It’s our last Whatcha Reading of this year! It’s kind of bittersweet, but let’s be honest…I think we’re all ready for this year to be over.
Thank you all so much for being part of this great, romance-loving community! Here’s to better things in 2021.
Carrie: I just (as in, an hour ago) finished the riveting and harrowing non-fiction Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Claudia: My hold on The Hidden Moon ( A ) finally arrived! Enjoyable so far.
Catherine: I hosted Christmas for my in-laws yesterday*, and I drastically overcatered, as is my wont, so right now I’m browsing Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ( A | BN | K | AB ) and deciding exactly which recipe I want to use for my leftover turkey. The turkey and fruitmince tagine is appealing to me pretty strongly right now. (The rest of our leftovers – and there are masses, the turkey was a very tiny proportion of what I made – I already have plans for.)
On the fiction side, I’ve just finished Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which was adorable and fun and also such a relief because I was very worried about how the family stuff would go, but it was actually perfect.
*I’m in Melbourne, Australia, where we have had zero active cases for the last 50 days, and the gathering was six people including me and my husband, with all the windows open – we are staying very safe, I promise!
Shana: I started and abandoned several books after Clap When You Land gave me a book hangover. Currently settling into How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole.
Sarah: I’m currently charging through the Psy Changeling series, and reading Tangle of Need. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) By the time this goes up on the site I’ll probably be at Allegiance of Honor, or into the next arc of the series. As Aarya and I were discussing via email, early 00s PNR heroes were…something.
Elyse: I’m going to crawl in bed with Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane
Tara: Since I am done work for the year, I decided to treat myself by finally diving into the Murderbot series for the first time. I’m about a third of the way through the first book and I am already in love.
Sarah: Oh my gosh, Tara, I am so so delighted that you get to experience it for the first time!!!!
Tara: Me too! It feels like the perfect gift to myself for surviving this trashfire of a year!
Sarah: YES.
Maya: Ahhhhhh you are gonna have such a great time, Tara!!!!!!!!
Ellen: Currently reading Entreat Me by Grace Draven and liking it a lot! Fantasy romance with beauty and the beast/taming of the shrew elements. I’m also reading (and loving) the manga Devils’ Line, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a drama/romance about vampires secretly living in modern Tokyo and trying to live normal lives.
Which books are you trying to finish in 2020?
I loved Well Met by Jen DeLuca. The Renaissance Faire setting was all new to me, so it was a fun and new setting for a cozy romance. I loved the beta-hero Simon and I really liked Emily who messed Simon’s very strict rules about the Faire. Lovely, funny and little toe-tingly hot at times.
I bought Road Tripped by Nicole Archer after it was talked about in some post here some time ago. The book is funny, sweet, FUNNY and real. Both the characters are multi dimentional and have a whole lotta baggage from their past. She more than him. About half way through though I wanted to scream from frustration as neither of the main characters seemed to understand how to USE THEIR WORDS! People, don’t leave your sentences unfinished, which leads to unnecessary missinterpretations. I also wanted the heroine to be less like me, as in that she overanalyzed and complicated matters through lengthy inner monologues, constantly sabotaging the relationship. I wanted to scream ”don’t be an idiot like meeee!” while reading the last half of the book.
After that I read the next book in the series, Head tripped and the protagonist Effie, was the twin of Road Tripped’s Callie. She gave me major manic-pixie-dream-girl vibes and I wanted to throttle her about 70 % Of the book. In the afterwords the author did talk about that Effie might have mild case of Aspergers, which manifests differently with women. Effie also suffered from the same talking-about-stuff-constipation as her sister in he last book and I wanted to scream from frustation after every page since she joined the the H’s band. It really dampened my enjoyment of the book. Too much angst for this world we are living in.
I tried to listen Stephanie Fournet’s Kind of Cursed, which was okay. I liked the narrators and the plot was fine, but I had to quit when the protagonist was half passed out from flu AND WENT TO WORK, insisting that she ”wasn’t sick”. Stupid woman, stop playing a martyr. She was a wealthy Vet, so it wasn’t a life and death situation that she had to go to work in order to make a living. This kind of thing pissed me off in real life and in books even before Covid. Stop spreading your nasty flu and STAY HOME!
I read Mess With Me by Nicole Helm. It was OK. Reclusive outdoor guide and woman who recently moved to the area and works at the outdoor guide’s company connect. There’s a lot of family interference and the hero is so reclusive and jerky that I found it hard to believe in their romance. I’m not sure I’ll keep going with the series.
I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee. I don’t normally like first person POV, but this was worth it. A self-described fat girl enters a competition to be a K-pop star.
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee. A murder mystery set during the Raj period in Indian. Another first person POV that’s worth it. The hero is a jaded British WWI vet. The setting is excellent and the mystery is good. Some content warnings as there’s lots of racist views towards Indians described in the book. This is probably an accurate depiction of the views of British colonial administrators, but is hard to read.
One And Only by Jenny Holiday. Organised, responsible heroine has to babysit the hero as part of her bridesmaid duties. It’s a lot of fun, and I liked the chemistry between the MCs. The ending was a little ridiculous because this is someone’s wedding! Not sure if I’ll continue in the series.
I got When No One Is Watching and A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong as Kindle deals and am looking forward to them!
Honestly mostly Vera Stanhope mysteries by Ann Cleeves. And by lots of, I mean I’m close to finishing the series after only starting a month ago. I love the series b/c everyone is flawed but it’s not too dark and depressing. There is some fat shaming in the series both by Vera (who is fat and has got issues but I think it’s presented as part of her, not all of her) and by other people but I don’t think it’s ever done in a way to be cruel or make anyone the target of a cheap joke. YMMV, obviously.
I’m also enjoying The Mystery Men series by Elly Griffiths. Two men who worked together in WWII in one of the tactical deception units (think inflatable tanks and spreading rumors to confuse the enemy). One is a professional magician, the other is a police officer and they just have a nice feel for the setting (Brighton) and the time (starting in 1950).
Other than that lots of fanfic and cookie recipes.
