It’s the first Wednesday of October and the leaves are changing colour daily. We don’t have the brilliant displays of North America but there are some gorgeous colours around at the moment
Wednesday also 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
A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Ove has to be the grumpiest man in Sweden but I am loving the continual interruptions he gets from his neighbours and the way that his past history is gradually revealed .
What I haverecently finished reading
Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli
Helgoland – The story of quantum physics
It probably isn’t really true to say that I have recently finished this. Recently abandoned would be far more accurate. I was definitely over estimating my ability to understand anything at all about Quantum Physics. I got about half way through and then it really stopped making any sense at all. My next non-fiction read is going to be a lot more accessible
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
I loved this year’s Christmas book by Sarah Morgan. It definitely left me with a burning desire to make shortbread. I may well reread it in the week before Christmas to put me in a festive mood. I’ll post my review in the last week of October when the book is published in the UK
The Malice of Waves by Mark Douglas Home
This was a brilliant mystery about a young boy’s death five years earlier. The ‘sea detective’ Cal McGill, is called in to see if he can use his specialised knowledge to work out what happened. This was a really intriguing storyline with some really interesting characters. There was also a sub plot about thieving rare birds eggs too to make things even more interesting.
Murder at the Auction by E C Bateman
I was invited to read this first book in a new crime series. That doesn’t happen very often so obviously I said yes. It was a really enjoyable murder mystery set in the historic town of Stamford which is only about an hour away from where I live. I love books that are set in places that I have visited and this one had a really strong sense of location.
What I am intending to read next
The Truants by Kate Weinberg
That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?
I love Elly Griffiths’ crime novels especially the Ruth Dalloway series. This is a newish series featuring a young Sikh policewoman but is promising to be just as good as the Dalloway books.
Bleeding Heart Yard is another great outing for the newly promoted Inspector Harbinder Kaur. No longer living in Sussex, in this third book, she has now moved to take up a new role in London heading a detective team. This means she has finally moved out of her parents’ house and is now sharing a flat in London. A new life beckons.
Her first murder enquiry is a high profile one when a prominent MP is found murdered at a school reunion. To complicate matters, her sergeant, Cassie, was also at the event and as a possible witness, cannot be involved in the case. The murder victim was one of an elite group who were all pupils at the school and there seems to some link to the unexplained death of one of their school mates 21 years ago. When another of the group is murdered, things become darker and it is unclear who can be trusted
I enjoyed both of the previous books in this series but this is my favourite one so far. I love the character of Harbinder and it’s great to see her moving on both in her career and her life. She is gay, non-white and small of stature so life in the police is likely to be difficult. However, she is completely competent and soon gains the confidence of her new colleagues. Harbinder’s character seems very real to me. She knows that she is good at her job and has confidence that she can do it properly. However, in her personal life she is a lot less confident and Elly Griffiths does a great job in showing us the different sides of her character. I have really enjoyed seeing how Harbinder has developed over the three books so far.
The other characters are all written with the author’s customary skill. Harbinder’s colleagues are a mixed bag including one who is a friend of the murder victim and could possibly be a suspect. I also love the way that the settings are so vivid in Elly’s books. Bleeding Heart Yard is a real place in London with an actual bistro and the author’s use of this setting adds a feeling of reality to the story
The book is written from different points of view and sometimes we see the same scene twice as we revisit it through the eyes of a different character. I enjoyed this aspect of the book as it’s always interesting to see how different people can view the same event.
I loved this book and am eagerly looking forward to the next one.
I received this ARC from the publishers and Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
Bleeding Heart Yard was published by Quercus Books on September 29th
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 arm of my sofa) is Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
This is my first Christmas book for this year. I love Sarah Morgan and her Christmas book last year was one of my favourite books of the year. This one is just as good but in a very different way.
Blurb from NetGalley: She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family.
A family gathering This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.
An uninvited guest Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas.
A Christmas to remember When Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers
I’m loving the family relationships in this book. All the character, Lucy, the Miller siblings and mum Glenda are having problems and there have been several moments when I’ve felt a lump in my throat. I absolutely the character of Nanna Jean who at 86, is not changing her attitudes towards anything. She definitely reminds me of my own mother who is a very similar age.
It’s a Christmas romance and I’m fairly sure that I know how each of the characters are going to end up but it’s how they arrive there that makes Sarah Morgan’s books so special.
In a way, I regret reading this as an ARC as I think I would have enjoyed it even more in December. Maybe I’ll have to reread it then😃
It’s Saturday so it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.
Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
My STS posts are generally my library books. I’m a great supporter of libraries, mainly because I could never afford to buy all the books that I want to read, and visit mine every week whenever possible. I love the fact that I can look at the online catalogue and request books to borrow. This is great for books that are recommended to me by different bookbloggers. It works much better for crime and mystery stories rather than fantasy though. For some reason, Leicestershire readers don’t borrow fantasy books so not many of them are purchased by the library system. It’s also great for finding books in bookshops that I might like. Getting a book from the library means that I don’t need to worry about wasting my money if I don’t like it!
This was another week of only having one reservation arrive so I had some time to wander around the library and browse which is always fun. I did have a library book passed onto me from my mum though as we often share our library books so I have my usual 4 books.
Blackstone Fell by Martin EdwardsCarrie Hope Fletcher This was passed to me by my mum earlier this week and so I have already read it. Ir is the third in the Rachel Savernake series set in 1920s. I always enjoy Martin Edwards mysteries and this one was just as good as normal. I loved the ending where the murderer was unveiled during a seance.
The Malice of Waves by Mark Douglas Home This the third in a series but I’ve never seen any of them before. Investigator Cal McGill is the Sea Detective who uses his knowledge of the sea to solve mysteries that no-one else can. I love mysteries set by the sea so this sounds good.
The Truants by Kate Weinberg This is a debut novel about a Jess, a middle child who is good at becoming invisible or overlooked. Then she goes to university and reinvents herself with a new group of friends. Tragedy ensues.
A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman I remember seeing loads of reviews for this a while ago and then I saw Wendy’s audio review on The Bashful Bookworm so I decided that it was time I read it.
That’s what I’ve added to my shelves this week and I am so looking forward to reading all of them. I’ve also still got Helgoland – The story of quantum physics to read!
What’s been added to your bookshelves this week?
I’ve been neglecting my blog a bit lately and posting has become a bit sporadic. To try and bring it back to life a bit, I’ve decided to take part in Blogtober 22 so I’m going to try and post every day for a month. They might not all be bookish posts as I might mix it up a bit.
Autumn is always a brilliant time of year for new books as the publishers hope to get us all to put books on our lists for Father Christmas. This year, there seem to be even more amazing books coming out than usual over the next couple of months. These are some of the ones that I am really looking forward to.
Published September 29th
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar and rarefied world of fine art. Outwardly it appears respectable, gentlemanly, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand.
Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale.
It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did… They buy the drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions.
One collector is certain that the painting is genuine. Someone who will use any method he can to get what he wants and will stop at nothing.
And Harry and Freya are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare. .
I’ve read all the Roy Grace books since Peter James first started the series and am definitely looking forward to this next instalment which is actually published today.
Published November 29th
This is the 18th book in the Inspector Gamache series and he’s still going strong in the small town of Three Pines. There doesn’t seem to be any blurb available for this one though.
November 7th
1917. New York.
Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter?
From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen!
And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison.
When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy.
But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby . . .
If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.
Spies, music and a New York setting – Who could resist?
Published November 3rd
When Tennal – a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster – is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.
Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit’s ability to control minds.
Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn’t all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.
I loved Winter’s Orbit by the same author last year. This is another stand alone novel set in the same universe.
Published 24th November
XÃch Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. XÃch Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates’ enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between XÃch Si and herself.
Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants XÃch Si’s help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying XÃch Si means Rice Fish can offer XÃch Si protection, in exchange for XÃch Si’s technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and XÃch Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together…
Another Science Fiction book that sounds so intriguing and has had great reviews. I just hope that I’m not disappointed.
And of course, a couple of Christmas books to look forward to. I love both of these authors.
Published October 27th
Published 13th October
A bit of crime, a bit of Science Fiction and a dash of Christmas romance. These are some of the books that I am looking forward to reading over the next couple of months. What about you?
Book details and images from Net Galley apart from A World of Curiosities.
It’s the final Wednesday of September today. The year seems to be hurtling towards the end in a mad rush. I think it’s a sign of aging!!!
Wednesday also 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
Helgoland – The story of quantum physics
Helgoland by Carlo Ravelli
It seemed like a good idea to read a book about a subject that I know nothing about but I’m not convinced. The only thing keeping me going is that apparently quantum physics is not meant to be easily understood. Cats who are neither asleep or awake (or maybe both) are beyond my brain’s capacity to understand.
Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards
This is the third book in the historical crime series featuring Rachel Savernake. This time she’s investigating mysterious disappearances in a remote village in Yorkshire. There’s also a sub plot about mediums and contacting people in the afterlife too. It’s all very mysterious so far.
What I haverecently finished reading
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
I enjoyed this more than I thought at the beginning but it didn’t grip me as much as I had expected. The early parts where the characters were children didn’t really interest me. It’s difficult to write how very young children see the world and I don’t think that the characters were believable. It was much more interesting when they were grown up and Christa began working for the SOE. It didn’t really have anything much different to the many other books that cover the same period though.
The Cruise by Catherine Cooper
This was a fun thriller set on board a luxury cruise ship. It’s one of my ARCs and isn’t due to be published until November. It was an interesting plot with a dual time storyline which I always enjoy.
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
This was an interesting book set in San Francisco at the time of the great earthquake in 1906. I really enjoyed the plot and the three female characters who got together to uncover the secrets of their husband.
When the curtain falls by Carrie Hope Fisher
I thought that I would enjoy this more than I did with its theatrical setting. It was a fun story about a haunted theatre but I never really felt convinced by the characters in either the 1952 story or the 2022 one. I think that probably I just wasn’t in the right mood for this one.
Ocean’s Echoby Everina Maxwell
Normally I try to read my Net Galley ARCs in order of publication so that I don’t get them archived by mistake but I wanted to read this as soon as I was approved for it as I loved Winter’s Orbit so much last year. This was another Science fiction book with a healthy dose of romance. This time it was all about neuro -enhancements and the potential misuse of mental powers. Like Winter’s Orbit, it was very character driven and I loved it. Full review to come nearer publication date
What I am intending to read next
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
I think that I’m going to have to start reading my Christmas ARCs very soon as it’s so close to October now. 🎄🎅
That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?
I’ve been neglecting my blog a bit lately as we’ve been a bit busy at home so it’s time to put things back onto a normal footing and join back in with Top 5 Tuesday.
Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted at Meeghan reads!! For details of all of the prompts for July to September see Meeghans pagehere.
September has been all about life as a book worm and today is 5 things that a bookworm would never do.
Walk past a bookshop without going in I know that I don’t need any more books. I know that I visited a bookshop only yesterday but this one might have a book that I haven’t seen yet. And I just like looking at books.
Say “Of course I’m not busy” when in the middle of their new book Disturb me at your peril!
Be caught travelling without a book to read This is so much easier with kindles and books on phones. Whether travelling by plane, train or bus, I will be found reading. Sadly reading in a car makes me travel sick.
Turn the corner of a book down to mark the page There are so many other things that you can use. People actually produce really pretty book marks just for this purpose but receipts, tickets, rulers and pencils all work just as well. The same goes for leaving a book open face down and breaking the spine which was my pet hate as a teacher. I hated it when my pupils left their books open like that on their desks.
Feel guilty about non finishing a book There are so many books out there that I am never going to have time to read all the ones that I want to. Why would I waste time on a book that I wasn’t enjoying?
Don’t bend down the corners on books
That’s my top 5 for this week. What are your top 5 things that a bookworm would never do?
It’s Saturday so it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.
Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
My STS posts are generally my library books. I’m a great supporter of libraries, mainly because I could never afford to buy all the books that I want to read, and visit mine every week whenever possible. I love the fact that I can look at the online catalogue and request books to borrow. This is great for books that are recommended to me by different bookbloggers. It works much better for crime and mystery stories rather than fantasy though. For some reason, Leicestershire readers don’t borrow fantasy books so not many of them are purchased by the library system. It’s also great for finding books in bookshops that I might like. Getting a book from the library means that I don’t need to worry about wasting my money if I don’t like it!
After last week’s bumper collection of books I’m back to my usual 4 today. I had two reservations come in so my other two books are ones that I picked up as I meandered around the shelves.
When the Curtain Falls by Carrie Hope Fletcher I’ve seen Carrie perform on stage but never read any of her books before. This is set in a theatre in 1952 and 2022 and the plot for the 1952 story line sounds a bit Phantom of the Opera-ish so hopefully will be a good read
The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves This was one of my reserved books and is the long awaited next episode in Ann Cleeves’ Vera series. This one is set on the holy island of Lindisfarne which is place that I love and has to be a great setting for a murder mystery as it is so atmospheric.
Vengeance in Venice by Philip Gwynne Jones I’m continuing my read through this series set in Venice. I really enjoyed the last one so I’m looking forward to reading this one.
