It’s the first Whatcha Reading of 2017! And I’m sure we’re all diving into books for a variety of reasons – self-care, comfort, getting cozy in the winter weather, or maybe even using it to relax on a warm beach somewhere. We hope you’ve been reading something great, but if not, feel free to rant about it in the comments!
Sarah: I’m listening to Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach ( A | BN | K | AB ), which was an audible deal a week or so ago. It’s about accepting yourself (duh) as you are, but the part that has stuck with me so far is the idea that acceptance isn’t resignation. The point isn’t to give up, or presume one cannot change, but to accept yourself as you are so you can evolve and grow from the present moment. It’s good for listening while walking the dogs, like walking meditation, only with poop bags.
I’m reading Pretty Face by Lucy Parker, the follow up book to Act Like It, which you might have heard me talking about once or twice. The characters from Act Like It appear briefly, too. The heroine, Lily, is an actress typecast into a blonde bimbo role on an evening soap, and she’s cast as one of three female leads in a new and very prominent stage production of a play. The hero, Luc, is the director and theatre owner, and there are a number of barriers between them, including workplace boundaries (he’s her boss), age difference (He’s older), and her determination NOT to live up to her television role – which is further complicated by her own parents. Her mother had an affair with her father while he was married (and still is), and her mother was and is pretty well known for affairs that advanced her professional performance ambition. So it’s a pretty powerful attraction and emotional connection that surmounts (hur) those obstacles. Sometimes I’ve got my hand over my eyes reading between my fingers out of cringe horror (No, no, don’t do that this will not end well…), which is often not my thing, but Luc and Lily have wonderful, delicious chemistry. It’s hard to put down.
Elyse: I just started To Catch a Stolen Soul by RL Naquin ( A | BN | K | AB ). It involves a djinn searching for missing souls–and she opens a food truck. It’s delightful
Carrie: I just finished March by John Lewis ( A | BN | K | AB ) and am finishing Alexander Hamilton ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and also The Glass Universe which is by Dana Sobel ( A | BN | K | AB ).
Amanda: I’ve been making a concerted effort to stop going to the library temporarily in order to make a dent on my Kindle TBR. So the two books I PLAN to read and I’m looking forward to are The List by Tawna Fenske. Computer repair hero, soil scientist heroine, and a sex list. It’s seems pretty cute.
Second, the Too Taboo erotic romance anthology ( A | BN | K | AB ). It has three stories, all of which seems pretty steamy. What initially interested me is the first story, which has a licensed sex surrogate. The concept of a sex surrogate was something I read about in Off the Clock by Roni Loren and my spidey senses immediately tingled.
By request, since we can’t link to every book you mention in the comments, here are bookstore links that help support the site with your purchases. If you use them, that’s so great of you, and if you’d prefer not to, that’s cool too. Thanks for being a part of another year of SBTB and hopefully, you’ve found some great books to read!
Some great reads this month, and one read I read because dang it, I’m a loyal reader.
– “Ship of Destiny” / “Fool’s Errand” / “The Golden Fool” / “Fool’s Fate” by Robin Hobb – I just completely sink into these books. The worldbuilding, the characters (oh, Fool! Find your happiness, live your truth!). It’s everything I want out of epic fantasy and I cannot believe I didn’t read Hobb earlier.
– “Experimental Film” by Gemma Files – a struggling film critic discovers the answer to the 1915 disappearance of Ontario’s first female filmmaker and that answer is ghosts? And angry gods of the harvest? Horror and/or weird fiction, this was EXCELLENT and if you liked Paul Tremblay’s “A Head Full of Ghosts” or Elizabeth Hand’s “Wylding Hall”, check this out!
– “The Soldier’s Scoundrel” by Cat Sebastian – M/M regency romance. This was featured in a Deals post here a few weeks ago and the post comments were full of praise so I gave it a shot. I JUST finished it and I loved it! Sexy, sweet, there’s even a mystery. I can’t wait for Sebastian’s next book, out next month! Oh! And the cover is incredible.
– “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi – a vivid family epic story of two half sisters from Ghana, one who is sold into slavery, one who is married to slavery, and their decedents. I can’t stop thinking about it.
– “Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A.” by Eve Babitz – journalist, novelist, and 70’s “party girl” (had numerous high profile affairs, with Jim Morrison, Steve Martin, Harrison Ford…), Babitz’s writing is sharp and irreverent and just plain brilliant. NYRB has been republishing her books with these great hot pink covers, pick one up!
– “George Cukor: A Double Life” by Patrick McGilligan – a solid biography of George Cukor, one of the great directors of Old Hollywood, he’s best known for “The Philadelphia Story”, “Camille”, “Adam’s Rib” and being replaced on “Gone with the Wind.” This book came out in 1997, and it purports to be the first to deal openly with Cukor’s sexuality, but it does so a little clumsily.
– “Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners” by Therese Oneill (audiobook) – a funny, informative, often infuriating listen. While the book does shoot straight down the middle, if you’ve done any reading about women’s lives in the Victorian era, you won’t be shocked by most of it, its lively and doesn’t shy away from calling ridiculous or dangerous practices ridiculous and dangerous.
– “Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher – :’). A funny, wacky, honest memoir adapted from Fisher’s one-woman show. Oh, and hey! She also had an affair with Harrison Ford!
