This Week in Books (8th March, 2023)

Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

| LAST BOOK I FINISHED READING |

It’s the year 2035 and fiction has been banned by the government for five years. Writing novels is a crime. Reading fairytales to children is punishable by law.

Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.

But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding? And who can be trusted?

[I kept postponing to pick this one up, because I wasn’t a fan of Louise’s previous book and I was somewhat worried I wouldn’t like this one either. As it turns out, I flew through it in one day and I think it’s probably one of her best ones so far. If not *the* best.]

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

Ruby Winter is surprised when her reclusive father invites a strange soldier into their house. Intrigued, she tries to eavesdrop on their conversation, but is alarmed when she hears a fight break out. She dashes into the kitchen to save her dad, but he’s not the one in trouble.

The soldier has been stabbed and is bleeding out on the floor. Refusing her pleas to call an ambulance, her dad urges her to pack a bag – they have to run. As they try to escape,her dad is shot and Ruby is chased by one of the soldier’s comrades but is hidden by Lucas, a village lad she has ignored up till now.

Ruby and Lucas see a military-style ambulance whisk her dad away. She is desperate to find him but the village is quickly under siege. The roads in have been blocked and soldiers are patrolling the streets, urging everyone to stay indoors for their own safety.

Ruby must work out who took her father and why. But what if learning the truth means discovering the life she once knew was a lie?

[Although I’ve had Trevor Wood’s ‘Man on the Street’ on my shelf for ages, I still haven’t read it. So this will be my first introduction to his books. I’m really looking forward to it.]

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.

The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford’s new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non’s fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on.

Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker’s death. But between the corporate malfeasance and the medical quacks, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem.…

[Dark and miserable days mean I can’t read print books very well unless I turn on the lights, which I refuse to do so it’s a Netgalley ARC week for me. I really enjoyed this author’s Teifi Valley Coroner series and I’m expecting good things from this new one.]

What are you reading this week? Do let me know and I wish you lots of happy reading! xx