Tag: Currently Reading

My Week in Books – 6th October ‘19

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MyWeekinBooks

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my review of The Mathematical Bridge by Jim Kelly.

Tuesday –  The Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books With Numbers in their Titles and I was inspired to take two different approaches to it in Part 1 and Part 2.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next…and have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading.   I also published my review of The Jeweller by Caryl Lewis (translated by Gwen Davies) as part of the blog tour.

Thursday – I shared my review of the latest book in one of my favourite action-packed crime series, Asylum Road by James L. Weaver.

Friday – I shared my Five Favourite Books I read in September.

Saturday – I participated in the 6 Degrees of Separation meme creating a chain from Three Women by Lisa Taddeo to The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers.

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media this week.

New arrivals

The Recovery of Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel (uncorrected proof copy, courtesy of Michael Joseph)

A chilling exploration into obsession, reconciliation and revenge in 2020’s must-read.

Rose Gold Watts believed she was sick for eighteen years. She thought she needed the feeding tube, the surgeries, the wheelchair . . .

Turns out her mum, Patty, is a really good liar.

After five years in prison Patty Watts is finally free. All she wants is to put old grievances behind her, reconcile with her daughter and care for her new infant grandson. When Rose Gold agrees to have Patty move in, it seems their relationship is truly on the mend.

But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty won’t rest until she has her daughter back under her thumb. Which is a smidge inconvenient because Rose Gold wants to be free of Patty. Forever.

Only one Watts will get what she wants. Will it be Patty of Rose Gold? Mother, or daughter?

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Conviction by Hope Adams (uncorrected proof copy, courtesy of Michael Joseph)

London, 1841.  Two hundred Englishwomen file aboard the Rajah, embarking on a three-month voyage to the other side of the world.

They’re daughters, sisters, mothers – and convicts.  Transported for petty crimes. Except one of their number has a deadly secret, and will do anything to flee justice.

When a woman is mortally wounded, the hunt is on for the culprit.  But who would harm one of their own, and why?

Based on a true story, Conviction is a sweeping tale of confinement, loss, love, and above all, hope in the unlikeliest of places.

Christmas at LadywellChristmas at Ladywell by Nicola Slade (eARC, courtesy of Crooked Cat Books and Rachel’s Random Resources)

A time for spilling secrets…

Having refurbished her inherited house and upcycled her whole life in the process, Freya – now happily married to Patrick, and with a small child – has to transform her tiny stone barn into a romantic hideaway for a mystery guest who is also looking for change. With Christmas only a week away, things don’t go according to plan…

In the past, old uncertainties are resolved when a woman seeks the truth of a legend on Christmas Eve and confesses to a deception; a Tudor wife listens to a story that must never be repeated and is given a precious relic that must never be displayed; and in the early nineteenth century, an old woman tells a younger one the story of the hares at Ladywell.

Past and present are only a whisper apart when Freya learns of an astonishing discovery that will make Ladywell famous, but while her house is full of unexpected visitors, she has a turkey to cook – and a very special secret of her own that must be told.

Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy (eARC, courtesy of Aria)

AD 838. Deep in the forests of Wessex, Dunston’s solitary existence is shattered when he stumbles on a mutilated corpse.

Accused of the murder, Dunston must clear his name and keep the dead man’s daughter alive in the face of savage pursuers desperate to prevent a terrible secret from being revealed.

Rushing headlong through Wessex, Dunston will need to use all the skills of survival garnered from a lifetime in the wilderness. And if he has any hope of victory against the implacable enemies on their trail, he must confront his long-buried past – becoming the man he once was and embracing traits he had promised he would never return to. The Wolf of Wessex must hunt again; honour and duty demand it.

Joan SmokesJoan Smokes by Angela Meyer (ARC, courtesy of Saraband Books)

She used to be someone else, but now she’s arrived in Vegas, where she can start again. It won’t do to let the past leak in. It’s the Sixties now. She’s going to become … Joan. She makes a list: Buy a new dress (fitted, floral). Dye her hair (dark). Curl it. Buy red lipstick. Buy cigarettes and a lighter, too: Joan, she decides, is a smoker. There’s no need to dwell on why she’s here, what went before. She is just moving forward, one foot in front of the other, becoming that new person. Joan. This city of flashing neon, casinos and shows is full of distractions. Finding a job will be quick and easy. Things to do. New people to meet. A clean sheet. She’s certainly not thinking about Jack, or … No. Not anymore. Her new life starts right here, right now. (Winner of the inaugural Mslexia Novella Award 2019).

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

 

Planned posts

  • Book Review: The Blanket of the Dark by John Buchan
  • Event Review: Michael Joseph Proof Party at Henley Literary Festival 2019
  • Top Ten Tuesday: Character Traits I Love
  • Waiting on Wednesday
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: Rivals by Sam Michaels
  • Book Review: Welcome to America by Linda Bostrom Knausgard
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: A Ration Book Childhood by Jean Fullerton
  • Event Review: David Suchet at Henley Literary Festival 2019
  • Event Review: Anne De Courcy at Henley Literary Festival 2019
  • Event Review: Victoria Hislop at Henley Literary Festival 2019

#WWWednesdays 2nd October ’19

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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

Chanels RivieraChanel’s Riviera: The Cote d’Azur in Peace and War, 1930-1944 by Anne De Courcy (audio book)

Far from worrying about the onset of war, the burning question on the French Riviera in 1938 was whether one should curtsey to the Duchess of Windsor.