– “Paris Was Yesterday: 1925-1939” by Janet Flanner – a collection of Flanner’s “dispatches” from the Left Bank of Paris for The New Yorker – funny in that Dorothy Parker mode. An interesting read if you’re interested in Paris and people of the 20’s. All the big names appear; Hemingway, Stein, even my history crush, Natalie Barney!
– “Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King” by Antonia Fraser – I read this because I watched the show Versailles twice in a row. It was a good biography, but there were SO MANY women in the life of the Sun King, they started to blur.
– “Duchess By Night” by Eloisa James (audiobook) – the fun thing about romance for me is that I haven’t read enough of it to know exactly what tropes I do and do not like. Turns out I do not like “woman disguises herself as a man” stories. There’s too much deceit inherent in the premise and oh boy, Gay Panic, even when slightly subverted, is not for me. At least now I know I can cross that trope right off the list.
– “The Thin Bright Line” by Lucy Jane Bledsoe – a fictionalized narrative of the author’s aunt, a lesbian woman who who worked on climate research during the Cold War. The history is fascinating and I think this may have worked better as nonfiction.
– “Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis” by Anne Rice – I dunno, man. I loved Rice as a teenager and I’ll always pick these up, but jeez. The “plot” is this bizarre of Edgar Cayce, Zecharia Stichin, and vampires just sitting around, glorifying in how very, very beautiful there are.
Currently Reading
– “Wallbanger” by Alice Clayton – This is one of those I keep meaning to read and don’t. Well, I was at the library yesterday and this just jumped out at me. Thank goodness. I need something to make me laugh.
– “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right” by Jane Mayer – Because one of the ways I deal with fury and the feeling of hopelessness is to get my hands on information and context.
I just finished Sarah MacLean’s A Rogue by Any Other Name earlier this week. Now I’m onto The Price of Salt. Probably going to go back to another MacLean book to help get me in the mood to work on my own historical.
@KateB Hey! Someone else who read that book on Louis XIV. I enjoyed that one. During college, a professor introduced me to this French musical about him (apporpaitely called Le Roi Soleil), so I jumped on that book.
@Amanda – Awesome! I want to read more and I’d love to find some soapy historical fiction about the court.
Also, typo check. I meant “married to a slaver” not “married to slavery.”
I’ve been too tired to read most of the time since Christmas – two weeks of non-stop overtime and double shifts led to a conversation with my boss this week and a slightly more equitable distribution of labour. I’m highly skeptical as to this actually working. My boss likes to make a lot of noise, but you don’t see too many results. He has been told that I don’t want to hear about any issues concerning the areas that are no longer my responsibility.
@KateB I’m tempted to give Versailles a try because I used to adore the Angelique books.
I’ve been on a Susan Howatch kick lately and I am currently rereading Cashelmara. Does anyone today write big, sprawling sagas with hundreds of characters and passion and revenge and violence and plots and scheming villains, etc.? Those really are my catnip.
Also read Joanna Shupe’s Tycoon. It was cute and fun. I like gilded age settings and have the others of this series on Mount TBR. (Darn my son for giving me an Amazon gift card for Christmas!)
I’ve also been reading the Percy Jackson books and really enjoying them, but I love Greek mythology (Classics major) and these books are clever and funny and entertaining.
Well,I’ve been on a real historical romance kick which is fun, but they do start to blur together after a while.
Mostly I’ve been straight up devouring The Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare, with Week to Be Wicked being my favorite so far. I’m a sucker for blue stocking/nerdy girl character with the rogue hero, what can I say? I think it was watching Romancing the Stone so many times as a child.
I’ve been kicking myself for not reading this series earlier. It’s just silly sexy light hearted fun.
I’m also listening to Marrying Winterbourne by Lisa Kleypas on audio, but it’s not grabbing me like Cold Hearted Rake. Speaking of tropes that don’t work on a personal level, I’m not a big fan of shy,super innocent virgin tutored by alpha male in “the ways of love.” I get that is a wonderful fantasy for some and it may be historically accurate for all I know, but I prefer even virgin heroines a little bit more confident in themselves, historical accuracy be dammed. However, I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series, so I continue on!
I had a fall in early January, got my right hand in a really nice green cast. So that got me 4 weeks off from work (no cushy office job I could will do). So I’ve been home for over 2 weeks with nothing to do, so you would think I would have read like there is no tomorrow. But no, I’m in a reading slump, and I haven’t found anything to grab me. I’ve reread some things, like the books about Anna and Charles by Patricia Briggs. Now I’m rereading a few favorite J.D. Robb books before the next one comes out in February.
I need ideas so gonna check out a few of the books in this thread.
My reading got off to a slow start this year and I’d only managed to finish two books by the 17th: Revisionary, by Jim C. Hines* and Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. I highly recommend both.
Then on Tuesday night, I said “Fuck it!”**, bought a bunch of junk and convenience food and started a vacation from the news and Twitter with a pile of old Scholastic Star Wars books on Wednesday. Once I got over the “Ah! I’m missing things!” jitters, I’ve managed to reread most of the Jedi Apprentice series. (Finished book 14*** last night.)
*Last of his books I hadn’t read. 🙁
**Exact quote.
***There’s only 18, plus two special editions. Then I have another two series (Jedi Quest, 11 books, and The Last of the Jedi, 10 books.) and two related books. I like my odds of making my 70 book goal this year, even if I don’t finish them all by Monday.
