Whatcha Reading? May 2019 Edition, Part One

Book with a field and a road on the pages against a blue cloudy skyAre you reading for Whatcha Reading? How are we nearly halfway through the month of May already?

If any of you are going to be in New Orleans for BookLover’s Con, we hope you’ll say hi. We will also be recoding a live podcast, which is always a blast.

Sarah: Oh my gosh. Despite having a bad cold and needing sleep, I barely avoided a Bad Decisions Book Club moment with New Ink on Life ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).

The deep POV of the two main characters is really difficult to put down, especially when they are so very different.

Amanda: I too almost pulled a BDBC with Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It was mentioned in the comments on the site and it’s a slow burn very Beauty and the Beast romance. There is dancing in a ballroom! Etiquette lessons! Well-meaning but meddling staff!

When a Duchess Says I Do
A | BN | K | AB
Sarah: I really liked that book. That’s an older title, too!

Amanda: I know! I found it at Half Price Books while in Austin for like $3.

Elyse: I’m finishing up When A Duchess Says I Do by Grace Burrows. It’s a regency with a beta hero and heroine who is on the run

Carrie: I am reading Amnesty ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is the conclusion to the Amberlough Dossier Trilogy by Lara Elena Donnelly. So good, but much stressful (I mean, the characters in the book are going through a lot).

What have you read so far? Let us know in the comments!


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Comments are Closed

  1. KateB says:

    Rough few weeks for me, reading wise. Lots of, “well, that was fine.” Fingers crossed for the rest the month!

    Faves

    – BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #4 by Jordie Bellaire & Dan Mora – last issue of the first arc, and it ends with a very interesting direction for Xander!

    – BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage – over-the-top “evil child” thriller. 100% would watch this movie.

    Good

    – ALL THIS I WILL GIVE TO YOU by Dolores Redondo – one of Amazon’s free World Book Day ebooks, this is a very soap opera-y, very gothic-y Mystery out of Spain. Grand old family, oldest son dies under suspicious circumstances, his husband gets embroiled in the mystery.

    – STRANGE PRACTICE by Vivian Shaw – charming characters, charming set up (a doctor to vampires and other monsters), bit of a weak mystery

    – ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING by Jasper Fforde – my least favorite of the series since the Thursday we follow is not our Thursday, but still fun.

    – THE PSYCHOPATH TEST by Jon Ronson – Good book, but I wanted more about psychopathy and less of the author worrying that he *might* be a psychopath. If you’re worrying about it, you’re clearly not.

    MY LIFE AS A GODDESS by Guy Branum (audiobook) – more somber than I expected with a lot of detours and doubling back, which made for a frustrating listening experience.

    – WICKED SAINTS by Emily A. Duncan – it just fell flat for me. I wanted the Russian-inspired setting to suck me in but I’ve read better Russian-inspired fantasy lately.

    Currently Reading

    – A PRINCE ON PAPER by Alyssa Cole – now, *this* is great. I love this series and I love how much the friends love each other.

    – THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth (audiobook) – Australian domestic thriller that’s kind of dragging, tbh. If it ends like I think it will, boy, will it have been telegraphed .

  2. Julia aka mizzelle says:

    Caught up with two big series for me which is frankly weird. I’m used to being several books behind.

    First one was Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy. In anticipation of their August release, I finally finished “Wildfire” and “Diamond Fire”. I had some issues with how Rogan’s ex was written but overall satisfied with the initial arc of the series. The first taste of Catalina’s POV in the novella were intriguing. Catalina has clearly had to hold back her magic for most of her young life. Seeing her cut loose was great. I loved Rogan’s mother mentorship.

    The other series I caught up with Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities series. I finally finished “Making Up”. Seeing Trix finding her confidence was nice. The epilogue surprised me, but not in a bad way. I seem to have liked “The Austen Playbook” more than the reviewers here. I immediately loved Freddy and Griff and their families. House parties and digging into the past are my catnip. I did want a bonus murder mystery starring Sadie as the victim. I suspect she’d have many many suspects.

    Only other thing I’ve been listening to are Big Finish Darl Shadows audio dramas based of the old 1970s gotjiv soap. They’re releasing a 13 part serial called “Bloodline” that is properly bonkers. I’d recommend starting with the earlier serial “Bloodlust” to get up to speed first.

    Current reads: I have both Alyssa Cole’s “Prince on Paper” and Helen Huang’s “The Bride Test” out from the library. Not very far on either, but liking them so far.

  3. Jill Q. says:

    Forgive the digression, but oh, guys I’ve fallen into another deep, deep shipping hole (I am who I am, okay). As Game of Thrones is wrapping up, I’ve gotten wrapped up into the hype train for how Jaime Lannister and Brienne’s story might end. This is kind of funny considering how I only read the first three of the books (I had to quit b/c the violence gave me nightmares) and I’ve only ever followed the series casually on tumblr, twitter, YouTube etc.

