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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I hope you’ve had a lovely time over Christmas and New Year with family and friends. Ours has been quiet but still somehow busy. Aside from the holidays we’ve also been celebrating my youngest son’s 18th birthday the weekend before last, and my youngest daughter’s 21st birthday (which is today). It’s also my brother’s birthday next weekend, and since he was in town for a week (he lives in the Northern Territory), we had a family lunch yesterday to celebrate all three.

 

As for the blog, since the weeks leading up to Christmas I’ve found myself in a review slump. I just can’t seem to string a sentence together that I am happy with. To be honest I’m still struggling, so I am awfully behind. I’m going to work at it, but with a full house right now, including my husband who is off work until Jan 22nd, it might take a while.

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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop Hwang Bo-reum

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Everything to Play For by James Harkin & Anna Ptaszynski

The Wiregrass by Adrian Hyland

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray

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New Posts…

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Review: Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black ★★★★

Review: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon ★★★★1/2

Review: Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath ★★★1/2

Review: Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum ★★★1/2

Review: The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose ★★★1/2

Review: Everything to Play For by James Harkin & Anna Ptaszynski ★★★1/2

Bookshelf Bounty

In 2023…My Life in Books Tag

The End of the Year 2023 Wrap Up

Challenging Myself in 2024

2023 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Wrap Up

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Inspiration #History #Memoir/Biography

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What I’m Reading This Week…

 

Three women. Three blazing stories of violent resistance. Three complicated paths to justice.
Brittany Smith, a young Alabama woman, killed a man she said raped her in her home, but was denied a self-defense claim. Angoori Dahariya led a gang in Uttar Pradesh, India, dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse. Cicek Mustafa Zibo fought in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria.
Each woman has been criticised for their actions by those who believe that violence is never the answer; yet each has transmuted a story of pain into a story of power.
In this intimate, shocking and rigorous investigation, award-winning journalist Elizabeth Flock examines the lives of three women who chose to use lethal force to gain power, safety, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect them – government, police, courts – utterly failed to do so. In luminous prose, Flock asks searching questions about cultures in which violence seems like the only means of survival, where deeply ingrained ideas about masculinity have helped breed the unsafe conditions that women face.
Can women’s acts of vengeance help to create lasting change in misogynistic and paternalistic systems, or will they ultimately hurt their cause? The novelistic accounts of these three women offer profound insights into the quest for understanding what a society where women have real power might look like.

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Enter at your own risk―and discover the greatest show unearthed in this explosive, darkly imaginative debut fantasy…
For humans, the circus is a place filled with wonder and amazement. For Harrow, though, it’s a place to hide from those who slaughtered her entire clan. Disguising her abilities as part of her act has kept her true identity safe for years.
Until he arrives.
A strange new attraction with no name, no memory of who―or even what―he is, let alone an explanation for his odd yet deadly powers. But beneath the layers of anger and isolation, one glimpse into his inky eyes reveals a soul that calls out to the loneliness in her own.
And so she chooses him.
Harrow is drawn to the darkness, to her insatiable need to soothe the beast who threatens their very existence. But with every secret she unlocks from his past, another from hers whispers free as well―luring enemies who will stop at nothing to get their final revenge on Harrow. And she’s afraid she’s given them the perfect weapon against her…because he’s not what he seems.
But maybe it’s time they finally learn―neither is she.

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Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.
So when his wife leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him.
Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate.
But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, Cole soon realises they don’t know each other very well at all . . .  
If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?

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This summer, one woman is going after what she wants and nothing will stand in her way – not even the handsome man next door.
Gillian has been happily single for several years and, after trying a few dating apps, prefers to stay that way. Navigating her way through dates with fat-shamers and lacklustre men has left her with no desire to do anything other than spend time in her garden. Who needs rude comments and awkward first dates when soft roses and vibrant tulips are so much better?
Then Noah moves in next door. Moody, grumpy and way too opinionated, her new neighbour threatens to turn her peaceful sanctuary into a war zone. But with a gardening contest fast approaching, Gillian needs to keep her eye on the prize – and cultivate her happy place on her own terms.

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Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @thebookdate #SundayPost @Kimbacaffeinate #SundaySalon @debnance