We’re getting to close out October and that means it’s time for our second Whatcha Reading of the month! It’s tattoo day for me and I’m bringing a book. Will I be able to concentrate? We’re going to find out.
Now let’s talk about what we’ve been reading!
Carrie: My current bathroom book is Metazoa by Peter Godfrey-Smith ( A | BN | K | AB ). I also just finished Volume One of Something is Killing the Children ( A | BN | K ) which was WHOOOAAAA overwhelming and addictive.
Lara: I finally read The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan and it gave me so many feelings! All of them excellent!
Catherine: Ooh, I loved that book! Must give it a reread! I have just finished The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller ( A | BN | K ) and a) it is haunting and beautiful and sweet and b) I now want to go to Paris, but since I always want to go to Paris that may not be Ms. Biller’s fault.
And I am a third of the way into Boyfriend by Sarina Bowen, and it is just making me smile goofily like a goofy thing and it’s adorable.
Elyse: I just started Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart ( A | BN | K ) but I’m only two chapters in so I don’t have any opinions yet.
EllenM: I’m reading Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) but I might DNF. It’s about a Victorian lady undertaker which is sooooo soo interesting and cool but there’s a significant B plot about the Civil War (like, the US Civil War) which is just…SOOOO boring and random compared to the undertaker stuff. Like I just wanted to read about corpse preparation in Victorian London, why is an irrelevant John Adams descendent here talking about blockade running??
Shana: I’m still reading Office Hours by Katrina Jackson. It’s my hot professor happy place.
Sneezy: I’m reading Dancing for Stalin by Christina Ezrahi
I started it a while ago, ran away because I got scared, but now I’m dead inside and want to read about how a ballerina went through shit and come out brilliant and undiminished on the other side
I don’t know much about ballet so I don’t entirely understand what Nina Anisimova means to the ballet community, but so far she sounds like an irrepressible woman who was able to thrive after intense trauma. I’m hoping my lily livered ass can get through the book in one go.
What are you currently reading? Let us know!
Reading is still going slowly, but I loved BRYONY AND ROSES by Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher. Beauty and the Beast, but now Beauty is Bryony, a pragmatic merchant’s daughter who has fallen on hard times. She loves to garden and the gardening details were one of my favorite things. There were also some good twists to the story.
Finished “A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking” and enjoyed that.
DNF “Magic for Liars” on audio.
DNF “Fool Me Twice” on audio
Finished “The Devil You Know” and enjoyed it more than I did the first book in the Mercenary Librarian series.
The blue alien books by Ruby Dixon are all on audio through my library. Each book has a waitlist but I finished book 6 this month.
Currently listening to “Dear Girls” by Ali Wong on audio.
I also just finished “The Devil You Know,” and liked it better than the first one! I then immediately googled to see when the third one will be out, and it’s not until August of 2022. I *know* better than to start a series that only has a couple books published. Along with all the “new this week” lists, I wish someone did a “It’s now safe to read this series” list of series whose final book gets published.
Part I
Anna Martin’s m/m duet, THE IMPOSSIBLE BOY and THE LOST BOY (published in 2017 & 2020, respectively), caught me by surprise. I was well into the second book when I realized these gentle, low-key books were going to make my list of favorite books read in 2021. The duet tells a deeply-moving story about love, relationships, friendships, success, second-chances, mental health issues, addiction, relapses, and recovery. The story, which covers five years in the on-then-off-then-on-again relationship between pan-sexual musician Ben and gender-fluid fashion journalist Stan, is full of the messiness of life and the joy of finding a special connection with another person. THE IMPOSSIBLE BOY focuses on the developing relationship between Ben and Stan. The couple meet when Ben serves Stan (newly-arrived in London after a stint at Italian Vogue) at the bar where Ben works. Stan falls in with Ben and his group of musician friends as they struggle to achieve fame while living and working in central London. The story parallels the gradual breakthrough of Ben’s band with Stan’s ongoing recovery from anorexia (cw/tw: disordered eating, hospitalization for malnutrition). The book also looks at gender-fluidity and how Stan defines himself. He says, “Gay men don’t like me because I look like a girl. Straight men don’t like me because I’m physically male.” One of the lovely things about Ben is how he loves Stan for everything he is. THE LOST BOY takes place five years after THE IMPOSSIBLE BOY. This time the focus is on Ben’s drug addictions—which arose in the wake of the huge success of Ben’s band (cw/tw: drug abuse, relapses). Ben and Stan have long since broken up, but when the other members of the band prevail upon Stan to reconnect with Ben and stage an intervention of sorts, the relationship sparks to life once more, as Ben (like Stan did in the previous book) has to learn how to handle his issues in a healthy way. In addition to being a touching love story, THE IMPOSSIBLE BOY & THE LOST BOY are extremely London-centric. I loved the geographic realism of the books: you can literally follow the path of characters as they go from Camden to Belsize Park to Hamstead to Primrose Hill and every bus stop and tube station between. A completely unexpected gem. Highly recommended.
