WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey. A lightweight Christmas romance that appeals to the Beatles fangirl in me. It's about a superstar band, Steel Birds, who broke up suddenly and bitterly and left their legion of fans confused and heartbroken. The duo's music is embraced by each subsequent generation and the Steel Birds legend continues to grow. The members -- Trina and Octavia -- steadfastly refuse to perform together, or even speak to one another, ever again.

Thirty years after the band's break-up, a producer tries to reunite Steel Birds at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve. Why does she think she will succeed where everyone else has failed? She has enlisted Trina's now 30-year old daughter, Melody, and Octavia's son, Beat, also 30, to try to persuade their famous mothers and to livestream the kids' efforts as a reality show. Of course Melody and Beat are going to have a Christmas romance.

Julian and Sean Lennon. Heather, Mary, Stella, James and Beatrice McCartney. Dhani Harrison. Zak, Jason and Lee Starkey. Yes, I can name the Beatles' progeny without looking it up. Julian and Heather never hooked up, but if they had, the Beatles fanverse would have gone mad.

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger. A very good thriller. Taut and scary. Unger uses the small-town Christmas setting to reinforce that evil can exist anywhere.

When Maddie was still in high school, she endured an attack that left her a scar on her cheek and a deeper one on her soul. After a high-profile trial, which rocked her little hometown, the perpetrator was sentenced and Maddie tried to get on her with her life. She runs an independent bookstore and takes care of her dad, who recently suffered a stroke. She is doing the best she can, but her recovery is fragile.

And it's threatened when a famous podcaster enters her shop. He believes the similar unsolved crimes against other young girls in the area means her attacker didn't act alone, or perhaps there's a copycat out there, so he's reopening the case. 

Every few pages I said to myself, "He did it ... no, he did it! ... no, he did it ..." I wasn't always wrong. One of my guesses did turn out to be correct. But that's only because I suspected just about every male in the book.

3. What will you read next? I don't know.