I”m slightly worried this year has broken my romance brain b/c nothing sounds good to me right now. Maybe almost strangers mashing their faces together doesn’t sound appealing? 😉
But mysteries are my other big love besides romance and I’ve learned not to force myself to read anything when I’m not in the mood. Sometimes these things come and go. One of the things I’ve decided to do for the New Year is actually wipe out my library holds and start over fresh January 1st. I know that probably sounds weird to a lot of people, but I belong to three different libraries and have maxed out all my digital holds. That’s many, many books. Lots of times when I finally get my hold, I wonder ‘what is this?’ ‘why did I put this on hold?’ ‘do I even have any time to read it?’ I can always postpone a hold (return it and put myself back on the list), but I feel like that’s just delaying the inevitable question, ‘do I even really want to read this?’
I don’t do a lot of New Year’s Resolutions but a fresh start in 2021 sounds appealing.
My internet has been out since 9 a.m. ET yesterday, and I did not get an estimate from the company when I last called yesterday, so I’ll keep this one short!
Romance:
MANGOS & MISTLETOE by Adriana Herrera: enjoyed a lot, the food & setting were fun, I felt like one heroine had more of an emotional arc than the other & I prefer some balance. B+
SONG OF BLOOD & STONE by L. Penelope: turns out I read the 2015 version, which got expanded later (2019?) so I guess I’ll be reading that version in order to continue the series—I am intrigued! I’ll pay more attention to ISBNs and less to covers in the library system next time.
PLAYING HOUSE by Ruby Lang: this was cute and I enjoyed the urban planner talk, as well as Oliver being a more unusual hero for not feeling super secure in his life & career stage. B
Non-Romance:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED by Anne Carson: beautiful and moving and deliberately confusing in places, so I’ll be reading through again before my partner & I discuss. (Not like I can watch “Bridgerton” on Netflix as planned!) A-
SNOW COUNTRY by Kawabata Yasunari: some expected period sexism, and some of the most beautiful descriptions of landscape I’ve ever read. B+
HENCH by Natalie Zina Wilschots: great exploration of who gets considered human enough/important enough to protect & unintended consequences, though I wished we’d gotten more insight into other characters’ thoughts in places. B+
ARTIFICIAL CONDITION: Murderbot!!!!!! B+ for plot but A in my heart for bot friendship.
Currently reading:
BARRACOON: THE STORY OF THE LAST “BLACK CARGO” by Zora Neale Hurston (on audio): the intro has some really great discussion of the history of Hurston’s work (which was only published in 2018, though it was completed in the 1930s), and I’m enjoying how she relays her own presence during the interviews, rather than trying to pretend like she wasn’t an invisible observer? I’m sure I’ll be crying soon though.
WHY WOMEN HAVE BETTER SEX UNDER SOCIALISM: AND OTHER ARGUMENTS FOR ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE by Kristen R. Ghodsee: exploration of how social policies implemented in the Eastern Bloc during the USSR, as well as how some of the Scandinavian countries today, have supported the people bearing children and expected to bear the burden of raising them. Ghodsee is more balanced in her analysis of some of these policies and their effects—she’s not calling for a return to state socialism but rather finding the lessons from recent history to improve economic outcomes for (primarily) women in the US under late capitalism. Really fired up by the section on motherhood & parental leave & job guarantees during parental leave & universal childcare!
After reading through SBTB’s favorite reads of 2020, I glommed Bitterburn (Ann Aguirre) yesterday on Christmas evening. I loved it, especially because 1) the b & b were equally responsible for their own (both singular and joint) rescue/deliverance/salvation, 2) their goal was never to become powerful, rich, or beautiful benevolent rich folk (shudder), and 3) the beast didn’t change his appearance and the beauty could have cared less. What a fabulous read.
Some really good stuff of late for me, including my first book hangover since the quarantimes began, which I consider a major win.
MAN VS. DURIAN–Jackie Lau is consistently reliable for me–I like her characters, how they interact with their friends and family, and how the relationships develop. There is also always tasty tasty food and hot hot sex. (Seriously, why do more romance novels not make more use of sex toys and masturbation?)
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES-I am not sure what I expected this book to be but it definitely wasn’t what I expected and yet it still ended up being the first book hangover I’ve had since, oh, January 2020. I grabbed it because my library had it categorized as romance in its ebooks and I remembered Sarah J. Maas from an SBTB podcast. It started off as what I thought was going to be a straight up retelling of Beauty and the Beast (maybe as an MMF version; alas no) and the first half is, but then it goes in a very different direction. And I was very uncertain about how I felt about that but now that I’ve finished second book (A COURT OF MIST AND FURY) and am waiting on the library for the third, am very glad that Maas changed tacks and I love the characters. Definitely on my best of 2020 list.
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT THE DUKE—I did not like the first book in this series, but am glad I stuck around for the second one. It’s got a Taming of the Shrew angle, but more importantly I feel like Ashmont is getting a better deal this time. (The premise of the first book is that his fiancée ditches him on their wedding day to marry his best friend.) He and Cassandra are a sharp pair and bring out the best in each other which is definitely my catnip.
Next up is the first Murderbot and then I think my hold for SPOILER ALERT is about to come in.
Hope everyone’s 2021 is better than 2020!
Happy Boxing Day! Around here all the shop are forbidden to open because of Covid… and it’s kind of a relief, honestly! I don’t feel the pressure to not miss a good deal this year 😉 . We can just stay home, play cards and zoom with family. Very relaxing.
As for my reading list, it’s once again full of Christmas~
Since The Bad Guy ticked a lot of right boxes for me, I got CHRISTMAS TREATS by Celia Aaron to try, a collection of 4 stories.
– It started really bad with “Christmas Candy”. Petty heroine, with over-the-top animosity against the shop accross from hers. She acts as if a candy shop is a drug den. She also volunteers at the senior citizen center and we’re served lots of offensive cliches for anyone over 65. Add unprotected sex on top of that and you get a perfect sundae of awful. Hate-finished the story.
– “A Cowboy For Christmas”. I was so burned by the first story, I started this one with the firm idea of throwing this book away if the first pages gave me a bad feeling. Luckily, it was better done. I live in a city, and I always find stories about farming chores busily exotic. I also liked the MCs dynamic – he’s grumpy, she teases him and he gets grumpier because he takes it seriously, then does a 180 when he realizes Some Things. They also have a 10 years difference and they were neighbors before she left at 15 but there was NO backstory of crushes or attraction 🙂 That was refreshing. The rustler twist also kept the story hopping. My caveat: once again, the question of protection *frowns at irresponsible behavior*
– “A Stepbrother For Christmas”. It starts with a trigger warning for dubious consent, and unprotected sex is the least of the transgression in this one. It definitely falls more on the side of dark romance. This story has the seesawing between light and dark that I liked in The Bad Guy. My favorite story.
