Friday Friyay: 'Learwife' by J.R. Thorp

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a good week, mine was incredibly busy but also filled with exciting things and good books. And the sun shone, so that always lifts my mood. I also hopped into Osiander, a bookstore which has been in Tübingen since 1596 and is the second oldest (still existing) bookstore in Germany! Naturally I'm going to make it my go-to and I walked away this time with Learwife by J.R. Thorp.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, this breathtaking debut novel tells the story of the most famous woman ever written out of literary history

Word has come. King Lear is dead. His three daughters too, broken in battle. But someone has survived: Lear’s queen.

Though her grief and rage threaten to crack the earth open, she knows she must seek answers. Why was she exiled? What has happened to Kent, her oldest friend? And what will become of her now? To find peace she must reckon with her past and make a terrible choice – one upon which her destiny rests.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

BB:

'(from a prologue)
This is the story.

(from Chapter 1)
The word has come that he is dead, now, and the girls. And that it is finished.' p.5

I wanted to share both of these "beginnings" because it is a 

F56:

'How can I tell you, ghost, of the dark that was there in that cart against the wall? And entered my body, as water enters and holds the hair, and weighs it down. It is dark I carry still and know as I know God, as I know my breathing. How can I tell you?' p.56

God I love these lines. I haven't actually started reading Learwife yet but when I peaked at the first few pages in Osiander I was immediately caught by Thorp's beautiful use of language, of the fierceness behind it, and the depth. Looks like this will be the case throughout, so yay for me!

BBH:

This week's question was submitted by Bonnie from Bonnie Reads and Writes:

Do you use other sources for ARCs besides NetGalley?

Great question! When I first started bookblogging, back in ye olden times of 2010, I actually mainly got ARCs through independent authors, so through direct contact. Not sure anymore how they found me or if I found them,  but I read some absolutely beautiful books that way, and had a little more control over my instinct to say yes to or request every single book I see. With NetGalley I've gotten majorly out of control, to the point that I now no longer accept direct requests because I simply cannot promise I'll get to them, which is a shame. I probably shouldn't find any other ways of getting ARCs because my mental TBR shelf will collapse...

That's it for me this week! What are you reading? And where do you get your ARCs?