WWW Wednesday – December 22, 2021

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading: The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman, about a meteorologist who loses her job and has to take the only news station that will hire her – in her hometown in Northern Michigan, which she has avoided for years.

I am listening to Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay, in which Matt Pine’s family dies unexpectedly while on a trip to Mexico: all except him and his brother Danny who is in jail for murder. Are the two situations related? It is up to Danny (not the most likable guy) and FBI agent Sarah Keller to find out.

My third book is a reread of the beloved Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd. This book is so funny in a supremely understated way that I smile at every page. I see that I borrowed this from my school library and never returned it.  Probably just as well - when I poked my head into the library at my last reunion it was beautiful and new, and so were the books!  Way too new! It would have been discarded into lesser hands long ago.

Back in print!

Just finished: XOXO by Axie Oh. This was a cute story about a Korean American girl who goes to visit her grandmother in Korea and falls for a K-pop star who can’t afford to upset his fans by having a girlfriend. I enjoyed the glimpses of Korean culture but the boy was too good to be true and the whole book seemed like prolonged wish fulfillment. Jenny herself is a gifted musician which added some much-needed conflict.

I also just read American Spy by Lauren Wilkerson set in 1986 about a black female FBI agent. The reviews were good and I wanted to really like this but I got bored, not to mention the plot and politics (primarily revealed in flashbacks) were confusing, especially as to the sister's fate.

And one of my favorites this month was Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke, a romantic comedy. My review.

Next up: Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson, part of the January 2022 reissues coming from Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press. If I have read this one, it was so long ago I don’t remember, so it will be a treat.  I just read The Fair Miss Fortune, another January reissue.

For January, my book group decided to read The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, based on the real-life story about Belle da Costa Greene who was hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library.

I am also planning to read a mystery I ordered from Great Britain for my sister, so it has to be read and wrapped by Saturday. Shhh! It’s a secret but looks good and isn’t published in the US yet.

Have you read any of these?