The It’s Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at BookDate
I’m also linking to The Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer
And the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz
Life…
The thing about not having access to a car during the week, is when I need to go into town there are only three buses a day between the main shopping district and my home. I know #firstworldproblems and all, but it can be such a palaver.
Anyway, one of my trips into town this week was with my sixteen year old daughter, who sat for her learners permit and passed (YAY!), and at least we got the opportunity to shop for her upcoming school trip to the snow. Happily I scored some great bargains, so hopefully she won’t freeze to death.
School goes back tomorrow for the third term of the school year, I imagine it’s going to be a struggle to make sure the kids get up on time until routine is re-established. Even my youngest, who has always been an early riser, has been sleeping in this past week, he’s experiencing a growth spurt though, so I guess he needs it.
My plans this upcoming week include attending an author talk by Kaneana May, who wrote The One, at my local library; possibly buying a cheap bookcase if I can figure out where I can make room for it; and reading. Please vote in my poll to help me choose between two books I have my eye on this week. You’ll find it at the end of the post.
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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…
The Desert Midwife by Fiona McArthur
Five Weddings and a Wake by Karen Ross
The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall
The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green
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New Posts
Review: The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth
Review: The Desert Midwife by Fiona McArthur
Review: The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall
Review: Five Weddings and a Wake by Karen Ross
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What I’m Reading This Week
Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it–teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.
Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way–a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.
When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.
To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.
A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.
++++++
Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife…
But as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less.
A woman who sleeps among garbage she has not put out for forty years. A man who bled quietly to death in his loungeroom. A woman who lives with rats, random debris and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose.
Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead—and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation, but an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together.
++++++
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
++++++
And I can’t decide which of these two books to read first so, please cast your vote below …
Galway 1993: Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children – fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack – are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.
Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation’s findings – and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career – what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.
What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can’t – or won’t.
Or
A hot summer. A shocking murder. A town of secrets, waiting to explode…
A beautiful young teacher has been murdered, her body found in the lake, strewn with red roses. Local policewoman Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock pushes to be assigned to the case, concealing the fact that she knew the murdered woman in high school years before.
But that’s not all Gemma’s trying to hide. As the investigation digs deeper into the victim’s past, other secrets threaten to come to light, secrets that were supposed to remain buried. The lake holds the key to solving the murder, but it also has the power to drag Gemma down into its dark depths…
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Thanks for stopping by!
Most of us here still have time off before school starts up, though each year it seems to start earlier and earlier. I retired at the end of the last school year, so the start up will parade past me this year.
I have Never Have I Ever here, and I keep thinking I need to pass it on to someone who loves scary. I’m not a person who can bear to read even stories with tiny bits of scary.
Have a great week!
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You are just so busy…and with no car?
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We only have the one car, and hubby needs it to get to work and back, Since he works from 7am to 5pm two towns away, and there are some things that can only be done during business hours on a weekday, I either catch the bus or walk into town to get them done.
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Amazing.
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‘Never have I ever’ sounds so great. I wonder if it’s anything like the improv game. I love playin it and finding out secrets.
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I do so want to read the new Joshilyn Jackson book, and The Trauma Cleaner sounds good, too.
Enjoy your week and whatever you pick to read. I have transportation issues, too, and I’m acquainting myself with Lyft.
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We don’t have any ride share services where I live, and Taxi’s are too expensive for any more than the urgent situations.
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What a busy life you have – and all without a car during the week. Congrats to your daughter also for passing her test. I prefer non-fiction, but that Never Have I Ever is going on my TBR anyway. Happy Reading, hope you have a lovely week and enjoy your reads.
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It’s tough getting things done with just one car. And good luck getting the kids back on schedule!
I voted for The Dark Lake, but it doesn’t look like I helped out at all, because now you’re dead even with votes, lol! Enjoy your week! 🙂
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Its so strange to read about planning for a snow trip and not freezing. We are experiencing a massive heat wave right now! I don’t leave the house much, so during the summer when I’m not teaching, my car pretty much just sits in the garage. But I would hate not having it if I needed to go somewhere.
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I have The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle on my list to read.
i want to read Never Have I Ever & The Traum Cleaner.
It’s no fun having car issues. My a/c stopped blowing good on my way home from work today but thankfully my son found the problem and it was an easy fix.
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Forgot to say Congratulations to your daughter. My youngest granddaughter took her driving test last week and passed. She’s so excited because she’s had a car since April and now she can drive it without a “chaperone”.
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Not having a car is such a pain. I usually have to borrow my dads car and I hate driving that. 🙂
I am jealous of a trip to the snow since the real feel today is 111.
Have a great week, ShelleyRae! Happy Reading!
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It’s hard being without a car when you’re used to having one. Hooray for your daughter passing her test… and for the bargains! 🙂 Hopefully everyone gets back into a routine easily enough. I’ve heard great things about Sorcery of Thorns!
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Voted for The Ruin, that is what I would pick up)))
Loved your bookish plans for a week, hope you’ll find space for a book shelf))
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Oh – it’s always grim when you are having to share the single car! Congratulations on your daughter passing her driving test and I hope she loves her trip to the snow. It sounds rather surreal hearing that your children are back to school, given that ours here have just broken up for the summer break. I hope you have a great week and many thanks for popping into my blog:)
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I’m reading Sorcery of Thorns right now and loving it!
