challenge – Page 14 – What Cathy Read Next…

My Week in Books w/e 13 Aug ’17

August 13, 2017 whatcathyreadnext10 Comments

New arrivals

Another busy week for acquisitions because, let’s face it, I don’t have enough books already…

A Queen’s Spy: The Tudor Mystery Trials by Sam Burnell (ebook, review copy courtesy of the author)

Richard Fitzwarren is a Tudor nobleman with a dubious past who takes risks for a living. His close friendship with Princess Elizabeth leads to his banishment to France but he remains loyal to her. Having learnt his trade well, he returns to England a self-styled Tudor soldier of fortune selling his services and those of his mercenary band to the highest bidder. Can he keep the future Queen safe? At his side is Jack, his bastard sibling, but there is a dark family secret that Richard had always suspected; the final discovery of it will change the relationship between them forever.

Spirit of Lost Angels by Liza Perrat (ebook, review copy courtesy of the author)

Her mother executed for witchcraft, her father dead at the hand of a noble, Victoire Charpentier vows to rise above her poor peasant roots. Forced to leave her village of Lucie-sur-Vionne for domestic work in Paris, Victoire suffers gruesome abuse under the ancien régime. Can she muster the bravery and skill to join the revolutionary force gripping France, and overthrow the corrupt, diabolical aristocracy? Spirit of Lost Angels traces the journey of a bone angel talisman passed down through generations. The women of L’Auberge des Anges face tragedy and betrayal in a world where their gift can be their curse. Amidst the tumult of revolutionary France, this is a story of courage, hope and love.

The Winner by Erin Bomboy (ebook, review copy courtesy of iRead Book Tours)

The most prestigious ballroom dance competition in the United States. Two dancers need to win. Only one can.

Nina Fortunova wasn’t supposed to end up almost thirty, divorced, with her dreams of winning shattered. She teams up with Jorge Gonzalez, a Latin dancer, to reinvent the flashy Smooth style. When the Chairman of the Judges offers to throw the competition in their favor, Nina must decide how far she will go to win, even if it means losing Jorge.

Carly Martindale is doing everything she’s been taught not to do—placing her happiness first by dancing with Trey Devereux, the former three-time champion who’s returned to competition for mysterious reasons. Carly becomes obsessed with Trey and allows him to control her every move at great risk to her physical and emotional health. How far will she sacrifice herself, so Trey and she can win? Co-workers, then friends, and now arch competitors, Nina and Carly face off to determine who will be the winner.

The Quest for the Crown of Thorns by Cynthia Ripley Miller (ebook, review copy courtesy of HF Virtual Book Tours)

AD 454. Three years after the Roman victory over Attila the Hun at Catalaunum, Arria Felix and Garic the Frank are married and enjoying life on Garic’s farm in northern Gaul (France). Their happy life is interrupted, when a cryptic message arrives from Rome, calling Arria home to her father, the esteemed Senator Felix. At Arria’s insistence, but against Garic’s better judgment, they leave at once. Upon their arrival at Villa Solis, they are confronted with a brutal murder and the dangerous mission that awaits them. The fate of a profound and sacred object – Christ’s Crown of Thorns – rests in their hands. They must carry the holy relic to the safety of Constantinople, away from a corrupt emperor and old enemies determined to steal it for their own gain. But an even greater force arises to derail their quest–a secret cult willing to commit any atrocity to capture the Crown of Thorns. And all the while, the gruesome murder and the conspiracy behind it haunt Arria’s thoughts. Arria and Garic’s marital bonds are tested but forged as they partner together to fulfil one of history’s most challenging missions, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns.

The King’s Daughter by Stephanie Churchill (eARC courtesy of the author)

In this gripping sequel to The Scribe’s Daughter, a young woman finds herself unwittingly caught up in a maelstrom of power, intrigue, and shifting perceptions, where the line between ally and enemy is subtle, and the fragile facade of reality is easily broken. Irisa’s parents are dead and her younger sister Kassia is away on a journey when the sisters’ mysterious customer returns, urging Irisa to leave with him before disaster strikes. Can she trust him to keep her safe? How much does he know about the fate of her father? Only a voyage across the Eastmor Ocean to the land of her ancestors will reveal the truth about her family’s disturbing past. Once there, Irisa steps into a future she has unknowingly been prepared for since childhood, but what she discovers is far more sinister than she could have ever imagined. Will she have the courage to claim her inheritance for her own?

