Happy Pub Day to all of these new books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: The Windsor Knot (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #1)
Author: S.J. Bennett
Genre: Mystery, Audiobook
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: March 9, 2021
Rating: ★★★★
The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.
It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.
Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.
SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character.
After a dinner party at Windsor Castle, one of the guests is found dead in his room the next morning. The immediate investigation shows that he strangled himself, but they quickly realize he was murdered and staged to look like a suicide. The Queen isn’t happy with how the murder is being investigated so she puts her own employees on the case. The Queen continues to carry out her royal duties, while also leading this investigation.
This was a fun twist on a detective mystery. No one would expect the Queen herself to be investigating a murder that happened in her own castle. Many of the characters felt nervous around her, especially when discussing the delicate nature of the murder. But, she got the job done.
This story mentioned other members of the royal family too. They were the same as the real British Royal Family, but made into fictional characters. It’s fun to imagine the Queen actually conducting her own investigations in the palaces.
I really liked the narrator of this audiobook. It was fairly short and a fun story. I’m curious to see what will happen in the next book!
Thank you Harper Audio for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read The Windsor Knot? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
This weekend I finished The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett.
I’m currently reading Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare.
Next I will be reading A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 9 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m listening to the audiobook of The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett.
The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.
It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.
Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.
SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character.
What book are you in bed with today?
This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Characters I Think Deserve a Holiday. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
Did you make a Six for Sunday list?
Title: My Last Summer with Cass
Author: Mark Crilley
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 16, 2021
Rating: ★★★★
This One Summer meets The Edge of Seventeen in this poignant coming-of-age YA graphic novel about two childhood friends at a crossroads in their lives and art from the author of Mastering Manga.
Megan and Cass have been joined at the brush for as long as they can remember. For years, while spending summers together at a lakeside cabin, they created art together, from sand to scribbles . . . to anything available. Then Cass moved away to New York.
When Megan finally convinces her parents to let her spend a week in the city, too, it seems like Cass has completely changed. She has tattoos, every artist in the city knows her. She even eats chicken feet now! At least one thing has stayed the same: They still make their best art together.
But when one girl betrays the other’s trust on the eve of what is supposed to be their greatest artistic feat yet, can their friendship survive? Can their art?
Cass and Megan met when their families would rent cottages for the summer in the same town. They both loved to create art, and even got in trouble for drawing on one of the cabin walls together. When they were in high school, Cass moved to New York City with her mom. Megan went to visit her one summer, and she got a taste of Cass’s mature artist lifestyle. Cass insisted that Megan act like her, by drinking, going to parties, and painting more mature subjects. Cass and Megan decide to collaborate like they did when they were children, but the sudden appearance of Megan’s parents causes her to make a decision that could ruin their friendship.
This was a great story about growing up and growing apart. Cass and Megan had a lot in common when they were kids, but their lives changed when they grew up. Megan was still very much controlled by her parents, whereas Cass had a lot of freedom to do anything she wanted in New York City. Even though the two friends had similar childhoods, they ended up on very different paths in life.
I loved the art in this graphic novel. The characters had very expressive faces. The drawing style reminded me of Disney princesses. This story makes a perfect graphic novel, since it’s about two girls who are artists.
I really enjoyed this coming of age graphic novel!
Thank you Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from Kalamazoo College, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan that he created the Eisner Award–nominated comic Akiko on the Planet Smoo, which spawned a series of graphic novels and prose novel adaptations. In 1998, Mark Crilley was named to Entertainment Weekly’s It List of the 100 most creative people in entertainment.
March 15th
Stuck in Fiction – Interview & Review
The Broke Book Blog – Review & Playlist
March 16th
Diary Of A Bookgirl – Review
Sadie’s Spotlight – Promo Post
Nine Bookish Lives – Review & Creative Post
March 17th
The Book Dutchesses – Review
The Writer’s Alley – Review, Favourite Quotes & Mood Board
March 18th
Kait Plus Books – Interview & Top 5 Reasons to Read My Last Summer with Cass
paperbacktomes – Review
ohsrslybooks – Review & Top 5 Reasons to Read My Last Summer with Cass
March 19th
Musing of Souls – Review
Allisa White’s Book Blog – Review & Mood Board
Bookishfairytail – Review & Favourite Quotes
March 20th
Jill’s Book Blog – Review
The Someday Librarian – Review & Favourite Quotes
Velarisreads – Review
March 21st
sunnysidereviews – Interview & Top 5 Reasons to Read My Last Summer with Cass
Miss Linda Bennet – Review & Favourite Quotes
Have you read My Last Summer with Cass? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Love Triangle. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!
Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?
Title: Bruised
Author: Tanya Boteju
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 23, 2021
Rating: ★★★★
To Daya Wijesinghe, a bruise is a mixture of comfort and control. Since her parents died in an accident she survived, bruises have become a way to keep her pain on the surface of her skin so she doesn’t need to deal with the ache deep in her heart.
So when chance and circumstances bring her to a roller derby bout, Daya is hooked. Yes, the rules are confusing and the sport seems to require the kind of teamwork and human interaction Daya generally avoids. But the opportunities to bruise are countless, and Daya realizes that if she’s going to keep her emotional pain at bay, she’ll need all the opportunities she can get.
The deeper Daya immerses herself into the world of roller derby, though, the more she realizes it’s not the simple physical pain-fest she was hoping for. Her rough-and-tumble teammates and their fans push her limits in ways she never imagined, bringing Daya to big truths about love, loss, strength, and healing.
Since Daya’s parents died in a crash that she survived, she has given herself bruises. She keeps bruising herself so she can physically feel the emotional pain from losing her parents. Daya learns about roller derby teams, and she realizes that’s an activity that will give her lots of bruises. The sport is more physically grueling and painful than she expected. She idolizes the star of the team, Kat, and she befriends Kat’s sister, Shani. Roller derby opens up Daya to exploring her own feelings and finding her personal strength.
This was a coming of age story. Daya had to learn to accept the death of her parents, and she also was coming to understand her own romantic feelings. Daya blamed herself for her parents’ death, since she survived their car crash, so she self harms by bruising herself. Daya also discovered her sexual identity. She became vulnerable by beginning a relationship with a girl that she didn’t expect to have. Daya had a lot to discover about herself in this story.
Despite the serious subject matter for most of the book, there were some entertaining characters. Daya’s aunt and uncle who were her guardians were quirky actors. They would dance and play games without worrying about how they looked to the outside world. Daya met some older characters through her roller skating. They were former roller skaters who still liked to get dressed up and help the younger skaters. They were all funny characters who lightened the mood of the story.
This was a great young adult story!
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Bruised? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“The driver looks in my direction, full of worry. Her lips are red, glossy and pouted, and there’s a crease in her forehead, like she’s the one with the problem, not me.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Gutter Child by Jael Richardson.
A fierce and illuminating debut from FOLD founder Jael Richardson about a young woman who must find the courage to determine her own future and secure her freedom
Set in an imagined world in which the most vulnerable are forced to buy their freedom by working off their debt to society, Gutter Child uncovers a nation divided into the privileged Mainland and the policed Gutter. In this world, Elimina Dubois is one of only 100 babies taken from the Gutter and raised in the land of opportunity as part of a social experiment led by the Mainland government.
But when her Mainland mother dies, Elimina finds herself all alone, a teenager forced into an unfamiliar life of servitude, unsure of who she is and where she belongs. Elimina is sent to an academy with new rules and expectations where she befriends Gutter children who are making their own way through the Gutter System in whatever ways they know how. When Elimina’s life takes another unexpected turn, she will discover that what she needs more than anything may not be the freedom she longs for after all.
Richardson’s Gutter Child reveals one young woman’s journey through a fractured world of heartbreaking disadvantages and shocking injustices. Elimina is a modern heroine in an altered but all too recognizable reality who must find the strength within herself to forge her future and defy a system that tries to shape her destiny.
Check out my review for Gutter Child here.
Have you read Gutter Child? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 