WWW Wednesday 30th December 2015

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A quick note and apology. My internet access will be a bit variable over the next few days. I will visit all your posts; but I might get there a little late.

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?

As always, clicking on the cover image will take you to the book’s Goodreads page.

1. What I’m reading at the moment

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller book coverAfter seeing a few positive reviews, I requested this from Penguin on NetGalley and was very happy to be approved. I’ll finish this soon but my review won’t be up until Monday.

The blurb: 1976: Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children and listening to her mother’s grand piano, but her pretty life is about to change.

Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions for the end which is surely coming soon, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote European forest. There he tells Peggy the rest of the world has disappeared. And so her life is reduced to a piano which makes music but no sound, a forest where all that grows is a means of survival. And a tiny wooden hut that is Everything.

Peggy is not seen again for another nine years.

1985: Peggy has returned to the family home. But what happened to her in the forest? And why has she come back now?

2. The last books I read

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman book coverHere’s my full review. While I didn’t find it all that gripping, this is a perfect book club choice. The moral dilemma at the heart of this story would give any discussion group a lot to talk about.

What it’s about (very long version): After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

AND

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness book coverHere’s my full review. A beautifully odd little book. Should you read it? My advice would be: if the blurb below intrigues you, then yes; if not, there are probably other things out there you’ll enjoy more.

The blurb: The extraordinary happens every day…

One night, George Duncan – decent man, a good man – is woken by a noise in his garden. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed.

The next day, a kind but enigmatic woman walks into George’s shop. Suddenly a new world opens up for George, and one night she starts to tell him the most extraordinary story.

Wise, romantic, magical and funny, The Crane Wife is a hymn to the creative imagination and a celebration of the disruptive and redemptive power of love.

3. What I’ll read next

I’m finally breaking my run of blue and white covers!

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory book coverI read my first book by Gregory – The Other Queen – back in October (here’s my review) and I was disappointed. But it was more Mary Queen of Scots as a main character, and not the writing, which turned me off. So I’ve been looking forward to giving Gregory another go. And if you’re going to crack it with any story, it should be this one: the intrigue surrounding the liaisons of the Boleyn girls with Henry VIII.

The blurb: Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king.

A rich and compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her heart.

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take her fate into her own hands.

AND

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

The Masked City by Genevieve Cognman Invisible Library 2 coverI read the first book in this series, The Invisible Library, back in early 2015 before I started blogging. I enjoyed it and was pleased when I heard there was a sequel in the works. And I was even more pleased go get a copy from the publishers via NetGalley 🙂

The blurb: Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he’s been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai’s dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene’s mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it’s always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

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.

Chocolate fudge cake with chocolate buttercream icing cut view

No new baking post last week (too busy eating things other people had made!). But here’s a recipe which has proved very popular: chocolate fudge cake with chocolate buttercream frosting / icing.

 Claire Huston / Art and Soul

 

35 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 30th December 2015”

  1. I’m tempted to pick The Light Between Oceans as my next book club choice as heard lots of good things about it, won’t be for a couple of months yet though.
    I’ve not read any Phillippa Gregory but then Kings & Queens that far back isn’t my preferred genre. I have, however, seen the movie of The Other Boleyn Girl, very sad if I remember correctly.
    Thanks for visiting my WWW already this morning – http://bookboodle.co.uk/2015/12/30/www-wednesday-december-30th 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • The Light Between Oceans would make a great book club read. Even if you don’t think it’s a brilliant book, I’m sure people would take enough different positions on what the characters “should” have done to keep a good debate going a long time!
      I’m quite fond of all things Tudor, but the last Philippa Gregory I read was a disappointment. I’m hoping this one will involve more intrigue and some likeable characters.
      Thanks for visiting 🙂

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  3. The Other Boleyn Girl is a great read, solid pick for Gregory book #2. I read The Light Between Oceans for my book club and agree it was perfect for the discussion. Happy reading and thanks for participating in WWW Wednesday!

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  4. I’ve been thinking about getting back into Philippa Gregory…I think The Other Boleyn Girl is the only one I haven’t read. I’ve been in such a mood for historical fiction lately and she does it best.
    And it’s only 830 am here but now I’m craving chocolate cake!

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  6. I’m really interested in Our Endless Numbered Days. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it.
    Regarding Philippa Gregory, I’ve read a number of her books, and have had mixed feelings for most of them. I do remember enjoying the Other Boleyn Girl well enough, but I also have to admit that I read her when I was in my teens and my greatest frustrations were in the length of the book which conflicted with schoolwork. I hope you enjoy it though 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks!
      I must admit, when I opened The Other Boleyn girl the other day to get the lay of the land, I was shocked to see how small the print was! My heart sank slightly as I have so many books I want to get to!
      I had very mixed feelings about The Other Queen, but I’m hoping The Other Boleyn Girl will at least be an improvement on that.

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  8. I hope you enjoy the Other Boleyn Girl, about 5 years ago I had a huge obsession with Philippa Gregory’s books and I reread The Constant Princess, the Other Boleyn Girl and the Boleyn Inheritance back to back about 3 times in a straight row. I don’t know what it was but I was obsessed

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  9. Our Endless Numbered Days sounds interesting! And I have been reading a lot of books with blue covers as well lately. 😉 I really want to read The Invisible Library at some point so I can read the sequel as well… Both sound great.

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  10. I really need to read The Crane Wife; I love reading Ness’s books. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on Our Endless Numbered Days! (I love that cover!) Here’s my post for the week. Happy reading!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you!
      Overall, The Invisible Library was good and very enjoyable but it was also rather confusing and trying to do too much at once. I have such high hopes for the sequel because I hope the author has overcome these issues. We’ll see! 🙂

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      Reply

  16. Kai has dragon heritage?! Maybe I should have stuck out book 1.

    Crane Wife sounds far better than Crash of Hennington (which we guessed might be the case). I’ll keep it on my list to get to soon.

    Thanks for visiting my post!

    Liked by 1 person

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