I pulled up the Goodreads shelf, because I did a lot of reading last month. It was a wild combination of the semester being over, and me being on staycation. And then the new semester started and there went that, and I had a mild slump right at the first that I medicated with graphic novels.
In the car: ha, nothing, what’s a car? I got hit on the 19th and STILL don’t have my car back. So I gave Hidden Figures back to the library until I get my car back (hopefully this week, please don’t let them find any more damage, fingers and toes are crossed).
Not in the car, I finished His Road Home by Anna Richland (LOVED IT, such a sweet, touching story), Duke of My Heart by Kelly Bowen (I love a novel about a fixer), Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina (the protagonist had a great voice, but it was wrenching, as she was in an abusive situation for most of the book, and I just wanted her to GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS, that said, the scenes where her friend confronted her for not confiding in her and the protagonist takes her father to task for not protecting and helping her were stellar), Scythe by Neal Shusterman (drop everything you’re doing and READ IT, you’ll thank me later), The Trouble With Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis (perfect and seasonal and ohmystars THE CAT), Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick (she’s a treasure). Those were all before January 1, at which point, I started like three books and couldn’t make any of them work for me. I tried The Fifth Season, which I think is probably brilliant, but I cannot with bleak right now, and a couple of other ones that I’m not even bringing to mind at the moment. I decided to go HAM on some graphic novels and in about a 2-3 time span, worked my way through Paper Girls volumes 1 and 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (it reminded me a lot of Stranger Things, weirdly), Mockingbird by Chelsea Cain (Bobbie is now my Patronus), and Sex Criminals volume 3 (womp womp, I think Fraction has lost the thread of what he wanted to do with this book). It helped. Then, right after watching the first episode of Sherlock, I started A Study In Scarlet Women ( a lot of really great characterization and conceits regarding Charlotte, but I agree with everyone who said that the mystery needed to be stronger), Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt (which I won in a Twitter contest from Eva Leigh, and it was awesome, I then passed it to one of coworkers to read while we are at this conference, because I love everyone), and now (drumroll please) I’m almost done with Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. IT IS SO STABBY. SO VERY STABBY AND I LOVE IT. I needed some stabby with what I knew we were about to inaugurate into the 45th presidency and well…it was exactly what I needed to be. Also, pay attention to the footnotes if you read it…they’re a scream.
Next month won’t be nearly as wordy. School is back in and it is a bear. Oh, well. Got to get smarter if I plan to be a librarian.
I’m reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, which combines two of my favorite genres — epic fantasy and heist books.
My reading month started off well, but I had a little bit of a slump in the middle then again this week. Nothing sounded good this week and everything I picked up I ended up putting down. I’m currently struggling to Someone Like You by Lauren Layne. It’s really good so far, but I just haven’t been able to concentrate on reading so I’m only 25% in.
Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan- I got this one free with my Harlequin reward points
and it ended up being one of my favorite reads of 2016. I loved Eva and Lucas. The cynical hero and the optimistic heroine is a pretty common trope, but Morgan made it feel fresh. I especially enjoyed how Lucas helped Eva understand that it was okay for her to not put on a happy face all the time was great. I basically loved every part of this book- the depiction of Lucas’s writing process, Eva’s love of Christmas, how competent Eva was, and the strength of the female friendships in the book (actually this aspect was probably stronger in the first two of the series, but the continuing thread of their friendship and starting a business was wonderful).
Dare She Date the Dreamy Doc by Sarah Morgan- I decided to use more of my Harlequin reward points on this one since it had a good review on Dear Author. I enjoyed it overall, but it’s not one that will stick with me. The hero and heroine were enjoyable as was the small-town atmosphere. I did actually enjoy that the heroine’s teenage daughter was kind of annoying and selfish at times. It was a nice change of pace to have a teenager portrayal that was closer to the actual thing rather than the super mature version you usually see in books.
One Enchanted Moment by Sarah Morgan- This is another one of Morgan’s books that really captures the way female friendships work. How Skylar deals with her two best friends being in very different places in their lives and having less time for her felt very real. The romance and way Alec and Skylar come to actually get to know each other and fall in love was also well done. This was probably my favorite book of the Puffin Island series. I am now officially done with all the Sarah Morgan books I had in my tbr list!
One Hot December by Tiffany Reisz- I picked this one up with a hope of really breaking my first reading slump since the previous book in this series broke my last reading slump. It didn’t really break my slump; it took me four days to read this rather short book. The book itself was pretty great and under non-book slump circumstances would have been a rather fast read. I loved Flash aka Veronica, the welder, and Ian, her boss. I loved that despite their outward differences and the outside forces putting pressure on their relationship they were obviously meant for each other. There’s such great dialogue, lovely supporting characters, and fun little details in this book. I especially loved the discussion of mounting bondage brackets to Flash’s wall and I’m going to need Joe Biden and Joan Jett to form a rock group asap.
Ilona Andrews- I read Fate’s Edge, Steel’s Edge, and Sweep in Peace. I loved all of these books. I know there was a post earlier this month on shipping secondary characters and I need a Jack/Sophie (Lark) romance asap. I know there may be more call for a George/Sophie matchup, and I do want to see George get his own book, but I would like Jack and Sophie to end up together. I just got One Fell Sweep from Overdrive so I plan on getting to that soon.
