Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog.

The topic this week is a Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List. I hardly ever stick to any of the To-Be-Read lists I compile, mainly because I’m a mood reader. The books listed here are books that at the moment I fancy reading soon, but when the time comes I might find myself reading other books – we’ll see.

Nero by Conn Iggulden – historical fiction about the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. It’s the first in a new trilogy covering Nero’s early childhood.To be published in May 2024.

 Munich Wolf by Rory Clements – historical fiction set in Munich in the 1930’s, featuring murder squad detective Sebastian Wolff. I’ve enjoyed Clements’ Tom Wilde spy thrillers, so I’m hoping this new series will be just as good. To be published in January 2024.

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene – A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Greene’s gripping thriller exposes a world of loneliness and fear, of life lived on the ‘dangerous edge of things’.

And Finally: Matters of Life and Death by Henry Marsh – as a retired brain surgeon, Henry Marsh thought he understood illness, but even he was unprepared for the impact of his diagnosis of advanced cancer. He navigates the bewildering transition from doctor to patient. As the days pass, his mind turns to his career, to the people and places he has known, and to creative projects still to be completed. Yet he is also more entranced than ever by the mysteries of science and nature, by his love for his family, and – most of all – by what it is to be alive.

The Far Pavilions by M M Kaye – the story of an English man – Ashton Pelham-Martyn – brought up as a Hindu. It is the story of his passionate, but dangerous love for Juli, an Indian princess. It is the story of divided loyalties, of friendship that endures till death, of high adventure and of the clash between East and West.

The Rocks Below by Nigel P Bird, a novella telling the story of the aftermath of a massive storm off the East coast of Scotland. As people are clearing up the devastation, strange things happen. People and animals go missing. Amongst the debris strewn across the beaches, there are some huge boulders, which a local geology lecturer decides to analyse.

Death by a Honeybee by Abigail Keam – Josiah Louise Reynolds, a former art history professor, was once a celebrity with wealth, social position, and a famous husband. Now her circumstances have drastically altered. She is now a full time beekeeper who finds her world turned upside down when a man is found dead in her bee yard, only to discover the victim is her competitor and nemesis. 

The Innocent by Matthew Hall – a prequel to the Jenny Cooper ‘Coroner series (I enjoyed reading two of these). When Coroner Jenny Cooper crashes her car one bright September morning, she finds her mind propelled back to the past – to ten years earlier when she was embroiled in the most difficult of cases when a fourteen year old girl in her care is killed, falling under a train. It seems both the girl’s family and the authorities are determined to prove Jenny responsible. But what is the real truth behind Natasha’s tragic death?

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer – a remarkable true story of a boy’s life in Malawi, about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual’s ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.

3500: An Autistic Boy’s Ten-Year Romance with Snow White by Ron Miles –

Benjamin, a nine-year-old autistic boy with a love of Disney, was taking his first trip to Walt Disney World. The last thing his parents expected was to see him come alive. What followed was a remarkable tale of inspiration, heartbreak, dedication and joy as Benjamin’s family relocated from Seattle to Orlando in order to capture that magic and put it to practical use.