    I have Very Strong Feelings on how both G.R.R. Martin and the show runners have handled female and women’s sexuality, but in spite of all that, I have fallen hard b/c the characters of Brienne and Jaime are so intriguing and honestly Gwendoline Christie and Nickolaj Coster-Waldau are both extremely talented and pretty to look at ;-).

    Anyways, my point (and I do have one) is that lurking in the GOT/ASOIAF fandom these last few weeks has made me appreciate romance and romance writers so, so much more than I already did. I know in romance if good people suffer, there will be a point and they will be rewarded with the kind of love and life they desire. When I read a romance, I am (reasonably) sure women won’t be raped just b/c “it’s realistic” and “it helps their character growth” (WTF!). No one’s chance at happiness will be snatched away at the last moment for drama. So romance world, you’re definitely not perfect, but I love you, you are my home, never stop being awesome.

    In actual reading news, I’m reading lots of fanfic (naturally) juggling and enjoying both “A Dangerous Collaboration” by Deanna Raybourn and “A Prince on Paper” by Alyssa Cole. My weekend plan is to dig into both of these and stay far away from all things Game of Thrones related until Monday morning and I can read a recap, and see what happens, for better or worse.

    Happy weekend, everyone!

  4. Crystal F. says:

    I’m still reading ‘Any Duchess Will Do’.

    Went to our local library’s book sale yesterday. Sadly there wasn’t much in the way of any romance. (Or that much printed after the 70’s and 80’s.) But I did find some titles for my classics/children’s classics collection:

    ‘Emily Of New Moon’, by L.M. Montgomery.

    ‘Charlotte’s Web’, by E.B. White.
    I already have a hardcover edition, but it’s in pretty rough shape.

    ‘The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe’, by C.S. Lewis.
    I’ve never owned a copy.

    A box set of ‘A Treasury Of Winnie-The-Pooh’, by A.A. Milne.
    I had my eye on the yellow Barnes & Noble leather-bound edition, but this set’s in pretty decent condition considering it was published in 1984. I wanted this for the original text, and the original artwork by Earnest Shepard.

    The first three novels in the ‘Harry Potter’ series.
    ‘Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone’,
    ‘Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets’,
    ‘Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban’.

    I never read ‘Harry Potter’. I was nineteen when the first book came out, and I’ve never had kids to buy the books for. So I feel like I missed out and have been considering getting them.

    And ‘The Sibley Field Guide To Birds of Eastern North America’, by (and illustrated by) David Allen Sibley.
    I don’t know how or why I acquired all of these books and magazines on North Americans birds over the last four years. It just happened.

  5. Heather C says:

    I had a reading slump until these last two days when I read Proper English (KJ Charles) It was fun and funny. 4 out of 5 stars

  6. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    There are a number of romantic suspense elements in Skye Warren’s OVERTURE (the first book in her new North Security series). However, the relationship between the hero and heroine is so transgressive, it’s easy to forget that the story takes place against the background of a private security company with the requisite former military personnel, covert operations, international intrigue, and political corruption. The heroine is a high school senior and violin prodigy. The hero is many years older than the heroine and has been her guardian since she was twelve (the questionable circumstances under which he obtained that guardianship is one of the backstories of the book). As the heroine simultaneously approaches high school graduation, her 18th birthday, and a world tour with a famously temperamental tenor, her repressed feelings for the hero bubble to the surface: a complicated tangle of gratitude, hero worship, Daddy issues, and lust. Meanwhile, the hero attempts (not always successfully) to stifle his own feelings for the heroine—and, as a result, often appears to be unnecessarily strict or cold. There are scenes where the hero and heroine each inadvertently witnesses the other masturbating and scenes where they share a bed and end up going to “second-base” (and, later, decidedly more of a “home run”)—these scenes are somewhat erotic, but also (and I suspect this was a deliberate stylistic choice on Warren’s part) somewhat skeevy, given the age gap and power imbalance between the two characters. As usual, Warren skillfully weaves the story of two isolated and damaged people who, because of the circumstances of their dysfunctional upbringings, are unlikely to find love in a “normal” or conventional way. The main problem I had with the story’s set up is that it has been the hero who has been responsible in large part for the heroine’s isolation, at least for the past six years (there are reasons for that isolation, hinted at until the ending’s cliffhanger reveal). Key quote: “Growing up isn’t about learning something new. It’s about unlearning the fairy tales you believe as a child.” Even given the somewhat off-putting set up, I enjoyed the book and look forward to CONCERTO, the next in the series—but if guardian/ward and age-gap tropes are not your catnip, ymmv.

