For the Record by David Cameron – more interesting than I thought it would be.
The Searcher by Tana French – just started and it’s looking good so far.
Recently finished – A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin, the latest Rebus book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Reading next: not sure as it will be some time before I finish my current books. I’m wondering if it will be 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro as a follow-up to Hamnet.
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m currently readingHamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and am surprised that I’m not feeling enthusiastic about it; surprised because I’ve enjoyed her earlier books and Hamnet won the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year. It looks just the sort of book I usually enjoy. It’s historical fiction, set in Elizabethan England and it is beautifully written.
It has a strange, fairy-tale feel and I’m finding hard to settle into this book. I don’t feel involved. I feel I’m on the outside looking on from a distance. I think it’s O’Farrell’s use of the present tense, but I’m hoping I’ll feel more involved as I read on.
The last book I read was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, a disturbing novel to say the least. My review will follow. For now here is the description from Goodreads:
Four seekers have arrived at the rambling old pile known as Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of psychic phenomena; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Luke, the adventurous future inheritor of the estate; and Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman with a dark past. As they begin to cope with chilling, even horrifying occurrences beyond their control or understanding, they cannot possibly know what lies ahead. For Hill House is gathering its powers – and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
Reading Next: I’m really looking forward to reading A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin, published tomorrow, his latest Rebus novel.
When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.
Rebus fears the worst – and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.
He wasn’t the best father – the job always came first – but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?
As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast – and a small town with big secrets – he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find…
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m currently readingWycliffe and How To Kill a Cat by W J Burley, one of my TBRs. It’s the second in the Wycliffe series, set in Cornwall.
Superintendent Wycliffe is on holiday, but popping into the local police station to see an old friend he hears that a woman has been found dead, probably murdered and he can’t resist offering to help. It’s immensely readable. The title puzzles me – I suspect that it’s not really about how to kill a cat – I hope not!
The last book I read was Still Life by Val McDermid, her latest Karen Pirie mystery. I’ll be writing more about this book. It combines a cold case investigation into a skeleton found in a campervan and a current investigation into the discovery of a body in the Firth of Forth. I loved it.
I see that ITV are adapting the first Karen Pirie book, The Distant Echo. Filming began in February this year, but I couldn’t find any other details – one to look out for.
I’d like to read several books next …
But at the moment I’m leaning towards reading the first book in the Inspector Lynley series, A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. I’ve dipped into it and it looks good.
Blurb:
Fat, unlovely Roberta Teys is found beside her father’s headless corpse, wearing her best dress and with an axe in her lap. Her first words are: ‘I did it. And I am not sorry’ and she refuses to say more. Inspector Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers are sent by Scotland Yard to solve this particularly gruesome murder. And as they navigate their way around a dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a series of shocking revelations that shatter the façade of the peaceful Yorkshire village.
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
This week I’m doing this in a different order as after I finished the last book I read I haven’t been able to decide what to read next.
So this a combination of what I might read currently and in the future.
I’ve dipped into a few books these last few days:
Would you recommend any of these books?
Bilgewater by Jane Gardam – described on the back cover as ‘One of the funniest, most entertaining, and most unusual stories about young love.’ I loved Old Filth some years ago.
When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Penman – the first book in the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy. Historical fiction about Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Maude, and the long fight to win the English throne. Penman’s The Sunne in Splendour is one of my absolute favourites.
For the Record by David Cameron – described in the blurb: ‘The referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU is one of the most controversial political events of our times. For the first time, the man who called that vote talks about the decision and its origins, as well as giving a candid account of his time at the top of British politics.‘ I’m not sure he’ll really be candid!
A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry – the sequel to Days Without End, which I loved. This is about Winona, a young Lakota orphan adopted by former soldiers Thomas McNulty and John Cole. I watched Barry’s talk on Sunday as part of the Borders Book Festival online. From what I’ve read so far I’m not hooked yet.
A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville – inspired by the real life of a remarkable woman, Elizabeth Macarthur, who travelled to Australia with her husband and their infant son in 1790. I love her books.
Recently Finished:
The last book I read was His and Hers by Alice Feeney and I posted my review on Saturday.
It’s a standalone psychological thriller. I was utterly gripped by it and compelled to read it, puzzled and amazed by the cleverness of the plot. But it’s not a comfortable read, dark and twisted with some gruesomely graphic scenes that I read very quickly!
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Currently reading:
The Birdwatcher by William Shaw and it’s looking good so far. Police Sergeant William South is investigating the murder of his friend and neighbour Bob Rayner. It’s set in Dungeness on the Kent coast, a bleak landscape of gravel pits towered over by lighthouses and a nuclear power station and the story moves between the present day and South’s childhood. I have a strong feeling that I’ll be reading more of William Shaw’s books in the future.
Recently Finished:
I finished reading The Power-House by John Buchan yesterday. I really enjoyed it. I’ll post my review shortly.
When his friend Charles Pitt-Heron vanishes mysteriously, Sir Edward Leithen is at first only mildly concerned. But a series of strange events that follow Pitt-Heron’s disappearance convinces Leithen that he is dealing with a sinister secret society. Their codename is ‘The Power-House’. The authorities are unable to act without evidence. As he gets deeper involved with the underworld, Leithen finds himself facing the enemy alone and in terrible danger.
Reading Next:
I’m not sure at the moment. It ‘should’ be His and Hers by Alice Feeney, because it’s the book I’ve had the longest on my NetGalley shelf and it’s making me feel guilty that I haven’t read it yet.
When a woman is murdered in Blackdown village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Anna’s ex-husband, DCI Jack Harper, is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.
Someone is lying, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.
Kangchenjunga. Third highest peak on earth. Greatest killer of them all.
Five Englishmen set off from Darjeeling, determined to tackle the sacred summit. But courage can only take them so far – and the mountain is not their only foe.
As mountain sickness and the horrors of extreme altitude set in, the past refuses to stay buried. And sometimes, the truth won’t set you free. . .
Recently Finished:
I finished reading The Luminaries yesterday and am still mulling it over. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure I liked the structure, with the length of the chapters decreasing as the story progressed.
It is 1866, and young Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the stormy night of his arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to discuss a series of unexplained events: A wealthy man has vanished, a prostitute has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely ornate as the night sky.
Reading Next:
At the moment I think it could be Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert. I wrote about the opening paragraph and included a quotation from page 55 in My Friday post. Ot it could be Wycliffe and How To Kill a Cat by W J Burley. But it might be a different book that takes my fancy when the time comes.
The girl was young, with auburn hair arranged on the pillow. Wycliffe could almost believe she was asleep – that is, until he saw her face. She had been strangled, and someone had brutally smashed her face – but after death, not before… She lay in a seedy hotel room down by the docks, but her luggage, her clothes and her make-up all suggested she had more class than her surroundings.
Superintendent Wycliffe was officially on holiday, but the case fascinated him. Who was the girl? Why was she lying naked in a shabby hotel room? What was she doing with a thousand pounds hidden underneath some clothing? And, above all, why had someone mutilated her after she was dead?
As Wycliffe begins to investigate, he finds there are too many suspects, too many motives – and too many lies . . .
What do you think – which one would you read next?
