Tag: books

#WWWWednesday – 15th January 2025

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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

Front cover of The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Penguin)

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

Front cover of The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

THE SETTING
The body of a bookseller is discovered, lying in a pool of blood in his Bristol bookshop. Police have one question: how did the man meet such a violent, murderous end in this peaceful place?

THE CONFLICT
DS Cross’s ability to dismiss red herrings is challenged by a worrying development in his personal life. Hopelessly distracted, he needs to rely on those around him in a way he has never been comfortable doing before.

THE MURDER PLOT
It may be a quiet profession, but it’s full of passionate, ambitious characters who know the value of a rare book. Their extensive reading means they also know how to get away with murder.

But is that enough to fool the tenacious DS George Cross?

Recently finished

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen (Sceptre)

Start a Religion, Stay Out of Jail and Other Absurd Tales by Logan Medland (Raw Earth Ink)

Pets: do they secretly hate us? Could starting a religion allow one to live one’s entire life as a tax write-off and are the cost-to-benefit ratios worth it? What if the donut shop around the corner stays open all through the sleepless nights and its only patrons were every person you’ve ever known? Could this indeed be heaven?

What happens when the delivery driver falls in love with one of his customers? Is there redemption for the students who planned and executed their teacher’s demise, just to get out of doing their homework?

Would you survive the apocalypse if you built the world’s most well-planned bomb shelter? Is simply surviving enough, or would you need trustworthy companionship as well? Is cheese the most perfect food? Find out answers to these questions and so much more… (Review to follow)

Another Man in the Street by Caryl Phillips (Bloomsbury)

What Cathy Will Read Next

Front cover of The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss

The Ghosts of Paris (Billie Walker Mystery #2) by Tara Moss (Verve Books) 

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator.

When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

As Billie’s search for her client’s husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris’s famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she’ll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the City of Lights…

#TopTenTuesday Bookish Goals For 2025 #TuesdayBookBlog

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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 Top Ten Tuesday topic is Bookish Goals For 2025. I’m someone who likes setting themselves goals so this topic is perfect for me. Full disclosure: some of these may have appeared on last year’s post!

  1. Achieve my Goodreads goal of reading 104 books 
  2. Read more of the books I already own, including:
    • at least 20 books that have been in my TBR pile for longer than two years, i.e. January 2023 or prior
    • the five remaining books on my Backlist Burrow list, a challenge I started in 2023 but have made little progress with
  3. Attend Henley Literary Festival and at least one other literary event
  4. Complete the When Are You Reading Challenge – see my sign-up post here – and Historical Fiction Reading Challenge – see my sign-up post here
  5. Complete the What’s in a Name Challenge – see my sign-up post here
  6. Read all the books on The Walter Scott Prize 2025 longlist before the shortlist is announced
  7. Reach the point where I’m read and reviewing every book on my NetGalley shelf in advance of publication
  8. Take part in a reading challenge I haven’t done before. Don’t know what yet!
  9. Finally bite the bullet and update my blog’s theme
  10. Embrace audiobooks and aim to listen to one per month

What bookish goals, if any, have you set for 2025?