Happy Saturday! We’re wrapping up September with our second Whatcha Reading of the month. Here’s how we’re capping off our own TBR piles this week:
…
Shana: I just finished the perfect low-stress read, Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It had all the cozy queer midcentury vibes!
I’m also reading Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja ( A | BN | K ) where the main couple meet on a ill-fated flight to the heroine’s wedding. I loved the road trip through Switzerland and Pakistan especially because it involved quite a few Crash Landing on You references. But now I’ve hit one of my least favorite tropes, the dreaded love triangle.
Elyse: I’m reading An Academy for Liars. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a dark academia fantasy about a secret school for people with magical abilities and it reminds me a lot of Olivie Blake’s Atlas Six.
I’ve been super into dark academia lately I think in part because it’s spooky season, but also I loved college and the academic setting in general.
Lara: I absolutely devoured the Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy trilogy that Sarah recommended to me in the last WhatchaReading post. Urban fantasy is just so damn good.
Or at least, this one is.
Tara: I’m reading The Duke’s Sister and I by Emma-Claire Sunday and I’ve been really enjoying it. I mean, yes, Dukes are problematic (where did they get that money???), but it has a lot of good things going for it so far including a strong consideration of gender politics and even class politics in the UK’s upper echelons.
Susan: I’m reading This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne, which is basically a lesbian lovers to enemies (to lovers?) response to the Bioshock franchise and I am very excited. I’m really hoping that it leans into the survival horror of its premise — it can’t tease me with ex-girlfriends trapped underwater with potential killers and NOT go survival horror, right?
I’m not kidding about the Bioshock thing by the way. It’s got the glitz and style and stark class differences already, before we even get to The Horrors, and also this is the dedication:
Sneezy: I forget if I mentioned this webtoon before, but Want To See My Cat? Is quickly shaping up to be one of my favourite webtoons.For anyone who fought for your life in Rapture.
Glad to know I’m not the only one scarred by that game.
It has such great humour, I really enjoy its take on regression, it neatly side steps so many misogynistic tropes that’s been rampant in webtoons, the main characters are so caring towards each other, and the animals are ADORABLE.
Dear, Not Cunning Witch is a new arrival and I SUUUUUPER excited about where the story is going. It has some violent scenes, which aren’t explicit, but you know what’s happening.
Whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
Good gravy, how is it time for WAYR already, LOL?!
I really enjoyed Lauren Gallagher’s PLAYMAKER, a f/f hockey romance with a rivals to lovers feel to it. She does a great job with both on-ice and off-ice action, and the pages flew by.
Maryann Jordan’s LOGAN is the start to a new spinoff for her Lighthouse Security Investigations series, and is a solid romantic suspense. Looking forward to more in this series.
And have been binging BA Tortuga’s m/m cowboys with families stories on Hoopla—TWO OF A KIND, TWO COWBOYS AND A BABY, EVER THE SAME, REAL WORLD, COWBOY’S LAW, TRIAL BY FIRE… I enjoyed all of them.
Hope you’re all well, and can’t wait to see what everyone else is reading!
I haven’t read anything truly excellent, nor anything truly terrible of late. Although Peckham’s THE MISTRESS EXPERIENCE is dragging in the middle so badly that it might sink under the frothy implausibility. You gotta keep it moving if you want to skate atop. I haven’t given up hope, but it’s not looking good. I am trying to stick with it in solidarity with my younger self, who would have given a lot for a romance with a sexually experienced female lead who was actually sexually experienced. Also, there’s a trunk full of sex toys, and if this one doesn’t get used (still bitter about that betrayal, Murphy & Simone, MERRY LITTLE MEET CUTE and that whole series is scorched earth) I will riot.
I have gone down the rabbit hole of Gabaldon’s Lord John mysteries. I couldn’t hack the Outlander series. I didn’t care about the main characters, did not enjoy all the rape -did not enjoy any of the rape, in fact – and thought the structure of the novel had all the tension of a toddler’s attempt at narration. Interesting historical research and cool overall premise, but just a slog of a book, no desire to carry on. These are different. Lord John is an entertaining dick, and so far the sexual violence (of course there’s still lots) is purely background. The books assume but do not require that I should care about the Outlander protagonists, but they’re rarely on page. I gather the glimpses are meant to be a treat, rather than a minor distraction. At least Jamie is canonically nothing but a fantasy for a refreshing change (even if I remain unmoved by how very large and how extremely red haired he is). Claire, also aptly, is basically an uninteresting mass of nice curly hair, so my take and Lord John’s align nicely. The books are shorter, and there’s less dialect, and a solvable mystery providing a semblance of plot. I am pretty damn happy about this series.
Nicky James’s POWER OF THE MIND was my most anticipated read of September—and it did not disappoint. The book is the next in James’s Shadowy Solutions romantic-suspense series featuring the mismatched investigative duo of Diem Krause (an ex-cop, now P.I., whose abusive childhood—cw/tw—has left numerous scars, both physical and emotional) and Tallus Domingo (a bright and outgoing police department records clerk who longs to be an investigator). In POWER OF THE MIND, Tallus is convinced that a seemingly random series of deaths is somehow connected to a local psychic. Diem is not persuaded by Tallus’s scant evidence, but finds it impossible to resist Tallus’s enthusiasm and wheedling. As their investigations take them down various paths (hypnotherapy, herbal supplements, psychics, fortune tellers, and the discovery of more deaths), the two men continue the push-pull dynamic of their fraught relationship: Diem is the more obviously damaged partner, but Tallus is not perfect: he manipulates Diem (until called on it by a co-worker) to get what he wants, and he can be spontaneous to the point of heedlessness. While the men are strongly attracted to each other, for a variety of reasons, they have difficulty breaking through the wall between them. As Tallus observes, “My bold personality and kindly-meant pressure would continuously push [Diem] away.” And I give a lot of credit to James for including sex scenes where the sex isn’t perfect—even between people who really want it to be—where one partner has significant issues with emotional intimacy and vulnerability, not to mention any sort of non-sexual touching. I also like the way James is developing the relationship between the men over the course of the series: POWER OF THE MIND ends on a surprisingly hopeful note—I can’t wait to see where James is taking these guys. Highly recommended.
