WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my updates . . .
         looking forward to seeing what's in your reading queue. . .

I'm currently reading . . .
    It's Always the Husband

      The Marsh King's Daughter

I recently finished  reading . . .
  My review of Body on Baker Street

I'll be reading next . . .
    The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper 

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

 

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my updates . . .
         looking forward to seeing what's in your reading queue. . .

I'm currently reading . . .
   The Marsh King's Daughter


I recently finished  reading . . .
   Exit West
A poignant fictionalized account of the plight of migrants fleeing their war-torn country in search of sanctuary and a new place to call home.

   Elementary, She Read
A promising start to a new cozy mystery series bound to appeal to Anglophiles, Holmes aficionados, cozy mystery lovers, and fans of stories set in bookstores.

   Purr M for Murder
Sisters team up to save an animal shelter in this first book in a new series.  Murder, mayhem, and cat antics ensue.


I'll be reading next . . .
   It's Always the Husband

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesday

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

The story is a first-rate thriller that keeps your attention as you learn more about the main characters and a terrible incident that plays out over the course of a weekend in an isolated house deep in the woods.  More from Goodreads.

I finished reading . . .

 

This first book in a new mystery series has writer Rachel Goldman racing against the clock to catch a serial killer, who has kidnapped and murdered other mystery writers, before she becomes the next victim.  She is assisted in her quest by a mysterious investigator who claims to be the main character in her mystery series.  The unusual elements of the story guarantee an interesting sequel.  More from Goodreads.

I'm reading next . . . 

Next up in the reading queue is this story of travel, friendship, and love.  More from Goodreads.

I'm waiting for . . . 

Publisher:  Flatiron Books

Publication Date:  October 4, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  To four girls who have nothing, their friendship is everything: they are each other’s confidants, teachers, and family. The girls are all named Guinevere—Vere, Gwen, Ginny, and Win—and it is the surprise of finding another Guinevere in their midst that first brings them together. They come to The Sisters of the Supreme Adoration convent by different paths, delivered by their families, each with her own complicated, heartbreaking story that she safeguards. Gwen is all Hollywood glamour and swagger; Ginny is a budding artiste with a sentiment to match; Win’s tough bravado isn’t even skin deep; and Vere is the only one who seems to be a believer, trying to hold onto her faith that her mother will one day return for her. However, the girls are more than the sum of their parts and together they form the all powerful and confident The Guineveres, bound by the extraordinary coincidence of their names and girded against the indignities of their plain, sequestered lives.

The nuns who raise them teach the Guineveres that faith is about waiting: waiting for the mail, for weekly wash day, for a miracle, or for the day they turn eighteen and are allowed to leave the convent. But the Guineveres grow tired of waiting. And so when four comatose soldiers from the War looming outside arrive at the convent, the girls realize that these men may hold their ticket out.

In prose shot through with beauty, Sarah Domet weaves together the Guineveres’ past, present, and future, as well as the stories of the female saints they were raised on, to capture the wonder and tumult of girlhood and the magical thinking of young women as they cross over to adulthood.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesday

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

I'm only a few chapters in, but it has me hooked.  The story opens with a mystery writer being contacted by a man who has the same name and profession as the protagonist of the series she's been writing.  I'm curious to see how the plot will unfold.  And it's the start of a new series . . .more from Goodreads.

I finished reading . . .

This murder mystery set in a village on an English marsh has no shortage of suspects, and the many twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end.  More from Goodreads.

I'm reading next . . .

Next up in the reading queue is this psychological thriller.  More from Goodreads.

I'm waiting for . . .

Publisher:  Gallery Books

Publication Date:  October 4, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  In the bestselling tradition of A Man Called Ove and the beloved film Love Actually, a quirky, socially awkward man goes on a quest to find his wife a last-minute Christmas gift and encounters several distractions—including bumping into his ex-girlfriend who was the one who got away.

Henry Quantum has several thoughts going through his head at any given time, so it’s no surprise when he forgets something very important—specifically, a Christmas gift for his wife, which he realizes on the morning of December 23. Henry sets off that day in search of the perfect present for her: a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. But much like Henry’s ever-wandering mind, his quest takes him in different and unexpected directions, including running into the former love of his life, Daisy. His wife, meanwhile, unhappy in her marriage, is hiding a secret of her own. And Daisy, who has made the unsettling choice of leaving her husband to strike out on her own, finds herself questioning whether she and Henry belong together after all.

A sweet, funny, and touching debut from author Pepper Harding shows how the seemingly insignificant events of one single day can change our lives forever—perhaps, if we’re lucky, for the better.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesday

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

I first saw this book featured by Cleo on her blog, Cleopatra Loves Books.  She's an avid reader and reviewer, and I find the best mystery, crime, and suspense novels in Cleo's posts.  Thus it's no surprise that I'm totally enthralled by The Crooked House. which is a very atmospheric mystery set primarily in an English village on the marshes.  

