An end of week recap

“The week before Christmas, when snow seemed to lie thickest, was the moment for carol-singing; and when I think back to those nights it is to the crunch of snow and to the lights of the lanterns on it.”
– Laurie Lee

Tomorrow, in the Northern Hemisphere, we celebrate Winter Solstice, or the shortest day and longest night of the year. The Summer Solstice occurs on the same day in the Southern Hemisphere, marking the official start of astronomical summer. My heartfelt good wishes to every one of you. May your solstice herald the beginning of a period filled with love, harmony and good books.

Among today’s birthdays are Estonian writer, Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798), Salvadoran poet, Claudia Lars (1899), Macedonian writer, Vasil Iljoski (1902), English writer, Kate Atkinson (1951), Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer, Nalo Hopkinson (1960) and American author, Taylor Jenkins Reid (1983). Then on Sunday, we can celebrate the lives of British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer, Rebecca West (1892), English novelist, Anthony Powell (1905), British literary editor, novelist and memoirist, Diana Athill (1917), German writer, Heinrich Böll (1917), Indian writer and critic, U.R. Ananthamurthy (1932) and Nigerian novelist, Ifeoma Okoye (possibly 1937).

As ever, this is a post in which I summarise books read, reviewed and currently on the TBR shelf. In addition to a variety of literary titbits, I look ahead to forthcoming publications, see what folk have on their nightstands and keep readers abreast of various book-related opinions and happenings.

I will be in touch before the year is out. All the very best of books to each and every one of you, whatever you are planning to do over the coming days! 📚🎄❄️🌞☃️⛱️

CHATTERBOOKS >>

If you are planning a reading event, challenge, competition, or anything else likely to be of interest to the book blogging community and its followers, please let me know. I will happily share your news here with the fabulous array of bibliowonks who read this weekly wind up.

* A Speculative Spectacle in ‘26 *

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for all the sub-genres in which the setting is other than the real world, involving supernatural, futuristic or other imagined elements, but Shelleyrae of Book’d Out uses the label in its “broadest” sense for her upcoming reading event, the Speccy Fiction Challenge. This, she says, enables participants “to choose from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, (though the focus is skewed towards the first two), and their myriad of subgenres.” To get involved, you need only “choose a goal”, then “read and review a book from any of the [named] categories, or alternatively, “read and review any speculative fiction book.” Please make your way over to Sign Up for the 2026 Speccy Fiction Challenge to peruse the finer details of taking part and chat with others about your plans for the #SpeccyFicChal.

* Journey to Japan in January *

Health permitting, Meredith Smith of Dolce Bellezza hopes very much to host the Japanese Literature Challenge for an impressive nineteenth year on the run. She started the event in 2006 and, she says, in many ways, it “fostered a greater awareness and affection for Japanese literature, both for [herself] and for other readers.” During the winter months, she has always tended to focus her reading on this part of the world but, latterly, finds herself “challenged” because of ongoing heart problems. Nevertheless, she intends to forge ahead with her plans but cautions participants that (quite understandably under the circumstances) she is unsure as to the extent of her involvement during this period. She hopes, however, that you will treat her blog as the main hub for the event, where you can “leave your reviews and find others” doing the same, which she feels “is surely a lovely thing.” Bearing this in mind, Meredith hopes to “read from January 2026 through February, as usual.” Please look over her post, Japanese Literature Challenge 19 (to come) and check out her small sampling list for #japaneselitchallenge19 ideas.

🗓️ A big thank you to Shelleyrae for sending me the link to 2026 Challenges to Feed Your Reading Habit from Reading Challenge Addict. It is brim-full of reading events from across the internet and it is certainly worth a visit in the unlikely event you still have gaps to fill in next year’s challenge calendars. Be warned, there are a lot!

