It’s time again for the Most Expensive Comment Thread of the month!
Step one: cut a hole in a box.
No, wait, that’s a different comment thread. Sorry. Trying again.
Step one: We tell you what books we’re reading.
Step two: have her open the box (sorry) You tell us what you’re reading! If you’re hiding in a box, that’s fine. Amanda once hid in a box for over a half hour to scare the bejeezus out of her roommate, so if you want to hide in a box fort and read, we fully support this idea.
Step three: we all buy more books because, well, I know, speaking for myself personally, that I have the impulse control of a fruit fly when it comes to book shopping.
So, shall we get started?
Sarah: I’m having a very stressful and somewhat miserable week. We had to put our cat, Spawn, to sleep on Tuesday, and we’re moving next week, so my world is stress, chaos, grief, stress, to-do lists, and wondering why I have so many candles and weird tchotchkes, and how fast can I get rid of them. So I am all about comfort reading.
Massive comfort reading. I need, like, DEFCON-3 level comfort reading. I need books ready to deploy in less than 15 minutes, accompanied by chocolate and possibly also blankets. So it’s Jill Mansell time.
I’m not sure exactly why Mansell’s books are my comfort catnip, but I think it’s a combination of the intimate yet far away (from me) setting and the cast of characters. Most of her books are funny and are inhabited by lovely people who are intelligent and trying to be decent humans. Her writing lets me turn off my brain and go hang out in an alternate world where just about everything and everyone has the style and wit of a good romantic comedy. Fortunately for Present Sarah, Past Sarah bought a bunch during a .99 sale, so I have a Medicinal Mansell file awaiting me.
So I’m reading Take a Chance on Me, and if I need more Medicinal Mansell, I’ll read Staying at Daisy’s ( A | K | G | AB )– which is part of a $3 boxed set if you’re thinking a medicinal book collection might be a good idea.
RedHeadedGirl: I just finished The Amorous Intrigues and Adventures of Aaron Burr” an 1861 Real Person Fic, anonymously published.
I’m also reading Jennifer McQuiston’s The Spinster’s Guide to Scandalous Behavior ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ).
Amanda: The three books that I’m most excited to tackle while on vacation are Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter, Off the Clock by Roni Loren, and Crazed by Edie Harris.
Bohemian Gospel I featured on November’s New Releases and it’s a mix of historical fiction and magical realism. I’m so curious about this book.
Off the Clock ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) seems to blend sex and science and I AM HERE FOR THIS.
Crazed ( A | BN | K | G | AB ): I’ve read and reviewed the other two books in the Blood Money series and I can’t recommend Edie Harris enough. This particular one in the series features a badass hero who reunites with his wife, a woman he thought was dead.
I can already feel the brooding drama just emanating from my Kindle.
Carrie: I’m reading The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar (it comes out in March).
And I’m also reading Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner ( A | K | AB ).
Elyse: I’m still working through Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts.
Also, I’m reading The Curse of Lord Stanstead by Mia Marlowe ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). My brain is tired from work so my reading has massively slacked off.
What about you? What books are you enjoying right now? Anything you recommend? Got any books saved up for the end-of-year holiday vacation?
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 most excellent, and if you’d prefer not to, no worries at all. We are always glad you’re here hanging out with us.
I’m having trouble finding the time and motivation to finish longer books, but I did read “How To Deceive A Duke” and now I’m sorry I never picked up a Lecia Cornwall book before. It was very good, even though there were some misunderstandings, which usually annoy me in a book. This one didn’t for some reason. I see by the reviews that some people thought the Battle of Waterloo part at the end of the book was stuck on and jarring, but to me there can’t be too much Battle of Waterloo in Regency historicals. I just rolled with it, even though the hero’s reason for going there was contrived.
I’ve read a lot of Christmas story collections and novellas. I really loved an Anna Campbell one, “A Pirate for Christmas”(spoiler: he’s not really a pirate). I read 2 out of 4 stories, the Carolyn Jewel and Miranda Neville ones, in “Dancing in the Duke’s Arms” and already got my money’s worth. “It Happened One Christmas’ (Carla Kelly, Georgie Lee and Ann Lethbridge novellas) was quite enjoyable if you like Cinderella stories, and I do. I read a Harlequin Historical by Annie Burrows, “The Captain’s Christmas Bride”, which was a forced marriage plot and had some good character development and hot sexual compatibility between the H and h.