Eureka by Anthony Quinn (ebook, NetGalley)

Summer, 1967. As London shimmers in a heat haze and swoons to the sound of Sergeant Pepper, a mystery film – Eureka – is being shot by German wunderkind Reiner Werther Kloss. The screenwriter, Nat Fane, would do anything for a hit but can’t see straight for all the acid he’s dropping. Fledgling actress Billie Cantrip is hoping for her big break but can’t find a way out of her troubled relationship with an older man. And journalist Freya Wyley wants to know why so much of what Kloss touches turns to ash in his wake. Meanwhile, the parallel drama of Nat’s screenplay starts unfurling its own deep secrets.

The Butcher Bird (Somershill Manor Mystery #2) by S. D. Sykes (ebook, Kindle deal)

Oswald de Lacy is growing up fast in his new position as Lord of Somershill Manor. The Black Death changed many things, and just as it took away his father and elder brothers, leaving Oswald to be recalled from the monastery where he expected to spend his life, so it has taken many of his villagers and servants. However, there is still the same amount of work to be done in the farms and fields, and the few people left to do it think they should be paid more – something the King himself has forbidden. Just as anger begins to spread, the story of the Butcher Bird takes flight. People claim to have witnessed a huge creature in the skies. A new-born baby is found impaled on a thorn bush. And then more children disappear. Convinced the bird is just a superstitious rumor, Oswald must discover what is really happening. He can expect no help from his snobbish mother and his scheming sister Clemence, who is determined to protect her own child, but happy to neglect her step-daughters. From the plague-ruined villages of Kent to the thief-infested streets of London and the luxurious bedchamber of a bewitching lady, Oswald’s journey is full of danger, dark intrigue and shocking revelations.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver (ebook, Kindle deal)

January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely, and desperate to change his life, so when he’s offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, but the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice: stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return–when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark…

The Constant Soldier by William Ryan (ebook, Kindle deal)

Paul Brandt, a soldier in the German army, returns wounded and ashamed from the bloody chaos of the Eastern front to find his village home much changed and existing in the dark shadow of an SS rest hut – a luxurious retreat for those who manage the concentration camps, run with the help of a small group of female prisoners who – against all odds – have so far survived the war. When, by chance, Brandt glimpses one of these prisoners, he realizes that he must find a way to access the hut. For inside is the woman to whom his fate has been tied since their arrest five years before, and now he must do all he can to protect her. But as the Russian offensive moves ever closer, the days of this rest hut and its SS inhabitants are numbered. And while hope – for Brandt and the female prisoners – grows tantalizingly close, the danger too is now greater than ever. And, in a forest to the east, a young female Soviet tank driver awaits her orders to advance . . .

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (ebokk, Kindle deal)

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them. When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Sunday – I featured a Q&A with Shannon Condon, author of The Brotherhood

Monday – I shared my review of The Room by the Lake by Emma Dibdin, an unsettling psychological thriller.

Tuesday – I did some more clearing out of my To-Read shelf on Goodreads courtesy of the Down the TBR Hole meme. I also participated in the book blitz The Place Where the Giant Fell by John Henry Hardy.

Wednesday – I shared two reviews for In Shadowland by Timothy Ashby, a historical mystery set after WW1, and The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting, a 5* read for me and the first book in my ARC August reading challenge. Wednesday is also WWW Wednesday, where I and other book bloggers share what we’ve been reading, are currently reading and plan to read next.

Thursday – The subject of my Throwback Thursday post was The Pale House by Luke McCallin, the second in a terrific series set in WW2.

Friday – A fun post today posing the question What Does Your Book Blog Say About You? Why not take the test?

Saturday – I featured a fascinating Q&A with Lachlan Walter, author of The Rain Never Came.

Challenge updates

Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge – 95 out of 78 books read, 2 more than last week. I still need to set that new target….
Classics Club Challenge– 4 out of 50 books reviewed (same as last week)
NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2017 (Gold) – 43 ARCs reviewed out of 50 (1 more than last week)
From Page to Screen 2017– 7 book/film comparisons out of 12 completed (same as last week)
ARC August – 1 ARCs out of 6 read
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Shortlist 2017 – completed

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

Blog Tour/Review: If The Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss
Blog Tour/Excerpt: Dead Girls Can’t Lie by Carys Jones
Book Review: The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
Throwback Thursday: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Blog Tour/Guest Post: The Floating Theatre by Martha Conway

My Week in Books

August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

New arrivals

After a few weeks of book drought, this week has seen a positive deluge of lovely things…

The Midnight Sea (The Fourth Element #1) by Kat Ross (ebook, free)

