Tag: myweekinbooks

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books I Was Excited To Get But Still Haven’t Read. 

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.

Thursday – I published my review of The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis. 

Friday – I made another visit Down The TBR Hole as a result of which my TBR pile is three (yes, a whole three!) books lighter.

Saturday – The first Saturday of the month means it’s time for #6Degrees of Separation. My book chain took me from Butter by Asako Yuzuki to The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.

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New arrivals

Two book club picks…

Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson (Penguin)

In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him.

With clockwork intricacy, inventiveness and sharp social observation, Kate Atkinson conjures a feast for the imagination, a constantly changing multiverse in which nothing is quite as it seems.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Headline)

UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON.

All eyes are on the grandest house in Mayfair as the countdown to their lavish summer ball begins. Everything must be perfect. But with the chandeliers gleaming and the cellars stocked, loyal housekeeper Mrs King is suddenly dismissed.

DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.

As the clock strikes twelve on the night of the ball, Mrs King will return to strip the house of its riches – right under the nose of her former employer. And she knows just who to recruit to pull off the impossible: a bold alliance of women with nothing left to lose and every reason for revenge.

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

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Planned posts

• My Five Favourite May 2024 Reads
• Book Review: The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear 
• Book Review: Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I made a visit Down The TBR Hole to decide the whether books I’ve still to read should stay or go. Spoiler: most of them stayed!

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Authors I’d Love A New Book From. 

Wednesday – I published my review of The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley as part of the blog tour. And as always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.

Thursday – To celebrate mark the start of the General Election campaign in the UK, I shared a list of Ten Novels About Politics. 

Friday – I published my long overdue review of All Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman.

Saturday – I shared an update on my progress with this year’s When Are You Reading? Challenge. 

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New arrivals

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (eARC, Canongate via NetGalley)

He was ready to die for love. He just needed to find the right girl.

October, 1891. Butte, Montana. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains. The city is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers.

Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and balladmaker, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Just as he feels his life is heading nowhere fast, Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington.

A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly and they strike out west on a stolen horse, moving through the badlands of Montana and Idaho. Briefly an idyll of wild romance perfects itself. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are soon in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast . . .

The Days of Our Birth by Charlie Laidlaw (eARC, courtesy of the author)

It was a perfect relationship until time pulled them apart.

The Days of Our Birth delves into the intricate bond between Peter and Sarah as they navigate their formative years. Spanning from their sixth birthday through two decades, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of Sarah’s placement on the autism spectrum.

With a blend of humour and poignancy, the book intricately weaves together themes of love and friendship, unravelling the tale of two individuals who grapple with their emotions for each other, even though they remain unacknowledged.

A beautiful story sensitively told about how love and friendship can conquer everything, including time, to a point.

In This Ravishing World by Nina Schuyler (eARC, Regal House via NetGalley)

In This Ravishing World is a sweeping, impassioned short story collection, ringing out with joy, despair, and hope for the natural world. Nine connected stories unfold, bringing together an unforgettable cast of dreamers, escapists, activists, and artists, creating a kaleidoscopic view of the climate crisis.

An older woman who has spent her entire life fighting for the planet sinks into despair. A young boy is determined to bring the natural world to his bleak urban reality. A scientist working to solve the plastic problem grapples with whether to have a child. A ballet dancer endeavors to inhabit the consciousness of a rat.

In This Ravishing World is a full-throated chorus— with Nature joining in— marveling at the exquisite beauty of our world, and pleading, raging, and ultimately urging all of its inhabitants toward activism and resistance.

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

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Planned posts

• Book Review: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• Book Review: The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
• Book Review: Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
• #6Degrees of Separation
• Blog Tour/Giveaway: Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler