This Week in Books is a feature hosted by Lipsy at Lipsyy Lost and Found that allows bloggers to share:
- What they’ve recently finished reading
- What they are currently reading
- What they are planning to read next
A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.
The last book I finished reading was Malarkoi by Alex Pheby. As much as I enjoyed the first novel in the series, I struggled with this one.
NATHAN TREEVES IS DEAD, murdered by the Master of Mordew, his remains used to create the powerful occult weapon known as the Tinderbox.
His companions are scattered, making for Malarkoi, the city of the Mistress, the Master’s enemy. They are hoping to find welcome there, or at least safety. They find neither – and instead become embroiled in a life and death struggle against assassins, demi-gods, and the cunning plans of the Mistress.
Only Sirius, Nathan’s faithful magical dog, has not forgotten the boy. Bent on revenge, he returns to the shattered remains of Mordew – only to find the city morphed into an impossible mountain, swarming with monsters. He senses something in the Manse at its pinnacle – the Master is there, grieving the loss of his manservant, Bellows – and in the ruins of the slums Sirius finds a power capable of destroying his foe, if only he has the strength to use it.
The stage is set for battle, sacrifice, magic and treachery in the stunning sequel to Mordew…
Welcome to Malarkoi…
I’m currently reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II
Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret.
Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father’s life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering.
At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in.
Doerr’s combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric. As Europe is engulfed by war and lives collide unpredictably, All The Light We Cannot See is a captivating and devastating elegy for innocence.
My next read will be this month’s book group choice, which is The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, translated by Marlaine Delargy. Where previous choices have all been books that I wouldn’t normally have picked up, this book is one that I chose, and as it’s one I’ve read before (albeit a long time ago!) I’m very much looking forward to it. When posting images, I usually use the cover that matches my own copy, but this book has been republished since I purchased it, and so I’ve decided to share both versions.
On her fiftieth birthday, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material: a state-of-the-art facility in Sweden where she will make new friends, enjoy generous recreational activities and live out her remaining days in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over the age of sixty who are single and childless are saved from a life devoid of value and converted into productive members of society. The price? Their bodies, harvested piece by piece for the ‘necessary’ ones (those on whom children depend) and sometimes their minds, as they take part in social and psychological experiments, until the day comes when they make their Final Donation and complete their purpose in life. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others. Resigned to her fate as a ‘dispensable’, Dorrit finds her days there to be peaceful and consoling. For the first time in her life she no longer feels like an outsider – a single woman in a world of married couples with children. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, everything changes
And that’s my week in books! What are you reading this week? Let me know in the comments! 😎
Jo's Book Blog 
Looks like a good mix of books Jo! x
It’s certainly a varied week! 😂