* Work Towards Incomprehension *

If you have considered taking part in one of Ann Morgan’s “incomprehension workshops” – which are the “basis of [her] new book, Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-knowing (see my comments about it in TT #9) – but haven’t yet made up your mind, now is the time to join her free, hour-long “virtual taster session” from your own home on Tuesday 20^th January 2026. If further incentive is required, the knowledge that “super reader, blogger and all-round translation champion Marina Sofia” (of findingtimetowrite) will be involved may well be a decisive inducement. These popular workshops were originally “prompted by the realisation that no-one can be an expert on all the world’s stories,” and invite “readers to play with how paying attention to what we don’t understand can help us read ourselves and our world better.” Described as “playful, disruptive, warm and inclusive,” this is surely an opportunity not to be missed. You can sign up right away at A year of reading the world. >> Go to: Free incomprehension workshop taster >>

* Blogs from the Basement * 

Uncovered today in the dusty pile retrieved from our archive of past posts: (1) Back in August, Toby A. Smith shared a few thoughts on Berlin Shuffle, a novel from 1937 by the German author Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz (sometimes known as John Grane), republished this month with a fresh translation by Philip Boehm. The story “introduces us to a group of Berliners in the late 1920s (in the last few years before Hitler’s rise to power), when German society was suffering the fallout from World War I.” Following “the lives of a handful of characters,” it is “not a book with a single unified storyline”, rather a “series of vignettes […], reflecting individual lives.” Find out why it is “a sober reminder of the dire conditions existing” in the country at the time and a far from “easy read” by taking in the full review at Berlin Shuffle – by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz – independent book review – Historical Fiction (Germany). (2) Crime fiction blogger from North Yorkshire, Bethany of Beth Reads Crime, “really enjoyed” Japanese novelist Uketsu’s horror mystery, Strange Houses (translated by Jim Rion). Discover why in her September post, Strange Houses by Uketsu review. (3) Although this one hasn’t been stuck in the basement for too long (19^th October, to be precise), Ewa Sherman’s references to “snow” and “winter conditions” make it irresistible to this northwestern European. Set in Helsinki in 1982, The Winter Job by Finnish crime writer Antti Tuomainen sees divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen desperate for money to buy his daughter a piano for Christmas. A last-minute job involving transporting an antique sofa to the back of beyond is carried out at “massive inconvenience” to himself in the company of an “old friend”. It is only after many “stressful hours of driving in the snow, in the dark” that Ilmari realises his load isn’t quite what he imagined. Do you feel ready for a “dose of dark humour, clever plotting, great characterisation and touching insights into the human soul?” If so, this might well be for you. Grab your thermals and head over to Nordic Lighthouse to read the full review of The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen.

* Lit Crit Blogflash * 

This is where I share my favourite pieces of writing from around the blogosphere. There are a great many talented people producing high-quality book features and reviews, which makes it difficult to pick only two – both posted in recent weeks:

Bookstore Tourism – Brian D. Butler of Travel Between The Pages doesn’t “usually promote expensive coffee table books,” but made an exception for Jean-Yves Mollier and Patricia Sorel’s Bookstores of the World: The Ultimate Around-the-World Tour for Bibliophiles and Bookshop Lovers – “a beautifully photographed tour of, and paean to, the bookstore as a cultural and literary institution.” Recently published by Abbeville Press, this global tour of contemporary bookstores sets off in France, which Brian tells us, “leads the world in bookstores per capita,” and “continues through Europe and the Americas before visiting the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.” It is illustrated with enticing pictures “showcasing memorable architecture, unusual settings, and memorable interior design.” This could well be the ideal pressie for the enthusiastic book lover in your life (yourself, perhaps?), especially if you are struggling to come up with ideas for gifts this Christmas.

My Favourite Non-Fiction Reads of the Year – Yorkshire dweller, Margaret at From Pyrenees to Pennines, shares a selection of her top non-fiction titles of 2025. She doesn’t rank them [in order of preference] but starts “with [her] most recent […] and [works her way] back towards January.” Ranging from Island Stories – An Unconventional History of Britain by Cambridge historian David Reynolds to David Crystal’s spirited journey through the history of language, A Little Book of Language, she has clearly spent many enjoyable and educational hours with oodles of excellent, fact-based reads. The book featured here is Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession, which she evocatively describes as “a beautifully produced book [, printed on] heavy paper, with blue and black ink, [allowing] the text […] generous space to breathe.” If pushed, however, she says her absolute favourite this year is Chloe Dalton’s lepusiade, Raising Hare.