I finished reading . . .

  

The Vanishing Year features a troubled protagonist, now known as New York society wife Zoe Whittaker.  She is on the run from the dangers of her past and fears that her rich, distant husband will learn her darkest secrets.

Henry Whittaker has given Zoe a life she never dreamed possible, but is he the charming knight in armor she initially imagined him to be?  Changes in his behavior toward Zoe and his secretive nature unsettle her at an extremely vulnerable time.  Why is Henry so reluctant to share information about his own past, and what is he hiding?  This fast-paced suspenseful thriller is a satisfying read that twists and turns its way to an unexpected conclusion.  

and . . .

                  

Set in Edwardian London, Death on the Sapphire is the first book in the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series.  Unwilling to settle for the traditional female roles of the time, Lady Frances is a suffragist and advocate for the poor who is determined to make her own way in society.  Her intelligence and curiosity lead her to investigate the death of a family friend believed to have committed suicide and the disappearance of his tell-all manuscript.  Her keen powers of observation and deduction put her in harm's way as she unravels the truth of this and other deaths of military men who served during the Boer War.  Aided by her loyal lady's maid, Franny encounters danger--and romance--along the way.  This historical series is off to a fascinating start, and I am eager for the next installment.

I'm reading next . . .

 

I'm actually 124 pages into this much anticipated novel (more from Goodreads), but admit to being distracted by sampling The Crooked House, which quickly became my current read due to its un-put-down-ability.   So, I will be picking up The Little Paris Bookshop next so that I have it finished in time for a book club meeting at the end of the week.

I'm waiting for . . .

Publisher:  Crooked Lane Books

Publication Date:  October 11, 2016

After recently reading and enjoying Death on the Sapphire, I was delighted to learn that it won't be too long of a wait before the second book in the series is published.

From barnesandnoble.com:  Lady Frances Ffolkes is incensed when she finds out that her dear friends Gwendolyn and Thomasina have been subject to vicious threats. Promising to uncover their attacker, she travels with them to Kestrel's Eyrie, the fabled estate belonging to Gwen's family. But soon Frances faces an even greater problem, when Gwen’s father, a powerful diplomat, is stabbed to death with his prized ruby dagger.

Frances, with her loyal maid June Mallow at her side, jumps right into interrogating the estate's numbered guests: a charming Turkish diplomat with a habit of sneaking off into the night, a brash American heiress with lofty dreams of becoming mistress of the Eyrie, two gossiping widows with their own scandalous secrets, and Gwen's own aunt tasked with keeping the affairs of the estate in order among the chaos of the investigation. But as the case unfolds, Frances's righteous conviction might just be the very thing that leads danger--and even more death--to her own doorstep.

Old sins do indeed cast long shadows in Death Among Rubies a delightful closed-room mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie and the second in R.J. Koreto's effortlessly charming historical series.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words

  

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

 

I borrowed an ARC of this book, which will be published this September, from a librarian friend.  It is a suspenseful read that hooked me immediately.  More from Goodreads.

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I finished reading . . .

I didn't expect to, but I fell completely in love with the oddball called Ove.  On the surface, Ove is a stickler for details, unsociable, ornery, and set in his ways.  As the story unfolds, however,  the details of the trials and traumas Ove has suffered over the years give insight into what has shaped his character.  When it appears that Ove can no longer endure the sadness and losses of his life, encounters with his new neighbors and a stray cat lead to unexpected friendships and give new meaning to Ove's life.  This novel, filled with dark humor and unforgettable characters, is ultimately uplifting and profound.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm reading next . . .

 

This mystery, described as a dark and gothic tale, is very popular at the library.  It took a while to get my hands on a copy.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm waiting for . . .

 

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Publication Date:  November 22, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  "They think I am still a little girl who is not capable of being a Queen.”

Lord Melbourne turned to look at Victoria. “They are mistaken. I have not known you long, but I observe in you a natural dignity that cannot be learnt. To me, ma’am, you are every inch a Queen.”

In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.

One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….

Drawing on Victoria’s diaries as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and screenwriter of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words

  

This weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

 

I'm reading this book with two of my book clubs. Ove is an oddball of sorts who is currently at a crossroads in life.  More from Goodreads.

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I finished reading . . .

 

Sad to say, but for me this book just didn't live up to the hype.  The characters, of which there were many, didn't engage me and I couldn't connect with the lifestyle and customs of the village.

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I'm reading next . . .

 

This is another book club read, and one I'm eager to begin.  More from Goodreads.

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What I'm Waiting For . . .

 

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date:  September 20, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  In Emma Donoghue's latest masterpiece, an English nurse brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-soon finds herself fighting to save the child's life.

Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl.

Written with all the propulsive tension that made Room a huge bestseller, The Wonder works beautifully on many levels—a tale of two strangers who transform each other's lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words

  

This weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

After hearing so much about this book, I was pleased when it was selected by one of my book groups for discussion this month.   More from Goodreads.

