Secret Book Swap | No. 18 - Currie October 2026
Books We Swapped:
When Cora goes to register her newborn son’s birth in 1987, she faces a life-changing decision: whether to give him the name favoured by her controlling husband or choose one of her own. The story follows three possible futures shaped by that single choice, exploring family, identity, domestic abuse and the power of small decisions to change a life.
Long before Dorothy arrives in Oz, Elphaba is born with green skin and grows into a fiercely independent young woman who questions the world around her. At university, her friendship with the glamorous Glinda develops against a backdrop of political oppression and prejudice. This imaginative reworking of The Wizard of Oz explores how someone comes to be seen as wicked, and who gets to decide what makes a person good or evil.
• Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered an impossible heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. To pull it off, he assembles six dangerous outsiders, each with their own talents, secrets and reasons to take the risk. In the treacherous city of Ketterdam, this fast-paced fantasy combines clever plotting, unlikely alliances and high-stakes adventure.
Former investigative journalist Martha Strangeways is struggling with grief after losing her young twins in a house fire. When she discovers the body of a missing teenager bearing a disturbing poem about crows, she is drawn into a frightening investigation. As another teenager disappears and sinister rumours spread through a remote Scottish village, Martha must confront the darkness surrounding her.
• Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Zevin
Aviva Grossman’s affair with a married congressman destroys her political ambitions, while the man involved largely escapes the consequences. Years later, living under a new identity as Jane Young, she decides to run for office herself. Told through the perspectives of five women, this witty, sharp and feminist novel explores double standards, motherhood, ambition and the lasting effects of public scandal.
After years of writer’s block, once-celebrated novelist Mallory Maddox is desperate to revive her career. When she encounters Leo, a young gay man struggling with addiction and homelessness, she sees the material for her next bestseller. But as she becomes increasingly entangled in his life, the line between telling someone’s story and exploiting it begins to blur. A darkly funny, provocative satire of publishing, identity and the stories we claim as our own.
At the elite Sorrowsong University in the Scottish Highlands, scholarship student Ophelia Winters has a secret mission: to investigate her parents’ suspicious deaths and take revenge on the powerful man she blames. Her plans become complicated when she meets Alex Corbeau-Green, the son of her prime suspect. As a stalker emerges and dangerous secrets surface, Ophelia must decide whether she can trust the person she has every reason to hate.
• This Is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Red and Blue are rival agents fighting on opposite sides of a war that stretches across time and alternate realities. Their lives change when they begin exchanging letters, and what starts as taunting gradually becomes an extraordinary connection. But their growing love threatens everything they have been trained to protect. Lyrical, inventive and romantic, this science-fiction novella explores love, loyalty and the possibility of changing the future.
• The Jane Austen Society – Natalie Jenner
In the English village of Chawton shortly after the Second World War, eight very different people are brought together by their shared love of Jane Austen. As they unite to save the author's former home and preserve her legacy, they form unexpected friendships and find comfort in literature while navigating their own grief, loss and hopes for the future.
Jade has spent years being overlooked by her family, boyfriend and boss, struggling to find the confidence to stand up for herself. Then she discovers a mysterious script predicting an argument that has not happened yet until it plays out exactly as written. As more scripts reveal future situations, Jade realises she has a chance to change her story, if she can learn to speak up for herself.
• Trad Wife – Saratoga Schaefer
Camille Deming has built an online following around her picture-perfect traditional homemaker lifestyle, but she believes her carefully curated world is incomplete without a baby. When she makes a desperate wish at a mysterious old well, her dream appears to come true but the pregnancy develops in increasingly disturbing ways. A chilling horror novel exploring social media, obsession and the dark side of domestic perfection.
• Noble Beasts – Lucy Waverley
In 1858, celebrated artist Edwin Landseer faces mounting pressure to complete the famous lion sculptures for Trafalgar Square. Haunted by nightmares and the demands of Victorian society, he finds himself drawn back to his younger years and his passionate relationship with Georgina, the Duchess of Bedford. Based on real events and historical rumours, this richly atmospheric novel explores artistic ambition, addiction, scandal and a love that defied convention.
• I Wish I Knew – Donna Ashworth
This uplifting collection of poetry offers reassurance and wisdom for navigating the challenges of growing up and finding your place in the world. Covering body image, emotions, mental health, self-worth and personal growth, Donna Ashworth's compassionate words encourage readers to embrace who they are, find courage in difficult moments and remember that they are never alone.
Our Guest , Mairi Kidd
Mairi Kidd is the author of We Are All Witches, Strong Brave True and Scottish Fairytales, Myths and Legends, as well as a number of books in Gaelic for young readers and one of my favourite reads this year, The Specimens.
Mairi has also held roles including heading up Moat Brae, the Birthplace of Peter Pan and Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Books. She was formerly MD of a children’s publishing house working to open up the written word to children and young people with dyslexia, CEO of Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, and Head of Literature at Creative Scotland.
Thank you to Mairi for joining us in Currie and chatting about her writing, the true stories behind them, the importance of reading and her latest books including:
Newes of Witches
Rural Scotland, 1629. Amidst the bogs and oat fields, children are going missing, and others seem to have fallen under a malevolent spell. When a young serving girl is imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft, it falls on healer and midwife Mòrag to uncover the truth.
However, investigation only raises more questions, and soon a violent truth comes to light which threatens to upend local life. As tensions in the community reach a fever pitch, allegiances shift, lives unravel, and Mòrag struggles to save the life of an innocent girl. But in a village gripped by fear and paranoia, this may demand the greatest sacrifice of all.
Book Talk
This month, our talk was inspired by Banned Books Week, which takes place in both the UK and the US.
We looked at the latest figures from PEN America, which recorded 11,982 instances of books being banned in US public schools during 2025–26, up from 6,870 the previous year, an increase of around 74%. The bans covered 7,370 different titles, including more than 4,500 appearing on the list for the first time.
Among them were some familiar titles, including Jane Eyre (one of my all time favourite books!) and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, a book that has been brought to Secret Book Swap several times and is well loved by our group.
Published in 2022, Lessons in Chemistry was a bestseller, won several major book awards and was one of the most borrowed books from US public libraries in 2023 and 2024. We read an extract from the novel, revisiting the wit and warmth that have made it so popular, while reflecting on its appearance on PEN America's list of newly banned books.
We talked about the difference between deciding a book isn't for you and deciding that other people shouldn't be able to read it either. We won't all enjoy the same books, and some subjects can be uncomfortable, but readers should have the freedom to make their own choices.
After all, that's part of what we love about Secret Book Swap: sharing books, discovering new stories and giving someone else the chance to find a book they might love.
Join us at future secret book swaps: