WWW Wednesday 6/19/2024

 

What is WWW Wednesday?

It's pretty simple! Every Wednesday, you share:
What are you currently reading?
What did you just finish reading?
What are you planning to read next?

Currently Reading

I'm not one to typically listen to audiobooks. As a visual learner, I find that I struggle to comprehend them and easily tune them out. However, my book club picked The Guncle by Steven Rowley for our June book, and when I listened to the sample, narrated by the author, I knew there was no other way I could enjoy this book than the audio version.

I was a little hesitant at first because literary fiction isn't my preferred genre, but The Guncle is a sweet, hilarious story about grief that I am thoroughly enjoying.

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting—even if temporary—isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.

Just Finished

On the same topic of grief and loss, I just finished We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim. This is an Indian mythology retelling of the classic Frankenstein, which also happens to be one of my all-time favorite books.

This was such a stunning tale filled with emotional depth, gorgeous mythology, and beautiful characters. I am very excited for this book to release on June 25, 2024, and I hope everyone rushes to read it.

Frankenstein meets Indian mythology in this twisty, darkly atmospheric fantasy where the horror is not the monsters you face but the ones you create.

After her sister Lasya’s sudden death, Kajal vows to do whatever it takes to bring her back. No cost is too great, even if it means preventing Lasya’s soul from joining the cycle of reincarnation. But as Kajal prepares for the resurrection, her sister’s trapped soul warps into a bhuta—a violent, wraith-like spirit hell-bent on murdering those who wronged it in life. With each kill, the bhuta becomes stronger and fiercer, and Kajal’s chances of resurrecting Lasya with her soul intact grow slimmer.

Blamed for Lasya’s rampage and condemned as a witch, Kajal is locked away with little hope of escape. That is, until two strangers who label themselves rebels arrive and offer to free her. The catch: She must resurrect the kingdom’s fallen crown prince, aiding their coup to overthrow the usurper who sits the throne. Desperate to return to Lasya’s body, Kajal rushes to revive the crown prince . . . only to discover that she’s resurrected another boy entirely.

All her life, Kajal has trusted no one but her sister. But with Lasya dead and rebels ready to turn her over to the usurper’s ruthless soldiers, Kajal is forced to work with the boy she mistakenly revived. Together, they must find the crown prince before the rebels discover her mistake, or the bhuta finally turns its murderous fury on the person truly responsible for Lasya’s death: Kajal.

Up Next

My next read is going to be The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. My dear friend Krista at Ever Bookish strongly recommended this to me, so of course I have to give a chance.

I'm slowly pushing myself into more and more contemporary romances, but I definitely still prefer them to have some sort of paranormal or fantasy twist. The Dead Romantics is just that with our protagonist helping the ghost of her recently deceased editor with his unfinished business.

A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

What are your three W's?

Let me know in the comments below or leave the link to your post!