There are a lot of tropes (grumpy-sunshine/age-gap/professor-student) in Nicky James’s m/m THE ENDLESS ROAD TO SUNSHINE, but the story doesn’t feel “tropey” because of how individualized James makes the characters; and also because of the propulsive plot involving the older MC having been married for many years to a serial killer (cw/tw: the book contains descriptions of the murders; they are not overly detailed, but we do learn how the victims were killed). 43-year-old Jason begins the book coping (not very well) with depression and guilt from the discovery that, over the course of 20 years, his husband murdered a number of men who had (in the husband’s mind) showed too much interest in Jason. Even from prison, Jason’s husband is still manipulating him and making him feel responsible for the murders. As Jason says, “I could not seem to absolve myself of the sins of my husband.” James does a good job of showing how someone can be married to a monster and not have a clue, and how crushing the guilt of not knowing what was happening can be. Under an assumed name, Jason takes a job as a history professor at a university far from his home. Within a few weeks, as his downward spiral continues, Jason becomes involved with one of his students, 25-year-old Skylar. Initially, I was irritated by Skylar; I found him exhausting with his incessant chatter, nonstop movement, and over-the-top insta-love declarations. He describes himself as “frustrating and overwhelming,” and he’s not wrong; but eventually his kindness, care, and honesty grew on me as he slowly becomes the ally, friend, and lover Jason needs. However, the transgressive nature of their relationship, along with the constant threat that Jason’s past could be exposed at any moment, keeps the two men on a very unbalanced footing. As the story continues, James ratchets up the tension by introducing characters that the distraught and reeling Jason fails to recognize as potentially dangerous. A real page-turner with strong suspense elements. Highly recommended.
C. M. Nascosta’s MORNING GLORY MILKING FARM has one of the most unusual premises I’ve encountered in a while: in a world surprisingly like our own (young people with student debt struggle to get a foothold in the job market, working minimum-wage jobs and living in cramped apartments in crowded cities, while anxious parents request they return to their small-town homes) and yet completely different (elves, goblins, orcs, moth-people, vampires, other mythic creatures, and humans all co-exist), Violet, a human female just out of grad school and drowning in student-loan debt, takes a good-paying job at a pharmaceutical company where her job is to “milk” male minotaurs to extract their semen which is then used as an ingredient in human ED medication. I know, I know…just go with it. While on the job, Violet makes a connection with one of the minotaurs, a businessman (business minotaur?) named Roarke, and a relationship develops. Nascosta is undoubtedly writing for a niche market (an important element of the book is that the non-humans are not shifters, they do not adopt a human form at any point, and this leads to some interesting acrobatics where sex is concerned), but her world-building is excellent (Nascosta does a great job of communicating whole cultural/social elements with just a few lines of exchanged dialog); and her satire of a pharmaceutical industry that essentially masquerades and sanitizes sex work in order to extract a key ingredient for ED pills is spot-on (at one point the hero wears a t-shirt he received from the company for reaching a certain “milking” tier level). I also loved Violet’s best friend, a female vampire who explains to her what is going on in plain sight in Cambric Creek: how it’s only the human females who want to “experiment” with non-humans, not the human males (I guess they’re too busy taking their minotaur-infused ED pills!). It’s not for all tastes, but if you’re ok with the premise, I recommend MORNING GLORY MILKING FARM as an amusing satire and a nice romance.
Part II
Cara Dee’s Enemies duet (A NEW ENEMY & I’M NOT YOUR ENEMY) is set in Dee’s fictional town of Camassia Cove, Washington, and is an antagonists-to-lovers m/m romance where the antagonism is based on two elements: one of the heroes is deeply closeted and believes he cannot come out, and both of the heroes feel proprietary toward a young boy with Down Syndrome (the child of the closeted hero’s sister—a woman who happens to be the other hero’s best friend). Sebastian, the out hero, has an endless source of compassion and caring for those around him—his best friend and her mentally-challenged son, the kids he helps daily at a center for at-risk youth, his rescue dogs and cat—what he does not have is any compassion and self-care for himself. He only allows himself hook-ups and immediately shuts down if a sexual connection with another man appears to be moving in a serious romantic direction. Closeted Blake is almost 40 and tells Sebastian that it “would devastate my mama” if he were to come out, so he’s been living a shadow life for 25 years—anonymous hook-ups far away from the Georgia horse ranch he shares with his parents. The two men are obviously perfect for each other, but they keep getting in each other’s way on the road to an HEA. Key quote: “Every relationship began because the previous ones failed.” While there is some conflict between the two men, the Enemies duet feels more like a “slice of life” than one of Dee’s angstier romances. With two older heroes who love their animals (cw/tw: a beloved older dog with an aggressive form of cancer has to be euthanized); a loving and realistic portrayal of a young person with Down Syndrome; and an assemblage of biological and found family, A NEW ENEMY & I’M NOT YOUR ENEMY are definitely worth reading. Recommended.
Ruth Cardello’s HE SAID NEVER is the next book in her Lost Corisis series about a billionaire who discovers he has several half-siblings and his subsequent attempts (sometimes a bit ham-handedly and not always successfully) to bring them into the family fold. HE SAID NEVER features a fake relationship between one of the newly-discovered sisters and a man who has vowed never to marry but must present a potential love interest in order to reclaim his place in his father’s company. As the heroine says of the hero, “We both wanted to have sex. I just wanted it to matter.” HE SAID NEVER is a pleasant romance but the relationship between h&h is almost overshadowed by the heroine’s attempts to make her billionaire half-brother understand boundaries and let her live her own life. I like Cardello’s laid-back style and the emphasis on family (blood and found). Recommended.
CD Reiss’s MAFIA QUEEN is third and final book in her DiLustro Arrangement trilogy about a young Italian-American woman forced into an arranged marriage with an Italian mafia don. I can always rely on Reiss to bring an immersive and unsentimental take to her subject matter and her arranged-mafia-marriage trilogy is no different: while the heroine does eventually fall in love with her husband, she remains angry that the she had no choice in the matter of who she married and she’s determined to end the practice of arranged marriages (or, as the heroine puts it, “men selling their daughters”). MAFIA QUEEN has a twisty plot (including discoveries about the heroine’s late parents) and is quite violent (cw/tw: neither hero nor heroine escape unscathed from intense brutality)—and it cannot be read as a standalone but must be read after MAFIA BRIDE and MAFIA KING. I would not recommend these books as a first introduction to Reiss, but if you’re already familiar with Reiss’s style, the entire DiLustro Arrangement is certainly worth reading.
