By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Books I Am Reading This Week – September 14, 2022 | #wwwwednesday #readerscommunity #booktwitter

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

  • What am I currently reading?
  • What did I just finish?
  • What am I reading next?

I’m starting The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe today. I’ve heard wonderful things about this book, and I love that it’s an enemies to lovers story in an academic setting. It really sounds like a book I will enjoy!

Genre: RomCom

Pages: 332 pages

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: September 13, 2022

In this smart, swoony, rom-com debut from Jenny L. Howe, two college exes find themselves battling against each other—and their unresolved feelings—for a spot in a prestigious literature Ph.D. program. Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight’s Tale—but she’s got this. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend has also been accepted. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they’re both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on. What starts as a personal battle of wits (and lit) turns into all-out war when their professor announces a career-changing research trip opportunity—with one spot to fill. Competing with Colin is as natural as breathing, and after he shattered her heart two years ago, Allison refuses to let him come out on top. But when a family emergency and a late night road trip—plus a very sexy game of Scrabble—throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love. In this charmingly bookish debut, The Make-Up Test embraces the truth that people can sometimes change and grow, even when you least expect it.

I enjoyed Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal so much. It is loosely based on a real mother and daughter in Los Angeles during WWII and it is just so compelling and reads so fast. An excellent read ❤️

  • Genre: Historical Espionage Thriller
  • Pages: 321 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Books
  • Publication Date: September 20, 2022
A mother and daughter find the courage to go undercover after stumbling upon a Nazi cell in Los Angeles during the early days of World War II—a tantalizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series “A stirring standalone thriller . . . Susan Elia MacNeal’s page-turning prose is as entertaining as ever—I was riveted from beginning to end.”—Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network June 1940. France has fallen to the Nazis, and Britain may be next—but to many Americans, the war is something happening “over there.” Veronica Grace has just graduated from college; she and her mother, Violet, are looking for a fresh start in sunny Los Angeles. After a blunder cost her a prestigious career opportunity in New York, Veronica is relieved to take a typing job in L.A.—only to realize that she’s working for one of the area’s most vicious propagandists. Overnight, Veronica is exposed to the dark underbelly of her new home, where German Nazis are recruiting Americans for their devastating campaign. After the FBI dismisses the Graces’ concerns, Veronica and Violet decide to call on an old friend, who introduces them to L.A.’s anti-Nazi spymaster. At once, the women go undercover to gather enough information about the California Reich to take to the authorities. But as the news of Pearl Harbor ripples through the United States, and President Roosevelt declares war, the Grace women realize that the plots they’re investigating are far more sinister than they feared—and even a single misstep could cost them everything. Inspired by the real mother-daughter spy duo who foiled Nazi plots in Los Angeles during WWII, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is a powerful portrait of family, duty, and deception that raises timeless questions about America—and what it means to have courage in the face of terror.

Looks like I’m going back to WWII when I start An Affair of Spies by Ronald H. Balson on Friday. It’ll be interesting to compare Mother Daughter Traitor Spy and An Affair of Spies, I think.

  • Genre: Historical Thriller
  • Pages: 328 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martins Press
  • Publication Date: September 13, 2022
From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award—Ronald H. Balson’s An Affair of Spies tells of a spy mission to rescue a defector from Germany and prevent the Nazis from creating an atomic bomb. Nathan Silverman grew up in Berlin in the 1920s, the son of a homemaker and a theoretical physicist. His idyllic childhood was soon marred by increasing levels of bigotry against his family and the rest of the Jewish community, and after his uncle is arrested on Kristallnacht, he leaves Germany for New York City with only his mother’s wedding ring to sell for survival. While attending an evening course at Columbia in 1942, Nathan notices a recruitment poster on a university wall and decides to enlist in the military and help fight the Nazi regime. To his surprise, he is quickly selected for a special assignment; he is trained as a spy, and ordered to report to the Manhattan Project. There he learns that the Allies are racing to develop a nuclear weapon before the Nazis, and a German theoretical physicist is hoping to defect. The physicist was a friend of his father’s, and Nathan’s mission is to return to Berlin via France and smuggle him out of Europe. Nathan will be accompanied by Dr. Allison Fisher, a brilliant young scientist who can speak French; he travels to her lab at the University of Chicago for a crash course in nuclear physics, then they embark on their adventure. Nathan and Allison soon develop feelings for one another, but as their relationship deepens they move ever closer to their dangerous goal. Will they be able to escape Europe with the defector and start a new life together, or will they fail their mission and become two more casualties of war? An Affair of Spies is an action-packed tale of heroism and love in the face of unspeakable evil. Author Ronald H. Balson has applied his unmatched talent for evocative and painstakingly authentic storytelling to the high-stakes world of espionage and created his most thrilling novel yet.

What are you reading? Do you love it?

27 Replies to “Books I Am Reading This Week – September 14, 2022 | #wwwwednesday #readerscommunity #booktwitter”

  2. Sheri Dye says:

    How are you liking Mother Daughter Traitor Spy? I’ve heard mixed things..
    I just started ‘Leech’ by Hiron Ennes and so far it’s pretty weird.. I love it. 😋

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I enjoyed it. It’s fast-paced, interesting, and based loosely on real people. I vaguely knew about the stuff going on over here in the US during WWII and this gave me such a detailed look at some of the scarier aspects.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sheri Dye says:

        Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
        History in books is always just a little terrifying because you know that if it’s happened once.. it can very likely happen again.
        Have a beautiful day, Tessa, and thanks for sharing!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Janette says:

    I love the sound of Mother Daughter, Traitor Spy. I’ve just finished a WWII set in London about stolen art work which was really good. Dead in the Water by Mark Ellis.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Mae Clair says:

    An Affair of Spies sounds intriguing. I’m currently in the middle of a non-fiction, that just spent several chapters on WWII. A lot of it was really difficult (heart-wrenching to read). After this, I will need a good novel 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I didn’t realize I had two WWII stories until I made up this post. But I did enjoy the one very much and hope to like the second ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  7. WendyW says:

    I hope you enjoy the Make-Up Test, you’ll probably enjoy the medieval literature stuff more than I did. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      It is a bit intense because the character is really intense. I’m very curious how it pans out.

      Like

  12. Leslie says:

    I’m sure you have already finished your current read but I hope you enjoyed it because I’m interested in that one!

    Liked by 1 person

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