They are the light against the darkness. Nazafareen lives for revenge. A girl of the isolated Four-Legs Clan, all she knows about the King’s elite Water Dogs is that they bind wicked creatures called daevas to protect the empire from the Undead. But when scouts arrive to recruit young people with the gift, she leaps at the chance to join their ranks. To hunt the monsters that killed her sister. Scarred by grief, she’s willing to pay any price, even if it requires linking with a daeva named Darius. Human in body, he’s possessed of a terrifying power, one that Nazafareen controls. But the golden cuffs that join them have an unwanted side effect. Each experiences the other’s emotions, and human and daeva start to grow dangerously close. As they pursue a deadly foe across the arid waste of the Great Salt Plain to the glittering capital of Persepolae, unearthing the secrets of Darius’s past along the way, Nazafareen is forced to question his slavery—and her own loyalty to the empire. But with an ancient evil stirring in the north, and a young conqueror sweeping in from the west, the fate of an entire civilization may be at stake…

Thin Air by Michelle Paver (ebook, 99p)

The Himalayas, 1935. Kangchenjunga. Third-highest peak on earth. Greatest killer of them all. Five Englishmen set off from Darjeeling, determined to conquer the sacred summit. But courage can only take them so far – and the mountain is not their only foe. As the wind dies, the dread grows. Mountain sickness. The horrors of extreme altitude. A past that will not stay buried.And sometimes, the truth does not set you free.

Why Did You Lie by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (ebook, 99p)

A journalist on the track of an old case attempts suicide. An ordinary couple return from a house swap in the states to find their home in disarray and their guests seemingly missing. Four strangers struggle to find shelter on a windswept spike of rock in the middle of a raging sea. They have one thing in common: they all lied. And someone is determined to punish them…

The Woman in the Shadows by Carol McGrath (ebook, £1.99)

The Woman in the Shadows presents the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Tudor England’s most powerful statesman, through the eyes of his wife Elizabeth. When beautiful cloth merchant’s daughter Elizabeth Williams is widowed at the age of twenty-two, she is determined to make herself a success in the business she has learned from her father. But there are those who oppose a woman making her own way in the world, and soon Elizabeth realises she may have some powerful enemies – enemies who also know the truth about her late husband… Security – and happiness – comes when Elizabeth is introduced to kindly, ambitious merchant turned lawyer, Thomas Cromwell. Their marriage is one based on mutual love and respect…but it isn’t always easy being the wife of an influential, headstrong man in Henry VIII’s London. The city is filled with ruthless people and strange delights – and Elizabeth realises she must adjust to the life she has chosen…or risk losing everything.

The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield (ebook, review copy courtesy of Xpresso Tours)

The very last thing 17-year-old Emmott Syddall wants is to turn out like her dad. She’s descended from ten generations who never left their dull English village, and there’s no way she’s going to waste a perfectly good life that way. She’s moving to London and she swears she is never coming back. But when the unexplained deaths of her neighbours force the government to quarantine the village, Em learns what it truly means to be trapped. Now, she must choose. Will she pursue her desire for freedom, at all costs, or do what’s best for the people she loves: her dad, her best friend Deb, and, to her surprise, the mysterious man in the HAZMAT suit? Inspired by the historical story of the plague village of Eyam, this contemporary tale of friendship, community, and impossible love weaves the horrors of recent news headlines with the intimate details of how it feels to become an adult—and fall in love—in the midst of tragedy.

Zenka by Alison Brodie (eARC, courtesy of the author, cover not yet available)

“She’s the one to die for.” Zenka is a seductive Hungarian pole-dancer with a stubborn streak. When London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. “How can you be my guardian angel,” Jack scoffed. “You’re only five foot two.” Zenka shrugged, “So vat? I am small, but a grenade is also small.” Jack receives a letter saying he has a son, Nicholas. Jack is delighted to be a dad, but he has to tread carefully. People are out to harm him and those close to him. Can he use his wealth, wiles and tough-guy contacts to make a man out of this mouse – before his enemies turn him into mincemeat? Zenka takes charge. She’s going to “bring out the gorilla” in Nicholas. And she succeeds! As family ties become more disturbing, questions have to be asked: How do you tell a mob boss you don’t want to be his son? And is Zenka really who she says she is?

