I'm pretty exhausted this week. Very busy at work and at home, and the dog keeps stealing the covers and waking me up at 4am! I am also pretty behind on my reading and haven't taken the time to do any blogging. But....I can do WWW Wednesday - abbreviated, at least!
What I Finished Reading
I heard about this one in a Twitter galley chat before it was published and was just able to finish it recently. It's a debut by Caz Frear, and there have been some great reviews for this book. So good that I'm a little intimidated to review it myself!
Sweet Little Lies is a very well-written police procedural set in and around London. The main character, DC Cat Kinsella, is recovering from witnessing the aftermath of a horrific crime, and her superiors aren't sure she's ready to work another murder scene. Stuffing down her memories, as she has done many times over the years, Cat begins to investigate a puzzling crime that turns out to be connected to her childhood. The tension on whether Cat will, and should, reveal what she knows about the victim drives this story. With excellent character development, dialogue, pace and descriptive writing, I completely fell under its spell, and did not want to stop reading. Will happily recommend this one!
What I'm Currently Reading
Shooting its way to the number one spot on the NYT Best Seller List the second week of publication, Daniel Silva's latest spy novel starring art restorer and Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is his best one yet, according to many, many readers of the series. Although HarperCollins sent me an ARC, which is resting prominently on my bookshelf, I waited for the audiobook, narrated by the amazing George Guidall before diving in. I had a little trouble figuring out how to listen to eAudiobooks in my older car (auxiliary outlet, blue tooth, etc.) but boy am I glad I stuck it out and conquered that technology! If I forget to turn it down when I unplug the cable, the volume of the radio about launches me out of the car, but other than that, it's been a nice addition to my commute.
I've been a fan of this series since its inception, and this one does not disappoint, with a Russian mole at its center that Gabriel and his crew must ferret out to save the world, once again.
After finishing the amazing door-stopper Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, I decided to check out the first book in his Divine Cities Trilogy, City of Stairs, another excellent fantasy novel with elaborate world-building and characterization. When I put down all my digital devices (phone, computer, tablet) at night due to the insomnia they cause me, I read a few chapters of this one. It will take me some time to get through, as it requires focused attention to follow the plot.
Set in a world where the old gods have been killed by a new technology, and miracles no longer exist, an accomplished female spy is sent to investigate an unusual murder and discovers that the divine gods may not be as dead as everyone believes. Filled with well drawn characters, magic and a setting that is a character all its own, City of Stairs is worth checking out if you enjoy fantasy novels with complex worlds.
What I Plan to Read Next
I really want to read Louise Penny's new Inspector Gamache and Craig Johnson's new Longmire, but I am saving them for a special occasion! I will probably read The Spaceship Next Door, though, as I want to see about adding it to the SFF collection that I manage at the library. It's a coming-of-age tale about a spaceship that arrives in a quiet mill town in Massachusetts, and....just sits there. Sixteen year old Annie Collins may be the key to unraveling the mystery of this uninvited and unwelcome guest. It's an adult book with YA cross-over appeal that just came out last week. More will be revealed....
Happy Reading!!
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