– “Christmas Cake”, in which a recluse germ-phobic rich hero falls at 1st sight for the mary sue heroine. It’s a kinda Undercover Scrooge vs Angel of Christmas story. There’s some very good groveling and good-sounding christmas cakes. I also like the heroine’s friends.
Would I recommend this? If it’s still at 1.50$, definitely. The heroes are all overwhelmingly head over heels for the heroines and it’s something I dig. Celia Aaron’s writing is not tight though, and she sometimes has ludicrous characterization. I think her style shines better when she plays with dark romance themes. Her “regular” stories go from okay to downright awful.
Then THE TROUBLE WITH MISTLETOE by Jill Shalvis. It. made. me. so. mad. Once the high school incident is explained and forgiven one third in, there’s no conflict left. They are so obviously head over heels for each other, why oh why do they both agonize over how they’re only in it short term? The mental gymnastics that kept them mentally apart for more than 100 pages makes me seriously doubt their HEA. I’m sure one of them will wake up on New Year’s Day and decide that nope, the other h will fail this relationship for sure, and pull the plug before the other can. I also felt like screaming every time the overbearing friends forcefully pushing into everyone’s business (boundaries!!!). And seeing another pair of friends – a set up for a later book – occupying the exact same denial zone was another irritant. What did I like in this book? By the time I dragged myself to the end, NOTHING. But *deep breath* It was my first Shalvis, I have three other loaded on my ereader, if the characters are a better fit I should enjoy them because, okay, it had many cute factors and the way the story was told was well-done… even if I hated it.
I chose the next read based on SBTB’s recommendation (who? I should write down commenter’s pseudos along with author/titles on my tbr, to give thanks where its due. I think this one was DiscoDollyDeb?), I got Kati Wilde’s 3 Xmas books collection. The first was SECRET SANTA. GREAT BOOK. Sex heavy with great characters and a good story. He’s an alpha-like hero with the “She’s mine” mentality, but he goes about it in all the right ways, ie: thinking of her first. The part where he’s “Beauty and the Beast-ing” her (the heroine’s words) in particular resonated with me 🙂
ALL HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS has a rude hero (directiveness always go in my + column), also decisive about who he wants. The heroine is tearing free of emotionally abusive parents, she’s also decisive and taking her life into her own hands. They are so good for each other and the sexual tension in this book… phew. There was also a plot point I thought would uselessly explode on their face for the angsty moment before the end, but no, the author dodged the cliche, and the “moment” rather came from an unexpected direction. I enjoyed the heck out of this book.
The third story was also good. Think powerful billionaire and marriage of convenience, except she’s the powerful billionaire and you get THE WEDDING NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. She’s also neuro atypical and the way she structures her environment to take it into account is pure competence porn, and I loved her relationship with her assistants. With all her employees really. It was, however, the book I liked the less of the 3, I think because of the accumulated miscommunications. Also, in the middle of this book it’s as if a switch suddenly flipped and all of a sudden I became fed up with all the sex. (This might be on me, that “switch” thing happens often when I read too much of the same thing in a row.) I must say though, the villains get their comeuppance and they go on to suffer, yeah.
Right after that I unknowingly started a book with the same type of heroine, except a lot less well-adjusted and the mood was completely different. LIMITS by Susie Tate. Both the hero and heroine are doctors (the author is a GP in Dorset so the medical talk is credible); she has crippling societal anxiety and he’s a charming darling. He needs her to get a spot at a conference and that’s why he starts orbiting her, but then… ah, then, he gets interested, of course. At first I wasn’t sure I’d like them together. His less-than-stellar human reactions left me doubtful about his hero-worthiness. But he somehow managed to gather enough brownie points during the book that I didn’t begrudge him his happy ending. Ultimately (and sneakily – I didn’t realize I’d become so engaged in the story until I found myself at 1 AM on a work night blubbering at the climax) the book got me in the feels and despite the use of plot moppet, geriatric moppet and extra-extrovert new friend (gosh, she sounds exhausting), I’m definitely looking up other books by this author. The first chapter of the next book (with the exhausting extra-extrovert as heroine) managed to be hilarious while tackling on HIV positive subject.
Then, AT THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING anthology. All new authors to me. The setting is a christmas party at a duchy seat, and the 3 stories take place during the same week, with all characters appearing in all stories… It confirmed don’t like this gimmick. Unequal writers makes some characters caricatures of themselves. The Caroline Linden story was good, DNF the Maya Rodale one and the Katharine Ashe was okay.
Between all those, there were two non-Christmas book: first, THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher, written after she came accross the diaries she wrote while filming Star Wars at 19. (NB: to me, the original Star Wars are Christmas movies bcs I first watched them during the Christmas season. I have a clear image of Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing on TV, right next to the Christmas tree… It felt very natural to pick Princess Diarist for the holidays.) In this memoir, she looks back at what seemed to have consumed all of her at the time: her affair with Harrison Ford (that surprised me! Was it a known fact?). It seems to have been a typical sweet/sad story despite being ICKY as heck, but hey, the 70s. I think it’s the Warren Beatty pic that grossed me out and maybe tainted the rest of the book. Anyway, 19 years old girls with 35 years old men were the perfect set in romance back then and Fisher does a great job of being rueful and indulgent to her teenage self. She also go out of her way not to scratch Harrison Ford too deeply and you get out of there being relieved (if you’re an Harrison Ford fan) that he wasn’t too much of a cad. But what about Star Wars? Well, no one on the set was thinking they were making much of a movie so her diaries seemed to have a whole lot of nothing to say about it. The last part of the book touches on how Princess Leia overshadowed the next 40 years of her life and this was my favorite part. Carrie Fisher had a funny, self deprecating, rambling style that manages to show how much a blessing and a weight Leia was, all the while turning the ridiculous into touching moments.
And finally, the gem of this month: LOVE LETTERING by Kate Clayborn. The beginning was tough; I had to adjust to the way the heroine saw the world (first person POV, and her voice was hard to grasp). Also the first interactions between the heroine and the hero were awkward and awful and I thought Great, a book where half of the couple is a cypher. But then the story unfurled and it went beautifully- thoughtful and real, and uncertain because that’s how life is. Everything in this story clicked, from the setting to the friendships to the love to the denouement. I loved it!
Happy holidays everyone! Stay safe!
@Jill Q: I love Elly Griffiths! Have you read her Ruth Galloway series and Stranger Diaries? They’re good too.