* Irresistible Items *

Umpteen fascinating articles appeared on my bookdar last week. I generally make a point of tweeting/x-ing (not to mention tooting and bsky-ing) a few favourite finds (or adding them to my Facebook group page), but in case you missed anything, here are a selection of interesting snippets: 

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The Marginalian: Favorite Books of 2025 – Maria Popova tells us that she reads for the same reason she writes – “to fathom [her] life and deepen [her] living”. Here are the books she “read this year that clarified and magnified [her] life [and] will stay with [her] for the rest of [her days].” The featured title is the recently republished The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories by the late Italian writer Gianni Rodari (translated by Jack Zipes), which Maria describes as “a dazzling, deeply original book […].”

Jonathan Crain: When Plague Comes Home: Maggie O’Farrell’s “Hamnet” – With the new historical drama (co-edited and directed by Chloé Zhao) now showing in cinemas across the USA (and coming to the UK early next month), it is probably the perfect time to re-read Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 historical novel, Hamnet. Jonathan Crain reviews the Women’s Prize for Fiction winner (spoilers included) on the story behind Shakespeare’s greatest masterpiece.

3 Quarks Daily: One, Another; Other, Alone: the Fiction of Andrés Barba – TJ Price “came to Andrés Barba […] via recommendation”, having previously been unaware of the Spanish writer’s haunting Such Small Hands and other works, only to find himself awed by Barba’s fiction, which he says, “is a stunning paradox of terror and hope, inspiring a giddy vertigo just this side of ilinx.”

Volumes: Scrooge Season🎄– “This scroogery about the season is, in my experience, best sedated with reading. Books help to resist the bah-humbug of it all.” Matthew Morgan on “winter pessimism, seasonal hope, and against-the-grain Christmas stories.”

The New Inquiry: Nessuna Torno Indietro – 1938, 2025 – “Once banned by Mussolini, Alba De Céspedes’ debut novel, There’s No Turning Back (Nessuna Torno Indietro, 1938), is out now under a new translation by Ann Goldstein, best known for her translations of Elena Ferrante’s novels”, reveals Eleanor Careless.

Cambridge Ladies’ Dining Society: Elizabeth Taylor, novelist in waiting (1) – In this week’s edition, Ann Kennedy Smith introduces us to “the early life of the acclaimed English novelist Elizabeth Taylor” – “Part 1 (1932-38): An unmuddled attitude to life”.

The New York Times: Our Book Critics on Their Year in Reading – “Alexandra Jacobs, Jennifer Szalai and Dwight Garner look back at the books that, as Jacobs writes, ‘bonked me on the head this year.’”

Go All In: National Year of Reading 2026 – If you’re into it, read into it – Here in the UK, 2026 has been designated The Year of Reading, with a national drive to reverse the decline in reading for pleasure. “Everyone knows reading expands worlds, sharpens minds, and fuels creativity. But fewer of us are making time for it. It’s time for the nation to Go All In.”

The Critic: A long shelf life – “Our need for physical books is greater than ever”, says Sarah Moorhouse in this piece on Ian Patterson’s reading memoir, Books: A Manifesto—Or, How to Build a Library.

History Through Fiction: The Almalfi Curse by Sarah Penner – “With a captivating blend of history, magical realism, and dual timelines, Sarah Penner’s The Amalfi Curse takes readers on a thrilling journey through Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where past and present intertwine in a tale of mystery and emotion.” Colin Mustful recommends you “prepare to be enchanted by this delightful read that will leave you yearning for the magic of the Mediterranean.”

