It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins – one of my favourite authors
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon- on the finishing line….almost there 🙂
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
What I’m reading /listening to next:
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you’re continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.
And the book I am waiting for is…
From the blurb:
A dazzling new fantasy from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, Sound the Gong is the powerful, inventive, and sweeping follow-up to Strike the Zither.
All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.
Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along . . . only the heavens know.
**************
Expected Publication Date: April 30, 2024
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Fantasy
Series: Kingdom of Three (Book 1: Strike the Zither)
ISBN 9781250855367, 1250855365
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Book 1 in the series:
Strike the Zither
In this epic YA fantasy about found family, rivals, and questions of identity, New York Times–bestselling author Joan He reimagines the Three Kingdoms, the first of the four classics of Chinese literature.
The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm’s fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.
But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.
Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land, serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress Xin Bao is double-edged; her honor draws Zephyr to her cause, but it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.
About the author:
Joan He was born and raised in Philadelphia but still, on occasion, loses her way. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that stories are her favorite kind of art. She studied psychology and Chinese history at the University of Pennsylvania and now writes from Chicago. She is the bestselling author of The Ones We’re Meant to Find, Strike the Zither, and Descendant of the Crane, her young adult debut novel. joanhewrites.com@joanhewrites
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon- it’s just a very, very long book with lots of characters and intertwining stories and legends. I confess to being overwhelmed…Luckily, for Yesha this is the second time she’s reading the book and she’s been patiently directing me through this maze.
What I’m reading /listening to next:
The Fifth Season by N.K.Jemisin
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you’re continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.
And the book I am waiting for is…
From the blurb:
From New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth, comes a twisty new domestic suspense novel.
From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you’d meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It’s a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild, and they thought they were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself. DARLING GIRLS asks the questions: what are we capable of when in a desperate place? How much can we hide the demons inside us? And can the past ever truly be buried?
**************
Expected Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Publisher: St.Martin’s Press
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
ISBN 9781250284525, 125028452X
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About the author:
SALLY HEPWORTH has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada. She is the author of The Secrets of Midwives, The Things We Keep, The Mother’s Promise, The Family Next Door, The Mother-in-Law, The Good Sister, The Younger Wife, and The Soulmate.
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon- taking it slow, slow 🙂
What I’m reading /listening to next:
The Fifth Season by N.K.Jemisin
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Medusa by Jessie Burton- what can I say? I’m a mythology junkie….
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
What I’m reading /listening to next:
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguen- easy to read and relate to.
The loneliest girl in the universe by Lauren James- I am in the middle of a long and rich in terms of world-building fantasy read, which means I needed something very different to counterbalance it and this one worked like a treat.
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon -My first book by this author and so far I’m really enjoying this very detailed, steeped in legends world.
What I’m reading /listening to next:
Thicker than Water by Megan Collins
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid- in the end I liked this one even more than Malibu Rising…although the first part was so angsty that I almost put the book aside. It all makes sense as this was exactly what Carrie’s mental landscape is like at the time, so just keep reading- definitely staying in and getting to the end.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Byron
What I am reading/listening to now:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguen
What I’m reading /listening to next:
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Nona the Ninth – I thought I was going to wait a little before starting the third book in the Locked Tomb series, but the allure of Tamsyn Muir’s writing once again proved irresistible. Out of all three books published so far, Harrow was the easiest to read, the most straightforward. Nona will throw you into an already familiar state of confusion and, although you will quickly form your opinion on who she is, you aren’t going to be sure until the very end.
The Forest of Stolen Girls and The Red Palace– I really enjoyed these YA (the protagonists are 17 and 18 respectively) historical thrillers/mysteries. This is a very rare genre for me, but the writing style is so calm and elegant that it was a welcome respite after the manic confusion of the Locked Tomb. Highly recommended if you love history, strong female characters, stories about sisters or female friendships, clean romance, or anything Korean. I’m now on the third book The Silence of Bones, which is chronologically the latest, but the books are not connected in any way and can be read in any order.
Falling by T.J.Newman– okay…I’m going to be in minority here, but I didn’t particularly enjoy this one. Might be high expectations or just wrong time…
What I am reading/listening to now:
Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
What I’m reading /listening to next:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Byron
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
Yellowface by R.F.Kuang- I put this one on hold for a couple weeks becouse of work commitments and all the travelling I had to do, but actually the writing is excellent and the book is definitely worth the hype.
What I’m reading /listening to next:
choices, choices, choices….
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Falling by T.J.Newman
…or something else?
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
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