A reader named Sheri emailed me, asking if there were a place at SBTB she could talk to other romance readers about what she's reading, and know that folks would understand what she's talking about. Sheri wrote, I would love for there to be a place where all of us fans and romance lovers had a place to talk without a thread, just free form. I am sure there is a place like this somewhere on the internet but I …enjoy your website and its followers so much. I really feel like it would just be an added bonus. I am going to be starting the Evanovich Plum Series and while I feel like this is a big undertaking, I am sure no one in my immediate circle would care. I am sure however that the bitchery would totally understand and give lots of humorous support.
The whole Plum series, all upteen books? Oh, yes, I know exactly what you're facing. The early books will make you laugh hard enough to consider using the bathroom, so be ye warned.
Sheri's email got me thinking, though, about having a Friday afternoon thread for y'all, just to talk about what you're reading right now, or planning to read this weekend. I love hearing about what you're reading when I post the Top 10 list, but perhaps a separate thread just for discussing what you're reading would be of interest. I'll tag them all “reader thread” for easy following.
So, whatcha reading?
I loved sanctuary and Carolina moon. My favorites of hers always involve multiple love stories intertwined in the plot. She was like my gateway drug, but now I don’t enjoy her as much, I think I recognizes her patterns too easily.
Yeah Connie Willis! If you enjoy TSNOTD, read the Doomsday Book. It’s one I re-read yearly, along with her Bellweather and Promised Land (this one may be hard to find; she co-wrote it with Cynthia Felice). Have fun!
I’m reading (again) Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’a war series; it’s hard sf with the amazing, unusual female leads she does so well. There’s a little romance, but it doesn’t dominate. For Romance, I’m also going through the Troubleshooter series; and again it’s the characterizations I love.
Do you have Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark in your display? I would recommend him. As Westlake, he wrote a comic crime caper series about a thief named Dortmunder and his crew. As Stark, he wrote a much darker series about a thief named Parker.
runswithscissors, I finished Darker this afternoon just to see what the end was like, intrigued by your remark. It doesn’t tempt me to read book three. Found myself skip-reading in the end, just to get it over with. I am heading to amazon from here to download something amusing to get this out of my head!
It’s pretty good. It reminds me of Stardust by Neil Gaiman for some reason. Maybe because he blurbed it.
Based on all the Amanda Quick reading I myself checked out I Thee Wed from the library. Its perfect reading for the cold blustery day we had yesterday.(Does anyone get inspired to read certain things based on weather? Is this maybe a New England thing?) I read With This Ring last year but still haven’t figured out how they connect.
Anyway I really like this discussion. I enjoy seeing what everyone is reading.
John – m/m author recs: Josh Lanyon is pretty solid, they’re mysteries; JL Langley has some contemporary cowboys that are really good; KA Mitchell is pretty much always good.
I’m blanking out on who else right now. My brain is in work mode, not pleasure reading mode and the two generally don’t talk to each other. I can hit Calibre when I get home, if you want, and come up with more.
I think this happened, and I think I’m liking it.
Oh! I didn’t even think of that one. Thank you!
Red Seas under Red Skies must be the second one. I haven’t read them, but I did come across them in the tiny heist/caper fic lists that I’ve found.
Thank you!
I have those. I’ve read a few of the Dortmunder books and they were fun. I haven’t tried the Parker ones.
Thank you!
I just “discovered” Victoria Dahl and am speeding through her historicals. Contemps soon to follow.
huh. Ok, sorry about the spamming. It looked like replies to specific comments were going right next to that comment, rather than at the end. Apparently they weren’t staying there. Which means half the comments I just made don’t actually make any sense. Ooops. Sorry.
Lawrence Block’s Burglar series comes instantly to mind. I think the first is Burglar in the Closet, but they are all pretty clever and tend to have a twist at the end.
My m/m romance recommendations are:
-Josh Lanyon: he writes stuff I’d classify as mysteries, or maybe romantic suspense
-Charlie Cochrane: I’ve only read one, it was a historical mystery/romance, 1st in a fairly long series
-Tamara Allen: I’ve read The Only Gold, a fantastic historical romance
-Jordan Castillo Price: I’ve read Among the Living – I think it’d be considered an alternate history mystery. It’s short but doesn’t really feel like it, and stars a guy who can see ghosts. It’s the first in a series.
-Katrina Strauss: I haven’t seen her name come up in others’ recommended lists, so either she’s not as well known or I’m one of the few people who likes her stuff. Her works are on the steamier side, compared to the other recommendations I listed. I enjoyed both Sleight of Hand (a novella) and Some Kind of Stranger.
