WWW Wednesday -- 20 October 2021

I've been hunting for new places to linkup to since my reading life has gone a bit haywire ... but in a good way. I've typically done Tuesdays and Fridays but what about the books that get started or even finished in the meantime? I have so many posts piled up waiting to be published right now and the books keep coming in and they keep getting read and I don't seem to be able to stop myself ... nor do I necessarily want to. I've got a mini vacation coming up in December and I've already got posts ready to auto-publish when I'm gone, but that only takes care of a couple of days at most.

Way back in early 2017, before my life started being problematic, I participated in WWW Wednesdays over at Taking On A World Of Words. I only meant to take a brief respite but, well, better late than not at all, right?

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

My Current Read : 

At the time of this typing, I am reading Jane K. Cleland's Jane Austen's Lost Letters, thanks to NetGalley and the kind folks at St. Martin's/Minotaur. I was more than a bit hesitant about starting this because it's the fourteenth book in a series I have never laid eyes on before. If you've been here ... ever ... you probably know about my fixation on reading things in order. BUT. There must be some exceptions and Jane Austen will probably always warrant an exception being made to just about every rule.

Luckily, so far anyway, I don't feel at all lost for not having read any of the previous thirteen books in the series. Even better? I now have thirteen new-to-me books on the ever-growing TBR. I don't know much about the world of antiques and never really figured I would care to know, but now I'm more than a bit fascinated at least with what goes into the art of authenticating letters. It helps when those letters may have been written by one of my favorite people. It's too bad the expert on the method that most intrigued me (dealing with weight and pressure points and whatnot) got knocked off fairly early in the book. I certainly hope Josie Prescott is good at solving murders and the person is dealt with most heinously. I'm guessing all will be resolved satisfactorily.  It is the fourteenth book, after all.

Recently Finished :

Thanks to another NetGalley grab, I read the first two books in Heather Redmond's A Dickens of a Crime series -- A Tale of Two Murders and Grave Expectations. Those will be reviewed/teased/posted this coming Friday and then the ARC in question probably next week. To be completely honest, had it not been for the ARC, I might not have bothered to continue after the first book. At least it was better than another ARC that I was in the process of slogging my way through. That one ended up making me a bit ranty so I scrapped it and took a mental health break with Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper's amazing Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village -- which you can find rambled about and teased here. After my brain breather I continued on with the second in the series. I may not squeeze the third one in, but I'll likely backtrack for it at some point.

What's Next :

I do, of course, have Heather Redmond's The Pickwick Murders coming due for review. That's set for release on the 26th of October which is a Tuesday which works perfectly with the regular swing of things around here. 

Beyond that, I have a bunch of back ARCs that got lost in the shuffle that I could/should get around to reading and there are two coming up in mid-November that I could grab. What I'll probably do, though, is get a start on Robert Bryndza's Kate Marshall series with Nine Elms. The ARC for the third in the series is already calling my name and that's not out until December. I should have plenty of time for the first two. Besides, I didn't have an "N" title for my Alphabet Soup challenge yet.

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered ... by Maureen Johnson & Jay Cooper (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Title: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village

Author: Maureen Johnson 

Illustrator: Jay Cooper

Publication: 14 September 2021

Format: Hardcover

Amazon Description: 

A weekend roaming narrow old lanes, touring the faded glories of a country manor, and quaffing pints in the pub. How charming. That is, unless you have the misfortune of finding yourself in an English Murder Village, where danger lurks around each picturesque cobblestone corner and every sip of tea may be your last. If you insist on your travels, do yourself a favor and bring a copy of this little book. It may just keep you alive. 
Brought to life with dozens of Gorey-esque drawings by illustrator Jay Cooper and peppered with allusions to classic crime series and unmistakably British murder lore, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village gives you the tools you need to avoid the same fate, should you find yourself in a suspiciously cozy English village (or simply dream of going). Good luck! And whatever you do, avoid the vicar.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

From time to time Amazon really gets me. Of course, they know my likes better than most, I suppose. My watchlist is full of things like Midsomer Murders, Marple, Agatha Raisin. My bookish wishlist is full of Agatha Christie, Robin Stevens, Regency mysteries, and, well, basically books where one might easily get murdered in a quaint English village.

When I saw Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village on my recommendations I scoffed for a millisecond and then I clicked "Buy Now." 

This was not my planned post for today. It's a difficult one to do any sort of justice to and I really wasn't sure how I would pull off my typical graphic collage dealie for the teasers. The book I had planned ended up being such a bust that I only ranted on Goodreads about it ... and then I grabbed my Guide for a little mental health break. I've only read it five times or so since it arrived Friday evening. So far I've shared it with my bestie, one of my favorite co-workers, random people checking into the hotel who've seen it sitting next to me at the front desk ... and now, you. They've each only gotten a glimpse and so far everyone wants a copy. You, dear readers, get a couple of glimpses. 

I was originally going to try and eek out the entire opening note but there's not nearly enough room to make it all legible and, besides, you need this book. Trust me. The opening (and the ending -- and everything in between) is worth it. Go digital if you must, but this is one that should really be held. 

So that's the "Intro" out of the way. Then came the difficulty of what else to tease. It's broken down like a typical tourist guidebook. Where to go, who to see, what to do. Of course, since we're in a Quaint English Village, each comes with a warning. I decided to go with what would most likely be my first stop at the local Manor .... and, possibly, my last. 

I've never been very good at following directions.

THE LIBRARY

It's best not to pull books down at random. Things ... happen sometimes.

If you were closer, I might let you borrow the book. 

Briefly. 

While in my presence. 

Since you aren't, though, I highly recommend that you just get your own. 

Even the back cover points out that your life may depend on it.

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two
of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two
from anywhere in the book currently being read.