I’m continuing my stroll through Claire Kingsley’s back-catalog and this month I read a couple more of her older titles, FINDING IVY (published in 2018) and HIS HEART (published in 2017). FINDING IVY is a gentle love story with a backdrop of suspense and a touch of the paranormal: a man who has no memory of his past is convinced he has to protect the heroine from an unknown danger—and the two fall in love as they try to discover more about the hero’s background and determine the source of the danger. HIS HEART is super-angsty and rather dark for Kingsley. The book also made an interesting contrast to Jennifer Hartmann’s more recent THE WRONG HEART (which I read and liked a few months ago) in that they both involve heroines who make contact with the recipients of their late loved ones’ transplanted hearts. Kingsley’s story is more straightforward than Hartmann’s, with more focus on the heroine’s recovery from grief and the effects of (cw/tw) growing up with an abusive, alcoholic mother. I recommend both FINDING IVY and HIS HEART.
I read a life changing book this weekend, THE HEART PRINCIPLE by Helen Hoang (of THE KISS QUOTIENT and THE BRIDE TEST). Since she is an autobuy for so many, I won’t even give a synopsis of the book but I will say that the author’s note at the end was, for me, as important as the rest of the book. In a serendipitous move, WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER by Sarah Hendrickx came in after a couple of month’s hold at the library the day before I read THE KISS QUOTIENT. TKQ was so poignant and realistic and tough (tw: death of a parent, judgmental relatives, panic, etc.) and lovely. And I finally got answers to questions of my entire life as someone on the spectrum. I loved that the HEA unfolded over several years, as they do, and that no one person or event made the world perfect. So grateful for this book. But do read the struggles that Helen Hoang had in writing the book. It is one of the best author’s notes I’ve ever read.
Janet Elizabeth Henderson. Her book, Lingerie Wars, was free, and although I didn’t care for the hero’s attitude, by the time I decided I should DNF, the plot and other characters held me tight and led me directly to the next in this Scottish Highlands series. And the next… She writes such an interesting mix of realistic problems for her characters to overcome, leavened with unexpected but appropriate humor. Seven books later, I segued into her Benson Security series, which I’m thinking of as romantic suspense “lite”. These are ensemble books, and as I’ve gone along it’s been surprising that the people I expected to become couples, haven’t. I read her first Sinclair Sisters book last year, was waiting for Scribd to get past “coming soon” for the second in the series and then got distracted so very pleased that Lingerie Wars popped up.
I got my Tessas confused (Bailey and Dare) and accidentally started reading Tessa Bailey’s Too Hot to Handle late one night. I meant to preview, because I had only read Dare’s Regencies, and wondered what her contemporaries would be like. It was with the greatest of effort that I pried myself away from the book in time to actually function the next day – – which is when I realized that I had my authors confused. What fortuitous confusion though, as each title in Tessa Bailey’s series Romancing the Clarksons was great.
I’m looking forward to reading WELL MATCHED by Jen DeLuca. The renaissance faire setting in this series is really fun. I’m also looking forward to reading some holiday romances, like DUKE, ACTUALLY by Jenny Holiday and the TINSEL AND TATAS anthology.
I also picked up some DUNE comics a while back. I’ve never read any of the DUNE books, but the comics look interesting, and I want to check out the new movie.
Binge reading the Xian Soldiers series by Regine Abel and planning to read Wildfire Phoenix by Zoe Chant while staying at my parents (it’s a school holiday next week and holidays over here are extortionate!). Had to DNF The Afterlife of Alice Watkins, the premise was promising but the 3rd person omnipresent narrative was jarring and made the pace slow. Then it was revealed that this future society (500 years from now) effectively excludes POC and LGBTQ people who are sterilised and live in reservations (!!!). Also there is no disabilities, which as someone who is on the spectrum could not read beyond that point. Sorry, I just don’t think the book is for me.
I’m a bit sceptical about the new Dune film. I tried to read the book twice but didn’t get past Paul’s father being assassinated. The 80’s film I haven’t watched but I hear it’s crazysauce and not the good sort either.
Finally Nanowrimo is nearly upon us and I’m still wondering if I’m mad enough to have another attempt. I got to 34k last year.
Without trying, I feel like I’ve ended up with a bit of a Halloween-type vibe in my recent books:
PALADIN’S HOPE by T. Kingfisher—I think I preferred the first two books in this series (a little too much mortal peril for a bit too long) but the ending! The last line is so perfect and I’m like, “Wait! There’s a whole other book in that last line! I want it! I need it!”
I’ll be interested to see if there’s another book in this series and who it’s about.
MURDER AT HALF MOON GATE by Andrea Penrose. This is the second in the Wrexford and Sloane series of mysteries. I have the third one from the library, but not sure I’m going to read it. Things are feeling a little formulaic and I’m not sure I need more alchemy/industrial revolution/murder right now.
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness. I’m about half way in and I’m sticking with it to find out what the secret of the coveted ancient manuscript is, but I’m a bit tepid on the romance. The hero, Matthew, is a 1500 year old vampire and I suppose I’d also be a bit of an insufferable know-it-all by the time I hit 1500, but he’s still rather an insufferable know-it-all with some annoying alpha traits. Also, it’s weird to read a book set in 2009–Diana has a landline, gets voice mails on an answering machines, and all references to the Internet are written as “surfing the Net,” which just seems like such quaint usage at this point.
Up next: I have Helen Hoang’s THE HEART PRINCIPLE from the library, but I’ve read several comments here about there being a big plot twist that took the book in a darker direction and I’m debating whether I’m up for that. Any suggestions for me there?
I’m reading THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN PARIS by Diana Biller, which I am really loving so far (the ghosts bickering among each other is very funny). It’s fun reading another book set in the Paris Opera world, after having read PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and seen so many different movies and stage productions of it.
