WWW Wednesday 23rd September 2015

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This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. A similar meme, This Week in Books is hosted by Lipsyy Lost and Found.

Why not join in? Just answer the following three questions in a post and then put a link to that post in the Comments over at Taking on a World of Words.

The questions are:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. What do you think you’ll read next?

1. What I’m reading at the moment

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieMy local library has a big display of Agatha Christie books up at the moment in celebration of the 125th anniversary of her birth. I’ve never read anything by her, possibly because the TV and film adaptations have always felt so ubiquitous I managed to convince myself I had read the books! So, as a beginner, where better to start than with this massively famous classic?

The blurb: The title says it all! Hercule Poirot at his sleuthing best.

 

2. The last books I read

An Ember in the Ashes (Book 1) by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes book 1 by Sabaa TahirMy review here. I spent most of this book wondering if I was ever going to understand what all the fuss has been about. Finally, in the last 20% things picked up when the characters finally decided to sort their lives out. A much-needed change of scene is also promised for the next installment in the series, which promises to be better than the first now that the author has got across the point that her Empire is a nasty, brutal place with lots of unnecessary violence.

The blurb: Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

AND

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Book 1) by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini TaylorMy review here (I reviewed it together with An Ember in the Ashes).

The first half of this book held me spell-bound: it was original, well-written, and the characters were great! But then it all started to go sideways and sadly I didn’t enjoy the second half as much. That said, I will read the next two books in the trilogy, although I’ll get the from the library rather than buying them.

The blurb: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages – not all of them human – and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

3. What I’ll read next

The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #2) by Patrick Ness

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness Chaos Walking 2So it turns out getting this as an electronic book from my library is a bit trickier that I thought… But I still hope to read it soon when I figure out the technology!

The blurb: No blurb to avoid spoiling the first book in the trilogy, but I don’t think it’s too much to say this is about the continuing trials and tribulations of our young hero, Todd Hewitt, struggling to survive on an alien world where the thoughts of all men are audible.

 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Rivers of London by Ben AaronovitchAnother one from the library I liked the look of.

The blurb: My name is Peter Grant. Until January I was just another probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service, and to everyone else as the Filth. My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – We do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead, but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. And that, as they say, is where the story begins.

Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated. I’m dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden – and that’s just routine. There’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying. Which, I don’t mind telling you, would involve a hell of a lot of paperwork.

Have you read/are reading any of these? What are you reading? Let me know! 🙂

You can also find me on Twitter @ClaraVal and on Goodreads.

 Claire Huston / Art and Soul

33 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 23rd September 2015”

  2. I love Agatha Christie but have only read a couple of her books. I’d like to rectify that and do have a copy of Murder on the Orient Express on my shelf.
    I’ve read Rivers of London, I think you’ll enjoy this as it’s a magical mystery however it’s modern day London rather than Victorian (as per your comment on my WWW ref The Invisible Library ;)). Think Harry Potter meets The Bill lol. Enjoy
    Thanks for visiting http://bookboodle.co.uk/2015/09/23/www-wednesday-september-23rd

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  9. I’m not sure I’d like An Ember In The Ashes! I’m glad you liked it towards the end. I didn’t really enjoy Smoke and Bone, so I can totally see where you’re coming from.

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  12. I thought about reading The Ask and the Answer next too, but I decided to read The Water Travelers instead. I feel like I need to mentally prepare myself for The Ask and the Answer, lol! I was so not ready for the roller coaster of emotions that The Knife of Never Letting Go put me through. When I get e-books from my library, it usually sends me to Amazon to borrow them through Kindle.

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  14. I’ve been thinking I need to give Rivers of London another go; I have it marked as 2 stars back in 2011, but I remember nothing about and am wondering if I even actually finished it. It was just after I finished my undergrad, and I was still getting back into reading for pleasure.

    I keep starting Agatha Christie books and never finishing them. I really should sit down with one properly.

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  15. I’d love to read some of Agatha Christie’s novels and The Ask and the Answer is on my TBR too. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on Murder on the Orient Express because I’d love to read it. Great list!

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