An end of week recap

“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.”
– Henry David Thoreau

We have reached the halfway mark in January, which means the third Monday – often dubbed Blue Monday in the UK – falls on the 19th this year, after which we can begin to feel buoyant and bubbly again.

Today is Benjamin Franklin Day, observed by many around the world with a light‑hearted yet thoughtful appreciation of his numerous contributions – his autobiography and his letters remain among the most significant and enduring pieces of his literary legacy. And in the UK, both National Winnie the Pooh Day and National Thesaurus Day fall on Sunday, making it a wonderfully wordy weekend. We can also bring out the brass bands and hang the bunting for International Creativity Month, which livens things up considerably.

Among today’s birthday celebrants are English novelist, Ellen Wood (1814), English novelist and poet, Anne Brontë (1820), Australian children’s author, May Gibbs (1877), South African poet, Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali (1940) and American novelist, Suzanne Berne (1961). Tomorrow’s batch includes Bulgarian writer, Grigor Parlichev (1830), Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío (1867), English writer, A.A. Milne (1882), Estonian writer, Albert Kivikas (1898), British novelist, travel and short-story writer, William Sansom (1912), German author, Arno Schmidt (1914), American writer and futurist, Robert Anton Wilson (1932), British literary critic and poet, Jon Stallworthy (1935) and Kenyan author, Binyavanga Wainaina (1971).

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.

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.

* Stay in the Moominloop *

In another, hopefully useful, addition to my Tove Trove project, I feature the latest insights, publication announcements and critical perspectives from the ever‑inspiring world of Tove Jansson. >> Tove Telegraph >>

Please don’t forget (as mentioned last week), there is now a dedicated index page for everything Tove, making it easier to find all the relevant posts. You can access it from the main menu at the top of every Book Jotter page. >> Tove Trove Main Index >>. Plenty more will be happening with this project over the coming months! 🎩👜

* Independent Means Read Indies 2026 *

Late last year we lost a highly valued member of our community when Lizzy Siddal of Lizzy’s Literary Life passed away. She had, for the previous five years, co-hosted Reading Independent Publishers Month with Karen Langley of Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings – a widely-enjoyed event in which participants are encouraged to discover and support small press publishers, who, as Karen says, do all the “heavy lifting” when it comes to “bringing out the most innovative books.” I am therefore both pleased and relieved to report that the challenge will continue this February with Karen solo at the #ReadIndies6 helm. As always, contributors are asked to “read as widely as [they] please […] within the boundaries” of two simple rules. To find out what they are and much else besides, please peruse Announcing Reading Independent Publishers Month 6! #ReadIndies. Let’s get behind Kaggsy this year and give her lots of support for taking on this task alone and as a mark of respect for Lizzy. Thanks all. 🙏

* A Host of Bookish Happenings *

There is plenty more happening around the book blogoverse. Currently underway is the (1) 2026 Immigration Reading Challenge at Introverted Reader, (2) the Bookish Books Reading Challenge at Bloggin’ Bout Books, (3) The Booklist Queen 2026 Reading Challenge at Booklist Queen,  (4) the 2026 Mount TBR Challenge over at My Reader’s Block, (5) International Gothic Reading Month at The Society for the Study of the American Gothic and coming next month is (6) the 2026 Winter’s Respite Readathon at Seasons of Reading.