I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm by Kelly Bowen- The two books Bowen released last year were two of my favorites so I wanted to check out her previous books. This one did not disappoint. The heroine faked her own death to escape an abusive relationship then started helping other women do the same. She finds out her husband is going to marry again and wants to stop him. She needs to find a man who can pass a gentleman to help her so she finds the illegitimate son of a duke to help her. Bowen’s books are well-written with interesting, dynamic characters. She’s fast become one of my favorites.
Lauren Layne- I read The Wedding Belles series minus the first novella and loved all of them. If I had to pick the third, To Love and Cherish, would be my favorite of the three. It has a reluctant heroine and a beta hero who’s been in love with her for eight years. I loved how the book dealt with the hero’s combination of patience and eventual frustration at the heroine’s reluctance. My least favorite one was the second book, but I still really enjoyed it. The hero and heroine are neighbors and have a love/hate thing going on. I didn’t always love the hero in this one, he was a little annoying and pushy at times, but it never quite crossed the line to full dislike for me. The first book heroine moving from California to New York for a fresh start after her fiancee got arrested at their wedding for running a Ponzi. The hero is the owner/CEO of a group of hotels and the heroine is his sister’s wedding planner. The hero is afraid his sister is being used for her money so is being difficult in terms of wedding planning (he’s footing the bill and comes to the planning sessions since he’s suspicious of the fiancee). I also read Frisk Me by Layne and it was fine. I love Layne’s voice, so that was a plus in the books, but the story was just okay for me. I also felt like the resolution left something to be desired.
Jennifer Blackwood- I read both books in her Rule Makers series. I love Blackwood’s voice. She’s great with humor and dialogue; I actually laughed out loud a few times reading the first book. I did prefer the first book, The Rule Book, to the second but both were good. The Rule Book has a boss and employee relationship which I’m normally not a fan of but was handled pretty well in this one. I did think that the resolution felt a little rushed and I would have liked to have had the hero’s perspective not just the heroine’s. This one also is fade to black sex scenes. I actually won an arc of the second book, The Rule Breaker with features the heroine from the first book’s roommate. This one did have alternating perspectives and wasn’t fade to black. I liked this one, the romance was very sweet, but I didn’t quite connect to it like I did the first one. I think that might have been because my second reading slump of the month was starting.
After I finish Someone Like You, I have three more books by Lauren Layne that I need to read. Then I’m planning to work my way through the eleven Mary Balogh books I have on my kindle plus the one I checked out from the library.
Francesca,
Did you read the Burbon Kings by J R Ward? It is book 1 of a three part saga of a dysfuctional family. It has it all, murder, mansions, servants etc.
Book 2 is The Angels Share, and book three still to come.
I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer which was a well-written tragedy with a rather trippy ending. Like a good tragedy it was also a frustrating read because there were many times the heroine could have avoided her fate and gotten her happy ending, but of course her fatal flaw always got in the way. Besides that it was a somewhat enjoyable read.
After I finished it I started a book called The Norse King’s Daughter by Sandra Hill which is pure dumb, hilarious fun.
Lastly, while I was reading these other two books I’ve slowly been making my way through Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert( author of Eat, Pray, Love). It is a self-help book to help creative types actually finish the work they start. As a writer who has trouble finishing creative works, it is a pretty good read , although I don’t agree with everything in the book.
It’s been sort of a slow reading month for me due to work craziness and being sick. I finished murder on the ballarat train- one of the phyrne fisher mysteries by Kerry greenwood. It was a fantastic comfort read. Love both the books and the show! Then I read Laura florand’s Chocolate Thief which I liked but didn’t love. The descriptions of Parisian food and the chocolate were excellent and mouth watering and the initial banter and tension between the hero and heroine were wonderful. But I felt that the hero and heroines relationship developed too quickly and their communication about their feelings toward each other could have been better. Still am looking forward to the rest of the series if for nothing else than the food descriptions. Then I read invasion of the tearling by Erika johanson. This is the second book in the tearling trilogy and trigger warnings for abuse and rape. I loved queen kelsea the female protagonist in the first book and she is a great example of female rage especially in the second book. I didn’t love it quite as much as the first book but I am looking forward to finishing the trilogy. Lastly I read voracious by cara Nicoletti which is part cookbook part memoir. She pairs her thoughts and experiences reading with a recipe of a food mentioned in the book. Example include white garlic soups in pride and prejudice and clam chowder in moby dick. it was such a unique idea and reading experience and I can’t wait to try the recipes.
Next up I am finishing murder in time by Julia mcelwaine. I am enjoying it so far and still have no idea who the murdererr is. Also finishing bill Bryson’s in a sunburned country about the history and his experiences traveling in Australia which is hilarious and entertaining.
I’ve been reading McMaster Bujold’s Penric novellas. I was happy to find out that there are now three! They are set on the Five God’s universe (Chalion series) but during an earlier time. The last one is a bit of a cliffhanger, but that didn’t bother me too much since the characters are so well written that you can still speculate on what they will do next. Strongly recommend if you’d like a shorter read and an interesting premise. They are self published as ebooks (easily available) but there will be print copies too in a limited run.