    Over the next two months, Caitlin Crews will publish three Harlequin Presents romances with interconnected characters and timelines. The first of the three, THE ITALIAN’S TWIN CONSEQUENCES, can best be summed up by this line uttered by the hero, “When a man gets most of what he wants, he spends his time concentrating on what he cannot get” (perhaps the very definition of entitled/toxic masculinity). The hero is a wealthy businessman, accustomed to getting his way, who must undergo a series of psychiatric interviews mandated by his board of directors after an episode of violent behavior at his father’s funeral. The heroine is the therapist hired to conduct the interviews and evaluate the hero’s fitness to continue running his company. As she always does so well, Crews takes two people with what appear to be diametrically-opposed world views and shows that there are places of where they can find a rapport (especially when similarly dysfunctional childhoods and overwhelming sexual chemistry are part of the picture). However, as much as I love Crews’s HPs, I had a some issues with this book, particularly how rapidly the hero transformed from amoral tycoon—willing to illegally videotape and blackmail a woman to ensure her compliance—to loving husband & father. And, for a trained therapist, the heroine seemed to lack the necessary self-awareness regarding a defining episode in her past and how that incident affected her career path and client assessments. In addition, the book ends quite abruptly, with a rather breathless epilogue, at around the 90% mark (another book is then excerpted on the remaining pages). THE ITALIAN’S TWIN CONSEQUENCES would have benefitted from being expanded to a length that permitted the h&h to grow in their feelings for each other at a far more organic pace.

    I downloaded the first three books in Lilia Moon’s Fettered series (YIELD, REVEAL, DESIRE) when they were on sale as a bundle in the kindle store a few months ago, but I just now got around to reading them. Each book focuses on a different couple who discover love through a bdsm relationship. (I should note here that, while there is a secondary m/m couple in the books, the three main couples are m/f, all with a male dom, already involved in the bdsm lifestyle, and a female figuring out that she is a sub.) Most of the characters work at either a Seattle bdsm club called Fettered or a wedding planning business called Your Perfect Moment. If it is possible for bdsm romances to be rather sweet, with an almost small-town romance vibe, then I would have to assign those characteristics to these books. There’s plenty of sexual/bdsm activity, but the tone of the books was unlike anything I’ve encountered in bdsm romance before—gentle and explanatory, with special emphasis on consent, conversation, and healthy power exchange. There’s also a sense of “found family” as members of the club give love and support to each other through emotionally challenging times. (My favorite of the three books is DESIRE, which features an older couple—she’s a grandmother in her forties, he’s been out of the scene for a while and is bi.) I think these books would be especially good for someone who hasn’t read much bdsm romance but is interested in logistics and terminology in addition to nice love stories and HEAs.

    In the SBTB discussion of epigraphs, I mentioned that I always read everything in a book—from the copyright page right through to the “Thank you for reading my book; please consider leaving a review.” Due to my diligent (some would say, obsessive) reading of all parts of a book, I discovered that Julie Hammerle’s KNOCKED-UP CINDERELLA was co-edited by Stacey Abrams (presumably THE Stacey Abrams—the romance writer who, in a more just world, would be governor of Georgia right now). The book sort of straddles the line between romance and chick-lit. The heroine is the principal of an upscale private school. She’s 40, single, with a Ph.D. in Education, and no interest in a long-term relationship. So when a one-night stand leads to an unplanned pregnancy, there’s a lot of soul-searching to be done. I liked the book’s focus on the heroine, her best friend, and her younger sister, but I found the narrative rather choppy with a lot of tell-rather-than-show. Plus, I never quite warmed up to the commitment-phobic/workaholic hero and never truly believed his redemption arc. (And, although the heroine and her friends discuss sex a lot, the sex scenes in the book are very much of the fade-to-black variety, so if you’re looking for something on the more explicit side, KNOCKED-UP CINDERELLA won’t fit the bill.)

  7. I’m reading MEET CUTE by Helena Hunting. Up next, I’m hoping to read PRETTY FACE by Lucy Parker.

    I also want to read THE WICKED KING by Holly Black. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, THE CRUEL PRINCE. I also have SHADOW OF THE FOX by Julie Kagawa on my TBR pile.

  8. SusanH says:

    I’ve been reading the Rockton books by Kelley Armstrong, about a female detective who ends up living in a tiny, off-the-grid settlement in Northwest Canada. It’s much more suspense/mystery than romance, although there is a satisfying romance in the background. I don’t normally like suspense or mysteries that much, but these books have really sucked me in. Great characters and world building.

  9. HeatherS says:

    I have “The Doctor’s Secret” by Heidi Cullinan and “Under His Protection” by LaQuette on the TBR. Right now I am more interested in starting mindlessly at the TV than reading, tbh.

  10. JJ says:

    The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara: one of Disney’s first female animators and the only woman in history to create one of Hollywood’s classic movie monsters. “As a teenager, Mallory O’Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favorite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But for someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available. For, as O’Meara soon discovered, Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. No one even knew if she was still alive.” (Amz) Currently reading, raging, and learning.

    He’s Not My Boyfriend by Jackie Lau: So much depth to the characters — a new favorite author for me. I loved the romance, the background, and the grandma who reads racy romances on her e-reader.

    Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole: Such a fun, satisfying romance, and low on the angst scale which fit the bill for me perfectly. Disability representation done so well.