Devoured Lothaire and well, I do believe it deserves a reread already!
I work in a HS library. For the Twilight fan, I might suggest Richelle Meade or Kristin & P.C. Cast’s series. For the Coldest fan, possibly Push (a.k.a. Precious) or Midnight, also by Sister Souljah. The Drama High & Hotlanta series are also very popular with our kids, and we have a very diverse student population.
The Hunger Games series has also been incredibly popular and seems to transcend the genre for a lot of people, including me. Angsty autobiographies like Child Called It and its sequels also hit the spot for a lot of kids.
I’ve been rereading a few of Barbara Freethy’s older books like “Golden Lies” and “Don’t Say a Word.”
Finally had time to sit down and catch up….
Just finished reading Unveiled by Courtney Milan and enjoyed it immensely. You think you’re heading straight for a cliche and wham! the story veers right around it and surprises the shit out of you.
Also just finished Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series. Had a great deal of fun with it and gave the spouse copies for Christmas.
Currently reading Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell—my second library loan on my Kindle. This is an example of weird serendipity. I reserved the book because I like the author not the subject matter. After SB Sarah’s New Year video of Over the Rainbow, I acquired a bunch of Israel Kamakawo’ole music and read up on him, and now I find myself reading this off-the-wall book on the annexation of Hawaii. How peculiar is that?
Also currently reading the second in Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs mystery series. I plan to read the series interspersed between books laden with magic, explosions, and sex.
Oops! Forgot the bathroom books! The Irish R.M. at home and the Coyote Road at work. The former is a collection of horrendously politically incorrect stories set in 19th century Ireland. I know it’s bad but I love it anyway. The writing, the humor, the characters: excellent. The stereotypes: boo, hiss. Loved the BBC series with Peter Bowles too. The latter is a collection of trickster stories edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling. Just starting it, so that’s all I can tell you.
I’m reading Rebel’s Revenge by Jane Toombs, which RedHeadedGirl reviewed a while back, primarily because of the zombies (when I told my husband about that, he informed me I HAD to read it). I’m more than a third of the way through and no zombies so far… but that’s probably because of everything else that’s crammed into it. I absolutely have to finish it. default6990 {“method”:“validate”,“params”:[],“id”:1,“jsonrpc”:“2.0”}
I envy you and the others who are discovering the Stephanie Plum novels for the first time. I picked up One for the Money off a paperback rack because I can’t eat alone without a book and it was the best prospect in a poor selection. Started reading it and I was blown away. It’s not just the humor, it’s the whole family and community dynamic that got me back in the day. That was (eeeek!) decades ago, and, sad to say, 17 was a DNF. I’m just done. I won’t say why, cuz I don’t want to bias anyone, but I will say that the last one of the series that lives in memory at all was the one with the exploding beavers.
Where’s the third Scott Lynch novel, then? I feel as if I’ve been waiting for that one forever (although I quailed all through ‘Red Seas’ given the author’s complete lack of inhibition when it came to killing off his characters in the first one. Not the children! Not the children! Oh God, there are kittens? NOT THE KITTENS!)
I also love the Patricia Briggs werewolf books. They’re one of the few series where I started out yawning because I’m so OVER the werewolf/vampire thing, and then, after the third book, they seem to just get better and better.
I’m racing through Beverly Jenkin’s Wild Sweet Love (loving the female bank robber vs bank owner story line; bored by the ‘blackberry nubbins’ that are popping out every five minutes—put your shirt on, rob a bank for goodness sake!) so I can get to A Lady Awakened, and then Bellwether.
Word on the street is that The Republic of Thieves (the third Scott Lynch novel) is going to be out sometime in March, but I’m thinking it’s going to be pushed back again. From what I’ve read, he was/is dealing with a shitload of personal stuff (depression, divorce) and wasn’t writing at all, hence the delayed release dates.
Allison Brennan. It all started with that I got Love Me to death from the library, which was good. But I realised that it would be better if I had read the backlist first. So that is what I doing right now. Glomping on an author isn’t uncommon behaviour for me. If I discover an author I like, I tend to gobble up the backlist.
In a perfect world I would buy all her books, but I’ll settle for buying the Lucy Kincaid series instead.
My favorite Amanda Quicks are the middle period ones—The Paid Companion, for example. I felt the need to say so, as I seem to be the only one…
Just finished the Duke is Mine by Eloisa James. I love her so so much, and this book, like all of hers, made me laugh out loud here and there, but I feel they are getting a bit more formulaic and not quite as brilliant as previously… very sad. Still, a great read.