My reading:
Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken: Extreme (yet rollicking!) violence and lots of banter. A fun read. You need to read Blacksmith Queen first.
A Lady Compromised by Darcie Wilde: Latest in the Rosalind Thorne series, and does a good job of advancing it and heading in some new directions.
Death comes to Bath and Death comes to the Nursery by Catherine Lloyd: Latest 2 in the Robert and Lucy Kurland series and enjoyable. I like that the characters are very much of their time, but nice people. Not saints, but nice people. I also love Penelope, who is Just Awful.
Peace Talks by Jim Butcher: Current penultimate Harry Dresden and I’m eyeing Battleground nervously.
I’m getting ready to pick up Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman from the library.
I’m hoping to start MAKING UP by Lucy Parker. I also have some James Bond, Captain America, Kylo Ren, and Sharon Carter comics to read.
I got a white Christmas this year, which was awesome. I’m also going to binge out BRIDGERTON this weekend — after I put away all my decorations and put my house back in some semblance of order. LOL.
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Cheers! 🙂
Read of the week was definitely T Kingfisher’s A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. It’s not Christmas-y but the gingerbread and the warm heartedness makes me think I may make this a holiday reread. Loved the refrain on how if other people had done their jobs the main character wouldn’t have needed to be a hero.
This sent me down a T Kingfisher rabbit hole again so I also read Swordheart (wonderful, heroine is explicitly child free which I know is a trope some folks keep an eye out for, and I love how it played with fantasy tropes), Minor Mage (all familiars should be armadillos) and I’m starting The Seventh Bride too.
I hope everyone had a safe & happy holiday season. I got caught up in the busyness of this time of year and only read a handful of books during the last couple of weeks.
SILVER LINING is the third and final book in Skye Warren’s Diamond trilogy. Because the trilogy tells one overarching story—about a writer of YA fantasy who inadvertently gets involved in a blood diamonds smuggling operation because of her connection to a veteran and a shadowy military operation—SILVER LINING cannot be read as a stand-alone but must be read after DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH and GOLD MINE. Throughout much of SILVER LINING, the h&h are forced to remain in hiding at a safe location, so the story’s focus occasionally shifts to the heroine’s sister and her love interest—a man who was a villain in the earlier two books (Warren is always good at depicting ambiguous men who can be either villainous heroes or heroic villains). Everything Warren writes has dark aspects, ranging from ice-cube silver to pitch black; I’d place the Diamond trilogy at about a charcoal-gray level: there’s dub-con & D/s sex, flashbacks to the hero’s abusive childhood, blood & bullets flying, plus the hero is tortured (in scenes I found it best to skip) by men more villainous than he is. Warren is definitely an acquired taste—I like her dark romantic suspense, but ymmv.
Eliot Grayson’s THE ONE DECENT THING is an m/m romance between Aiden, an ex-con, and Sebastian, the guy he used to bully in high school. This is NOT a “bully romance”—it takes place years after high school and the reason Aiden went to prison is because he was trying to protect Sebastian; however, Sebastian’s horrible, homophobic parents manipulated the situation to ensure Aiden was convicted of kidnapping (that set-up didn’t seem entirely plausible to me, but I’m glad I stayed with the story). After Aiden completes his sentence and is released, he has nowhere to go—until Sebastian (driven by guilt over his parents’ underhanded behavior) insists Aiden move in with him. The two men, self-described “gay nerd” Sebastian, who suffers from anxiety & panic attacks (for which he takes medication and visits a therapist), and hulking Aiden—who has a kinder heart than his appearance suggests—must adjust to each other’s personalities and pasts. Gradually, they grow closer, until their relationship becomes sexual. In a way, THE ONE DECENT THING reminded me of A.E. Via’s m/m ex-con romance WOOD, in that both books are just as much about an ex-con adjusting to life after prison as they are about the slowly-developing relationship between two men, one of whom has always identified as straight. Recommended—especially if you like emotional slow burns.
I read Emma Alcott’s m/m romance, DURING THE FLIGHT, after it was mentioned in the last WAYR. I enjoyed the story of Warren (a paramedic) and Chris (an army veteran, now working as a dispatcher) who share a complicated high school history—even a decade later, each man blames the other for troubles & humiliations he suffered back then, and each has a completely different perspective on what exactly happened. However, I did think Alcott struggled to find the right tone for the story and veered jarringly between the slapstick comedy of Warren’s clutzsy roommate, the “awwww” moments involving Chris’s young, cookie-loving son, the serious discussions about Chris’s ex-wife & the reasons behind their divorce, and the hot, rough, “consensual non-consent” hate-fucking between the heroes. Plus, you didn’t think that a book featuring a paramedic hero would omit scenes where the paramedic fights to save a loved one’s life, did you? Although I do have to deduct points for condom-less sex with no prior discussion of health status, I recommend DURING THE FLIGHT, but be prepared for some abrupt transitions in tone as you read. (As an aside, I think an interesting thesis in Contemporary Studies could be written about how “the straight heroine’s gay male best friend” in m/f romances has evolved into “the gay hero’s straight female best friend” in m/m romances and how both characters serve the same sort of Greek Chorus/“Check Yourself” function.)
[CW/TW: death of a child] Sybil Bartel’s HEARTLESS is the ninth in her Alpha Bodyguards series and is very much of the “Bartel template”: a former Marine, now working for an elite security service in Miami, is assigned to be the bodyguard for a world-famous singer—who just happens to be the woman who broke his heart a decade ago and is now connected in some way to the hero’s identical twin brother. Part of the book also involves the introduction of another security service which will be the focus of a new series Bartel has planned for 2021. I thought HEARTLESS was a good example of the Alpha Bodyguards series, but it was next-to-impossible for me to be objective about it when I read on the dedication & acknowledgments pages that Bartel’s 15-year-old son had passed away this year from an undiagnosed heart condition. I couldn’t quite focus on the book itself, but kept thinking about Bartel having experienced every parent’s worst nightmare and still finding the strength to continue preparing her book for publication. I admire her perseverance in the face of such devastation—and, like all mothers, I pray with all my heart I’m never in her position. It just feels like one of those times when virtual hugs and on-line condolences simply aren’t enough.
