The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading Emma Donoghue's newest historical fiction, Learned by Heart, set at an 1800s women's boarding school in England and based upon a real-life figure; I'm listening to the third installment in Karen McManus's One of Us Is Lying series, One of Us Is Back; and I'm listening to Niall Howell's debut, Only Pretty Damned, which is noir historical fiction set behind the scenes of a circus.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
So far, Learned by Heart is giving me major Little Princess vibes...that was one of my absolute favorite books when I was young, and this is like a grown-up-reader version. I'm in love!
Donoghue can apparently write about anything, and here, she chooses to build a story around the long-researched, real-life figure of Anne Lister.
In Learned by Heart, Lister and her boarding school roommate Eliza Raine become unlikely best friends, then fall in a deep, forbidden love.
Raine was a wealthy orphan sent from India to England at age 6 and grew up in the cold, strict Manor School in the early 1800s. Lister arrives as a wild, curious, uncontrollable, brilliant tomboy--and is paired as roommates with Raine in the drafty dormitory attic.
Emma Donoghue is also the author of Room, The Pull of the Stars (which I loooved; it was one of My Twelve Favorite 2020 Books), and other books.
I received a prepublication edition of this book, published last week, courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company.
02 One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus
I'm listening to this third installment in Karen McManus's One of Us Is Lying series.
Over the course of the past two books, the Bayview Four solved mysteries and established that they were not, in fact, murderers.
In this installment, McManus offers the established characters of Maeve, Nate, Phoebe, Bronwyn, and Knox from book one--along with other old favorites and fresh faces--in a new set of intertwined, mysterious circumstances.
But when someone unexpected comes to town, our sleuths realize that not everyone is who they say they are; that old mysteries are coming to light; and that yet again they might be the only ones who can serve up the justice that others so desperately deserve.
The first two books in the One Of Us Is Lying series are One of Us Is Lying and One of Us Is Next. McManus also wrote Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, and You’ll Be the Death of Me.
03 Only Pretty Damned by Niall Howell
I'm listening to Niall Howell's debut, Only Pretty Damned, which is noir historical fiction set behind the scenes at Rowland's World Class Circus.
What is it about a book set at a circus? I love this setup.
Toby is a former celebrated trapeze artist, but carelessness cost him his headlining spot, and now he's a grumpy clown who's becoming more and more bitter, petty, scheming, greedy, and vengeful.
Toby is chillingly without remorse and is building into a seeming sociopath. The storytelling is stark and feels like a black-and-white movie.
I received an audiobook edition of this book courtesy of Libro.fm and NeWest Press.