Earlier this month, I inhaled the first three books of Noelle Adams’s Worthings series, well-written romances which place emotionally mature characters within the confines of rather over-the-top tropes & situations. Those three books featured amnesia (RECOLLECTION), twin-swap (REPLACEMENT), and bodyguard (REDEMPTION). RESTORATION is the fourth (and, so far, final) book of the series, and it features the MCs stranded on a deserted island. Autumn has been Edmund’s P.A. for six years. Autumn likes her job and her boss (nothing of a romantic nature has ever happened between them), but as she approaches thirty, Autumn is worried that if she doesn’t quit her job and return to college, she’ll never finish her degree or move on career-wise. Edmund is upset that Autumn is leaving his employment: he’s very dependent on her, but realizes she should go. He does, however, ask her to accompany him on his boat for a cruise along the Pacific coast before she leaves. Autumn agrees, and faster than you can sing the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, an unexpected storm shipwrecks the couple on a remote island. I really liked the part of the story where Autumn and Edmund must work together to survive. A few of their possessions (including, fortunately, some protein bars and sunscreen) survived the storm, and the island has fresh water and coconuts, but constructing shelter and foraging for food is hard work. This is not an idyllic paradise. As Autumn observes, “The island doesn’t feel like a vacation. It feels like a prison with beautiful scenery.” As days turn into weeks, the couple work together, using rudimentary tools and whatever they find around them, to carve out something more permanent to house themselves. Their increasing physical and emotional closeness is described in a smooth, accessible style that makes even the story’s implausible premise believable. I was glad that, after the couple are rescued, the suggestion of a possible “big mis” was quickly resolved by Autumn & Edmund being mature and level-headed. I thoroughly enjoyed the Worthings books. All four are highly recommended.
TEMPTATION TRAILS is the next in Claire Kingsley’s series of romantic-suspense stories set in the Pacific Northwest and involving the Haven Brothers. While I enjoyed the book, I definitely felt it suffered from abrupt changes in tone as the story bounced between humor, romance, friendship, and suspense. Garrett Haven is a single father with a teenage son; he is also a deputy sheriff who has been investigating cold cases, and he feels sure that a killer may be active in the area. Harper is newly-arrived in town, helping her aunt run a bakery (the book is full of delicious descriptions of cookies, cakes, and other baked goods—do not read it when you’re hungry). Although neither Garrett nor Harper feels the time is right for a relationship, the two end up more or less in insta-love/lust (which I thought Kingsley handled very well), and by the middle of the book, they are already a committed couple. The rest of the story involves Garrett’s hunt for the killer who appears to have Harper in his sights. I liked a lot of TEMPTATION TRAILS and do recommend it, but there were some extremely abrupt changes of tone between scenes (from the crazy antics of the town’s squirrel population to a possible stalker leaving gifts on Harper’s car to the passive-aggressive attitude of one of Garrett’s co-workers to Harper’s burgeoning friendship with Garrett’s sisters-in-law to the unexpected discovery of the killer) that I felt detracted from the story and made it less smooth than it could have been. Recommended, but be prepared to parse the romance from the suspense.
Really looking forward to seeing everyone’s recommendations- have a work event today, but going to get my read on tomorrow!
Enjoyed MR ABSOLUTELY NOT: a romantic comedy. Is exactly what it says on the tin. Finished another MURDERBOT. Find them very soothing books – but I can’t read a bunch in a row.
Have a great weekend, peeps!
Autumn blustered its way into Chicagoland yesterday, timed just right for a change in the books on the tbr. I tried to sit on the patio yesterday. It was mid 70’s when I got home from work, but that blustery part made it not quite comfortable. Sure, I could have gone inside for a blanket, but then why not just curl up on the sofa with that blanket? And some cocoa. Which I did.
The last of the patio reads was Abby Jimenez’ THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST, which made me very happy. The FMC is dealing in lingering grief after the loss of her fiancée. She is stuck in a self-destructive cycle of visits to the cemetery, bad work choices and drinking. She has withdrawn from life until a golden retriever runs up to her car. Then onto her car. Then thru the sunroof. Her efforts to find his owner lead to Jason Larsen aka up and coming singer/songwriter Jaxon Waters who left Tucker (who is a VERY GOOD BOY) with his girlfriend while he worked in Australia. Needless to say, she became an ex-girlfriend pretty quickly having lost track of Tucker days before saying “Oh, well” and leaving town. We never meet this person on the page, thank goodness. I enjoy a good bad ex-girlfriend trope now and then, but I’d have savaged the book if she’d shown her face. Cheating is one thing, losing someone’s dog and making no effort to find him? Special corner of hell for that one. There is another bad ex… not girlfriend, more of a bad one-night stand. A singer of the Britany Spears type who has been publicly imploding for years. There was a nice twist on where that character went. She also makes Jason realize that the people supporting your career aren’t necessarily there for your best interests, or those of your girlfriend. Which leads to the third act break up, and then an epic reconciliation. All in all, a great end to patio reading.
Shifting into Autumn, I have left the romance genre for Richard Osman’s latest, WE SOLVE MURDERS. It has his trademark large cast of multi-generational characters. The main protagonists, bodyguard Amy Wheeler and her father-in-law Steve get caught up in a far-reaching money laundering scheme. Someone is after Amy, a mysterious villain named Francios Loubet. The plot is very convoluted, but the characters are a delight. Amy has “history”, but we aren’t going to find out about it in this book. Steve has made himself very small after the sudden loss of his wife and along for the ride is Amy’s current client, Rosie D’Antonio, an octogenarian writer a la Jackie Collins who has offended the wrong Russian oligarch. The treasure here is Steve, who bonds with a Customs agent over airships and Van Halen, jealously guards his position on his trivia night team from a stand-in, and then there’s this:
“Have you ever shot anyone before?” Rosie asks Steve, while snapping
through Amy’s cable ties.