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner This was another random pick off the shelf. It’s a historical fiction book set in San Francisco just before the devastating earthquake of 1908. It’s about three different women who become involved in each others’ lives. I love stories about friendship so I’m looking forward to this one.
That’s what I’ve added to my shelves this week and I am so looking forward to reading all of them. I’ve also still got Helgoland – The story of quantum physics to read!
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, it was relaunched on February 15, 2013 by Billy @ the Ramblings of a coffee addict. . Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
I just love this meme and the questions that come up. They generate so much discussion which is so great.
This weeks question is: Have you ever reread a book? If so, why did you decide to reread it? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)
This week is one of the easier questions to answer. Yes, I have reread many of my books. In fact, the books that I buy are generally books that I think I will want to reread.
Why do I reread books is a bit more tricky to answer
I think the main reason that I reread books is to simply enjoy going back and reliving that story again. I remember as a child getting Masha by Mara Kay from the library. I loved that book so much that as soon as I finished it, I went straight back to the beginning and read it all over again. I think I read it 4 times in the two weeks that I was allowed to keep it.
I didn’t own many books as a child so the ones that I did (mainly Enid Blyton) were read over and over again. Especially in the holidays as the library only allowed me to take out 4 books at a time and they didn’t last very long.
Some re-readings became a sort of a tradition. I used to reread Lord of the Rings every Summer holiday. I would lie on my bed and immerse myself in the world of Middle Earth.
I’ve never lost that love of revisiting stories that I know really well simply for the joy of being there again. Maybe I’m quite a boring person as I also like revisiting the same places on holiday. If I really love a place, why wouldn’t I want to go back?
The books that I reread tend to be fantasy books where I can enter into a different world. I read a huge amount of crime fiction but don’t have the same urge to reread the books. Once I know who did it, that’s it for that book
It’s Wednesday again and it’s a been a strange week in which we had an unexpected bank holiday because of the Queen’s funeral. I certainly didn’t intend to spend most of the day glued to the television but that’s how it ended up. It was definitely a historic occasion and one that I’m glad I spent the time watching.
It’s also the Autumn Equinox today – day and night are equal length which means that from today, there will be more darkness than light. It’s all downhill now as we head into colder days.
However Wednesday also 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
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
I’ve only just started this and am not quite sure how I feel about it yet. The style of writing feels quite detached so the empathy with the characters isn’t really there yet.
What I haverecently finished reading
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
I really enjoyed this. It’s Harris’s version of the true story of two Colonels in Cromwell’s army, William Goff and Edward Whalley. Both men signed the death warrant of Charles I and were the subject of a manhunt after the restoration. The book details their life in the newly settled American colony and the hunt for them. I loved the descriptions of the American landscape and the sheer size and emptiness of the country. I can’t begin to imagine how the two men coped with having to live in hiding for so many years. Definitely a great read for anyone who is interested in that period of history or just enjoys a good story.
A Spoonful of Murder by J M Hall
I thought that this would be a cosy crime story in the same style as Richard Osman but it felt a lot more serious. It still fits the cosy crime genre with a group of 3 retired teachers starting to investigate the unexpected death of an ex-colleague. However the tone is more sombre than in some books with all three of the protagonists having problems that they are having to deal with at the same time. One of these is fairly obvious but another one came as a total surprise. I really enjoyed it and the depiction of the three 60 year old women. Maybe because they felt very like me??????
The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson
I think I’ve now caught up with all the books in this historical crime series featuring the author Josephine Tey. This one was set in 1936 around the time of King Edward’s abdication but was mainly about life in a small Suffolk village where Josephine Tey has inherited a cottage. She learns about the local murder which happened many years before but still casts a shadow over the village.
I love the way that real history is intertwined with the fiction in this book but what I love especially is the detail in the writing. The mysteries are quite slow paced because you become immersed in life as it was lived then, It’s something that this series has in common with Act of Oblivion. The detail isn’t boring at all, it just makes the characters and the world around them more real.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
This was a very different book to Sabriel. It was set in the 1980’s, a time that is just slightly different to the 80s that I actually lived through. It’s more of an urban fantasy and reminded me of the Rivers of London series in the way that the author included mythical powers of Old England. It was a fun read.
What I am intending to read next
This is one of my ARCs waiting on my Net Galley shelf and will probably be the next book I read. It does depend what mood I’m in though 😃
That’s the current state of my reading this week. What does your WWW Wednesday look like?
Wicked Witch's Blog 