I just finished CEMETERY BOYS by Aiden Thomas, which I also enjoyed. I felt it was a little overlong and too detailed (classic debut novel stuff), but the world building was phenomenal!
Currently reading; “Lovecraft Country” by Matt Ruff. Been meaning to read this for a while and hoping to try the TV series after finishing the book!
Recent romance reads:
“One to Watch” by Kate Stayman-London: This book is basically “what if the Bachelor franchise was woke” and I enjoyed that even though this book is a little self-conscious about how diverse it is and how hard it tries not to vilify most of the heroine’s failed suitors (though a couple do get that treatment). The emphasis isn’t on the romance so much as the MC’s personal development, and it kept me guessing about whether she would end up in a relationship and who with, which might not be for a lot of romance readers.
Courtney Milan’s “The Pursuit Of…” (m/m about a Black soldier in the Revolutionary war and a white British officer who defects) and “Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure” (f/f about two older women who join forces to evict one woman’s hated nephew from the boarding house the other runs). I enjoyed both of these and especially liked the first — it’s a novella, but Milan makes the relationship payoff feel rich and earned.
Alyssa Cole’s “That Would Be Enough”: This is another novella along with “The Pursuit Of” from a linked trio of romances connected to the life of Alexander Hamilton, so you can guess what inspired that. This one felt much more Hamilton-y than Milan’s; one heroine works as a maid and secretary to Eliza Hamilton, the other is a dressmaker she meets when interviewing her about her grandfather’s experience in Hamilton’s battalion. It was a little weird to read something that was so heavily influenced by the presence of outside media/a historical figure, and I don’t necessarily think this one pulled off the novella trick of making the pacing feel natural. This is an opposites attract romance, and I wanted to a little more between the characters before they became so deeply invested in an improbable relationship. Still, this was my first Alyssa Cole and I’ll definitely read more from her in the future.
Lois Bujold just released a new Penric and Desdemona story this morning, Knot of Shadows. I clicked so fast!
I have been reading Lisa Henry, thanks to recommendations here. I really enjoyed Lights and Sirens and Parable of the Mustard Seed. It was a break from my deep dive into Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series, sparked by reading the newest, When Sorrows Come, which was excellent.
This has been a really good reading month for me.
The highlight was definitely Olivia Dade’s All the Feels. I laughed, I cried, I ate treats, and drank limited amounts of alcohol all while reading. I definitely had all the feels. The US release date was pushed back to November, so more time for everyone to pre-order to get the bonus pegging scene.
Since I was in that mood, I reread Jen Deluca’s Well Met which I loved again. But Well Played, the second book, pissed me off. My mistake was not reading the cover copy so I was caught completely off guard. And the hero had no personality or development. I thought the book sucked. But I’m hearing really good things about book #3 so hopefully the series finishes on a high note.
Finished books 2&3 of Ice Planet Barbarians. The author lives sci-fi which is great, but I can only take magic babies in small doses.
Audio reads were also good this week. My kids were home on fall break so I plugged in my earbuds and listened to The Huntress by Kate Quinn and Recommended For You by Laura Silverman. The Huntress was just an amazing piece of storytelling. It takes place just after WWII and involves the hunt for a Nazi murderer known as The Huntress. I listened to it over 2 days and I’m definitely going to check out more books by Quinn.
Recommended For You was a YA romance taking place over the holidays. What was different was that the main characters were both Jewish in an area of Georgia completely focused on Christmas. I liked it and at 7 hours, it was a quick listen.
I started the audio for The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James but I might switch to a physical copy because I’m about halfway through and I think there was stuff I missed and I want to flip back. The audio reader is very good at building suspense though.
Hello, Bitchery!
I am tired, Bitchery, but good. Very happy that it is Saturday. I need to clean, read, nap, and knit to gird my loins for my work week. Hope all of you can do your things so you can face the world as well.
Weird reading week, because much of it was while traveling for work, which I never usually do. So, I would read, then think, “Is it time to board the plane? Am I at the right gate? I hope these people don’t have COVID.” Then distract myself with the book again. It was not a relaxing experience. Avoid it, if you can.
SACRIFICED (The Rejected Mate #1) Bella Klaus – Paranormal Romance, Shapeshifters, F/M. It was what was on the tin – her mate rejected her, but the whole point of a book like that is that he either 1) Grovels and wins her back, or 2) Someone else scoops her up because she is so awesome and she is happier than she would have been. Here, the mate was irredeemable (sacrificed her – literally – so, big no) and the new guy seemed to be using her, but we really don’t understand his motivation. Then the book ends. What? Where’s my goddamned HEA, people? I get a lot of complicated shit at work and life, I don’t need it in my reading, thank you very much. So do I read the next one? Is there EVER A HEA here? Guidance needed, Bitches, please.
MURDER IN THRALL and MURDER IN RETRIBUTION Anne Cleeland. M/F, mysteries. I like the characters, and I liked the pace of the action, so I soldiered through two, but the books just don’t make sense. There are these weird italicized asides in both books that show other points of view, but they start and stop at almost random intervals. They could be a cool way to deepen the character development, but they were too haphazard to work, esp in the second book. Also, some things that were WRONG — SPOILER ALERT: So, he’s been stalking her, he’s the big, famous, rich, gentry English detective boss, and she is poor, Irish, alone, and has some kind of intuition that makes her know (absolutely know) when someone is lying. Out of the blue – only had a professional relationship up to this point, he asks her to marry him AND SHE GOES WITH IT. She is a virgin, but they have sex multiple times the first night, and while she is sore, SHE GOES WITH IT. She feels like they are both oddities, so they fit together, but in the second book he outright kills people if they mess with her, so this is not a healthy, quirky guy. This is a dangerous murderer that is gorgeous, rich, and wants to have sex CONSTANTLY, but does not confide in her about what he is up to, AND IT PUTS HER IN DANGER. He is a walking red flag. The handling of her being Irish, while acknowledged, also felt racist. So, she has the sight or something? Because she’s a redhead? I also did not like the handling of a very superstitious African semi-friend of hers in the second book who “knows” about her abilities, and is, you guessed it, murdered. So some Irish and African people are psychic? Felt very off. END OF SPOILERS. So, in sum, interesting, but too many very jarring, wrong elements that I couldn’t get over.