    My favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren: Staring off into space with a fond, goofy smile while trying to think of what to write about it — that pretty much sums up my response to this novel.

  11. Another Anne says:

    The only recently published book that I’ve read was The Jane Austen Playbook, which I also liked very much. I enjoy Lucy Parker’s voice and although my favorite remains Act Like It, I think it was a nice addition to the series.

    I’m currently in the midst of reading Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampire series which I am also enjoying very much.

    Crystal F. – I discovered Harry Potter at 38 (I am also childfree), when my sister, who is an elementary school teacher gave me the first book as a birthday gift. I have read them all and enjoyed them all. I hope that you will enjoy them too! The funny thing is that I bought all of them for my nieces (when they became teenagers) over the course of several years. Sadly, they weren’t interested and I think only read the first two or three. They’ve sat on a shelf in my sister’s basement for years. My nieces are now out of college, but when the youngest was still in college, one of her friends visited and was very impressed that my niece had the entire series gifted by her aunt. So I did get some aunt credit – many years after the fact.

  12. Jeannette says:

    Twice a month definitely makes this a more manageable amount!

    The Great
    Jensen, Kelly – Building Forever; Renewing Forever; Chasing Forever – A marvelous series of contemporary MM recommended by a SBTB ( thank you! ) The heroes are mature in their late 30s / 40s and have real life issues and friends. It was refreshing. I have read the Chaos Station series ( a science fiction MM series) by Jensen before and liked it but these characters had a greater depth.

    Smoot, Madeline [editor] – Perilous Princesses [4] – A short story book about the princesses that stepped up and take action. It was a refreshing premise and some of the stories succeed better than others

    Carriger, Gail – Marine Biology, The Summage Solution, The Omega Objection – MM paranormal series with shifters, mages, merman, and drag queen ghosts. Not long but lovey with fully developed characters that are not cardboard cutouts. This was a re- read and the stories held up.

    Lucille, Kelly – Claiming Emma. A sweet MF contemporary. Heroine is a successful businesswoman, hero is a veteran looking for his younger half sister. It was refreshing like a category JAK, although a little more in the heat index.

    The Good
    Burnwell, Jalzia – Magical Intentions (biomystic security bk 1). This suffers from a heroine who’s too young for her degrees (19 and a doctor of magic). I really like her and how she stands up to situations and uses her brain to think through things. There are some inconsistencies that pull me out of the story. I will probably read the whole series ( I’m on book 2 now) and hope that she grows up along with the series.

    Jensen, Kelly – Block and Strike- a contemporary MM. Romance between an ex-con and the guy downstairs. They may have started as stock characters, but they had depth and struggled with anger management and other issues. Very solid book.

    Dead Djinn in Cairo – Steampunk Egypt mystery short story. It was interesting world building and I might pick up the next in the series ( thank you for whomever pointed out it was in the TOR free reads). I might have gone into it expecting too much and so was underwhelmed.

    Also doing a reread of Viola Grace’s Tales of the Citadel series. Science fiction romance short stores that don’t disappoint.

  13. Shana says:

    I only finished a few books. My indecision about what to read first led to the library snatching books back before I finished them. What I did read, I really enjoyed:

    Untouchable by Talia Hibbert – m/f Nanny-employer Romance where that was actually the whole conflict, as it I really should be. I loved heroine, she was a bad ass know it all, with depression

    Heartship by Amy Jo Cousins – I burned through a lot Cousins awhile ago but had to take a break when they started to feel similar. This one is a super sweet angst-free m/m with a college football player and fem massage therapist. I found it adorable.

    DNF – Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue – I know a lot of folks love this, and I can see why, I just wasn’t in the mood for a swashbuckling antihero. I gave up 1/3 in and skipped to the end to read the last few pages.
    Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

  14. Stephanie says:

    This week, I blew through Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie and Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. I loved both of them- JC and CL are both in my collection of favorite authors- and laughed out loud multiple times during both books.

    I’ve been reading some amazing nonfiction as well: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein, and I followed that with Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock.

    One of the best things that happened to me was attending a used book sale and finding the romance novel that got me into reading romance novels back at the ripe old age of twelve. I’d long since forgotten the name of that book, along with most of the identifying details (I didn’t even think I had enough to submit to HABO), so I’d been left wondering about this book for YEARS. And then, suddenly, it just showed up. Turns out it was Flames of Glory by Patricia Matthews, published in 1982. I’m entirely sure that it’s full of early 80’s-era problematic themes and tropes and will contain page after page of cringeworthy material, but I’m SO looking forward to reading it again and celebrating how far romance has come, along with wtf’ing twelve year old me’s taste.

  15. Nicolette says:

    I’ve been reading Dr. Slump volumes courtesy of a service in US VIZ where they throw Shonen jump chapters onto the site and you can read em for 2 bucks a month.

