It’s Whatcha Reading time, where we discuss all the highs and lows of our month’s reading. We all hope you’ve had some good book noises this month, but we know sometimes that doesn’t happen. Feel free to rage and gripe as much as you want. However, we can’t be held responsible if your TBR pile doubles in size from the book recommendations you’ll most likely get.
Sarah: I am reading a nonfiction and a romance, because my brain is tired and stressed. The nonfiction is Deep Work by Cal Newport (insert all jokes here) (insert jokes about inserting jokes here) (fin). On one hand, the reframing of what is deeply focused work and what is shallow, distracting work is interesting and very helpful to my own feelings of productivity and accomplishment, especially when paired with a recent podcast interview with Basecamp CEO Jason Fried.
I’m constantly questioning what I do, and why I do it, and whether I can do less, do things more efficiently, or not do them at all. So the idea of focusing intently on my creative projects and goals is something I’m very curious about. But the book itself, while it contains several helpful concepts, grates on me with the sexism and the ignoring of other work that women typically do (e.g. emotional labor and caretaking). Most of the examples are men, with two exceptions, one of them negative, and most of these examples portray work as a singular monolith or field of study. So I take frequent breaks between chapters so I don’t get too angry to keep reading and cheat myself out of valuable ideas.
Carrie: I am reading Chasing Power, a YA by Sarah Beth Durst ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), and also What She Ate, a nonfiction about six historical women and their relationship to food. The former is entertaining but uneven and the latter is excellent.
Sarah: I’m also currently reading The Offer by Sara Portman ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is coming out on 10/24. The heroine is a penniless vicar’s daughter who opens the story in the strange position of deeply envying her best friend, now a duchess, who is in the midst of horrible morning sickness. The hero is also in debt, and not in a position to offer for anyone unless that person comes with several wagonloads of money, so OF COURSE they are going to be drawn to each other. I just started it, and am very curious, so ahoy, more reading time for me.
Elyse: I just started The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan. It’s an epic fantasy about a group of women with magical abilities working to overthrow a patriarchal, repressive society. Their magic is tied to the ability to read and use words of power, so it’s pretty solidly my catnip
Sarah: I read the first chapter of that book and so wanted to continue, but it was giving me the “your brain is going to wake you up with nightmares” feeling with some of the violence. But the women in that first chapter are SO INCREDIBLE.
Elyse: One of the things that I found really fascinating and relevant is that the authoritarian regime bans reading as a means of controlling its populace
Sarah: YES. This is a perfect example of a book that I wanted to read but knew would give my brain middle-of-the-night freakouts.
Amanda: Can I just say that I love these little conversations we have about books? What we like, what we don’t like, what aspects work of us as readers. It gives me the warm and fuzzies.
Sarah: I know, me too.
In the past year I have learned so much about how to work with my brain and my brain chemistry. it’s life-changing on a very basic level.
But knowing when something violent is going to exacerbate my anxiety to the point of losing sleep is a big help, much as I want to read this book.
Redheadedgirl: So…I maaaaaaaaay be at “one book bought per day of trip” so that’s a lot?
Elyse: Nah.
Amanda: I just finished an exhausting week in South Florida, cleaning out my late grandparents home where they lived for over 40 years. On the cool side, I found my great grandmother’s bible from 1917. On the bad side, who knew just looking at belongings could sap so much energy. Because of this, I’m waffling between two different types of reads – dark and gritty to channel some of my negative feelings. And reading an autobuy author for some comfort.
For the former, I have An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard from my library ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It has a magical NYC and a heroine who wants to destroy the current magical system.
For the latter, I have Roomies by Christina Lauren. They write such great modern romances that make me laugh and cry. It’s like a hug in book form and something that I totally need right now.
What have you been reading this month? Something spooky? A comfort read? Let us know in the comments!
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, thank you so much, and if you’d prefer not to, no worries. Thanks for being a part of SBTB and hopefully, you’ve found some great books to read!
Mesdames @SBTB,
Is there an Editor mode you can use to fix what “Gannon” auto-incorrected to above at #79?
‘Cause I was half-asleep, and now not a quarter.
