Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz
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Life…
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Sorry for vanishing. Not unexpectedly the flu triggered a bad flare up of my chronic HS condition, once my immune system is compromised it’s inevitable, though I always hope otherwise. I’m still uncomfortable but the fever is under control, and I hope to get caught up quickly.
My eldest son returned to Uni for his second semester today, while my youngest daughter came home to start her semester break. She’ll be home for three weeks.
It’s the last Monday of the month, so here’s my challenge update
Nonfiction Reader Challenge: 7/12
Historical Fiction Challenge: 12/25
Cloak and Dagger Challenge: 27/36
Books in Translation Challenge 1/6
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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…
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Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
A Curse of Salt by Sarah Street
The Invisible Women’s Club by Helen Paris
The Ship’s Midwife by Peta Miller
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New Posts…
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Review: The Fall Between by Darcy Tindale
Review: The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring
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What I’m Reading This Week…
The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom in this seductive YA fantasy debut, in which a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.
Saoirse Sorkova survives on secrets. As the last siren in her kingdom, she can sing any man to an early grave – but her very existence is illegal, and if her true identity were ever discovered, it would be her life on the line.
By day, Saoirse disguises herself as a fae, pretending to be the perfect soldier-in-training. By night, she satisfies her darker urges working as an assassin for dangerous mercenaries. And all the while, she keeps the biggest secret of all: that she is not always in control of her Siren powers, or her desire to kill.
Then a blackmailer threatens her sister, and Saoirse’s investigation takes her to the royal palace, and her most dangerous job yet: personal bodyguard to the Crown Prince.
Saoirse expects to despise Prince Hayes. But he is kind, thoughtful, and charming, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to him . . . until he tasks her with investigating a killer plaguing the kingdom. The problem: the killer is Saoirse.
Trapped by her deadly double life, Saoirse can’t leave the palace until she saves her sister . . . but who will save her from herself?
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If clothes can get a second chance, why can’t we? Brimming with life, love, and the stories bound up in even the most everyday items, The Second Chance Store is a tale of friendship, loss, and dusting yourself off and starting over—a novel filled with humor and a testament to the enduring power and joy of charity shops.
City dweller Gwen feels like she’s living a secondhand life. She’s thirty-eight, perpetually single, and in dire need of a dentist’s appointment. Her friends are busy procreating in the country, and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around hedge borders and the trash pickup schedule. Above all she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone?
Then she’s let go from a job she drifted into a decade ago and never left, and Gwen realizes it’s time to make a change, starting with cleaning out her apartment. In the charity shop where she literally and metaphorically unloads her baggage, she discovers a group of weird and wonderful people devoted to finding a new home for donated items that have lost their use elsewhere. Gwen volunteers there—and finds a new home for herself among her fellow workers while discovering joy in the untold stories of secondhand things.
Now it’s time for Gwen to get out of her life in pause, and to find a way to move forward with bravery and humanity—and more regular dental care.
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STEALING SECRETS IS A DEADLY GAME
Someone wants Russian millionaire Dmitry Lebedev dead. After years flying under the radar in Sydney, he’s just had a narrow escape when a sex worker is poisoned in his hotel room. In desperation he contacts his former CIA case officer, Ronnie Johnson, offering to expose a traitor inside the Australian government in return for protection.
John Bailey has spent decades risking his life to break news stories. Along the way he’s made some interesting friends, including Ronnie — who saved his life in Iraq — and Scarlett Merriman, whose night with Lebedev left her in a coma. And now they both need Bailey’s help.
While Bailey investigates what happened to Scarlett, Ronnie Johnson is calling in an old debt. Because the same people going after Lebedev have framed Ronnie for murder.
From Canberra to Moscow to Beijing, Killer Traitor Spy uncovers the new lines of espionage in the twenty-first century. It proclaims Ayliffe as a master of the genre.
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A missing girl. Decades of silence. A secret too big to bury.
1987: It’s late summer and a time of change when a 17-year-old girl leaves the local shopping centre in the sleepy town of Lowbridge and is never seen again. Her unsolved disappearance is never far from the town’s memory. There’s those who grew up in the shadow of her loss whose own lives were altered forever, and those who know more than they’re saying. It just takes an outsider to ask the right questions.
2018: Katherine Ashworth, shattered by the death of her daughter, moves to her husband’s hometown. Searching for a way to pick up the pieces of her life, she joins the local historical society and becomes obsessed with the three-decades-old mystery. As Katherine digs into that summer of 1987, she stumbles upon the trail of a second girl who vanished and was never missed because no one cared enough to see what was happening in plain sight. Her trail could lead right to Katherine’s door.
