It's time for what I think of as “the most expensive recurring feature” on the site – What are you reading?
Seriously, I read the comments and the book spending goes up, up, up, and I feel both lightheaded and giddy. I hope I'm not the only one.
This weekend is the Great American Backyard Campout, and I'm parking myself, the hubby, and our two boys (and a lot of bug spray – we're all lumpy-allergic to insect bites) in the backyard in a tent with flashlights and books and the best of intentions to sleep outside all night. I know Freebird, who is 6, will probably bring his favorites from the Lunchlady graphic novel series, and Baba O'Riley, who is 4, will probably bring ALL OF HIS BOOKS because that child is like a sherpa.
As for me, I'll be reading Truly, Madly Yours, by Rachel Gibson. I've never read it, and y'all had really good things to say about it in the recent Gibson thread. Watch, I'll wake everyone up trying to muffle my very loud snort-laugh.
What about you? What are you reading this weekend?
I read (fine, skimmed) Undead and Unstable last week but I’m still trying to work out the second sentence of the ‘Previously On’ section: “Because she’d been attacked by several feral vampires days before, she didn’t die from their attack, but later at the hands of the Pontiac corporation.” (I have read/skimmed all the previous books, so the history is not the sticking point.) That needs to be set aside, though, as I am re-reading Lover Eternal and back to debating whether Mary and Rhage did a dine-and-dash at TGIFriday’s.
I’m re-reading Cry Wolf, after a massive Mercy Thompson glom.
I think I’m going to read BARED TO YOU by Sylvia Day this weekend. Seems like a fun way to spend a hot weekend 🙂
I have a lot of library books I *should* be reading. I just finished Dead Inside: Do Not Enter: Notes from the Zombie Apocalypse, well before its due date (not hard, considering that the book is composed mostly of facsimiles of short handwritten and typed notes). I’ve still got Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, a couple books by Pearl S. Buck, and oodles more. Somehow I think I may cave and read Jeannie Lin’s My Fair Concubine before all of those books, even though I own it and therefore don’t have to read it by a particular date.
On my e-reader, I just finished Last Car to Annwn Station by Michael Merriam and am reading fanfics while I consider which of my many books to start next.
I just started About Last Night (which is delicious!) and I am really getting into Gone Girl, which is enthralling—thank goodness b/c it’s way too hot to go outside this weekend!
I’m driving across country, but have packed a copy of Gentleman Undone by Cecilia
Grant for those few conscious moments in the motel each evening and as a reward for when I arrive. Also, found a used audio copy of Elizabeth George’s This Body of Death for the drive. Love me some Thomas Lynley, Earl & Detective!
I am reading Elizabeth Lowell’s Beautiful Sacrifice
Teri Wilson’s Alaskan Hearts. It’s her first Love Inspired, which isn’t my go-to imprint, but it’s really cute. And set in Alaska, so yay!
I think Erin McCarthy’s Jacked up – its due back to the library on Tuesday. 😉 I can’t not finish the series although, the last 2 were only ‘eh’ for me
Reading Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry. I’ve been having a difficult time finding new authors to read as I’m so fussy. I will be rather desperately perusing this thread.
Halfway through “Envy” by J. R. Ward. Also have “Lover Reborn” from the library. Will be a weekend of label-dropping and extraneous h’s.
I’m reading Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey.
I’m reading Meg Brooke’s The Secretary. $2 historical e-book that Cecilia Grant turned me on to the other day—heroine cross-dresses as a man so she can work as secretary to an earl in the House of Lords. Only about 10% in, but good so far. I like cross-dressing heroines.
I’ve been on a Rachel Gibson kick over the last few days,so more of the same this weekend.
I want to read Jacked up ( though I do agree that the last two were meh), but not available to me in ebook, so need to schedule time to visit the romance book store ( difficult when it’s closed on the weekend) for an actual paper copy.
I am halfway through Mary Balogh’s The Secret Mistress, but not sure I can finish it. None of the characters appeal to me.
Probably I’ll be finishing up Jacob the Liar by Jurek Becker and will be reading a YA One Friend to Another by Elizabeth Feuer.
I’m also reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and am very amazed at the writing and the characters and whatnot. Has anyone read The Poisonwood Bible?
