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Mark Curnell @books4maphead

Books are life. Everything else is mere details.

Joined June 2012
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666 Photos and videos
Book Beginnings: Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli #bookbeginnings maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0…

Book Beginnings: Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli

Not only does Gilion host the European Reading Challenge and TBR 26 in 26 Challenge on her Rose City Reader blog but also Book Beginnings on Friday. While I’m no stranger to her European Reading Ch…

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Library Loot maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #libraryloot

Library Loot

After after much slogging I finally finished  Mischling. Since then have turned by attention back to The Haves and Have-Yachts and Once Upon a Time in Russia and also started reading Mary Modern. H…

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Mischling by Affinity Konar maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #ERC2026 #histficreadingchallenge

Mischling by Affinity Konar

In an earlier post I mentioned how thankful I am to my local librarians for their excellent book recommendations. In the almost 10 years I’ve lived in this rural location I’ve yet to re…

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Book Beginnings: The Fall of the House of Walworth by Geoffrey O’Brien maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #kindle #bookbeginnings

Book Beginnings: The Fall of the House of Walworth by Geoffrey O’Brien

Not only does Gilion host the European Reading Challenge and TBR 26 in 26 Challenge on her Rose City Reader blog but also Book Beginnings on Friday. While I’m no stranger to her European Reading Ch…

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Library Loot maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist

Library Loot

After finishing The Scheme, Palace of the Drowned, Back to Moscow and The Book of Lost Names I’ve since moved on to The Haves and Have-Yachts, Mischling and Once Upon a Time in Russia. Howeve…

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This morning with coffee it’s Evan Osnos’s 2026 The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich. #20bos26
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20 Books of Summer 2026: Kindle Edition maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #backlist

20 Books of Summer 2026: Kindle Edition

Two years ago when Cathy of 746 Books announced she’d no longer be hosting the annual 20 Books of Summer reading challenge I figured that was the end of it. Once again thanks to Annabel of AnnaBook…

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Book Beginnings: The Haves and Have-Yachts by Evan Osnos maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #bookbeginnings

Book Beginnings: The Haves and Have-Yachts by Evan Osnos

Not only does Gilion host the European Reading Challenge and TBR 26 in 26 Challenge on her Rose City Reader blog but also Book Beginnings on Friday. While I’m no stranger to her European Reading Ch…

maphead.wordpress.com
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Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #LibraryLoveChallenge #backlist #historicalfiction #histficreadingchallenge

Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

The librarians at my small town public library have recommended a number of fine books over the years. Had it not been for them I might never had discovered Robert Karjel’s 2015 thriller The Swede,…

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Back to Moscow by Guillermo Erades maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #europeanreadingchallenge #backlist

Back to Moscow by Guillermo Erades

10 years ago almost to this day I borrowed a library copy of Guillermo Erades’s 2016 novel Back to Moscow only to later return it to the library a few weeks later ignored and unread. For year…

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Here's my stack of books for Big Book Summer Challenge 2026 #backlist #BigBookSummer #historicalfiction #booksky
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Big Book Summer Challenge 2026 maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #BigBookSummer #historicalfiction

Big Book Summer Challenge 2026

Once again I’ll be participating in the Big Book Summer Challenge. This marks the fourth time I’ve taken part in this reading challenge and it’s been a lot of fun. Co-hosted by Su…

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This morning with coffee it’s Ben Mezrich’s 2015 book Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs—A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder. #backlist #nonfiction
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The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #LibraryLoveChallenge #backlist #historicalfiction #histficreadingchallenge #2026immigrationreading

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

I’ve been trying to diversify my consumption of historical fiction by reading novels set during a variety of historical periods. However, sometimes even I fall for one of those novels set dur…

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This morning with coffee it’s Kristin Harmel’s 2020 historical novel The Book of Lost Names. #historicalfiction
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Book Beginnings: 1920 by Eric Burns maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #bookbeginnings #library

Book Beginnings: 1920 by Eric Burns

Not only does Gilion host the European Reading Challenge and TBR 26 in 26 Challenge on her Rose City Reader blog but also Book Beginnings on Friday. While I’m no stranger to her European Reading Ch…

maphead.wordpress.com
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The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #europeanreadingchallenge #CloakDaggerChal #LibraryLoveChallenge #historicalfiction #histficreadingchallenge

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell

Over the years I’ve read a number of historical novels set in what’s now the Czech Republic. As far as settings go there’s been some variety. As for the somewhat distant past it&#…

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Library Loot maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #publiclibrary

Library Loot

Yes, I’m still working my way through Sheldon Whitehouse’s The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court as well as Christine Mangan’s Palace of the Drowne…

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This morning with coffee it’s Guillermo Erades’s 2016 debut novel Back to Moscow. #backlist
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Book Beginnings: Back to Moscow by Guillermo Erades maphead.wordpress.com/2026/0… #backlist #bookbeginnings

Book Beginnings: Back to Moscow by Guillermo Erades

Not only does Gilion host the European Reading Challenge and TBR 26 in 26 Challenge on her Rose City Reader blog but also Book Beginnings on Friday. While I’m no stranger to her European Reading Ch…

maphead.wordpress.com
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