WWW Wednesday: 21st October, 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.

Affiliate links are provided for books already published – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.

What have you recently finished reading?

It hasn’t been a great reading week for me – I’m finding it hard to concentrate on books at the moment, even ones that I am loving!

I have just finished ‘The Servant’ by Maggie Richell-Davies, an immersive historical crime novel set in Georgian London and featuring a fabulous heroine who really does get put through some tough times. You can read my review here.

What are you reading now?

Because I can’t focus on any one thing for very long, I’ve started a lot of books!

I’m listening to the audiobook of Roald Dahl’s ‘Boy’ with my children which is read – rather well, it must be said – by Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame. We are all loving this one and anything that can get my 9 year-old interested in an actual book is nothing short of a miracle!

I’m also listening to Bill Bryson’s ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’, the story of Bryson’s childhood in 1950s America. I’ve always enjoyed Bryson’s travel books but hadn’t come across this collection of autobiographical tales before. It’s (as expected) funny, interesting and engagingly read by the writer himself.

I’ve finally started reading Stuart Turton’s ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’ which is…dark so far! It’s early days but it seems to be building a historical setting that I can really buy into.

I’m also still reading ‘Pandora’s Jar’ by Natalie Haynes. I really like this exploration of the (perhaps unfair) portrayals of women from the world of Greek myth. It is a very involved read though and requires concentration so I’m not progressing as quickly as I thought I would.

What do you think you will read next?

Unfortunately, my reading slump hasn’t coincided with a desire to stop requesting books on NetGalley or buying even more 99p Kindle deals. I am not short of books to read.

Catching my eye at the moment though are the new Cara Hunter book, ‘The Whole Truth’ and ‘The Shape of Darkness’ by Laura Purcell.

Given my new-found love of audiobooks, I’m also thrilled to have been given access to the audiobook biography of Victoria Wood, ‘Let’s Do It’ by Jasper Rees and narrated by a selection of Wood’s friends and colleagues including Julie Walters and Celia Imrie. It’s a slightly daunting 20 hours of listening but I loved Victoria Wood and am looking forward to finding out more about her life.

Header photo with thanks Joanna Kosinska for sharing their work on Unsplash.

WWW Wednesday: 14th October, 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It is open for anyone to join in and share what they have been/are/will be reading.

Affiliate links are provided for books already published – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.

What are you currently reading?

I’m still reading ‘Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes from my NetGalley shelf. It’s great so far but I had to put it down to finish off some books for blog tours.

I’m also reading ‘The Servant’ by Maggie Richell-Davies. This is a Georgian-set mystery and is going well so far. It seems to be a mix of genres – historical, mystery and a bit of romance, I think. It won the Historical Writers’ Association prize for an unpublished novel so I have high hopes!

What have you recently finished reading?

I have just finished ‘The Creak on the Stairs’ by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir, a Nordic Noir crime novel set in Iceland. It’s creepy and tense – but you’ll have to wait for my blog tour date at the weekend for my full review.

I also finished ‘Jeeves and the Leap of Faith’ by Ben Schott, a new Jeeves and Wooster novel out tomorrow and written with the approval of the P. G. Wodehouse estate. It is very funny and in the spirit of the originals – you can read my review here.

What do you think you will read next?

Stuart Turton’s ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’ is still waiting for me to have time to read it properly – I think I’ll need to be concentrating on the twists in this one!

I’ve also got another blog tour book to read for November, ‘The Phoenix Project’ by Michelle Kidd. This one is a fast-paced thriller and I’m looking forward to losing myself in the pages.

My NetGalley shelf is still looking at me balefully, so I hope also to polish off some of the excellent titles on there too!


Header photo with thanks to Jonas Jacobsson for sharing their work on Unsplash.

WWW Wednesday: 7th October, 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It is open for anyone to join in and share what they have been/are/will be reading!

Affiliate links are provided for books already published – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.


What are you currently reading?

I’m finally working my way through my NetGalley shelf!

