www wednesday

WWW Wednesday – 8th September

It’s Wednesday again. The weeks seem to be flying by at the moment. Wednesday means that it’s WWW Wednesday time. This is one of my favourite memes and I love 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 is just to answer three questions about your reading:

The three questions are:

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What do you plan to read next?

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

I only started this late last night and so far I’ve only read a few chapters. I like the voice of the main character and am interested to see how the plot works out. I don’t think that it will be a comfortable read though.

I’ve just finished this one and I loved it. I don’t like short stories as a general rule as there often isn’t time for any real character development so you don’t get to know them that well. However, in The Flower Arrangement, the stories are all linked to the flower shop and often intertwine with each other. The main story is that of Lara, the flower shop owner and we see how she gets through a really traumatic period in her life. The stories don’t all have happy endings but they often feel hopeful. The descriptions of the flowers are gorgeous too. It definitely made me wish that a shop like that existed near me.

My next planned read is The Wisdom of Crowds. This is the final part in Abercrombie’s Age of Madness trilogy which is really about how societies fall apart. The main problem is that I read both the earlier parts from the library and so I need to try and remember what happened. I am definitely looking forward to this one though.

So that’s my past, present and future reading at the moment. What’s your WWW Wednesday looking like?

WWW Wednesday – 1st September

It’s Wednesday already and it’s the first of September. I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by. It doesn’t seem a whole week since I last posted a WWW Wednesday post. This is one of my favourite memes. It’s currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on her blog Taking on a world of words at https://samannelizabeth.wordpress.com/. The idea is just to answer three questions about your reading:
The three questions are:

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you planning to read next?

I am currently reading The Riviera House by Natasha Lester. I haven’t read anything by her before but am really enjoying this one. It’s the story of two women, one in Nazi occupied Paris in the 1940s and the other in a gorgeous house on the Riviera in 2015. There is obviously going to be a link between them but so far, I have no idea what. The descriptions of life under the Germans in 1940 are vivid and the contrast between that and the life of Remy in her house surrounded by beautiful clothes is jarring. I’m fascinated by the stories so far and can’t wait to find out how it is all connected.

I have just finished Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal and I loved it. It’s the story of a Victorian Circus filled with misfits – think Greatest Showman but set in England. The story really makes you think about how we treat people who are not quite what we class as normal. I’ve also just read Following Frankenstein which deals with similar issues.

This is the book that I plan to read next. I was going to read it over the weekend but then managed to leave it at home when we went away. I will definitely get round to it this weekend.

That’s my WWW for this Wednesday. Happy September reading everyone.

WWW Wednesday Aug 25

This is one of my favourite memes. It’s currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on her blog Taking on a world of words at https://samannelizabeth.wordpress.com/. The idea is just to answer three questions about your reading:
The three questions are:

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you planning to read next?

Current Read:

Midnight at the Malabar Hotel by Vaseem Khan

I am really enjoying this at the moment. The main plot point is the murder of an Englishman on New Year’s Eve 1949 in Bombay. The case is phoned in to Malabar Hotel which is the police station containing rejects and misfits from other stations. It’s picked up by Persis Wadia, Bombay’s first female police inspector and she is determined to get to the truth even though the establishment seems determined to prevent her. As well as the murder itself, there is a lot of detail about life in post-partition India. So far, it’s a great read. This is also the last book of my #20BooksofSummer.

Recently finished:

I loved both of these. Vespertine was an ARC from Net Galley and isn’t published until Oct. It’s a gloriously gothic YA novel about a trainee nun and a world that is terrorised by undead spirits. My review is here https://wordpress.com/post/witchyreading.wordpress.com/2180. A Vintage Summer was a lovely relaxing read full of details about wine making as well as a romance (in fact several romances). Definitely one I would recommend.

Next Planned Read

This is one of this week’s haul from my local library and seemed like a good book to read after finishing Ariadne last week.

So that’s my reading for this week. I can’t wait to read everyone else’s WWW Wednesday posts.

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you planning to read next?

My current read is Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. This is the story of Ariadne who gave Theseus the ball of string to help him find his way out of the labyrinth. I know the story of Theseus really well but I’m really enjoying finding out the background to the minotaur story. As Ariadne tells her story, so many of the many other Greek myths are involved as well as the Greek gods. Brilliant book so far.