Also I reread two Peter Wimsey mysteries after going on a major Dorothy Sayers binge on Cyber Monday.
Lastly, I just picked up a free Jane Ashford book, “The Bargain” on Amazon, which looks very good.
Sarah, very sorry to hear about your cat. I hope all the stress and chaos disappears quickly for you.
I’ve been on a reading roll this month where just about everything I read is fantastic. I just finished Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin and it was incredibly good. Not quite as steampunk-y as I had anticipated but I still consider it a perfect, engrossing book.
Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews was also, predictably, great. I also enjoyed Seduction Game by Pamela Clare. I wasn’t too sure about the direction of Holly’s character, which veered greatly from the character we’ve grown to know over the past few books, but once I got used to it, the book has all the excellent pacing and steam I’ve come to expect from this author.
Up next for me is Stephanie Haefner’s Try Me on for Size, which seems like the perfect beach read, and after that I’m going to dive into D L McDermott’s Cold Iron, which I’ve had on my TBR pile forever.
I just discovered Tessa Dare (I am kinda new to the romance genre) I think I will binge read all of her books I can justify buying.
Also, I have been listening to this album I Love You Honey Bear by Father John Misty. Some of the songs are romance novel plots, which I love.
I got an ARC of the new Eloisa James (My American Duchess) and it was AMAAAAZING. I’m on a mini stay-cation so now I have Sabriel, Eva Leigh, and the new Kleypas waiting for me.
@Beth: “The Mystic Marriage” has got to be one of my candidates for the best romance of the year (of any gender). Maybe not my favorite fantasy, but romancewise, those two women are amazing together.
I’m so sorry about your cat, Sarah!
Not a bad book in the bunch this month! My faves:
– “Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster” by Alison Weir – If you’ve read “Katherine” by Anya Seton, then you know of this woman and her infamous romance with John of Gaunt. The biography was surprisingly robust and readable, really loved it
– “The Magician King” / “The Magician’s Land” by Lev Grossman (audiobooks) – I think this series is my favorite audiobooks ever. And I’m not really sure why. All I know is that I had to stop myself from starting over with “The Magicians”
– “The Sekhmet Bed” by Libbie Hawker – I downloaded this as a free, self-published ebook like, a year ago, and resisted reading it. That was a mistake because this was great! And restarted my love of Ancient Egypt
Good
– “The Lake House” by Kate Morton – I love Morton’s gothic novels and this one was right up there
– “Carry On” by Rainbow Rowell – I loved so much about this book and it would have been a fave, but this was very much a meta-fictional response to Harry Potter and I couldn’t lose myself in the story the way I wanted to because of all the meta signposts
– “The Samurai’s Garden” by Gail Tsukiyama – Quiet and sad, but also a very close study of people. I’m still thinking about it
– “Arrows of the Queen” by Mercedes Lackey – I would have loved this as a preteen. Telepathic horses!
Currently Reading:
– “Patricia Highsmith: Selected Novels and Short Stories” (audiobook) – this includes “Strangers on a Train” and “The Price of Salt or, Carol” and they’re both fantastic. Very tense.
And, I’d planned to start reading “The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy” by Barbara Vine, but everyone is talking about Heather Rose Jones on this thread, so I might finally read “Daughter of Mystery.” It is just sitting there on my Kindle…
Does anyone have any Kindle Unlimited titles they would recommend? There are so many titles and half the time they are poorly written books I can’t finish. That being said I have had great luck with Debra Holland’s Montana series which I think area beautifully written western series set in the 1800s, not very spicy but great stories and characters.
Also from Unlimited I read Michelle Willingham’s Secrets in Silk series which was a fantastic sexy series with inventive storylines set in 1700s Scotland. I love anything Michelle Willingham does.
