Tag: memes

#TopTenTuesday Ten Debut Novels I Enjoyed #TuesdayBookBlog

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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 Debut Novels I Enjoyed, a topic suggested by Angela at Reading Frenzy. The publication of a debut novel must be a special thing for an author and, for a reader, it’s the chance to be in at the beginning of what might be a long term relationship with a writer’s work. Here are ten debut novels that I awarded at least 4 out of 5 stars. (Some of the authors have written nonfiction, poetry or short stories before publishing their novels.) Links from each title will take you to my full review.

  1. In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell – Passionate, moving and powerful story of love and loss in the aftermath of WW1
  2. Alvesdon by James Holland – Brilliant combination of emotional family saga and fascinating wartime story
  3. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – Mindbending blend of science fiction and romance with a dash of historical fiction and an element of mystery 
  4. Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson – Lovely coming-of-age story that is just as delightful as its vibrant cover
  5. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan – Powerful and immersive story set in Malaysia that reveals a lesser known aspect of the events of WW2
  6. The Unheard by Anne Worthington – A moving story with unforgettable characters which, although short, packs a real punch
  7. In Defence of the Act by Effie Black – A thought-provoking, poignant and powerful story that explores whether it can ever be right for a person to take their own life 
  8. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai – An absorbing multi-generational story about love, loss, motherhood and the healing of fractured family relationships
  9. The New Life by Tom Crewe – An intricate, detailed and thought-provoking exploration of the search for sexual freedom and equality in Victorian Britain
  10. The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph – A thoroughly entertaining historical novel that reveals events in the life of a remarkable man

Have you read any of my picks? Do you actively seek out debut authors?

Book cover of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Book cover of Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson

#WWWWednesday – 17th July 2024

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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

West Heart KillWest Heart Kill by Dann McDorman (ARC, Raven Books)

You.
Yes, you, reading this.
Get in the car.

Sit in the back – you’re joining the detective and the other guy who’s driving. They’re both in the front. Don’t think about the other guy. He’s not important.

You’re going to the West Heart clubhouse. The country club that’s so swanky it’s in the title of this book. Kill. It’s not that kind of kill. Or maybe it is, after all.

You arrive, it’s the Fourth of July weekend and look – there’s cocktails on the lawn. What’s your poison?

Don’t flick forward. You just have to wait. Especially for the part when you find out what happens on page XX.

Magpie MurdersMagpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Orion)

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the tattered manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has little idea it will change her life. She’s worked with the revered crime writer for years and his detective, Atticus Pund, is renowned for solving crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s. As Susan knows only too well, vintage crime sells handsomely. It’s just a shame that it means dealing with an author like Alan Conway…

But Conway’s latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript there lies another story: a tale written between the very words on the page, telling of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.

Recently finished

The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite (Penguin)

What Cathy Will Read Next

In the Garden of SorrowsIn the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell (MindStir Media)

Isabel Fuller, a strong, once passionate woman, is deadened with grief by the death of her oldest son in the First World War, haunted by visions of him dying alone, and bitter at her husband for encouraging him to enlist.

When a young, charismatic preacher arrives for a revival one summer, he awakens in Isabel an intense attraction and feelings long forgotten. When she finally succumbs to his seduction, their affair pushes Isabel’s marriage to the breaking point.

In the Garden of Sorrows is a gripping, erotically charged story of loss and sorrow, anger and recrimination, and the redemptive power of love.