Whatcha Reading?

Bitchin' Blog Posts

by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | October 26, 2012 | Friday at 10:46 am | 84 Comments

What's on your reading schedule this weekend? Are you reading some of the holiday romances that are everywhere of late?

I'm skipping Friday this week. I leave Jersey on Thursday afternoon, and arrive in Sydney on Saturday morning, skipping Friday altogether. Seriously, this is messing with my head. What was I supposed to do today? What if TODAY was the day Publishers Clearing House showed up on the porch with a big ass check and I skipped Friday altogether? It's messing with my brain, I tell you.

So to solve this brain twist, I'm reading historical romance. "Forget the present, try Regency instead!" is my strategy. This coming week I'll be running amok in Sydney, and am going to be having tea with bloggers and readers among other things. I'm so looking forward to it - and even a 14 hour plane ride comes with built in assloads of reading time.

So, what are you reading? What do you read when your brain feels twisted? And dude, what would I have done on Friday?!

Filed: General Bitching, Random Musings

Tagged: whatcha reading, nebby questions, australia

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Beccah W. said on 10.26.12 at 10:49 AM • [link]

I’m finishing up “How to Capture a Countess” by Karen Hawkins…purchased from ye ol’ local Market Basket. I wasn’t too sure about this one when I grabbed it, but I’m loving it!
Samalamadingdong said on 10.26.12 at 10:58 AM • [link]

I just finished up Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Have a bookclub tonight to yack about it. It’s supposed to be a classic, but I didn’t feel all the overwhelmed by it’s awesomeness.
Jcode said on 10.26.12 at 11:16 AM • [link]

I finished a mystery by Dana Stabenow (the first in her Liam Campbell series), which I really liked, and think I acquired free in some kind of Kindle deal. Definitely worth reading at that price! Am now reading a Kristen Ashley, “Golden Trail” (the 3rd in the Burg Series). She is kind of like comfort food to me, despite the fact that I never thought I’d get past the issues with her writing/editing, and it has been a rough week. I need comfort reads, wine and chocolate, not necessarily in that order! I have a m/m (Josephine Myles “The Hot Floor”) queued up, as well as a historical, Barbara Samuel’s “Lucien’s Fall”. We’ll see where my mood takes me when I’m done with KA.
Jules said on 10.26.12 at 11:20 AM • [link]

I just finished up Firelight by Kristen Callihan. I wasn’t expecting to be as enraptured as I was with it. In fact, I ran to B&N after work one day to grab the next in the series (Moonglow) so I have something to read on my flight back home tonight. I really recommend Firelight to people who want a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera with a dash of magic and hint of suspense. I can’t wait to find out if the sequel holds up to expectations.
Katie Dunneback said on 10.26.12 at 11:47 AM • [link]

It’s almost like you are posting from an alternate universe since you technically do not exist today ;) I’m in reading limbo right now as I’ve been buffeting a number of books due to a bit of a reading slump, but am really, really wishing I could get a couple of new releases out on Tuesday now.
Cerulean said on 10.26.12 at 11:48 AM • [link]

I’m in between books. I just finished Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey and should start Fury’s Kiss by Karen Chance this weekend.
Vicki said on 10.26.12 at 11:57 AM • [link]

Not reading too much this week as life seems to pretty much be doing a stress dump locally, not just me but co-workers and friends. I did reread some Anne Bishop which is a comfort read for me. Sometimes I do Georgette Heyer as a comfort read, also.
CarrieS said on 10.26.12 at 11:57 AM • [link]

Am finishing Alif the Unseen - it’s amazing. Thanks to whoever it was who tipped me off about this book and finding Nouf - it was on another Watcha Reading thread, and both books were wonderful. I love how this thread involves lots of romance but also other genres! Also just finished Dodger by Terry Pratchett—oh, so wonderful, I LOVE Terry Pratchett, and a couple books I’m writing reviews for (Dirty Minds and Skyfall). Also on my 9 year old daughter’s recommendation just finished the first volume of Bone which is a fun comic.
Lyra Archer said on 10.26.12 at 12:00 PM • [link]

