#WWWWednesday – 4th September 2024

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

To Calais, in Ordinary TimeTo Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (Canongate) 

Three journeys. One road.

England, 1348. A gentlewoman is fleeing an odious arranged marriage, a Scottish proctor is returning home to Avignon and a handsome young ploughman in search of adventure is on his way to volunteer with a company of archers. All come together on the road to Calais.

Coming in their direction from across the Channel is the Black Death, the plague that will wipe out half of the population of Northern Europe. As the journey unfolds, overshadowed by the archers’ past misdeeds and clerical warnings of the imminent end of the world, the wayfarers must confront the nature of their loves and desires.

Gabriel's MoonGabriel’s Moon by William Boyd (eARC, Viking via NetGalley)

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story. . .


Recently finished

A Place Without Pain by Simon Bourke 


What Cathy Will Read Next

Shy CreaturesShy Creatures by Clare Chambers (Wiedenfeld & Nicolson) 

In all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.

Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with a charismatic, married doctor.

One spring afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house not far from Helen’s home. A mute, thirty-seven-year-old man called William Tapping, with a beard down to his waist, has been discovered along with his elderly aunt. It is clear he has been shut up in the house for decades, but when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story.

#TopTenTuesday “Yum, Yum” – Books Involving Food #TuesdayBookBlog

Top Ten TuesdayTop 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 Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books Involving Food (That Are Not Cookbooks), a suggestion of myself and blogger Hopewell’s Library of Life. Links from each title will take you to my review.

  1. Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinsonyoung Pumkin Patterson finds comfort in creating Jamaican bread puddings and coconut drops
  2. Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia FordJennifer Quinn wins a spot as a contestant on a primetime TV baking show
  3. The Swallowed Man by Edward Careycarpenter Geppetto (of Pinocchio fame) finds himself in the belly of a huge whale
  4. The Language of Food by Annabel Abbsthe fictionalised story of Eliza Acton, the woman who broke the mould of traditional cookbooks 
  5. A Ration Book Daughter by Jean Fullerton featuring wartime food under rationing and traditional East End fare such as pie and mash, and jellied eels 
  6. Green Hands by Barbara Whittona insight into life as a member of the Women’s Land Army producing food vital to the war effort
  7. Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Reesrecruited to root out Nazis trying to escape prosecution, Edith sends coded messages back to the UK hidden inside innocuous recipes
  8. The Dinner List by Rebecca SerleSabrina arrives at her 30th birthday dinner to find at the table her best friend, three significant people from her past . . .  and Audrey Hepburn 
  9. The Edible Woman by Margaret AtwoodMarian’s dilemma about her future prompts some very rebellious behaviour by her stomach
  10. Feast of Sorrow by Crystal KingRoman gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius sets about achieving his ambition to serve as culinary advisor to the Emperor Tiberius