WWW Wednesday 9th March 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

You and Me, Always by Jill Mansell

You and Me Always by Jill Mansell book coverI won a book! Thank you to Sonya over at A Lover of Books for my copy of You and Me, Always which I won through a competition on her blog. I’ve read 7 other books by Jill Mansell and enjoyed them all. I view her as the high watermark in contemporary romance and I’m looking forward to reading this.

The blurb: On the morning of Lily’s twenty-fifth birthday, it’s time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight.

Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum’s life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend Dan has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie’s attentions.

Before long, secrets begin to emerge and Lily’s friends and family become involved. In the beautiful Cotswold village of Stanton Langley, nothing will ever be the same again…

2. The last books I read (brace yourselves, there are DOUBLE the normal amount this week!)

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon book coverThe lovely Lindsay @bookboodle and I went to an event at Waterstones in Birmingham last week to hear Joanna Cannon talk about her book (thank you Lindsay for inviting me). She was lovely and spoke very eloquently about her work. This made me extra-glad I enjoyed her book. Here’s my full review.

The blurb: England, 1976.

Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.

And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…

AND

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig book coverIf you don’t mind some dodgy time-travelling mechanics, this is a fun, well-written adventure. Here’s my review.

The blurb: Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.

As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.

But the end to it all looms closer every day.

Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.

For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.

AND!

I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1) by Barry Lyga

I Hunt Killers Jasper Dent 1 by Barry LygaIf you can stomach books about serial killers, read this one. It’s brilliant. My first 5-star read of 2016! Here’s my full review.

The blurb: What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

AND!! (I know! I’ve surprised myself this week!)

Whispers Underground (Peter Grant #3) by Ben Aaronovitch

Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch book coverI read this quickly and didn’t review it here on the blog because I’ve said everything there is to say in my reviews of Rivers of London (book 1) and Moon Over Soho (book 2). If you’ve read and enjoyed those books, you’ll enjoy this one. I did do a quick review over on Goodreads if you want to check that out.

The blurb: A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects…except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful…and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well.

3. What I’ll read next

What Milo Saw by Virginia MacGregor

What Milo Saw by Virginia MacGregor book coverI’m so behind getting to this one! I’ve been meaning to read it for ages and then last week it was sitting on a display stand at the front of the library calling to me…

The blurb: Nine-year-old Milo Moon has retinitis pigmentosa: his eyes are slowly failing and he will eventually go blind. But for now he sees the world through a pin hole and notices things other people don’t. When Milo’s beloved gran succumbs to dementia and moves into a nursing home, Milo soon realises there’s something wrong at the home. So with just Tripi, the nursing home’s cook, and Hamlet, his pet pig, to help, Milo sets out on a mission to expose the nursing home and the sinister Nurse Thornhill.

AND

Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford

Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford book coverI blame this one entirely on the librarians at my local library. This was sitting on the big display by the entrance and the cover lured me towards it. Then the blurb was funny. And after The Girl from Everywhere, I’m in the mood for more timey-wimey business.

The blurb: “My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve.

The first time had nothing to do with me. The second time definitely did, but I would never even have been there if it hadn’t been for his ‘time machine’…”

When Al Chaudhury discovers his late dad’s time machine, he finds that going back to the 1980s requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, burglary, and setting his school on fire. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer…

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

Freshly-baked cherry scones with hot butter and tea

Last week I made cherry scones, perfect for elevenses or afternoon tea.

 

 

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

 

77 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 9th March 2016”

  2. Wow. I only manage to read 1 book a week, if I’m lucky.
    I wanted to ask your advice on how you get the little pictures of the books you’ve read. I usually take my own picture if its a paperback (because I like that personal touch), but it doesn’t look as good from my old black and white kindle screen!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I have a feeling I was in the wrong frame of mind when I read You and Me, Always so will be interested to see how you find it. I’ve added I Hunt Killers to my TBR based on your review but have so many books lined up may be a while till I get to it 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Yay for I Hunt Killers! My heart always skips a beat whenever I see someone enjoying this series as much as I did. 😀 The Girl From Everywhere sounds really good as well… I hope you’ll enjoy your books this week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. Wow. You read so much this past week! I’m impressed. I wish I had the free time for that. There’s so many books I want to read! Hope you enjoy You and Me, Always. It sounds interesting. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  32. Peter Grant is always good for a fun read, although I agree with your review that it’s more of the same at this point. I need to get back to that series and see if there’s anything new/different in the later books, but now that I own them, they’re much lower down in priority than the books I get from my library.

    Liked by 1 person

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  33. That is an impressive reading week! Congrats on this and also on winning a book!
    I have never heard of Jill Mansell, but I’m in the mood for contemporary romance so I’ll check her books. I got a little tired of Sophie Kinsella. I’ve added Rivers of London to my TBR after reading your review, I feel like adding a little supernatural to my life. It’s time to stop being a coward! I’ll pass on What Milo Saw because it sounds a little depressing, but the title for Ross Welford’s book cracked me up.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I find Sophie Kinsella very hit and miss (either great or annoying… nothing in between!). Jill’s books are such relaxing, happy reads 🙂
      Rivers of London isn’t at all scary. A little tense in places, but not frightening. And the series is surprisingly funny and seems to be getting funnier 🙂

      Like

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