A couple of highlights from the last month or so of reading:
THE SWITCH by Beth O’Leary – This is an absolute gem of a book, not specifically a romance but definitely romance adjacent. I really didn’t think the author could top THE FLATSHARE, but she did. I have recent personal experience with a major theme of the book, which was how to move on after the death of a sibling, and sure enough, the book hit my raw spots, but overall, the author has such a light touch with heavy subjects that you are able to both laugh and cry and finish the book making happy book noises.
SPOILER ALERT by Olivia Dade – I loved pretty much everything about the book. My only issue was that I don’t read fanfic, so sometimes the acronyms and vocabulary used in the book were pretty impenetrable to me.
DIRTY LETTERS by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward – Once again, I was surprised by an unexpectedly deep and poignant love story by these authors. Both this book and HATES NOTES, which I previously read, are being marketed as fun and flirty which is a real disservice to them. This one had a heroine who became agoraphobic after a tragedy, and who reconnects with her childhood pen pal, now a rock star. I loved that by the end of the book, although she was taking baby steps forward, she hadn’t been magically cured by lurve and the hero did his best throughout to support her and give her what she needed to feel safe.
MAISIE’S LIST by Beth Warstadt – I picked this up on a whim and it turned out to be a lovely little romance. It was written from the POV of the hero, a busy veterinarian and single dad, who is still deeply grieving the loss of his wife a year before. It turns out she left him 4 letters, each with a suggestion of a woman he should date. He pushes past his immediate rejection of the idea and slowly starts to move on. The dynamics between him, his kids, and his potential dates seemed quite realistic. There were some bittersweet moments, but also a lot of hope for the future.
MAGICAL MIDLIFE DATING and MAGICAL MIDLIFE INVASION by KF Breene – Books 2 & 3 in the author’s LEVELING UP series. This series is part of the Paranormal Women’s Fiction group, all of which feature heroines in their 40’s stumbling into or rediscovering various paranormal worlds. My biggest niggle with all of the books written by various authors in this group is that they sometimes dwell overmuch on bad divorces, aches and pains, and a few extra pounds and wrinkles, but I’m so enjoying the fact that I can finally find paranormal books featuring older heroines that I’m easily able to overlook that. Also, they are not romances although there’s usually a hint of a potential love interest.
The Lord of Stariel – thank you Ellen for the review! It was a perfect escape.
Jackie Lau – His Grumpy Childhood Friend. I’m about halfway in, these two are the cutest! and she’s the grumpy introvert one! squee!!
the above prompted a rewatch of Always Be My Maybe on Netflix, and a Chinese takeout order.
non-romance / middle grade:
Tis the season for giving books to the young ones, and occasionally (re)reading them myself.
Catwings by Ursula LeGuin – just wonderful
Diana, Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale – graphic novel, a tween Wonder Woman coming of age story, very good
I’m having such a great reading moment.
Finished Emily Guendelsberger’s On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane. Not sure how I missed this heir to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America when it first came out. Kind of disheartening in that I don’t see a clear exit strategy for the situation, but gave me so much to think about.
Then I finished Natalie Zina Walschots’s Hench, which was also so, so good. Supers and spreadsheets and actual consequences.
Now I’m reading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time, which has been on my TBR forever for no good reason, and it’s just wonderful so far. Tchaikovsky knows his “bugs,” and it’s a fascinating future.
I am choosing to believe that a Magic Book Switch has been flipped, and everything I read from now on will be amazing.
I re-read Silver in the Road by Laura Ann Gilman which I enjoyed again because I found the second book back in my TBR. I then read that book, The Cold Eye. I liked it, too, though it is somewhat different. Both of these are fantasy set in what is called west, the Devil’s West, though I would call it the mid-west, in the early 1800s. This is where magic occurs. The Spanish to the west and the new United States to the east are both looking at The Territory as a place to expand.The shine is wearing off our protagonists in the second book. Our heroine has been on the road long enough to be dusty and worn and, while gaining knowledge and experience, is loosing innocence and is showing some burnout. Our hero has secrets we are becoming aware of and is conflicted. I expect I will buy the next book soon.
I read The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. The writing was good and the characters sounded intriguing. But several chapters in, I realized that I had read this story in other books. Details had changed but not enough. I did finish it but was not as impressed as I had hoped.
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand (thanks, Bitches for the rec) was a great Christmas read. It was a charming and fun take on Dicken’s Christmas Carol and light enough that I could read on breaks or while waiting for labs, etc. Our heroine has The Visit and does not change her ways, ending up dying and becoming The Ghost of Christmas Past. Fun.
Your Heart Only by Elizabeth Grace had some catnip – secret baby, marriage of convenience. It has a strong woman lead and an alpha male lead. And a evil ex husband. Fun.
I also re-read Catching Fire by Nora Roberts as a comfort re-read. Very competent fire jumping heroine who outranks the hero who loves that about her. The secondary romance is cute. And it’s set in Missoula where I lived and worked for five years. I have been to that ice cream shop.
I am reading a bunch of books at the moment. Mostly trying to complete some series that I really loved at the beginning and now reading the last books feels more like a chore. I am maybe 1/3 of the way into FOREVERMORE the last book in the darkest London series, it is supposed to tie up a lot of loose ends in the series, but I have to make myself read 2 or 3 chapters and then treat myself to another book. I also am reading OF SILK AND STEAM the last book in the London Steampunk series. It is less work than FOREVERMORE, but neither of the characters are catching me and I just keep getting bored with it.
I have also started THE ROSIE EFFECT, the second book in the Don Tillman series. So far it is well written and I love seeing the world through Don’s eyes, he is very much on the spectrum and it is delightful.
There are a few other sci-fy romances I am working on as well. My attention span is not great, I am having some anxiety issues about work and the pandemic and you know the usual 2020 BS. I love the escapism of SCI FY, but I want some sexy times and an HEA so any recs are greatly appreciated. I did start the BRIDGERTON’s on Netflix, I confess I only read a few of the books in the series it never quite worked for me, but the show so far is entertaining. I have to say seeing how young Daphne looks in comparison to her suiters and knowing that age difference is appropriate is a little shocking.
Have a safe and healthy New Year and let’s hope 2021 will be better than this year!
@Hot in AZ – In SFR, I recently discovered Carol van Natta. So far I’ve read a novella and am halfway through a novel and have really enjoyed them.
SET MY HEART TO FIVE by Simon Stephenson turned out to be my favorite book this year. I was so … happy … when I finished, something that didn’t seem remotely possible in 2020. My new comfort read.
