Whew, buddy! It’s March. Is Spring springing where you are?
Let’s talk books!
Carrie: I’m finishing Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews. It’s beloved by many but I’m feeling kinda cranky about it.
Shana: I’m reading at sloth speed lately, so I think I’m reading the same books as last month. I did start a new audiobook, Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price. It’s already challenging my deeply held assumptions and I’m only on chapter 1.
I think Sneezy was reading it last month. How did it land for you?
Sneezy: I’m still working my way through. So far it still feels like putting on ointment on skin so dry it’s bleeding. As in, good, it’s obviously good, but also WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU FOR YOU TO CALL ME OUT LIKE THIS????
Sarah: So much of that book has hung out in my brain. I love how much Dr. Price’s writing carefully unravels SO MUCH of what I’ve never questioned about productivity and laziness.
I am reading Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom, a nonfiction study of anthropodermic bibliopegy, aka “books bound in human skin.” Several commenters, including Heather C and Claudia (The Other One) have mentioned this book, and WOW, it is seriously interesting. I am also about to start The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells, ( A | BN | K | AB ) book 3 in the Raksura series. I think Moon is a winged, clawed, sarcastic and clever proto-Murderbot, and I love the worldbuilding and the emotional uncertainty of the entire series.
Elyse: I’m reading The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Claudia: I’m in the middle of the mother of all reading slumps.
Tara: I’m going to do the rude thing where I talk about a book that isn’t out yet, but at least it’s out by the end of the month? I’m reading Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell. I’m only a third of the way through, but if you like the idea of an f/f romance with fat rep, knitting, friends with benefits, and a truly nonjudgemental dive into abortion vs opting to complete a pregnancy, this is the book for you!
In audio, I’m listening to Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It was recommended to me by a good friend since my 9 year old is fully into her “I’M A TWEEN YOU, YOU KNOW” self. Some of it doesn’t apply yet, but I’m already finding it helpful.
Catherine: I am reading and rereading Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher. ( A | BN | K | AB ) Haven’t been able to get into anything else for a while, but this one I got to the end and then flipped straight back to the beginning and started again. It is absolutely delightful – the romance itself is very sweet and fluffy, the characters are very down to earth and funny, and the fantasy plot and setting are thought provoking, and funny, and horrific, and sometimes tragic.
Also, the consent in this one is fantastic, even if it does make for a slow burn that is verging on taunting the reader. Gotta love a hero who is a really big guy and who is aware that being a really big guy makes him kind of intimidating and so he has to be very careful that the woman he is with doesn’t feel like she can’t say know.
Such a lovely, lovely book. Despite all the severed heads.
Susan: I am mainlining Jeannie Lin’s Lotus Palace Mysteries right now, which are centred on a courtesan and her family in Tang Dynasty China. I’m in the middle of The Jade Temptress and I don’t know if I’m internally screaming more about the mystery or the romance.
I keep circling back to how this stoic, plain-spoken constable describes Mingyu as “beautiful as a goddess.” Out loud. With his face. To potential suspects. And then I have to shriek a little bit.
What are you reading? Let us know!
Just finished listening to Jojo Moyes’ Giver of Stars. It was sooooo good. Couldn’t wait to keep listening and hated for it to end. Fabulous characterization, and amazing plot about the mounted librarians of Appalachia. A female bonding book. If you like the stories celebrating female friendship, you’ll love this. TW- domestic violence, racism.
@MaryK — Thanks for the recommendation. I usually prefer the lighter mystery series to the darker/more serious ones, and I had been thinking about trying THE MURDOCH MYSTERIES.
@Crystal, the Perveen Mistry series has been great so far. I am looking forward to the next book.
@Tina, agree, the Jeannie Lin series is wonderful.
@Jennifer Estep – When I was in college, xx years ago, I’d binge watch the original CSI. Nowadays, I can’t deal with shows like that. RL caught up with me at some point.
The episodes of TMM I’ve seen have been from season 10. Hopefully, the tone hasn’t changed since it began.