PALADIN’S HOPE T. Kingfisher, Fantasy, M/M – loved it. Good character development, good plot, really enjoyed visiting this world again. T. Kingfisher, I wish I could bring you, K.J. Charles, and Cat Sebastian breakfast every day so could be ready to write more books! Great stuff!
WINDOW SHOPPING Tessa Bailey – Contemporary, F/M – Sexy, sweet, good character development. Sensitive handling of Boss/Employee relationship. Enjoy!
Stay safe, everyone! Looking forward to reading all your recs!
@Qualisign – I’m in a similar place in rethinking my entire life in light of a potential diagnosis. Helen Hoang’s writing didn’t click with me, different strokes for different folks – but I loved Chloe Liese’s ALWAYS ONLY YOU (heroine on the autism spectrum) and Alyssa Cole’s A DUKE BY DEFAULT (heroine with undiagnosed ADHD who finds out about it randomly on the internet). Neurodivergent minds are beautiful.
This month’s reading has been a little all over the map. It started with a re-read (re-listen) of Boneshaker and Dreadnaught by Cherie Priest. They are part of her Clockwork Century series. And fittingly for the month, are a steampunk zombie mashup. Great for Spooktober reading, without getting too scary.
At the start of the month I managed to finish Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison. I submit that the title could actually have been “Let’s Count the Ways Thomas Jefferson was an Entitled Shitbird & Taught His White Descendants to be the Same” and it’s be no different. Yeeeeah, this is why I prefer reading other country’s history. Still, a long hard look at the system and the origins of your privilege in it is good for the soul, no matter how uncomfortable.
Moving on, from America’s first sin to one of it’s many ongoing battles, I picked up Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, which chronicles the history of the Sackler family. If the name doesn’t ring any bells, it’s the family that owned Perdue Pharma and helped spark and fuel the country’s dependence on oxycontin. Yeah, I read fun books.
I also finished The Humans by Matt Haig. Which is a story about aliens, body snatching, humanity, and the human condition in general. It was my book club’s pick of the month. Not gonna lie, it was a well written book that I hate-read my way through.
Now I’m working on Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today’s China by Desmond Shum. It’s the story of a man who became one of the most wealthy in modern China, and a revealing look at how (unlike here in the US) that wealth is absolutely no shield to being snatched and detained by the government. It’s a strange mirror and a stark contrast to the book about the Sackler’s.
I’ve also been trying to wend my way through The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar. I’ve been pulled away by so many others that I haven’t made great progress. It’s also a little heart breaking. Here’s hoping I can finish it in the next couple of weeks, before the next book club pick.
@Steph
The ending was in a good spot for me. It’s not a cliffhanger but definitely shows there’s more to come. Without naming characters (because of possible spoilers), I count at least three more pairings/books.
I also liked that my expectations on the plot/big bad were thwarted. I used to recommend the first season of Teen Wolf because the set up seems like A would be the focus for 9+ episodes. A gets resolved in 4 episodes, but now B and C happen because of the resolution.
@KatiM yes, I’m glad all the Ice Planet Barbarian books are waitlisted because bingeing them would burn me out. They are strangely realistic in some ways (book five might be the most triggering with the abuse aspect of the initial alien kidnapping) and then so tropey in other instances. Like, no way, girl! That’s definitely Stockholm Syndrome. Get your butt away from him (literally).
But the narrators are good on the audio and the characters overall don’t do anything too enraging, so this series has been perfect for my work commute.
@ many: I have a squishy ball to throw at the wall every time I stumble across a random ADHD remark that resonates and need to vent my frustration at making it to my 40s undiagnosed, untreated, and struggling to navigate systems that are actively hostile to my brain’s needs. There’s some comfort in knowing it’s not just me, but also a lot of fury that things could have been so much less difficult all along for all of us if there was more space for people to function as anything other than mass-produced factory parts stamped “Approved” or “Defective.”
Anyway, books? Books.
I quit THE GUNS ABOVE by Robyn Bennis. I would have happily read a whole book about a woman learning the ropes of her unprecedented promotion to airship captain, but the douchebro assigned to undermine her was just too much misogyny for me to slog through. The description for the second book indicates he neither changes his ways nor dies horribly, so noping out was the correct decision. (At least he doesn’t appear to be a love interest?)
Otherwise, doing an Octavia Butler reread and marveling at her ability to extend grace to those I’d rather smite. I usually get judgy when there’s a philosophical gulf of this magnitude, but she makes it clear we have all the same information about humanity and she’s CHOOSING the kinder outlook, which is always a prompt to reflect on my own flawed nature.
@DiscoDollyDeb, you write the best recap/reviews — so good they’re kind of intimidating, because they’re so good. (This is meant as a compliment.)
I’ve more or less spent the last month reading my way through Celia Lake’s romances set in Albion, the magical community living alongside the real world. Because I am something of a completist, I didn’t start with ECLIPSE, which got a great review here. Instead, I started with CARRY ON, the first book in the Powers of Albion series, and then worked my way through everything she has out set in that world. They’re very gentle, low-key stories, and I suspect I like them so much because of the world-building and not because of the romances. The romances are good, but really quiet. The expression of sexuality ranges from closed door to more explicit, and includes some romances that conclude on the page without having reached that point.
