To Kill a Mocking Girl by Harper Kincaid (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Title: To Kill a Mocking Girl

Author: Harper Kincaid

Publication: 12 May 2020

Format: Kindle ebook

Amazon Description

Quinn Victoria Caine is back in her quirky town of Vienna, Virginia, starting her new life as a bookbinder in her family-owned, charm-for-days bookshop, Prose & Scones. With her trusty German Shephard, RBG—‘Ruff Barker’ Ginsburg—by her side, what can go wrong?
 
Okay, sure, bumping into her ex, Scott, or her former high school nemesis, Tricia, is a drag. It certainly doesn’t help that they have acquired the new hobby of shoving their recent engagement in her face every chance they get. But that doesn’t mean Quinn wanted to find Tricia dead in the road. So why does half the town think she may have done it?

Quinn is determined to find Tricia’s killer, even if it means partnering with her cousin-turned-nun, Sister Daria, and Detective Aiden Harrington, her older brother’s ‘too-movie-star-handsome-for-his-own good’ best friend. They believe she’s innocent, but of course that doesn't influence the police, who peg her as their prime suspect. Or, at least until she’s poisoned.

But there is no way Quinn is going to stop now. Vienna is her town and—for better or worse—Tricia was one of their own. Someone may have killed the mocking girl, but no one’s going to stop the notorious QVC.

 

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I'm not very far into this one yet, but I'm already ecstatic that I have the second one already on my NetGalley shelf waiting for me .... and it's been a while since I've been "ecstatic" about anything. I think what really hooked me first is the tight relationship between Quinn, her brother, and their cousin. Yeah, I know there will probably be some romantic mushy crap at some point, but if the rest of the book stays as good as it's been so far I might be able to overlook it. [Yes, I'm still "woe is me"-ing and very much anti-romance ... and pro-murder.]

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"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.

 

 

Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

Title: Operation Mincemeat

Author: Ben Macintyre

Publication: 4 May 2010/reprint: 5 April 2011

Format: paperback & Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

The “brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining” (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker) true story of the most successful—and certainly the strangest—deception carried out in World War II, from the acclaimed author of The Spy and the Traitor

“Pure catnip to fans of World War II thrillers and a lot of fun for everyone else.”—Joseph Kanon, The Washington Post Book World

Near the end of World War II, two British naval officers came up with a brilliant and slightly mad scheme to mislead the Nazi armies about where the Allies would attack southern Europe. To carry out the plan, they would have to rely on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man.

Ben Macintyre’s dazzling, critically acclaimed bestseller chronicles the extraordinary story of what happened after British officials planted this dead body—outfitted in a British military uniform with a briefcase containing false intelligence documents—in Nazi territory, and how this secret mission fooled Hitler into changing military positioning, paving the way for the Allies’ drive to victory.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

This is going to take me a while to get through. 

This is not a fluff cozy. 

It's not even fiction..... entirely.

It is most definitely intense and not at all something that I want to try and read while otherwise distracted with things like work -- hence why I'm only on the third chapter right now. I did, of course, jump ahead to find the perfect "56" which ended up coming on page 256 of my paperback. 

There is a Netflix movie based on the book that I'll watch once I'm done. The cast is amazing, of course, and so far so is the book -- even only three chapters and a blurb in.

 

 

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Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

 

 

 

 

WWW Wednesday - 25 January 2023

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

 

I finally finished The Winter King and it was absolutely amazing. It ended up getting three blog posts all of its own -- plus the mention in last week's WWW Wednesday "Currently Reading." It you want to see some teasers, they were posted Tuesday, Friday, and in the wee small hours of Monday. I almost went straight into the next one in the trilogy as it's already on my actual bookshelf, but the whole "should be reading" guilt got to me and I grabbed from my NetGalley shelf instead...

 

Misha Popp's A Good Day to Pie wasn't quite what I was expecting as a follow-up to Magic, Lies and Deadly Pies -- one of my favorite debuts of 2022. It wasn't bad and I flew through it in maybe a day and a half, but it was far more "cozy mystery" and less "serial killer heroine" than the first.

Currently Reading:

I had no idea who Ben Macintyre was until I watched Rogue Heroes on Epix and before the first episode was completely done I had quite a collection of Macintyre books on the way. I threw them all on my bed before heading out to work Tuesday night, closed my eyes, and just grabbed one at random. Operation Mincemeat won the random grab.

Amazon Description:

 The “brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining” (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker) true story of the most successful—and certainly the strangest—deception carried out in World War II, from the acclaimed author of The Spy and the Traitor

“Pure catnip to fans of World War II thrillers and a lot of fun for everyone else.”—Joseph Kanon, The Washington Post Book World

Near the end of World War II, two British naval officers came up with a brilliant and slightly mad scheme to mislead the Nazi armies about where the Allies would attack southern Europe. To carry out the plan, they would have to rely on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man.