@ FashionablyEvil: I read “Song of Achilles” a few months ago and totally agree that the second half is better than the first. Patroclus is 9 when the story begins, and I didn’t find him all that interesting. Achilles comes across as an entitled near brat sometimes. But by the end Patroclus has truly become “the greatest of the Myrmidons”. He is the only one not out for gold or glory, the only one who shows any compassion, the hero whose intelligence and insight keep Briseis safe (at least for a time). As for the sacrifice of Iphegenia, that is in Homer, so Miller cannot be blamed for including it. I also recommend Miller’s “Circe”, as she has a very different take on the title character. She definitely has a gift for secondary characters and manages to breathe life into them even if they have only a few pages.
o Jacqueline Woodson, “Red at the Bone”, short and intense, not a romance although there are love stories included. I finished it and immediately read it again, as some things that weren’t clear in the beginning became clearer and more powerful once the stories were continued later in the book.
o Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s “Again” and Ruth Wind’s “In the Midnight Rain”, both older books, both good. Loved “Again”, which is about the actors and show runner in a TV soap opera set in the Regency. It has all the tropes (upstairs/downstairs, gorgeous costumes, etc), and I loved how the actors real lives and fictional characters play against each other.
o Mhairi McFarlane, “If I Never Met You”, a classic fake romance set in a law firm, but I thought she made the H/h more well rounded and sympathetic than most. Also liked that her father’s an ass and she calls him out on it.
o Brittany Bennett, “Any Rogue Will Do”, Regency-set historical. Had some flaws (her father’s an ass but she still obeys him), but I liked the H/h and I was quite fond of some of the dialogue. When Ethan first sees Lottie naked, he takes the Lord’s name in vain. She asks “Do breasts usually trigger blasphemy?”, to which he responds “I’m having a wee bit of a religious experience.”
o Sy Montgomery’s “The Soul of an Octopus”, nonfiction. This, along with the documentary “My Octopus Teacher” means that octopuses are having a bit of a moment.
Since last time ~
— The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette which I quite enjoyed. It was recommended by a commenter and subsequently reviewed on the Dear Author site. I never expected that I’d read and enjoy a book with zombies.
— For my distant book group, Miss Jane: A Novel by Brad Watson. This was a pensive book that reminded me a bit of Where the Crawdads Sing when it focused on the natural world. I found it a quick read.
— enjoyed the contemporary m/m romance, A Full Plate by Kim Fielding.
— After learning that a new Acton and Doyle book had been released. I promptly bought it and began reading; I enjoyed it. Murder in Unsound Mind: Doyle & Acton #13 by Anne Cleeland.
— The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence Book 1) by K. D. Edwards; I quite enjoyed the book and was sorry to see that my library does not own the second book of the planned nonology.
— a book that my daughter has recommended for years, The Thief (The Queen’s Thief Book 1) by Megan Whalen Turner; it was a very good read.
— the science fiction novella, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor; I’m now waiting for the next book in the trilogy to arrive from the library.
— read and enjoyed the contemporary m/m romance, Tough Guy: A Gay Sports Romance (Game Changers Book 3) by Rachel Reid.
— Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell which I enjoyed. I’m curious to see if it is the first in a series. If yes, I’ll happily read on.
— reread The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison; my local book group will be discussing this next week. It was my suggestion to the group, and I will be interested to learn what they think of it.
— plus a host of the 200 plus samples on my Kindle.
just finished The Devil in Her Bed. Loved it!
@Qualisign, sending good wishes for your step-daughter.
Eli Easton’s books are all in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, and I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read. I tried a Bookbub recommendation from Sarina Bowen, Ilsa Madden-Mills’ Dear Ava, which had a good first scene but after that it was all terrible dialogue and annoying characters – DNF with disbelief at all the good reviews. And I just DNF Kristen Callihan’s Make it Sweet at the 18% mark. That far in and I feel like nothing is ever going to happen. But overall I have to say KU is serving me well this year. I cancelled my subscription last May after reading too much dross just because it was ‘free’ but signed up again from January. A deal of 6 months at $6/month (which is more than half price on amazon.com.au) was too good to pass up.
Late to the game for CHASING CASSANDRA by Lisa Kleypas, but enjoying the humor, writing, and his take on novels. ONE NIGHT WITH THE DUKE by Diana Quincy: Woman has a one night affair with what turns out to be a man who is interested in her step daughter. Heroine is South Asian (or part?). Not loving DEVIL IN HER BED by Kerrigan Byrne, loved the first book, but not feeling the feels with book 2 and 3 (this one).
Also in cranky town with MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE–6 part “Mystery” series on PBS. She’s a little too perky Sherlocky with a complicated coiffure that doesn’t ever move while he doesn’t seem to be a very good detective despite being trained by her father. Objectifyingly, he does look like a young Hugh Jackman and has a dreamy Scottish accent.