I’ve just started a book I’ve been sitting on for a couple of years: A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel. It’s so different from the usual HR. I appreciate different. I appreciate the story isn’t set in the usual Medieval England. I appreciate the heroine and hero take time to talk with each other. I appreciate the fact the couple is kept apart not by some stupid (and easily solvable) Big Misunderstanding but for legitimate reasons like being of different social standings and religions. I may have to check into more of Samuel’s works.
@KateB Well, in a sense if you’re married to a slaver then yes, you’re married to slavery.
I’ve been in a contemporary mood lately, so I’ve been reading a bunch of Penny Reid’s and Katie Ruggle’s books. Just little reads that aren’t too taking lately. I haven’t been in the mood for anything heavy.
My new job (squee!) has lots of data entry right now, so I’ve also been listening to lots of audiobooks. I listened to Hidden Figures before seeing the movie, and what a fantastic book that was. Fascinating women. I’m glad their story is being told.
I’m having a good reading month, at least. I went through my electronic library and made a list of the (150, cough) books I was so so excited about reading and then didn’t. Turns out – who knew? – I’m mostly enjoying these more than whatever book I happened to pick up recently because it was cheap/new to the library.
I started out 2017 by finishing the last few installments of T. Kingfisher’s Summer in Orcus (http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/summer-in-orcus/), which she still has serialized online for now. This is a portal fantasy with an appealing lead and some wonderful supporting characters – other Heyer fans, especially Freddie-from-Cotillion-fans, may adore Reginald as much as I did.
Then I found that Andrea K. Höst had dropped a new surprise Touchstone book about Cass’s mom Laura, and finished out my New Year’s Day with it. It’s not quite as fun as the original trilogy, but does give me the chance to evangelize again that one can pick up Höst’s Stray, the first in the series, for free from many etailers. It’s portal SF with space ninjas and found family and awesomeness.
I got to Courtney Milan’s The Year of the Crocodile and Hold Me and adored the latter more than I expected to. An academic science setting from a person who knows her stuff was a great gift.
I read Ilona Andrews’ One Fell Sweep, which maintains the series as my favorite Andrews work. I love the goofy geniality of this universe.
I can’t remember where I heard about the YA foster family book Peas and Carrots, by Tanita S. Davis, but it made a good hopeful read on Inauguration Day.
I’m in marginally better place with reading, where I’m not loving anything but I can get through a book. Nothing stands out, with the exception of the Sarah Morgans that are set in New York (which is love/hate for me in the best of times) but the “hero” in the second book squicked me the fuck out. He was so gaslight-y and controlling and always knowing better than she did what she wanted, and I’m sure I’ve read a zillion like him, but not set now, in Brooklyn.
The best read recently is actually not a romance, but it is absolutely killing me right now: H is for Hawk. Nonfiction but so beautifully written you’d never guess. It is absolutely harrowing, I have to keep putting it down because it makes me cry. I may be reading it all year. Even halfway in, it is so much better, so much *more* than any other grief book I’ve found (Year of Magical Thinking still wins for absolute worst in case anyone wondered).
I have been trying to read some of Tessa Dare’s Spindle Cove books, but it’s tough going as she keeps writing characters with my children’s names! I had to put down one of them when it turned out that not only did the heroine have the same first name as my oldest, they share a middle name as well. I just couldn’t get past it. Halfway through another, I discovered that the hero’s first name is the same as my son’s. Does anyone else run into this problem? The same book referred to a character with the same name as my youngest, so apparently I have similar name tastes to Tessa Dare.
Books I did manage to finish:
Blame It on Paris – Laura Florand’s memoir of meeting and marrying her French husband. Full of food and entertaining descriptions of her new relatives, it made me want to eat and travel.
Burn for Me – Ilona Andrews. I’ve been devouring the Kate Daniel’s books, so I was eager to try another series by Andrews. My only disappointment was discovering that book two isn’t out yet. Very enjoyable.
Something New – Lucy Knisely. This is an enjoyable graphic memoir of the year she spent planning her wedding. It’s not necessarily her best work, but I had fun reminiscing about my own long-ago wedding.
I read The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel and really enjoyed it.
I started a Goodreads account so I can start keeping track, this is very exciting.
I tried Tawna Fenske, who I’ve heard writes very funny contemporaries, but I just couldn’t get into it. ABOUT THAT FLING had the most excruciatingly awkward relationships among hero, heroine, friends, family. And I know Amanda’s excited about THE LIST which is forthcoming, but I read an excerpt on another blog and the first-person narration was really not working for me.
Jude Deveraux’s THE GIRL FROM SUMMER HILL was supposed to be my catnip–hero and heroine live out PRIDE & PREJUDICE-type plot while starring in a play adaptation of PRIDE & PREJUDICE–but didn’t work for me. A couple months ago I read Curtis Sittenfeld’s ELIGIBLE, which was a razor-sharp satirical version that I adored, so thee comparison didn’t help.
Lisa Kleypas’s BLUE EYED DEVIL freaked me out a little with the depiction of an abusive relationship (particularly when something happened to a friend of mine the day after I read the book) but I think it’s so important to show women overcoming it and making a better life for themselves.