Ben Macintyre’s dazzling, critically acclaimed bestseller chronicles the extraordinary story of what happened after British officials planted this dead body—outfitted in a British military uniform with a briefcase containing false intelligence documents—in Nazi territory, and how this secret mission fooled Hitler into changing military positioning, paving the way for the Allies’ drive to victory.

It's not at all my normal type of read but I think that might be exactly what I need right now.

 

 

What's Next?

Yeah, it should be a NetGalley. There are sooooooo many. I figure I'll just keep alternating my NetGalley shelf with what I either already actually own or books I "should" read before the ones on NetGalley because of series continuity and whatnot. I keep getting books that aren't the first in a series so backtracking is a must. I'm still largely avoiding romance because I've already cried every day for 47 days straight and I really would rather not continue that trend .... but pretty much anything I read that's good will cause tears anyway because once upon a time (like, 48 days ago) they would have then been shared .... but whatever.  Operation Mincemeat (really, any of the Macintyres) would most certainly fall into the "ooooh he would love this" category and will probably need at least one box of non-romance-related kleenex so maybe not the best option for the "Currently Reading." I'll try to pick something he wouldn't care about for whatever comes next....

 

A Good Day to Pie by Misha Popp (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Title: A Good Day to Pie

Author: Misha Popp

Publication: 7 February 2023

Format: Kindle eARC via NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books

Amazon Description

Daisy bakes a little murder into every pie she creates, and she and her dog, Zoe, deliver them to the town’s worst cads. Now, Daisy’s entered a televised, elimination-style competition and has a shot at $100k in prize money—but she still has a murder pie to deliver between filming.
 
In a completely unexpected turn of events, she discovers that her intended victim is one of the competition judges, and he turns up dead before the pie even arrives. Now, Daisy has to solve the murder—even if it means working a bit of magic—before someone calls foul play and exposes her murderous secret.
 
For anyone who’s ever fantasized about the world of competitive baking à la the Great British Bake Off—or has ever dreamed ofgetting back at that guy who wronged them years ago— Popp's culinary cozy series is as alluring as a perfectly baked pie, this edgy yet utterly charming novel takes the idea of “a dessert to die for” to a whole new level.

 

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I think I have a problem. Lately I've fallen in love with the first book of a series and get all giddy about being able to read the second .... and then it falls horribly flat for me. Well, maybe not horribly flat, but they almost never seem to be as "omigoodnessyouhavetoreadthis" as the first. There have been some notable exceptions : Jacqueline Frost and Kim Nash spring to mind. More often than not, though, it's like the second weigh-in on The Biggest Loser when the great week one losses were often replaced with gains.

Now, I didn't dislike A Good Day to Pie. It's just so different from Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies and I absolutely loved that one and have already re-read it and loved it just as much the second time around. It has cozy elements but is far from actually being cozy. That's actually one of the reasons why I had chosen this one to read now. I can't handle sweet and super cozy and was hoping for some good ol' snark and serial killing like the first one. Maybe it would have helped if I actually enjoyed the one episode I ever bothered to watch of Great British Bake Off .... or if my life wasn't such a mess. It definitely would have helped had it felt more like the unique first book and less like so many other "cozies."  

 

I love cozies. I do. I'll probably be reading a lot of them this year thanks to my challenges .... but I really wanted that first book feel. There was just (barely) enough of it scattered here and there that I'm still hopeful for when the third book rolls around, but not enough to make this particular book one I'll re-read when I'm in a serial killer kind of mood. A cozy mood re-read? Probably.

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"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.

 

I'll Sleep When I've Read... The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

 

Title: The Winter King

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Publication: 5 October 1995/reprint: 15 April 1997

Format: paperback & Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I stayed up late Friday just to read. I did the same on Saturday. I almost didn't get a pre-work nap on Sunday because I was soooooooo close to being done.

And then I was.

And now I have a massive book hangover.

There have already been teaser snippets on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and now you get some more because that's part of the beauty of I'll Sleep When I've Read... posts. I make up my own rules. Since I had already covered Parts One and Two, this will only have blips from Three and Four and will pretty much focus on characters. Most people know the main characters of Arthurian Legends -- Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad ... and, of course, Camelot -- so I thought it would be nice to highlight what Cornwell does with them. Part Five was too busy ripping my soul apart to have me take any suitable notes. I guess you'll just have to read the book ... and the next ... and the next ...

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If you want to share whatever has kept you up past your bedtime because you just needed one more chapter ... or the entire book ... please comment! My TBR pile is already toppling, but I can always add more.