I also read Bernard Cornwell’s Archer’s Tale after reading 1356 out of order. I’m obsessed with Cornwell’s Saxon stories, and I have read them all, I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series. It blew my mind that BBC broadcast a series this year based on the Saxon’s Tale The Pale Horseman with hunk Alexander Dreymon, and I had to order the show on Amazon Prime. Cornwell’s books are not romances but more in the line of a historical epic fiction, they are some what realistic war novels which unfortunately means women are pretty frequently victimized so if that’s a trigger you might want to steer clear.
Finally I read Lauren Danes The Best Kind of Trouble which I thought was great, I’m not a huge contemporary fan but the whole grounded Rockstar theme was a hit with me.
@Coco – A lot of Ruth Rendell aka Barbara Vine’s novels are on Kindle Unlimited and I love every book of her’s I’ve read. I’d recommend “A Dark-Adapted Eye” and “Asta’s Book.” If you like gothic fiction and gothic mysteries, I think you’d like her stuff.
A couple of Libbie Hawker’s historical fiction novels are on there. I haven’t read them yet, but I did love “The Sekhmet Bed.”
I really enjoyed “The Storied Life of AJ Fickry”, too!
Books I read this week:
— I re-read with pleasure Joanna Bourne’s historical romance My Lord and Spymaster.
— AND The Forbidden Rose (The Spymaster Series Book 2) by Joanna Bourne
— AND Joanna Bourne’s Rogue Spy.
[The fun thing though about reading this now five book series is realizing how interwoven they are. In Rogue Spy, for example, you learn of a couple arriving from France and then realize that they are the hero and heroine of a different book in the series. Likewise, a crime lord orders ice cream at an ice cream parlor, and you realize it’s for an injured child who is the heroine of a yet another book in the series. It has made re-reading this series all the more pleasurable and given me more admiration for the author to keep all these threads in order.]
— Star Dust (Fly Me to the Moon) by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner — this was a historical romance set in the 1960s during the space race. It was quite enjoyable.
— the novella (CURRENTLY FREE) A Midnight Clear (A Fly Me to the Moon Holiday Novella) by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner
— for my book group ~ The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion: A Novel by Fannie Flagg. It seemed a tad silly for the first fifty pages, but I ended up enjoying it.
— I’m currently reading and very much enjoying Carla Kelly’s Doing No Harm.
So sorry to hear about your cat, Sarah. That is always hard but particularly at this time of year. Hope your move goes well. MD welcomes you!
I am reading Act Like It based on the review here and loving it. We had a big family dinner thing tonight and I just wanted to get home so I could keep reading. Always a sign of a good book. This month I also finally read Up From The Grave, the last book in the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. It came out like a year ago but it’s the last in the series, so I hadn’t read it yet because I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Unfortunately it really didn’t do it for me, but it did wrap up all the loose ends in the series. This week I’m going for Christmas reads! I got Unwrapping Her Perfect Match by Kat Latham free on Kindle, so I’ll try that first.
@Coco, have you checked out these Goodreads threads? They lists books available and ones other people are currently reading. I also second the recommendation of The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2041355-kindle-unlimited—what-books-are-available
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2041365-what-ku-book-are-you-currently-reading?comment=144210189&page=5#comment_144210189
@Liz – your Georgette Heyer realization made me laugh. I think I fundamentally always want historical romances to be basically Georgette Heyer novels with maybe some extra sexytimes, so any book can really only suffer by comparison!
I bought “Act Like It” based on the review here, and I like it, but while it’s very, very charming, I do find myself wishing for more plot tension, or more roadblocks or something.
@Judy W – I didn’t know R. Lee Smith had a new book out! Thanks for the mention, I am buying it right now. It sounds crazy and great.
I’m so sorry about your cat, Sarah.
I don’t remember most of what I read recently, of course, but in a rare non- romance read, I enjoyed The Great Zoo of China. It is Jurassic Park – with dragons! Also the hero is female, and there are practically zero children. So it’s exactly like Jurassic Park, but…better? Not particularly romantic, it’s true, but it’s fun and did I mention dragons?
