WWW Wednesday 30th November 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

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud

lockwood-and-co-1-the-screaming-staircase-by-jonathan-stroudI put this on my TBR after reading Lilyn’s review over at Sci-fi & Scary and so far I’m really pleased I did. It’s great!

The blurb: When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again…

2. The last books I read

Blame by Simon Mayo

blame-by-simon-mayoThis is excellent YA dystopian fiction. If you think you’ve read it all in this genre and there’s nothing left to surprise you, I urge you to try this. And no romance! Here’s my full review.

Oh and Simon Mayo saw my tweet linking to my review, checked it out and then tweeted the link. I thought he was ace before, but he now has a lifelong fan! 🙂

The blurb: What happens when society wants you banged up in prison for a crime your parents committed?

That’s the situation in which Ant finds herself – together with her little brother Mattie and their foster-parents, she’s locked up in a new kind of family prison. None of the inmates are themselves criminals, but wider society wants them to do time for the unpunished ‘heritage’ crimes of their parents.

Tensions are bubbling inside the London prison network Ant and Mattie call home – and when things finally erupt, they realize they’ve got one chance to break out. Everyone wants to see them punished for the sins of their mum and dad, but it’s time for Ant to show the world that they’re not to blame.

AND

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

in-a-dark-dark-wood-by-ruth-weirThis is a well-written dark thriller. Unfortunately I wasn’t surprised by any of the twists. I’m starting to think I’m just too suspicious to really enjoy this genre! Here’s my full review.

The blurb: Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

But something goes wrong. Very wrong. Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

AND

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer, audiobook narrated by Jack Davenport

the-supernaturalist-by-eoin-colferAnother audiobook. I was drawn to this one because it’s Eoin Colfer and I like his Artemis Fowl series, and because it’s narrated by Jack Davenport, who’s a brilliant actor. I was a little disappointed with it. I’ve done a quick review on Goodreads.

The blurb: In the future, in a place called Satelite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world, unwanted by his parents. He’s sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, Freight class. At Clarissa Frayne, the boys are put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products. At the end of most days, they are covered with burns, bruises, and sores. Cosmo realizes that if he doesn’t escape, he will die at this so-called orphanage.

When the moment finally comes, Cosmo seizes his chance and breaks out with the help of the Supernaturalists, a motley crew of kids who all have the same special ability as Cosmo-they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans. The Supernaturalists patrol the city at night, hunting the Parasites in hopes of saving what’s left of humanity in Satellite City. Or so they think. The Supernaturalist soon find themselves caught in a web far more complicated than they’d imagined, when they discover a horrifying secret that will force them to question everything they believe in.

3. What I’ll read next

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

the-siege-by-helen-dunmoreThis is one of the books which has been on my TBR the longest. I’ve had it from the library a while but keep putting it off because obviously it’s not going to be a cheery read and I’m not ready for it yet!

The blurb: Leningrad, September 1941. Hitler orders the German forces to surround the city at the start of the most dangerous, desperate winter in its history. For two pairs of lovers – Anna and Andrei, Anna’s novelist father and banned actress Marina – the siege becomes a battle for survival. They will soon discover what it is like to be so hungry you boil shoe leather to make soup, so cold you burn furniture and books. But this is not just a struggle to exist, it is also a fight to keep the spark of hope alive…

The Siege is a brilliantly imagined novel of war and the wounds it inflicts on ordinary people’s lives, and a profoundly moving celebration of love, life and survival.

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

And elsewhere on the blog…

red-velvet-mini-bundt-cakes-recipe-uk-christmas-baking-ideas

I made red velvet mini bundt cakes. I didn’t plan to make a Christmassy recipe but when I saw the colour I couldn’t resist.

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

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43 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 30th November 2016”

    • It’s very good. I want to track down the other books in the Lockwood & Co series now 🙂
      That’s what I’m constantly thinking too! 🙂 I need to learn to switch off my brain when reading these things.
      I’ll check out your WWW now…

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  3. I am totally adding Blame to my TBR. I love dystopian books and I’m always looking for new ones to check out, especially if they’re really original and/or have no romance!