I’m slowly but surely crawling my way through Queen Isabella by Alison Weir. I love historical non-fiction but wowzers is this thing dull. So, to procrastinate even further I’ve checked out Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury from the library. Cuz there needs to be a bit of weirdness in your reading world around Halloween time.
Sasha said on 10.26.12 at 12:12 PM • [link]

I’ve been slogging through Gogol’s Dead Souls (those endless paragraphs), though no one is as surprised as I am that, hellz, he and I are getting along. Have also dipped into Mary Balogh’s Lord Carew’s Bride—I’ve actually been making my way through her reissued backlist, and good lord, I LOVE A HISTORICAL THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE SECRET SOCIETIES AND LURKING EVIL NON-HERO LORDSHIPS.
staropal said on 10.26.12 at 12:14 PM • [link]

Finished up the Bunnicula series (which if anyone has kids and is looking for something for Halloween, totally recommend it).

Then read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None in three days, which if time would’ve allowed I would’ve finished in one sitting. I like all of her books I’ve read, but this was the first one I’d call an honest to goodness can’t put it down book. Nice and creepy, loved it.

Right now, I’m about a third of the way through the novelization for Snow White and the Huntsman. It’s a fast read so it’s good after something as intense as Then There Were None. Huntsman (Eric) has just come into the story so, we’ll see how it goes.

Not going to make any predictions on my next book because I never seem to stick to them.
Jennifer Estep said on 10.26.12 at 12:18 PM • [link]

I’m reading and enjoying Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill. After that, I hope to read Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas.
Rij said on 10.26.12 at 12:20 PM • [link]

I’ve been making my way through Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series. I just finished the 14th, Dark of Night, earlier today and will start the next one as soon as I get off the computer. Pretty good pace, considering I started on the first of October. I didn’t expect to like the series so much but it’s been keeping me enthralled, despite a couple of novels in the middle that I wasn’t completely in love with, mainly ‘cos I couldn’t quite like the main couple. The last one though… Dave… *swoon*
Tam said on 10.26.12 at 12:50 PM • [link]

I missed my birthday entirely one year when I was flying to New Zealand. I’m pretty certain that makes me a year younger.

I’m re-reading George Martin’s Song of Fire and Ice for the first time in years - I got bored in those five years when he took forever to put out one of those books, and then never managed to actually read it because I had babies at the time - and I forgot how tiresomely rapey they are. I’m a medievalist (or was, pre-babies) and while I know things used to get fairly grim during the Wars of the Roses (especially in the Marches), I still don’t know that the Gregor Cleganes of the time went about raping the peasantry with quite so much impunity as Martin gives him.
Charlotte Russell said on 10.26.12 at 12:50 PM • [link]

I just started reading What Angels Fear by CS Harris, the first in the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series. I know it’s a huge mistake because, like the Mouse with the Cookie, I’m going to want to read another and another and another… I don’t have time! And I have so many other books in my Kindle’s TBR. But I downloaded the Harris book from the library, so I will finish it and then see what kind of willpower I have to resist the rest—for now.

As for your Friday, Sarah, I’m pretty sure it was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day and you are quite lucky to have skipped it.
ms bookjunkie said on 10.26.12 at 12:58 PM • [link]

Is DoN the one where the Izzy/Eden storyline begins? It’s been so long since I read it that I can’t remember and I can’t put my hands on it right now. Thanks!
Lostshadows said on 10.26.12 at 01:12 PM • [link]

About half way through The Casual Vacancy.
Rij said on 10.26.12 at 01:19 PM • [link]

Nope, Izzy and Eden meet in Into the Fire. Which, by the way, was one of those I didn’t love, because I really disliked Izzy. Eden I could forgive since she was so young but Izzy just made me mad.
LG said on 10.26.12 at 01:37 PM • [link]