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Our library just had an immense second-hand book sale, so I’m reading my way through my stash of glorious older romances. I finally got my hands on a copy of Crusie’s ‘Tell Me Lies’ (loved it, but see why most of her heroines don’t have children by their exes – it does complicate the progression of the romance, somewhat) and I just finished Courtney Milan’s ‘Proof by Seduction’, which I liked although the Celtic names of the protagonists were a bit discombobulating. Why does an English aristocrat have a distinctly Welsh name like Gareth? Does he have significant Welsh estates or Welsh heritage somewhere? And why is Jenny a Jennifer, a very rare Cornish name of the period, and not a plain Jane?! I’ll bet you that Regency England had thousands upon thousands of Janes and even Janets, but hardly any Jennifers outside of the West Country.
Somehow, I can suspend my disbelief about almost everything in period novels, except for the names – nothing, nothing pulls me out of the Regency universe faster than say, a British Countess called Lauren.
Reading The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros. It’s been on my radar for years but I finally picked up a copy and it is great!
I’ve got Oracle’s Moon by Thea Harrison on the ereader, and a stack of library books at home calling to me.
Thanks to your recommendations last week I picked up About Last Night by Ruthie Knox. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Then I went and bought her other book (Ride With Me). And now I’m mad that I discovered an author who only has TWO books out. I’ve glommed her backlist in one day. No fair! Next up is Changeling by Kristin Cashore.
Just taste testing this week/end, re-reading several offerings by a couple of authors, trying to weigh just what it is that makes for an exquisite read. Started with several books by Candice Hern, whose historicals are lovely. Great costumes, strong locations, sweet interactions, a nice variety of characters, with only the occasional phrase or two that break one out of the period. I find I can devour three or four in row without feeling like I’ve had one too many petit fours. Hmmm. Are these books as substantial as those cooked up by other favorites? Yes and no. Each book is evenly balanced throughout and I am never disappointed. Once I bite into one of Hern’s books, I am guaranteed a a satisfying read. However, sometimes the sweetness is best set off by a bit of bitter—chocolate or coffee, take your pick.The only thing missing from Hern is a bit of an edge.
Also nibbling on Rachel Gibson treats. (Thank you for introducing me to her writing, SBTB.) These are a bit more like an array of tarts. Having read three of Gibson’s books this week—as e-book library downloads returned immediately after reading, which means that I haven’t been able to recheck or reread certain passages—I was most intrigued. I find contemporaries more difficult to digest than historicals, usually because the author and characters are so desperately looking for an HEA, they simply aren’t interesting. The Boise writers are defined by the genres they write rather than by the men they meet. That really adds some zest—lemon tarts rather than treacle. I still have a few more Gibson bites to digest before I’m ready for a serious assessment. But it’s definitely worth going back to the tray of tarts for another sample.
I read The Poisonwood Bible and just loved it. I probably read it 15 years ago, but it’s one of those books I still think about. I remember being so impressed with what a quantum leap it was from her earlier books (which were good, but so different – on a smaller scale, if that makes sense).
I’ll finish up Man Law by Adrienne Giordano and go on to the second book in that series, maybe finish the trilogy if I get enough time.
I’ve been on a major K. A. Mitchell glom. I also read Temptation by Brenda Jackson, which was a nice change of pace.
Just started Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey – part of my epic memorial re-read of her books. I’m enjoying it so far, which is interesting. When I read it in college, I was so enraged by the sexism that I ended up breaking up with her as an author. I’d loved her as a pre-teen / young teen – to come back to her at age 20 and discover what I perceived as blatant misogyny – well, I can’t even begin to explain the sense of betrayal I felt. 20+ years later, I think I have a more realistic view of her as an author who was ahead of her time, but is behind our time, in terms of attitudes about sex and gender, etc. I’m so curious to see what I think about Dragonsdawn now.
One more thing – on deck, I have Collision Course by C.P. Rowlands – from the f/f recommendations awhile ago – I’m psyched to try it because one of the women in the main couple is bi (yay).
I’m so tickled that I now have THREE romances named Collision Course – all from different sub-genres, all from SBTB recs. There’s the Zoe Archer m/f space opera, the K. A. Mitchell m/m contemporary and now the C. P Rowlands f/f contemporary.
On deck for this weekend are Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson and the audiobook for Body Movers by Stephanie Bond. I can’t begin to tell you how funny LPTNH is. Highly recommend.