I read a bunch of Kelly Bowen, and loved it all. Strong, competent heroines, and men who let them do their thing. My favorite remains A DUKE TO REMEMBER, where the heroine goes to the countryside to find a long-lost duke, but they’re all immensely enjoyable. Bowen’s books are making me forget how impatient I am for more Courtney Milan entries in the Worth Saga, which sounds stupid but is incredibly high praise 🙂
LADY BRIDGET’S DIARY and CHASING LADY AMELIA by Maya Rodale were fluffy, fun romances that were great entertainment on some long plane rides. I know the cutesy historical using lots of contemporary references (Bridget Jones’s Diary and some Mean Girls for the first one, for instance) is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Maya Rodale is one of the best for it.
Some other airplane books I enjoyed were MAID FOR LOVE and FOOL FOR LOVE by Marie Force, very cozy contemporaries where women who have been through things a little rough find great things in good men.
I read THE MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman, which I think is fairly buzzy right now. I really liked it, although it’s a lot like the character arc of the old guy in UP, which I was not in a great emotional state to handle when I read it. Cried a lot and will be going back to wallow in romance and HEAs.
I read VIRGIN RIVER by Robyn Carr for a “first in a long series” book club coming up. I loved it, which I did not expect (I mentally grouped her with women’s fiction-y people like Debbie Macomber that I’ve never been able to get into). I think it helps that the heroine is a midwife and I’m currently fascinated by themes of pregnancy and childbearing (I’m recently married and planning for kids in the next decade, which given my nature means I need to start mapping out a timeline and imagining situations now, haha).
And there are a bunch of books I’m really excited to read…
Am working on THE HAPPINESS PROJECT by Gretchen Rubin, really enjoying it and the concept of focusing on one concept per month. I’ve only read January thus far but the theme of energy is perfect as I’m working on getting more productivity and physical activity into my life. If I like it enough I might have to buy it for easier reference than continually taking out from the library!!
Picking up A BREATH OF FIRE from the library today. I’m so grateful to Amanda for recommending A PROMISE OF FIRE, the first book, because it was amazing.
Going to try SIZE MATTERS by Alison Bliss, again from library, not sure how I’ll feel about its addressing of weight. The model on the cover doesn’t look that curvy to me, but I do like that the heroine there is more pear-shaped and on the cover on the forthcoming sequel ON THE PLUS SIDE the heroine is more apple-shaped. Body-type representation!
I grabbed a few books on sale that I’m excited to try: ONCE AND ALWAYS by Elizabeth Hoyt (writing a contemporary as Julia Harper; I own every historical Hoyt has put out, which I don’t do for many authors), RULES FOR A ROGUE by Christy Carlyle (I enjoyed some of her other historicals), and the free UNMASKING MISS APPLEBY by Emily Larkin (paranormal, gritty historical romance? ooh).
So I think the rest of January will be a pretty good reading month. (My husband just looked over at me and asked “Is that still the same comment you’re typing?” haha)
After a horrible case of reading constipation, I’m off and running again. RT Book Reviews Magazine sent me the first two books in K. B. Wagers’ SF series The Indranan War. The first, BEHIND THE THRONE, is blowing me away. Think swashbuckling POC female gunrunner who is also a princess and current heir to her family’s empire. Add that their background and culture is highly based on India and Hindu, but in a future time. Love, love, LOVE this!!
Checked out HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterley from the library and absolutely loved it as well. As a child of the space program who remembers the few women and POC breaking all the rules at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, it was interesting to see Langley’s history.
Started OTHERWISE ENGAGED by Amanda Quick, but didn’t get a chance to finish it before the reading constipation hit, so I’ll return to it later.
I’m doing my best to start clearing some titles out of my TBR, which has led to 2 new series that I’m now binging.
First was “Naked in Death” by JD Robb, aka La Nora. Of course I loved it. Of course. Why did I doubt? I’m now on book 4 and am both ecstatic and depressed that I have, like, 40 more to get through. I’m sure there will be peaks and valleys as with any long running series, but I’m pretty confident that I’m in good hands… so I guess I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Second was “The Gamble” by Kristen Ashley. I picked it up on sale at some point and honestly thought it would be a DNF for me, as the only other one I ever tried from her was very “meh” IMO. Alas, I gobbled it up. I think her crack only works for me if I like the trope being explored, so I’m going to selectively continue with the series with books that have the kind of tropes I enjoy.
But unquestionably the best thing I’ve read in 2017 so far is “Wait for It” by Mariana Zapata. I just fucking love her books– I love the slow burn, I love that you really get to know the h/h before anything much is usually going on between them, I love the supporting characters. Love, love, love. This one probably doesn’t have the best romance of her books so far, but it does have the best character development, so as a whole story, I’d say it’s probably my second favorite from her.
I finished off my holiday reading with Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins and thank you all for the recommendations. Could not put the book down! I subjected my husband to my reading passages out of the book and then a synopsis when I was done. The story was especially poignant since one of my team members recently came out to me and he reminds me a bit of the fussy and lonely Gray.
Somehow the last two books I’ve read have a young lady paying a rake for his services. Of course, they fall in love as tamed rakes and the ladies who redeem them do. First up was One Winter with a Baron by Christi Caldwell, then A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant. Both were entertaining and moved me out of my Christmas book frenzy. I am now reading The Accidental Bride, this month’s choice for the Old School Romance club on Facebook. For me, the book seems to have held up over the years. I had forgotten how much I appreciate Jane Feather’s attention to historic detail.
