Category: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday 7 October 2026

Published on by Margaret6 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

It’s been a while since I last did a WWW Wednesday post!

Currently I’m reading Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It by Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea, to be published on 22 October. I’m loving this book so far. It’s written in the same style as Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea take us on a heartfelt and hilarious tour of her extraordinary life and career. From growing up in York and being miffed at not getting the part of Mary in the school Nativity play, to playing before sold-out houses on Broadway and in London’s West End, she’s done it all. She walked the red carpets of Hollywood, turned James Bond’s M into the most astute, unflinching Head of MI6 anyone could ever have imagined, and won an Oscar, a Tony, Golden Globes, Oliviers, and BAFTAs along the way.

The last book I read was Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George, the 6th Inspector Lynley book. I hadn’t read any of the Inspector Lynley novels, although I’ve watched the TV adaptation. It does fill in some of the background of the main characters, so it did work reasonably well as a standalone.

There are several strands to the book which I did find somewhat confusing at times. The main one is the mystery surrounding the death the story of an Anglican priest, Robin Sage, who apparently died as a result of accidental poisoning. Deborah and her husband, Simon, turn to their old friend, Inspector Lynley to solve it.

However, there’s too much description for me (and I do like description) of everything with too much detail about small things that have nothing to do with the plot, and too many minor characters. The main story doesn’t really get anywhere until the last third, or so, of the book. There’s also too much detail about teenage sex and also a particularly nasty rape scene, that didn’t have much, if any, relevance to the plot. Inspector Lynley only has a minor role and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers has an even smaller role. The main theme is about children, mothers desperate to have a baby, and relationships between parents and children.

Overall I was a bit disappointed, although I kept reading because I wanted to know why and how Sage died.

What will I read next? I’m not sure, but it could be Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey, a Golden Age crime mystery novel.

A stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family’s sizeable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick’s mannerisms, appearance and every significant detail of Patrick’s early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself.

It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that threaten to jeopardise the imposter’s plan and his very life…

WWW Wednesday 11 March 2026

Published on by Margaret2 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I don’t take part in this every week, but try to do so once a month.

Currently I’m reading Love Untold by Ruth Jones, the story of four generations of women. I am loving this book – Ruth Jones has brought the characters of Grace, Alys, Elin and Beca wonderfully to life!

Grace is about to turn ninety and she doesn’t want parties or presents or fuss. She just wants a quiet celebration: her daily swim in the sea and a cup of tea with granddaughter Elin and great-granddaughter Beca. More than anything, she wants to heal the family rift that’s been breaking her heart for decades.

And to do that she must find her daughter, Alys – the only person who can help to put things right. But thirty years is a long time. And many words have been left unsaid. So is it too late now to heal the pain of the past?

The last book I read was The Inheritance of loss by Kiran Desai, the winner of several prizes including the 2006 Booker Prize. It alternates between the characters in the Himalayas and their family members who are working in New York.

I found it a bit of a slog as it took me ages to read it and thought it lacked focus. There are so many characters and the narrative jumps around between them all, so that it was hard to keep track of who they all were. I’m not even sure who the main characters are. It is also a depressing book about people who are unhappy, poor, repressed, left out, living in dreadful conditions. It’s heartbreaking in places and it is both tragic and thought provoking.

What will I read next? It could be The Keeper by Tana French, which was published on 2 April and is one of my NetGalley advanced reader copies. It’s the third book in the Cal Hooper series and I’ve read the first two so I’m keen to read this one too.

On a cold night in a remote Irish village, a girl goes missing.

Sweet, loving Rachel Holohan was about to be engaged to the son of the local big shot. Instead, she’s dead in the river.

In a place like this, her death isn’t simple. It comes wrapped in generations-old grudges and power struggles, and it splits the townland in two. Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper has friends here now and he owes them loyalty, but his fiancée Lena wants nothing to do with Ardnakelty’s tangles. As the feud becomes more vicious, their settled peace starts to crack apart. And when they uncover a scheme that casts a new light on Rachel’s death and threatens the whole village, they find themselves in the firing line. (Amazon)

WWW Wednesday 18 February 2026

Published on by Margaret3 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I don’t take part in this every week, but try to do so once a month.