“No,” says Steve. “But the Coldplay t-shirt made it easier.”
I’m 2/3 thru, and since this is shaping up to be another blustery day, couch and blankie are on the horizon.
Also re-read the two Julie James books on my Kindle. Oh, Julie James, how I miss you. Has it really been SEVEN YEARS since your last book? Come back, Julie, come back!
Oh my gosh, how is it Whatcha Reading time again? Most of my reading is Chemistry flashcards (Cries big fat NaCl filled tears) I continue to plug along with The House of Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett in audiobook. I did get caught enough in THE UNICORN HUNT to switch from audio to paperback for the last 100 pages or so. But I’m still with audio in TO LIE WITH LIONS and it’s not grabbing my as much. I will persevere.
I did read the 2nd in The Pentecost and Parker series, MURDER UNDER HER SKIN by Stephen Spotswood. I find these books really delightful. Set in the ’40s, kind of like Nero Wolfe if everyone was queer, and I feel like the male (I presume) author does a good job of writing female characters. The books also have done a good job of acknowledging the prejudices of the past enough to be believable, but allowing the characters find (some) freedom to live their lives to keep the books from feeling super heavy.
Will be happy to try the low-angst reads mentioned (especially since my mom is unexpectedly in the hospital this weekend and needs pacemaker surgery–I know it’s low-risk, but I’m still freaked out), since everything I read this month was A Lot (bordering on Too Much). First was THE QUEEN OF STEEPLECHASE PARK by David Ciminello, the story of Bella, the daughter of Italian immigrants in 1936 Coney Island (who is loosely based on his late great-aunt, apparently). It is billed as a rollicking romp of food and sex, and it is not. While Bella is very cool in many ways, her life has all the trigger warnings: abuse/sexual assault, child endangerment/abandonment, forced sterilization, and many more. I’m not the most observant or reverent Catholic by any means (indeed, I can expound on my problems with the Church all the livelong day), so I was stunned that for the first half of the book I was finding myself extremely offended (one chapter header springs to mind, you’ll know it if you see it)…a lot of the semi-blasphemous references seem to be done for shock value, and don’t really seem meaningful to the story. A lot of the sex involves underage characters (and often noncon), which definitely didn’t work for me. There are weird tonal shifts, too–every chapter ends with a recipe, which I’m sure are all wonderful, but don’t always read right after hearing of tragedy and struggle. That said, I couldn’t stop reading it, and I could tell Ciminello is talented. So, it’s got worthwhile aspects, but is definitely not for everyone (and the blurb is deceptive).
I loved Jandy Nelson’s I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, so I was excited to get an ARC of her long-awaited WHEN THE WORLD TIPS OVER. It’s the tale of three siblings, a family curse, and a mysterious young woman who ends up being a bigger part of their lives than they know. (The mysterious Cassidy was giving me Manic Pixie Dream Girl vibes at the start, but it turns out that she isn’t, though all the adults are.) It’s lyrically written as always, but very, very dense with the magical realism. There are synesthetes, one brother can read dogs’ minds, and so forth. The names seemed a little too cute at times, too (especially one reveal at the end). Again, many, many disturbing things here too: assault, child endangerment/abandonment, accidents, murder, wildfire destruction and so forth. I was very engaged for the first two thirds, but the end is so dense and rather rushed in trying to explain how two love interests really AREN’T half-siblings (and even then I had to look at two family trees and reread the last few chapters to get it) that it didn’t work for me. Sigh. I did like the romance-reader representation, and *most* of the LGBTQ rep (some readers have validly argued that the bi characters tend to fall into cliched tropes). I liked the young characters, but spent so much time wishing I could just get a cameo from I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN’S Noah instead. Sigh!
Since the last WAYR, I’ve finished several books I think of as “potato chip reads”– easy to consume a lot of them quickly, a satisfying amount of salt/spice (yes, I’m stretching this metaphor), and when I finish I think “Why did I just consume all of those empty calories?”
The best “chip” was a new novel by Eliza Lentzski, HOOPS & HEARTSTRINGS. Lentzski is an auto-buy/auto KU borrow for me– I’ve enjoyed all of her sapphic romances, particularly the angst-filled “Don’t Call Me Hero” series. This new book has only a slight amount of angst in the rivals-to-lovers plotline, and is set in the world of women’s professional basketball– so it was a satisfying read to accompany the start of the WNBA playoffs. The main characters are clearly based on some key biographical facts about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but with plenty of changes so you know these fictional characters aren’t exactly the same as Caitlin and Angel (starting with that as far as I know, neither of the real-life basketball pros is queer). I liked the basketball based world-building, the scenes that revealed friendships and tensions among team members, and the twists and turns on the way to the HEA. Would certainly recommend this one to other fans of women’s sports.
@DonnaMarie: three of the writers who were among my absolute favorites a decade ago have subsequently stopped publishing: Cara McKenna (aka, Meg Maguire), Jill Sorenson (aka, Susan Cliff), and Anne Calhoun. They published some epically good books in the 20-teens, but each of them stopped (as far as I’m aware, only McKenna made any sort of public announcement about moving into a different career). I know that readers aren’t owned an explanation as to why writers stop writing, but it doesn’t mean I can’t miss my absent favorites and the unique voice & style each of them had. Sigh.
My late September reading started off with a bang AND a whimper.