Echoing the love for
– SWEETHEART
– PALADIN’S STRENGTH
– GENTLE ART OF FORTUNE HUNTING
I thought GENTLEMAN JIM was Matthews doing very Old Skool Heyer and not as good as her previous books.
After the recent review for THE HEIRESS here I read that and THE CLERGYMAN’S WIFE which I thought were excellent and just what I wanted to read.
LAZINESS DOES NOT EXIST was the book I was hoping WHY WE CAN’T SLEEP would be.
Other than that I have been on a Sarina Bowen reread binge.
@LMC, My husband and are were both grumbling about Miss Scarlet and the Duke last night! 🙂 We are only 2 episodes in and we were commenting that neither of them seem terribly bright. Eliza at least has the excuse that she is still very inexperienced and learning on the job, but she doesn’t even have a lot of common sense. It reminds me a lot of shows in the 80s where TV shows would want to have it both ways. The heroine would be be involved in the action plot (they’d progressed that much), but then consistently do stupid things to put herself in danger. And the fact the detective can’t figure out obvious things like “interview the wife of the murder victim” doesn’t speak well for him either.
We’ll probably still keep going with it b/c we’ve already prepaid for our whole season, but I’m trying to downscale my expectations. I was hoping for something fluffy but still with some cleverness to it. Now I’m just going for pure fluff with yes, an attractive man with a Scottish accent. We may enjoy watching it just to mock it.
@oceanjasper – I DNFed the Kristen Callahan too, and it was so disappointing, I usually like/love her stuff!
So, I listened to the audiobook of The Wife in the Attic by Rose Lerner. I think it is a brilliant book, so full of interconnecting themes and subtle language. I wish it hadn’t been marketed as a romance, though, because in my opinion it isn’t one: yes, the heroine ends up with a lover at the end, but that’s because she’s reconciled herself to the fact that there’s no security in life and reaches for something (someone) she wants even though she doesn’t know if she’ll be lastingly happy, and I don’t know either. It IS an excellent and terrifying suspense novel, though, and lingering unease is (in my opinion) very fitting to a suspense novel, where the heroine survives, stronger in some ways but broken and tarnished in others. Deborah Oliver is already under strain at the start of the novel, very alone with her secrets (principally, that she’s Jewish), constantly afraid because of her terror of fire (it’s everywhere in that time period), and very focused on surviving one day after another. So when she’s put under more pressure by being hired as a governess at a home where things are very wrong, the author skillfully cranks up the fear little by little until, just before the climax of the story, my nerves forced me to take a break of several days, and then I listened with my heart absolutely hammering. The effectiveness is due both to the gradual total immersion and to the masterful performance of Elsa Lepecki-Bean. I usually prefer print to audio but I think Lepecki-Bean added a valuable extra dimension here. Maybe The Wife in the Attic hasn’t gotten as much good press as it deserves because it falls between cracks in genre — kind of weird to have a non-romance as part of the Lively St. Lemeston romance series — and because it keeps being talked of as a take on Jane Eyre rather than being evaluated on its own terms. So I’m urging people to give it a listen …
Oh right, I ought to mention what else I read this time. A couple by auto-buy authors. The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting started as a Heyeresque upper-class comedy then veered into sharp class conflict; as usual with K. J. Charles, the themes are explored through a pair of extremely well-drawn main characters who fight their way to a hard-earned unity. Clever, fun, and acute. Then there was the latest T. Kingfisher, Paladin’s Strength, which I’m afraid I liked rather than loved. It has the good worldbuilding and the inventive horrors (how does she keep on coming up with something creepily bizarre I never could have predicted?) but all of her romances have too much the same dynamic — yet again, here, with the endless, non-communicating “I can’t believe he/she really likes me and I shouldn’t impose my unworthy self on him/her.” Finally I’ve been spending the last week reading through umpty years of the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court and, well, it seems like it ought to engage me more than it actually does. The exploration of religion ought to be interesting and the characters ought to be appealing, but … oh well, there’s just no accounting.
I’ve put three books on my wishlist and bought one before I even got the comment field.
I’m currently in the mood for fantasy/fairytale/fae romance so I’m re-reading “An Enchantment of Ravens” by Margaret Rogerson. I loved both “An Enchantment of Ravens” and “Sorcery of Thorns” and Margaret Rogerson has become an auto-buy author for me. Her next book comes out in September and is the start of a dark fantasy duology with some horror (and romance?) elements. I’m very excited but also a bit scared.