Featuring a sparkling cast of historical figures, writers and artists including Winston Churchill, Daisy Fellowes, Salvador Dalí, the Windsors, Aldous Huxley and Edith Wharton – and the enigmatic Coco Chanel at its heart – Chanel’s Riviera is a sparkling account of a period where such deep extremes of luxury and terror had never before been experienced.

From the glamour of the pre-war parties and casinos, to Robert Streitz’s secret wireless transmitter in the basement of La Pausa – Chanel’s villa that he created – while Chanel had her German lover to stay during the war, Chanel’s Riviera explores the fascinating world of the Cote d’Azur elite in the 1930s and 1940s, enriched with original research that brings the lives of both rich and poor, protected and persecuted, to vivid life.

Anne De Courcy is appearing at Henley Literary Festival 2019

The Tide Between UsThe Tide Between Us by Olive Collins (e-book, review copy courtesy of the author)

1821: After the landlord of Lugdale Estate in Kerry is assassinated, young Art O’Neill’s innocent father is hanged and Art is deported to the cane fields of Jamaica as an indentured servant. On Mangrove Plantation he gradually acclimatises to the exotic country and unfamiliar customs of the African slaves, and achieves a kind of contentment. Then the new heirs to the plantation arrive.

His new owner is Colonel Stratford-Rice from Lugdale Estate, the man who hanged his father. Art must overcome his hatred to survive the harsh life of a slave and live to see the eventual emancipation which liberates his coloured children. Eventually he is promised seven gold coins when he finishes his service, but he doubts his master will part with the coins.

One hundred years later in Ireland, a skeleton is discovered beneath a fallen tree on the grounds of Lugdale Estate. By its side is a gold coin minted in 1870. Yseult, the owner of the estate, watches as events unfold, fearful of the long-buried truths that may emerge about her family’s past and its links to the slave trade. As the body gives up its secrets, Yseult realises she too can no longer hide.

Recently finished

20190916_105622_resizedThe Blanket of the Dark by John Buchan (paperback)

The period is the Pilgrimage of Grace. In the country west of Oxford, nobles, clergy and laity await the success of the risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire to overthrow Henry VIII and Cromwell.

Peter Pentecost is the man they plan to put on the English throne. Although a monk by training, he is the legitimate child of the Duke of Buckingham and the last of the Bohuns. His bid to be crowned and his duel with Henry VIII make for an exciting adventure. (Review to follow)

Eight Hours From EnglandEight Hours From England by Anthony Quayle (paperback, review copy courtesy of Imperial War Museum Classics and Random Things Tours)

Autumn 1943. Realising that his feelings for his sweetheart are not reciprocated, Major John Overton accepts a posting behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Albania.  Arriving to find the situation in disarray, he attempts to overcome geographical challenges and political intrigues to set up a new camp in the mountains overlooking the Adriatic.

As he struggles to complete his mission amidst a chaotic backdrop, Overton is left to ruminate on loyalty, comradeship and his own future.

Based on Anthony Quayle’s own wartime experiences with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), this new edition of a 1945 classic includes a contextual introduction from IWM which sheds new light on the fascinating true events that inspired its author.

the jeweller coverThe Jeweller by Caryl Lewis, trans. by Gwen Davies (paperback, review copy courtesy of Honno Press)

Mari supplements her modest trade as a market stall holder with the wares she acquires from clearing the houses of the dead. She lives alone in a tiny cottage by the shore, apart from a monkey that she keeps in a cage, surrounding herself with the lives of others, combing through letters she has gleaned, putting up photographs of strangers on her small mantelpiece.

But Mari is looking for something beyond saleable goods for her stall.  As she works on cutting a perfect emerald, she inches closer to a discovery that will transform her life and throw her relationships with old friends into relief. To move forward she must shed her life of things past and start again. How she does so is both surprising and shocking…

Asylum RoadAsylum Road (Jake Caldwell #4) by James L. Weaver (eARC, courtesy of Lakewater Press)

Nearly two years ago, former mafia leg-breaker Jake Caldwell had ruthless drug lord Shane Langston staring down the wrong end of Jake’s pistol. Instead of pulling the trigger like he should have, Jake let the law handle it.

Now Langston’s escaped from a Missouri maximum security prison with a deadly goal – kill the men who put him there. With Langston’s crosshairs focused on Jake and his best friend, Sheriff Bear Parley, the duo must scramble to protect those they love and stop Langston’s bloody quest for vengeance.

As the hunt for Langston intensifies, Jake and Bear stumble upon a hard-nosed gang of bikers with their claws deep in murder, meth, guns and sex trafficking.

Teaming up with some new allies to unravel the mystery and nail Langston, Jake finds himself caught up in a game of cat and mouse with some seriously deadly consequences. (Review to follow)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

cover173287-mediumRivals (Georgina Garrett #2) by Sam Michaels (eARC, courtesy of Aria)

The streets of Battersea are about to get a new leader, one who will rule with an iron fist.

It’s the 1930s and Georgina Garrett has risen up from her tough beginnings to become the new boss of the Battersea gang. But not everyone is pleased with a female taking charge…

With rival gangs trying to steal her turf, untrustworthy men in her midst and her dad lost deep in the bottle, Georgina has a lot to tackle. With her friends and family in constant danger and those closest to her questioning her leadership Georgina must use her wits to show that she’s made for this job.

The Garrett name is one to be feared and Georgina will begin to change the face of Battersea forever…