My Week in Books – 1st August 2021

MyWeekinBooks

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my review of With Face Aflame by A. E. Walnofer as part of the blog tour organised by Zoë at Zooloo’s Blog Tours.

Tuesday –  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books I’d Want With Me On A Desert Island. 

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to have a good nose around what others are reading.  I also published my review of One August Night by Victoria Hislop as part of the blog tour organised by Anne at Random Things Tours.

Thursday – I shared my publication day review of historical novel, Cecily by Annie Garthwaite.

Friday – I celebrated completing The Classics Club reading challenge. 

Saturday – I shared my Five Favourite July 2021 Reads.

Sunday – I was delighted to feature Why Are You Here? by Radhika Iyer, the first title to be released by new publisher Castles in the Air Press 

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media.


New arrivals

Wolf at the DoorWolf at the Door (A Bradecote and Catchpoll Investigation, #9) by Sarah Hawkswood (eARC, Allison & Busby via NetGalley) 

All Hallow’s Eve, 1144. The savaged body of Durand Wuduweard, the solitary and unpopular keeper of the King’s Forest of Feckenham, is discovered beside his hearth, his corpse rendered barely identifiable by sharp teeth.

Whispers of a wolf on the prowl grow louder and Sheriff William de Beauchamp’s men, Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll, are tasked with cutting through the clamour. They must uncover who killed Durand and why while beset by superstitious villagers, raids upon manors and further grim deaths. Out of the shadows of the forest, where will the wolf’s fangs strike next?

Three Words for GoodbyeThree Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (eARC, William Morrow) 

Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . .

New York, 1937: When estranged sisters Clara and Madeleine Sommers learn their grandmother is dying, they agree to fulfill her last wish: to travel across Europe—together. They are to deliver three letters, in which Violet will say goodbye to those she hasn’t seen since traveling to Europe forty years earlier; a journey inspired by famed reporter, Nellie Bly.

Clara, ever-dutiful, sees the trip as an inconvenient detour before her wedding to millionaire Charles Hancock, but it’s also a chance to embrace her love of art. Budding journalist Madeleine relishes the opportunity to develop her ambitions to report on the growing threat of Hitler’s Nazi party and Mussolini’s control in Italy.

Constantly at odds with each other as they explore the luxurious Queen Mary, the Orient Express, and the sights of Paris and  Venice,, Clara and Madeleine wonder if they can fulfil Violet’s wish, until a shocking truth about their family brings them closer together. But as they reach Vienna to deliver the final letter, old grudges threaten their reconciliation again. As political tensions rise, and Europe feels increasingly volatile, the pair are glad to head home on the Hindenburg, where fate will play its hand in the final stage of their journey.

In Every Mirror She's BlackIn Every Mirror She’s Black by Lola Akinmade Åkerström (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

Three black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people.

Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation’s largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi’s move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.

A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege – a life she’s not sure she wants – as the object of his unhealthy obsession.

And refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny’s office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home.

Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She’s Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a black woman navigating a white-dominated society.


On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: This Lovely City by Louise Hare
  • Top Ten Tuesday
  • WWW Wednesday
  • Book Review: The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan 
  • Book Review: Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall
  • #6Degrees of Separation

#PublicationDay #Spotlight Why Are You Here? by Radhika Iyer @CastlesPress

I’m delighted to be marking publication day of Why Are You Here? by Radhika Iyer. The book, a collection of short stories, is the first publication by new venture, Castles in the Air Press. As joint founders Órla & Clare explain, Castles in the Air Press is an ebook publisher dedicated to finding and supporting unique and diverse Irish authors. You can follow them on Twitter or Instagram at @castlespress or visit their website (where you can also find out how they came up with the name Castles in the Air).

Castles in the Air Press is currently open for unsolicited submissions of quality fiction for adults and young adults, especially from first-time authors.


Why Are You Here?About the Book

Radhika Iyer’s debut collection, Why Are You Here? contains twelve explosive short stories presenting twelve provoking female narratives. Iyer’s unique style is quirky yet powerful, as she illustrates a sense of otherness, as an immigrant and as a woman of colour.

Iyer explores the struggle of being a woman in different cultures, as the stories take us from the harrowing results of a family scandal in Malaysia, to an internal cultural identity struggle in Dubai, to an abusive marriage amplified by the lockdown in Ireland.

This collection is ultimately about the female experience, and being different culturally, and in terms of shape and size. The women of these stories face their internal and external battles, and as we follow their journeys, we come face to face with the struggle and the strength of women.

Format: ebook                                Publisher: Castles in the Air Press
Publication date: 1st August 2021 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Short Stories

Find Why Are You Here? on Goodreads

Purchase links
Amazon UK
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

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Radhika IyerAbout the Author

Radhika Iyer was born in Malaysia to migrant Indian parents. Her stories mainly explore themes of identity struggle, acceptance, and domestic violence.

In 2020, an excerpt of Radhika’s journal piece was aired on RTE Radio 1’s Arena show, an excerpt of an article she wrote about working and living in Ireland was featured in the Irish Times, and a reflective piece was featured as part of the Keywords Podcast 5: Common Ground on RTE Radio1Extra and went on to be nominated for Best Short Feature in the 2020 IMRO Radio Awards. The short story, Why are you Here? was on the Cranked Anvil shortlist in late 2020.

Radhika currently lives in and is trying to fit into Dundalk, Ireland. (Bio/photo credit: Publisher author page)

Connect with Radhika
Twitter | Goodreads