I just read “Someone Else’s Love Story” by Joshilynn Jackson. I’m still pondering it–I’m pretty sure I really liked it. It starts out almost like a formula romance, young single mom encounters heroic guy as they are victims of a convenience store holdup, he saves her son and she instantly hero-worships him. Then it gets weird. He is autistic. She…well, she was a virgin when her son was born. A strange cast of characters and a strange story–weird in that way that only novelists from the deep south can pull off.
Three weeks ago I had a Twitter conversation about fantasy books that circled around to Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series (which I’d never come across IRL—all I vaguely knew about it was that there were white horses on the book covers). Then Sword & Laser picked Arrows of the Queen as their December read. (I listen to the podcast but am not a member of the book club.) My interest was piqued, and last weekend I was shirking work and procrastinating doing anything related to Christmas, so it was obviously the right time to give Valdemar a try. I 1-clicked the Arrows trilogy… and was completely charmed! I found it fascinating, intriguing, compelling, and happy-making. (Warning: people do die, being a Herald is dangerous!) So now I’m reading my fifth book in the series. (Arrows trilogy*, By the Sword, and now book 1 of the Mage Winds trilogy.) Book crack ahoy!
Audiobookwise, I’ve been glomming La Nora’s Stanislaski series since I picked them up during Audible’s 50%-off members-only sale. (The narrator isn’t perfect, but she’s a far sight better than some who narrate vintage NR categories…) *all the warm fuzzies*
Now I’ve moved on to re-listening to Suzanne Wright’s Phoenix Pack books at triple speed (something I learned from the first podcast interview with Sassy Outwater: sometimes you just want the story in your brain without savoring the narration). Because snark and smart-assery and fun.
And as I really want to ignore any Christmas preparations that should be going on, I cracked open the mega-sized fantasy boxed set that I bought last spring, because the Valdemar short story called to me.
*If you want to buy the omnibus on Amazon, check out both “The Complete Arrows Trilogy” and “The Heralds of Valdemar”—same content, possible price difference.
Oh I love these “Whatcha Reading?” posts! Almost as much as Caption-That-Cover posts.
Between being sick and stressed and insomnia-fied, I’ve been tearing up my “Comfort Reads” list. Seriously, in the last 3 weeks I’ve torn through my Lisa Kleypas backlog like a rabid ferret through whatever ferrets tear through:
Wallflowers series? (Devil in Winter is the best EVAR!) Check. All 4.
Hathaway series? (Cam Rohan–yes please). Check. Almost done with #5
Blue-eyed Devil? Check. Hardy always makes me swoon. I’d climb up him even if the elevator wasn’t flooding.
Next up? I’m going to gobble up Loretta Chase’s Carsington Brothers series. I can’t WAIT for Lord Perfect and Mr. Impossible.
And then when those are done and dusted, I’m breaking out some Joanna Bourne and Sherry Thomas. Then some Laura Kinsale for good measure. All re-reads. I need my mac-n-cheese romance right now.
All this reading instead of stress eating? Down nearly 10 pounds in 3 weeks thankyouverymuch! Best diet plan ever.
Thanks, Bitchery for helping me find great authors that I can read over and over again.
@Coco, I will disagree with @Kate and @CelineB. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikray left me with a lingering sadness so deep I wondered why in the world I let myself be bewitched by the premise — bookstore owner — instead of reading a few reviews.
I’ve been reading holiday books since right before Thanksgiving. My favorite Regency so far has been No Groom at the Inn by Megan Frampton which is an engagement of convenience story and had just the right amount of Christmas in it. I also enjoyed the Christmas in Duke Street anthology and The Duke and Miss Christmas by Amelia Grey. Up next is Daniel’s Desire by Grace Burrowes which I am planning on savoring during my holiday break.
I may be getting over my contemporary burnout as I am currently reading Home for Christmas by Lily Everett and loving it. There are some truly lovely descriptions of island life and the sexual tension between the hero and heroine is drawn out perfectly. I also enjoyed Christmas in Good Hope which is first in a new small-town series by Cindy Kirk. It was a gentle holiday story where the hero learns the meaning of the season and was a perfect read during a stressful work/holiday prep week.