A Naval Surgeon to Fight For by Carla Kelly
I must be a Carla Kelly Completist, because I knew this tale of a naval surgeon’s wooing during the Napoleonic wars would not be my thing. So, this was like every other CK Brit Nav romance only with more wartime medicine and gore under fire at Trafalgar and not a crap ton of plot. The heroine was amazingly heroic alongside her surgeon hubs. They had some actual sex as well, though not during the battle. I almost miss the TSTL heroine when I am confronted by the TGTBT (too good to be true) heroine. Will never reread.
A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience by Stephanie Burgis
This short historical paranormal romance about a vamp and a scholar coerced into marriage is cute, but mostly just short. I would have enjoyed a longer, better developed storyline and more detailed characterization.
The Rules of Dating a Younger Man by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
I could call this paused, but I honestly don’t see myself picking it up again, so DNF. The writing isn’t awful, but it’s been a slog. The FMC treats the age gap like a HUGE obstacle, and both MCs are so earnest through it all that I was contemplating DNFing a bit before the 50% point. Then came a big twist that sucked me back in, until the FMC demonstrated a horrible lack of respect for the MMC’s feelings. So imma quit at 55% and they haven’t even boned yet.
Burn for Me & White Hot (Hidden Legacy 1-2)
by Ilona Andrews
I’m doing a comfort reread of the series. Andrews always works for me. Outstanding characters, magic, humor, ass-kicking: what more could anyone ask, amirite?
Under Your Spell by Laura Wood
I saw a couple of mentions of this adult debut by the Bitchery. The magic hinted at in the title is less paranormal romance and more the magic of sisterhood and youthful bonding. However, the romance is actually pretty choice as well. This goes in my comfort reads file, and I’ll be looking for more by this author.
Wildfire; Diamond Fire; Sapphire Flames; Emerald Blaze; Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy 3-6) by Ilona Andrews
This was the first time I reread the complete series, I will always have a warm spot for Nevada’s books (1-3), but I really enjoyed Ruby Fever this time around; so many people got their comeuppances, it was a joy to experience. Actually the first epilogue was worth the price of admission, and it was barely a few pages long. Good book noise(™) for the win!
The Situationship by Abby Jimenez
This extremely SHORT story ended so abruptly, it was like hitting a wall. There’s a reason there’s no page count. I don’t think I was reading for 15 minutes, and–poof–it was over. Fully a third of the file was a sample of her next book. What little there was is cute, but I resent paying even $.99 for what was essentially just a promo.
Enchanted Net by Celia Lake
This is the first in the Mysterious Fields series, a projected trilogy in the late 1800s with a romance arc and an HEA promised in the third book. It’s nice that all three will be out before the end of 2024. Lake’s magical alt-histories focus on the details of social interaction and magical work. They have a distinctly cozy vibe, and Enchanted Net is no exception. However, there are some deaths in this one and some unresolved problems at the end, so the tension level is a little higher than usual. Still, a decent cozy read.
I’m currently reading The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter. I think this is supposed to be a mystery with rom com vibes featuring two mystery writers with a touchy relationship, but the FMC has some heavy stuff in her background while the MMC is more of a clueless golden retriever with a mysterious past. Still, I like the author’s voice, though the narrative is all over the map chronologically, which drives me nuts. I’m at the point where the story is transitioning to a British country house mystery set up, and it’s giving me whiplash to tell the truth. The biggest mystery to me is whether I’ll make it through or DNF.
I just finished THE THIRD GILMORE GIRL which is Kelly Bishop’s new memoir, and it was an utter delight. It’s fascinating to see how someone who is eighty curated her stories so wonderfully to really get a feel for everything while still keeping it short and engaging.
For fiction, I’ve been doing a reread of Kelly Fox’s REBEL SKY RANCH series; it’s a great MM quartet set in the Central Texas Hill Country, and I love her character development in every book she writes.
(I tried to post something earlier, but I don’t see it so I’m going to assume it got lost in the aether and try again.)
Since the last WAYR, I’ve mostly been reading in a couple of series, and because I read them too close together, the individual books are kind of blending together in my memory.
I read three books by Grace Burrowes from her Mischief in Mayfair series: Miss Dignified, Miss Desirable, and Miss Dauntless. These are Regency romances, but with characters that are a bit more on the outskirts of high society. In Miss Dignified, she’s a housekeeper working for a retired captain (but really she’s the sister of an earl). In Miss Desirable, she’s an heiress falling in love with a French emigre. In Miss Dauntless, she’s a poor widow falling in love with the earl from Miss Dignified. All of the books are fine as a standalone romance, but they are all taking place in the same world, and characters from previous books do reappear. They’ve all got good characters falling in love but there are greedy or otherwise terrible family who provide obstacles to the HEA. Fear not, all will be well before the end. I generally like Grace Burrowes, and these are pretty typical of what I’ve read of her work previously.
Then I read the Road Kings series by Julie Kriss, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There are 6 books in the series. Books 5 (What Happened Last Night) and 6 (Songs to Break Up to) are more loosely connected, and I think they would be OK as a standalone read. Books 1-4 each follow a different member of a rock band as they go on a reunion tour, so they are all taking place in roughly the same timeline. I think that these are best read in order, starting with Duet. (Kindle Unlimited.)
I also picked up Something About You by Julie James. Contemporary romance between an FBI agent and a US Attorney. When they first met, there was an epic falling out. Now, she’s the only witness to a murder, and he’s assigned to the case. People get shot, but no injuries are bad enough keep them from making out the next day. I had a good time with this one.
I’m currently working my way through Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts. It’s fine, but I’ve got to admit that I’m finding it a bit dated, and for more than just the references to fax machines and landlines. I’m getting some The Quiet Man (1952 movie) vibes. The other reason I’m having trouble with this one is that our FMC is a big personality, but of the kind that would be exhausting to know. It’s all very dramatic. This one would probably work better if I was in a different frame of mind, but it’s from the library so putting it down for later is tricky. (I do DNF books, but it’s pretty rare for me.)