The Indian Express: New book reveals India’s syncretic folklore through the life and times of Saint Gorakhnath – Lores of Love & Saint Gorakhnath: Indian Folktales from the Bhakti and Sufi Traditions | Ballads of Mystics, Magic & Love by Nalin Verma and Lalu Prasad Yadav, “rediscovers lost narratives of inclusivity that have been part of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar’s folktales”, writes Abhik Bhattacharya.

Orwell Daily: “I will pick out for special mention Christmas pudding, treacle tart and apple dumplings.”🎄– In an essay first published in the Evening Standard on 15^th December 1945, George Orwell “celebrated Christmas puddings, sauces, bread and cheese [and] the English pub”, at a time when post-war rationing was still in operation.

Reactor: Some of Reactor’s Best Articles About Fiction, Reading, and Writing in 2025 – “[Reactor looks] back at some of [its] favorite non-fiction articles from the past year, highlighting book-centric essays.”

Chicago Review of Books: Art Imitates Life in “The Silver Book” – Set in Rome in the months leading up to the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1975, Olivia Laing’s historical gay crime novel, The Silver Book, is about a young British art student who becomes involved with the renowned costume designer Danilo Donati, says Sara Batkie.

Publishing Perspectives: United by Books: São Paulo’s Indies Launch Street Bookshop Map – “A collective initiative in Brazil brings together 37 bookstores to highlight the city’s growing independent scene”, reports Talita Facchini.

The British Columbia Review: More ‘bests’: short fiction – Originally published in a variety of literary journals, Best Canadian Stories 2026 (edited by Zsuzsi Gartner) combines 16 works from emerging and established writers. Brett Josef Grubisic shares his thoughts on the anthology.

Clarkesworld: Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine: Decoding Animal (and Alien?) Language – Speak, Beast Machine! – “In 1637, French philosopher René Descartes turned animals into machines [in] his Discourse on the Method, [arguing] that animals are automata—collections of biological levers, hydraulic tissues, and electric reflexes”, says Belgian biologist-turned-science writer, Gunnar De Winter. “This animal machine […] thesis”, he continues, has “shaped centuries of Western thought.”

Review 31: Making Space – Morag Rose, “the co-founder of the Loiterers Resistance Movement, introduces her book The Feminist Art of Walking by proudly proclaiming: ‘I am a loiterer because I believe walking can change the world’, says reviewer Kate Bugos. In the author’s own words: ‘walking can be a powerful artistic, creative and political act’, and this book “is not just about ‘reclaiming space’, but about reclaiming the idea of space.”

A Plate of Pierogi: Enchanting tales of Gabriela Houston 🎄– Anna Tuckett speaks to “Polish-British writer Gabriela about writing in [a] second language; what inspires her; her advice to wannabe authors; and Christmas”. The book featured here is The Bone Roots, a fantasy/folkloric story for adults, published in 2023.

The Kyiv Independent: Looking for the 10 best Ukraine-related books of 2025? We’ve got you – Kate Tsurkan shares a selection of “10 of the best books published in 2025 related to Ukraine.”

1000 Libraries Magazine: The Christmas Gift That Helped Harper Lee Bring Mockingbird to Life 🎄 – An uplifting story for Christmas from Millie Ramm: “A single Christmas gift gave Harper Lee the freedom to write, and the world gained one of its most powerful and enduring novels.” That novel was, of course, To Kill A Mockingbird.

Writing About Writing: Meander Spiral Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative – Jane Alison – One by Emily Munro from earlier in the year about the frequently praised 2019 book on the craft of writing, Meander, Spiral, Explode Design and Pattern in Narrative, in which Australian author Jane Alison “catalogs and describes several alternative narrative structures at both the macrotext and microtext level.”

The Japan Times: In 2025, Japanese literature took a turn for the weird – “As expected, women writers raked in successes and cozy cat fiction kept its popularity, with two big surprises from male authors — Uketsu and Osamu Dazai”, says Kris Kosaka.