The Honey Farm on the Hill by Jo Thomas (paperback, review copy courtesy of Headline)

We never forget the one who got away. Eighteen years ago Nell fell in love in the mountains of Crete and life changed forever. Nell’s daughter, Demi, has never met her dad. Nell never saw him again. When she gets the chance to return to the hilltop town of Vounoplagia – where everything began – Nell can’t resist the urge to go back and find him. Working on a honey farm perched high up in the hills, there’s plenty to keep her busy. And she will quickly realise the town harbours just as many secrets as she does. But if Nell’s favourite romantic films are right, there’s a happy ending in store for each of us. All she has to do is seek out the magic of the mountains…

Home is Nearby by Magdalena McGuire (paperback, ARC courtesy of Impress Books)

1980: the beginning of the Polish Crisis. Brought up in a small village, country-girl Ania arrives in the university city of Wroclaw to pursue her career as a sculptor. Here she falls in love with Dominik, an enigmatic writer at the centre of a group of bohemians and avant-garde artists who throw wild parties. When martial law is declared, their lives change overnight: military tanks appear on the street, curfews are introduced and the artists are driven underground. Together, Ania and Dominik fight back, pushing against the boundaries imposed by the authoritarian communist government. But at what cost?

Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson (paperback, review copy courtesy of Bonnier Zaffre)

Can you escape your past in paradise? ‘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.

Keep Me Safe by Daniela Sacerdoti (eARC, NetGalley)

What do you do when your six-year-old daughter starts telling you about her other mother, her other life? This is what happens to Anna after her daughter Ava’s father disappears, leaving behind a traumatised little girl. After three days of silence, Ava begins to share mysterious memories with her mother, and to draw pictures of a place she’s never visited. Anna knows that the only way to find the truth is to travel to the place Ava is talking about – a tiny island called Seal. There, on the edge of the Atlantic, where their past and their future meet, there might be a whole new world, a whole new life waiting for them…

One Day in December by Shari Low (eARC, NetGalley)

By the stroke of midnight, a heart would be broken, a cruel truth revealed, a devastating secret shared, and a love betrayed. Four lives would be changed forever, One Day in December. One morning in December… Caro set off on a quest to find out if her relationship with her father had been based on a lifetime of lies. Lila decided today would be the day that she told her lover’s wife of their secret affair. Cammy was on the way to pick up the ring for the surprise proposal to the woman he loved. And Bernadette vowed that this was the day she would walk away from her controlling husband of 30 years and never look back. One day, four lives on a collision course with destiny…

Maria in the Moon by Louise Beech (ebook, review copy courtesy of Orenda Books)

Long ago my beloved Nanny Eve chose my name. Then one day she stopped calling me it. I try now to remember why, but I just can’t.’ Thirty-one-year-old Catherine Hope has a great memory. But she can’t remember everything. She can’t remember her ninth year. She can’t remember when her insomnia started. And she can’t remember why everyone stopped calling her Catherine-Maria. With a promiscuous past, and licking her wounds after a painful breakup, Catherine wonders why she resists anything approaching real love. But when she loses her home to the deluge of 2007 and volunteers at Flood Crisis, a devastating memory emerges … and changes everything. Dark, poignant and deeply moving, Maria in the Moon is an examination of the nature of memory and truth, and the defences we build to protect ourselves, when we can no longer hide…

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Book Reviews

On Monday I shared my review of The Thirteenth Gate by Kat Ross, a really entertaining historical mystery set in the era of Jack the Ripper – with added ghouls and daemons! The following day, I hosted a slot on the blog tour for The Other Twin by L V Hay and shared my review of this unsettling psychological mystery. For Throwback Thursday, I shared my review of a book that’s been sitting in my review stack for some time – Catherine Dickens: Outside the Magic Circle by Heera Datta. It tells the story of the breakdown of Charles Dickens’ marriage from the point of view of his wife, Catherine.

Other posts

On Tuesday I did some more clearing out of my To-Read shelf on Goodreads courtesy of the Down the TBR Hole meme. Wednesday is WWW Wednesday, where I and other book bloggers share what we’ve been reading, are currently reading and plan to read next. I also reported on my Five Favourite July Reads. On Thursday I took part in the book blitz for the historical fiction novel, Envoy of Jerusalem by Helena P Schrader. On Friday, I shared the ARCs I’m targeting to read as part of ARC August. Still time to sign up!

Challenge updates

Current

Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge – 93 out of 78 books read, 3 more than last week. I still need to set that new target….
Classics Club Challenge – 4 out of 50 books reviewed (same as last week)
NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2017 (Gold) – 42 ARCs reviewed out of 50 (same as last week)
From Page to Screen 2017 – 7 book/film comparisons out of 12 completed (same as last week)
ARC August – 0 ARCs out of 6 read NEW

Completed