Currently I’m still reading The Inheritance of loss by Kiran Desai, the winner of several prizes including the 2006 Booker Prize. It’s a book I bought in 2007 and meant to read long before now. I’m reading this slowly but making good progress. It alternates between the characters in the Himalayas and their family members who are working in New York.

I’ve become engrossed in reading The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times by Alistair Moffat. My interest in this is that I live in the region and so is about places I know that covers the southern part of Scotland and the northern part of England. It is nonfiction but begins with an imaginary description of life in the most ancient times ‘where hunter-gatherers penetrated into the virgin interior‘, as it states in the synopsis. I particularly like the factual inserts in the text, commenting on historical details. I’ve read 34% on my Kindle, which may not sound very far into the book – but I’m now on page 289!

The last book I read was Keep Laughing: the Autobiography by Chris McCausland, a book I loved. For those who may not have heard of Chris, he is a stand- up comedian, who won BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, with professional dancer Dianne Buswell, in 2024 and then a BAFTA award in 2025. He is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa. I’ll write more about later on. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Already one of the country’s best loved comedians, Chris McCausland’s participation on Strictly was a phenomenon. But how did the boy from Liverpool end up winning the hearts of the nation?

This is his remarkable story, of a twenty-five-year journey through sight loss to blindness. Of the highs, the lows and the downright hilarious along the way.

From being a lowlife conker dealer, and running his very own bootlegging empire (kind of) . . . to almost becoming a spy for MI5 (really) . . .

And of how he dared himself to try stand-up comedy, and ended up being brilliant on all your favourite TV shows.

Before, of course, he surprised himself, as well as everybody else, when he tried dancing on live TV in front of millions.

What will I read next? It could be one of these books because they are about some of the kings in the same area and period covered in Moffatt’s book.

Edwin: High King of Britain or Oswald: the Return of the King, both by Edoardo Albert, or The King in the North by Max Adams

But when the time comes to start another book it could be something completely different.

WWW Wednesday 28 January 2026

Published on by Margaret13 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently I’m reading The Inheritance of loss by Kiran Desai, the winner of several prizes including the 2006 Booker Prize. It’s a book I bought in 2007 and meant to read long before now. I’m reading this slowly and so far it’s looking good.

This is set in the Himalayas where a judge and his granddaughter live in a dilapidated mansion. The judge, broken by a world too messy for justice, is haunted by his past. His orphan granddaughter has fallen in love with her handsome tutor, despite their different backgrounds and ideals. The cook’s heart is with his son, who is working in a New York restaurant, mingling with an underclass from all over the globe as he seeks somewhere to call home.

I’m also reading The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch, another book I’ve had and left on the shelves for far too long. I’ve read just a few opening chapters and think I’m going to enjoy this book. It’s set in Ireland, where a young woman goes to work as a governess in the remote Gaze Castle only to find there are no children. She is confronted with a number of weird mysteries and involved in a drama she only partly understands.

The last book I read Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Bookmyre which will be published in May, so I’ll write about it later. It’s crime fiction set on the Atlantic.

Description from Amazon:

An Atlantic voyage. A family at war. A secret worth killing over.

Reporter Jack Parlabane thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places, and where could be less likely than a fan convention on a cruise liner celebrating a contentious Sixties TV series? But unlike the media family exploiting their show’s renewed relevance, he’s not there to stoke controversy: he’s there to solve a murder.

Already in deep water with his employer, Jack desperately needs a win, and solving this decades-old mystery could be it. Problem is, he’s in the middle of the Atlantic, and someone onboard has already killed once to keep their secret.

And that’s not even the tricky part. No, the tricky part is definitely the dead body locked in a stateroom with him, covered in his blood. Now Jack has to solve two murders, otherwise the only way he’s getting off this ship is in handcuffs – or in a body bag.recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

What will I read next? It could be Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Like her previous novel The Luminaries, which I loved, this book is set in a fictionalised New Zealand, primarily in and around a national park in the South Canterbury region. The title is taken from a line in Macbeth. It follows members of a guerilla gardening collective, Birnam Wood as, with the help of a charismatic tech billionaire, they undertake a new project on abandoned farmland.

