WWW Wednesday 20th January 2016

Posted in Reading by

IMG_1384-0

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

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell book coverThis is so cute. Something would have to go seriously wrong before the end for me not to like this book!

The blurb: Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

2. The last books I read

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo book coverVery, very good. I’m so glad I listened to the hype on this occasion. Here’s my full review.

The blurb: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first

AND

Kitty’s Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow

Kitty's Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow book coverDefinitely the light read I was expecting, but a little too “lite” for my tastes. So sad 😦 That cover is beautiful! Here’s my full review.

The blurb: New home. New life. New beginning. Love affairs can blossom in the most unlikely places…

When Kitty inherits Bluebell Lodge from her grandmother, a farm in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside, it’s time for fresh air and a fresh start. Up to her elbows in chickens and ponies, Kitty soon realises there’s an awful lot to learn about farming. Still, at least the locals seem friendly, not least her handsome neighbour Tom…

But just as Kitty is beginning to find her feet, and the possibility of love, the discovery of a long-hidden diary, by a mysterious character called Violet changes everything. Who is Violet and what is her message for Kitty? As Kitty fills in the lost pieces of her family jigsaw and discovers some shocking revelations, will her countryside dream and blossoming relationship fall to pieces? When it comes to life in the country, nothing is ever quite as it seems…

3. What I’ll read next

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker (aka The Golem and the Jinni – no idea why!)

The Golem and the Djinni book coverI sought this out at the library based entirely on the recommendation of Emily at A Keyboard and an Open Mind. Here’s her review.

The blurb: Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.

Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves. Meeting by chance, they become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale

AND

The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith book coverI read The Cuckoo’s Calling at the end of last year (my review). I was only mildly impressed, but I’ve been reassured that the series improves, so I’m sticking with it. Besides, let’s face it, the author has built up enough goodwill with me and the majority to last her a lifetime! 🙂

The blurb: When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before…

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

Simple Coconut and almond macaroons

Last week I featured my first gluten free recipe: almond and coconut macaroons. So easy to make and delicious!

And, if you’ve read this far… If you could take a sec to like my Facebook page I’d be forever grateful. I’m only a few likes off being able to view “insights” which would feed my stats addiction and make me very happy 🙂

 

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

75 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 20th January 2016”

    • I have Eleanor and Park on the TBR. I think I’ve done well to space out the Rainbow Rowell books as they’re so cute and fluffy I think reading them too close together would be too much. I think I’ll save it up to read after I pick up something really depressing 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  2. I think jinn/i is possibly an American spelling? Though I am basing that 90% on the fact that it seems to be spelled without the D in American editions and with it in the UK and Australian ones, and 10% on my own baseless speculation. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. So excited to see how you like the end of ‘Carry On.’ And I hope you enjoy ‘The Silkworm.’ I found it gripping and I really enjoyed the story. Happy reading and thanks for participating in WWW Wednesday!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks! I can’t imagine I’ll suddenly develop of negative view of Carry On – it’s so light and lovely.
      I love the cover of The Golem and the Djinni too. The story sounds great, and then the cover just clinched it 🙂
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. I’m glad you’re enjoying Carry On so far. Am currently waiting rather impatiently for my hold on Six of Crows to come in. And I’m curious to see how you’ll like The Golem and the Djinni. I’ve only just recently heard of it, and I’m on the fence about reading it.
    Thanks for visiting my WWW post, and happy reading!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I have a feeling you’ll like Six of Crows. It takes a while to get going, but it’s so well-written you end up hooked.
      I only heard about The Golem and the Djinni thanks to Emily’s review. I have a feeling I’m going to like it though. It sounds an intriguing mix of historical fiction with fantasy.
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading too!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Hi Claire,
    I plan to read Kitty’s Countryside Dream because I like to read a book that doesn’t have me thinking all of the time about the what ifs. I’ll let you know what I think after I read it, but it will take some time.
    Shalom,
    Patricia

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I’ve been venturing into YA a bit more having just finished the Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine series. Have you read it? I highly rec! I was thinking of giving Eleanor & Park a try. Have you read that one of Rowell’s?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Miss Peregrine’s has been on my to read list for a good while now… I have to see if I can get it at the library as yours is another glowing recommendation 🙂
      Eleanor and Park is also on my list. I’ve been saving it for a day when I might need some of Rowell’s brilliant cuteness to cheer me up!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • The Peregrine series, especially the first one, is so usual with its use of photography, I admire what it accomplished. I have always loved the idea of mixing media and don’t really know why we don’t have more adult books with illustrations or photography or even external links to music. But that’s just me! My mother’s artist influence, I think. If I get to Eleanor and Park soon I will let you know how it goes. Hope all is well! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • I completely agree! I have four complete playlists for my novel and when it’s published in e-format I want to give links to Spotify so readers can go and listen to them. I’d also love to get all the paintings described in the book produced. So when I win the lottery… 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      • Wow, that is so neat! Four playlists! I’m very intrigued and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and then have a listen. 🙂 Do you have a publication date set?

