Category: Read

#WWWWednesday – 7th September 2022

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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

Essex DogsEssex Dogs by Dan Jones (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

July 1346. The Hundred Years’ War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through France. But this war belongs to the men on the ground.

Swept up in the bloody chaos, a tight-knit company from Essex must stay alive long enough to see their home again. With sword, axe and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy.

There’s Pismire, small enough to infiltrate enemy camps. Scotsman, strong enough to tear down a wall. Millstone, a stonemason who’ll do anything to protect his men. Father, a priest turned devilish by the horrors of war. Romford, a talented young archer on the run from his past. And Loveday FitzTalbot, their battle-scarred captain, who just wants to get his boys home safe.

Some men fight for glory. Others fight for coin. The Essex Dogs? They fight for each other.

IslandofSecretsIsland of Secrets by Patricia Wilson (Zaffre)

‘The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .’

All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother’s secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in.

Angie’s estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms – it’s time to unburden herself, and tell the story she’ll otherwise take to her grave.

It’s the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it’s the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations.

Life TimeLife Time: The New Science of the Body Clock by Russell Foster (Penguin)

In the twenty-first century, we increasingly push our daily routines into the night, carrying out work, exercise and our social lives long after dark. But we have forgotten that our bodies are governed by a 24-hour biological clock which guides us towards the best time to sleep, eat and think. New science has proven that living out of sync with this clock is not only disrupting our sleep, but leaving us more vulnerable to infection, cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and mental illness.

In Life Time, Professor Russell Foster shares his life’s work, taking us on a fascinating and surprising journey through the science of our body clocks. Using his own studies, as well as insights from an international community of sleep scientists and biologists studying circadian rhythms, he illustrates the surprising effects the time of day can have on our health:

– how a walk outside at dawn can ensure a better night’s sleep
– how eating after sundown can affect our weight
– the extraordinary effects the time we take our medication can have on our risk of life-threatening conditions, such as strokes

In the modern world, we have neglected an essential part of our biology. But with knowledge of this astonishing science, we can get back into the rhythm, and live healthier, sharper lives.

Recently finished

Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson (The Borough Press)

At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman, trans. by Betsy Göksel (Head of Zeus)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

ThePlagueCharmerThe Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland (Headline)

1361. An unlucky thirteen years after the Black Death, plague returns to England.

When the sickness spreads from city to village, who stands to lose the most? And who will seize this moment for their own dark ends?

The dwarf who talks in riddles?
The mother who fears for her children?
The wild woman from the sea?
Or two lost boys, far away from home?

Pestilence is in the air. But something much darker lurks in the depths.

The Santa KillerThe Santa Killer by Ross Greenwood (eARC, Boldwood via NetGalley)

The Santa Killer is coming to town…

One night less than two weeks before Christmas, a single mother is violently assaulted. It’s a brutal crime at the time of year when there should be goodwill to all. When DI Barton begins his investigation, he’s surprised to find the victim is a woman with nothing to hide and no reason for anyone to hurt her.

A few days later, the mother of the woman attacked rings the police station. Her granddaughter has drawn a shocking picture. It seems she was looking out of the window when her mother was attacked. And when her grandmother asks the young girl who the person with the weapon is, she whispers two words.

Bad Santa.

The rumours start spreading, and none of the city’s women feel safe – which one of them will be next?

He’s got a list. It’s quite precise. It won’t matter even if you’re nice.

#BlogTour #BookReview Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson

whatcathyreadnext

Sometimes People Die Blog Tour Banner Week 2-2Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson. My thanks to Sofia at Midas PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Joanna at Over The Rainbow Book Blog and Amanda at Ginger Book Geek.

Sometimes People DieAbout the Book

The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.

Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.

Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted?

Format: Hardback (368 pages)             Publisher: The Borough Press
Publication date: 1st September 2022 Genre: Crime, Thriller

Find Sometimes People Die on Goodreads

Purchase links
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My Review

I really enjoyed this fascinating mix of medical memoir, with its realistic insight into the challenges of being a junior doctor in a busy hospital, and intriguing murder mystery. I suspect anyone who has ever worked in a hospital setting will recognise the long hours, the exhausting night shifts, the challenge of scarce resources, the neverending paperwork and the snatched meal breaks depicted by the author.  And, of course, the life and death decisions junior doctors are required to make, often in a state of near exhaustion. Those in the medical profession will no doubt also be impressed by the level of detail of diagnostic techniques, medical interventions and drug regimes, something that could surely only come from someone with the author’s background.

The voice of the unnamed narrator is sardonic, cynical and displays the black humour that is often a prequisite for getting through the day, for processing the traumatic things witnessed day in and day out, and coming to terms with the fact that despite best efforts ‘sometimes people die’. Having said that there’s also lot of gentle humour. For example, the ‘granny-dumping’ that occurs on Fridays preceding a summer bank holiday weekend, our narrator’s sessions with his narcoleptic CBT therapist or the medical examination case study that turns out to be a little difficult.

Our narrator is unsparing when it comes to admitting his own weaknesses, meaning the reader never loses sympathy with him even during his most serious lapses and expecially when he finds himself under suspicion of involvement in what turns out to be a case of murder. His compassion and dedication to his patients is never in doubt, unless of course you agree with the detectives assigned to the case that’s he’s the obvious culprit. I particularly loved his friendship with the affable George whose offer of a room allows him to escape from his previous accommodation, aka Stalag Motorsport.

For those beginning to think this sounds too much like a medical memoir, I can reassure you that at the heart of the book is an intriguing, cleverly constructed murder mystery with plenty of red herrings and false trails… or should that be debatable diagnoses and misleading symptoms. There are unexpected revelations akin to suddenly drawing back the cubicle curtains around a hospital bed and at one point a rather different form of intensive care. And I don’t think there are many books where a cactus and an articulated skeleton called Patrick play a significant role in the story, although I’m happy to be corrected on that.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book are the occasional sections that describe real life murderers who practiced medicine, from famous cases such as Dr. Crippen and Harold Shipman to less well-known ones. What’s surprising – or perhaps depressing is a better word – is how long in some cases it took for their crimes to be discovered, either through negligence or a kind of medical omerta.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sometimes People Die‘s blend of dark humour, skilfully constructed plot and convincing detail.

In three words: Clever, witty, intriguing

Simon StephensonAbout the Author

Simon Stephenson originally trained as a doctor and worked in Scotland and London. He previously wrote Let Not the Waves of the Sea, a memoir about the loss of his brother in the Indian ocean tsunami. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, was a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4, and a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year.

His first novel, Set My Heart to Five was a Bookseller Book of the Month and was described by the Daily Mail as ‘Funny, original and thought-provoking.’ It has been optioned by Working Title Films to be directed by Edgar Wright from Stephenson’s screenplay.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, in a house where a famous murder took place. As a screenwriter, he originated and wrote the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and wrote the story for Pixar’s Luca. He also contributed to everybody’s favourite film, Paddington 2.

Connect with Simon
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