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Sundays in bed with ……

Sundays in bed with is a meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl but I came across it recently on Jill’s Book Blog. It is simply a chance to share the book that is by your bed at the moment (or that you wish was by your bed). This week the book on the arm of my sofa is The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim

I hadn’t read Six Crimson Cranes but managed to request The Dragon’s Promise as an ARC. Luckily, the library had the first one which I read and really enjoyed. Then I was ready to move straight onto this sequel. I love it when you can read a complete series and I do like this new tendency to duologies. There are a few trilogies where the middle book doesn’t really do anything. Restricting a series to two books can make the writing much tighter.

Blurb from Net Galley:
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all the while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.

The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next – threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.

What are you reading this Sunday?

WWW Wednesday July 20

Welcome to Wednesday which 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. As we’re in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave, it’s too hot to do anything else but read so I’ve got through lots of books in the past week.

What I’m currently reading

The IT Girl by Ruth Ware
A thriller set in an Oxford Cellege and starring bright young things in an echo of Evelyn Waugh. It’s told in a dual time line as we see the events that lead up to the murder as well as what is happening 10 years later. Compulsive reading so far.

What I have recently finished reading

The outstanding book out of this lot was The Botanist which was definitely a five star read. The Lost Man of Bombay was excellent too.

Longshadow was disappointing and I won’t bother to read any more of this series. I enjoyed the first which was a cross between Regency Romance and fantasy but now this one is mainly about the fae which doesn’t interest me as much.

What I am intending to read next

I have the sequel to this on my Net Galley shelf so I really need to read this one first 😃

That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?

WWW Wednesday July 13

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. As I’ve been on holiday including a couple of flights, I’ve had plenty of time to read.

What I’m currently reading

I Belong Here by Anita Sethi
The author’s walk along the Pennine Way was inspired by her being the victim of a hate crime when she was racially abused on a train. This led her to think about what it meant to belong to somewhere and a feeling that she wanted to get close to the natural landscape. It’s not an easy read as It is only about her walk in a small part and much more about her experiences of racism. It’s quiet meandering too with lots of different themes being explored.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino
A Japanese crime story featuring Detective Galileo who is actually a university professor called Manabu Yukawa. Professor Yukawa appears to be almost a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Poirot as he helps the police and points them in the right direction in their investigation. It’s a really interesting plot and I’m looking forward to seeing how it ends up.

What I have recently finished reading

An Island Wedding by Jenny Colgan
This is the fourth instalment of life on Mure and it was lovely to revisit the island and its inhabitants. Definitely a romance and not just one but two weddings. As often the case with Jenny Colgan, the ending is bittersweet and not all of the characters drift off into the sunset happily.

The Last Blade Priest by W P Wiles
I loved this Epic Fantasy about a world where the main religion involves worshipping a mountain. The last blade priest who is being trained to carry out human sacrifice to his God but hates the idea of taking a human life. The world building and characters were all brilliant.

MurderFest by Julie Wassmer
I love this series set in Whitstable where Pearl Nolan runs a restaurant as well as a detective agency. The characters and plot are always good and I really like the way the books are truly set in Whitstable. I want to go and visit and see all the different places for myself.

What I am intending to read next

This book is currently waiting for me at the library and I can’t wait to read what’s in store next for Washington Poe. .

That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?

Sundays in bed with …..The Dead of Winter

Sundays in bed with is a meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl but I came across it recently on Jill’s Book Blog. It is simply a chance to share the book that is by your bed at the moment (or that you wish was by your bed). This week the book by my bed (or on the sofa) is The Dead of Winter by Nicola Upson.

Blurb from the book:
Writer Josephine Tey and Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose gather with their friends for a Cornish Christmas but two strange and brutal deaths on St Michael’s Mount – and the unexpected arrival of a world-famous film star in need of sanctuary – interrupt the festivities. Cut off by the sea and the relentless blizzard, can Josephine and Archie prevent the murderer from striking again?

This is probably the least appropriate book to be reading just as we celebrate Midsummer as it takes place at Christmas 1938 with violent snow storms forming part of the plot. I do love this series by Nicola Upson though and so far, this is just as good as the books I have read previously.

