#WWWWednesday – 29th December 2021

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!


Currently reading

WahalaWahala by Nikki May (eARC, Doubleday)

Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English. Not all of them choose to see it that way.

Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full of fashion career dreams, rolls her eyes as her boss refers to her urban vibe yet again.

When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them.

Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.

The Cornish CaptiveThe Cornish Captive by Nicola Pryce (ARC, Corvus)

Cornwall, 1800. Imprisoned on false pretences, Madeleine Pelligrew, former mistress of Pendenning Hall, has spent the last 14 years shuttled between increasingly destitute and decrepit mad houses. When a strange man appears out of the blue to release her, she can’t quite believe that her freedom comes without a price. Hiding her identity, Madeleine determines to discover the truth about what happened all those years ago.

Unsure who to trust and alone in the world, Madeleine strikes a tentative friendship with a French prisoner on parole, Captain Pierre de la Croix. But as she learns more about the reasons behind her imprisonment, and about those who schemed to hide her away for so long, she starts to wonder if Pierre is in fact the man he says he is. As Madeleine’s past collides with her present, can she find the strength to follow her heart, no matter the personal cost?


Recently finished

Links from the titles will take you to my review

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life by John le Carré 

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud

Blue Shoes and Happiness (No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #7) by Alexander McCall Smith


What Cathy (will) Read Next

BetrayalBetrayal (The Englishman #2) by David Gilman (ARC, Head of Zeus) 

Someone’s trying to start a war. And Raglan’s just walked into the kill zone.

It has been many years since Dan Raglan served in the French Foreign Legion, but the bonds forged in adversity are unbreakable and when one of his comrades calls for help, Raglan is duty-bound to answer.

An ex-legionnaire, now an intelligence officer at the Pentagon, disappears. He leaves only this message: should he ever go missing, contact Raglan. But Raglan’s not the only one looking for the missing man. From the backstreets of Marseilles, Raglan finds himself following a trail of death that will lead him to Florida, to the camaraderie of a Vietnam vet in Washington D.C., and into the heart of a bitter battle in the upper echelons of the US intelligence community.

Pursued by both the CIA and a rogue female FBI agent, Raglan’s search will place him in the cross hairs of an altogether more lethal organisation. Tracking his old comrade, he finds himself in the midst of deadly conspiracy, and on a journey to a fatal confrontation deep in the Honduran rainforest.

#TopTenTuesday Best Books I Read In 2021

Top Ten Tuesday new

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Best Books I Read In 2021. This is a topic I look forward to but at the same time dread because it is so difficult to choose only ten books from the many fabulous books I read this year. However I know I’m not alone in this dilemma. Having rewritten this list about a hundred times and with apologies to the authors whose books so nearly made the list, here are my chosen ten. My thanks also to the publishers who sent me review copies of the books or approved my requests for digital copies on NetGalley.

Links from the titles will take you to my review.

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers – Tender, intimate and heart-breaking
Blasted Things by Lesley Glaister – Intense, compelling and moving
White Dog by Rupert Whewell – Satirical, witty and provocative
When The World Was Ours by Liz Kessler – ‘an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the kindness of strangers’
Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Gripping, atmospheric and immersive

 

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed – Compelling, intense and chilling Booker shortlisted novel
The Hidden Child by Louise Fein – Thought-provoking, moving and immersive
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan – ‘a quietly powerful novel, an exquisite little gem of a book’
Little by Edward Carey – Quirky, imaginative and engaging
The Visitors by Caroline Scott – Eloquent, tender and emotional