Happy reading everyone.
Over the first week ~
— completed my reread of Andrea K. Höst’s Touchstone series with Gratuitous Epilogue, In Arcadia, and Snow Day. I enjoyed them all.
— For my local book group, I read The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows. I initially found this a challenging read because it gave me a feeling of impending doom (which was not ultimately realized). It is set in the South in the nineteen thirties. We had quite a lively discussion about the book which I enjoyed. If the author’s name looks familiar, you might recognize her as co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or author of the Ivy and Bean books.
— spent several late nights “just one more chaptering” as I read through the enjoyable Death’s Lady: The Complete Trilogy by Rachel Neumeier. I read the first book, The Year’s Midnight, three years ago so reread that, but the remainder was new to me. I found the first book in a Reddit thread asking for recommendations of fantasy books that contained a character undergoing therapy; the second and third books were VERY different books. While the first book was set in our world, the others were not. I see that there is a fourth book available (featuring a secondary character) that I hope to read.
— enjoyed One Perfect Night by Lisa Henry, a short story set in Australia during world war two. I would happily read more featuring these two men.
Over the past week ~
— succumbed and purchased the fourth book I mentioned above. I stayed up late reading Shines Now, and Heretofore (Death’s Lady Book 4) by Rachel Neumeier and then finished the book the next day. I enjoyed the book, but it would make little sense without reading the three earlier books in the series.
— purchased two issues of a magazine that I found in my library’s Friends of the Library sale area. These were the Winter 2023 and Spring 2024 issues of Oh Reader, a magazine of which I was totally unaware. The magazines each had some dozen or so essays on topics that are reading related along with some other odds and ends; there was lots of white space and relatively few ads. I can’t recall the last time that I read a magazine from cover to cover! Anyone here familiar with Oh Reader?
— enjoyed yet another fantasy by author Rachel Neumeier, Tuyo. This book is unrelated to those above. Ryo is left as a tuyo when his tribe of moon people retreat after unsuccessful battle with troops of sun people. A tuyo is a sacrifice that might be beaten, tortured, or killed; he is not.
— enjoyed browsing through The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. This book has beautiful art and poetry; it’s a record of the author’s year in 1906 England. It’s well worth seeking out a paper copy of this book.
— read Tempting as Sin by Rosalind James which was an enjoyable contemporary romance set mostly in Montana. I’ve noticed that this author tends to have extreme events in her books (a previous book had a shark encounter and poisoned food); this book had a grizzly attack.
— also enjoyed reading You Will Be Able to Collage by the End of This Book: More than 30 projects to spark your imagination by Stephanie Hartman. I was looking for inspiration for the collaged bookmarks that I make and did see one interesting idea.
Knocked sideways by how I could NOT put down E.J. Blaise’s BLOOM (m/f ranch contemporary, in KU) last night until 3:00 AM when I crashed. Picked it up as soon as I woke to finish it. This is angsty and there are strong content warnings for those who need them (on-page abuse + another that is a huge spoiler that I was glad I knew about before I started reading), but it has been a while since I was so caught up in what I thought was a new-to-me author. I later discovered I had tried out her first novel in KU and about 1/2 way through DNFed, which I rarely do. This is, I think, her 4th. She needs a website. Anyway, a young small-town woman, damaged by growing up with an angry, (*mostly* verbally) abusive alcoholic father starts to take action to repair her life and meets a grouchy-asshole-to-start (he misreads her big time) total-sweetheart-by-the-end, ranch hand. Loved seeing her slowly, slowly bloom. Readers, I teared up.
Until I started that, I would have said that Cathy Yardley’s DO ME A FAVOR was my top recent read. Really enjoyed this m/f story of a widowed mid-40s cookbook ghostwriter and long-divorced single-dad (of just-adult children) handyman meeting on an PNW island. Their relationship was charmingly developed and I enjoyed reading about their career and life hassles.
The third of Nisha Sharma’s If Shakespeare was an Auntie series MARRIAGE AND MASTI (m/f/ contemporary) was also good.
Sarah Rees Brennan’s LONG LIVE EVIL (fantasy) is the first in a series and has Rees Brennan’s trademark humour. I was a pinch disappointed because of the (decent point to pause at least) cliffhanger and it wasn’t as 100% all-the-time delightful as her IN OTHER LANDS but there was plenty to enjoy and I will definitely read the follow-ups. Woman dying of cancer is told that if she can get a plant with magical powers from a fantasy world in a novel she and her sister are fans of, she will live. (warning, violence)
Enjoyed Carissa Broadbent’s DAUGHTER OF NO WORLDS another first-of-series m/f romantic fantasy novels that I will continue with (KU, Audible Plus). Slave with magical powers escapes and get training from a damaged war hero (warning, violence).
Also enjoyed my audio re-read of Kristin Cashore’s YA fantasy BITTERBLUE (yeah violence here, too).
Kayley Loring and Connor Crais’s THE ROCKSTAR RETURNS and Penelope Ward’s THE ROCKER’S MUSE were both deeper and less potato-chip reads than most rock romances. MUSE had a very interesting twist.
Quite liked Hannah Grace’s (m/f contemporary college) romance DAYDREAM. Didn’t like her first that got all the Booktok fuss but liked her second better so I thought this was worth trying and I found it so. Liked the two distinctive characters quite a lot, especially the male lead.
@kkw: Another non-fan of Outlander. I got it free when I bought my first Kindle over 10 years ago and it was famous enough at that time that I did read it, and I made myself finish it. But I mostly felt it was a lot of torture-porn and throw-the-kitchen-sink-in-and-see-what-sticks. I did not watch the TV show for the same reason though every time there was a photo of “Jamie” on my Yahoo page, I did take a look (Sam–sigh).
C: I’m a big fan of Grace Burrowes. Don’t know if you know, but she’s now writing a historical mystery series (Lord Julian) and it’s wonderful. I really like her writing style.
