WWW Wednesday: 3rd of June 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book tag hosted by Taking on a World of Words that is all about what we’re currently reading.

Disclaimer: I tend to read a lot of books at once across e-books, physical books, and audiobooks. It helps me battle reading fatigue and slumps because I always have various different formats and genres to choose from to suit my mood. However, I realize reading a bunch of books at once isn’t for everyone so if my first “W” sends you screaming for the hills I totally understand.

CURRENTLY READING:

• I have a few books on my “Currently Reading” shelf that are languishing a bit, but I am making progress! I should be done with Watson on the Orient Express and Rivers of London this week. Both have been quite fun, albeit very different, rides.

• Motherless Brooklyn is my latest library audiobook check out. Gritty but fascinating, I’m really enjoying it so far.

• Johnny Hunter is an ARC that I should also be able to finish this week mostly due to its short length. Fewer than 200 pages, it is about a Cheyenne boy living on the rez in the 1970s. When I requested it I didn’t realize that the author was not Cheyenne or even indigenous. He’s white and has a “fascination with Native Americans.” I can’t say I’m too thrilled with this, but I’ll give the writer the benefit of the doubt until I’ve finished reading the book.

• Never Ever Tell is an ARC I’m going to be part of a blog tour for later this month. It’s another one I have reservations about, mainly because none of the characters are making any sense to me. I’ll wait to see how it all plays out before judging it any further, though.

FINISHED READING:

Well, The Secrets We Kept certainly wasn’t the spy novel I was expecting, but it was a thrilling read nonetheless. Covering the lives of several women in the 1950s, it’s mainly about the CIA’s attempt to undermine the Soviet regime by the mass publication of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. The narrative focused on the women involved in the endeavor as well as their personal lives and relationships with each other.

Some of the characters were based on real people so that led me to learn more about them outside of the book. I’ve discovered quite a bit about Pasternak and his life, as well as about the USSR and the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. I went to the site of the fair when I was in Belgium in 2018 so I kind of wish I’d read this first!

I also adored the early shout out to the greatest spy who ever lived (IMHO), Virginia Hall.

READING NEXT:

The Bone Jar is a book I’ll be reading as part of a blog tour in a few weeks. My copy just arrived today and I can’t wait to dive into it!

“Two murders. An abandoned asylum. Will a mysterious former patient help untangle the dark truth?”

Have you read any of these or plan to? Which books made it to your WWW? Let me know in the comments!