WWW Wednesday 7th December 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

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

dark-matter-by-blake-crouchI’d seen this recommended by lots of bloggers and… <drumroll> …they were right! It’s great so far.

The blurb: “Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable–something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

2. The last books I read

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

lockwood-and-co-1-the-screaming-staircase-by-jonathan-stroudThis is fantastic stuff. It rarely reads like a children’s book and is truly creepy in places. The characters are great and I’ve put the whole series on my TBR. Here’s my full review.

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…

AND

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

the-siege-by-helen-dunmoreAs I thought it would be: The Siege is beautiful and bleak in equal measure. Only read if you’re in a happy place because there is little here to lift the spirits. Also make sure you have an extra blanket to cover yourself with when reading. You’ll need it. Here’s my full review.

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.

AND

Blood for Blood (Wolf by Wolf #2) by Ryan Graudin

blood-for-blood-wolf-by-wolf-by-ryan-graudinMy feelings towards the second book in the Wolf by Wolf duology were very similar to those towards book 1. So I didn’t feel I had enough to say to give it its own blog post. Instead I did a quick review on Goodreads.

The blurb: No blurb to avoid spoilers for book 1 in this series. If you’re interested, you can read my spoiler-free review of Wolf by Wolf.

 

3. What I’ll read next

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay

the-santa-klaus-murder-by-mavis-doriel-hayThis has been on my TBR since this time last year. I’ve been saving it for the festive season, hoping that a classic murder mystery will break up some of the seasonal cheese avalanche.

The blurb: A classic country-house murder mystery, ‘The Santa Klaus Murder’ begins with Aunt Mildred declaring that no good could come of the Melbury family Christmas gathering at their country residence Flaxmere. So when Sir Osmond Melbury, the family patriarch, is discovered — by a guest dressed as Santa Klaus —with a bullet in his head on Christmas Day, the festivities are plunged into chaos.

Nearly every member of the party stands to reap some sort of benefit from Sir Osmond’s death, but Santa Klaus, the one person who seems to have every opportunity to fire the shot, has no apparent motive. Various members of the family have their private suspicions about the identity of the murderer, but in the midst of mistrust, suspicion, and hatred, it emerges that there was not one Santa Klaus but two.

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

And elsewhere on the blog…

mixture-for-red-velvet-swirl-brownies-with-cheesecake-layer-easy-recipe-uk

I made red velvet swirl brownies with a layer of cheesecake. A great Christmas traybake. Pretty and delicious!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

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47 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday 7th December 2016”

    • Fortunately, Dark Matter was great! I now have to find the author’s other books 🙂

      Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to your comment… it went to my spam folder (I’ve not idea why! Hopefully that won’t happen again). I’ll head over to your post now!

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  14. I definitely need to add Dark Matter to my wishlist! I’m reading a festive-themed murder mystery at the moment but I’m really struggling to get into it. One more chapter and I’m giving up if it doesn’t improve. 😦

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  15. I’ve heard good things about Dark Matter and glad you’re enjoying it. I’ll put in on my TBR list, but it will have to wait – I’m finishing The Chemist and lots of chemical stuff in that! I’ll hold off on science stuff for a bit. I’ve got Blood for Blood on my list. Now I really need to read it because I read your review, including spoiler! Tell me what happens! No, don’t tell me!!
    Happy reading! Here’s my WWW http://hollykerr.ca/my-blog/

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  22. I must really try to get to Dark Matter early on in the new year. It’s at the top of my TBR, too. I need to try to find some good holiday reading. A murder mystery would be good but the ebook is a bit pricey on Amazon AU, so it might have to wait.

    Happy reading and thanks for visiting my WWW post!

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  23. I like the sound of The Santa Klaus Murder! Everywhere all holiday reads seem to be romance and contemporary so finding a mystery to spend Christmas read is a great idea 😀 Dark Matter was on so many blogs recently that I had to add it to my TBR but I haven’t had the luck to pick it in 2016 so it will have to wait for 2017! Happy reading!

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