I do sometimes wonder if Blurb writers have actually read the book. The arrival of the film star isn’t unexpected at all but is the whole reason why Penrose is on St Michael’s Mount for Christmas. It’s only a small detail but it is important and I really feel that blurbs should be accurate.

What are you reading this Sunday?

Sundays in bed with…….. An Island Wedding

Blurb from the book:
Olivia and Anthony are planning A Very Extravagant Wedding at the newest hotel on the tiny Scottish island of Mure. They’re flying in chefs, musicians and something called a living flower wall………… and no-one is allowed to even think the word ‘bridezilla’.

Flora is trying -and failing- not to let Olivia and Anthony’s wedding distract her from planning her own big day with Joel. But the couple have wildly different ideas about how to celebrate and somehow, just when their relationship should be plain sailing, everything suddenly feels very hard indeed.

And then there’s Lorna and Saif. The local headmistress and the GP desperately keeping their relationship a secret to protect his sons . But while they’re looking out for the boys, who’s looking out for them?

This is the fifth book in the Mure Island series and as usual it’s a combination of romance and heartbreak. These books are definitely on the bleaker side of romantic fiction. Yes, there is always romance but it generally comes after a lot of heart ache and even then, there may not be a happy after in store for the couples, I hope that Flora and Joel’s wedding goes OK but I have my doubts about the romance between Lorna and Saif being a happily ever after ending.

What are you reading this Sunday?

WWW Wednesday June 22

Welcome to Wednesday. The Summer Solstice has been and gone and now the days are already getting shorter even if only by a few seconds each day!! This might be really good news for anyone reading this in Australia. Here, we have clear blue skies and gorgeous sunshine at the moment so Summer really seems to have arrived.

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

Bleak House by Charles Dickens
I’ve never read much Dickens so I’m working my through his books one a year. Last year I read Great Expectations and this year it’s Bleak House.

The Darkening by Sunya Mara
This is a YA Fantasy novel that I am reading from my Net Galley shelf. I am really enjoying it. Like The Final Strife, it’s about a society dealing with unsolvable problems. Here, the sunlight is disappearing and more and more of the city is being plunged into darkness. Obviously, all the rich people live in the sunlight while the workers suffer the darkness. The characters are interesting and the world building is excellent.

What I have recently finished reading

The City between Two Bridges by Niklas natt och Dag
I didn’t finish this one as it was far too grim. Set in Stockholm in 1794, this was unrelenting in its description of the poverty, despair and cruelty of the people he wrote about. It was really well written and I was interested in the mystery but it was just too much darkness for me.

Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan
This was an interesting novel with dual time line of 1977 and the present day. Lottie Archer, a newly arrived archivist becomes fascinated by the previous owner of a 15th cent painting. Who was Nina and what happened to her? It was an enjoyable read but not gripping.

The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley
I loved this one. It had echoes of the Malbry books by Joanne Harris with its school setting but was very much a detective based murder mystery. I really liked the character of detective Jazz Harper and the mystery was intriguing. I loved all of the family revelations and relationships that became apparent through the book.

What I am intending to read next

Exit will probably be my next read as a bit of light relief will be very welcome.

That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?

Sundays in bed with …….. The Murders at Fleat House

Sundays in bed with is a meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl but I came across it recently on Jill’s Book Blog. It is simply a chance to share the book that is by your bed at the moment (or that you wish was by your bed). This week the book by my bed (or on the sofa) is The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley.

Blurb from the book:
When a young student is found dead at a private boarding school, its elite reputation is at risk. The headmaster is determined to write the death off as a tragic accident – but Detective Jazz Hunter will soon suspect that a murder has been committed.

Escaping her own problems in London, the beautiful and isolated landscape of rural Norfolk had felt like the ideal place for Jazz to hide. But when it becomes clear the victim was tangled in a web of loyalties and old vendettas that go far beyond just one student and as the body count begins to grow, Jazz knows that she is running out of time.

All roads lead back to the closed world of the school. But Fleat House and its residents refuse to give up their secrets so easily – and as her investigation gathers pace, Jazz realises that that they are even more sinister than she could possibly have imagined.