RE: the novelization of Snow White and the Huntsman - Have you seen the movie? How does it compare? My hopeful expectations about what the movie was going to be like were dashed once I actually saw the movie. I’ve been tempted to read the book, though, hoping that it would be different in enough ways to make up for the things the movie lacked.
PamG said on 10.26.12 at 01:40 PM • [link]

I’ve been alternating between Joanne Dobson’s Professor Karen Pelletier mysteries and Julie Anne Long’s Pennyroyal Green series. I really enjoyed What I did for a Duke, I find that it’s usually a mistake to slurp down a series in one gulp. It seems to accent the flaws like a sugar overdose.

However, I also enjoyed Anatomy of a Murder on a friend’s recommendation; that served as a subtle palate cleanser for both the cozy mysteries and the historical romance. Turns out that also is part of a series. *sigh* Sometimes I strongly empathize with Violet who commented on the last Book Rant that she wanted good stand-alone romances instead of these unending series. I love a good stand-alone anygenre. That was one of the major charms of Major Pettigrew.
LG said on 10.26.12 at 01:45 PM • [link]

I am in a horrible, horrible reading slump. I’m still slogging through Charlotte E. English’s Draykon, and and I’m stalled on Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan. Neither one of those is romance, although I think Draykon might have hints of a romantic subplot (it’s hard to tell whether English is going for “mysterious and attractive” or just plain “mysterious” where one of her male characters is concerned). Maybe that’s my problem. Maybe I need to abandon both books for a while and pick up a romance novel instead.

When I’m in a reading slump, my TV watching tends to go through the roof. That’s been the case for the past few weeks, and, in that area at least, I’ve been plowing through romances. I’m loving the anime version of Kimi ni Todoke, which is based on a manga I also adore. The romance is so sweet, I sometimes have to take breaks to recover.
Eslater said on 10.26.12 at 02:08 PM • [link]

I’m listening to Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr. The narrator is really excellent in the Virgin River series. I am reading The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley on my new paperwhite.
Nancy said on 10.26.12 at 02:19 PM • [link]

I recently finished “What I Did For A Duke” by Julie Anne Long for the book club this past week and “The Spymaster’s Lady” by Joanna Bourne. Both were crazy good. It was my first book by either author and I can’t wait to read the rest in both series. In the meantime, I’m reading “Anna Karenina” in preparation for the movie. I’m only about 200 pages in but, so far, I’m enjoying it more than I expected. I also need to finish up “Cover Me” by Catherine Mann, which I started to have a contemporary break up my historical reads, but I ended up putting it down to read more historicals. So that plan didn’t work so well.
Flo_over said on 10.26.12 at 02:21 PM • [link]

Just finished a reread of Maria V. Snyder’s The Study series. Loved 1, was luke warm about 2, and yawned my way through 3. Am now reading a knitting book on socks as my tiny girl worked her way through 6 pairs and her feet show no signs of stopping.
Lenorej said on 10.26.12 at 02:30 PM • [link]

I’m on page 140 of Riveted by Meljean Brook; it just gets better and better….Afterwards, i bought a paperback copy of The Passage to see me through a ten hour flight on Monday…879 pp!
Laragrey said on 10.26.12 at 02:30 PM • [link]

I’m delighting in Madeleine Brent’s cracktastic Gothic, “Merlin’s Keep”. Heroine is half-Indian, half-English, may or may not be a princess, is raised in a Tibetan village until the lama foresees her future, is taken in by a nice rich family who don’t at all care that she’s half-caste, and is currently (I’m about halfway through) preparing to save her adopted older sister from the sinister hypnotist who married her. It’s *awesome*.

