Welcome back!! July races by and I’m currently a woman on the warpath – at odds with the slugs and snails who have invaded my garden to ‘destroy’ my dahlias!!! How dare they!!! Why can’t they prefer the taste of weeds?! There’s lots of them about for them to feast upon! But no! My prized Dahlias are the tastiest things on the menu and are disappearing at an alarming rate!
And relax……. on to books!! My reading rate has slowed down considerably this week – I’m blaming the weather (it’s been too hot again!), and tiredness – which is probably to be expected after some amazing spells recently of books being completed! So, just 2 books finished this week but they’ve been 2 corkers!
But while the finished book rate has dropped, the book accumulating has increased!! Mainly due to a fabulous competiton win via Twitter that saw 8 wonderful ARC’s/Proofs arrive in a rather large box!! More of those later!!
So on with my week! Links to my GoodReads review if you click on the titles!
BOOKS FINISHED
Summer in San Remo by Evonne Wareham – 5 stars
Larry and the Dog People by J.Paul Henderson – 4 stars
Books Bought, Received & Downloaded
Another fabulous parcel arrived from the wonderful people at Bookishly as part of my monthly Tea and Book Club Subscription ! I love the vintage editions of Penguin Books that I receive each month and am building up a rather lovely collection! It also comes with a different flavoured tea each month, along with a bookmark and item of stationery and is a fabulous treat to yourself!
SATIN ISLAND BY TOM McCARTHY
Was looking at the BorrowBox app I have from my local library on my Kindle Fire, and this caught my eye in Audio Book version! I have the hardback but still haven’t got round to picking it up so am hoping that I can listen to it instead while I’m doing some cross-stitching, or blogging!
Death Plays A Part by Vivian Conroy – Kindle version 99p
Have been asked by the author to take part in a Blog Tour later in the year, so was intrigued to find out more as I’ve seen so many good things written about her books – and who can resist a cute dachshund called Dolly?!
And here’s a look at the lovely books I received from my Twitter competion win! Some stunners included, and many I had never heard of so am really looking forward to discovering some new favourites – hopefully!
A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M. Harris out 19th October 2017
I am as brown as brown can be,
And my eyes as black as sloe;
I am as brisk as brisk can be,
And wild as forest doe.
(The Child Ballads, 295)
So begins a beautiful tale of love, loss and revenge. Following the seasons, A Pocketful of Crows balances youth and age, wisdom and passion and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless wild girl.
Only love could draw her into the world of named, tamed things. And it seems only revenge will be powerful enough to let her escape.
At first, Borne looks like nothing at all—just a green lump that might be a Company discard. The Company, although severely damaged, is rumoured to still make creatures and send them to distant places that have not yet suffered Collapse.
Borne somehow reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth, now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment she resents; attachments are traps, and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, the Balcony Cliffs, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick, not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sells—she cannot break that bond.
Wick is a special kind of supplier, because the drug dealers in the city don’t sell the usual things. They sell tiny creatures that can be swallowed or stuck in the ear, and that release powerful memories of other people’s happier times or pull out forgotten memories from the user’s own mind—or just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren, craterous landscapes of the city.
Against his better judgment, out of affection for Rachel or perhaps some other impulse, Wick respects her decision. Rachel, meanwhile, despite her loyalty to Wick, knows he has kept secrets from her. Searching his apartment, she finds a burnt, unreadable journal titled “Mord,” a cryptic reference to the Magician (a rival drug dealer) and evidence that Wick has planned the layout of the Balcony Cliffs to match the blueprint of the Company building. What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?
First came Scandi-crime and Nordic Noir – now it’s time for Viking Crime! Make way, Lisbeth Salander and Sarah Lund, for Helga Finnsdottir. Lies. Manipulation. Murder. There’s nothing quite like family . . .
Everyone loves a family reunion . . .
It is the summer of 970. Adopted daughter Helga awaits the arrival of Unnthor Reginsson’s children, who are coming for the regular family gathering at their remote family farm. Unnthor, once a fearsome Viking warlord, now prosperous farmer and chieftain of his and neighbouring valleys, is not the only one doing well. Karl, his oldest son, has also settled down to farming after a successful career raiding and plundering, and middle son Bjorn is a respected horse farmer on the Swedish border. Aslak, the youngest, works closer to home, and daughter Jorunn is married to a Swedish chieftain’s son.
As the siblings gather, bad blood simmers and old feuds resurface as Unnthor’s heirs make their moves on the old man’s estate – until Karl is found dead and the bloodied knife is discovered in Bjorn’s son’s bed.
For all his size and strength, Helga’s not convinced Volund Bjornsson has it in him to kill anyone – but if she’s to save the boy from the axe, she must uncover the truth . . . before the killer strikes again.