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: The Winter King

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Publication: 5 October 1995/reprint: 15 April 1997

Format: paperback & Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I mentioned on Tuesday (and again on Wednesday) that this book was going to get an awful lot of love ... and posts ... go back to Tuesday for the teasers and ramblings from Part One. Today I get to ooh and aah over Part Two. Arthur and Guinevere are around but I really love Derfel and Nimue. Derfel is the one telling the tale, and Nimue is the "she" from the 156ish ... which I think is actually 158 because 156 was good but not as good as Nimue. 

She might be one of my all-time favorite "book bitches" at this point.

I am not at all familiar with the actress they have cast for the series and I think I might be a good thing. I'm a little hesitant already with the casting of Arthur and Merlin (who still has only been mentioned in the book and not actually seen). Since I care about Derfel and Nimue more at this point, I'm still quite ecstatic to see what happens. No matter what, though, I'm pretty sure this will definitely be a case of "the book was better."

 

Now on to Part Three ....

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Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

 

 

 

WWW Wednesday -- 18 January 2023

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

 

I was really looking forward to this one since I loved the first in the series and the third is sitting on my NetGalley shelf. I wasn't even planning on reading it right now but I was having horrible luck with anything sticking again. Maybe I'm just in too bad of a mood for good things to seem worthwhile ... or maybe I just keep grabbing the wrong books. I think the latter may be the case because my "Currently Reading" is most definitely worthwhile.

Currently Reading:

 

This week's pick for Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday ... and probably Book Beginnings & Friday 56 ... and quite likely next week, as well. It's big and beautiful and I'm on Part Two of Five (with two more books to go after this in the series) ... and we finally met Arthur 💕

You trusted Arthur on sight. That was why women always liked Arthur, not because he was good-looking, for he was not overly handsome, but because he looked at you with genuine interest and an obvious benevolence.

What's Next?

I'll be wrapped up in Cornwell for at least another 306 pages and I'm tempted just to keep going ... but if I DO decide to pay attention to my NetGalley shelf and things I "should" be reading (what a horrible word "should" is), then I think maybe Misha Popp will be a safe choice. Maybe.

 

 

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: The Winter King

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Publication: 5 October 1995/reprint: 15 April 1997

Format: paperback & Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Be prepared to see an awful of Bernard Cornwell this week .... and probably next .... and, likely, off and on for eons to come. I actually started this in September and it got set aside because life got messy and then I got sidetracked with NetGalley and trying to finish the alphabet and whatever. Thought about picking it up again in December and then life got messier and I just couldn't.  

 

You know what? Screw the messiness. That's what books are for and Cornwell is sooooo amazingly good at pulling you in and not letting you go. He is, perhaps, the King of Escapism. At least for right now.  

 

So The Winter King is the first of The Warlord Chronicles (also referred to as "The Arthur Books"). Thanks to ThriftBooks I already have them all .... and lots of other Cornwells .... and there will probably be more on the way before long. The Winter King is divided into five parts and right now I'm thinking each part will get it's own post. Maybe. I finally got people to leave me along long enough to finish Part One and we haven't met Arthur in person yet. 

 

Bad Wolf is in the process of producing the first season of what will likely (hopefully) be several seasons based on the books. I'm already extremely excited based on the cast and what I've read so far. Heck, I knew I was going to love the books before I even bought them. After all, this is the man who brought The Last Kingdom and Uhtred son of Uhtred into my life. (I have yet to read those books as I'm still recovering from the last season of the show and there's still a movie supposedly on its way.) 

 

Anyway, back to the book .... errr .... the show based on the book. The cast? Huge ... but some highlights for me will be :

* Iain De Caestecker as Arthur ("Fitz" from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) 

* Stuart Campbell as Derfel, the narrator ("Bill Fraser" from Rogue Heroes -- another show that added a ton of books to my TBR) 

* my beloved Andrew Gower as Bishop Sansum (A lot of parts in a lot of shows, but I fell for him as "Nick Cutler" during the fourth season of Being Human. The real one, not the U.S shite remake.)

 

I know, not a lot about the book .... yet .... but I did say that we haven't met Arthur yet, didn't I? Go ahead and read the Intro and Teaser .... I have a feeling he'll get some blips on Friday.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"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.

Shadow in the Glass by M. E. Hilliard (Book Beginnings & Friday56)

Title: Shadow in the Glass

Author: M. E. Hilliard

Publication: 5 April 2022

Format: Kindle ebook

Amazon Description

Murder rocks a wedding celebration at an idyllic lakeside home—and librarian-turned-sleuth Greer Hogan could be next on the killer’s guest list in this second exciting installment, perfect for fans of Louise Penny.