After this, Midori Snyder’s fantasy “Sadar’s Keep”, and Maggie Stiefvater’s latest.
Readsalot81 said on 10.26.12 at 02:54 PM • [link]

Right now I’m reading Rae Carson’s Crown of Embers. I really enjoyed Girl of Fire and Thorns.. so I rushed to pick up the sequel. I also picked up more books by Julie Anne Long. *g* .. Perils of Pleasure and How the Marquess was Won. (I really am excited for those books, I loved the Book Club chat!!) I also bought Slammed by Colleen Hoover and Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry. But this weekend I have to get ready for midterms, so I has a sad. My reading will be relegated til after dinner or near bedtime.. because it’s time to get my study on.
staropal said on 10.26.12 at 03:00 PM • [link]

Like I said, so far it’s a pretty fast read, averaging 5-10 pages a chapter. I’m at the part where Snow has escaped into the Dark Forest and the Huntsman just agreed to go find her… couple pages into chapter seven.

I like the handling of Snow White better already, which was the thing about the movie that bugged me the most, because -since she doesn’t have a lot of spoken dialogue yet- you can read what she’s thinking.

Also some things, like the birds or the Queen’s connection to her brother Finn, are explained a little better. You know what I mean? Like, when they show you something happen or someone do something in a movie and it’s like, ‘where the heck did that come from?’ but in a book they explain why that something is happening?

Technically speaking the writing is pretty good by novelization standards (people who read novelizations will understand the curve involved), light weight but not horrible or insulting. So far I’ve only come across one thing that bothered me, Lily Blake uses the same fairly distinctive word in two back to back sentences (I can’t find it right now) and it should have been caught. But I haven’t noticed any grammar or spelling errors yet (that novelization standards thing again).

I’m figuring when Snow and Eric (Huntsmen) actually meet I can give a better assessment, but not only has it not lost me yet I really do want to keep reading. As someone who always want a book version of Snow White: A Tale of Terror, I’m cautiously hoping this turns out good.
Beggar1015 said on 10.26.12 at 03:00 PM • [link]

I’m totally over here in left field. The book I requested just came in at the library. It’s called The Tartar Khan’s Englishman.
cleo said on 10.26.12 at 03:04 PM • [link]

Riveted is my favorite in the Iron Seas world so far. You’re so lucky to be reading it for the first time.

I’m still mostly reading student projects, but I read a couple things as study breaks this week. I read Conduct Unbecoming, the new m/m by LA Witt and it was meh. Then I read Amy Lane’s latest in her m/m knitting series (and who knew that would be a sub-sub genre?) - How to Raise an Honest Rabbit. It was such a satisfying read - Amy Lane in emotionally satisfying but not super-angsty-angst mode. On reflection I think the romance was a little understated - it’s only from one pov - but the story was compelling.

Not sure what’s next - maybe Zoe Archer’s latest steampunk novella.
ms bookjunkie said on 10.26.12 at 03:11 PM • [link]

I didn’t mind Izzy. I didn’t luurrrve him, but I didn’t mind. Eden, OTOH, I absolutely hated. I don’t even know what it was about her, maybe because she was the embodiment of every single mistake a young woman can make in this age of technology and social media? (okay, also poverty and douchebags) but I wanted her to die in a fire. I can’t make myself read Breaking the Rules because I just don’t care about their story.
Aziza said on 10.26.12 at 03:51 PM • [link]

In a “Whatcha Reading” thread two months ago, I made a list of books I (not much of a romance reader yet SBTB peruser for about 2 years) picked up because they were mentioned here and “sounded interesting and/or terrible”. I forgot a few.

The Very Virile Viking. How could I have forgotten this one? The title is UNDENIABLE, which I why I read it (the whole book, not just the title). And the one before it, but not the first one. I don’t remember those titles. Sorry, lads!

Halfway To The Grave. I got to the end but won’t go further. From what I remember, the vampire hero uses the same four pieces of Cockney slang over and over and it seemed very fakey to me. For all I know the language patterns are 100% authentic for this character’s age and background, but as Sassy magazine said about the Nelson (“After The Rain”) twins circa February 1992, “It doesn’t matter if your hair is real when it looks this fake.”