But when the time comes to start another book it could be something completely different.

WWW Wednesday 8 October 2025

Published on by Margaret12 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I haven’t done a WWW Wednesday post since July! Where has the time gone? We’re now in October and it’s definitely Autumn – colder but stil some bright sunny days. The leaves are now falling, soon our garden will be covered by them – we have a lot of trees.

Currently I’m reading one of Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti novels – Blood from a Stone, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. I’m not surprised by that as I’ve enjoyed all of the Brunetti books I’ve read. He is one of my favourite detectives, maybe even the favourite.

In this one Brunetti is investigating the death of one of the vu cumprà, illegal immigrants selling fake designer handbags from sheets on the ground. He was killed one cold night near Christmas when two men entered Venice’s Campo Santo Stefano and shot him five times. The only witnesses are some American tourists.

I’m also reading Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), which I think is such a strange book, definitely not a children’s book as I had thought. First published in 1726, it’s a satire on human nature and the imaginary travellers’ tale literary subgenre about Lemuel Gulliver, a ship’s surgeon who travels to four strange and distant lands. I’ve nearly finished it and I’ll write more about it in a later post.

The last book I read was West with Giraffes by Linda Rutledge, a novel based on a true story which I loved.

Description from Goodreads

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

What will I read next? It could be The Case of the Canterfell Codicil Anty Boisjoly Mysteries Book 1) by P.J. Fitzsimmons, a locked room mystery.

Description from Goodreads

In The Case of the Canterfell Codicil, Wodehousian gadabout and clubman Anty Boisjoly takes on his first case when his old Oxford chum and coxswain is facing the gallows, accused of the murder of his wealthy uncle. Not one but two locked-room mysteries later, Boisjoly’s pitting his wits and witticisms against a subversive butler, a senile footman, a single-minded detective-inspector, an irascible goat, and the eccentric conventions of the pastoral Sussex countryside to untangle a multi-layered mystery of secret bequests, ancient writs, love triangles, revenge, and a teasing twist in the final paragraph. 

But when the time comes to start another book it could be something completely different.

WWW Wednesday: 23 July 2025

Published on by Margaret8 Comments

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently I am reading Small Wars by Sadie Jones, a book I’ve had for years ( I bought it in 2011!). It’s historical fiction set mainly in Cyprus in the late 1950s where Major Hal Treherne and his wife Clara and their baby daughters are stationed during the ‘enosis’ (union with Greece) uprising. It’s tense, gripping and I’m now about halfway into the book and thinking I’ll have to stop reading my other book to concentrate on finishing this one.

That other book I’m currently reading is a NetGalley review copy of The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry. This is also historical fiction, set in 1854 in Edinburgh, a mix of fact and fiction incorporating the social scene, historical and medical facts. It’s the 5th book in the Raven and Fisher Mystery series. Dr Will Raven is no longer working with Dr Simpson but is setting up his own medical practice with the financial assistance of Sarah Fisher. They are investigating the disappearance of Sarah’s young niece, the suicide of Will’s father in law and the blackmailing of Dr Simpson.

The last book I read was Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. This is set in the dark underworld of Brighton, where a gang war is raging. Seventeen year old gang leader Pinkie Brown, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. What follows is truly terrible, horrifying and full of violence. And yet I felt compelled to read it, fearful about how it would end. I’ll be writing more about it in a later post.

What will I read next? It could be All That Matters by Sir Chris Hoy, his memoir.

In elite sport, the margin between victory and defeat is miniscule, and the pressure is immense. Chris has built a glittering sporting career on understanding these how to feel for them, how to cope with them, how to make them count.

Last year, he faced another life-changing moment. He found out that the ache in his shoulder was in fact a tumour, and that he had Stage 4 cancer.

He will be living with this disease for the rest of his life.