#WWWWednesday – 14th September 2022

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

All The Broken PlacesAll the Broken Places by John Boyne (eARC, Doubleday via NetGalley)

1946. Three years after a cataclysmic event which tore their lives apart, a mother and daughter flee Poland for Paris, shame, and fear at their heels, not knowing how hard it is to escape your past.

Nearly eighty years later, Gretel Fernsby lives a life that is a far cry from her traumatic childhood. When a couple moves into the flat below her in her London mansion block, it should be nothing more than a momentary inconvenience. However, the appearance of their nine-year-old son Henry brings back memories she would rather forget.

Faced with a choice between her own safety and his, Gretel is taken back to a similar crossroads she encountered long ago. Back then, her complicity dishonoured her life, but to interfere now could risk revealing the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting.

ThePlagueCharmerThe Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland (Headline)

1361. An unlucky thirteen years after the Black Death, plague returns to England.

When the sickness spreads from city to village, who stands to lose the most? And who will seize this moment for their own dark ends?

The dwarf who talks in riddles?
The mother who fears for her children?
The wild woman from the sea?
Or two lost boys, far away from home?

Pestilence is in the air. But something much darker lurks in the depths.


Recently finished

The Santa Killer by Ross Greenwood (Boldwood Books)

Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson (Zaffre)

Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock by Russell Foster (Penguin)

Essex Dogs by Dan Jones (Head of Zeus)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

The Bone FlowerThe Bone Flower by Charles Lambert (ARC, Gallic Books)

On a grey November evening in Victorian London, Edward Monteith, a moneyed but listless young man, stokes the fire at his local gentlemen’s club, listening to its members: scientists, explorers and armchair philosophers discussing their supernatural experiences and theories of life after death.

Edward is taken under the wing of some sceptics and attends a supposed séance where he is captivated by a beautiful young woman selling flowers outside the theatre. What follows is a quintessential Gothic novel, a ghost story, and an uncanny love story. 

My Week in Books – 11th September 2022

MyWeekinBooksOn 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. 

WednesdayWWW 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 WomanThe 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 ValorMother 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