One thing I do like about the series is how diverse they are. There are physically disabled characters, neuro atypical characters, non-white characters — and when I say “characters”, I mean h/h (which so far stands for heroine/heroine, as well as hero/heroine).
Since I’m completely out of new Celia Lake, I’ve had to move on. Right now, I’m reading THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR by Victoria Goddard. It’s not a romance, it’s a secondary world fantasy that’s really leisurely and, per a recent review on Tor.com, seems mainly to be about deep friendship. So far, the only thing that’s happened is that the emperor’s private secretary has persuaded the emperor to take a vacation. The emperor has decided to travel incognito, relatively speaking — it’s obvious he’s high-born, given his affect and the number of people around him, but that doesn’t mean people recognize him as who he actually is. If you like fast-paced books where things happen, this is not the book for you. I’m still not entirely sure it’s the book for me — I’m starting to get curious about the story, but if it unfolds at this pace throughout, I’ll bail because I just can’t. And then I don’t know what I’m going to read.
@Katy Kingston: Thank you!
@Big K – ALL OF THAT re: The Acton/Doyle mysteries. I only read the first and hated it for all the reasons you articulated.
I’m another who is partway through The Brightest Star in Paris and though there are definite CWs/TWs, I’m loving it. I’m listening to it, and keeping finding myself telling myself “slow down and enjoy this–this is good,” while wanting to race through it to experience it all. I felt the same way about Biller’s first novel, but this one has that special Paris spark (and darkness).
Also reading, in paper for once, Louise Penny’s The Madness of Crowds. I love the sometimes painful sometimes graceful humanity of her Inspector Gamache mysteries. The topic of this one is so timely it is especially painful (and good)–about the end of the pandemic and…well, I’ll leave that the reviewers with time to go on in greater length.
I’ve also been making my way through Mary Balogh’s back catalog, and just finished listening to the audiobooks of the Huxtables series. I loved them. I love Balogh’s gentle fierceness about her characters and their growth. I’ve listened to almost everything of hers available and am sad to be getting to the end of these. I guess I’ll have to start digging through her earlier work only available in expensive ebooks and on paper.
Other recent reads include Evie Dunsmore’s League of Extraordinary Women (the three books for far) which I loved when I had expected to find them tedious. Don’t know why, maybe I read too many reviews before deciding to go ahead. I do recommend them.
Also Jaine Diamond’s steamy and angsty Handsome Devil. I love the passion in her work and had been waiting for Devi’s romance since I first read and enjoyed Dirty Like Me about the Dirty rockband. Yes, I’m a sucker for rock romances, and Diamond’s are among the best as far as I’m concerned.
Also really liked Alexis Daria’s very homey A Lot Like Adios. Loved the characters and their families!
I’ve read more, but am out of time, though will say I’m looking forward to Beverly Jenkins’ Midnight and Captured, newly out on audio.
I haven’t been doing much reading lately. My brain is mush after a week spent being part of a hiring committee. Interviewing is exhausting on both sides.
First is Evie Mitchell’s Knot My Type. This was just a little too shallow for me. The premise was so good. A podcaster consults a bondage expert to learn more about how to safely engage in rope play when the person in bondage has physical disabilities. Their attraction is immediate but, oh no! he doesn’t do relationships while she doesn’t do one night stands. However will they reconcile those differences? But reconcile they did and without enough friction. Everything was too easily resolved and their relationship went too fast to feel real. I don’t think this is the author for me.
After Good Girl by Jana Aston was on sale last week, I bought that and its companion Good Time. Both had a younger 20s F/ mid 30s M pairing, which is slightly ick but whatevs. These were very silly stories, Good Girl having our virgin heroine holding a fake auction to get the object of her lust to sleep with her and Good Time had a drunken Vegas wedding but our heroine here wanted the hero before they got married so she wants to give the whole being married thing a real try but doesn’t quite know how to tell him. They were pretty superficial but a lot of fun. I recommend if you’re in the mood to really suspend your disbelief and want something breezy.
I’m reading another book that was recently in a sales post The One I Love to Hate by Amanda Weaver. I’m most of the way through. The main characters are both journalists who have had a rivalry since college. The rich flashy hero works for a Buzzfeed-ish company and the working class heroine works for an Old Media newspaper struggling with how media has changed. The premise is interesting enough and there’s a bit of a mystery regarding story scoops and a leaky newsroom that’s a bit more interesting than the romance because their getting together was a bit too inevitable. Depending on how that subplot goes, I’d probably give this a solid B.
Who knows when I’ll get back to the newer October releases I pre-ordered. I have the Paladin book and the Diana Biller waiting on me and I really am looking forward to them.
@Sneezy: I have to ask: how did you come to be reading Dancing for Stalin? If you mentioned it in an earlier Whatcha Reading, I obviously missed it, but I ask because it’s something I think I’d love but it is NOT easily available!
I’ve had crazy family stuff going on, so I’ve been zipping through a lot of audio books and not had much time for actual reading. The only title that stood out as truly memorable was MEET ME IN ANOTHER LIFE by Catriona Silvey. If anyone’s tempted to try it, don’t give up if it doesn’t seem to be what you’re expecting. I knew NOTHING about it going in, (I never remember why books end up in my library queue), and was quite confused for a while, but it was magnificent.
Over the past two weeks ~
— For my distant book group, I read The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra. This was a collection of linked stories from the 1930s to near the present day set in Russia/the USSR/Chechen. I’d describe the mood of the stories as sad; it’s not a book I have any plan of rereading but our discussion was interesting.
— Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection by Ben Aaronovitch, a collection of stories and a few very short pieces. As with most anthologies, I enjoyed some stories more than others. This book is a companion to the author’s Rivers of London series and is not a stand alone.