I’m thinking a contemporary next, most likely Claudia Connor’s new one, Worth the Wait. Although @L., that Barbara Samuels book looks rather interesting.
I’m listening to The Wrath and the Dawn by Reneé Ahdieh, the first in a YA fantasy trilogy that is a retelling of Scheherazade.
The king who kills all his wives the morning after he marries them? Eighteen years old.
Scheherazade, who volunteers to marry him to get close enough to kill him? Sixteen years old.
Lushly written. So far I’m finding it compelling. Looking forward to finishing and reading other people’s reactions.
One problem: I have a thing about fantasy that is read with an American accent. Unless it’s set here [of course] I simply find it difficult to fall into the land of make believe. This is my own issue, I know, and probably not shared by others. I just have trouble hearing a voice that could be overheard at the local mall and imagining it existing centuries ago or in some foreign fantasy land. And with a tale set in ancient Persia, I truly think they should have used a Persian/Iranian narrator.
I found The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison and read the next two books in the series without stopping. Very good mysteries.
I was away from home for a few weeks helping my mother move to an assisted living place. Books read since late December include ~
— Mariana Zapata’s newest contemporary romance Wait for It which I enjoyed at the time. I realize now though that I recall next to none of it perhaps due to distraction. I’ll doubtless re-read it at some point.
— a re-read of Thea Harrison’s A Dragon’s Family Album: A Collection of the Elder Races
— Lisa Marie Rice’s romantic suspense Midnight Secrets (Men of Midnight Book 3) which I also enjoyed.
— a re-read of The Search by Nora Roberts
— Anna Richland’s paranormal romance First to Burn (Immortal Vikings Book 1) which was a fun read and a re-read of her spin-off contemporary romance novella (NOT paranormal) which numbers amongst my favorites: His Road Home
— the romantic suspense Flash of Fire (Firehawks Book 4) by M. L. Buchman which I enjoyed (but not as much as some of his other books)
— For my sister’s book group, Our Souls at Night: A novel by Kent Haruf. It was a quick but meaty read and the author’s last book written before his death from cancer.
— the inspirational historical romance From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden. I enjoyed it and did not find it too preachy (though the characters were a little too harsh on themselves from time to time). I learned some interesting historical tidbits such as the fact that the first subway system in the US opened in 1897 in Boston and that it was the first electrical subway system in the world. The first subway systems (steam run) were in London, Glasgow and Budapest.
— two male/male romances by Kim Fielding were re-reads Motel. Pool. plus Rattlesnake. I also read for the first time the author’s Brute.
— Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin which I read for my book group. It was a poignant read about an older woman who goes missing in a Seoul subway station when she and her husband are separated as he steps on a train without her.
— the contemporary romance Hard Hitter (A Brooklyn Bruisers Novel) by Sarina Bowen which I enjoyed. Others of her books remain my favorites though.
— Bedmates: An American Royalty Novel by Nichole Chase which was a pleasant read, but it’s probably not a book I’ll reread.
— Ann Aguirre’s paranormal romance The Leopard King (Ars Numina Book 1) which I enjoyed with some reservations. I’ll definitely continue on with subsequent books in the series, but there were aspects of the book that I found jarring. The reader is informed that humans exist in this world, but that they’re distant (due to a treaty?). IEDs are jarring but reasonable (trading?). The use of cell phones however would seem to indicate a need for cell towers ….
— Him and also Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy; Him was a re-read, Us I read for the first time. Both are male/male new adult romances. I enjoyed them both.
I got Anne Stuart’s Wildfire from NetGalley and loved it – which then sent me on an Anne Stuart binge that I’m just now wrapping up. I hadn’t read any of her contemporaries, just the historicals, and so I’ve spent all of January escaping in the semi-crazysauce of her Ice and Fire series.
My TBR pile is stacking up like crazy though, and I’m taking advantage of a rainy weekend to churn through it.
I also recently read K.J. Charles’ An Unseen Attraction and highly recommend it!
Next up:
The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman and The Duke of Daring by Darcy Burke;
Being currently unemployed, I’m getting a lot of reading done this month. Back in late October I started the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. I’m on book three now, At Grave’s End. I love this series and Bones is my new book crush. I picture James Marsters in his Spike role as Bones.
I’m reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and it’s a wonderfully written children’s fantasy book. I really want more of Luna’s mother’s story.
I listened to Darling Beast and I’m currently listening to Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt. I love the Maiden series, I wish it would never end.
I love Celeste Bradley! She had me hooked with when I met Agatha Cunnington in The Pretender. I had a few issues with The Charmer, mainly how the hero got away with some really stupid actions. I finished the series this month and have started the Royal Four series. I read books two (Surrender to a Wicked Spy) and three this month. I have a real problem with One Night with a Spy – there’s a scene that’s too close to a rape scene for me to have been comfortable with. Of course the heroine becomes a willing participant, but the hero pretty much said he was going to have her, even after she’d told him to stop and let her go. Even though they’d had consensual sex before, this was not acceptable:
“Is it your duty to rape me on the ground?” He let his cheek slip down hers and kissed her ear. “No.” She twisted away as best she could. “Then let me up!” “If I let you up, will I ever lie with you again?” “No!” “Then I’m in no hurry to let you up.” He kissed her neck. “A man has to take what he can get.”
I still get angry thinking of that scene.