I fell into the whole dark academia esthetic when, after the deaths of my husband and parents within a year and a half, I had to deal with the remains of five generations of stuff (china, crystal, silver, jewelry, ceramics, statues, rare books, artwork, furniture — including a stool from King George’s coronation — musical instruments, etc. etc.). One day after getting much of the mess finally under control and pretty well freed up from the baggage of its past, I realized that on the back of the door to my main room (“the salon”), I had hung three generations of doctoral robes and regalia. What does one do with those? At that moment, I decided to lean in to dark academia and subsequently redecorated the room with details including wainscoting, carved chair rails and baseboards, put up dark swooping wallpaper, hung black velvet curtains, and built a secret bookshelf door into my yarn/puzzle/fabric stash and furnace room. And thus I had a backdrop for displaying some of the ridiculous treasures (of the “my precious” variety, shudder) that will be tossed — and good riddance to them — the moment I’m gone. At least I’ve learned my lesson about the value of Death cleaning! Anyway, along with the changes to my physical environment following those deaths (and that of a step-daughter), I have also changed my reading habits. Too many things are triggering these days; not unexpectedly, any hint of narcissistic behavior is an immediate DNF, TSTL characters since they always seem to expect others to save them, insta-love, minimal consent, lack of communication, pedantic writing, anachronisms, typos (?! “writer, edit thyself”), and writing about depression (I can do that all by myself, thank you very much).
Because I *read* WAYR religiously, and because I trust the Bitchery so implicitly, I often try out authors mentioned by contributors. Recently, I saw a reference to AJ Sherwood (an author well represented in KU) and very happily dived down that rabbit hole. She creates pretend world, often inhabited by pretend beings, filled with humor, grumpiness, intelligence, violence against BADDIES, integrity, kindness (often in unexpected places), and competence pr0n. Sherwood’s oeuvre is not insignificant, so I’m only about half way through what I have found on KU, but I’m definitely looking forward to the sixth book of JON’S MYSTERY CASEBOOK scheduled to come out next week (October 4).
Other wonderful gifts to me are Jennifer Estep’s books, which are outstanding as audiobooks. Most recently, I’ve been reading/listening to the GALACTIC BONDS series but again, I’m stuck waiting until October 29 for the fourth book in the series. Such wonderful world AND character building in all her books.
Finally, I have been traveling a lot (dealing with deaths and estates actually involves a huge amount of travel, at least in my case), so I have spent a lot of time listening to audiobooks and then introducing and recommending the best ones to others. The most frequently recommended (and subsequently purchased and listened to) books were those of T Kingfisher’s four book series, THE SAINT OF STEEL. They are so re-listenable!
So, if this was TLDR, best authors for me recently: AJ Sherwood, Jennifer Estep, T Kingfisher. Favored elements: Humor, competence pr0n, kindness
Thank you, Bitchery, for your wisdom, humor, competence and kindness.
Hello Bitchery. I sincerely hope that any of you dealing with the storms are safe. Watching from across the pond with trepidation.
Back on topic… I have just read my first cowboy romance! HOLDING THE REINS by PAISLEY HOPE. M/F contemporary. And I think I’m hooked! The main thing to say about this book is that it has a really big heart. It features a whole cast of likeable family and friends, and a seriously protective alpha MMC who falls hard for the FMC, who has come home to escape her big city life and a cheating partner. Big emotions and some serious heat make for an excellent debut from this author. And I am now so invested in these characters that I have pre-ordered the rest of the series (of three). Worth your time.
I’ve also been engrossed in the Beautiful series by CHRISTINA LAUREN: BEAUTIFUL BASTARD, BEAUTIFUL STRANGER, BEAUTIFUL PLAYER and BEAUTIFUL SECRET. All M/F contemporary.
OMG where have these books been all my life?! I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of others by these authors and jumped into this series with both feet when they came up on offer. And I was obsessed. Everything fell by the wayside so I could read. Some very Bad Decisions were made. Such fun to find stories that you enjoy so much. Sexy, soulful and entertaining. Recommended.
Similar depths of Bad Decisions depravity were reached with the first three books in ELIZABETH O’ROARK’s Summer series: THE SUMMER WE FELL, THE SUMMER I SAVED YOU and THE SUMMER YOU FOUND ME. M/F contemporary.
All stories feature the same friend group and the author really puts her characters through some stuff. I mean, she takes angst to another level! Seriously emotional and seriously hot. I loved them.
Finally, for the sci-fi lovers amongst you – ARTIFACT SPACE by MILES CAMERON. Space opera with the teensiest of romantic elements. Nice diversity in this, males, females and androgynes make up the crew of the greatship Athens (a trading vessel), plus some first contact aliens. The main protagonist is Marca Nbaro (F) with a well-developed and interesting cast of characters in support. She’s a little too good to be true (saves the day once too often) but that aside, it’s a very entertaining story which balances the everyday (the logistics of operating a spaceship) and the extraordinary (space exploration, alien encounters, battles) in a realistic (I assume!) and accessible way.
It is the first in a series of two but while the second book (Deep Black) remains at £12.99, I will be impatiently exercising my patience(!) for the conclusion of the story…
Happy reading all.
I probably could have read more over the last 2 weeks, but I started FROM on Prime and it kept warning it would be leaving in a few days, so I had to accept the challenge and got through both seasons in about 12 days. Worth it.
Anyhoo, since last time, I went in on the new Richard Osman, We Solve Murders, which is clearly a series starter. I really liked the characters, and while it was a book with a slow pace, too much of it was making me laugh for that to annoy me very much. Then it was The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling, which was a very fun little time-travel romp. Again, quite funny, and I enjoyed the way it treated the holiday atmosphere. It made me wish I was in front of a fire with warm cider and a book at points (not a vibe one gets to experience when one is in Florida eyeing a hurricane balefully). Which brings us to now, in which I snagged the new Stephen King story collection, You Like It Darker, from the library. I’m on the 4th story, which is definitely the one that I am enjoying the most so far. The second one had some Strawberry Spring vibes with the twist ending, which I also enjoyed. So until next time, since I finished FROM with three days to spare, I am going to reward myself with some Horizon Zero Dawn, which currently owns my brain.
