WWW Wednesday 10th February 2016

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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?

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

1. What I’m reading at the moment

Out of Sorts by Aurélie Valognes

Out of Sorts by Aurelie Valognes book coverI got this from Netgalley. I liked the sound of the story from the blurb. So far, I’m not convinced. There are a few stylistic things which are really bugging me… Hmn. I’ll finish it soon, so review up tomorrow…

The blurb: Ferdinand Brun hasn’t always been a grumpy old man. Many years ago, he was a grumpy young man. Now he’d much rather spend time with his canine companion, Daisy, than any of his nosy neighbors. But as his behavior becomes increasingly peculiar, his daughter grows concerned and begins to consider moving him into a retirement home.

In order to maintain his freedom, Ferdinand must submit to an apartment inspection by his longtime enemy, the iron-fisted concierge, Mrs. Suarez. Unfortunately, he’s never tidied up a day in his life. His neighbors, precocious ten-year-old Juliette and vivacious ninety-two-year-old Beatrice, come to the rescue. And once he lets these two into his life, things will never be the same. After an eighty-three-year reign of grouchiness, Ferdinand may finally learn that it’s never too late to start living.

2. The last books I read

Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill book coverHere’s my full review. If you’re after some thought-provoking, jet-black dystopia, then you can’t go wrong with this. A great choice for a book club as you’d have plenty to talk about.

The blurb: In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful. For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.

Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year. But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight… And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride. Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known…

AND

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton book coverAs my experiences with magic realism go, this was one of the better ones. That said, the story didn’t succeed in bowling me over as much as the cover. A shame. Here’s my full review.

The blurb: Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

3. What I’ll read next

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett

The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett book coverIt’s taken me a while to be ready to read this book, the last thing Terry Pratchett wrote. It’s going to be as sad as I hope enjoyable.

The blurb: A shivering of worlds. Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.

This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land. There will be a reckoning…

AND

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Raven Cycle 3 by Maggie Stiefvater book coverThe third installment in the Raven Cycle. I hope it’s better than part two (my review of The Dream Thieves) and sets things up nicely for the fourth and final part of the series – The Raven King – which will be published at the end of April.

The blurb: There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

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

Giant choux buns profiteroles filled with double whipped cream and topped with melted Terry's chocolate orange 4

In non-bookish news: last week I made giant choux buns, profiteroles, whatever you want to call them! Filled with whipped cream and covered in melted Terry’s chocolate orange. Yum!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

66 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 10th February 2016”

  5. Eventually I’ll get to reading Only Ever Yours. Glad to hear you liked it. Thought-provoking books can be nice. Sorry to hear The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows didn’t add up to your expectations. I haven’t read a lot of magic realism, but I think I’d like that genre. I hope you like Blue Lily, Lily Blue better than the last two. I think I’ll wait until The Raven King comes out and read them all together.

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  9. Only Ever Yours sounds interesting!! It’s not my usual kind of read but I’ll add it to my TBR list 🙂
    I really need to read more Terry Pratchett. I’ve only read a couple but we do have all of them (I think) in my library, so I can get to them quite easily when I get to it 🙂

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  12. I just finished Wyrd Sisters in the Discworld Series, so I’m still at the start of it. Though I have a few more books to go, I’m already dreading the end. I can’t imagine how it feels for you. 😦
    I hope you are able to enjoy it. Make sure to savour it, like a delicious pastry that’s worth every bite!

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    • If you like magic realism, I think I’d say to read Ava Lavender. If you know you don’t get on well with it, then probably best to avoid.
      I hope I enjoy Book 3 of the Raven Cycle too because I’m really invested now!
      Thanks for visiting my post. I’ll head over to yours now 🙂

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    • There’s so much to choose from! If you go for the Discworld series and start from the beginning, I would say that the first two books are probably the weakest of the entire series. He just got better and better as he went. His young adult books are also great fun and short! 🙂
      I still haven’t read his collaboration with Neil Gaiman – Good Omens – either. Apparently that’s brilliant.

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      • That is good to know! I’ll probably start with his YA books. I haven’t either my mom recommended it to me once saying that it would go well with my dry humor lol. But I am excited to get to it one day

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  25. I think you’re going to like BLLB much better than Dream Thieves as it’s more of an ensemble, and if your favorite character is either Blue or Adam, there’s a lot to like. I need to read The Shepherd’s Crown but first I want to reread the rest of the Tiffany Aching books because it’s been so long.
    Thanks for visiting my WWW post, and happy reading!

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    • So far, so good. I enjoyed the first book more than the second (but it was still good). I’m looking forward to the third book very much because I’ve heard it focuses more on the characters interacting as a group, which is the best thing about the series 🙂

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  30. I’ve been so back and forth on if I want to read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. It sounds interesting and the cover is great. I really want to read The Raven Boys! I checked out the audiobook from the library a couple times, but ended up never getting around to listening to it when I did. I think I may want to buy a physical copy and read it myself though.

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