Whatcha Reading? April 2023, Part Two

Beautiful English style garden with comfortable hammock on sunny dayAs we wind down April, we want to know what you’ve been reading!

Claudia: My library copy of Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell ( A | BN | K ) just dropped and I’m looking forward to reading it!

Carrie: I’m finishing up Below the Edge of Darkness by Dr. Edith Widder, ( A | BN | K ) a fascinating memoir about studying deep and mid sea life

Shana: I’m reading Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni. I don’t usually love adult coming out novels, but the heroine is very relatable. I’m over the closed door sex scenes though.

The Darkness Outside Us
A | BN | K
Elyse: I’m reading The Darkness Outside Us. It’s billed as YA, but really I think it’s a sci-fi thriller that just happens to have to two 17 year old characters. It’s got a big twist and also a queer romance

Sarah: I’m listening to the first Veronica Speedwell, ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) which I read a long while ago, and the narration is really terrific.

Lara: I’m in the doldrums a bit with my reading so I have turned to the ever-faithful Murderbot and started again with book one.

So whatcha reading? Tell us below!

Comments are Closed

  1. ChefCHeyanne says:

    My long journey across the bottom of deep valley of life continues so I am reading slow. DNF “Velvet Is the Night” great writing interesting topics but just couldnt manage Mexico politics. Instead reading and ENJOYING+++ “Undertaking of Hart and Mercy”. Surprised. Thought from cartoon cover would be silly too whimsical for right now and instead XLNT world building smart charcters well done. Eyes Up. Forward.

  2. KB says:

    So, I am reeling a bit right now from a recent medical diagnosis. The good news is, so far everyone is telling me that eventually I will be fine. The bad news is, it might be a little gnarly for the next 3-4 months and anytime someone says that “C” word, it is overwhelming and scary. This whole uproar has had an unexpected negative effect on my ability to read. I started GEORGIE ALL ALONG by Kate Clayborn….probably 2.5 weeks ago? This is a book that normally I would fly through in a day or two. And I just literally cannot read more than a page or two at a time. Like objectively I can tell it’s well-written but I just can’t get into it. I’m at 65% and feeling the need to finish it, but after that I think I’ll look for something more immersive, maybe paranormal or a really plot-heavy historical, something set in a world less similar to my own and that can transport my mind to a different place. Taking any and all recommendations for books that might fit this description and do not include any mention of cancer. Love to all, and for all those humans out there for whom this is relevant, go get that mammogram. Do it today.

  3. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    @KB: best wishes and good thoughts for a short treatment and recovery period followed by a complete cancer-free recovery.

  4. Kareni says:

    Sending good thoughts your away, @KB.

    Are you open to science fiction? Some books that might take you away ~

    The Martian by Andy Weir
    Stray by Andrea Höst (this is free for US Kindle readers)
    Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell

    Have you read Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison? It’s a paranormal romance.

  5. Anne says:

    KB, everyone is right. The treatments today are amazing. Find your support groups online and in person and they will help carry you through this. There’s nothing so comforting as tips and advice from those who’ve been there. And lots of hugs (and letting everyone take care of you and spoil you.)
    If you like truly immersive historicals, I highly recommend anything by Cecilia Grant. She puts in the research to make you feel you’ve been dropped into the past, and her characters feel real and true to their time. The same with Rose Lerner.
    For reads that will make you laugh when you need it, I recommend Terry Pratchett.

  6. KB says:

    Thank you so much for the well wishes and the recommendations! I did enjoy Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison and believe that may be part of a larger series? Might try to sink into that for a while. I really appreciate the good thoughts.

  7. suzanne says:

    @KB best wishes for your treatment. FWIW I really like Kate Clayborne but I could not get into Georgie. I did finish it but it was pretty meh, the characters didn’t click for me.

    Lots of recent reads I found here:

    I read about Mhairi McFarlane here and have been inhaling her books. JUST LAST NIGHT absolutely wrecked me, I loved it. I lost a dear friend in terrible circumstances a few years ago and the book’s description of grief felt so spot on and cathartic. I also really loved IF I NEVER MET YOU. DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME was good but not as good as the other two. Now I need a break because her books are so intense but MAD ABOUT YOU will be next.

    I read about FLOWERHEART here, described as “for people who love Tamora Pierce” and that’s me, but it was only ok. Magic system was cool, but the plot was thin.

    Started but didn’t finish TO LOVE AND TO LOATHE – yet again, I’m not really a historicals reader. I did finish THE RAKESS which I liked because it actually addressed how shitty it was to be a woman in that time period. Have been reading THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE but I really dislike DV plots so….may not finish.

    My hold of CHAIN OF THORNS came in so I’m reading that and enjoying it, mixed with some Psy-Changeling comfort re-reads when I can’t sleep. (CHAIN is not good for just before bed!)

    For nonfiction, I loved I CONTAIN MULTITUDES (Ed Yong is a fantastic writer); THE LAST DAYS OF THE DINOSAURS was pretty good, and have just started THE MILKY WAY SMELLS OF RUM AND RASPBERRIES which is fun so far.

  8. catscatscats says:

    Escapeologist, thank you for the Shinn info and link!

    I inhaled Deborah Blake’s Veiled Magic trilogy – good competent heroine who is able to stand up for herself, romance arc across the three books. A sentence that made me laugh in the last book, something like “Kari looked into the soup she was stirring as if it could answer all the problems of the world, or at least offer a clue”.

    I also enjoyed KJ Charles’s Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen. Didn’t get on quite so well with Thief in the Night – think because I liked the natural history in the earlier book. Hobbies are always good things.

  9. Kareni says:

    @KB: Yes, Dragon Bound is indeed part of a series by Thea Harrison. My other favorite book in the series is Oracle’s Moon.

    I’ll also recommend the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs. And The Others series by Anne Bishop which starts with Written in Red.

    If you are open to male/alien male romance, I’ll recommend the Claimings series by Lyn Gala.

  10. Karin says:

    @KB, I am wishing you the best possible outcome. I second Kareni’s recommendation of Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell for a totally angst-free comfort read. Also Patricia Wentworth’s British mysteries from the mid-20th century are a great escape.

  11. Chris says:

    I loved Diamond Ring, too! I really love that KD Casey treats the challenges of baseball as a job: the travel, the pressure, the instability. I feel like it makes the stories so much more human and textured. I can relate, even though I only go to baseball games for the ice cream in the helmet.

    I also really enjoyed reading Victoria Goddard over the past couple weeks after someone recommended her work here. I think her books are classed as high fantasy? The Hand of the Emperor is about friendship, racism/imperialism, and good governance. I have the second full-length book in the series on hold, and I read almost all of the books in the Dart and Greenwing series (same world, different characters, shorter, lighter, more comic). These are books where you feel like you want to live in that world a while.

    I’m always grateful for all of your recommendations! Thanks for your posts!

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