It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

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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Though it’s barely two weeks into Spring, the weather is already warm here. At 33c (91F) yesterday I turned the air conditioner on for the first time in months only to get an error code. It’s an issue that requires a technician so I have a call in to a local repair company and I’m really hoping they get back to me today, as the high temperatures are expected all week. I wasted all yesterday afternoon trying to find the receipt for the unit in case it was still in warranty, but it ran out earlier this year of course!

Other than that current drama it’s been a quiet week. My husband drove our youngest daughter back to campus yesterday. I finished binge watching Nancy Drew, and now I’m searching for something else.

This week is my youngest son’s high school graduation ceremony.

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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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Transgression by Roger Simpson

Resurrection by Roger Simpson

Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery

The Golden Spoon by Jessica Maxwell

You’d Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

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New Posts…

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Review: Life and Otter Miracles by Hazel Prior

Review: Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans

Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

Bookshelf Bounty

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What I’m Reading This Week…

A feast for the senses, this sumptuously illustrated book will introduce you to some of the most infamous women throughout world history, united by their shared taste for poison. Welcome to the League of Lady Poisoners.

This riveting and well-researched volume by Lisa Perrin weaves together the stories of more than twenty-five accused women poisoners, exploring the circumstances and skill sets that led them to lives of crime.

You might find yourself rooting for some of them—like Sally Bassett, who helped poison her granddaughter’s enslavers in Bermuda, or Giulia Tofana, who sold her name-brand concoction to women wanting to be rid of their abusive (or otherwise undesirable) husbands. Other stories, though—including that of Yiya Murano, one of Argentina’s most notorious swindlers and serial killers, or the terrifying Nurse Jane Toppan—may prove less palatable.

Organized into thematic chapters based on the women’s motives, the book also includes an illustrated primer that delves into the origins and effects of common poisons throughout history, as well as a foreword by Holly Frey and Maria Trimarchi, creators and hosts of the podcast Criminalia. It is a treat for true crime fans, feminist history buffs, and any curious readers fascinated by the more macabre side of human nature.

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The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve The Hexologists.

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.

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Some stories are too good to be true …

In the year 1861, there were three campfires burning outside the gold mining town of Mull Creek, in the British colony of Victoria.

At the first is Jesus Whitetree, an escaped orphan with no knowledge of his new world, not even his age or real name. He only knows he wants to find gold. Gold makes everything good.

At the second fire is the Jack Pink Gang. Jack is a little-known bushranger who is a violent criminal by day and a nervous wreck by night. His mother — a notorious criminal known throughout the colony as Mother Pink — engages the services of a bush poet to get Jack’ s name in the newspapers and make him feared and famous.

And at the third fire is Mary, a young Aboriginal girl, and police constable Harry Logan. Harry has a good heart, but he also has Mary in chains. Despite her hard life and current circumstances, Mary remains smart, cheeky and troublesome to the struggling policeman.

With the announcement of the first Melbourne Cup, all three parties descend upon Melbourne town.

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Yuwonderie’s seven founding families have lorded it over their district for a century, growing ever more rich and powerful.

But now—in startling circumstances—one of their own is found dead in a ditch and homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate.

Could the murder be connected to the execution of the victim’s friend thirty years ago—another member of The Seven—or even the long-forgotten story of a servant girl on the brink of the Great War?

What are the secrets The Seven are so desperate to keep hidden?

With the killer still on the loose, and events spiralling out of control, the closer Ivan and Nell get to discovering the truth, the more dangerous their investigation becomes. Can they crack the case before more people die?

The Seven is a compelling thriller filled with intrigue, emotional depth and an evocative sense of place—where nothing is ever quite what it seems. Chris Hammer, the acclaimed and bestselling author of the international bestsellers Scrublands, Treasure & Dirt and The Tilt can take his place among the world’s finest crime writers.

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Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @debnance. On my schedule this week #TheLeagueofLadyPoisoners #TheHexologists #GoodAsGold #TheSeven