Have I mentioned the Black Dagger Brotherhood? Other than in my first list and a dozen other posts and right now? Well, the discussion of Candy’s review of Dark Lover led me to other stuff too: Metalocalypse and the City Watch Discworld books. (I think I need to get back to those.) This also contains possibly my favorite comment of all time, from poster Stephanie Doyle:
“Would you give you heroin a C-?”
jliedl said on 10.26.12 at 04:02 PM • [link]

Regencies galore - I loved the latest book club pick and I’m alternating current releases with classic Heyer books. I might shift over to some cozy mysteries after I finish the latest, though - time to refresh the reading palate, methinks!

(I should reread all of Martin’s ASOIAF as I’m working on a project related to the books but I’m thinking I’ll wait until the holiday season. Those books are depressing enough that I think I’ll need endless rounds of holiday cheer as a counterbalance.)
Vicki said on 10.26.12 at 05:05 PM • [link]

Laragrey - I love Madeline Brent - have youfound any place to get “her” in ebook format? I have three of the books in hardback.
MissB2U said on 10.26.12 at 05:19 PM • [link]

I got a couple of books by Sabrina Jeffries from the library, but since I’m out here in S.F. land it’s GO GIANTS for now! Pass the Guiness, please.
Jenny Dolton said on 10.26.12 at 05:30 PM • [link]

I have to confess to being one of those people who adores Rebecca and will chatter on endlessly about its awesomeness. (Which, to spare your sensibilities, I will not do here.) You have inspired me—it’s getting pulled off the bookshelf tonight for a reread! =)
Jenny Dolton said on 10.26.12 at 05:38 PM • [link]

I’ve been sick and basically bed-bound for almost a month now, so I’ve powered through a lot of old favorites. Just got through Anne of Ingleside and will be finishing up the series with Rilla tonight… and then, maybe Heidi? Girl of the Limberlost? More L.M. Montgomery? Martin Pippin and the Apple Orchard? Clearly, I am in a very specific mood.

Though, inspired by Samalamadingdong’s earlier comment, Rebecca is coming off the shelf tonight too. =)
CarrieS said on 10.26.12 at 06:33 PM • [link]

Joining the Rebecca fan club - one of my fav books.
Laragrey said on 10.26.12 at 06:33 PM • [link]

I have not—I plan to search out more of her books in the library. I have a Nook, and I know bn.com has a way to request that a book be made available as an ebook, so I’m definitely going to request “Merlin’s Keep”. This one deserves a reread.
JennyB said on 10.26.12 at 07:15 PM • [link]

I am LOVING this series!! I devoured Crown of Embers in two days.
JennyB said on 10.26.12 at 07:18 PM • [link]

I just started Breed by Chase Novak. Absolutely not a romance, but more than a little disturbing.
Persnickety said on 10.26.12 at 07:37 PM • [link]

On the way back you do get a day back! I used to leave Brisbane at 6:30 am on Saturday morning and arrive in LA at 6 am on Saturday morning. Of course the rest of the day had to spent on planes.

Reading Cory Doctorows Pirate Cinema. Not subtle, but fun
Dread Pirate Rachel said on 10.26.12 at 07:59 PM • [link]

My book club is meeting next weekend to discuss The Turn of the Screw, which I read years ago. I haven’t started it yet, because I know I can read it in an afternoon, but I’m going to try to actually do it this weekend. Otherwise, I’ll end up procrastinating until next Friday night, and have to frantically read it as fast as I can.
GigantesGal said on 10.26.12 at 08:11 PM • [link]

So now that the MLB season is drawing to a close (Go Giants!), I think reading some good baseball romances may ease my withdrwal symptoms. (I will just visualize brandon crawford or barry zito as the lead). Can anyone suggest some good ones? Thanks much.
Crystal F. said on 10.26.12 at 08:31 PM • [link]

I’ve finally gotten around to reading Knight of a Trillion Stars by Dara Joy. I’m really enjoying the little humorous bits here and there.
Susan said on 10.26.12 at 09:27 PM • [link]