    It’s fun to read older stuff that’s in some ways, products of the time, like Dr. Slump and recent stuff like The Promised Neverland. I tried to read Act-AGE, but only the first volume is up there? I dunno what happened. Contacted VIZ support and even they don’t know what happened.
    https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/weekly-shonen-jump-subscription-manga/

    Also, I’m trying some Jennifer Crusie. Fast Women has a heroine who’s two decades older than me. But I like it.

  16. K.N.O’Rear says:

    Read: QUEEN OF ALL CROWS by Rod Duncan
    This book was really slow to start and I read spoilers that promised a crew of all female pirates, which it took forever to get to. However, once it got to that part it was a much better book. Unless, you don’t mind slow starts I really can’t recommend any of the Fall of the Gaslit Empire series . If you’re willing to stick it out though, the cast is good, not to mention lots of female friendship.

    Reading: FURY FROM THE TOMB by S.A. Sidor.
    This book is basically an homage to the pulp novels and magazines of old (minus the Racism and Sexism). However , if you aren’t already a fan of that genre I can’t really recommend these books, because there is a lot of intense violence in them( blood and guts, nothing else ). For me it’s a pretty fun adventure book so far , but as I said it isn’t for everyone .

  17. Kareni says:

    Some recent reads here ~

    — read Maria Vale’s A Wolf Apart (The Legend of All Wolves Book 2) which I enjoyed. 
    — reread Anne Bishop’s Wild Country which I continue to think has a large cast of characters. It’s not my favorite entry in the series, but I definitely look forward to more books in this world.
    — enjoyed reading Lucy Parker’s The Austen Playbook.
    ** Incidentally, the three former books in this series (all of which can standalone and which I enjoyed) are on sale for $1.99; this is quite a deal! London Celebrities Collection: An Anthology. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07HXZM1GN/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b07hxzm1gn **
    — a book by a favorite author which I enjoyed: Earth Fathers Are Weird by Lyn Gala. It’s a male/alien romance.

    — Carla Kelly’s The Unlikely Master Genius (St. Brendan Book 1) which I quite enjoyed. It stands alone, but there is a prequel novella THE CHRISTMAS ANGLE which appeared in the collection A Country Christmas. I look forward to reading more in this series.
    — The Chosen: A Novella of the Elder Races by Thea Harrison. It was a pleasant read but not stellar.

  18. Kareni says:

    FYI: Jeannette mentioned Magical Intentions (Biomystic Security Book 1) above. It’s currently free to kindle readers at https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07FP5L5RX?storeType=ebooks

  19. Jenny says:

    I’ve been working 70+ hours a week (I teach at a university), and haven’t had a lot of time to read, but managed to sneak in “Make Me Fall” (Sara Rider) and “Hottie Lumberjack” (Tawna Fenske). I had a hard time getting into “Make Me Fall”, but I appreciated the realistic portrayal of the heroine’s STEM/academic career (I’m also in STEM). I felt frustrated by the heroine, and really liked the hero. However, I wish the author would have fleshed out his frustrations/feelings of inadequacy more – I felt he had legitimate issues caused by grief (his mom passed away when he was younger) and how he was treated by his sister, but they were magically resolved/ignored in the final pages (there was no mention of him ever receiving grief counseling, which in real life, should have happened).

    I LOVED “Hottie Lumberjack” (even though I LOATHED the cover – I have the same visceral reaction to all of the book covers in this series). Mark is my new book boyfriend. I’ve started reading the rest of the series – this one is the fourth book, but I had no trouble with it as the entry point to the series. This book is mostly romantic comedy woven around more serious themes – I really appreciate how the author balanced the two. It is written in first-person POV (each chapter alternates between the hero and heroine), if that is your catnip/kryptonite.

    I was lucky enough to be #3 on my library’s waitlist for “The Bride Test” (Helen Hoang) when it was released, so even though I have 48 papers and lab reports to grade, I’ve started reading it (it’s my carrot on a stick – grade a bunch of essays, take a reading break). All I’ll say is the Prologue is one of the most heart-breaking things I’ve read in a long, long time.

  20. Darlynne says:

    @SusanH: Yes! I love this series, almost finished with book 2 and looking forward to the rest. What complicated, interesting characters, and creeping dread stories.

    Also reading one of Mick Herron’s standalone novels, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, as a hedge against withdrawal until June and his sixth Slow Horses book. An ordinary young woman is recruited into British Secret Service. What could go wrong, right?

    Finished THE IMMORTALS by Jordanna Max Brodsky. Greek gods who’ve lost their power, living in NYC, some doing better than others. This was funnier than I expected, also more romance than anticipated, a very good read.

    J.R. Ward’s THE SAVIOR. Same old, same old, and still they suck me back in.

    EARLY RISER by Jasper Fforde was brilliant. Winter now requires humans to hibernate, so there must be an agency to take care of things while they’re all slumbering. As usual with his books, they defy accurate description by me, just read them.

    Finally, Patricia Briggs STORM CURSED.

  21. Darlynne says:

    Oops, re: STORM CURSED. I used html brackets, which erased my comment. Let’s just say fangirling occurred.

  22. Escapeologist says:

    Lots of DNF’s and re-reads… the only “books” I finished were comics collections:
    BIG MUSHY HAPPY LUMP by Sarah Andersen
    CATWAD by Jim Benton
    Both of these were funny and relatable. Both authors have plenty of their comics available free on the internet.

  23. Right now, I’m kinda flailing — nothing’s grabbing me. (I hate when that happens.)

    On the audiobook front, I glommed John McWhorter’s books on the English language: Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (which argues that English isn’t weird because of its relentless word-borrowing — that’s normal — but because its grammar is unlike almost every other language’s grammar), Words on the Move: Why English Won’t – and Can’t – Sit Still (Like, Literally); and Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America’s Lingua Franca. He narrates the books and there were times I was laughing out loud. (As dry as it sounds, his exploration of what the “Hwaet!” at the beginning of Beowulf really means is hysterical.)

    I just finished my 4th or 5th reread of Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm. I love that book. I loved it from the moment I read the opening sentence: “A soft fall rain slips down through the trees and the smell of ocean is so strong it can almost be licked off the air.” I know that smell. I live about 15 miles from the Massachusetts coast, and I remember a rainy night in November when you could smell the sea, even that far inland. So I instantly knew what Junger was talking about.

    Reading it this time, I was conscious of how skillfully he drew me in. The beginning is almost conversational; even though he didn’t know the crew of the Andrea Gail, he writes as if he did, as if you’re sitting in a bar somewhere and he’s telling you about people he knew and what happened to them.

    I’m not sure what I’m going to read next. I don’t know what I’m in the mood for. I hate when that happens…

  24. Vicki says:

    A couple new books these past weeks and a couple badly needed comfort reads.

    New for me:

    Stillhouse Lake, by Rachel Caine. Well written, suspenseful.
    Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen. I enjoy this series but this was not its strongest book.

    Re-reads:
    The Witness by Nora Roberts. I like the people in it and it’s a bit of a revenge caper.
    Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh. Speaking of PTSD plus.

  25. Crystal says:

    :::scooches in, exhausted:::

    What a month.

    Wait, it’s only been 2 weeks? DAMMIT. What a month, anyway.

    I think I left off on reading The Austen Playbook, which was fully delightful. Then I decided to read No Exit by Taylor Adams, which has been sitting on my Kindle for a bit now. It was interesting, although I figured out the bad guy twist well before the heroine did. He telegraphed it, actually, but I’m 40 and listen to true crime podcasts, and she was a ne’er do well college student. The whole thing involves a college student that is driving home and gets stranded at a rest stop in a snowstorm and while she’s outside trying to get a phone signal (the phones never work in these books, because they’d be about 5 minutes long if they did), she discovers that one of the other people at the rest stop has a little girl being held prisoner in the back of their kidnapper van. If there was one thing I didn’t care, it is that one of the bad guys is very clearly developmentally disabled. I am not saying that people with DD cannot be bad guys, but they are much more likely too be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it, and it seems like the authors that write these characters lean really hard on describing some of the facial features and in this case, hygiene issues. It seems too easy to me to use that as a way to other these characters, and would actually prefer a nice, straightforward sociopath character. It had a nice wrap-up though, and was very action-y. Then I decided I needed something happy again (the universe is kind of piling on this week) and went with A Prince On Paper by Alyssa Cole. The Reluctant Royals series has been a joy from start to finish, and I loved the sibling relationship between Johan and Lukas, and liked that the book emphasized the importance of managing your shit and getting therapy and how it helps. It reminded me of the line from Rent: “I’m looking for baggage that goes with mine”. Nya and Johan were. I’m currently reading The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, and guys. She’s no one-hit wonder. Khai and Esme are so well-written and I just want to hug Khai, who thinks he’s incapable of love due to his autism, and is in fact, so loving, and doesn’t realize that part of the reason he’s so worried and freaked out a bunch of the time about those that are his is because he loves them to distraction. I have two kids with autism and I love it when someone gets it. Also, Quan. All the heart eyes for Quan. I also took a graphic novel break yesterday and read through Saga Vol. 8. Interesting in that a lot of that volume deals with the choices that women make about their bodies, and why we might make the choices we do. There’s also a moment in there that cracked my heart a bit, which is par for the course with Saga. I’d send copies to legislators in Alabama, Ohio, and Georgia, but let’s be real, they wouldn’t read them. Until next time folks, keep up with your checkups and do the cardio. It’s good for your heart, and it’s important to me that everyone stays healthy.

  26. Maureen says:

    @CrystalF-I am actually jealous you are reading Harry Potter for the first time! I’m someone who haunts amazon.co.uk-and years ago I started to see buzz about the first Harry Potter book, so I ordered it from them. I fell into that world from the first page, and continued to be a huge fan. Back when we still had a Borders store, I stood in line for maybe the third or fourth book? I do remember it was a late night release, and we all got numbers as we came in the door. I vividly remember a number was called, and that person screamed like she was at a rock concert! I thought “here are my people!”-that was years ago but I will never forget the passion and excitement about those books. I really hope you enjoy them!

