at the library or audiobook service, I’ll have to think about if I’m interested enough to buy it.
Verdict: Stays (for now)

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J. Klune
This has been recommended to me by several people. I’ll just have to give it a go.
Verdict: Stays

Järnulven (Iron Wolf) – Siri Pettersen
I really liked her other series Odinsbarn so I’d like to give this a go as well.
Verdict: Stays

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It – Elle Cosimano
I like the sound of this story. I’m adding it to my to-borrow shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Golden – Shannon Mayer
A shifter romance where the main character turns into a golden retriever? It’s not available somewhere for me at the library or my audiobook service so I’ll have to look closer into the reviews to see if it’s something I want to spend money on.
Verdict: Stays (for now)

As You Wish – Jackson Pearce
I’m still intrigued and want to see how she resolves this predicament with being in love with a genie.
Verdict: Stays

Bond – Tasha Black
This soundsl ike it could be a fun read but at the moment I can’t see myself prioritizing this one. There seems to be other books buy her on my audiobook service so I might give them a try.
Verdict: Goes

Inheritance – Nora Roberts
This synopsis gives me the same vibe as the Key Trilogy by the same author. I’m adding it to my audiobook shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Not the Witch You Wed – April Asher
Fake-dating, witches and wolf shifters? Yes.
Verdict: Stays

The Fake Mate – Lana Ferguson
I read The Nanny by the same author and I only gave that two stars. Maybe it was the whole setup of that thing that didn’t completely work. So this fake-dating things might work more in my favour? I was sure I was going to remove it but I couldn’t.
Verdict: Stays

The Witch is Back – Sophie H. Morgan
A dog familiar? Please say it can talk! Adding it to my audiobook shelf.
Verdict: Stays

Murtagh – Christoffer Paolini
I really liked the Eragon books when I was younger so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy this one as well.
Verdict: Stays

How did it go this time?
Books in the TBR shelf at start: 240
Number of staying books: 11
Number of leaving books: 1
Total amount of leaving books: 65
Number of reserved books at the library: –
Number of books put in to-borrow-shelf: 1
Number of books added to audiobook-account: 2
Current amount of books in my TBR shelf: 255

I’m happily surpised that I find more of these on my audiobook service than I would have hoped, then I can still give them a go without having to buy all of them. Most of the books now are newer books and newer additions to my TBR. It’s starting to show that I’m more selective as to what goes here now.

Have you read any of these that you think I should prioritize?

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Weekly update #98 – the Tetris work is back on track!

Posted on October 10, 2026 by Yrsha

It’s been a while but I’m back working on my Tetris blanket! For the first 50 books of 2025, each book corresponds to a Tetris block (four squares). The shape and colour depends on when the book was published, this was a way for me to broaden my reading a bit.

I laid them all out this morning to take a look at how far I’ve come. I’m blocking some orange squares at the bottom, the whole blocking board got to represent that block. At the bottom right, one purple and one red block is attached together! I’m soon halfway done in amount of squares. 99 made and 101 to go, plus a couple of grey ones to top it off.

I’m currently listening to a book that will turn up in a Down the TBR-hole post next week. I’ve been trying to decide whether I should continue or abandon it but now I’m starting to think I’m a little invested in (the quite small) plot so I might listen to the rest as well.

The other day I started reading The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn for a small challenge I’ve made for myself, the challenge will be explained in a month or so. I haven’t come so far yet that I can really make any thoughts. I think we’re following the main character when she’s really small and we’ve mostly gotten her new stepmother’s not so nice point of view (let’s say she’s not really enjoying her “wife dutys” at night). I hope this doesn’t set the tone for the rest of the book. It’s set around the second world war and I’m hoping that we get some secret agents action further on but I might have gotten the synopsis wrong, we’ll see.

In our work book circle (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) we’ve come to Darcy’s letter, we’re going to have a lot to talk about this coming week. Even the ones who’ve been thinking this book was a bit slow agree that there’s a lot going on right now. I’m really feeling like rewatching the 2005 adaptation but I should perhaps wait until we finish the book? I’ve both read and seen it before so there’s no spoilers really…

What are you reading at the moment? And do you have any bookish crafts going on?

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September 2026

Posted on October 4, 2026 by Yrsha

I read 13 things in August; 12 books, 1 short story and 1 middle-grade book.

English: 3
Swedish: 10

Audiobook service: 12
Library: 0
Owned: 1

Physical: 1
Audio: 5
Ebook: 3
Audio + ebook: 4
Physical + ebook: –

Average rating: 3,31

Top rated books this month (listed in reading order):
Crazy Rich Asians – Kevin Kwan (4 stars)
Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level – Jackson Pearce (4 stars)
A Long Petal of the Sea – Isabel Allende (4 stars)

I was a little surprised to se that I managed to get in so many books (but very pleased). I read things that have been on my TBR for a very long time, some things that have been in the spotlight recently and some things I just stumbled upon. The last book of the month was a German book; The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn, it surprised me in a good way.

What did you read in September?

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Långt bortom havet

Posted on September 29, 2026 by Yrsha

I söndags träffades bokcirkeln och diskuterade vår senaste bok Långt bortom havet. Den här gången var det min tur att föreslå tre böcker som vi sedan röstade om.

Långt bortom havet – Isabel Allende
Originaltitel: Largo pétalo de mar
Engelsk titel: A Long Petal of the Sea

Hisspitch: När Franco kommer till makten är Roser och Victor två av all spanjorer som flyr Spanien. Poeten Pablo Neruda hjälper till att ordna en båt som tar med spanska flyktingar till Chile.

Jag tyckte att det här var en väldigt intressant bok! Det spanska inbördeskriget och militärkuppen i Chile är inte två slag som jag ofta stöter på och inte vetat så mycket om. Det märks att Isabel Allende har gjort gedigen research när hon skrev denna boken.

Jag gillar Allendes sätt att skriva. Det är på ett sätt ganska sakligt, vilket gör att även de hemskare sakerna inte känns så svåra att komma igenom. Det behövs inte alltid att känna allt hemskt som hänt och det passade bra på den här typen av bok där vi får följa två livsöden.

Det passade mig bra att lyssna på den här boken, jag tror att jag kanske hade tyckt att vissa partier var sega om jag läst det med ögonen. Däremot så saknade jag tackordet där Isabel Allende bland annat skrev om den Victor som faktiskt svarade på en massa av hennes frågor. Jag tror att jag måste leta upp det så att jag får knyta ihop säcken. Det var en sektion som jag blev lite besviken över att det inte fanns i boken och sedan upptäckte när vi diskuterade boken att det faktiskt fanns!

Jag gav boken 4 av 5 stjärnor – jag tyckte mycket om den.

Det är sällan vi är så eniga när vi läser en bok som vi var denna gång, alla gav boken 4 stjärnor. Det var som alltid trevliga diskussioner och vi var alla nöjda med valet!

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