I’m reading ‘Jeeves and the Leap of Faith’ by Ben Schott – I loved the first of Schott’s new Jeeves books (supported by the Wodehouse Estate) and this is the second. It’s shaping up well so far and will be published later in October, so watch this space for my review.

I’m also finally reading ‘Pandora’s Jar’ by Natalie Haynes from my NetGalley shelf. I watched her talk about the book as part of the Women’s Prize events online and decided it was time to get reading. For fans of the Greek myths, it is a must.

Finally, I’m also reading ‘The Creak on the Stairs’ by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir for a blog tour later in the month with Random Things Tours (who provided me with the book for review purposes. It’s a chilling and tense slice of Nordic Noir and was published in paperback on 1st October.

What have you recently finished reading?

I’ve finished my two pre-orders from 3rd September – I could not wait to read ‘A Tomb with a View’ by Peter Ross and Caitlin Moran’s ‘More than a Woman‘ but life (and blog tours) got in the way so I have only just got to them! Both are absolutely brilliant – you can read my review of ‘A Tomb With a View’ here and ‘More than a Woman’ will be on the blog tomorrow.

I also recently finished Philip Bowne’s ‘Cows Can’t Jump’ which is also fantastic! It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel as it is so assured, funny and poignant – a coming-of-age story featuring suicidal cows, a European road trip, gravedigging and a shameless attempt at rigging a horse race! My blog tour review will follow on 18th October, so watch this space!

What do you think you will read next?

I’ve been saying it for a while, but ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’ by Stuart Turton is top of my pile. I pre-ordered a gorgeous sprayed-edge copy from Forbidden Planet and cannot wait to dive in!

I was also gifted this book by Maggie Richell-Davies – ‘The Servant’. It looks perfect for me – historical fiction with a crime element!

Aside from that, I have a whole load of NetGalley books to read, plus I’ve been very lucky with book prizes on Twitter recently – I am not short of books to read!


Header photo with thanks to Element5 Digital for sharing their work on Unsplash.

WWW Wednesday!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It’s open for everyone to join in and share what they have been/are/will be reading!

Links below are affiliate links for books available now – so I may earn commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog!

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Rebecca Lipkin’s ‘Unto the Last’ for a blog tour later in the month. This is a gorgeous, sweeping historical novel about Victorian writer John Ruskin and his relationship with his student, Rose La Touche.

I’m also reading my pre-ordered books from the bumper crop on 3rd September. I’m loving Peter Ross’ ‘A Tomb With a View’ which takes the reader on a fascinating tour through graveyards and the stories they hold. I’m also enjoying Caitlin Moran’s ‘More Than a Woman’ – I love her writing for ‘The Times’ and all her previous books and this one is (brilliantly) more of the same!

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Sarah Pearse’s ‘The Sanatorium’, a tense and twisty mystery set in an old sanatorium that has been converted into a luxury hotel. It’s high in th Swiss Alps and – when an avalanche and bad weather cut off access – the perfect setting for a scary story! I liked this a lot, but as publication isn’t until 2021, I’ll hold the full review until nearer the time.

I also just finished Susie Donkin’s ‘Zeus is a Dick’, a very funny and very rude retelling of the Greek myths. Publication of this one is November, so watch this space for a review!

OK, so this is Cronos (Zeus’ dad) but you get the idea…Thanks to Francisco Ghisletti for sharing their work on Unsplash.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m about to start a buddy read with Jodie at Relish Books – we kept hearing about the Will Carver books on Twitter and so are going to give the first book – ‘Good Samaritans’ a try.

I’m also keen to read ‘Pandora’s Jar’ by Natalie Haynes ahead of its publication in October. This has been on my TBR for a while, but I’ve got more of a taste for the myths since ‘Zeus is a Dick’!

I received free copies for review of ‘Unto this Last’, ‘The Sanatorium’, ‘Zeus is a Dick’ and ‘Pandora’s Jar’ – the rest were paid for from my own pocket. Regardless of source, all opinions are entirely my own.