Friday Finds (September 12)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS

Well I’m now in serious trouble as the number of physical books entering the house has far exceeded the limit I was given of a miserly five books per month – yes I’ve had more than that and it is only early in the month!

As I’ve pointed out it isn’t my fault – the first book for this week was a complete surprise as I won it! I am the proud owner of a signed copy of The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters which I’m delighted to have as I loved the previous books by this author, even better this one is set in one of my favourite time periods.

Blurb

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa — a large, silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants — life is about to be transformed as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.
With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the “clerk class,” the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances’s life — or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

From NetGalley I have the latest in the Jefferson Tayte series from the genealogical mystery writer Steve Robinson, this one has the impressive title The Lost Empress

Blurb

From acclaimed author Steve Robinson comes a bold new Jefferson Tayte mystery. On a foggy night in 1914, the ocean liner Empress of Ireland sank en route to England and now lies at the bottom of Canada’s St Lawrence River. The disaster saw a loss of life comparable to the Titanic and the Lusitania, and yet her tragedy has been forgotten. When genealogist Jefferson Tayte is shown a locket belonging to one of the Empress’s victims, a British admiral’s daughter named Alice Stilwell, he must travel to England to understand the course of events that led to her death. Tayte is expert in tracking killers across centuries. In The Lost Empress, his unique talents draw him to one of the greatest tragedies in maritime history as he unravels the truth behind Alice’s death amidst a backdrop of pre-WWI espionage. This is the fourth book in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. NetGalley

Almost exactly a year ago I wrote a post about Genealogy in Fiction that include information about the previous books in this series, if you’re interested you can read ithere

I also received a copy of One Last Dance by Judith Lennox which is another WWI
tale.

‘Times change, and sometimes for the better…’
As the twentieth century draws to a close, Esme Reddaway knows that she must uncover the truth. A truth that began during the First World War when Devlin Reddaway fell passionately in love with Esme’s elder sister, Camilla, and promised to rebuild his ancestral home, Rosindell, for her.
But the war changes everything and Devlin returns to England to find that Camilla is engaged to someone else. Angry and vengeful, he marries Esme, who has been secretly in love with him for years. Esme tries to win Devlin’s heart by reviving the annual summer dance. But as the years pass she fears that Rosindell has a malign influence on those who live there, and the revelation of a shocking secret on the night of the dance at Rosindell tears her life apart. Decades later, it is she who must lay the ghosts of Rosindell to rest.
Spanning the last century, Esme’s story of sibling rivalry, heartbreak, betrayal and forgiveness is sure to appeal to fans of Kate Morton, Rachel Hore and Downton Abbey. Goodreads

… and then I went to a book sale where the books were only 50p each. As I explained to the keeper of book tally, I left a lot of books behind but I did pick up this little pile.

Great finds in this list include The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I’ve been meaning to read for ages and seeing as it features our sister Channel Island should not be missed,  Before the Poison by Peter Robinson which has been on my wishlist since April as well as two PD James books which although I’ve read, are missing from my collection.

What have you found to read this week?