I was late to the party, but BOYFRIEND MATERIAL by Alexis Hall was everything you all said it was. Luc was such a mess, I wanted to shake him and say, “For god’s sake, take my Zoloft.” I enjoyed every word and how much hard work he and Oliver had to embrace ultimately. Luc’s friends and co-workers–all of it was pitch perfect. A new keeper.
I’ve read a lot of holiday romances this year…so far, Lily Morton’s MERRY MEASURE (m/m slow-burn friends-to-lovers involving cute klutz pining for his older brother’s best friend) is my runaway favorite, with RJ Scott’s CUPCAKES AND CHRISTMAS (m/m with a bake-off TV show setting, both elements done well) a close second. Still have a few to finish…
I was pleasantly surprised by an ARC of Robbie Couch’s THE SKY BLUES, which takes the hackneyed “small-town gay outcast crushes on unattainable straight popular guy” beginning into refreshing twists. In spite of the many heavy elements (CW for off-page past car crash resulting in parental death and character injury/scarring, emotional abandonment/abuse by toxic fundamentalist family members, parental neglect, homophobia, xenophobia, hate speech, mention of conversion camps), it’s a rollicking read thanks to the great friendships and support Sky has, and the welcome subversion of (most) cliches. I’m sure many parents will find some on-page underage drinking and pot use (mostly by minor characters) a dealbreaker, but that would be a shame. I think it’ll be a big hit.
Need to finally read MAN VS. DURIAN…the DEVIL’S LINE blurb made me fantasize about a WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS manga adaptation (movie or TV series, I’m not picky!)…
Happy Holidays, Smart Bitches! Your excellent recommendations continue to sustain me through this crazy, sad year. Not to mention the shared humor and thoughtful sensitivity of this community. Not much reading this last few weeks, but I will have lots to share (thanks to you all and some time off) next time.
Hope you are all staying safe and that books are keeping you sane!
@MirandaB, I tried the Ruth Galloway mysteries before and could not get into them, but I will probably try again. I’m going through books very quickly now, which feels good after a summer of books dragging.
@arijo re: Jill Shalvis
I’ve enjoyed many of her books, plus she’s one funny blogger and an all-around relatable person! But I will say she often uses meddling friends (and family members, but mainly friends) and that doesn’t work so well for me these days. I’ve also noticed the comments on food and weight more (things like eating sweets when upset and worrying about weight), which bothers me now even though it didn’t years ago. I still enjoy Shalvis’s writing, but with a few caveats as my own thinking has changed.
I finished THE LORD of STARIEL yesterday after finding out about it here. It’s a very enjoyable low-angst read with a little romance and great characters. I’m planning to read the next in the series.
I’m currently listening to A TRICK OF FATE by Stella Riley. It’s an offshoot of her Rockliffe series staring the brother of Arabella, one of the heroines from CADENZA, book 6 of that series.
I’ve also recently finished TAKE A HINT, CHLOE BROWN (audio), which was good, not great. THIS SIDE OF MURDER (Verity Kent 1) by Anna Lee Huber (good), RULE BREAKER and DEAL MAKER by Lily Morton (both very good!)
A DUKE IN SHINING ARMOR and TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT THE DUKE, both by Loretta Chase were both very good, TEN THINGS being the better of the two. They are narrated by Kate Reading and she’s amazing!
Currently reading BLIND FURY (Men of Steele 1) by Gwen Hernandez. Too early to know what I think about it.
I have Harrow the Ninth from the library and I feel so guilty that I can’t bring myself to pick it up.
@Carrie, I did the audio for Hidden Valley Road. It was very interesting. But the thing I keep bringing up to people is that random mention that one of the schizophrenia research projects was shut down by the Pfizer company? (of covid vaccine fame?)
Ive read a couple romances, but none that really stand out. But in non-romance I LOVED both Mexican Gothic (Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations (Mira Jacob)
I’ve hardly read anything in months. I feel like rounding out the year with (yet another) comfort re-read of “The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up”, at most, so that’s probably what will happen. If “Red, White, & Royal Blue” was a manga, I’d probably have read that to pieces this year, too. An actual book with full-page text feels like too much of a commitment for my brain to handle.
I also read LORD of STARIEL based on the SB review, love it and immediately read PRINCE of SECRETS and am starting COURT of MORTALS,I love them!
ALso COPPER HEART by Sarah Painter, again a young woman unexpectedly rises to become head of a magical family, one of four magic families in London .
THE SWITCH was recommended so highly I stuck with it even though it seemed too cute to bear at first, and was glad I did, but I would warn other readers that it might take awhile to warm up to.
I finished “The Deadly Hours”, an anthology which follows a watch which is cursed through the centuries. The first novella, by Susanna Kearsley, was set in the 18th century and it was excellent. The 2 novellas set in the 19th century were meh, but I recommend reading them anyway because the stories tie together a bit. And then the last one, set during WWII, by C.S. Harris, was again excellent.
I snapped up “Blue Christmas” by Emma Jameson, which was free on Kindle(and still is last time I looked). It’s the 6th in a British police procedural series with romantic subplot. There is a big(BIG) age gap and class gap between the MCs, he is her boss and a Lord, which is the exact same setup as the Anne Cleeland Doyle & Acton series, but the resemblance is only superficial. Anyhoo, I have the first 5, but never got past #3, plus it had been a couple years since I read them, so now I am rereading them all from the beginning. And this is why my TBR never gets smaller. The first one, “Ice Blue” is also free on Kindle right now, so if you like books set in Scotland Yard, give it a try.
Since last time ~
— Spooky Business (The Spectral Files Book 3) by S.E. Harmon. This is the third book in a series which needs to be read in order. While I enjoyed revisiting the main characters, the storyline was a tad eerie for my taste and kept me awake!
— Secret Santa by Kati Wilde was an enjoyable contemporary erotic romance.
— Marked by Death (Necromancer Book 1) by Kaje Harper. I enjoyed this paranormal romance featuring two men; I look forward to reading the sequel. It is currently FREE for Kindle readers.
— Secret Light by Z.A. Maxfield: I enjoyed this historical male/male romance set in California in the mid 1950s.
— the story “Boyfriend” by Sarina Bowen which is in the anthology ‘Tis the Season for Romance by multiple authors. It was a pleasant read but not my favorite by the author.
— A Royal Affair: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery by Allison Montclair which I quite enjoyed. It’s the second in a series that is best read in order. Book three will be published in June, and I look forward to reading it.
