Tag: Unto this Last

WWW Wednesday: 23rd September, 2020

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!

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

What are you currently reading?

I had to put them on hold to meet blog tour obligations, but I’ve returned to ‘A Tomb with a View’ by Peter Ross and ‘More than a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran. Both are proving compelling and I am now racing through them!

What have you recently finished reading?

I finally finished ‘Unto this Last’ by Rebecca Lipkin that I was reading for a blog tour – my review will be up on Saturday so watch this space! This huge and meticulously-researched novel about artist and critic John Ruskin is a treat for anyone who loves all things Victorian.

I have just finished reading Dawn O’Porter’s new non-fiction book about her experiences of lockdown during the early part of 2020. This is due to be released on 1st October and my review can be found here.

I also read (as a buddy read with the lovely Jodie @relish_books) ‘Good Samaritans’ by Will Carver, a dark and twisty murder mystery. It is the first of (so far) three books featuring Detective Sergeant Pace and I’ve seen lots of praise for this series on Twitter. I found it engaging and fast paced, but I also thought it was perhaps a bit too dark and depressing for me – no-one comes out of it well!

What do you think you will read next?

I really want to read some more fiction as a lot of my recent choices have been non-fiction (or fiction based on real life events).

I’m planning on reading ‘Cows Can’t Jump’ by Philip Bowne for a blog tour on October – this debut book looks absolutely brilliant and I’m looking forward to the promised humour after the bleakness of ‘Good Samaritans’!

I also have a blog tour for ‘The Creak on the Stairs’ by Eva Bjorg Aegisdorrir. This one looks like an intriguing slice of Nordic Noir and I love the premise – a body found in a lighthouse and an investigation that uncovers a community’s well-hidden secrets.

My NetGalley shelf is (as usual) overflowing so I still have some lovely options there too – the 2021 Laura Purcell release (‘The Shape of Darkness’), the next Stuart Turton book (‘The Devil and the Dark Water’) and the latest in Cara Hunter’s excellent DI Fawley series (‘The Whole Truth’) are also vying for my attention!

As usual, thanks to NetGalley and blog tour hosts for keeping me in excellent books! All opinions are entirely my own.

Header photo with thanks to Sincerely Media for sharing their work on Unsplash.

WWW Wednesday: 16th September 2020

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!

Affiliate links are provided for books already available – I may earn commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

What are you currently reading?

I’ll admit that I’m still reading ‘Unto This Last’, the fictionalised biography of John Ruskin, for a blog tour later in the month. The length of the novel and the complexity of the writing mean that I’m slowing and savouring this one!

I’ve just started my buddy read with the lovely Jodie at Relish Books – we are tackling ‘Good Samaritans’ by Will Carver. It’s early days but all good so far.

What have you recently finished reading?

I’ve just read Gill Sims’ latest book in her ‘What Mummy’ series – this one, the fourth and last – is called ‘Why Mummy’s Sloshed’ and follows Sims’ protagonist Ellen through the parenthood highs and lows of having teenage children. My review will be on the blog nearer to publication date (1st October) but it is – delightfully and hilariously – more of the realistic and relatable views of parenting we have come to expect from Sims.

I’ve also just finished Ruby Wax’s ‘And Now For the Good News’, an uplifting non-fiction book about the things that humanity is getting right – something I really needed to hear about! The review will follow on the blog nearer to the publication date next week.

Finally, I finished an audiobook by Adam Rutherford called ‘The Book of Humans’. It is a really interesting analysis of how humans differ (or perhaps don’t!) from other animals. I also love Adam Rutherford’s voice and could probably listen to him read the phone book so all was good!

What do you think you will read next?

I am absolutely never accurate with this because new things arrive and bump everything else down the TBR!

I’m still very excited to read some of the line-up of ARCs I’ve got on NetGalley, although I’m trying to prioritise in order of publication. I’m keen to read Stuart Turton’s ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’, Laura Purcell’s ‘The Shape of Darkness’ and Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith (based on the narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’).

I’ve also just received this glorious-looking book, ‘Cows Can’t Jump’ by Philip Bowne for a blog tour in October that is just calling out to be read! It’s a debut novel that’s already won a Spotlight First Novel prize and I am looking forward to it. It will be published on 24th September.

My non-fiction TBR is also looking huge and precarious! Jilly Cooper’s ‘Between the Covers’ (ARC), Dawn O’Porter’s ‘Life in Pieces’ (ARC) and Olivia Williams’ ‘The Secret Life of the Savoy’ are all clamouring for my attention!

I received these books (apart from the Will Carver and Adam Rutherford ones) from NetGalley or a blog tour company in return for an honest review.

Header photo with thanks to Robert Anasch 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.