— enjoyed rereading The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen; this is marketed as a young adult novel, but clearly it appeals to older readers as well.
— The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren; this was a contemporary romance which I quite enjoyed.
— enjoyed The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold. (This is a series that needs to be read in order. Begin with Penric’s Demon.)
— the book that my local book group selected, The Overstory: A Novel by Richard Powers. This was a lengthy but fascinating book. Initially it seemed that it was a collection of stories all of which featured trees; however, ultimately it all tied together.
— Death Can Be Habit-Forming (John Pickett Mysteries Book 11) by Sheri Cobb South which I quite enjoyed. This is the latest book in a series that should be read in order. Begin with the FREE book In Milady’s Chamber (John Pickett Mysteries Book 1) .
— Uncommon Ground (Aliens in New York Book 1) by Kelly Jensen; I found it an enjoyable contemporary science fiction romance with two male leads.
I started off the month with “The Paris Apartment” by Kelly Bowen. I’m a really hard sell for World War II fiction, because my family history is so bound up in it, and a lot of them just don’t ring true. I’m also not a big fan of dual timelines, but in spite of all that, I liked it a lot. It was believable; the female characters drive the action and they are very compelling. I often find with dual timeline stories, one era will have an HEA and the other not so much. Be forewarned, this book has Nazis and terrible things happen to several beloved characters.
I just got a 3 month free trial for Kindle Unlimited. I don’t plan on keeping it, so right now I am madly reading as much as I can on KU. I read a trilogy by Louise Allen, Dangerous Deceptions, which had a lot more mystery in it than her usual HRs. I enjoyed all of them, but the second one, “The Swordmaster’s Mistress” was especially good. The cover model definitely has a young Johnny Depp vibe. I would start at the beginning though, with “Loving the Lost Duke”.
Now I am into Lucinda Brant’s Alec Halsey mystery series, set in the Georgian era(1760’s). There is a lot more scope for melodrama than in the Regency or Victorian eras, what with the sexual decadence, swordplay, and flamboyant clothes on the men and the women. The first one is “Deadly Engagement” and one-third in we’ve already had betrayal, sexual violence, adultery, murder, a secret baby, blackmail, the whole works. If you are in the mood for 18th century soap opera, you will eat this up.
Started reading IT HAPPENED ONE AUTUMN by Lisa Kleypas, I had only read Devil in Spring years ago and thought to read the quartet. I was taken aback by the hard kissing when she clearly says “no” (but really likes it, so it’s okay!), heroine: “I’m stubborn and impulsive so I will take jumps on a horse, even though I’ve rarely ridden side saddle”, etc. etc. I know it was written awhile ago, but it seems so Old Skool. I really like her more recent work, Chasing Cassandra is one of my favorites.
Non-romance: CULTISH – THE LANGUAGE OF FANATICISM by Amanda Montell. Was recommended here a few months ago and I was curious, so I got it. I admit I am rather of the author’s opinion, in being very sceptical when it comes to woo-woo language and anything sort of cult-ish. But I also have this strange kind of fascination with “however can people get into this?”. All in all, a very good read, very interesting, insightful and entertainingly written.
Romance-wise, SAILOR PROOF by Annabeth Albert, and upon recommendation in recent comments here, THE GHOST AND CHARLIE MUIR by Felice Stevens. Both mostly fluffy, low angst, had all the feels for me, just right for me to balance out the fact that my work has picked up with a vengeance, which was kind of hard after having reduced work hours and not the usual stress for like one and a half years… (but I won’t complain, still got my job and work picking up means I keep my job!).
Currently waiting for some of my pre-orders, so re-reading FROST AND RAINE by KL Noone. This is just such a lovely book. Has a bit of fantasy, which isn’t usually my thing, but here it just fits and it’s not big. Basically magical Personifications living in the real world, but not having a lot of magic powers. Both MCs are such, but what I love is that their personalities go against what they should be – Don is a Frost, but really he’s a big teddy bear, owns a coffee shop, likes making people happy and warm and loves wearing fleece shirts, whilst Raine is a Cupid, but he’s mostly sharp, sarcastic, stylish – and a high-powered divorce lawyer! It’s a slow burn with lots of coffee, great dialogue, lovely side characters, no angst, and just beautifully written. The descriptions of moods, the coffees Don creates and Raine’s sharp suits – just gorgeous. All in all just a happy, warm & fuzzy-feeling inducing read!
The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller ended up being as good as I’d hoped it would be, although I thought the paranormal elements were better integrated in The Widow of Rose House. The book started out with ghosts making their presence known quite forcefully, but then in the middle of the book, the ghost plot line disappeared and the book became more of a conventional (and lovely) romance. The ghost storyline reappeared at the end, but it seemed like its conclusion was added solely so as not to leave that plot thread hanging. I loved the book though, so that was just a small niggle.
My usual fall holiday reading binge continued with The Little Christmas House by Tracy Rees, which was a sweet and quiet Xmas romance set in a small English village. Great development of a friendship between the MCs, which I find is often a hallmark of British romances as opposed to American ones where they tend to fall into bed much quicker.
I just started Capture the Crown, a fantasy romance adventure by Jennifer Estep. Based on how much I loved the previous Crown of Shards trilogy set in this world, I’m sure I’ll love this one also.
@Neile Graham:
I’m glad you were able to get the Huxtable Quintet on audio. As it stands, the first four are now out of print in that format. I’ve notified the author. I also have bought Midnight and Captured on audio, and I hope Winds of the Storm will be available at some point.
@Neile Graham:
Also I am aware that if people buy a book on audible or on Kindle, then it still stays in their library after it becomes unavailable to buy anymore.
@Stefanie Magura, I actually picked three of them up as used CD sets (one through paperbackswap.com). I get a little obsessive…
That’s good to know about audible and kindle, though!