        Liked by 1 person

      • The first three chapters are currently being revised and critiqued by an editor. I’m hoping to apply his suggestions and re-start submissions to my final batch of agents and a couple of online imprints (the first 23 agent submissions having come to nothing). If that comes to more nothing (I should know for sure by the end of April), I’ll send the editor my entire manuscript so we can start getting it ready for self-publication. So, realistically, that probably means the autumn/winter of this year for self-publication.
        I’m half excited to get professional feedback and half terrified he’ll be ever so polite while telling me my chapters are awful! I’m steeling myself to take the worst possible criticism as a constructive thing to help me improve, but I also know I’ll be a bit upset 😦 We’ll see. I will report on the blog soon, hopefully!

        Liked by 1 person

      • I always feel that way whenever I send my stuff to my editor. I get butterflies just thinking about it, ha ha. Hopefully he’s the kind of editor that is honest while remaining encouraging. I remember getting feedback years ago on the first novel I’d ever written, which I thought was great at the time, but of course was awful. My editor told me everything I needed to hear in order to improve, but told me to keep writing. At the time I was devastated, but her honesty made me trust her. Sigh, I’m in the same boat when it comes to querying and agents. I have to steel myself every time I check my work email, which is usually filled with more polite rejections. I hope your search is fruitful! 🙂

        Like

  11. I hate to tell you this, but I felt the same way as you did for the Cuckoo’s Calling and I didn’t appreciate The Silkworm. I think I gave it 2 stars. It was okay, but felt like it was trying too hard to be the first book. Hopefully you’ll like it more than I did though.

    I’ve seen a lot on Carry On and Six of Crows, it’s nice to know they live up to the hype!

    Happy Wednesday!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh dear… I was hoping that now she’d got the character introductions our of the way in The Cuckoo’s Calling she could lose the superfluous 200 words and give us a short, tighter mystery. To be honest, as long as she doesn’t use words like “pellucid” again, I think I’ll get along with it ok 🙂
      Six of Crows and Carry On are both excellent. I worry about reading books which are the centre of a lot of hype and was delighted to find these two are worthy of it.
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I think I’m going to have to request Eleanor and Park from the library as soon as I make it through my current pile. I only went in to collect The Golem and the Djinni and came home with 6 books! So that’s the next 3 weeks taken care of.
      I’ll visit your post now…

      Like

      Reply

  14. So happy you enjoyed Six of Crows! I’m looking forward to what you think of Carry On. I started it (didn’t make it past the first chapter) and then had to return it to the library. I didn’t get far enough in to decide if I wanted to try to read it again. Happy Wednesday!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’ll definitely finish Carry On today because it’s a very easy book to fly through. It’s very cute and fun.
      Six of Crows was great and I’ll be looking forward to the next in the series. Who would be fool enough to cross Kaz? Idiots. They’ve got it coming to them!
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. So glad to see you’re enjoying Carry On. I keep pushing that one back because I didn’t love Fangirl. I recently got Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm but haven’t read them yet. I’ll be interested to see what you think of The Silkworm.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It’s difficult to say if you’d like Carry On if you didn’t like Fangirl. The story is so different… hmn.
      I really hope I like The Silkworm more than The Cuckoo’s Calling. I see she hasn’t made her stories any shorter!
      Thanks for visiting and happy reading 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. So good to hear you love both Carry On and Six Of Crows! They where among my favorite 2015 reads. I have to read The Silkworm too at some point… Although like you I wasn’t really impressed by the first book either.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. I think it’s definitely about time I got around to Six of Crows now…! I also have The Silkworm on my list and Carry On. I’ve seen a few people saying that Carry On is basically fanfiction, but I did like Fangirl so I think I might give it a whirl at some point!

    Here’s my WWW.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Glad you’re enjoying Carry On! I actually liked it a lot more than Fangirl. 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll get to Six of Crows soon. I’ve heard so many good things about it, and when I bought it, I read through the first few pages and became so curious about how it continues! Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm are also on my TBR list. Excited to see what you think of The Silkworm.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s