* Blogs from the Basement * 

Freshly resurrected from the ‘almost overlooked’ stack this week: (1) Back in June, Dactyl Review’s Vic Peterson gave the thumbs‑up to Tom Newton’s novel Fabian: A Cubist Biography. Presented as “a biography of Fabian, a ‘disillusioned, would-be filmmaker’,” this surreal work is “an amazing and compelling composition” that examines what happens when a novelist writes a biography of someone who never existed. “Newton can spin a yarn” says Vic. Please read his fascinating analyses at Fabian: A Cubist Biography, by Tom Newton. (2) In July, Richard Clegg of Bookmunch wrote a positive review of Sinclair McKay’s “panoramic, sweeping history of Saint Petersburg”. Its “main focus is the siege of the city during Operation Barbarossa in the Second World War” and Richard likes the way it uses literature to highlight “the spiritual mindset of the times.” He was also impressed by the manner in which it “detours through writers’ and composers’ families’ lives to [provide] unusual angles on the main narrative.” Find out why Saint Petersburg: Sacrifice and Redemption in the City That Defied Hitler gives a good overview of “Vladimir Putin’s thinking on Finland and the Baltic states” at ‘A good introduction’ – Saint Petersburg by Sinclair McKay. 

* 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 one – in this instance, posted earlier this week:

12 noteworthy debut books to read in January 2026 – Over at Debutiful, writer and podcaster Adam Vitcavage shares his latest list of “noteworthy debut books for readers to discover”, all of which are being published this month. Among his recommendations are “one of [his] favorite nonfiction books ever,” a title he says “captures [a woman’s] struggles with alcohol dependency in such a real way”, namely, the horror/coming‑of‑age novel by Melissa Faliveno, Hemlock; Larissa Pham’s Discipline, a “penetrating story about a woman’s past and the truth she’s spun out of it”; Sydney Rende’s short story collection, I Could Be Famous, “following ten ambitious women and one male superstar as they pursue their desires”; and Alice Evelyn Yang’s “dark, magical realist […] family saga” set in China, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing (pictured) – described here as an “intoxicating” historical epic that will “sweep you off your feet.” Please visit the post to explore the rest of Adam’s tempting titles for January.

* 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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Miller’s Book Review: The Ancient Roman Guide to Building Your Personal Library – Joel J. Miller writes about “6 ways to assemble an enviable book collection in a world long before Amazon.” The book featured here is George W. Houston’s Inside Roman Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity, in which the author “identifies about a dozen different methods by which ancient Romans assembled their collections.”

On the Seawall: Commentary on Queen by Birgitta Trotzig – One of Sweden’s most celebrated authors, Birgitta Trotzig left us the mythic, modernist novella Queen – first published in 1964 – now rediscovered and translated by Saskia Vogel and reviewed here by Cory Oldweiler.

A double helping for Janeites:
Jane Austen’s World: Book Review: A Guide to Regency Dresses – Rachel Dodge introduces her readers to one of her favourite books of 2025, historian Hilary Davidson’s A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins. A “true gem” of a book, which she intends to use while researching Austen’s novels.
Quello che piace a Valeria: Jane Austen 2026: New TV Series and Film Adaptations – “After celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, the year 2026 brings an unprecedented wave of adaptations.” Valeria Pietrantonio keeps international fans up to date with the latest dramas coming to Britbox.

The Conversation: An Antarctic ‘polar thriller’ and a neurodivergent novel imagine a climate changed future – “Two new Australian novels imagine how we might live in a climate‑changed future,” writes Caitlin Macdonald of Bri Lee and Rose Michael’s latest books, which approach our uncertain world from opposite directions — one centred on refusing care, the other shaped by it.

Historia: Historical books to look out for in 2026 – Frances Owen rounds-up historical books published by members of the Historical Writers’ Association, with subjects ranging from “Ancient Greece and Rome to the mid-20th century via the Viking era, medieval England, Henry VIII’s court, Renaissance Italy, Georgian and Victorian London, the Second World War and its aftermath, and post-independence India.”

Reveries In The Warren: darkly academic – There are books Chloe believes “encompass [the] Darkly Academic vibe” that go beyond the usual few titles cited when discussing this literary and internet aesthetic, which romanticises and idealises scholarly life and focuses on themes of higher education, the arts and literature. She shares a list of suggested texts.

Toronto Star: A new Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan novel plus other mysteries reviewed – Steven W. Beattie offers a range of suggested mystery titles, from Maxie Dara’s fantasy A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Cheating Death to Gilly Macmillan’s darkly academic The Burning Library.

