On What Cathy Read Next last week
Monday – I published my review of If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio.
Tuesday – I shared my review of crime mystery Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson as part of the blog tour. I also hosted a guest post by M. Z. Urlocker, authors of The Man From Mittelwerk, about some of their favourite Cold War noir novels.
Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.
Thursday – I published my review of At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman.
Friday – I hosted a guest post by Barbara Evans Kinnear about her father’s memoir, Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story.
Saturday – I joined the #SixonSaturday gang with an update on what’s growing and what’s not in my garden.
New arrivals
The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)
Neva Friezland is born into a world of trickery and illusion, where fortunes can be won and lost on the turn of a card.
She is also born with an extraordinary gift. She can predict the weather. In Regency England, where the proper goal for a gentlewoman is marriage and only God knows the weather, this is dangerous. It is also potentially very lucrative.
In order to debate with the men of science and move about freely, Neva adopts a sophisticated male disguise. She foretells the weather from inside an automaton created by her brilliant clockmaker father.
But what will happen when the disguised Neva falls in love with a charismatic young man?
It can be very dangerous to be ahead of your time. Especially as a woman.
Mother of Valor (Valorie Dawes #4) by Gary Corbin (eARC)
As part of a prostitution sting operation, rookie cop Val Dawes uncovers a national sex trafficking ring operating out of Clayton, one with ties to a violent shadowy right-wing splinter group. Her investigation reveals the group may be planning a violent attack in a matter of days.
Just when the investigation heats up, her estranged mother, who left without a trace a decade before, suddenly reappears on the scene, with a nine-year-old brother Val never knew she had. Manipulative and cunning, her mother divides Val’s attention and loyalties, seemingly intent on disrupting both Val’s promising career and her rekindled relationship with her father.
As Val the group’s violent plans near, Val tries to safeguard her family, leading to shocking discoveries about why her mother returned – and why she left in the first place.
Can Val keep her community safe without destroying her family?
On What Cathy Read Next this week
Currently reading
Planned posts
- Book Review: Life Time by Russell Foster
- Book Review/Blog Tour: The Santa Killer by Ross Greenwood
- Book Review: Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson
- Book Review: Essex Dogs by Dan Jones
Six on Saturday is a weekly meme hosted by 
The ‘Chocolate Cherry’ tomatoes in the greenhouse have been prolific this year and there are still some to pick although a few are starting to split. I’m planning to grow more varieties next year.
After a brief pause, the courgettes are once again producing fruit although the leaves are now looking distinctly scruffy. This is one of the three varieties I grew this year. All have performed really well, so well in fact that I’ve given lots away. My favourite way to eat them is tossed in olive oil and herbs and roasted in the oven.
The two ‘Hunter’ squash plants have produced lots of leaf but predominantly only male flowers. The majority of the female flowers dropped off without forming fruit, no doubt due to the long dry spell. As a result there is only one fairly modest sized fruit on each plant. If we get more sun hopefully they will ripen on the plant rather than on the window sill as in previous years.
What Cathy Read Next... 