    I have read new books this month-The Austen Playbook being one of them. I agree with a commenter on what I think was the review on SBTB-not enough Austen! A fun book though!

    I’ve been re-reading some Lorelei James books-it’s been a rough couple weeks and I needed some ranching and cowboy fun. I’ve been reading once again, the Blacktop Cowboy series, and realized that One Night Rodeo, with Celia and Kyle is a story where she has all the ranching knowledge and helps him out. I love that trope, where the woman is the one who is super competent. He isn’t a slouch because he has some experience in the field, but she is the one who grew up on a ranch and knows things that seem automatic to her, but not to him.

    The Returning Home books by Serena Bell-I want to say they might be re-released, but I’m not sure. In a way, these are tough books to read about veterans returning home, but I love her writing and I think she addresses tough issues and also incorporates romance in a realistic way. She is a new to me author this year, and I love her books.

    Marie Harte is a huge favorite of mine, in fact she was a bridge between my love of all that is historical fiction to contemporary. Once again thanks to SBTB-I loved her series on the Body Shop Bad Boys, McCauley and Donnigan series. She has a new one called Veteran Movers-which sounds strange, but is super good! The first book is called The Whole Package-and the series is about a moving company that employs veterans, and their stories. I loved the first book and can’t wait for more!

  27. AmyS says:

    Two books I liked so far this month:

    LESSONS FROM A ONE NIGHT STAND by Piper Rayne — this had a taboo principal/teacher element with fun family dynamics and great dialogue

    THEN CAME YOU by Kate Meader — this was a road trip with two divorce attorneys that were previously married working through a tough issue. The heroine got on my nerves a bit, but I think it was because she was written so well. The hero was swoony.

  28. LauraL says:

    I finished reading Making Waves by Laura Moore last night. A good story set in the Hamptons with a nod to the horsy set, although Dakota’s family was a piece of work. A precursor to my yearly “beach book” reading as Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews hit my Kindle this week. This year’s offering includes a mystery.

    Last week, I read Joanna Shupe’s A Scandalous Deal where the heroine was an architect continuing her father’s work in Tammany Hall New York. I liked the way the protagonists met, in a sort of Gilded Age meet cute, onboard a ship during a rough crossing.

  29. JBB says:

    I’ve been reading A Memory Called Empire which hasn’t got any romance so far and I’m not sure it would fit if it did, but it’s rly good. I rarely go for SF but I’m turning. This one has the smart worldbuilding and writing without getting dry or inaccessible.
    I’m just reading really really slowly, but I also recently got in the “art of” book for Captain Marvel (I rly liked it; maybe too many skrull concepts, but it’s still all Captain Marvel so yeeeeah) and the first vol of Jason Aaron’s Thor run/s “God of Thunder vo 1: The God Butcher”…I love all his Thor stuff and I felt like going back to the start even as I’m reading Thor and War of the Realms monthly (and looking forward to Jane’s turn as Valkyrie!). I had forgotten how dark it was. I think I like it less now, but knowing it’s prologue to such goodness to come makes me still rly appreciate it.

  30. Escapeologist says:

    Posting again to list my rereads:
    THE SHARING KNIFE (BOOK 3) PASSAGE by Lois McMaster Bujold – on audiobook for falling asleep at bedtime. (skipping the tense/violent chapters.) The farming and riverboat scenes are so soothing.
    GENTLEMAN JOLE AND THE RED QUEEN by Lois McMaster Bujold – for the tor.com reread.
    Various DISCWORLD books via markreads.com because his reactions are adorable and the community’s posts are fun.

    Started and DNF’d a bunch of new books. My brain is refusing to get invested in a new story. I blame GoT – even though I stopped watching years ago, I’ve been sucked into the theories for how it will all end… so I read recaps and holy crap, some of this last season has been infuriating and emotionally draining.

  31. Jane says:

    I’m currently reading “Vision in White” by Nora Roberts – This book was made into a Hidden Object Game which I played a couple of years ago, but only just now have gotten around to reading the book! I’m also reading “I’ll be your blue sky” which is solidly ok so far.

  32. Kati says:

    I read Finale by Stephanie Garber which is the final book in her Caraval trilogy. I adored it and gushed lots when she came to town for a book signing a couple of days ago.

    And now I have a book hangover.

  33. Kareni says:

    Crystal, you said, “It reminded me of the line from Rent: “I’m looking for baggage that goes with mine.”” That’s one of my favorite lines from the musical, and I just shared it with someone a couple of days ago. You clearly have good taste in quotes!

  34. Ruth says:

    I’m reading Testosterone Rex, by Cordelia Fine. She’s a psychologist who is dubious, to say the least, about scientific claims about differences between male and female brains. So far, really good. It’s got slutty sandpipers! Each chapter begins with a couple of paragraphs of personal narrative that is hilarious.

