Category: WWW Wednesday

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!

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What I’m Currently Reading

Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Polygon)

On 9 July 1857, Angus MacPhee, a labourer from Liniclate on the island of Benbecula, murdered his father, mother and aunt. At trial in Inverness he was found to be criminally insane and confined in the Criminal Lunatic Department of Perth Prison.

Some years later, Angus’s older brother Malcolm recounts the events leading up to the murders while trying to keep a grip on his own sanity. Malcolm is living in isolation, ostracised by the community and haunted by this gruesome episode in his past.

Julia Sleeps by Zoe Caryl

Julia Sleeps is a heart-warming tale of grit, dreams, and the unbreakable bond between a father and daughter. At its center is Evie Jameson, a feisty young Glaswegian with a voice that could melt steel and stir souls. Born into a humble tenement in the shadow of the Great Depression, Evie draws on the strength and support of her indomitable mother, grandmother and sister, but it is her devoted father Johnny who is her champion. Everyone expects her to clock in at Buchannans Sweetie Factory in Cowcaddens, but Evie has other plans – plans that shimmer with spotlight and song.

With Johnny by her side, Evie dares to chase the impossible: a career on the stage. Her father is her fiercest ally, shielding her from the harsh realities of showbiz while cheering her every note. Together, they navigate the dazzling highs and bruising lows of the entertainment world as Glasgow begins to shake off its post-depression gloom.

But just as Evie’s star begins to rise in 1939, history intervenes. War erupts, and the call of duty threatens to crush Evie’s dreams and take her and Johnny from the city they adore. The conflict thrusts Evie into dangers and adventures she could never have imagined, but amid the chaos, will she also find love?

From London in the Blitz to magical, mysterious India her courage and integrity are put to the test and she must draw on the strength forged by her proud Scottish heritage. Inspired by a true story, Evie’s tale is one of nostalgia, ambition and resilience where family, true friendships and love shape both the woman and the singer she is destined to become.

What I’ve Just Read

Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson (Macmillan Business)

Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier ( Victor Gollancz)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson (Headline)

Kate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege.

She should be making her way home, working on appearing normal, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn’t be, with a man she definitely doesn’t love.

How will she begin to tell Vic what she is doing here? If her body is found, will it give up the secret of what she’s been up to? She’s been so careful hiding the evidence of her affair: write nothing down, leave no trace. Will he begin to understand why?

For now, Kate can only hide, take a deep breath, and reflect on the series of choices she’s made that have brought her to this moment.

What will her marriage and her life look like, if she makes it out?

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!

---

What I’m Currently Reading

Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Polygon)

On 9 July 1857, Angus MacPhee, a labourer from Liniclate on the island of Benbecula, murdered his father, mother and aunt. At trial in Inverness he was found to be criminally insane and confined in the Criminal Lunatic Department of Perth Prison.

Some years later, Angus’s older brother Malcolm recounts the events leading up to the murders while trying to keep a grip on his own sanity. Malcolm is living in isolation, ostracised by the community and haunted by this gruesome episode in his past.

Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson (Macmillan Business)

“They declined his offer too, not realizing how much the thin-skinned Musk didn’t like it when people said no. Soon enough though, Hassabis got another email. This time, it was from Google.”

When ChatGPT was released, the world changed overnight. Even as we all played with the new toy, a very real danger was quickly coming to that untested automations would undermine our way of life insidiously, sucking value out of our economy, replacing high-level creative jobs and enabling a new, terrifying era of disinformation.

It was never meant to be this way. The founders of the two companies behind the most advanced AIs in existence – Open AI (ChatGPT) and DeepMind (Bard) – started their journeys determined to solve humanity’s greatest problems. But they couldn’t develop their technologies without huge amounts of money – money that Microsoft and Google were more than happy to give them, in exchange for the most powerful seats at the table.

From award-winning journalist Parmy Olson, Supremacy is the astonishing, untold, behind-the-scenes story of the battle between two AI companies, their struggles to use their tech for good, and the dangerous direction that they’re now going in. Featuring a cast of larger-than-life characters, including Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Peter Thiel, Supremacy is a story of manipulation, exploitation, secrecy and of ruthless, relentless human progress – progress that will impact all of us for years to come.

Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier ( Victor Gollancz)

She set men’s hearts on fire and scandalized a country.

In Regency London, the only way for a woman to succeed is to beat men at their own game. So when Mary Anne Clarke seeks an escape from her squalid surroundings in Bowling Inn Alley, she ventures first into the scurrilous world of the pamphleteers. Her personal charms are such, however, before long she is noticed by the Duke of York.

With her taste for luxury and power, Mary Anne, now a royal mistress, must aim higher. Her lofty connections allow her to establish a thriving trade in military commissions, provoking a scandal that rocks the government and brings personal disgrace.

A vivid portrait of overweening ambition, Mary Anne is set during the Napoleonic Wars and based on the life of du Maurier’s own great-great-grandmother.

What I’ve Just Read

The Pretender by Jo Harkin (Bloomsbury)

Kill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.

The year is 1483 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.

But history has other plans for John.

Stolen from his family, exiled – first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland – and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick – and rightful heir to the throne.

Far from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits – and the slippery counsel of his host’s daughter, the unconventional Joan – to navigate the choppy waters ahead. (Review to follow)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson (Headline)

Kate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege.

She should be making her way home, working on appearing normal, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn’t be, with a man she definitely doesn’t love.

How will she begin to tell Vic what she is doing here? If her body is found, will it give up the secret of what she’s been up to? She’s been so careful hiding the evidence of her affair: write nothing down, leave no trace. Will he begin to understand why?

For now, Kate can only hide, take a deep breath, and reflect on the series of choices she’s made that have brought her to this moment.

What will her marriage and her life look like, if she makes it out?