I’m also listening to the audio book of “Star Witch” by Helen Harper which is the sequel to “Slouch Witch”. I prefer the romance in this book over the first one but feel a bit meh about the reality TV setting. Also the heroine starts to get on my nerves after a while because of her poor decision making. Still gonna pick up the third book in the series after a break with some other audio books in between.
Once I’m done with these I’ll probably start “A Deal with the Elf King” by Elise Kova and/or “Fireheart Tiger” by Aliette de Bodard.
@Jill Q: Yes, lower expectations help with MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE. It does get a bit better (the intricate coiffure still does not move), although the mysteries themselves could be better constructed. Mock watching a favorite pass time in our house hold!
I’ve been having a lot of trouble sticking with anything because I feel like I’m in a weird spot emotionally right now, and all I want are authors I know and trust. To that end, this month I finished the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews (started off not loving this series but by the end I was wishing there could be more), read book 3 of the Bridgerton series, reread some Lisa Kleypas, and DNF’ed a bunch of other things. I did try one new author and read THE HEIRESS GETS A DUKE by Harper St. George and found it….fine. I get why everyone loves it so much but for me the story just moved way too slowly, I found the parents incredibly frustrating, and felt like if the hero and heroine would have just had one straightforward conversation they could have avoided a lot of the angst. Still I was intrigued by the pairing for the obvious sequel and will probably pick that up. Now I’m reading WOLF GONE WILD. It’s starting off a bit slow but I think I just need to get used to the world-building.
Sigh, my lengthy comment from the prior installment vanished again (it only happens after I’ve submitted a huge one), so I’ll have to remember a bit. Last month Mita Ori’s very sweet BL manga OUR DINING TABLE was a real winner, involving a young guy who (for very specific, rather heartrending reasons) prefers to eat alone until he meets a persistent little boy and the boy’s older brother. The older brother is basically the kid’s guardian much of the time (their mom died, and their kindly father has to work a lot). There are some heavy themes (cw for parental and spousal death, off-camera past fatal car crash and illness, and description of emotional abuse from one adoptive sibling to another), but the slow-burn romance, gorgeous food, and genuinely lovable and non-annoying kid brighten the mood considerably. (It reminds me a bit of the manga SUNSHINE AND LIGHTNING.) I did cry once (not really the mangaka’s fault–the subtlety of the telling made it hit much harder for me for some reason), but was smiling by the end. Chii’s manga memoir THE BRIDE WAS A BOY is also delightful, detailing her journey realizing her trans identity, falling in love, her MTF surgery, planning her wedding, and many other things. I learned a lot (I think many people would, even if a lot of the situations are unique to Japanese law and culture), and while there are a lot of thought-provoking and potentially heavy themes, the truly adorable artwork and cinnamon-roll hero Husband-Kun are a balm for the soul. You root for them so much, so I particularly appreciated the afterword from them both! I finished Ema Toyama’s MANGA DOGS trilogy last night, about a no-nonsense high-school mangaka and the adorably clueless trio of aspiring artist guys who follow her around. It’s a little inside-baseball (especially the last volume), and not exactly the reverse harem you’d expect (a shame, since Specs Delusion felt like my book boyfriend at times, aside from having a nickname worthy of a ’90s indie band), but it’s funny and enjoyable if you don’t mind meta stuff. (I think volume 1, which I liked best, might still be on KU.) About to start Hiroaki Samura’s WAVE, LISTEN TO ME!, looking forward to it. In non-manga news, David Yoon’s book SUPER FAKE LOVE SONG worked better for me when it was just about the band, since the actual romance seemed minimal (it takes a good half of the novel for the plot to move, IMHO, but the music jokes redeeemed a lot). Also reading Doug Brod’s THEY JUST SEEM A LITTLE WEIRD, about KISS, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, and Starz…
Forgot a couple of Etsy zines from last time: Chris Blakeley’s JUST YOUR ORDINARY DEMISEXUAL is a pointedly funny and thoughtful first-person examination/explanation of being demi (especially soothing after my upsetting experiences with Angela Chen’s ACE, I hope Blakeley sends her a copy), done in Legos! I also enjoyed Kori Michele’s very NSFW Yuri on Ice!!! fanfic comics (also available in digital form on itch.io)…
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer: I love the Enola Holmes series (which I discovered as a result of the article on the Enola Holmes Netflix movie here on STBT), and this was a really good penultimate addition. I love the Victorian London that Springer evokes. The sense of place is really, really strong and it appeals A LOT to me. Springer evokes a London not usually encountered in romance, and I find myself devouring the descriptions of East End, and the cabbies, and the newspaper offices, and all the places Enola visits in the course of her investigations. Enola herself is a character to root for. The villains in this series are unlike other books in that while they ARE sinister, the whole set up is very believable—I can see how a super sharp, resourceful 14-year-old can solve these mysteries. The overarching plot of Enola’s relationship with Sherlock gets good momentum in this particular addition to the series. The mystery surrounding her mom continues but by the end you can see that Sherlock, thanks to some nudging from Florence Nightingale (yes, she’s a prominent character in this one too!) is re-thinking his relationship with his exasperating sister. These are short reads and I highly recommend them to lovers of historical mysteries.
