#WWWWednesday – 3rd January 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

One of the ninety-six unread books on my Kindle and a book for my personal Backlist Burrow reading challenge (that I hoped to complete by the end of 2023 but didn’t).

History of WolvesHistory of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

How far would you go to belong? 

Fourteen-year-old Linda lives with her parents in an ex-commune beside a lake in the beautiful, austere backwoods of northern Minnesota. The other girls at school call Linda ‘Freak’, or ‘Commie’. Her parents mostly leave her to her own devices, whilst the other inhabitants have grown up and moved on. So when the perfect family – mother, father and their little boy, Paul – move into the cabin across the lake, Linda insinuates her way into their orbit. She begins to babysit Paul and feels welcome, that she finally has a place to belong.

Yet something isn’t right. Drawn into secrets she doesn’t understand, Linda must make a choice. But how can a girl with no real knowledge of the world understand what the consequences will be?

All Day at the MoviesAll Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman (Gallic Books)

When war widow Irene Sandle goes to work in New Zealand’s tobacco fields in 1952, she hopes to start a new, independent life for herself and her daughter – but the tragic repercussions of her decision will resonate long after Irene has gone.

Each of Irene’s children carries the events of their childhood throughout their lives, played out against a backdrop of great change – new opportunities emerge for women, but social problems continue to hold many back. Headstrong Belinda becomes a successful filmmaker, but struggles to deal with her own family drama as her younger siblings are haunted by the past.


Recently finished

The German Messenger by David Malcolm (Crime Wave Press)

The Slowworm’s Song by Andrew Miller (Sceptre)

An ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with Maggie, the daughter he barely knows, when he receives a summons – to an inquiry in Belfast about an incident during the Troubles, which he hoped he had long outdistanced.  Now, to testify about it could wreck his fragile relationship with Maggie. And if he loses her, he loses everything.

He decides instead to write her an account of his life – a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time. But as time runs out, the day comes when he must face again what happened in that distant summer of 1982. (Book review to follow)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

His Bloody ProjectHis Bloody Project by Gordon Macrae Burnet (Contraband)

The year is 1869. A brutal triple murder in a remote community in the Scottish Highlands leads to the arrest of a young man by the name of Roderick Macrae.

A memoir written by the accused makes it clear that he is guilty, but it falls to the country’s finest legal and psychiatric minds to uncover what drove him to commit such merciless acts of violence.

Was he mad? Only the persuasive powers of his advocate stand between Macrae and the gallows.

#TopTenTuesday Favourite Books of 2023 #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 topic is Favourite Books of 2023, always the toughest list to come up with. Links from the titles will take you to my review.

  1. Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
  2. The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd Robinson (Mantle)
  3. The Hollow Throne by Tim Leach (Head of Zeus)
  4. The Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson Heinemann)
  5. Adama by Lavie Tidhar (Head of Zeus)
  6. North Woods by Daniel Mason (John Murray)
  7. Wolves of Winter by Dan Jones (Head of Zeus)
  8. The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou (Head of Zeus)
  9. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Transworld)
  10. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (Hodder & Stoughton)

Favourite 2023

Highly commended: Three Gifts by Mark A. Radcliffe (epoque press), The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry (riverrun), The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (Canongate), The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson (Michael Joseph), The Painter of Souls by Philip Kazan (Orion), The Unheard by Anne Worthington (Confingo), The Black Crescent by Jane Johnson (Head of Zeus), Rebellion by Simon Scarrow (Headline), Things in Jars by Jess Kidd (Canongate)

What were your favourites of 2023?