— enjoyed First Impressions (Auckland Med Book 1) by Jay Hogan; this is a contemporary romance featuring two men.
— the science fiction/space opera Second Chance Angel (The Last Stop Station Series Book 1) by Griffin Barber and Kacey Ezell. This was recommended by favorite author SK Dunstall, so I had high hopes. While I enjoyed it and will happily read on in the series, it’s not an immediate favorite like the Linesman books.
— enjoyed the short romance To Touch the Light: An Irons and Works Holiday Novel by E.M. Lindsey which has a Hanukkah focus and features a trans character.
Wishing a happy new year to you all!
There were really few new books I enjoyed this year (although I went through Bec McMaster’s entire backlist, which was fun/entertaining/hot) but the game changer book for me (pun intended) was HEATED RIVALRY by Rachel Reid – which, I know, is a year late. I think Cat Sebastian recommended this like all year on Twitter and I was like ugh who cares about hockey, or sports. And I rarely read contemporaries, AND I don’t read a lot of m/m except for KJ Charles. But damn. This. Book. I started reading it last week, and then I became obsessed and couldn’t put it down. It’s just… one of the best books I’ve ever read? I like really good writing and banter, so my faves are usually Sherry Thomas, Loretta Chase and KJ Charles. And this book had it all! It was so hot, so funny, so sweet, a little bit angsty and so much mutual pining. People may complain that it’s a lot of sex but each scene adds so much to character development and the MCs relationship. Anyway I’m in love and I’ve literally reread it twice and opened it everyday to find a scene I remember since then, I don’t have a healthy relationship with this book lol. But it’s so perfect. So yes, that’s my 2020 recommendation for those who are late to the party like I am 🙂 (Honestly, this is already such a long post, I have so much more to say, I could write like a three part review about this book)
About two weeks or less until Baby #2 (a girl!) is due – I am uncomfortable and hot basically all the time, but reading is a great way to relax.
Excellent:
None
Very Good:
Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt – the first in the Andy Carpenter series of legal dramas, I really enjoyed the story of a theatrical lawyer trying to get a wrongful conviction overturned. My dad is a retired lawyer so I am quite sure that a lot of the MC’s courtroom antics and some of the details are not accurate, but I found it a great read just the same. I plan to continue the series although I am frustrated that book #2 is basically impossible to find in print – new or used, so I may have to go to the eBook version which will drive me crazy when I look at my bookshelf.
Good:
Blame it on Christmas by Janice Maynard – a Harlequin Desire holiday romance featuring friends to antagonists to lovers trope AND best friend’s little sister trope. I thought the heroine held a grudge for way too long over the hero turning her down to go to a high school dance years ago and the emotional development later in the story seemed rushed, BUT I did think the secondary characters added a lot to the main story development and liked the description of Charleston, SC. CW for extensive family mental health struggles for the heroine’s family members including murder/suicide and institutionalization.
Meh:
The Christmas Company by Alys Murray: Published by Hallmark, this is exactly the plot and characters you would expect to find in a Hallmark Christmas movie – a picturesque small town, a plucky heroine, and a grumpy Scrooge-hero out to ruin the town’s Christmas spirit. Some of the details though really didn’t make any sense – there is a whole company with multiple full time employees which puts on a small town Christmas festival and they have work to do year round? The company is referred to as an event planning company but they only seem to do this one event? Would the hero really come into town one day before Christmas Eve to shut everything down – wouldn’t it make more sense from a business prospective to make whatever money you could from that holiday since everything is already done and then close the company on the 26th? Where did all of the out-of-towners that flocked to the town for the festival disappear to? Didn’t they deserve refunds on their tickets? Why didn’t anyone (especially the hero) think about turning the company into a non-profit? There were a lot of similar details that kept pulling me out of the story. But it was a cute, gentle, and cozy story, so it wasn’t all bad.
Christmas in the King’s Bed by Caitlin Crews: In this Harlequin Presents, the King of a small Mediterranean island country is blackmailed into marrying a tabloid magnate’s daughter. The heroine has her own reasons for agreeing to the arrangement – to protect her sister from their father BUT this plot setup caused a lot of problems for me – these sisters were both adults and the heroine made a lot of money. It was never explained how the father could exert so much control over the sister – why couldn’t they just leave and make a life somewhere else? Even if that wasn’t a realistic alternative, the heroine seemed willfully ignorant of other options open to her – even refusing to ask the hero for help or even tell him what she was doing despite him proving that he was honorable. That being said, I enjoyed the Christmas setting and the emotional development of both the MCs.
The Bad:
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker: The second in the Bruno, Chief of Police, mystery series, set in small-town modern France, I had high hopes for this after reading the first book in the series with my mystery bookclub. Alas, the mystery in this one was so terrible and the resolution so stupid that I felt like I had wasted my time. At this point, I am not planning to continue the series.
I had a goal to finish everything I had started before the end of the year, but it won’t happen.
Currently reading Wolfish Charms by Jenna Collett. This is the second book in the Ever Dark, Ever Deadly series. They are romantic mysteries based in a fairy tale land. I found the first one to be very entertaining and so far I’m enjoying this one too.
I did finish Tin by Candace Robinson and Amber Duell. It was rather meh. Dorothy goes back to Oz and meets up with her old friends, but they aren’t the same people she left. It is a rather short read, about 200 pages. I normally don’t care about the use of bad words since I drop numerous f bombs daily, but the usage in the book didn’t fit with the story very well and it kept jarring me out of what was supposed to be a good time. The romance kinda sucked too.
Actually looking back, I hated this book.
@Vicki: I LOVE Silver on the Road! There’s an e-novella after the main series about Gabriel that you’ll want to pick up. These are planned January re-reads for me.
I just read Silk and Steel, an anthology about f/f romances between fighters and princesses. It was just as lovely as it sounds! A few of the stories didn’t work for me but most did, and it’s going on my comfort reading shelf.
@GradStudentEscapist: HEATED RIVALRY was my favorite book of 2019 and I’ve reread it multiple times since then. I love that it takes place over the course of a decade and how Reid handles the passage of time and the evolution of Shane & Ilya’s relationship in various subtle ways (for example, how Ilya’s English improves over the course of the story). I’ve liked the other books in Reid’s Game Changer series (GAME CHANGER, TOUGH GUY, and COMMON GOAL), but I don’t think any of them are even remotely close to HEATED RIVALRY. Also, if you’re looking for other m/m hockey romances, I loved Taylor Fitzpatrick’s THROWN OFF THE ICE (although it doesn’t have an HEA, so technically not a romance, but definitely a love story) and COMING IN FIRST PLACE (which is the first book of a trilogy, so not sure if she’ll break my heart and not give us an HEA again, but it has some elements in common with HEATED RIVALRY, including two players on rival teams who have been competing with each other since their junior league days).
