WWW Wednesday: 28th July, 2021

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.

The school term is now finished and I am free to read! In fact, I spent much of the heatwave this week lying really still and reading books…bliss!

I’m now at 78/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.

Links are provided for books mentioned – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases (at no extra cost to you!)

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What have you recently finished reading?

I read ‘The Midnight Hour’ by Elly Griffiths first this week – I like this historical mystery series (this one is set in the 1960s) that features Max Mephisto, a stage magician turned screen actor. A strong female police officer and a storyline about the filming of ‘Dracula’ in Whitby ticked boxes for me with this one! A review will follow nearer publication.

I also read ‘The Black Dress’ by Deborah Moggach for a forthcoming blog tour – review will follow in August. I liked this unusual and quirky tale of an older women on the lookout for a man – even to the point of donning a black dress and homing in on widowers at their wives’ funerals.

I also finished ‘A Corruption of Blood’ by Ambrose Parry. I’ve long loved this mystery series, set in Victorian Edinburgh and following the investigations of Dr Will Raven. This book – the third in the series – delivered a brilliantly twisty tale and an ending I didn’t see coming. A review will follow nearer publication in August.

Next up (it was a busy reading week!) was ‘The Affair’ by Hilary Boyd for another blog tour in August. This was an unusual book with emotional depth – I don’t think it was quite what I was expecting at all, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Finally, I read ‘The Vixen’ by Francine Prose, again to get ahead of my blog tour commitments for August! I liked this story about an editor in 1950s New York getting caught up with an unusual novel and a very unconventional author. The historical moment for this one was fascinating – the execution of the Rosenbergs and the USA’s McCarthy era.

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What are you reading now?

I started too many books again…

I started ‘Death and Croissants’ by Ian Moore. I’ve previously enjoyed Moore’s non-fiction about life as a Mod in rural France (an interesting mix and told well by this comedian). This is a gentle murder mystery (also set in rural France) and I’m enjoying it so far.

I’m also reading ‘Cold Sun’ by Anita Sivakumaran for another August blog tour. So far, this murder mystery about the killing of high profile Indian woman in Bangalore is pretty gripping…

I was in the mood for a funny book, so I started ‘Early Morning Riser’ by Katherine Heiny. This is the story of an American teacher living in a small town (misleadingly called Boyne City) and the ups and downs of the kind of life where everyone knows everyone else. It is funny. athough has some poignant moments too.

I’m also returning to ‘Still Life’ by Sarah Winman (a gorgeous slice of historical fiction with echoes of E M Forster’s ‘A Room With A View’). This one got put down a while back when I had too much on the go – I want to be able to dedicate some time and enjoy this one!

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What do you think you will read next?

I’m really spoilt for choice with my NetGalley list and pile of ARCs.

I like the look of ‘A Line to Kill’ by Anthony Horowitz (murder mystery), ‘The Chateau’ by Catherine Cooper (thriller – I enjoyed Cooper’s first book, ‘The Chalet’) and ‘Pandora’ by Susan Stokes-Chapman (historical fiction set in Georgian London).

My book group with ‘The Write Reads’ have chosen to read ‘Malice’ by Heather Walters in August which I’m very excited about too!

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Many thanks to NetGalley, blog tour hosts, publishers and authors for books in exchange for an honest review.

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Header photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.