The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

It's Wednesday and time for a new Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge post, courtesy of  Long and Short Reviews . The theme of the week was the non-fiction book everyone should read and why. My pick is The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. The main reason why I chose this one is because it gives some insight into what Jews and Jewish children had to endure during WWII, in addition to the tragic end of her life in Bergen-Belsen (although the latter isn't mentioned in the diary itself as she and her family got captured and the diary left behind in Holland).

It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another Top Ten Tuesday post, courtesy of  That Artsy Reader Girl . The theme of the week was favourite book quotes, either from books or book-related. As I've got so many favourites, this will be a random list of ten of my favourites. My picks are; "For as long as she could remember, she had thought that autumn air went well with books, that the two both somehow belonged with blankets, comfortable armchairs, and big cups of coffee or tea." (Katarina Bivald - The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommends) "I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." (Edgar Allan Poe) "A room without books is like a body without a soul." (Cicero) "Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?" (Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone) "In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit." (Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl) “Fill your house with sta...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the mystery novel The Royal Baths Murder (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #4) by J.R. Ellis through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A murdered crime writer. An idyllic Yorkshire town. Can DCI Oldroyd separate fact from fiction? A famous writer is found murdered at the Victorian baths in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate. In a crime worthy of one of his novels, Damian Penrose, who was appearing at the town’s crime writing festival, has been ruthlessly strangled. But with no trace of the murderer and no apparent means of escape, how did the killer simply vanish from the scene of the crime? There’s only one mind capable of unlocking this mystery: DCI Jim Oldroyd. But as he and his team quickly discover, while Penrose was popular with the reading public, he had made plenty of enemies. Feuds over money, accusations of plagiarism, a string of affairs…His route to the ...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the crime novel The Country Inn Mystery by Faith Martin through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards, but I haven't published my review until now. Description from Goodreads Jenny Starling is working at The Spindlewood Inn for the weekend. It’s hosting a Regency Extravaganza, involving historical costume, amateur dramatics and food. Leading actress of the amateur dramatic society and reputed man-eater Rachel Norman portrays a doomed noblewoman. But when she turns up actually drowned in the pond, there’s suddenly a murder to investigate. There’s been plenty of trouble at the idyllic country inn. The performers weren’t a happy troupe, and Jenny discovers a simmering romantic tension. Who wanted Rachel dead and why? Jenny Starling is going to need all her wits to crack this complex case. This is the seventh in a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep yo...

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery Pies Before Guys (Pie Town Mystery #4) by Kirsten Weiss through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Val's crime-solving club digs into a piping hot new case! A poetry slam at a bakery? Why not! Even though Pie Town proprietor Val Harris would rather be spending time with her newfound half-brother, she knows her employee Abril is beyond excited to be hosting the event. Especially since it stars the apple pie of Abril's eye, poet and professor Michael Starke. But the evening ends on a sour note when Professor Starke is found murdered mere moments after being accused of plagiarism. Just like that, Pie Town is at the center of another criminal inquiry. At Abril's request--and much to Detective Carmichael's consternation--Val and Charlene decide to investigate Starke's death. But the case is as tough as an overworked cr...

Earlier this year I recieved an ARC of the cosy mystery An Incantation of Cats (Witch Cats of Cambridge #2) by Clea Simon through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads The new novel in Clea Simon’s spellbinding Witch Cats of Cambridge series! When two new clients seek Becca’s professional services, the fledgling witch detective is overjoyed. Finally, she can use her skills to help her magical community. But as the young witch finds the new cases intertwining, things grow more complicated. Becca’s three cats – the ones with the real power – can smell something is wrong with these clients. But not even Clara, the calico, knows what to do when a man ends up dead and a powerful and poisonous root appears – and disappears – in the case. To make matters worse, Clara and her littermates are feuding – and she can’t tell them about an unsettling interaction she’s had with one of the client’s sisters. Is it possible that some hum...

Earlier this year I recieved an ARC of the memoir Faculty Brat: A Memoir of Abuse by Dominic Bucca through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads At the most prestigious preparatory schools in the United States, the children of educators are referred to as “faculty brats.” Though generally lacking the privilege of the institution’s wealthy students, faculty brats enjoy access to the school’s extensive grounds and facilities and are part of everyday campus life. Dominic Bucca’s art teacher mother married his music teacher stepfather twice, and the young boy wondered if the union might be twice as strong as a result. Instead, this faculty brat quickly discovered that the marriage was twice as flawed. When Dominic was nine years old, his stepfather began sexually abusing him in the faculty housing attached to the boys’ dorm his parents oversaw. Years later, he found escape by reaching out to his biological father, and lea...