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews: Eh. The whole book was one big meh. The heroine made me extremely impatient. I generally don’t mind reading about young adults bursting with all the talent and power and figuring their way about but for some reason the heroine in this one just made me want to read about not-so-young females bursting with power, and trying to do their household chores, while having patience with their kids, and doing all the things that need to be done while still making the time to nurture their talent and power and do something with it too. Please note that the heroine in this book is struggling to make ends meet and she is responsible for her two young brothers but. . . it just didn’t have enough meat for me to sink my teeth into. None of the characters were well developed for me. I think I’ll just wait for the next Hidden Legacy book. Or maybe try the Kate Daniels books some time.
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks: This. Now THIS is everything I want in my fantasy and it has things I didn’t even know I want. For starters, the protagonists across the spectrum are non-binary female characters. All of which is taken as a matter of course. This such a quiet, thoughtful, and hopeful series. This is a country at rebellion against invaders who encroached on their land 35 years ago, and yet there are no battlefields in this book. Instead, the actions take place inside kitchens, garrisons, and even inside a courtesan’s house. There are no easy answers either. Both the invaders, and the invaded, are shown in all their rich naked glory—the good, and the (sometimes very) bad. There are four books in this series. I think the first one came out in early 2000s, and the last came out in 2019. Everything about these books (the writing, the philosophy, the characters, the place) just sucks me in (in a good way), and I need to clear my brain and my reading palate completely before I contemplate reading the third in the series!
Hester Waring’s Marriage by Paula Marshall: Ugh. I fondly remember a book I read in late 1990s (just when I was starting out with romance!) that I THINK was by Paula Marshall (I might have to send it as a HABO!). Anyway, the synopsis looked interesting, so I started reading this. The first half sort of managed to hold my interest but. . . by the 50% mark, the things I’d managed to overlook became too glaring and jarring. The hero was. . . he was just way too prescient regarding what was good for the heroine. He was more of a benevolent overlord than a partner. You could argue that the end result of all his grooming of the heroine does result in a character who’s his equal but there was no growth of any sort in/for the hero. The setting is late 19th century Australia but really you could substitute Sydney with any other late 19th century metropolis. There’s no sense of place. The villain is too over-the-top. All in all, it’s like there’s a skeleton but no flesh or bones inside. This is such a good example of a bad category book.
I was lucky to get an arc of India Holton’s The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, which is due for release in June, and it has exceeded my expectations. Swoony romance, witty use of figurative language along the lines of The Princess Bride, and a madcap adventure plot. It is so much fun!
I want to clarify my remark about the Laurie J. Mark book. The characters are not non-binary, they’re more along the gay/lesbian spectrum. Just wanted to make that clear in case anyone goes in expecting non-binary genders and gets disappointed!
Yay, the hearts are back! Thank you.
I was an election worker Tuesday for a city election that has a notoriously low voter turnout, even more so this year because of early voting and mail in ballots. We were told to bring books because we’re not allowed to have electronics. It was a quality reading day. I read CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER based on the recommendation of SBTB and it was a swashbuckling delight. I adored it! I also devoured Ms. Bev Jenkins’ latest, WILD RAIN with a cinnamon roll hero to die for, and a heroine who’s not willing to settle for less than a full measure of love and respect. Absolutely fabulous! It’s amazing how much reading time one can get in when there’s no internet or phones.[g]
Aagh, SWEETNESS AND LIGHTNING is the name of that other manga (very sweet story of a single dad, his foodie tot, and a culinary student)…sorry.