WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading

On By Teri PolenIn WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a meme from Sam at Taking On A World Of Words

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I was on a good reading roll for a while, until I got my notes back from my beta reader, so I’ve been hanging with this book for about a week, and I’m only half finished.  With the supernatural happenings, House of Salt and Sorrows has me riveted.  And with a mystery and hoards of red herrings, I’d love to find a quiet corner somewhere and finish it.  Or a noisy corner.  I do just fine with both.

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next. 

My book club assignment for this month is choose a book from a genre I don’t usually read.  For me, that’s a YA contemporary romance.  Back in the winter, I’d gotten five sample chapters from this book, and the character’s voices grabbed me.  One of the authors wrote Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, a book that I loved, so What If It’s Us was an easy selection for me.  And it was fantastic.

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.

Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?

But what if it is? 

For my next book, I was so excited to get this ARC.  It’s the second in a series, and the first book, Sanctuary, was an easy five stars for me.  A combination of X-Men and Alien.

They may have escaped Sanctuary, but Kenzie and her friends are far from safe.

Ex-Omnistellar prison guard Kenzie and her superpowered friends barely made it off Sanctuary alive. Now they’re stuck in a stolen alien ship with nowhere to go and no one to help them. Kenzie is desperate for a plan, but she doesn’t know who to trust anymore. Everyone has their own dark secrets: Omnistellar, her parents, even Cage. Worse still, she’s haunted by memories of the aliens who nearly tore her to shreds—and forced her to accidentally kill one of the Sanctuary prisoners, Matt.

When Kenzie intercepts a radio communication suggesting that more aliens are on their way, she knows there’s only one choice: They must turn themselves in to Omnistellar and destroy the ship before the aliens follow the signal straight to them. Because if the monstrous creatures who attacked Sanctuary reach Earth, then it’s game over for humanity.

What Kenzie doesn’t know is that the aliens aren’t the only ones on the hunt. Omnistellar has put a bounty on Kenzie’s head—and the question is whether the aliens or Omnistellar get to her first. 

 

46 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading”

    1. What I read is probably comprised of around 90% YA, Jacquie. Partly because that’s what I write, but also because some YA authors are writing more wildly creative stories (YA fantasy and sci-fi) than adult authors. I’ve always preferred otherworldly to realistic in my reading.

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  12. Teri, you’re still reading a lot more than me… Well done. “House of Salt and Sorrows” had me intrigued just with the title. Your description has me wanting to get it right now and drop everything to read it. Happy Fourth of July. Have a great holiday. Hugs.

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  16. I love the sound of House of Salt and Sorrows (and the cover is gorgeous). In some ways it reminds me of the old fairytale about the dancing princesses, and in another of a book I read when I a kid about seven sisters who lived in a Victorian mansion. I’m headed to Amazon to learn more.

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  17. Beta readers. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them, am I right? My productivity always takes a huge hit when I get something back, too. xD Good luck.

    I still have to read What If It’s Us. I’m glad you enjoyed it! House of Salt and Sorrows is supposed to be really good, too. Happy reading.

    Here’s my WWW post.

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    1. She made some fantastic suggestions, Sammie, and I think they’ll make for a better book. Beta feedback can bring a lot of things to light, but yep – there’s some work involved.

      What If It’s Us is definitely worth reading – the voices are fantastic, and I’m almost through House of Salt and Sorrows. Some unexpected twists, for sure.

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  18. Emily Wrayburn

    Ooh, I think I had heard of House of Salt and Sorrows before but then I forgot about it! Adding it to my TBR now while it’s fresh in my mind. It sounds awesome!

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  19. The House of Salt and Sorrows (great title & cover, btw) sounds awesome. You know I love fractured fairy tales. At least I think you do. Jessica Day George wrote a series of them. This one reminds me a bit of her Princess of the Midnight Ball based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale but with a mystery twist. On my TBR list. Keep us updated!

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