Waiting for my plane to take me from Guayaquil home. I’ve been here for 5 weeks, visiting my son and his family, who live here. Not actually much to do (Quito and Cuenca are more interesting places to visit) so I’ve read a lot:
o THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE by Daniel Alarcon. He’s originally from Peru, not Ecuador, but I thought it would be good to read an author from the general region. I’ve read him before, and was charmed at the talk he gave at the Library of Congress book festival a few years ago. This, however, was not one of my favorite books, although I liked one of the stories, “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal” in which a gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma. His work is always grounded in real people and real situations, but there is often an underlying aspect of the larger political world.
o MAIDEN VOYAGES by Sian Evans. Nonfiction account of the women who worked on the huge passenger liners that were the main method of ocean travel until post- WWII. Interesting mix of the famous (Marlene Dietrich) and the not-famous, including the story of Donald Trump’s mother, who came to the US in hopes of leaving behind a life of poverty and strife in Ireland.
o TO SWOON AND TO SPAR by Martha Waters. Liked some of the prior books in the series better. Waters does write good banter.
o THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT by Maggie O’Farrell. Fiction based on real people, which I often like but had mixed feelings about here. I realized that it’s fine to create an alternative story, except that for whatever reason it seemed cruel to give a happy ending to someone who died far too young. Had to read this, however, if only because as a teenager I adored Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”.
o BLEEDING HEART YARD by Ellie Griffith. Griffith is best known, I think, for her Ruth Galloway mysteries, but this is another series with a lesbian police detective. I liked this and thought she created interesting characters and back stories.
o A HOLIDAY BY GASLIGHT by Mimi Matthews. A fairly simple story with straightforward characters, no outside tension, believable and sympathetic. The father was the villain, but not in a Snively Whiplash way, and it’s to be hoped he will be kept in check by his new sons-in-law.
o THE YEAR 1000 by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger. Takes the reader through the calendar year and the activities associated with each month in a rural English community (which is where 90% or so of the people lived). Lots of fascinating facts and characters; I especially liked Aelfrid, a teacher monk. Made me regret even more the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII – if the history we know is so rich and engaging, how much more would we know if it hadn’t been destroyed.
A LADY’S GUIDE TO SCANDAL by Sophie Irwin. Thought this was one of the more interesting historicals I’ve read recently, with the heroine truly torn between two men. I often dislike love triangles, but this book made Eliza’s situation believable as her choices are affected by how she’s grown and developed agency after the death of her all-too-controlling husband. Neither man is perfect, but neither is a villain (in too many triangles it’s quite clear that one of the men is a nasty piece of goods and the heroine appears rather dense for not realizing it earlier). There’s also a nice sapphic secondary romance.
Need to stop as I need to head to the airport. More (maybe) to come later.
Currently reading MURDER IN PREEMPTION, the 20th (!) volume in Anne Cleeland’s Doyle and Acton series. The previous book, Murder in Reproach ended rather abruptly at an intense moment, and I was happy to discover that the whole of this book deals with that intense situation.
Currently listening to THE ROOK by Daniel O’Malley (with thanks to @(The Other) M who specifically recommended the audiobook in a sale post earlier this week where The Rook got a lot of love in general). Fun and a little creepy, definitely very engaging.
I recently finished quite a few very good books* (and even more disappointing ones**) but I am a broken reader right now so none of them wowed me until I hit UNDER YOUR SPELL by Laura Wood. (In my book group, I call myself the “book bummer” because even when I like a book, what I want to discuss are its flaws. Yes, this book has weaknesses I could pick apart for days. It also has a vibrant romance that weaves deftly around tropes without becoming a mere trope checklist, plus a delightful and profound relationship between three sisters that enriches the story without overwhelming the romance.)
* Quite a few very good books, in no particular order
SANCTUARY by Ilona Andrews
FULL SPEED TO A CRASH LANDING by Beth Revis
NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG by Julie Soto
NO ONE DOES IT LIKE YOU by Katie Shepard
FAILURE TO MATCH by Kyra Parsi
** Even more disappointing ones
MIRANDA IN RETROGRADE by Lauren Layne
GIVEN OUR HISTORY by Kristyn J Miller
LOVE AND OTHER CONSPIRACIES by Mallory Marlowe
ONE-STAR ROMANCE by Laura Hankin
THREE KINDS OF LUCKY by Kim Harrison
FATED by Sarah Ready
@Deborah: The Doyle and Acton books are a rarity in that I immediately buy them. For all that I follow the author on Amazon, I hadn’t known of this new book. Thanks for helping me spend my precious dollars!
I haven’t written up for a WAYR in what feels like yonks, so I’ll try do a quick summary of my whole Sept.
I’ve been working through the RIVERS OF LONDON audiobooks, and am currently on Foxglove Summer (#4). These are the only audiobooks I audiobook at the moment, because Holbrook-Smith’s narration is excellent.
I’m also partway through BLOOD be Jen Gunter, which is going to be more of her excellent feminist education campaign, but I’m such a slow non-fic reader.
Prior reads were:
– CHALION by Lois McMaster-Bujold, a fantasy that gave me Spanish-style historical vibes. It’s an example of how I don’t mind reading books with grim/dark topics if that’s not the overall attitude – Cazaril, the MC, exemplifies kindness and resilience, and I always enjoy the World of the Five Gods (& LMB).
– ERIC by Terry Pratchett, enjoyable, because Pratchett, but not one I’d want to read again.
