This Week in Books – 20-12-23

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.

I read Trust by Hernan Diaz which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s a novel that plays with the reader’s expectations by giving four different versions of a tale, revealing more of the truth behind the events with each telling.

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.

I’m currently reading Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway which I love – it’s giving me strong Bladerunner vibes!

Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he’s called in to investigate a homicide at a local apartment, he is surprised at first to see that the victim appears to be a rather typical techie. But on closer inspection, he finds the victim is over seven feet tall. And even though he doesn’t look a day over thirty, he is actually ninety years old. Clearly, he is a Titan – one of this dystopian, near-future society’s genetically-altered elites.

There are only a few thousand Titans worldwide, all thanks to Stefan Tonfamecasca’s discovery of the controversial T7 genetic therapy, which elevated his family to near godlike status. A dead Titan is big news… a murdered Titan is unimaginable. But Titans are Cal’s specialty. In fact, his ex-girlfriend, Athena, is a Titan. And not just any Titan – she’s Stefan’s daughter, heir to the Tonfamecasca empire.

As Cal digs deeper into the murder investigation, he begins to unravel the complicated threads of what should have been a straightforward case, and it soon becomes clear he’s on the trail of a crime whose roots run deep into the dark heart of the world. Titanium Noir is a tightly woven, intricate tale of murder, betrayal, and vengeance.

I’m not sure what to read next, although I have promised my other half that I’ll read Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment this year, so it may be time to tackle that! My version is translated by David McDuff.

Dostoyevsky’s great novel of damnation and redemption evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur. It tells the story of Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, who wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be beyond conventional moral laws. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck.

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