Suitcase: This is What it’s Like to Spend a Week on the Road with a Travelling Book Club – “What happens when the book club leaves the living room?” asks Samantha Roche. “One writer trades her usual reading nook for the open road, joining a travelling community in Bali for literary workshops, sunset readings and enlightening conversations that go beyond the page”.

The Observer: Gerald Murnane: ‘I think of my mind as a grassland or prairie’ – “The Australian novelist on imaginary horse racing, the meaning of true fiction, and why Tolstoy should have been arrested for War and Peace”. Interviewer, Ellen Peirson-Hagger tells us: “Landscape With Landscape, a collection of six stories [by Murnane] that was brutally reviewed upon its 1985 publication, now appears in the UK for the first time.” 

BBC Culture: The 40 most exciting books to look forward to in 2026 – “From big-name authors Colson Whitehead, George Saunders and Maggie O’Farrell to buzzy debuts and powerful non-fiction, these are the titles you’ll want to add to your reading pile this year”, declares Clare Thorp. The featured book cover is My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction by Deborah Levy, forthcoming from Hamish Hamilton later this year. 

The Federalist: Humanity Can Still Learn From ‘The Father Of History’ – “Emily Katz Anhalt’s latest book, Ancient Wisdom for Polarized Times, makes a powerful case for relearning the lessons of Herodotus”, says professor in English, Louis Markos. Published this month, he hopes “she will get a wide reading” as her “voice is a much-needed one in our fractured polity”.

Afrocritik: Caine Prize for African Writing Marks 25th Anniversary with Celebration of Noviolet Bulawayo’s Best of Caine Award Win – “The three-day anniversary programme, held across the cities of Harare and Bulawayo, placed NoViolet Bulawayo’s work at the centre of a wider reflection on African storytelling”, says Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku.

Counter Craft: Why You Should Read Gene Wolfe (and Where to Start) – “On the science fiction author that even literary snobs will love” – Lincoln Michel explores the works of American writer Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) and asks why it is he didn’t make “the mainstream leap” in the way that Ursula K. Le Guin or Octavia Butler did.

Air Mail: The Cult of Karl Ove Knausgaard – In advance of the release of Knausgaard’s The School of Night, Erin Somers writes: “The Norwegian writer inspires a reverence bordering on worship among his mostly male fans. He can bring grown men to tears with a single sentence”. If this interests you, there is also a review in 4Columns by Argentine writer Reinaldo Laddaga of this fourth volume in ‘The Morning Star’ cycle.

Womack’s Wanderings: Ivy Compton-Burnett: The Last and the First – In his ongoing “exploration of the novels of Ivy Compton-Burnett”, Philip Womack gets stuck into The Last and the First, the English author’s “final novel”, which, he says, she was unhappy with and, in consequence, it was published posthumously in 1971 after being “patched together”. However, it still sounds rather good.

Two together for ’26:
The New York Times: 🔓 The Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026 – Miguel Salazar and Laura Thompson reveal: “Tayari Jones, Ann Patchett, George Saunders and Veronica Roth return with new novels; Jennette McCurdy makes her fiction debut; and more.”
The New York Times: 🔓 The Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026 – Miguel Salazar and Laura Thompson announce: “Memoirs by Sylvester Stallone and the founder of Barstool Sports; essays from celebrated novelists Jesmyn Ward and Jayne Anne Phillips; and more.”

Chytomo: The most famous Latvian writer of the 21st century passed away – “On January 4, after a serious illness, Nora Ikstena — Latvian writer and cultural figure — died” aged 56. Her most widely read work is Soviet Milk, a novel about the effects of Soviet rule on a single individual (translated by Margita Gailitis), which became a Baltic best‑seller.

It’s Nice That: Faber Editions’ type-led cover design system is breathing new life into old books – “Art director Pete Adlington shares the ‘code’ he devised to create a unifying branding system for the series that doesn’t ‘overwhelm’ each book’s distinct character”, reveals Olivia Hingley.