I also couldn’t get into the Stephanie Plum books—I couldn’t even get through one. But I feel a little inspired by the person who mentioned listening to them—maybe I should try again as my next audio book series. Might be better suited…
My attitude about AQ’s books from the 2000s has changed – I was dismissive of a lot of them when they came out, because they were different from her 90s work and weren’t what I expected or thought I wanted. But now, as I’m getting tired of the Arcane books, I’ve been thinking more fondly of her middle books (like Lie By Moonlight and Paid Companion), especially the Victorians. Paid Companion is on my want to re-read list. I remember liking it – and I actually remember parts of it several years after reading it, which is unusual for me and Amanda Quick books.
Okay so I am probably SO far behind on all of this but one of my co-workers and I decided to trade our fave romance novels. I gave her all of my Julie Garwood, Toni Blake and Nora Roberts. She has completely opposite taste and gave me all of the Wing Slayer series by Jennifer Lyon and the whole Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. We are both SO happy! She has never read historicals and I have never read paranormal and I am loving all of those books. Yes, I am probably the last person to discover this! Now I am also reading the Demonica series by Larissa Ione and they are great! Never be afraid to read out of your comfort zone, I have been surprised!!
I envy you getting to enjoy “To Say Nothing of the Dog” for the first time. Hope you like it!
I just picked up the new Jayne Ann Krentz, “Copper Beach” on Thursday and reading it every spare minute I get.
I have a question for the smart readers here, and I thought this might be the thread for it. I have the chance to get a bunch of Georgette Heyer books—British editions from a few decades ago, which is making my little heart sing. I already know Cotillion is among the bunch and have cried dibs on that one. But which other ones should I get? If you had the chance to get any Georgette Heyer, including her mysteries and other genres, which books would you choose? Thanks! Patrice Sarath.
Personal favorite Heyers (and I own almost all): Black Sheep, A Civil Contract, Sylvester, and Devil’s Cub.
I love Black Sheep and need to get that. My copy of A Civil Contract is falling apart—maybe I should get that one if he has it.
I’m thinking about starting “Half Moon Bay” by Meryl Sawyer. It was actually one of the first romances I ever read—I was probably 13 or 14 at the time. Yep, I read it for the dirty parts, lol. I was intrigued by “The Duke is Mine” by Eloisa James, but I’m trying to get some of my TBR list knocked out first. Anyone read it? Thoughts?
Just finished a re-read of Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Blade. I like it even better the second time around. I’ll be moving onto Meredith Duran’s Bound by Your Touch soon.
You know, I really want to read a romance where the couple doesn’t want kids and doesn’t even LIKE them. The one book I’ve read, “Baby Proof” by Emily Giffin, was a total disappointment. While the story started off with a couple who didn’t want kids, the guy changed his mind and they divorced because the woman didn’t want them. By the end, she’d agreed to probably have kids just so she could get the guy back. -.- As someone who doesn’t want, have, or even really like kids, I’m tired of the constant insta-pregnant stories, especially in series romances like Harlequin Presents. I want to read about a woman who is like me in the “no kids” department!
You know, I really want to read a romance where the couple doesn’t want kids and doesn’t even LIKE them. The one book I’ve read, “Baby Proof” by Emily Giffin, was a total disappointment. While the story started off with a couple who didn’t want kids, the guy changed his mind and they divorced because the woman didn’t want them. By the end, she’d agreed to probably have kids just so she could get the guy back. -.- As someone who doesn’t want, have, or even really like kids, I’m tired of the constant insta-pregnant stories, especially in series romances like Harlequin Presents. I want to read about a woman who is like me in the “no kids” department!
I am reading an ARC I won of Nicole Jordan’s new book Princess Charming.. I love her books and this one is the first book in her Wilde family series.. and it is terrific… Her books never fail me..
I am also reading on my Kindle One Lucky Cowboy by Carolyn Brown.. She is a new to me author I found in 2011 and her books are WOW.. I love western themes and her books are spicy and sassy, as her heroines fine their Cowboys to love..
I’m reading The Making of a Lady by Shana Galen. I really liked The Making of a Gentleman (the second book in the series) but I’m having a hard time getting into this one and it’s frustrating because I don’t know why. I like the characters, the plot is interesting enough (the heroine is a reluctant spy). I really like her dialogue. I have no idea whats wrong. Maybe I was just in the mood for a darker story?