@ Coco, Tracy Brogan’s Bell Harbor books are available through Kindle Unlimited, if you happen to read small-town series. I agree, much of what is available on Kindle Unlimited can be forgettable or unreadable. Anyhow, Brogan’s Christmas offering, Jingle Bell Harbor is really humorous. The heroine is contractually obligated to promote Christmas. I find her stories can be laugh out loud funny.
Sarah, sorry for the loss of Spawn. May the good memories comfort you and know all of us who have lost pets understand. Also, all the best to you on the move. My husband and I relocated twice around the New Year over his career. I felt it was New Year, new life, with deconstructed boxes.
This month I read TWO blow-the-top-of-my-head-off Fantastic books:
Firebird by Susannah Kearsley (which was recommended on SBTB, natch) which was, for my money, superior to The Winter Sea which was also excellent, and The Princess Destiny by Ainsley Brooks (more epic fantasy than Kearsley but with the same whipsmart-women-with-agency style main characters). And I read the new Courtney Milan because, well, Courtney Milan, anything she writes, every time.
Next for me is my first Kristin Hannah and probably another Alice Clayton (I bought Nuts when it was on sale thanks to SBTB…my Visa bill HATES you people!)
Currently I’m really wishing I could embrace the DNF. I’m reading Rebecca Zanetti’s Total Surrender and I just don’t care. To be fair, I don’t think it’s necessarily a terrible book, I just don’t care.
I read Rachel Bach’s Paradox series and absolutely loved it. I actually bought the third book at full price.
I don’t do that. Ever.
After that, still in the mood for sci-fi / space opera, I turned to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s League series. I’d gotten four behind!
I’m of two minds on Sherrilyn Kenyon’s work. She makes me crazy with her word choice at times, and she repeats things from book to book (there is always a single tear running down somebody’s face!).
On the other hand, I would absolutely love to take up residence in her brain. She’s got a great imagination. I just wish she would get some proofreaders, some that would tell her, “Hey, you just said the same thing, in exactly the same words, about the last hero in the last book.” and, “You know, I don’t think that word means what you think it means. Here, try this one instead.” In fact, I’d be happy to proofread for her!
So, I enjoyed the Sherrilyn Kenyon books. I’ve got the last one on hold at the library. I’m very eager to read it in spite of the single tear that will be running down the hero’s face at some point in the book, and the random word that may look right and may even sound right but is not right. At all. (That was me being funny, she repeats that as well. At all. At all. At all. It’s enough to make my head spin.)
So, still in the mood for the sci-fi, I decided on Rebecca Zanetti. It’s just not doing it for me. Too real world. And the heroine can’t decide if she’s super smart, and totally on top of things, or too stupid to live.
And I? I don’t care.
So next week, when I’ve finally finished this book, I’m looking at Ancillary Justice, or maybe The Rook.
Or perhaps some SEP.
I don’t know.
I finally caved to the ad for the newish Jill Shalvis book that was running here a while ago – All I Want. A hero who rescues kittens? Yes please! Enjoyed it quite a bit (even though the dog on the cover looks NOTHING like Oreo) and went back to the start of the series. A little disappointed in how much #1 reminded me of #7, but the animals and humor make up for it. Just read #2 in one sitting yesterday.
Alternating now between The Martian and The Charm School. Had a hankering for sci-fi after seeing the new Star Wars, and The Martian was on my Kindle. Enjoying it so far and having fun comparing to the movie. I borrowed The Charm School after seeing it here (sale post maybe?) and really like it so far! I’m a sucker for heroines on board a ship, apparently. I still love The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.
Also read What Happens Under the Mistletoe to help me get in the holiday spirit, since we are lacking in snow. Very cute and has added a couple new authors to my list.
What else? LOVED Lord Dashwood Missed Out and will re-read that soon. Trying to alternate between a book I own and one from the library, so I also read How to Romance a Rake and thoroughly enjoyed that as well. So much more than a romance going on, and I’m glad that I have more Manda Collins in my TBR pile!
Sorry about your cat, Sarah. 🙁
Currently reading ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’. (New Adult fantasy.) I hate it when I’m kinda-sorta enjoying a story, but the plot is so frigging slow. Especially after I waited months for the hype to die down. Getting into adult coloring hasn’t exactly helped my attention span, either.