I have just finished 100 years of Lennie and Margot by Marianne Cronin and I loved this. It’s the story of an 83 year old woman and a terminally ill 17 year old who meet in a hospital art room. Together they produce 100 pictures to tell their live stories. It’s funny and touching and a great read.

My next read will be Body Breaker by M W Craven. This is the second book in the series featuring Avison Fluke. I love M W Craven’s books and am really looking forward to reading this.

So that’s my past, present and future in reading for this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading at the moment.

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you planning to read next?

I am currently reading The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow. I had seen this mentioned on a couple of book blogs and when I saw it on the library shelf last week, I had to bring it home. It’s the story of Mary Bennett, the bookish sister who always seems to try and put a damper on everything. I am really enjoying it so far, The author uses much of the dialogue from Pride and Prejudice and hearing those conversations from a different point of view is interesting. The book is much longer than I expected so there’s obviously a lot more story to come and I am can’t wait to see what is in store for Mary Bennett.

The Last Library by Freya Sampson was the last book I finished which was an advance copy from Net Galley. It’s the story of a small village library earmarked for closure by the local council. I reviewed this on Monday and the review can be found here https://wordpress.com/post/witchyreading.wordpress.com/2089. It was definitely an enjoyable read. It’s on Goodreads with the revised title of The Last Chance Library so I’ve updated the title of my review to reflect the new title.

The next book I’m planning to read is Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. I love the Greek Myths and definitely looking forward to reading about what the myth doesn’t tell us about Ariadne.

There’s definitely a link running through this week’s books. Two of them are centred on women who feature in books and in The Last Chance Library, Pride and Prejudice gets several mentions.

So that’s my reading for this week. What will your WWW Wednesday look like?

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you intending to read next?

This book was given to me by my daughter as she had just finished it. It has the prettiest cover! It’s a fairly standard YA fantasy story but the central stories of the two young girls, one involved in the illegal demon smoke trade and one a princess are both really engaging. I am less interested in the third part of the story with the young thief who discovers that he is actually a prince but the book as a whole is very readable and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends up.

Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addisont

I have just finished reading this. I’ve been waiting for this book since I read The Goblin Emperor which is one of my all time favourite books. It was lovely to go back to the world of the The Goblin Emperor and I do love her writing style. However, this one didn’t grip as much as the previous one. In the Goblin Emperor, the Emperor Maia is the central character and his journey really involves the reader. Thura Celehar doesn’t have the same level of engagement and although I enjoyed the book, it wasn’t on the same level as the previous one.

I am so looking forward to this. I’m a Wars of the Roses addict and definitely on the side of Richard III so really looking forward to reading this book about his mother Cecily Neville. Mother of two kings and Grandmother of the Tudor dynasty, she is a fascinating character.

It’s August so I’m on holiday and hoping to do lots of reading. I’m also looking forward to reading what everybody else is reading at the moment.

WWW Wednesday

This meme is currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on her blog Taking on a world of words at https://samannelizabeth.wordpress.com/. The idea is just to answer three questions about your reading:
The three questions are:

What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What are you intending to read next?

The book that I’m currently reading is Great Expectations.

This has been on my TBR pile for years but I have finally decided that I will read it and I have currently reached the dizzy heights of Chapter 28 with Pip getting used to his new life in London. I’m just reading a few chapters at a time which after all, is the way in which it would have originally been read as it was serialised in a journal as so many of Dickens’ novels were.

I’m also reading this crime novel by Robert Bryndza. I have enjoyed the other books that I have read by him and am gripped by this one so far. However, I can’t help thinking that it isn’t going to end well.

I have just finished this which I read through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I don’t usually read family sagas but I’m reading a lot of books set in France at the moment so I gave it a go. The setting is brilliantly realised and the village and the surrounding area of the Dordogne are almost an extra character. I really enjoyed the story of the three sisters living in Vichy France in 1944 and would definitely recommend it if you like historical fiction or books set in WWII.