I’m using this forum to bitch. I’m reading the last book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane. It’s insta love on his part and lust and dying eggs on her part. I just finished what should be a moving love scene, and I’m like, this image is just like what my ex liked in porn. When did “come” become sexy? at least in historicals? I am looking for the Ghost. I am looking for the non-Duke characters, I am looking for what hooked me on Elizabeth Hoyt.
So what else have I read. The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. I loved some of her earlier books. I love kick-ass, lower class heroines. But I also want my dukes to be something more than a lame billionaire.
I guess I’m on duke overload. After touring the five or six dukes’ manor homes, I am left with the land they controlled–whole counties. The power they had–move a village to make sure you don’t have to see the peasants. The money they had–gold plate, grand master paintings, marble floors, column, and tables. I know fiction is fiction, but somewhere my favorite authors have wandered off of romance into sexy times and historical times for historical costumes (assuming they have clothes on).
Another blah month for me, with one exception. The Jane Austen Project made the month. It was a delicious mix of some of my very favorite things: well done time travel, Jane Austen and a secret romance. I really hope the author considers a sequel where someone can figure out the mystery of the Brontes.
@Francesca I hope you kick cancers butt! My mom found a copy of Katherine for me when I was 14, and it started my ever lasting love for historical romance.
@cleo Thank you so much!! I wasn’t sure where to start. I will be picking up Lester and Dawson’s books soon and I love far ancient settings so I’ve added Beecroft to my TBR 🙂
I’ve spent the month reading Shelly Laurenston’s Pride and Magnus Pack series. Not sure why it took me so long to read these, I love her Call of the Crows books. I think I started The Mane Event last year, and couldn’t get into it for some reason. Well, that sure changed this month! I read them all and they were a lot of fun. I read them one after another, causing me to have a dream that the squirrel who steals from my bird feeders was a shape shifter, and I invited his family in for tea!
I think Take the Lead by Alexis Daria was a SBTB rec from someone-I loved this! The premise is a guy from an Alaskan reality show goes on a Dance with The Stars type competition, and a relationship develops between him and his professional dance partner. I don’t want to say too much and be spoilery, but the characters were very likeable, and I loved the ending. She has another book coming out in December called Dance With Me, and I’m excited for that.
Rereads
Canyon by Brenda Jackson
Stern by Brenda Jackson
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
The Demi God Files by Rick Riordan
Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis
Animal Lust by Lucy Danes
Dreaming of You by Francis Ray
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Inside Out by Lauren Dane
New to me:
In the President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler
Drive by Daniel Pink
Wishlist by Sylvia Day
Currently Reading:
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
I know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam
This month I read:
Sinister Weddings, by Dorothy Eden. A trilogy of gothic suspense stories. I loved all of them! Escapist indulgence.
The Duchess Deal (my first Tessa Dare) – Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Her writing is hilarious, with great witty dialogue between characters and fast-paced storytelling. I’ll probably indulge in another of her books next time I’m in the mood for a more casual, lighthearted read.
The Lying Game, by Ruth Ware. While I became absorbed in the mystery, and loved the twists and turns, I grew impatient and bored with the frequency of “taking care of the baby” scenes, which often seemed out of place in the context of a particular scene. These parts of the book also felt a little manipulative, and, in my opinion, distracted from story instead of adding anything. I skimmed over almost every one of those scenes.
The Ruby Locket by Anita Higman and Hillary McMullen. An entertaining if predictable gothic mystery.
White Magic Five and Dime, by Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco. A fun mystery which features the tarot deck as a centerpiece. I learned quite a bit of information on how con artists work, too. Intriguing! I enjoyed the characters and the story.
The Invisible Code, by Christopher Fowler. Someone on this site mentioned this Peculiar Crime Unit series. It sounded like my catnip so I bought it. I devoured it. So good. I bought Seventy-Seven Clocks in the same series and I’m reading that now. Thank you, person I can’t remember, who suggested this series. I plan to binge-read all of his stuff.
Re-Reading (again) A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole and loving it all over again. Still so very funny!
I had a few DNF books, mainly because I couldn’t get into the story and/or the characters.
@Black Sun – I really loved The Woman in Cabin 10. Her recent novel, The Lying Game, is quite good too. I did have a major nitpick with it, though, but it’s probably just a personal thing for me.