It’s the first Wednesday of 2023! Happy New Year everyone!
We celebrated the New Year by driving across the country to the Norfolk and spent the day by the sea which was lovely but a bit blustery.
Wednesday means that it’s time for WWW Wednesday. This is one of my favourite memes and I love taking part in it and reading everybody else’s posts. It’s currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on her blog Taking on a world of words which can be found here.
The idea of WWW Wednesday is just to answer three simple questions about what you are reading, have just finished and are about to read so here goes for this week.
What I’m currently reading
Told from the point of view of Amara, a slave in a brothel in Pompeii, this is a brilliant story of life in Ancient Italy. It’s a story of friendship and survival as the slave girls find what pleasures they can together. Amara was a doctor’s daughter and is determined that she will not be a slave for ever. I can’t wait to see how this part of her story ends up. I’ve already ordered the next one from the library. This will also be the first book in the When are you reading? challenge which Sam is hosting again this year.
This is my first non-fiction read for 2023. It’s all about the effects of light pollution on nocturnal creatures such as bats and moths. I’ve only read the first few pages but it’s a fascinating read so far.
What I have recently finished reading
The Marriage Season by Jane Dunn
This was a fun Regency Romance which definitely owes a debt to Georgette Heyer. A young widow takes her beautiful sister up to London for the season in the hope of her making a good marriage. I enjoyed this although there was a bit too much emphasis on the horses and horse riding for my personal taste. It was still a fun read though.
This was a gorgeous cosy fantasy read. It was almost totally character driven but the characters were all brilliant. A perfect read for a cosy armchair and a mug of hot chocolate.
The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris
This is the third in her series about Gunnie Rose, the young shooter who hires herself out to protect people and property in this alternative 1930s America. In this one, she answers a call for help from her half sister and travels to the New Russian Empire to try and free Eli from Jail. It was as full of excitement and magic as the previous two. I know the next book focuses on Felicia and I wonder if Gunnie’s story is now over?
The Murder Game by Tom Hindle
I really enjoyed Tom Hindle’s A Fatal Voyage last year and I think that this one was even better. A very disparate group of people assemble in an isolated coastal hotel for a murder mystery evening. Of course, one of the guests is then found murdered. It’s a classic locked room mystery and I guess the murderer a while before the end but it was still a brilliant read
What I am intending to read next
I think I will probably read another from my Net Galley shelf. All of these are due to be published in mid – February so it will depend what mood I’m in.
What are you reading this week?
Wicked Witch's Blog 
The Wolf Den is one that I really want to read. I can’t wait to see what you think about it!
What a lovely start to the new year heading to Norfolk. Happy New Year.
It sounds like a great New Year’s Day. I haven’t read any of these books, but I sure hope you enjoy them all, Janette.
I loved The Wolf Den, as well, and I’m glad you are enjoying it. I didn’t like the sequel quite as much, but it was good too.
Middle books of trilogies often dip a bit as the authors build up to the ending though don’t they?
That does tend to happen. I think the second one was hampered by it being about Amara trying to hold on to what she had rather than the struggle of her trying to escape the brothel. It just wasn’t quite as compelling to me, and she made some really questionable decisions that I understood but didn’t really like. I still enjoyed the book, just not quite as much as the first one.
I just started The Marriage Season, I’m glad you liked it overall.
I hope you enjoy it
Happy New Year!
I loved both The Wolf Den and The House with the Golden Door! I can’t wait to read the final book at the end of the year!
The Darkness Manifesto sounds like my kind of book. I love non-fiction books about nature! 🙂
I don’t know if Gunnie Rose’s story is over. I like to think not. I missed her in the 4th book but I still enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully, Harris is setting it up for the sisters to become a team. I love Eli but that would be cool.
It will be interesting to see where the stories go next
The Wolf Den was one of my books of the year for 2022 and I can’t wait to read the second one. I’m glad you’re enjoying it too! I’ve read both of the Tom Hindle books, but I preferred A Fatal Crossing because I liked the 1920s setting.