@Katie C: Hope all goes well with Baby #2’s arrival!!
I zipped through (mostly on audio) and really enjoyed several books this past month. I finally got to Sherry Thomas’ MURDER ON COLD STREET, and the general consensus that it was terrific is spot on. A holiday bonus: it takes place during the week of Christmas, and there are prolonged and agonizing (for me, at least, who was insanely jealous) descriptions of Bouche Noël (French Christmas log cake).
I also got to two sequels I had been looking forward to: THE HEIR AFFAIR by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (sequel to The Royal We) and the one I’m currently reading/listening to : MAJESTY by Katharine McGee (sequel to American Royals). Obviously a similar theme, but I’ve found them both very rewarding. My daughter hated The Heir Affair, so obviously, tastes differ, but I found the honest introspection worthy.
I also loved THE HAPPY EVER PLAYLIST by Abby Jimenez. I liked her first book, but this one was even better, and I’m happy to see there will be a third coming out this spring.
I read HER NIGHT WITH THE DUKE by Diana Quincy for a book club and was not blown away. She’s written several books, but I found her style amateurish at times, and the “conflict” (I have an abiding hatred of contrived conflict) was just sort of resolved without any real resolution.
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig was intriguing, but not, imho, as good as some of his other works.
and finally, I stuck with BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN by Diane Chamberlain, even though I was severely tempted to abandon ship early on. It’s a difficult story, and some of the back and forths (it takes place in two timelines – 1940 and 2018) were just too fast and furious, but in the end, I was very glad I finished it. Her stories are always convoluted but almost always have a satisfactory conclusion that makes everything tie together – it’s just sometimes the journey is a bit of a slog. I’d advise hanging in if anyone ever hesitates as I did.
Happy New Year to the magnificent bitchery: May 2021 be a kinder, gentler year for all of us.
The whole of the South East has been slapped under a lockdown order. So most of the time since the last WAYR has been spent worrying, not exactly conductive for reading. Combine that with Christmas and suppliers being held up at the port, I’ve read very little. It isn’t over as I fear more restrictions will be announced on Wednesday. I just hope they manage to keep my daughter’s preschool open. With the parks being too muddy and no garden it’s hard to keep a three year old busy with these conditions.
I’ve just been given a kindle with a backlight so I can read in the dark though so I’m hoping I can start enjoying reading again soon.
@Carrie G. Thanks for the heads up on Jill Shalvis! I think my next book by her should go better, because my expectations won’t be as high. I hate expectations, I often feel they ruin too many books for me. I started Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall this morning and so far I’m not enjoying it that much… I keep thinking I’d maybe like it fine if I hadn’t been so hyped up about it…
@Margaret: I think you mean Bûche de Noël 😉 You just bumped Lady Sherlock up by tbr list! We are on a Xmas log streak around here, we already made 3 in the last 2 weeks. I feel we finally hit a perfect mix of the right sponge cake recipe combined with the right butter cream recipe.
…Oh no! I looked it up and Murder on Cold Street is book 5, and I only have book 1 in my library T__T I guess I’ll watch youtube videos of Xmas log recipes instead… or maybe Boyfriend Material will manage to take my mind off it all 🙂
To quote one of my favored 90s bands, it’s been a long December, but there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last one. God, we all hope so, right?
Let’s see, pretty sure I left off on The Awakening, which, by the time it ended, while I enjoyed the fairytale structure of it, read in some places like a retread of her Three Sisters Island books. Also, I felt like the hero was something of an ass in several places, and the grovel was insufficient. That said, it ended on what was actually a really effective cliffhanger. I’ll read the next one, because I’d like to see how THAT plays out. Then I fired up A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, which was a very clever little work for all of us Forensic Files/Cold Case Files/Investigation Discovery nerds out there. It’s a smart, driven student that, as her senior project, decides to straight up solve a murder, or at least exonerate the man she doesn’t think did it. I really liked the structure of every chapter ending with her notes and transcripts, because I like listening to murder podcasts and that shit is like crack to me. I occasionally wanted to slap the main character, as she gets more reckless throughout the book (“you’re gonna die, kid!”) and as a warning to future readers, there is an off-page animal death. After that, I nose-dived into A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins, which was basically Regency Murderinos. It would have these cozy bits, and then MURDER. Once done with that, I quickly (as in like in an hour) read The Last Kids On Earth by Max Brallier. It was a very quick little MG zombie joint, and I loved the Monster Pet, but really didn’t care for the main character. I decided to keep going on monsters and read The Vampires Never Get Old short story anthology. I think that my favorite stories were the ones by Samira Ahmed and Julie Murphy. It was very YMMV, as some stories were better than others. Once done there, I read Snapped by Alexa Martin, which was a very sensitively done romance between two people that have to work through significant miscommunication and misconceptions about each other before being a couple that could work. It also did a really good job of exploring the players kneeling in the NFL, why they do it, and how people respond to it. Which brings us to now, in which I literally just finished Work Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner, by Dr. Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell. It was riveting. There are some truly hideous ways to die, my dudes, and she got into all of the gory (very gory) details. The most harrowing chapter, honestly, was the chapter that dealt with her work after the 9/11 attacks. I haven’t figured out what I’m reading next, because oh, hey, about to watch me some Bridgerton. Until next time, folks, let’s get to the other side of this year together. Air high-fives all around.
I finally finished The Tale of Genji! Huzzah! It was…A Lot, and I actually wonder if there are better translations out there because the edition I had (I think translated in the 40s) felt very old and stilted and…I suppose, imposing very WASPy Western morals and values on the story, particularly in the footnotes. I’d be somewhat interested to see a different translation, but on the other hand, thats 1300 pages of a challenge I will not ever touch again. I did quite like the parts where Murasaki kind of broke the fourth wall with her prose, but they were few and far between.
I am currently about thirty pages from finishing The Silence of Bones by June Hur, which is GREAT, but my ereader keeps dying and it makes me want to scream.
All in all, I finished almost exactly half of the books this year as I did last year. Here’s hopping for a brighter 2021.