I enjoyed Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare, and Twisted Threads by Lea Waite. The latter is one of the better cozy mysteries I’ve read, with a strong heroine and two good plot lines that become intertwined. I also found a book that had been on my tbr for years – A Spy in the House (The Agency). I enjoyed it, although it felt like the debut novel that it is, but I think it holds great promise.
I’m actually rage-reading “Everything for Her” by Alexa Riley. Okay, it didn’t start out as rage-reading. I knew going into it that Alexa Riley are really into the possessive alpha-male schtick, and I was curious how they would handle the plot of a billionaire who falls in love at first sight, and manages to play puppet-master in the life of his love. However, I was not prepared for Miles and Molly. Miles is beyond alpha. He is a pathological stalker. In playing puppet-master, he has managed to deprive Molly of any self-agency. Molly is supposed to be brilliant, but I swear she is TSTL. I really should put it down, but now I’m reading angrily to see how bad it gets.
Despite setting aside a number of books I just couldn’t get into at the time, I’ve had a couple of good reading weeks sine the holidays. The highlights have been:
–Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches. I’ve had both the book and audio since forever. I finally started listening to it over the holiday and enjoyed it so much, way more than I was expecting. I started reading the second book (but will listen to it, as well).
–I’ve also been slowly working my way through the Liaden books, mostly in audio. I’m purposely spacing them out to try to keep myself from glomming them all at once.
–Same thing with J.D. Robb’s In Death books. Over the years, I’ve read the first nine or ten books repeatedly. Then I hit the same roadblock and set them aside for awhile before starting at the beginning again. I finally stated listening to them and have now gotten into new book territory.
–I’ve been listening to the Mercy Thompson books (slightly out of order) in preparation for the new book coming out in a couple of months. I normally reread some/all of the. But decided to go with audio this time around.
–One series I did totally glom was Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St. Mary’s. I read them as fast as could over the New Year weekend and am now slowly listening. So, so enjoyable–the series incorporates many of my catnip elements.
I’m in the middle of reading a space opera series right now. I’ve also done comfort rereads of some favorite romances. What I *haven’t* read is any new romances. I simply haven’t been able to engage with any historicals, which are normally my faves. I also didn’t read any Christmas/holiday romances this year, despite setting aside several. Guess there’s next year.
I have a lot of books in the short queue (the new Amanda Bouchet, for one), plus a number of new ones releasing soon, so I hope my winning streak will continue. And, of course, I’ll be checking out what everyone else has been reading for additional ideas. 🙂
Nothing to really add except I was just wondering when I would see this post. 🙂
Gee, sorry for all the typos in my post. In addition to my tablet getting all glitchy on me I had a marathon (and unsuccessful) session at the DMV this morning and I’m now toast. Think I’d better join the cat in a nap.
Reading a wonderful book called Twelve Steps to a More Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong. I am so very impressed that I started a group on FB to lead a discussion group. You are invited to join. The group is called Compassion Reading Group. I am developing my so-called lesson plans now. Get the book, read it through and then sometime in Feb the actual discussion will start. There will be only one question or action a day so I hope it will be too onerous.
oops forgot to sign for notices
Christmas break = more reading time for “fun” books (as opposed to school books), including a bunch that I discovered through this site.
Lighting the Flames (Sarah Wendell) – loved it!
Glass Tidings (Amy Jo Cousins) – loved it!
Key Change (Barbara Valentin) – loved it!
The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion) – loved it!
The Mistletoe Murder (P. D. James) – loved it, especially because it was a “new” P. D. James published years after her death!
Angel Catbird (Margaret Atwood) – did not enjoy this – Margaret Atwood should stick with her fabulous fiction writing and stay away from graphic novels…
Wenjack (Joseph Boyden) – loved it, despite the tragedy that it tells
The Secret Path (Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire) – a graphic interpretation of the story told in Wenjack, equally tragic and heart-breaking
The Clue of the Tapping Heels (Carolyn Keene) – so much fun to re-read Nancy Drew as I read almost all of them 30 years ago
Mary, Mary (Lesley Crewe) – interesting characters but uneven pacing and writing – it was fun to read about a local setting though
A funny conversation between my sister (an atheist) and me (studying for ordained ministry) over the holidays as I was lounging on the sofa reading Glass Tidings:
Sister: What’cha reading?
Me: Just a Christmas story
SIster: THE Christmas Story? Spoiler alert – the baby’s special!
I’m reading two non-fiction books that happened to show up on my library list simultaneously; interestingly, both of them deal with different aspects of how the science of Home Economics was used during the Great Depression to make every penny stretch:
A SQUARE MEAL: A CULINARY HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe. The book starts in the years after WWI when food being eaten by the urban/immigrant population began to evolve away from “traditional” rural/farm cooking. Then it follows into the 1930s when hunger and need swept the country. A well-written book–but disheartening in the way you read the same political jeremiads against welfare for the “undeserving poor” 80 years ago that we hear today. Sigh.
THE LOST ART OF DRESS: THE WOMEN WHO ONCE MADE AMERICA STYLISH by Linda Przybyszewski. This book focuses on the “Dress Doctors” of the first half of the 20th century. The book is full of lovely illustrations and highlights a forgotten aspect of mid-century domestic history, but I’m not sure I care for its complete disdain for the ready-to-wear and more inclusive fashions of the 1960s and beyond.