WWW Wednesday 21st September 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

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

empire-of-storms-by-sarah-j-maasLast summer I marathoned the first 4 installments of this series and, overall, enjoyed them. My favourites so far are books 2 and 4 and, unfortunately, book 5 is continuing the trend of the odd-numbered books not being so great 😦 It just seems terribly long… and I care less and less about the main female character as this series continues, which is a bit of a problem. I’ll be finished later today, so review up tomorrow!

The blurb: no blurb so as not to spoil any of the previous installments of the series. If you’re really interested in knowing more about the series, you can check out my review of Book 1, Throne of Glass.

2. The last books I read

I’m still catching up on writing reviews from my holiday reading… but I’ll get it all sorted out here eventually! Here are the two books I’ve managed to post reviews for 🙂

The Hive by Gill Hornby

The Hive by Gill Hornby book coverThis was very good and laugh-out-loud funny in places. If you enjoyed the movie Mean Girls, I’d recommend you give The Hive a try. Here’s my full review.

The blurb: Welcome to St Ambrose Primary School. A world of friendships, fights and feuding. And that’s just the mothers.

It’s the start of another school year at St Ambrose. But while the children are in the classroom colouring in, their mothers are learning sharper lessons on the other side of the school gates. Lessons in friendship. Lessons in betrayal. Lessons in the laws of community, the transience of power… and how to get invited to lunch.

AND

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré

tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-by-john-le-carreAnother charity shop find and something I could take on holiday and leave there! 🙂 While that doesn’t sound too promising, I enjoyed this much more than The Night Manager. And now I finaly understand what was going on in the film! Here’s my full review.

The blurb: It is now beyond a doubt that a mole, implanted decades ago by Moscow Centre, has burrowed his way into the highest echelons of British Intelligence. His treachery has already blown some of its most vital operations and its best networks. It is clear that the double agent is one of its own kind. But which one? George Smiley is assigned to identify him. And once identified, the traitor must be destroyed.

3. What I’ll read next

If I manage to catch up on writing my reviews…

Holding by Graham Norton

holding-by-graham-nortonYes, that Graham Norton (TV and radio presenter for those who have never heard of him!). I was delighted to be approved for this on NetGalley and am looking forward to reading it as Norton has a great turn of phrase when speaking so I imagine he’s equally good when writing.

The blurb: Graham Norton’s masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss.

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

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

And elsewhere on the blog…

recipe-double-chocolate-muffins-in-colourful-cases

Last week I made double chocolate muffins – yummy!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul
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39 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 21st September 2016”

    • If you don’t take them too seriously or go in expecting “great literature”, then they’re very entertaining and great fun! And if you start now and read them slowly then you’ll get to the end of book 5 just as the 6th and final book is published next year – which means you won’t have my problem of forgetting what’s happened and who’s who! (I have a terrible memory!).

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  4. Nice to have you back on WWW Claire. I hope that you enjoyed our holiday. I am intrigued by The Hive. I like Mean Girls.Its one of the few movies that I have watched at least 3 times.I will check out your review of that.Enjoy your books this week. Happy reading.

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  5. I think Empire of Storm has either been a hit or miss for a lot of people. I too don’t love Aelin as much I did before, but I’ve always felt more connected with the secondary characters in this book so that’s the main reason why I still enjoy it as much as I do.

    Can’t wait to read your review on Empire of Storms!

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  6. I hope you had a lovely holiday and a restful one 🙂
    Sorry that Empire of Storm is continuing a trend of subpar odd installments. I’m deliberating starting book one soon, but each time I see the mixed reviews, ToG falls lower on my TBR…
    Graham Norton has a book! Oh no! This I must get my hands on. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. His show is often my cheering up go-to!
    Happy Reading Claire 🙂
    https://aliasfaithrivens.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/www-wednesday-the-twenty-third/

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    • Thank you! Unfortunately, as is usually the case with holidays, it already seems a long time ago 😦

      I LOVE the Graham Norton show. When it’s not on here, Friday nights are lacking in hilarity. I read the first couple of pages of Holding when I downloaded it and they made me laugh, so I think it’s going to be great 🙂

      I would still say to check out Throne of Glass, but maybe get them from the library and wait to start the series until nearer the release of the sixth and final book. My enjoyment of this one has been reduced by my bad memory and it being so long since I read the previous 4 books.
      I’ll head over to your post now…

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      • Can’t wait for September 30th! The lineup is very promising 🙂
        Thanks for the advice! I’ll hold off on Throne of Glass for the moment and wait to binge read nearer to the release date of the last one. My memory when it comes to books can be rather deplorable. Makes me afraid for the Winds of Winter… 😉

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      • I know exactly what you mean about Winds of Winter. I’m hoping some dedicated fans will help us out and publish some handy summaries of the previous books somewhere to help us refresh our memories. I just don’t have time to read all those books again – they’re enormous! 🙂

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  16. Ooh, I didn’t know Graham Norton had written a book. I will have to check it out. I generally miss actual episodes of his show, but I usually run across them on YouTube when I’m looking up particular celebrities, and they’re always good fun. So far my favourite one is still Judy Dench telling the story of how she gave CPR to a goldfish.

    Here’s my post this week; https://keysandopenmind.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/www-wednesday-14-september-2016

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  17. Having problems with Celaena? 😂 My issues with her double with every book. I’ll be reading Queen of Shadows soon, there’s time before I finally reach Empire of Storms. I love the sound of John Le Carré’s book! And I don’t say this often for spies and betrayals! By the way, I watched The Night Manager and had a brilliant time. Also, I now understand the hysteria around Hiddleston, haha! I’m looking forward to your review of Norton’s book. I used to watch him on TV, and the book sounds good!
    I have three reviews due, one was written this morning, and two are to be finished before tonight. I promised myself I would not start another book before I finish this task because I’m having issues remembering what I read due to the lack of sleep, it’s all very confused in my head now! Good luck with the review writing and happy reading!

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    • She actually gets more annoying with each book, which I wouldn’t have thought possible! Book 2 is still my favourite in the series though.
      Yes, I think The Night Manager did Mr Hiddleston many favours, although I still hope he doesn’t get the job as Bond… he’s just not quite right for the part.
      I always try to at least make some notes about each book before I read the next one… but I was on holiday and couldn’t be bothered 🙂
      Good luck with your reviews too!

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