Have you sprayed your yard? There are several mosquito ‘foggers’ available to the pubic, and I believe one of them hooks up to your hose. Just go to your local home improvement store. I live basically in the woods and get the same ridiculous reaction to bites. So when I have a party and plan on being outside after about 7 I always make someone (usually whatever male is standing about at the time) spray the yard. It works well
I’m just starting Princess Charming by Nicole Jordan. It’s the first in a new series, but I’m only a few pages in.
I’m also going to be reading Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews. I love love LOVE her books, and they’re perfect summer reading!
I just realized I’ll have work and exciting developments in Sungkyunkwan Scandal (historical K-drama goodness with crossdressing…although I’m still iffy about the “I know ‘he’s’ and she by her pulse” thing) competing for my reading time. There are not enough hours in the day, darn it. If only I didn’t need sleep.
I’ve started reading “The Lady in Medieval England, 1000-1500” recently. It’s great; no so scholarly that I’m feeling that I’m missing background information, but more in-depth than most books. It’s a bit heavy, though, so for brain candy, I’ll either read Eloisa James’ “A Kiss at Midnight” or Kasey Micheals’ “Then Came Marriage”.
i’m re-reading the edge series by ilona andrews, trying to put off a re-read of the kate daniels series until july (which isn’t going to work). right now i’m three quarters of the way through fate’s edge, and i was really liking kaldar much better as a character the second time around. then william showed up again and ruined me for all other fictitious men. *goes back to square one*
sigh.
After RedHeadedGirl’s Judith Krantz review, I had to go and find me some JK to read, given that I spent huge chunks of my early adulthood inhaling these books. So I’m re-reading Princess Daisy, which was one of my favourites back in the day. And actually, really really enjoying it. There is all kinds of crazy over-the-top description in it, but for some reason, it still does it for me. Which is refreshing, given that a lot of my early romance reading doesn’t seem to withstand the test of time…
I just finished K.A. Mitchell’s “Bad Company”, and am starting Roux & Urban’s “Divide and Conquer”. I have Megan Hart’s “Dirty” queued up and Cari Quinn’s “Heart Signs” in case I get through the ones I’m currently working on.
I’ve finally found the time and quiet space to read Cecilia Grant’s A Gentleman Undone. I’m taking it slowly and savoring each beautiful sentence.
And everyone suffering from the heat, you can come to Oregon for the weekend, where it’ll be in the 60’s and wet (summer rarely starts before July 5th).
I don’t know what I’m reading yet! This is one area where I prefer real books to the e-reader because I want to look at the front cover, read the back blurb, flip through a little… I know I can get all the same information from the Kindle, but it just doesn’t satisfy the tactile urge of holding a book. But I’m visiting mom for a couple weeks, so the Kindle is all I’ve got.
So, since I didn’t download About Last Night when it came out earlier this month (slap on the wrist!), I think I’ll start that. And at Ruthie’s suggestion above, I also dl’d The Secretary.
Lives of the Saints, by Nancy Lemann (published in the Voices of the South series). I read this book when I’m feeling nostalgic for the Deep South with a twist. My mother once told me, “Sugar, you were never Southern.” True, but since I grew up there, I sometimes crave the memory of its unusual sensibilities. This book gives me what I need, including nuttiness, smarts, and a compelling love story.
I’ll be finishing Kevin Hearne’s Hammered; it’s part of his Iron Druid Chronicles which I expected to hate but enjoyed. I’m also finishing Daniel Handler’s Watch You Mouth which might be a love story. I never know until the very end of his books.
I’m finishing a week-long intensive course on information architecture, so this week it’ll be strictly YA: Kristen Cashore’s Fire and Maggie Stievfater’s The Scorpio Races.
I’ll be revisiting my romance roots with Woodiwiss’s Shanna in my continuing attempt to ascertain whether my crystal clear recall of books read decades ago is a result of them really being THAT epic as opposed to landing in my brain when the cells were nice and fresh and better able to retain information.
I can’t read anything this weekend, because it’s marksmen’s festival (is that right? I have no idea how to translate Schützenfest) in my little home-village. Which is kinda unfair, because my preordered copy of Lothaire (Kresley Cole) arrived today along with The Viscount Who Loved Me. And I want to read. I really, really want to…
I’m reading “Chances” by Jackie Collins…
The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente, which is simply a gorgeous book. I have the second book handy for when I finish.