  35. Crystal F. says:

    Thank you everyone for the Harry Potter comments! Whenever I’ve brought up to friends/family IRL that I might check it out, I’ve gotten no reaction.

    I met another women at the book sale who was in the same section. (I helped her find quite a few of the Narnia books on her list, and we talked a lot about YA. My mother looked at me and said, “Wow, do you WORK here?” I think I missed my calling in life. lol)

    But the other woman said she tried to read HP, but she couldn’t get into it. I thought since the books were dirt cheap it can’t hurt to at least give them a try! (I know ‘some’ things, but I’m pretty much going into it blind.)

  36. SusanH says:

    @CrystslF – I read the Harry Potter books as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed them. I would say, though, that the first two are much less interesting to an adult than the rest of the series. As the characters grow, the tone shifts, and the books become more complex. Also, Rowling improves as a writer.

  37. Holly says:

    I read Lyn Gala – Earth Fathers are Weird – i wasn’t certain about it but since I enjoyed her other books – I dived in and really enjoyed it. I liked how Max and Rock got to know one another and how they worked through translating language.

    I’m trying to read The Bride Test – I absolutely loved The Kissing Quotient but I’m having a difficult time with it (@25% in). I’m reading all these reviews that love it and I’m just not there yet. Maybe when I finish reading it – it will come together but right now I don’t appreciate the mother’s or My’s actions. I do like Khai so maybe the romance will work for me eventually as I read further Happy though – that I have it from the library vice buying for now.
    I read Lucy Lennox – Wilde Love – a great book and traces Doc and Grandpas love from Vietnam to now. I thought it was realistically done and now I want to re-read all the Marian and Wilde books.

    I listened to all four Ann Aguirre’s Asa Numina series via audible in the last two weeks . Totally fantastic and I can’t wait until the 5th and 6th books come out.

  38. HeatherS says:

    I am currently reading volume two of “Catwoman by Jim Balent”. I started reading comics as a kid and the 90s Catwoman series (issue 19, to be exact) was one of the earliest books I remember reading. People rant about Balent’s over-the-top sexy art, but they forget that there was a “Bad Girl” trend in comics in the early/mid 90s; buxom, beautiful, scantily-clad women everywhere. His Catwoman is smart, funny, flirty, and playful, fiercely independent, takes no crap from anyone, and is an excellent thief. When she got into scrapes, she’d rescue herself; no Dark Knight needed. To this day, it’s my favorite version of Catwoman and likely always will be (though I have liked what I have read of Joelle Jones’ series).

  39. Taffy says:

    So glad to read this thread, both to learn about great new books like the Jasper Fforde and to find that there are other people as invested in Jaime and Brienne as I am. (Thank goodness for fanfic because I don’t see the show or the books giving us a happy ending on that one.)

    I just read The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I found it gripping and the end was truly intriguing…but then I looked back on the book and realized that there were a bunch of threads that were laid in and never tied off. That would make sense if there was going to be a sequel, but I get the impression it’s a standalone. If it is a standalone then that’s frustrating. However I’d still recommend it to anyone who read The Traitor Baru Cormorant and wanted to throw the book across the room at the end like I did.

    I read the first two books in Kate Clayborn’s “Beginner’s Luck” series and loved them – and I am not generally a fan of this kind of contemporary. They had depth and complexity, and the main character in the first novel helped me understand my mom better. Clayborn makes her characters’friendships as important as the romance, and that’s key for me. I’m not a fan of books where neither romantic interest has friends. Maybe because in my personal life, when I’ve gotten involved with someone that doesn’t have friends it turns out there’s a reason for that. If anyone here has recs for series with strong female friendships I AM HERE FOR IT.

    Scarlett Peckham’s “The Secrets of Charlotte Street” also immediately captivated me. Some aspects of the ending of the second one require serious suspension of disbelief if you’re familiar with social mores of the time, but I enjoyed the rest of the story so much that I was willing to go with it.

    I read Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach. I liked it but didn’t love it; I wanted more complexity to the characters. But the plot is intriguing and I’ll probably read the next one.

    In the nonfiction department, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity For Its Own Sake made me feel seen in a lot of sections. However, there was some internal inconsistency; the early parts of the book decry the way the world pushes everyone to make money off their hobby rather than just enjoying the process, but the latter parts felt more like they were meant to show you how to achieve more business success with your creative pursuits. Also, there’s a huge gap in success between his male examples (David Bowie, Peter Diamandis) and his female examples (none of whom were anywhere near that level). He admitted that in early edits of his books he’d betrayed and unconscious sexism by not including women or people of color as examples, but the ones he did choose also betrayed his unconscious bias. If you’re including Bowie as an example of creative reinvention, why not Madonna? Or Beyonce!

  40. Amanda says:

    @Taffy: There is going to be a sequel to The Poppy War! It’s called The Dragon Republic and comes out in August.

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