The Marginalian: Traversal: New Year, New Book (Seven Years in the Making) – Maria Popova introduces Traversal, her new non-fiction short story collection, which she describes as “[broadening and deepening] the questions raised in [her 2019 book] Figuring”. Here, she traverses the border between life and death, chance and choice, chemistry and consciousness, asking the question, what makes a body a person? You may also like to read the review in Kirkus: Traversal: A stirring, kaleidoscopic intellectual history.

Vox Femina Books: My Attention Span Is Shot. So I Changed How I Read. – “The irony of the analog living trend proliferating across social media isn’t lost on me, particularly when it’s being sold to us through the very platforms it claims to resist.” Brittany Lloyd on “intentional reading, fractured attention spans, and how [she’s] trying to slow down.”

Shepherd: The best books to read if you want to get to know Greenland – I don’t know if this feature is new (it’s difficult to be sure) but Christoffer Petersen (author of Arctic thriller Seven Graves One Winter) has created a fascinating list of books from and about Greenland – a useful resource under present circumstances.

Edinburgh University Press: Q&A with Benjamin Dalton: Catherine Malabou and Contemporary French Literature and Film – “Q&A with Benjamin Dalton about his new book [Catherine Malabou and Contemporary French Literature and Film: Witnessing Plasticity], which journeys through philosophy, literature, film and (neuro)science to discover how our bodies and brains transform throughout life.”

Book Beveling: Are You A Classics Collector? – Three tips from librarian, Kelly Mayfield, “for choosing the best book to buy”.

The New York Times Style Magazine (via Archive Today): Our Favorite Home Libraries – “From Connecticut to Cairo, reading spots that will seem like paradise to book- and design-lovers alike.”

BBC Oxfordshire: Revisiting Agatha Christie 50 years after her death – “Half a century after her death, Agatha Christie still holds a firm grip on the hearts of readers all over the world”, says Galya Dimitrova.

The Culture Dump: 70 Reading Lists for the New Year – Dr. Rebecca Marks is really taken with the idea of a ‘Personal Curriculum’ – essentially, she says, a self‑imposed reading list. She has created a substantial collection of pre‑formed Personal Curricula and offers it to her readers as a New Year gift.

Jaylit: African Literature in the Spotlight: 50 Writers Shape[d] the Cultural Landscape in 2025 – “Contemporary African literature consolidates its position at the centre of the global cultural debate [last year], with writers from the continent accumulating international awards, being translated into multiple languages, and gaining an increasingly strong presence in major literary circuits”, writes Bakare Oluwatobiloba.

The Japan Times (via Archive Today): ‘The Luminous Fairies and Mothra’: This monster is not like the others – Shin’ichirō Nakamura’s classic sci-fi novella, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra, “translated to English for the first time [since it was first published in 1961], provides deeper insight into the political context in Japan in the 1950s.”

Full Stop: The Sleeping Land – Ella Alexander – In The Sleeping Land, a Siberian set historical horror novel, we follow “three archaeology students and their advisor […] as they travel to a cave in northern Yakutia for a field excavation”, less than two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Alexander, says Julia Steiner, “reminds us that the human experience is bound to a rich history, and not just a matter of individual experience.”

The Epoch Times: ‘Lord of the Rings’: January 2026 Re-Release of Tolkien’s Trilogy – J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the second most-read Western tale of spiritual enlightenment after Homer’s The Odyssey”, says Mark Jackson. 🔑 You will need to sign in with your email to read this article.

Publishers Weekly: Nordic Countries Overachieve at Selling Foreign Rights – “Nordic literature has been gaining popularity around the world for much of the past century, with translations from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands […] becoming global phenomena”, reports Ed Nawotka.

The Republic of Letters: Limonov’s Lost Novel – A lost novel by the Russian writer, poet and dissident, Eduard Limonov was “discovered last year in the archives at Stanford University.” Swedish translator, Jakob Sandberg describes Moscow in May as being about “life in bohemian circles of 1960’s Moscow.”

