This Week in Books – 13-12-23

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.

---

This is unlike me, but I stuck to the plan and read The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray.

Sanctuary Rock is a perfect place.

A remote island, owned by a wealthy philanthropist who is building a brand-new world on the ruins of the old one.

Ben only came to the island to bring his fiancée Cara home. But when he arrives, he is rapidly seduced by the vision of a better way of life, as described by the charismatic and mysterious Sir John.

Before long, he decides to stay.

But the island holds darker secrets than he could ever have suspected.

Then he learns the only route back to the mainland is about to close for good.

And his own life may be in terrible danger…

---

I’m currently reading Trust by Hernan Diaz.

Trust is a sweeping puzzle of a novel about power, greed, love and a search for the truth that begins in 1920s New York.

Can one person change the course of history?

A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together, they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. Now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage. Who will have the final word in their story of greed, love and betrayal?

Composed of four competing versions of this deceptive tale, Trust by Hernan Diaz brings us on a quest for truth while confronting the lies that often live buried in the human heart.

---

My next read might be The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler.

There are creatures in the water of Con Dao.
To the locals, they’re monsters.
To the corporate owners of the island, an opportunity.
To the team of three sent to study them, a revelation.

Their minds are unlike ours.
Their bodies are malleable, transformable, shifting.
They can communicate.
And they want us to leave.

When pioneering marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen is offered the chance to travel to the remote Con Dao Archipelago to investigate a highly intelligent, dangerous octopus species, she doesn’t pause long enough to look at the fine print. DIANIMA – a transnational tech corporation best known for its groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence – has purchased the islands, evacuated their population and sealed the archipelago off from the world so that Nguyen can focus on her research.

But the stakes are high: the octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence and there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of their advancements. And no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.

---

And that’s my week in books! What are you reading this week? Let me know in the comments! 😎