#WWWWednesday – 8th September 2021

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

A Better Part of ValorA Better Part of Valor (Valorie Dawes #3) by Gary Corbin

While jogging off duty along the riverfront, rookie cop Valorie Dawes discovers the body of a young girl—and ignites a manhunt for a serial killer.

The Shoeless Schoolgirl Slayer has remained a step ahead of the Clayton, CT police for months. All of his victims drowned. All were found barefoot. And all bear the same strange, fresh tattoo. Then rookie cop Val Dawes notices patterns that eluded the department’s more traditional senior detectives. Following her intuition, she discovers clues that convince her she’s closing in.

But is she? Or is the clever and elusive Slayer laying a trap to make Val the next victim?

The Fortune MenThe Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

The story of a murder, a miscarriage of justice, and a man too innocent for his times . . .

Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, petty criminal. He is a smooth-talker with rakish charm and an eye for a good game. He is many things, but he is not a murderer.

So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him, Mahmood isn’t too worried. Since his Welsh wife Laura kicked him out for racking up debts he has wandered the streets more often, and there are witnesses who allegedly saw him enter the shop that night. But Mahmood has escaped worse scrapes, and he is innocent in this country where justice is served. Love lends him immunity too: the fierce love of Laura, who forgives his gambling in a heartbeat, and his children. It is only in the run-up to the trial, as the prospect of returning home dwindles, that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a fight for his life – against conspiracy, prejudice and cruelty – and that the truth may not be enough to save him.


Recently finished

The Senator’s Darkest Days by Joan E. Histon

Three Words For Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb

Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout 

The Wrecking Storm (Thomas Tallant #2) by Michael Ward

Ghosts of the West by Alec Marsh

When daring journalist Sir Percival Harris gets wind of a curious crime in a sleepy English town, he ropes in his old friend Professor Ernest Drabble to help him investigate. The crime is a grave robbery, and as Drabble and Harris pry deeper, events take a mysterious turn when a theft at the British Museum is soon followed by a murder.

The friends are soon involved in a tumultuous quest that takes them from the genteel streets of London to the wide plains of the United States. What exactly is at stake is not altogether clear – but if they don’t act soon, the outcome could be a bloody conflict, one that will cross borders, continents and oceans…

Meanwhile, can Drabble and Harris’s friendship – which has endured near-death experiences on several continents, not to mention a boarding school duel – survive a crisis in the shape of the beautiful and enigmatic Dr Charlotte Moore? (Review to follow for blog tour)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

Blasted ThingsBlasted Things by Lesley Glaister 

1920: Britain is trying to forget the Great War. Clementine, who nursed at the front and suffered her own losses, must bury the past and settle for a life of middle class respectability. Then she meets Vincent, an opportunistic veteran whose damage goes much deeper than the painted tin mask he wears to face the world.

Powerfully drawn together they enter a deadly relationship that careers towards a dark and haunting resolution. 

#TopTenTuesday Books To Put A Smile On Your Face

Top Ten Tuesday new

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face. I’m glad this topic specified ‘smile’ rather than ‘laugh out loud’ because often the books that make me smile have moments of sadness but end on a hopeful, touching note. I’ve included snippets from my reviews but you can read them in full by following the links from the titles.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams – ‘Touching, heartfelt, uplifting’
A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz – ‘Tremendous fun with plenty of in-jokes and gentle jibes at the publishing industry as well as the author himself’
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett – ‘Not only is The Uncommon Reader a delightful story, it’s also a love letter to reading’
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson – ‘The utterly delightful Miss Pettigrew has just gained a new admirer’
Lost Property by Helen Paris – ‘Made me laugh, made me think and, at times, made me a little tearful’

 

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor – ‘A charming story tinged with humour but also with moments of poignant sadness’
Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce – ‘Funny, charming and heart-warming’
Together by Luke Adam Hawker – ‘A short book but one well worth lingering over’
Saving Missy by Beth Morrey – ‘Tender, heart-warming, uplifting’
Three Women and a Boat by Anne Youngson – ‘An enchanting story full of warmth and insight, perfect for those in need of an uplifting read’

 

Which books have put a smile on your face?