Tag: Currently Reading

My Week in Books – 18th December 2022

whatcathyreadnext

MyWeekinBooksOn What Cathy Read Next last week

Tuesday – IThis week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books on My Winter 2022/2023 To-Read List.

Wednesday – As always 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 The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually by Helen Cullen.

Friday – I shared my review of The Darlings of the Asylum by Noel OReilly.

New arrivals

The Spy Across the WaterThe Spy Across the Water by James Naughtie (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

We live with our history, but it can kill us.

Faces from the past appear from nowhere at a family funeral, and Will Flemyng, spy-turned-ambassador, is drawn into twin mysteries that threaten everything he holds dear.

From Washington, he’s pitched back into the Troubles in Northern Ireland and an explosive secret hidden deep in the most dangerous but fulfilling friendship he has known.

And while he confronts shadowy adversaries in American streets, and looks for solace at home in the Scottish Highlands, he discovers that his government’s most precious Cold War agent is in mortal danger and needs his help to survive.

In an electric story of courage and betrayal, Flemyng learns the truth that his life has left him a man with many friends, but still alone.

A Gift of PoisonA Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis (eARC, Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley)

Haworth 1847 – Anne and Emily Brontë have had their books accepted for publication, while Charlotte’s has been rejected everywhere, creating a strained atmosphere at the parsonage.

At the same time, a shocking court case has recently concluded, acquitting a workhouse master of murdering his wife by poison. Everyone thinks this famously odious and abusive man is guilty. However, he insists he is many bad things but not a murderer. When an attempt is made on his life, he believes it to be the same person who killed his wife and applies to the detecting sisters for their help.

Despite reservations, they decide that perhaps, as before, it is only they who can get to the truth and prove him innocent – or guilty – without a shadow of doubt. 

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Devils and Saints by Jean-Baptiste Andrea
  • Book Review: Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses by David Stafford 
  • Book REview: My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor

#WWWWednesday – 14th December 2022

whatcathyreadnext2 Comments

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

Skelton's Guide to Blazing CorpsesSkelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses (Arthur Skelton #3) by David Stafford (Allison & Busby via NetGalley)

Guy Fawkes Night, 5th November, 1930. Bonfires are blazing, rockets burst. In a country lane, revellers discover a car that has been set on fire. At first, they assume that this is the work of vandals taking the Guy Fawkes spirit a little too far, sitting at the wheel is a body, charred beyond recognition.

The initial assumption is that the owner of the car, Mr Harold Musgrave, a successful travelling salesman has taken his own life in a particularly grisly act of self-immolation. The post-mortem, however, reveals that Mr Musgrave was either unconscious or dead before the fire was lit. When Tommy Prosser, a local criminal, is charged with the murder, barrister Arthur Skelton believes him to be innocent, so sets out to ensure justice is served.

I really enjoyed the previous two books in the series so found it impossible to resist requesting this when I came across it on NetGalley.  It’s a lot of fun.

Devils and SaintsDevils and Saints by Jean-Baptiste, trans. by Sam Taylor  (Gallic Books)

An elderly man gives virtuoso piano performances in airports and train stations. To the incredulity of the passers-by, he refuses their offers to play in concert halls, or at prestigious gatherings. He is waiting for someone, he tells them.

Joseph was just sixteen when he was sent to a religious boarding school in the Pyrenees: les Confins, a dumping ground for waifs, strays, and other abandoned souls. His days were filled with routine and drudgery, and he thought longingly of the solace he found through music in his former life.

Joe dreams constantly of escape, but it seems impossible. That is, until a chance encounter with the orphanage’s benefactor leads him to Rose, and a plan begins to form…

A review copy courtesy of the lovely people at Gallic Books. I very much enjoyed the author’s previous book, A Hundred Million Years and a Day and this one is proving just as good.

Recently finished

Elena by Rupert Colley (free novella available via author’s website)

The Darlings of the Asylum by Noel O’Reilly (HQ via NetGalley)

The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually by Helen Cullen (Michael Joseph via NetGalley)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

The Girl From Simon's BayThe Girl From Simon’s Bay by Barbara Mutch (Allison & Busby)

Simon’s Town is a vibrant seafaring community in a picturesque part of the Union of South Africa. Louise Ahrendts, daughter of a local shipbuilder, nurtures the dream of becoming a nurse amid the unwritten, unspoken rules about colour that might hold her back.

As the port becomes a hub of activity following the outbreak of the Second World War, Louise crosses paths with man she is determined to be with – despite all the obstacles that life and war can throw in their way.

But when a new troubled moment of history dawns, can they find their way back to each other?