M W Craven is an author that I was recommended to read by the librarian in my local library. The books are all set in Cumbria and as with Daughters of War, the settings are an important element of the stories and their plots. The ones I have read so far are quite dark so I will probably need something a bit lighter once I’ve finished the Robert Bryndza and this one.

So that’s my current, past and future reading. Have you read any of these? What did you think? I can’t wait to read everyone’s WWW Wednesday posts.

WWW Wednesday

The three questions are: What are you currently reading?

What have you recently read?

What are you intending to read next?

This is my current read. It’s a big, fat fantasy book which was sitting on the library shelf last week. I have never heard of the author before but the blurb sounded interesting and my local library doesn’t stock much fantasy so I need to encourage them by borrowing the ones they do have. It’s not a gripping story but interesting enough and the characters are developing nicely.

I have just finished this and I can’t believe that I missed this book coming out last year. I have read all of the Serrailler novels and love their interwoven stories of Simon and his family as well as the crimes. This latest one was every bit as good as all of the others. Inspector Serrailler isn’t in a good place mentally following his injury which has implications for his personal life and his ability to do his job properly. I really enjoyed his part of the book but the part which touched me most was the sub plot involving his sister Caroline who is a doctor in a private medical practice. If you’re a lover of Susan Hill, then I’m sure you’ve probably already this. If not, why not give the Serrailler novels a try?

The next book I intend to read is Great Expectations. This is one of my books for 20 books of Summer, a meme hosted by Cathy on her blog at https://746books.com/ and I promised myself that I would make a real effort to read it over the Summer holiday. I have owned the book for years but have never managed to get further than the first few chapters before. We break up today and so this has to be next on my list. I also have some light, summery reading to break up the Dickens a bit.

Frothy Fiction to relax with on my holiday.

So that’s my past, present and future reading for this week. Let me know if you’ve read any of them and what you think.

WWW Wednesday

The three questions are: What are you currently reading?

What have you recently finished reading?

What do you plan to read next?

This is my current read. I’m actually reading it as it is the group read for July of the Fantasy Book Club on Goodreads. I’m really enjoying it at the moment. It takes a bit of work as you are dropped right into the world (which happens to be a city called Caldera in an active volcano) and the author drops information in as you read and you discover more of the characters and the world they live in.

I have just finished reading this and it was just as good as all of her other books. The book has a real sense of place as all of her other books have had. She is brilliant at making the different locations really come alive. It’s not a thriller by any means but it is a well plotted character driven story and it kept my interest all the way through. Jane Harper remains one of my favourite authors.

This will be my next read as it has just arrived at the library. I have read all of Donna Leon’s Brunetti books and they have really changed in style over the years from straightforward crime stories to stories that have a much more political and moral side to them. Like Jane Harper’s books, Donna Leon creates a real sense of Venice as a real place with all its problems. I’m looking forward to diving into this one soon.

So that’s my present, past and future reading for this week. Have you read any of these. What did you think? I’m really looking forward to reading other WWW Wednesday posts later today (maybe while my OH watches the football 😍)

WWW Wednesday

This meme is currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on their blog Taking on a world of words at https://samannelizabeth.wordpress.com/. The idea is just to answer three questions about your reading:

The three questions are: What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

This is my current read, It was sitting on the library shelf last week so I picked it up as have read previous books by the same author. This is lot less magicial or mystical than her previous books which I imagine is why this has been published under a slightly different name. It’s a historical crime novel similar to other books by authors such as S J Parris and Andrew Taylor but is set in a less familiar period, the reign of James 1 just after the gunpowder plot. It’s also interesting in that unlike many of these books, it isn’t primarily set in London but in Bristol and the impetus for the story is an actual historical event. So far, I’m really enjoying it

I have just finished this which I read straight after finishing King of Ashes. It’s a fairly standard fantasy epic and has a lot in common with the Serpentwar books Feist wrote as part of the Riftwar Saga. However, I really began to like the characters which is always an important element for me and will definitely look out for the final part of the trilogy when it comes out.

My next read will definitely be this one. I loved all three of her previous novels and have been wanting to read this one since it came out last year. I finally have a copy and will be starting it next.

So that’s my three for this week. Have you read any of these? What did you think? I’d love to hear.