Happy Sunday bookish peeps!
My Weekly Bookish Wrap Up is linked with the Sunday Salon and the Sunday Post.
The Sunday Salon is a meme hosted by Readerbuzz and is a place to link up and share what you have been doing during the week. It’s also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. While the Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and is a chance to share news. It’s a post to recap the past week on your blog and share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.
Non-bookish things:
It has been a bit of a week. I’m still feeling pretty unwell, struggling with pain most days with 8 more weeks of pain ahead…until my next round of tests. My blood pressure is through the roof and I’ve had to start taking medication – that’s how you know you’re old. The addition of a blood pressure machine on my kitchen bench is another dead giveaway to my ‘advanced’ age.
On Tuesday, on the way to work, I hit a kangaroo in my lovely, lovely car and had to watch it get taken away on a tow truck. The kangaroo was fine – did a little commando roll and kept on bouncing – but my car is at the repairer for 3-4 weeks. I’m driving a dinky little hire car and I’m terrified the whole time I’m behind the wheel. I have a 45 minute drive to and from work every day through farmland, vineyards and bush, so I’m a nervous wreck by the time I get anywhere.
Another thing making me nervous – my uni results get released this coming week and I will be just so happy if I pass. After all Ps are degrees and I don’t want to have to retake a subject. Wish me luck!
Bookish things:
This week I began to focus on reading some books that have been on my TBR for a bit longer than I might have wanted. I binge read The Maid by Nita Prose over two nights on the couch and really enjoyed the quirkiness of it’s lead character Molly. I loved the way she processed information and expressed herself in interactions with others. The ‘mystery’ wasn’t much of a mystery, but it was interesting the way things all worked out and the friendships that were forged along the way.
I also read Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young. I’m very new to this author but I do enjoy her writing and look forward to reading books 2 and 3 of this series.
Books read this week:
The Maid by Nita Prose – ★★★★
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanour has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black – but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?
A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young – ★★★★
When people-pleasing Chloe learns that her birth mother has unexpectedly had another baby, she doesn’t hesitate to become a next of kin guardian. But when she fails to pass Child Protective Services’ financial evaluation, she is faced with a choice: see her baby sister placed in foster care or participate in CPS’ new initiative, TeamUp.
Enter Warren, a surly mechanic’s apprentice attempting to get custody of his deaf fifteen-year-old brother after failing CPS’ housing evaluation. The two strangers immediately clash but agree to live together until Warren can find housing elsewhere and Chloe can further grow her freelance career.
As their lives intertwine, Chloe and Warren both realise that they’re far more similar than they could have imagined. What started as forced begins to feel natural—and far less lonely. Chemistry soon intensifies beyond what either of them can stand, but they must each decide if what burns between them is worth risking their arrangement and, ultimately, the well-being of their siblings.
With banter, heart, and steam that will have the reader blushing, Next of Kin is a true underdog story of two young adults redefining what family can look like.
Bookish Challenges:
2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge: 45/100 books
Audiobook Challenge: 31/50
20 (10) Books of Summer (Winter): 4/10
And that’s my bookish week.
I hope you’ve had a wonderfully bookish week.
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