By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Books I Am Reading This Week – March 15, 2023 #wwwwednesday #ReadersCommunity #BookTwitter #BookLover

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 started The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher yesterday and should finish it today. It’s got an interesting setting – a Renaissance Fair – and the male lead is quirky funny but the female lead is a bit annoying because she is stuck in her grief over losing her mother. I sympathize with her but I’ve yet to feel that relatability factor.

  • Genre: YA RomCom
  • Pages: 308 pages
  • Publisher: Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Since her mother’s death, Madeline “Gwen” Hathaway has been determined that nothing in her life will change ever again. That’s why she keeps extensive lists in journals, has had only one friend since childhood, and looks forward to the monotony of working the ren faire circuit with her father. Until she arrives at her mother’s favorite end-of-tour stop to find the faire is under new management and completely changed. Meeting Arthur, the son of the new owners and an actual lute-playing bard, messes up Maddie’s plans even more. For some reason, he wants to be her friend – and ropes her into becoming Princess of the Faire. Now Maddie is overseeing a faire dramatically changed from what her mother loved and going on road trips vastly different from the routine she used to rely on. Worst of all, she’s kind of having fun. Ashley Schumacher’s The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is filled with a wise old magician who sells potion bottles, gallant knights who are afraid of horses and ride camels instead, kings with a fondness for theatrics, a lazy river castle moat with inflatable crocodile floaties, and a plus-sized heroine with a wide open heart… if only she just admits it.

Weyward by Emilia Hart is a tough one. It is an emotionally difficult book to read because of the extensive abuse of women in really all three timelines. It is well written but the point of writing a story this difficult to read is alluding me.

  • Genre: Historical Fiction
  • Pages: 326npages
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
  • Publication Date: March 7, 2023
I am a Weyward, and wild inside. 2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century. 1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom. 1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom. Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

Total Empire by A.J. Tata looks too much like a more masculine type story, but I really enjoyed the last book in this series. So, I guess I’ll find out if the story is more enjoyable to me than the cover.

  • Genre: Thriller
  • Pages: 353 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
  • Publication Date: March 21, 2023
General Garrett Sinclair undertakes a rogue mission in the Sahara Desert to thwart an international nuclear threat in Total Empire, an explosive thriller from A. J. Tata. When Sergeant Major Sylvester “Sly” Morgan is killed on a mission, his daughter, Zoey, tells General Garrett Sinclair that her father’s death wasn’t random. Morgan had recorded a high-level meeting between Chinese, American, and French diplomats as they spoke about a plan for a new global government. The “Chinese-U.S. Partnership”, or CUSP, intends to combine the world’s two largest economies and militaries to usher in a new era of partnership and leadership. But China’s offer has a deadline and penalties for noncompliance. As a safeguard, China has five high-tech hypersonic glide vehicles armed with nuclear weapons orbiting the Earth ready to strike. When Zoey disappears in Africa, seemingly while in pursuit of her father’s killer, Sinclair and Dagger Team are caught off-guard as they scramble to catch up. Without authorization, Sinclair takes Dagger Team into Dakhla, Morocco as he attempts to save his goddaughter’s life. With too many missions to complete and not enough information, Sinclair and team discover that the Chinese plan is nearly complete. As one nuclear glide vehicle misses Washington, DC but hits Loudoun County, Virginia, Sinclair’s mission in the Sahara is to stop the Chinese from using its ground based laser targeting system before they can more accurately launch the remaining four. Facing insurmountable odds and without support from his government, Sinclair takes his team into the maw of the Saharan death pit, the Eye of Africa.

What are you reading? Do you love it?

23 Replies to “Books I Am Reading This Week – March 15, 2023 #wwwwednesday #ReadersCommunity #BookTwitter #BookLover”

  1. WendyW says: Reply

    I read The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway and liked it very much. I thought Gwen got much better as the book progressed.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. energyrae says: Reply

    I felt the same way about Maddy (Gwen.) She does get somewhat better but being mean for the sake of it didn’t work for me. I had Weyward pre-ordered so now I’m a bit worried to start it. I hope you continue to have a great reading week!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Joanna @ TheGeekishBrunette says: Reply

    I am still curious about Weyward but will definitely put it somewhere on my tbr when I want a more difficult read!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa @TessaTalksBooks says: Reply

      It’s very well written – it’s just a tough read. All three timelines show the many ways women have been mistreated throughout history, and though we intellectually know about all of it – this book is so well written that it forces you to sit in the emotions surrounding it.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Leslie says: Reply

    Weyward is so hard to read. All three timelines have such terrible treatment that it’s tough. The writing is so good that I’m not wanting to stop though?? I do think the pace is a little slow because I’m halfway but not much has happened.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Teri Polen says: Reply

    I’ve got Gwen Hathaway on my list also. And I agree with you about the second book and the cover of the third. Don’t think I’ve got it in me to read Weyward.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa @TessaTalksBooks says: Reply

      Weyward is tough – well-written but that probably is what makes it so tough. And Gwen Hathaway turns out much better than it starts. It ends up being a wonderfully fun, feel-good read. Enjoy!

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Carla says: Reply

    I have Weyward to read and am a bit concerned after reading your comment here, Tessa. I am reading a St. Patrick’s cozy mystery today. It is an anthology and it is fun so far.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Tessa @TessaTalksBooks says: Reply

      That does sound fun!

      And I’ve been surprised by the reviews I’m reading about Weyward that say things like it’s a magical story and what not. I’ve chatted with a few of them about it, saying I thought it was a very difficult story to read, and they are like “well it is, but I like witch stories” or “it’s so well written” An I’m thinking- okay me too but it’s still very hard to read about abuse and rape and the witch trials. 🫣

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Carla says: Reply

        Yikes, I didn’t realize there were that many types of abuse, I will have to prepare myself before I read or listen to it.

        Liked by 1 person

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