Librarian Greer Hogan is on hand to celebrate her old friend Sarah Whitaker’s nuptials at the Whitaker summer home on beautiful Mirror Lake, just outside the upstate New York village of Lake Placid. But Greer has an ulterior motive—to gather information that could reopen the investigation into her husband’s murder, a crime for which she believes an innocent man went to prison. Her plans come to a shuddering halt when a wedding guest goes missing and turns up dead in the lake. The guest, Brittany Miles, was an employee of the Whitaker family whom Sarah had long suspected was up to no good at work.
 
The police have no leads, but Greer—an avid reader of crime fiction who possesses an uncanny knack for deduction—begins her own investigation. She learns that the victim was seen with a mystery man right before she disappeared. Then the autopsy reveals that she didn’t drown in the lake after all, but in the reflecting pool in the Whitaker garden.
 
The suspect list is as long as the guest list itself, with no apparent motive. Now, Greer must rely on the wisdom of her favorite fictional detectives to tease out truth from lies—and keep herself out of the killer’s sights.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I started and discarded four other books after Wicked Autumn before I finally settled on Shadow in the Glass. I was hoping to tackle some of my NetGalley shelf but the next books up were either too romantic (ewwwww feelings), too horribly written, or just plain too "eh."  This one does still help my NetGalley shelf, though, since it's the second in a series and the third is sitting on the shelf and set to come out in just a few weeks. I haven't actually started reading it yet besides grabbing the blurbs, but I plan to about five minutes after I hit "publish." I enjoyed the first book, The Unkindness of Ravens, when I read it in September so hopefully this one will be just as good ... and then I might very well just go straight into the third because it will keep me from having to figure out what else to read. 

I'm not a very big fan of decision-making ... or much else ... right now.

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Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

 

 

 

WWW Wednesday - 11 January 2023

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

It took a couple of attempts -- including one in which I literally threw the book across the lobby of my hotel -- but once I forced myself to stick with it, I absolutely loved Elizabeth Logan's Mousse and Murder. You can see the original angst-ridden ramble with teasers on the most recent Book Beginnings & Friday 56 post.

Currently Reading:

I'm only about half-way through G.M. Malliet's Wicked Autumn and I'm quite enjoying it. It was used yesterday for Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday.

What's Next?

I should probably pay some attention to my poor NetGalley shelf if I ever want another approval. The next two on the list there are Elizabeth Everett's A Love By Design and Lesley Livingston's Queen Among the Dead.

 

or

A Love By Design is the third in Everett's Secret Scientists of London series which quickly became a favorite within the first 20% of the first book and then was only further favorited with the second book (during which we got to know more about the couple for the third). But ..... there will be feels that I'm not quite sure that I'm ready for so I may put it off and go with Livingston's "Celtic fantasy adventure" first. It may satisfy empty hole left by not having a fourth season of Brittania to binge. Or I may spend the entire time going "eh ... maybe I'll rewatch the first three seasons instead."

 

 

Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

(the UK cover is cooler than the US)

Title: Wicked Autumn

Author: G.M. Malliet

Publication: 13 September 2011

Format: Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

The first in a delightful series, Wicked Autumn sharply skewers the quintessential English village in a cunningly modern version of the traditional drawing room mystery. Wickedly entertaining, it’s the perfect choice for Agatha Christie fans.

Max Tudor has settled happily into his post as vicar of St. Edwold’s Church in Nether Monkslip. The quaint English village seems to be the perfect new home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past serving in MI5, the British domestic counter-intelligence agency. But his serenity is quickly shattered when the wildly unpopular president of the Women’s Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max’s MI5 training quickly kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

 

I thought that I had read this years ago but there's no indication on the blog of having done so, so here we have it. Right now I'm about 40% in and if I did previously read any part of it, I didn't get very far and I have no idea why. I must have had too much life stuff going on or something because this absolutely is delightful. Granted, I have more than my fair share of life stuff going on now, but rather than using it as an excuse to not read, I'm using the reading as an excuse to avoid pretty much everything else.... like my usual workouts, it seems. I really should unload the exercise bike and just read while I pedal....

Anyway, I've seen this series classified as both "cozy mystery" and "traditional detective" for sub-genres. I can see both. It's not sickeningly sweet and full of recipes and cats like some "cozy" and not as serious and violent as a some "traditional." It's a dang near perfect combination of both so far.... and it doesn't hurt at all that Max has been likened to Hugh Grant in appearance. I've been drooling over that man since 1991's Impromptu. 

It's a bit of a slow read but that may just be me. There's an awful lot of background information which is a plus in the first book of a series, but I look forward to seeing if the pace picks up as the series progresses. Book 8 should be out in September according to Malliet's website. I may be caught up by then.... but there are so many other lovely distractions (including some other Malliet series) waiting so maybe not.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"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.