I vote for The Dark Lake.
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Sorcery of Thorns is on my TBR. I hope you enjoy it! Cast my vote.
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Sorcery of Thorns is one I’d like to read! It looks so good.
My son doesn’t start his summer break from school until Thursday! It’s so strange how different it all is in different places. 🙂
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Ooh I voted The Dark Lake, but honestly- they both sound awesome!
Have fun at the author talk, that sounds fun.
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You are the second person today that I’ve seen is reading NEVER HAVE I EVER. It must be good. My Sunday Salon
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Just finished Michael Robotham’s Good Girl, Bad Girl and Robert Harris’ The Second Sleep. Two very different books, but both very good. Now sitting down to review them. Next is Tim Ayliffe’s State of Fear
I vote for The Ruin!
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Sounds like a busy week for you! The Joshilyn Jackson book sounds really good. Have a great week!
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School is about a month away for us. I’m not ready to get back to crazy schedules again.
Congratulations to your daughter. How exciting.
Never Have I Ever sounds good. I voted for The Dark Lake.
Enjoy your week.
http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2019/07/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-july-22.html
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I won’t vote because I don’t know either author but hope whatever is voted on will help. I am looking forward to the new Joshilyn Jackson but will have to wait, but that’s okay because heaps to read! Our schools went back today too, we must be in sync, but I think some states in Australia might be different.
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Joshilyn JAckson is a new author to me, and Never Have I Ever looks seriously so good!
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Ladies’ Circle Swimming is on my TBR list and I’m about to add The Ruin.
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Ugh I always hated it when I was a kid and Dad was working local and needed the car and I had to WALK the mile to school or ride my bike. I don’t know how my Mom got anything done. I don’t think we lived on a bus route. I myself never gave a bus a second thought until I moved to L.A. and started taking a bus and/or subway everywhere. I’m one of the weirdos who prefers public transportation to driving my own car.
Well, however you end up tackling your errands I hope it all goes smoothly and that the weather is at least nice while you’re busing it! Treat yourself to an iced coffee or whatever you enjoy.
I voted for your next book (The Ruin) and I added Never Have I Ever and the Trauma Cleaner to my Goodreads TBR.
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My kids all walk to school and back because there is no school bus for our area, it’s only about 2km away though it’s not fun when it’s pouring rain, or boiling hot.
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I voted, but it was hard to decide which I liked better. Trauma Cleaner also sounds really good. We’ve gone through periods with only one car; it can be difficult. Glad you have bus service.
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Never Have I Ever sounds like a good one. Enjoy and happy bookcase hunting 😉
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Your school system is different so you must live across the pond or in Canada? Congrats to your daughter for getting her permit; it can be hard to take that test b/c one doesn’t have real world experience. We used to offer driver’s learning but that got axed long ago when budgets started shrinking. Kudos to you on taking the bus; haven’t done that for years.
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I’m in Australia, our school year runs from January to December. We don’t have in school driving programs, 16 year olds have to complete 120 hours of driving under the direct supervision of an adult or private driver instructor and be 17 until they can drive on their own, but are still under restrictions for a further three years.
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The Trauma Cleaner sounds like a fascinating read! Have a wonderful week and happy reading.
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Going back to school doesn’t sound like fun to me. I retired a couple of years ago and don’t miss the school routine at all. I’m a fan of staying up late and staying in bed until I feel like getting up so I can understand your teens’ feelings. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
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Not having a car sucks especially if transit is slow or takes a long to get to certain places that would be faster with a car 😦 My car was recently written off due to an accident!
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Congrats to your daughter! Never Have I Ever and Sorcery of Thorns both sound like excellent reads. I hope you enjoy them!
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Some very intriguing books in your mailbox this week. Enjoy them all.
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Congrats to your daughter. My weekly updates
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Sorcery of Thorns looks so exciting! I might have the feature the cover on my Favorite Cover Friday meme because it’s calling to me. I too am looking for another bookcase but I also don’t know where I would put it #readerproblems lol.
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Back to school shopping is fun! My daughter goes back in two weeks and I don’t know what we’re going to do either, because she’s been sleeping in really late, and it’s been hard to get her out of bed. Never Have I Ever and Sorcery of Thorns look really good! Have a wonderful week Shelley!
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Never Have I Ever is in my TBR! I’d love to read your review once you’re done reading it!
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I’m STILL reading Heir of Fire by SJM
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Looks like you have great books coming up this week!
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ooooh Sorcery of Thorns?! I’m waiting for it from the library and can’t wait! Honestly though I just got A Curse so Dark and Lonely too so I have that to tide me over. I hate riding the bus TBH but I loved it when I lived in a small town. It was so easy. ❤️
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That does sound annoying to not have access to your car and only a limited amount of buses that you can take. That’s nice you got some shopping done and congrats to your daughter for passing her learner’s permit. I hope you all get used to the school routine again soon. Have a great week!
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