Harvard Magazine: Novelist Lev Grossman on Why Fantasy Isn’t About Escapism – Lev Grossman, American author of the fantasy series The Magicians, talks to Eric Olson about “his influences, from Harvard to King Arthur to Tolkien.”

Open Country Mag: How Wole Soyinka Inherited the Drama of the Gods — and Shadowed the Nigerian Tragedy – “Since the 1950s, the Nobel laureate has worked in rebellion, carving out a complex, fecund torque of an oeuvre. […] Few artists have lived like him. Yet at 91, carrying the mantle of ‘greatest living writer,’ he has one more great battle on his hands — with generations who once deified him.”

Canadian Writers Abroad: Spooked in PEI: Lowfield – “For the season of ghosty dark days,” Eleanor Proudfoot reviews Canadian author Mark Sampson’s Lowfield – a horror story set in Prince Edward Island.

Women Writing the World: Brazil #3: Outwitting the Censors (read or listen!) – “What would you do, as a writer, if freedom of speech was no longer a right? If the government co-opted writers and artists to create propaganda? Your choices: comply and work; go silent; resist—but how and at what price?” Lilian Nattel gives “a historical overview [of Brazilian] writers from the 19th to the 21st centuries”, focusing on “three contemporary writers.”

LARB: Saints of the Middlebrow – Jon Repetti looks at Jeremy Rosen’s Genre Bending: The Plasticity of Form in Contemporary Literary Fiction, which examines what today’s most critically acclaimed and widely read literary writers have done with the genres of genre fiction.

The Conversation: Think you know Hans Christian Andersen? Four experts pick his weirdest fairy tales to read this Christmas 🎄– The Hans Christian Andersen tales to read this Christmas, according to the Danish experts who know him best.

The New York Times: Our Favorite Hidden Gem Books of 2025 – “The staff of the Book Review recommends unforgettable books that made [their] personal best-of-the-year lists.”

InDaily: New centrepiece Adelaide Festival Centre restaurant revealed with controversial literary twist – “Angry Penguin will be the dining centrepiece of Adelaide Festival Centre’s $35 million upgrade, paying tribute to one of Adelaide’s great literary pot-stirrers”: Max Harris, “a divisive boy wonder of Australian literature”.

Air Mail: Raiders of the Lost Arcade – “Dick and Jeannette Seaver befriended Samuel Beckett in Paris, marched with Allen Ginsberg in Chicago, and introduced readers to radical books of all stripes,” writes Ash Carter.

The Common Reader: John Carey: the Common Reader’s Professor – British critic, John Carey, the former Merton Professor of English Literature at Oxford, has died aged 91. This is Henry Oliver’s piece on “the affectionate obsession of a great critic”.

The Asahi Shimbun: Haruki Murakami honored with awards and a jazzy tribute in New York – “The 76-year-old Tokyo resident and perennial Nobel Prize candidate received a pair of honors in Manhattan for his long career as a storyteller, translator, critic and essayist. […] Two days later, the Japan Society co-hosted a jazzy tribute at The Town Hall, ‘Murakami Mixtape,’ and awarded him its annual prize for “luminous individuals […] who have brought the U.S. and Japan closer together.”

Country Life: Books: In the Footsteps of the Great Artists and the Life and Work of Sir Lawrence Weaver – “Michael Prodger looks at Nick Trend’s art-themed Italian travelogue [Italy: In the Footsteps of the Great Artists], while John Goodall enjoys the biography [Arts & Crafts Chronicler: The Life and Work of Sir Lawrence Weaver] of one of his predecessors in the role of architectural editor for Country Life.”

The Washington Post: Our guide to the (literally) biggest novels of the season – “This autumn, publishers released ambitious novels with hefty page counts, including a second-chance romance, a fantasy adapted from fanfiction and a sprawling narrative with philosophical digressions. These works cater to diverse tastes, from magical realism to survival tales.” For fun, TWP “weighed the competition. With a scale.”