The Rowling Library: TRL Books announces release date and cover for “The Many Faces of Harry Potter” – “TRL Books, the imprint dedicated to works exploring the Harry Potter series and J.K. Rowling’s literary universe, [has announced] that The Many Faces of Harry Potter by Laurent Garcia will be released on February 23rd, 2026.”

The Christian Science Monitor: When the captain’s wife took charge: The true story of Mary Ann Patten – Over two months in 1856, Mary Ann Patten guided her husband’s clipper ship relying on celestial navigation, her wits and the crew’s support. Historian and experienced sailor, Tilar J. Mazzeo’s The Sea Captain’s Wife is the true story of the first female commander of an American merchant vessel, which is described by Barbara Spindel as a “gripping book”.

The Tyee Weekender: Do You Write Your Name In Books? – “You should!” says Canadian writer Bill Richardson in a New Year’s letter. “The presence of a name in a book is value added, an enhancement […]. These remnants [he sees] as invitations, as challenges, as opportunities for research.”

The Times of Central Asia: American Scholar Mark Reese Fights Intellectual Property Theft of Uzbek Classic ‘Bygone Days’ – “When American scholar Mark Reese set out to share Uzbekistan’s most celebrated novel [Bygone Days by Abdulla Qodiriy] with the world, he never imagined that his work would be pirated by the very institutions he had hoped to support”, writes Jonathan Campion.

Inside Story: The view from Grassy Hill – In his new book, [Looking from the North: Australian history from the top down,] Henry Reynolds turns Australian history on its head, finds Glyn Davis.

The New York Times: 🔓 7 Podcasts for Bookworms – In this understandably US‑centric list of suggested podcasts for readers (though the UK’s Backlisted does make an appearance), Emma Dibdin writes with hope: “In a world filled with digital distractions, these shows will help you indulge, develop or rekindle a love for reading.”

Inria: CoMMA: thousands of medieval manuscripts finally transcribed – “A total of 32,763 manuscripts, mostly in Old French and Latin, [were] transcribed in four months” through the use of generative AI.

AP: Erich von Däniken, Swiss writer who spawned alien archaeology, dies at 90 – “Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame among paranormal enthusiasts and scorn from the scientific community, has died.”

Current Affairs: How Anti-Communist Comic Books Spread the Red Scare – “In the 1940s and ’50s, comics like Is This Tomorrow taught Americans that socialism was something to be feared.” Hank Kennedy believes “the same propaganda still lingers” today.

The Curd Zone: What do we want out of films adapted from ancient literature? – “Nolan, Fellini, and [Abi’s] totally objective opinions about what makes a good ancient literature movie.”

Vulture (via Archive Today): Gluttons for Punishment – “Justin McDaniel has developed a cult following for getting his students to read — as long as they follow his rules”, he tells Lila Shapiro.

Dirt: How should a book stack be? – “The stack suggests a life still in progress”, says Tyler Watamanuk in this feature on “book stacks and Design Within Reach’s Story Bookcase.”

It’s Good to Be Here: Gather Your Githerments! – “Why your low-key obsessions and trivialities actually matter”. Amy Stewart discusses the word githerments (which she discovered in an 1862 dictionary), introduces her readers to the works of Maira Kalman (her illustrated The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas looks rather good) and suggests you “fill a journal with your weird little interests”.

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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: #ReadIndies6, #ToveTrove, Alice Evelyn Yang, Benjamin Franklin Day, Deborah Levy, George W. Houston, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Reynolds, International Creativity Month, Maria Popova, National Thesaurus Day, National Winnie the Pooh Day, Reading Challenges, Reading Independent Publishers Month 2026, Reading Independent Publishers Month 6, Shin'ichirō Nakamura, Sinclair McKay, Tom Newton, Tove Jansson, Tove Trove