WWW Wednesday 25th November 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

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil GaimanI think I may have read American Gods many moons ago, but I can’t remember for sure. So that makes this my first book by Neil Gaiman. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read something by him, particularly because both my sisters love his writing. It’s quite short (235 pages) so I should finish it tomorrow.

The short blurb: A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

2. The last books I read

More Than This by Patrick Ness

More Than This by Patrick Ness I didn’t love it as much as A Monster Calls or the Chaos Walking Trilogy (click for my reviews of those), but it’s very good. Patrick Ness still hasn’t let me down! Here’s my full review.

The blurb: A boy drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. He dies. Then he wakes, naked and bruised and thirsty, but alive. How can this be? And what is this strange deserted place? As he struggles to understand what is happening, the boy dares to hope. Might this not be the end? Might there be more to this life, or perhaps this afterlife?

AND

Confess by Colleen Hoover

Confess by Colleen Hoover book coverI finally read something by Colleen Hoover and… I didn’t enjoy it 😦 I didn’t connect with the characters and found their decisions frustrating. Here’s my full (slightly ranty) review.

What it’s about: Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

3. What I’ll read next

I’m still waiting on my requests from the library… if these don’t come in this week I’ll have to see what else I can turn up!

The Bones of You by Debbie Howells

The Bones of You by Debbie Howells book cover

What it’s about: A stunning, wonderfully assured psychological thriller that evokes Gillian Flynn and Alice Sebold, The Bones of You revolves around a young girl’s murder and one woman’s obsession with uncovering the secrets in an idyllic English village.

 

AND

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness book coverCan’t wait to read this!

The blurb: What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

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.

Easy Chocolate butterfly buns cupcakes with buttercream and sprinkles 2

Back to easy baking last week with chocolate butterfly cakes.

55 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 25th November 2015”

    • Thanks! Goodreads is very useful. Without it I’d never keep a track of what I’ve read or want to read. Everything’s fine here, apart from having a head cold and having to nurse a toddler with the runny, snotty kind. So ok, but a bit disgusting! 🙂 I hope you’re well.

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  3. I really want to read a book by Neil Gaiman. I’ve read Good Omens but I want to read one of his own books too. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

    I’m sure you’ll enjoy The Rest of Us too.

    Thanks for visitng my post earlier. Happy reading 🙂

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  4. I’ve kind of had my eye on the Ocean at the End of the Lane but I don’t know whether to pick it up or not because I very rarely actually finish Neil Gaiman’s books. Something about his style just doesn’t click with me (which is sad, because whenever someone describes one, I always think how awesome it sounds).

    I put The Rest of Us Just Live Here audio aside for now, but I think I will come back to the actual physical book.

    Here’s my post: https://keysandopenmind.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/www-wednesday-and-wippet-wednesday-25-november-2015/

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    • His style is singular. I can understand why you might not be drawn in by it. Often it’s rather disconnected and distant.
      I just got an email from the library saying “reservation arrived” and I was so excited because I thought it was The Rest of Us Just Live Here, but turn out it’s The Bones of You… I hope it’s good to make up for the disappointment!
      I’ll check out your post now…

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    • The writing itself was good, and the paintings and the confessions were a great idea. I just couldn’t get along with the characters, particularly Auburn. I’d happily give a different CoHo book a try – if I found characters I can rooting for I think I’d enjoy it!

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  9. Like I said, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is my favorite Gaiman so far… I even almost named one of the kittens Ocean. 😉 I really want to read more Patrick Ness because I really enjoyed The Knife Of Never Letting Go; I’m not sure whether to continue the series first or pick one of his other books though. The Bones Of You sounds interesting and those chocolate butterfly cakes look delicious!

    Happy Wednesday and thanks for visiting my WWW. 🙂

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  10. Heyyyyy, More Than This is going to be read soon by me, too 🙂 I have to check out Ocean at the End of the Lane eventually.

    That’s the one bad thing about doing reviews for Indie authors. I have to muscle in time for the mass market stuff I want to read. lol.

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  11. It’s a shame when you read a book and don’t love it but I think it’s good to still review these books. I really enjoyed your review of Confess, and it’s good to see a mix of ratings on a blog because it’s simply not possible for everyone to love everything they read.

    I like the sound of The Bones of You, I might add that to my TBR. I hope your library gets it in soon so you can read it.

    Those butterfly cakes look fab! I remember making them with my mum when I was little and so whenever I see them now they make me smile (and make me want to eat them all! Haha!)

    Thanks for stopping by my post earlier -https://rathertoofondofbooks.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/www-wednesday-25-november/

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    • I agree entirely about the mix of ratings. I see blogs where every book read gets 5*s and I wonder how that’s possible… Unless the reader/reviewer is just incredibly lucky! 🙂
      I just picked up The Bones of You from the library and will give it priority because I’m sure someone else will be waiting for it.
      Butterfly cakes are one of the earliest things I can remember making with my mum too.
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading!

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      • Some people may well be very lucky with the books they read. 🙂 I just think that when you read a lot there are bound to be books you don’t enjoy, or books that aren’t as well written as they maybe could be and I like to see a mix of opinions on a blog. Sometimes I think the 1,2 or 3 star ratings are more useful to me when choosing a book as I can see why people didn’t like it and can decide whether a particular issue would bother me also. I hope The Bones of You is good, I’ll look out for your review. 🙂

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  15. I wasn’t overwhelmed with The Ocean at the End of the Lane but I’ve heard from others that it wasn’t their favorite of his. Happy reading and thanks for participating in WWW Wednesday!

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  17. I’m hoping to read The Rest of Us Just Live Here sometime in December! It will be my first Patrick Ness. I have a couple of his others on my Christmas lists as well. I recently started reading Neil Gaiman. My husband is a big fan of the Sandman graphic novels. My first was also The Ocean At The End Of The Lane. It was good but I wasn’t blown away. I also read Stardust and I really enjoyed that one!

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  20. Great post! I haven’t read Confess yet, but I loved Maybe Someday by Colleen. I’ve had my eye on The Ocean at the End of the Lane for a while now, but I haven’t picked it up for (what I think is) the stupidest reason. I haven’t picked it up yet because it’s a very short book, for some reason in my head I just think “Meh since its so short I’m just going to fly through it. I’ll just save it for another time” Makes absolutely no sense to me

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      • I’m going to give it 3.5/5. It’s very good and there’s lots of like about it, but it left me underwhelmed. However, I felt I had to give it the extra 0.5 stars for the quality of the writing and the atmosphere he manages to create (which is a tricky thing to do). I’d also say that it’s definitely one for fans of fantasy/magical goings on. People who only like realism would probably get annoyed with some of it!

        Liked by 1 person

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