ABC News: A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose delves into her family’s convict history – Nicola Heath and Claire Nichols highlight A Great Act of Love, Australian author, Heather Rose’s historical novel set in a 19^th century Tasmanian “vineyard producing award-winning wine as good, or better, as that produced in the Old World.”

Publishers Weekly: Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks – “The format credited with making books more accessible via low prices and widespread availability will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks”, reports Jim Milliot.

The Republic of Letters: The”Neo-Romantics” Are Just Nostalgic – “Romanticism is an appeal to writerly vanity and anxiety”. Would you agree? Apparently, it “seems to be rattling around everywhere” at present. Here, Romanticon co-founder Matthew Gasda helps “us make sense of this ostensible movement […] with a decidedly unromantic take”.

UnHerd: What Margaret Atwood got wrong ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ never happened – “Margaret Atwood has a reputation for spookily accurate predictions about the future of humanity in her novels. This is quite strange, because […] she is in fact quite obtuse when it comes to interpreting humans.” Kathleen Stock has an interesting take on Margaret Atwood’s brand of feminism.

The Chosun Daily: Munji Celebrates 50 Years of Literary Intellectual Legacy – The Korean publishing house, Munhakgwa Jiseongsa, marks its 50^th anniversary at a gathering in Jung-gu, Seoul, reports Hwang Ji-yoon.

The Eastleigh Voice: Celebrated writer Meja Mwangi dies, closing a historic chapter in Kenyan literature – The Kenyan writer Meja Mwangi, known for such novels as Kill Me Quick and Going Down River Road, passed away on 11^th December at the age of 76.

Publishers Weekly: Lionel Shriver’s Dangerous Ground – The often-controversial author, “Lionel Shriver’s latest novel [A Better Life] is a provocative exploration of immigration in America”, says Mike Harvkey. “Readers can expect a bumpy ride.”

Dirt: Books after magazines: How to blow up a pipeline. – “Greta Rainbow on what happens when the glossies are no longer an apparatus the Big Five can use to find fresh talent or a fresh audience.”

Two in one for Toveites:
Nordisch: Homage to Tove Jansson: Moomin light installations shine in Tampere 🎩👜🎄– In Tampere, a city located in the Finnish Lakelands, which also happens to be home to the Moomin Museum, “the facades [have been] transformed into a luminous tribute to Tove Jansson”, says Alwin Pipper. Should you be fortunate enough to travel there this Christmas (or any time up to 8^th March 2026), there is a map here pinpointing the whereabouts of all the wonderful light installations. Ahh, I wish…
Tove Jansson: Tove Jansson’s Fazer commercials from the 1950s – a rare collection now on display – “The illustrators in the Jansson family and confectionary maker Fazer share a history stretching back more than 100 years, covering everything from advertising to product packaging. Before Tove Jansson began designing packaging for Moomin products, she followed in her mother’s footsteps and drew advertisements for Fazer. Now these advertisements are being displayed more widely than ever before!”

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FINALLY >>

If there is something you would particularly like to see in Winding Up the Week or if you have any suggestions, questions or comments for Book Jotter in general, please drop me a line or comment below. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I wish you a week bountiful in books and rich in reading.

NB In this feature, ‘winding up’ refers to the act of concluding something and should not be confused with the British expression: ‘wind-up’ – an age-old pastime of ‘winding-up’ friends and family by teasing or playing pranks on them. If you would like to know more about this expression, there is an excellent description on Urban Dictionary.

>> See my monthly digest at the Book Jotter Journal on Substack. >>

Categories: Winding Up the Week

Tags: #japaneselitchallenge19, #SpeccyFicChal, Ann Morgan, Antti Tuomainen, Christmas Books, Gabriela Houston, Gavin Francis, Gianni Rodari, Heather Rose, Japan Literature Challenge 19, Jean-Yves Mollier, Jeremy Rosen, Jim Rion, Laurie Lee, Patricia Sorel, Sarah Penner, Speccy Fiction Challenge, Summer Solstice, Uketsu, Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, Winter Solstice