Also, while slapping stain on new windows I finished The Brightest Star in Paris and loved it.
:::comes in humming something Halloweeny:::
Well, I did manage to read a touch more this go-round, by simple virtue of the fact that I wasn’t hip-deep in a vampire doorstop. I started things off with The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins. I kind of enjoy that she has zagged her career from “Look at these beautiful young characters discovering themselves in gorgeous settings” to “Look at these beautiful young characters get slashed to ribbons”. It had that survival fiction bent that I am partial to, with the added bonus of scary murders. I also liked that the book emphasized the importance of trusting your situational awareness and your gut. If someone feels off, it’s probably because they are. That said, I am never going hiking in the mountains, and if my daughter ever brings it up, that’s a big hell no, ghost rider (this is fairly unlikely, like her mother, she is an inside cat). I followed that with The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, which was A-DOR-A-BLE. I loved the witchy Stars Hollow aspect of the setting, I liked the snarky characters, and oh, the talking cat. I may have spent some time trying to get my best good boy Jack to call me “Mama”(attempts were unsuccessful, I did get purrs, head bumps, and kisses). And then I went with Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson, which was a lot of fun. The revenant hanging out in the head of the main character was hilarious. The book gets a lot of comparisons to the new Venom movies, and yeah, that’s a good comparison. It’s snarky and down for the murder, but it’s also deeply invested in the main character, Artemisia, learning how to take better care of herself, since it’s sharing her body. The slightly insane roommate we all need in our heads. I also liked the development of a friendship between Artemisia and Marguerite, a girl from the same convent. Marguerite and Artemisia have spent several years utterly misunderstanding and underestimating each other, and as they open up and communicate, you see a bond being formed, and it’s really well-drawn. I then cracked the copy of Forgotten In Death that I have from the library, and am only about 20 pages into it, but I like the idea of parallel cases that it seems to be going with. So until next time, folks. Trick or Treat.
@Crystal thank you for mentioning the EX HEX! I adore Rachel Hawkins / Erin Sterling on Twitter. Someone said the book is as funny as her tweets which is the highest praise. Haven’t seen a full review though.
Re: The Heart Principle–I liked this the best of the three, but it definitely got very grim at one point! I was like “Please let (good thing) happen, please let (good thing) happen!” at the bleakest part of the book. And then (good thing) did happen, thank God! That, and the author’s note really got me/made me cry. Though there was romance, it seemed to me more Anna’s book than Quan’s, which was okay because I was invested in Anna’s journey, but also a little bit of a bummer because I liked Quan from the other books, and we didn’t get as much about him as we could have. (Michael from past books plays a role, and Stella and Khai are mentioned, but Esme doesn’t get mentioned at all, which really bummed me out!) The end is hopeful, but not everything is tied up in a pretty red bow, either. It feels real.
Re: Magic for Liars–I liked the premise, but the execution fell flat. Glad I read this after Echo Wife, which was excellent, or might not have read any more Sarah Gailey.
Right now I’m reading We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, a very enjoyable story about a field hockey team in the 80s who taps into witchy powers to win the championship. (Or do they?) It is a great Halloweenish read and great any-time read, too!
I recently roared through the entire second half of the Kate Daniels series (I also threw in the single titles for Hugh/Elara and Derek/Julie). That was pretty fun overall. I also finished another of Darcie Wilde’s Rosalind Thorne excellent regency mysteries, And Dangerous to Know with a slowly developing romantic subplot interwoven with uncovering how a nameless woman’s body was delivered up to Bow Street from Melbourne House.
I’ve picked up Gwenda Bond’s latest, Not Your Average Hot Guy but I’m saving it for a reward when I finish my latest sprawling work task.
Currently reading We keep the dead close by Becky Cooper and Witch please by Ann Aguirre. Just started listening to Network effect by Martha Wells (I had forgotten how sarcastic murderbot is and love it). Just finished the long way to a small and angry planet by Becky Chambers and Line mates & study dates by Eden Finley and Saxon James which was just low angst and lovely.
Now for something completely different as I come out of my Pay-Changling binge.
Wrath by Ella James. MM romance, high school and college. Lots of trigger warnings – self harm, homophobia, abuse, etc. And a little transgressive as they meet when they become step-siblings. But I did enjoy it. Deals with trauma and it’s aftermath in a very real way. I would recommend with the trigger warnings caveats.
Lies and Lullabies by Sarina Bowen. Rock star hunts down the girl of his dreams and memories. Secret baby. Not my favorite of hers. I kept wanting to slap the heroine. Though hero did bear some responsibility, too. But I liked it enough to read the next in the series.
Rifts and Refrains by Denver Perry. The drummer for the Lies and Lullabies rock star returns to what is supposed to be her small hometown (Bozeman, if you’ve heard of it) after leaving as a. late teen. She has to deal with the ex-boyfriend and with her less than supportive family. Again, I like some of it and I also did not understand why she let them treat her that way. I mean, she was not the one who got married right away so why was he on her for not keeping in touch? And, really, you do not have to be trapped in your parents’ home if you don’t want to be. Not as a 27 yo rock star, anyhow. So would recommend, kind of. I am tempted by the next one but not quite ready to commit.
Started White Trash Warlock by David Slayton (not a romance). Did not finish but I think it was just me. May try again.
I did also finally read Ocean Light by Nalini Singh. I’d been putting it off because the first chapter freaked me out a little. I ended up liking it a lot. This is Bo’s story and he ends up in Black Sea, which is interesting and fantasy inducing (underwater cities). Would recommend.
Currently reading The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne. A woman born to a kidnapped teen and her abductor and raised off the grid has made a new life for herself when her father escapes from prison. Not a romance. Gritty, I guess would be the word. I am enjoying it so far (chapter 10) and would suggest many of the trigger warnings.