Lies. Manipulation. Murder. There’s nothing quite like family. . .
The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams – out now
The Dragonbone Chair, the first volume of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, was published in hardcover in October, 1988, launching the series that was to become one of the seminal works of modern epic fantasy. Many of today’s top-selling fantasy authors, from Patrick Rothfuss to George R. R. Martin to Christopher Paolini credit Tad with being the inspiration for their own series.
Now, twenty-four years after the conclusion of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Tad returns to his beloved universe and characters with The Witchwood Crown, the first novel in the long-awaited sequel trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard.
Thirty years have passed since the events of the earlier novels, and the world has reached a critical turning point once again. The realm is threatened by divisive forces, even as old allies are lost, and others are lured down darker paths. Perhaps most terrifying of all, the Norns–the long-vanquished elvish foe–are stirring once again, preparing to reclaim the mortal-ruled lands that once were theirs….
The fabulously wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore is home to tigers, elephants, diamond mines and the beautiful Palace of the Sun. But when the heir to the throne is assassinated in the presence of Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant ‘Surrender-Not’ Banerjee, they discover a kingdom riven with suppressed conflict. Prince Adhir was a moderniser whose attitudes – and romantic relationship – may have upset the more religious elements of his country, while his brother – now in line to the throne – appears to be a feckless playboy.
As Wyndham and Banerjee desperately try to unravel the mystery behind the assassination, they become entangled in a dangerous world where those in power live by their own rules and those who cross their paths pay with their lives. They must find a murderer, before the murderer finds them…
Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory – out now
A generations-spanning family of psychics–both blessed and burdened by their abilities–must use their powers to save themselves from the CIA, the local mafia, and a skeptic hell-bent on discrediting them in this hilarious, tender, magical novel about the invisible forces that bind us.
The Telemachus family is known for performing inexplicable feats on talk shows and late-night television. Teddy, a master conman, heads up a clan who possess gifts he only fakes: there’s Maureen, who can astral project; Irene, the human lie detector; Frankie, gifted with telekinesis; and Buddy, the clairvoyant. But when, one night, the magic fails to materialize, the family withdraws to Chicago where they live in shame for years. Until: As they find themselves facing a troika of threats (CIA, mafia, unrelenting skeptic), Matty, grandson of the family patriarch, discovers a bit of the old Telemachus magic in himself. Now, they must put past obstacles behind them and unite like never before. But will it be enough to bring The Amazing Telemachus Family back to its amazing life
Shattered Minds by Laura Lam – out now
She can uncover the truth, if she defeats her demons
Ex-neuroscientist Carina struggles with a drug problem, her conscience, and urges to kill. She satisfies her cravings in dreams, fuelled by the addictive drug ‘Zeal’. Now she’s heading for self-destruction – until she has a vision of a dead girl.
Sudice Inc. damaged Carina when she worked on their sinister brain-mapping project, causing her violent compulsions. And this girl was a similar experiment. When Carina realizes the vision was planted by her old colleague Mark, desperate for help to expose the company, she knows he’s probably dead. Her only hope is to unmask her nemesis – or she’s next.
To unlock the secrets Mark hid in her mind, she’ll need a group of specialist hackers. Dax is one of them, a doctor who can help Carina fight her addictions. If she holds on to her humanity, they might even have a future together. But first she must destroy her adversary – before it changes us and our society, forever
The Erstwhile by B. Catling – out now
The Erstwhile brings readers back to the singular world and mind of B. Catling, continuing the groundbreaking storytelling of his hit The Vorrh.
In London and Germany, strange beings are reanimating themselves. They are the Erstwhile, the angels that failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge, and their reawakening will have major consequences. In Africa, the colonial town of Essenwald has fallen into disarray because the timber workforce has disappeared into the Vorrh. Now a team of specialists are dispatched to find them. Led by Ishmael, the former cyclops, they enter the forest, but the Vorrh will not give them back so easily. To make matters worse, an ancient guardian of the forest has plans for Ishmael and his crew. Meanwhile a child of mixed race has been found abandoned in a remote cottage. Her origins are unknown, but she has powers beyond her own understanding. Conflict is coming, as the old and new, human and inhuman are set on a collision course. Once again blending the real and the imagined, The Erstwhile brings historical figures such as William Blake and places such as the Bedlam Asylum, as well as ingenious creations such as The Kin (a family of robots) together to create unforgettable novel of births and burials, excavations and disappearances.”
CURRENTLY READING
And there we have it! Another week all wrapped up in bookish form!! And with a weekend of wet weather forecast, it is looking promising for a bit of a speed up on the reading front so I can start making a dent on my new acquisitions!!
HAPPY READING!!
Books and Me! 