Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:
- What are you currently reading?
- What did you recently finish reading?
- What do you think you’ll read next?
Why not join in too? Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!
Currently reading
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (audiobook)
Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip, and when she learns that the word means “slave girl,” she begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.
As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.
Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré (paperback)
Nat, a veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, thinks his years as an agent runner are over. But MI6 have other plans. To tackle the growing threat from Moscow Centre, Nat is put in charge of The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. His weekly badminton session with the young, introspective, Brexit-hating Ed, offers respite from the new job. But it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Nat down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.
This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech (eARC, courtesy of Orenda Books and Random Things Tours)
Sebastian James Murphy is twenty years, six months and two days old. He loves swimming, fried eggs and Billy Ocean. Sebastian is autistic. And lonely. Veronica wants her son Sebastian to be happy … she wants the world to accept him for who he is. She is also thinking about paying a professional to give him what he desperately wants. Violetta is a high-class escort, who steps out into the night thinking only of money. Of her nursing degree. Paying for her dad’s care. Getting through the dark. When these three lives collide – intertwine in unexpected ways – everything changes. For everyone.
Recently finished
Links from the titles will take you to my review.
The Baby Is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Everyday Magic by Charlie Laidlaw
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Sword of Bone by Anthony Rhodes
What Cathy (will) Read Next
The Serpent King by Tim Hodkinson (eARC, courtesy of Head of Zeus)
The fight for vengeance has no victors…
AD 936. The great warrior, Einar Unnsson, wants revenge. His mother’s assassin has stolen her severed head and Einar is hungry for his blood. Only one thing holds him back. He is a newly sworn in Wolf Coat, and must accompany them on their latest quest.
The Wolf Coats are a band of fearsome bloodthirsty warriors, who roam the seas, killing any enemies who get in their way. Now they’re determined to destroy their biggest enemy, King Eirik, as he attempts to take the throne of Norway. Yet, for Einar, the urge to return to Iceland is growing every day. Only there, in his homeland, can he avenge his mother and salve his grief.
But what Einar doesn’t know is that this is where an old enemy lurks, and his thirst for vengeance equals Einar’s…
Such a varied bunch! I have my eye on The Dictionary of Lost Words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It started off a bit slowly for me but I’m liking it more and more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have never read a John le Carré book, but I have a couple on my shelf. One of them is on my 2021 TBR, so I am keeping my fingers crossed I will like it!
LikeLike
I’m enjoying this current one but I don’t think it will compete with his earlier Cold War ones such as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold or his George Smiley trilogy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This Is How We Are Human sounds very special. I don’t think I’ve heard of a similar plot. I’ll have to keep it in mind. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
I am curious about The Baby Is Mine. Enjoy your books, and thanks for visiting my blog.
LikeLike
I can’t wait to read This Is How We Are Human! I’ve loved all her books so far so expectations are high. Enjoy your books this week and happy reading! Here’s my WWW.
LikeLike
I think you will love it 😁
LikeLike
I do like the sound of that lost words book!
LikeLike
This Is How We Are Human intrigues me. The synopsis reminds me a bit of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
LikeLike