I’m in the middle of Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series—I’m almost finished with Spider’s Revenge. It’s ok, but I’m not enjoying it as much as I’d hoped. It may just be me, tho—I’m exhausted right now and keep falling asleep when I’m trying to read. That makes it hard to maintain the momentum. I love the Mythos Academy series, so I know Estep has the chops.
tsukikomew said on 10.26.12 at 11:21 PM • [link]

I just finished “On the Island” by Tracey Garvis-Graves. I don’t really have a go-to read since I sometimes pick up a mystery to de-funk or other times I go to a romance. I’ve also been known to pick up nonfiction in extreme situations.
Mikaela Lind said on 10.27.12 at 03:58 AM • [link]

I am reading Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood by Holly Lisle. It is good, but I am having trouble connecting with the POV character.
ms bookjunkie said on 10.27.12 at 04:05 AM • [link]

Baseball romances: Jill Shalvis’ DOUBLE PLAY and SLOW HEAT, Nora Roberts’ RULES OF THE GAME, Jaci Burton’s CHANGING THE GAME.
cate said on 10.27.12 at 06:33 AM • [link]

It’s that time of year again,so I’m rereading Robert Neill’s Mist Over Pendle. Even after 20 years I still find new things to love about it. Other than than I’m in a reading funk. I’m slogging my way through Beth Orloff’s Vlad All Over and just finding it tedious. It’s actually approching DNF status. Am looking forward to Maria Snyder’s new book though -& picked up a few new rec’s from the thread - Thanks chaps !
JaniceG said on 10.27.12 at 06:49 AM • [link]

If it messes with your head to miss a whole day, wait until you fly back to the US and arrive before you leave :->

As for reading, I’ve just finished the Mary Stanton angel law firm mysteries (first in the series: _Defending Angels)) Any description I write of them sounds dumb but they are actually inventive and very well written.
JudyK said on 10.27.12 at 07:10 AM • [link]

When i get in a slump or angry at the world i reach for any Jane Austen DVD and a romance novel. Could be historical or not!
At the moment i am reading the fantasy series by Resa Nelson, a local author.
Joann said on 10.27.12 at 08:29 AM • [link]

The CS Harris series is fan-freaking-tastic…read on!!
Joann said on 10.27.12 at 08:35 AM • [link]

Slow Heat and Double Play by the always wonderful Jill Shalvis!! Go Tigers!!
Laura Florand said on 10.27.12 at 09:19 AM • [link]

Madeleine Brent! She is definitely awesome. Now *her* heroines were interesting. :)
LauraN said on 10.27.12 at 09:59 AM • [link]

I promise you will grow to love him. Just give him time! Brockmann tortures him just like she tortured Sam, poor man. He has nuances under his jokey asshole persona. (Of course, my secret shame is that I love jokey assholes. Always have.)
Liz said on 10.27.12 at 10:09 AM • [link]

Oh, wow… love Madeleine Brent. “Tregaron’s Daughter” is my favorite. (Still have Mom’s 1971 hardback.) “Merlin’s Keep” is one I don’t have a copy of. eBay, here I come!
LauraN said on 10.27.12 at 10:11 AM • [link]

A Girl of the Limberlost! And Freckles! When I’m feeling sick or down, Gene Stratton Porter is my cure.
PamG said on 10.27.12 at 10:28 AM • [link]

Loved all of Madeline Brent’s stuff back in the day. His heroines were always so strong and unconventional and their was always something fascinating and new to learn in the background of his stories. The first one I read was Stranger at Wildings and that will probably always be my favorite.
Rij said on 10.27.12 at 11:37 AM • [link]

I don’t like Sam either. I could say that I don’t like assholes but I’d be lying since I adore Max. It’s just the loud ones that I dislike.
Malin said on 10.27.12 at 11:54 AM • [link]