    Thanks for stopping by my WWW!

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    • I think you’d really like The Screaming Staircase. I doesn’t come over as middle grade fiction at all and was genuinely creepy in places!
      Blame is excellent. And it nice to come across something a bit different in the YA dystopia category, which can get a bit samey after a while 🙂
      I’ll check out your WWW now…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. I really want to read Blame after reading your review, but I looked for it and it doesn’t look like it’s out in the States yet. 😦 Hopefully it will be released here soon!

    Thank you for visiting my post! 🙂

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    • Lockwood & Co is nice and short because it’s supposed to be for 12-14 year olds! (it would have scared the life out of me when I was 12!!). It’s brilliant though. In the same enjoyable category as The Clockwork Sparrow, just with ghosts.
      I managed to squeeze in another audiobook. It’s great because I’d just be doing housework and walking to drop off/collect Sam in silence, but this way I can “read” a whole other book 🙂

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      • Ah right ok…still might be worth a read though and actually it’s something I could recommend to my niece.
        I’m thinking I should get into audio books….I have half an hour a day walking to and fro from work so I could use this time. Where do you get yours from?

        Liked by 1 person

      • At the moment from the library. They have a stand which are all little mp3 players. You just need to put in a small battery and then they’re easy to carry around. The other library option are packs of CDs but I haven’t had a portable CD player for 20 years! 🙂
        I have to look into whether our libraries do downloadable audiobooks because they’ve started doing ebooks now. If I could download audiobooks to my phone that would be great.

        Liked by 1 person

    • I hope you can read Blame and enjoy it. It’s very different to a lot of the YA dystopian fiction I’ve read (which does tend to revolve around romance). It feels a lot more “real” and something which could easily happen in the near future, which is scary but interesting!
      Happy reading 🙂

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  12. I will probably give In A Dark, Dark Wood a go at some point, especially since so many people seem to love her books and I have yet to try one. And I’m glad you are enjoying Lockwood & Co! Means I can get a copy myself soon as well. 😉 Happy reading!

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  14. Eeee! I’m so glad you’re reading Lockwood and Co! I love Jonathan Stroud, he’s one of my favourite authors. I still need to get my hands on the new Lockwood book but that might be a while yet. Have you read his Bartimaeus Sequence? It’s amazing!

    I read The Supernaturalists a long time ago, and I have a used copy on my shelf because I was intending to read it again but haven’t got around to it. I really enjoyed Artemis Fowl but I haven’t been as into any of Eoin Colfer’s other more recent stuff.

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    • I’ve only read 2 Artemis Fowl books but really enjoyed them both. Eventually I’ll read more of them. But I’ll probably try and read the rest of the Lockwood & Co. books first though 🙂 This is my first book by Stroud but this could be the start of a new obsession!

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  16. Even though it’s not going to be a cheery read, I do like the sound of The Siege. I like how maybe you are too suspicious to truly enjoy the psychological thrillers – I have found the more I read the less fooled I am too, although I do love this genre.

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    • I have a feeling The Siege will be beautiful but heartbreaking. I think I may also have been putting it off because it’s too cold to read a book about winter in Russia!
      I wish I could just ignore all the small details in thrillers and let it all wash over me. There’s nothing like like a brilliant twist that shocks you so much you want to go back to the start of the book and read it all over again straightway.

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      • Haha I can see your point! What you say is quite true and I have to admit it seems to depend on my mood on how much I’m able to go with the flow rather than worry about the little things – I stopped reading these for a while because I’d started anticipating the storylines rather than letting the book guide me.

        Liked by 1 person

  19. The thing with books like In a Dark Dark Wood is that after a while, your brain is used to picking up hints and the surprises become evident. That’s why I try to mix genres as much as possible. Blame is already on my list, yay for Simon Mayo checking the review! Happy reading!

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