Monday Moods is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Unwrapping Words (aka, me!). The premise is simple: every week, there’s a new ‘mood’, ranging from tropes to genres or actual moods (happy, sad, etc). On a Monday, feel free to post about books on your TBR, books you’d recommend, or a mix – whatever you like – that fits the ‘mood’ prompt. And of course, you can use your own if you’re not fussed on a particular one!
Today is International Museum Day, so if you leave a comment, I’d love to hear about your favourite and/or local museum! For me personally, it’s got to be St Fagans – a fantastic museum of Welsh life, where buildings are rebuilt very meticulously, including one of the oldest pubs in Wales, a Victorian schoolhouse, Tudor houses and an Iron Age village. If you’re ever around Cardiff, I cannot recommend a better day out.
I was going to use ‘Museum’ as today’s prompt, but I thought that might be a little tricky, so instead…
This Week, I’m in the Mood For…
History
Blitzkrieg Bops: A Brief History of Punks at War
Alli Patton
Genre: Non-Fiction – History
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: 1st July, 2024
I Want to Read This Because the 404 Inklings series covers a lot of different, interesting topics – this is #24. I was drawn to this because of the punk element, but also because it feels like a rarely talked about aspect of the punk movement.
Brave and Bold: 100 years of the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath
Nell Frizzell
Genre: Non-Fiction – History
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 7th May, 2026
I Want to Read This Because I might be outside the target audience for this, but I think most folks who pay attention have heard of this particular body of water, and when I saw this I was intrigued and curious, drawn to finding out more.
London: The Biography
Peter Ackroyd
Genre: Non-Fiction – History – Travel
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: 5th December, 2000
I Want to Read This Because I love London, I love the history of London, and my partner read this and insisted I do, too. It’s just a little bit of a beast, and one I imagine is going to take me quite a long while! I think I’ll get to it relatively soon, but I don’t think I’ll finish it soon!
Strange Ways to Die in the Dark Ages
Emily BUsy and Carrie Ingram-Gettings
Genre: Non-Fiction – History
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 9th April, 2026
I Want to Read This Because Death is an endlessly fascinating subject. It might be a little morbid, but I think this will be interesting for me in the same way reading the Darwin Awards was when I was younger, and books like this (as well as the Darwin Awards) are good reminders of how short, precious and random life is!
Monsters in the closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film
Harry M. Benshoff
Genre: Non-Fiction – Films – Horror
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: 1st October, 1997
I Want to Read This Because I love reading horror history, and film history, and queer history, so a book that contains all three? Yes please! This has been on my TBR for quite a long while now, and I definitely want to read it relatively soon – especially as I know it’s going to come into play with my film vampires series over at Divination Hollow, Through Blood Tinted Glasses.
What history books do you have on your TBR? If you do read history, what sort of history do you enjoy – particular time periods, places, film/entertainment, memoirs and biographies? I’d love to hear your recommendations!
Unwrapping Words 