This is Lucinda Riley’s last published novel after her death last year although she actually wrote it over a decade ago in 2006. It is her only crime novel and so is very different to her more famous Seven Sisters series. I am really enjoying it and can see that the character of Jazz Hunter could easily have become the focus of a new crime series. However, if the author had gone down the route of writing crime fiction, we might never have had the Seven Sisters books and that would have been a real loss.

What are you reading this Sunday?

WWW Wednesday June 15th

Welcome to Wednesday. I can’t believe that we’re halfway through June already. In two weeks time I will be in the US as we are visiting our daughter in Kansas City. We’re getting very excited about seeing her again and I know these next two weeks are going to fly by.

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

Murder at the Royal Botanic Garden by Andrea Penrose
This is a historical crime story based in Regency London. It’s the fifth in the series and I haven’t read any of the others but that isn’t proving to be a problem. An American botanist has been murdered at Kew Gardens and soon to be married Charlotte Sloane and her fiance have become involved with solving his murder. I’m really enjoying it so far and my only complaint is that there are references to the previous novels in the series which have given away their endings so I probably won’t go back and read them.

What I have recently finished reading

Storyland by Amy Jeffs
This was interesting to dip in and out of. The author had collected many of the really ancient myths and legends from around the UK and then put them into their geographical and historical context. Many of the legends were completely new to me and reading her accounts of visiting the different sites was fascinating.

The Final Strife by Saara El-Ariel
I really loved this book and stayed up past midnight to finish it. An epic fantasy with an African type setting and three really memorable female main characters. Brilliant!

The Summer Fair by Heidi Swain
This was a nice feel good read based in a fictional square in Norwich. As with the previous book I read in this series, everything ends up perfectly for everyone. The books are fun and easy to read but there isn’t really a lot of plot or a lot of humour so not my favourite romance author.

Echoes in Death by J D Robb
I’m enjoying working my way through this series. I say enjoying but actually the crimes committed are very grim and I do wonder sometimes where crime authors get their ideas and characters from. I like the fact that each book can be read as a standalone and the relationships between the main characters are great.

What I am intending to read next

Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan will probably be my next read.

That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?

Sundays in bed with ……… The Final Strife

Sundays in bed with is a meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl but I came across it recently on Jill’s Book Blog. It is simply a chance to share the book that is by your bed at the moment (or that you wish was by your bed). This week the book by my bed (or on the sofa) is The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

This book is a Net Galley and it has been sitting on my shelf for over six months but I finally managed to get round to reading it as it is due to be published later this month.

Blurb from Net Galley:
The Empire rules by blood

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.

Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.

Clear is the blood of the servants, of the crushed, of the invisible.

The Aktibar – a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire – is about to begin.

All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty.

Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster’s heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers’ regime of cruelty. But when her adopted family were brutally murdered those dreams of a better future turned to dust.

However, the flame of hope may yet be rekindled because Sylah wasn’t made to sparkle, she was born to burn.

This book was slow to get me involved but once I was used to the writing style, I was hooked and stayed up until past midnight to finish it. It’s a brilliant debut and I would certainly recommend it to any lovers of fantasy. Review to come nearer the publication date.

WWW Wednesday June 8th

Welcome to Wednesday. Doesn’t it come around quickly? Today is my son’s birthday and he’s 37 which seems absolutely impossible to me. Isn’t it weird how we all get older but feel exactly the same inside?

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

Daughter of Redwinter by Alex Livingston
This is a Net Galley ARC which is due to be published later this month and I am loving it so far.

Storyland by Amy Jeffs
This is a non fiction book looking at the some of the myths and legends that belong to Britain. It’s an interesting book to dip in and out of.

What I have recently finished reading

Elizabeth of York the Keep by Alsion Weir
It was interesting to have a novel with Elizabeth as a Focus as the normal stories focus on her uncle Richard III or her husband Henry Tudor. It was a bit dry though and she didn’t really come alive for me as some of Alison Weir’s characters do.

A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver
I really loved the setting of this one in Prohibition New York and the mystery was interesting too. Definitely a series I want to continue reading.

A Very French Wedding by Maeve Haran
I bought this last year but then forgot about it. I discovered it again when we put all of our books on our new book shelves. So glad that I did as it was a simply lovely read.

What I am intending to read next

Hmmmm. I’m not sure
It will be another of my current library books but which one will depend whether I’m in the mood for more crime fiction or another romance.

That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?