#WWWWednesday – 21st June 2023

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

Banyan MoonBanyan Moon by Thao Thai (ARC, Quercus) 

Ann Tran s already at a crossroads when she gets the call that her beloved grandmother, Minh, has died. Ann has built a seemingly perfect life. She lives in a beautiful lake house and has a charming professor boyfriend, but it all crumbles with one positive pregnancy test.

With both her relationship and her carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother, Huơng. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter must face the simmering questions of their past, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who’s always held them together.

Running parallel to this is Minh’s story, as she goes from a lovestruck teenager living in the shadow of the Vietnam War to a determined young mother immigrating to America in search of a better life for her children. And when Ann makes a shocking discovery in the Banyan House’s attic, long-buried secrets come to light, revealing how decisions Minh made in her youth affected the rest of her life.

The Square of SevensThe Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (eARC, Mantle via NetGalley)

‘My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn’t afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well….’

A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.

Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society, but she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?

The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red’s quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . .


Recently finished

The Wall (City of Victory #3) by Adrian Goldsworthy (Head of Zeus)

The Voluble Topsy, 1928-1947 by A. P. Herbert (Handheld Press)

Voices of the Dead (Raven, Fisher & Simpson #4) by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

North WoodsNorth Woods by Daniel Mason (eARC, John Murray via NetGalley)

When a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and inhuman characters alike.

An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths a mass grave – only to discover that the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: as each inhabitant confronts the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.

#TopTenTuesday Books On My Summer 2023 To-Read List #TuesdayBookBlog

Top Ten Tuesday

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.

20-books-of-summerThis week’s topic is Books On My Summer 2023 To-Read List.

My list comprises the first ten books I’m aiming to read for the 20 Books of Summer 2023 Reading Challenge, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. As you’ll see, they’ve all been waiting a long time for me to get to them…

  1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (waiting since October 2017)
  2. Treason by James Jackson (waiting since November 2017)
  3. Transcription by Kate Atkinson (waiting since January 2018)
  4. The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner (waiting since March 2018)
  5. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark (waiting since March 2018)
  6. The Painter of Souls by Philip Kazan (waiting since April 2018)
  7. Appetite by Philip Kazan (waiting since April 2018)
  8. Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir (waiting since June 2018)
  9. Wrecker by Noel O’Reilly (waiting since August 2018)
  10. China Blue by Madalyn Morgan (waiting since October 2018)



Have you read any of the books on my list?