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I finished reading . . .

 

  

When I saw this book's title at BEA this year, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.  It sounded like the perfect summer read, and I had a hunch that it would be the perfect vacation take along.   My instincts were right.

While the title is what originally attracted me, the characters and realistic life situations had me fully engaged from start to end.  Brimming with laugh-out-loud one-liners and dialogue, Garvin finds the humor in life's messiness, unfairness, and relationships gone wrong.  This novel is immensely enjoyable and fully captures the intricacies of contemporary life.

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I'm reading next . . .

This is another book club read.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm waiting for . . . 

 

Publisher:  Penguin Publishing Group

Publication Date:  September 6, 2016

 

 

From barnesandnoble.com:  As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return.  

 

An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe’s tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path.  

Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words

  

This weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

Things take a terrifying turn on the drive home from a strange visit to Jakes's parent.  How will things end?  More from Goodreads.

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I finished reading . . .

 

Imagine living in a society that separates its citizens into two categories: those who are needed and those who are dispensable.  This is the premise of The Unit.  Women over 50 and men over 60 who are designated dispensable live out the remainder of their days in the unit, where they participate in clinical trials and organ donations. This thought-provoking book raises questions about free will and choice; an individual's worth; and the rights of individuals versus what is best for society.

Members of the unit form caring, supportive relationships, even in the face of ultimate sacrifice.  This book will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm reading next . . .

This is another book club read.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm waiting for . . . 

 

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date:  August 9, 2016

Jacqueline Woodson, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming, delivers her first adult novel in twenty years.

From barnesandnoble.com:  Running into a long-ago friend sets memory from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant—a part of a future that belonged to them.

But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where grown men reached for innocent girls in dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the night, where mothers disappeared. A world where madness was just a sunset away and fathers found hope in religion.

Like Louise Meriwether’s Daddy Was a Number Runner and Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina, Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn heartbreakingly illuminates the formative time when childhood gives way to adulthood—the promise and peril of growing up—and exquisitely renders a powerful, indelible, and fleeting friendship that united four young lives.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words

  

This weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm reading . . .

This humorous story is one character's chance to experience what life would have been like had she married a different guy.  This is a great escape and vicarious daydream about one of the biggest what ifs in life. Read more about this novel on its Goodreads page. 

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I finished reading . . .

  

A novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs.  More from Goodreads.  This is an entertaining historically fictionalized account of the Kopp sisters—Constance, Norma, and Fleurette—who defy the conventions of the time and set out to make their own way in the world.  When an automobile owned by a sketchy character collides with their buggy, mayhem ensues, with the sisters under threat from a group of local criminals.  

The story was quite enjoyable, with strong female characters, and a good sense of what it was like to be a woman in the early twentieth century.  In addition to the fine storytelling, the author's notes at the end clearly distinguish fact from fiction and give sources for finding original newspaper headlines written about the events that occurred.  As fans of historical fiction know, it is often hard to distinguish facts from creative embellishment, and I appreciated the author's forthrightness.

Girl Waits with Gun is the first in the Kopp Sisters series.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish book two, Lady Cop Makes Trouble on September 6, 2016.  I'm glad that the continuing adventures of the Sisters Kopp are on the horizon.

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I'm reading next . . .

 

This is another book club read.  More from Goodreads.

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I'm waiting for . . . 

  

This debut psychological suspense novel will be published next week, on June 28, 2016.

From barnesandnoble.com:  Swan Huntley's We Could Be Beautiful is the spellbinding story of a wealthy woman who has everything—and yet can trust no one.

 

Catherine West has spent her entire life surrounded by beautiful things. She owns an immaculate Manhattan apartment, she collects fine art, she buys exquisite handbags and clothing, and she constantly redecorates her home. And yet, despite all this, she still feels empty. She sees her personal trainer, she gets weekly massages, and occasionally she visits her mother and sister on the Upper East Side, but after two broken engagements and boyfriends who wanted only her money, she is haunted by the fear that she'll never have a family of her own. One night, at an art opening, Catherine meets William Stockton, a handsome man who shares her impeccable taste and love of beauty. He is educated, elegant, and even has a personal connection—his parents and Catherine's parents were friends years ago. But as he and Catherine grow closer, she begins to encounter strange signs, and her mother, Elizabeth (now suffering from Alzheimer's), seems to have only bad memories of William as a boy. In Elizabeth's old diary she finds an unnerving letter from a former nanny that cryptically reads: "We cannot trust anyone . . . " Is William lying about his past? And if so, is Catherine willing to sacrifice their beautiful life in order to find the truth? Featuring a fascinating heroine who longs for answers but is blinded by her own privilege, We Could Be Beautiful is a glittering, seductive, utterly surprising story of love, money, greed, and family.

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.