In a town simmering with divisions and a cast of unforgettable characters, Lowbridge is a heart-wrenching mystery about the girls who are lost, the ones who are mourned and those who are forgotten.
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Thanks for stopping by!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @debnance #SingMeToSleep #TheSecondChanceStore #KillerTraitorSpy #Lowbridge
Sorry you have been sick! That is miserable. Hopefully you are back to 100% soon!
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I am so sorry you are feeling badly. I’m on day 7 of Covid so feel your pain. I hope you feel better soon!
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Hope you feel better soon. Have a great week and enjoy all your reads.
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I really hope you’ll feel much better this week!
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I’m sorry you’ve been felled by such a miserable chronic condition – I know how it feels when you find yourself once again unable to take part in everyday life. I hope you are soon as well as you are able:)). I love the sound of The Second Chance Store – we have a couple of superb charity shops in our local town which have been a lifesaver for me, recently:)). Have a much better week, Shelleyrae!
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Thanks Sarah
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I’m sorry you haven’t been feeling well and I hope you’re feeling more like yourself now. Being on the west coast of Canada, your Monday posts fall at the beginning of my day Sunday which always throws me off! I hope you have a great week.
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A glimpse into the future 🙂
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I hope you will be feeling much better quickly so you can enjoy your children when they are home.
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Ugh, sorry you’ve been sick. Hope you’re feeling better soon. All your books are new to me, but they look good.
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Hope you’re feeling better! And enjoy the time with your daughter home. That’s always good. 🙂
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Glad you’re feeling better and hope you’re 100% soon so you can enjoy time with your daughter!
The Second Chance Store and Lowbridge soundsgood, I order them.
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Glad you’re back. And I hope you feel totally better soon.
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Ah so sorry to hear you been fighting off lurgies, not fun. The books look interesting. Me – still getting over Fourth Wing which I loved but gave me a ” no other book will match, whatever I pick up”!
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I like the look of The Second Chance Store. Doesn’t that sound promising?! I hope I can find it around here.
I’m so sorry that flu ignited other health issues. I hope you are feeling better.
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I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well. I hope you are on the road to recovery.
The Second Chance Store looks really good. I’ll have to look for that one.
I hope you have a great week!
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Oh man…so sorry you’ve had the flu on top of everything else!
Hey 5 books ahead of schedule though! Woo hoo!
Feel better!
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I’m sorry to hear you’ve been sick! I hope you feel better and enjoy your time with your kids! Have a lovely week!
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Glad to hear you are feeling better. It must have been good to have the kids home.
The Second Chance Store caught my eye. Hope you enjoy your books.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/06/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_25.html
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Take care, Shelleyrae. I hope your current flare of HS settles quickly.
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Sorry you were feeling bad. I hope you feel better soon.
Sunday Post: https://rabbitearsblog80.wordpress.com/2023/06/25/social-updates-2-a-quiet-week/
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Looks like you have some interesting reading ahead. It appears we’re in several of the same challenges and at about the same place…..about half way through most of them. Thanks for the visit.
Have a terrific week.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
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Once again I wish I lived donw the street so I could bring you homemade soup and bread. Hope things get better soon. When you hadn’t posted in a bit I was going to check in with you.
Good book list here 🙂
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Thanks Tina, I appreciate the thought
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I hope you feel better soon. You have a wonderful assortment of books on your stack. Those mysteries sound especially good. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
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So sorry you were sick but glad you are feeling better. I have The Second Chance Store coming up next on my reading list and am so looking forward to it. I love a good found family story. Have a great week!
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So sorry you’ve been unwell, glad you are feeling a bit better. Here’s to 100% better. Enjoy your reading.
Here’s What I’m Reading
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Take care x
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I hope you feel better soon! I like the tempting titles, and I’m curious about The Second Chance Store. Enjoy your week.
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I hope you’re feeling better soon. You’re doing great on your challenges at this point in the year.
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I love Ayliffe’s title with the fun connection to Le Carré’s classic.
I hope you are feeling better soon
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I love the sound of Second Chance Store. I’ll be added it to my tbr.
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Oh no, I am sorry to hear that you haven’t been feeling well! Hopefully you are doing better!
Second Chance Store sounds really good!
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I hope you feel better really soon.
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