I’m getting ready for the new Julie Anne Long book (coming out Tuesday, yay!) by rereading I Kissed An Earl and What I Did for a Duke. Still haven’t had a chance to read through the transcript of the book club chat, so will do that when I’m done re-reading the book.
LauraN said on 10.27.12 at 01:30 PM • [link]

Really? At first, I wasn’t a fan. Then we got his backstory and I was sympathetic. Then we got more of him wooing Alissa, and I liked that. But what really won me over was watching him deal with their marriage—they have to balance both of them having dangerous and important jobs. I love how he deals with the reality of taking orders from his wife because she’s in charge (He’s a strong and masculine man, but he’s not afraid of having a woman—his own wife, no less—in command. I love this.) They even have a situation where she gets asked to go on an important trip with some government agency and he stays home with the baby. He doesn’t want to watch his wife go into a dangerous situation without him backing her up, but he recognizes that now that they have a child, it’s irresponsible for both of them to be in harm’s way at the same time. I think his character arc throughout the series is AMAZING. They’re a pretty good example of how an author can make an already “settled” couple continue to be interesting. Like figuring out how marriage works isn’t full of conflict, right?

And yeah, my attraction to jokey assholes probably helps me like him more because his personality appeals to me. Somehow I’ve never grown out of being in love with the class clown.

I dunno, maybe you haven’t gotten enough of his story yet, but in the one you just read, I’m pretty sure you see a good bit of their relationship as they’re heading up security in the safe house. I could be remembering things incorrectly, though. Anyway, all these are minor points that don’t really have much to do with the plot of any of the books, so I don’t feel guilty for spoilers :-)

I love the series, though Brockmann’s preachiness does become tiresome, and some books are better than others.

Hey, SB Sarah, I know you broke up with romantic suspense, but I think you should keep up a clandestine affair with this series at least!
Elizabeth Gunther said on 10.27.12 at 01:32 PM • [link]

I’m finally finishing the book club book—about 10% left. I wish I had finished it in time for the book club. I might re-read The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig when I’m done.

I went to the library yesterday, hoping to find some books for Frankenstorm (as everyone is calling it now), but the library was so full that there were very few books left on the shelves. I didn’t think people in my neighborhood read!
Sharon Kendrick said on 10.27.12 at 02:16 PM • [link]

Fans of Christie often claim THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD to be her finest work but I’ve read the lot and the sublime AND THEN THERE WERE NONE beats the other by a mile.
There is also a very creepy one called ENDLESS NIGHT (“some are born for sweet delight and some are born for endless night”)
Aurora said on 10.27.12 at 03:41 PM • [link]

Am reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (not as fun as I remembered it few years back…) My Antonia by Willa Cather (surprisingly really good second time around :D) Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy (good but overly detailed) and You are the love of my life by Susan Richards Shreve (in someways a confusing book because I’m not sure what the author is trying to go for…)

http://sveta-randomblog.blogsp…
Scrin said on 10.27.12 at 05:33 PM • [link]

I’m reading Preacher.

Yes, the comic book series.
Rowena May O'Sullivan said on 10.27.12 at 05:53 PM • [link]

Crazy Love by Nicola Marsh.
Rowena May O'Sullivan said on 10.27.12 at 05:53 PM • [link]

Crazy Love by Nicola Marsh.
Kmitc56 said on 10.27.12 at 06:34 PM • [link]

I’m reading Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and am enjoying it. Not strictly a romance, but according to the back blurb, there is some romance.
Kathy said on 10.27.12 at 09:00 PM • [link]

Great Aunt Sophia’s Lessons for Bombshells by Lisa Cach. OMG, great book!
Elizabeth Gunther said on 10.27.12 at 11:06 PM • [link]

I hated Rebecca. I had to read it in high school—thank God, I transferred schools mid-book and I didn’t have to finish it. I don’t think I would have been able to if I had to. Awful. Just awful.
Elyse said on 10.28.12 at 12:55 PM • [link]

Bared to You by Sylvia Day. I’ve been saving it for a lazy weekend because I know I’ll read it in one sitting.
Tamara Hogan said on 10.28.12 at 02:31 PM • [link]

