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.
Friday – I published my review of The Cafe with No Name by Robert Seethaler, translated by Katy Derbyshire.
New on my shelves
The CIA Book Clubby Charlie English (eARC, William Collins via NetGalley)
The astonishing story of the ten million books that US intelligence smuggled across the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.
From copies of Orwell to Agatha Christie, the Western effort was to undermine the censorship of the Soviet bloc, offer different visions of thought and culture to the people, and build relationships with real readers in the East.
Historian Charlie English follows the characters of the era, with Bucharest-born George Minden at the narrative’s heart. Tasked with masterminding the effort, Minden understood both sides of the he was opposed to the intellectual straightjacket created by the communist system, but he also resented the Americans’ patronising tone – the people weren’t fooled by what their puppet governments were saying, but they did need culture, diversity of thought, entertainment, art, reassurance and solidarity. This is how the perilous mission to bring books as beacons of hope played out, told in riveting detail.
What I’m currently reading
Look out for…
Book Review: The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor
Book Review: A Cold Wind From Moscow by Rory Clements
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.
Traitor’s Legacy by S.J. Parris (eARC, Hemlock Press via NetGalley)
England, 1598. Queen Elizabeth’s successor remains unnamed. The country teeters on a knife edge.
When a young heiress is found murdered at the theatre, the Queen’s spymaster Robert Cecil calls upon former agent Sophia de Wolfe to investigate.
A cryptic note found on the dead girl’s body connects to Sophia’s previous life as a spy, and her quest soon takes her into dangerous waters. Powerful enemies emerge, among them the Earl of Essex: the Queen’s favourite courtier and a man of ruthless ambition.
This is a murder that reaches directly into the heart of the court. And Sophia is concealing a deep-buried secret of her own. She must uncover the truth before her past threatens to destroy her.
The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…?
Miriam Hassan stands in the defendant’s dock at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the cold-blooded murder of her well-known, rich, charismatic husband Zaf, to which she pleads not guilty. However, nothing is straightforward.
There is conflicting witness testimony. The couple argued on the day in question, and Miriam was overheard threatening him. A witness places her at the scene of the crime. Miriam’s evidence casts doubt on her guilt, but no one can corroborate it.
It soon becomes apparent that both Zaf and the marriage were not as they seemed. Miriam discloses details about the ‘gaslighting’ and emotional abuse she suffered, and the court also discovers that Zaf in fact had a number of enemies. On the other hand, Miriam stands to inherit Zaf’s vast fortune if she walks free.
Through the moving testimony in the courtroom and dramatic flashbacks of the two-year marriage, the reader is taken on a gripping and thought-provoking journey, but when the shocking truth is finally revealed, the reader will be left with a moral question that may be difficult to answer.
Berlin. May 1940. As Hitler prepares to invade Western Europe, there is bloodshed closer to home.
CI Horst Schenke is an investigator with the Kripo unit. Powerless against the consequences of the war, he fights to keep criminals off his patch. But with doubts growing about his loyalty to the Nazi regime, he is walking a tightrope. If his relationship with a Jewish woman is exposed, a dreadful fate awaits.
Berlin’s gangsters run their crime rings with impunity. Decadent senior Nazis protect them. Schenke is different. He won’t turn a blind eye when innocents are caught in the crossfire between warring gangs. But dangerous enemies know everything about him. They will do whatever it takes to bend him to their will . . .
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton (audiobook)
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
On What Cathy Read Next this week
Currently reading
Planned posts
Book Review: The Endeavour of Elsie Mackay by Flora Johnston
My Five Favourite January 2025 Reads
Book Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Book Review: The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor
What Cathy Read Next... 