I just finished John Taylor’s memoir, “In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran.” Fiction-wise, I’m about halfway through Kresley Cole’s “Lothaire.”
Vasha said on 10.28.12 at 04:14 PM • [link]

I was feeling depressed, so I’m reading a soothingly old-fashioned science-fiction novel, Drowning World by Alan Dean Foster. Happy ending (in the form of peace between warring alien species) guaranteed.
Tae said on 10.28.12 at 09:40 PM • [link]

Just finished Hit Lit by Laurell K. Hamilton. Yeah I know, I don’t know why i still read her but she is readable. I’m getting ready to start the next book or Gunmetal Magic which I’m looking forward to.
D Cross said on 10.28.12 at 09:41 PM • [link]

I started Cronin’s The Passage two weeks ago but have been so busy and exhausted from work that I’ve only gotten 260 pages into it so far. And it’s not romance but I’m absolutely hooked even though I peeked ahead and know I’ll be confused soon enough…drat.
Scorpio Sami said on 10.29.12 at 02:45 AM • [link]

i read it Rebecca when i was a freshman in high school and felt the same way you do. when i saw it again a few years ago i figured i’d give it another try. but it had the same impact on me. Meh. no thanx.
FairyKat said on 10.29.12 at 05:16 AM • [link]

Do be warned, though you probably know this, that The Passage is the first of a trilogy. I read it, was kept awake all night as the fruit bats flew overhead… and then got the end and realised it was a blasted cliffhanger. I’m holding off from reading The Twelve till I have brain space (it the end of the academic year here, and I’m exhausted). Read The Amorous Education of Cecelia Seaton over the weekend, and was extraordinarily bored by the kidnapping and sex (!?!?), and then cross at the strange act of charity at the end.
However, have very much enjoyed dipping into EW Hornung’s 1902 Raffles stories (in one of those orange Penguins)—the famous cricketer and amateur burglar with the homosocially eager sidekick Bunny. I am not making this up. Read it!
Bibliophile said on 10.29.12 at 07:42 AM • [link]

I’ve been reading the Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens, but am currently taking a little break from 19th century England and reading Bonk by Mary Roach, a funny in-depth-look at sex and sex research. The probable result is that I will probably laugh like a hyena at every sex scene I read in a novel for some time to come.
Sara L. said on 10.29.12 at 03:08 PM • [link]

Recently got hooked on Lori Foster’s “Men who walk the edge of honor” series. Also reading “Head Over Heels” from Jill Shalvis’ “Lucky Harbor” series.
Vasha said on 10.29.12 at 06:30 PM • [link]

Yeah, Hornung… Raffles and Bunny Manders definitely had a gay relationship, Hornung made that just as clear as he could in 1902 (for one thing, they were friends with Oscar Wilde and others of that circle). The problem is [SPOILER WARNING] Raffles was a nasty piece of work and the relationship was an abusive one, as you should notice by the end of the book (if you don’t, Hornung made it more obvious in the sequels). I’ve rarely disliked a character as much as I disliked Raffles the second time I read those books. If I was a fanfic writer, I’d want to redo the ending so that Bunny gets free from him…
Vicki said on 10.29.12 at 09:28 PM • [link]

Turns out Hornung was Doyle’s brother-in-law and some people see Raffles as a counterpart to Holmes. Raffles was modeled after a criminologist who was known to be gay so I suspect that Raffles is also. It’s been years since I read the stories. I was a small child in Canada then and thought that’s what Englishmen were like.
librarygrrl64 said on 11.03.12 at 09:52 PM • [link]

You might also enjoy V.K. Sykes’ “Philadelphia Patriots” series. The first two, Fastball, and Hardball, are baseball romances (contemporary romantic suspense). :-)
librarygrrl64 said on 11.03.12 at 10:42 PM • [link]

I also found Endless Night very creepy. I read it at bedtime, and had some very vivid dreams.