– SOMETHING ABOUT YOU by Julie James, a Bitchery rec for competence p0rn. I romped through it as popcorn-style read, but personally I didn’t find the lack of professional boundaries very competent.
– GODKILLER by Hannah Kramer, a fantasy rec’d by a friend, with great worldbuilding and disabled rep, including deaf rep! I now have book 2 out from the library, as there are story threads I want to follow while I vaguely remember #1’s plot.
DNFs:
– SNOWBLOODED by Emma Sterner-Radley, a historical, I think fantasy, with seeming Nordic inspirations. This one didn’t have enough balance with the darker elements for me.
– MISS PERCY’S GUIDE TO POCKET DRAGONS by Quenby Olsen, another historical fantasy. I liked the idea of it, but I didn’t enjoy reading the MC repeatedly being guilt-tripped and used and considering herself worthless.
I recently finished three magical realism books, which seems to be my preferred fall/spooky season genre.
A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Webber. Cute. Felt like her other books were less disjointed, but I’ll admit that I read this in stolen in-between moments, so it may have been the reader.
The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams by Karen Hawkins. Enjoyable. I figured out the big mystery about 1/3 into the book, so that made it feel slow for me. I also never quite bought the romance between the FMC and MMC.
Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. It’s been reviewed here, and I agree with the B rating. I wanted it to be better, and it just wasn’t. I didn’t feel like the MMC was three dimensional or really in love with the FMC. I also was annoyed by the deus ex machina feel of the ending. I’ll read the next one by this author though, to see if it gets better.
Love Death & Lanterns by Jeannie Lin. I went on a Jeannie Lin kick several months ago, and this was the only one in the series unavailable through my library cards at the time. I finally got to read it, and it was ok. I just wish I’d been able to read it with the others, so I remembered all of the plot details.
Recenr DNF:
I don’t want to call this a full DNF, because I do think I’ll go back to it eventually. What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. Historical fiction with magic, set in 1890s/1900s Egypt with an Argentinan FMC. The premise was fascinating, especially because I loved Elizabeth Peters, but I was struggling with the FMC and her willful disregard of social norms and thus consequences of the time period. I generally don’t care for reckless MCs. Some of it may have been my head space, though, so I want to try again.
Upcoming TBR:
The Referral Program by Shamara Ray. Can’t remember where it was recommended, maybe on Cover Awe here. I’ve struggled with overly cutsey rom-coms lately so we’ll see.
Deja Brew by Celestine Martin. A POC witch romance series, and one of the very few witch romances that I’ve continued to seek out (Lish McBride is the other). Read Kiss & Spell last month, which preceeded Deja Brew, and enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to the next installment.
I just finished the latest in Ovidia Yu’s Crown Colony series, THE ANGSANA TREE MYSTERY. While the mystery was engaging, I was really curious to see how Su Lin and the other characters are doing now that the war is over and Singapore has returned to British control. The books set in the war years under Japanese occupation were so dark, but things are still complicated and people are still recovering. I saw from Ovidia Yu’s newsletter that she is finishing up the next book in the series, which I will immediately pre-order.
I also read THE GAME OF HEARTS by Felicity Day, which I saw recommended here. I found the history of “The lives and loves of Regency women” (per the UK subtitle) so compelling, especially her use of primary sources (which are always weighted toward the leisured and literate).
Victoria Goddard released a short story, Feonie and the Islander Regalia, which had been available through her Discord (I didn’t realize that). I immediately got a copy and enjoyed every word of it. The guards around the Emperor have formed a romance book club, which Feonie is invited to join! that made my day brighter. I wanted to re-read the section in Hands of the Emperor where Cliopher is introduced to his new staff, to see Feonie from his POV, but I have succumbed to re-reading from the beginning (my first time with a paper copy).
@Susan/DC I’ve just added MAIDEN VOYAGES to my library list. It sounds like a fascinating history!
I finished the remaining books in the Daniel Owen Welsh Mysteries series by Ripley Hays. These veer more towards mystery with m/m romance on the side. The mysteries per se are good, varied and I found them engrossing. But I still have a few bones to pick with this series, which is mostly about the romance part. Most of the book endlings feel more like HFN than HEA when it comes to the romance, and even the last one, with the wedding in sight, left me with doubts. To be honest, each book had me going to the end first, not to check for the solution but to make sure the MCs are fine! The romance definitely suffers from their not talking, even though they early on resolve to talk about things. That was one bit of frustration. Conflict als arises from the two MCs being very different and having different personal back stories. Which is totally OK. But they keep not talking or even falling out with each other regularly. Which leads to the biggest stumbling block and which may be a hard no for some readers: for a part of the series, Mal is Daniel’s direct superior in the police force. Yes, workplace romance happens, but in reality this is super problematic. There are even references to loud arguments in front of the rest of the police stations and their colleagues feeling they have to pick a side. Wow. That is just no good. Also – most of the times Daniel gets into real danger and Mal ends up rescuing him. That just gets old. Plus there is a recurring theme of police corruption. Yes, that is a reality, but to me there was just too much of that in this series.
Following up on that, I also purchased the spin-off Charlie Rees books and read the first three ones. I have the fourth one but I felt like I needed a breather, and from reading the blurb again, and reading the content warning at the beginning, I’m less sure I want to read this. Or at least not right now…
So I dove back into some KJ Charles and Cat Sebastian for palate cleansing – and for opposite attract romances that in my view work better.
Thankfully, the latest Lord Julian mystery by Grace Burrowes (A GENTLEMAN OF UNCERTAIN HONOUR) just dropped and I am ready to dive into that. Like @Karen H, I love this series.
I’ve also signed up to Josh Lanyon’s Patreon, just on the lowest tier, because she’s publishing chapter-by-chapter of her Pirate’s Cove m/m cozy mysteries from the other MC’s viewpoint, Jack. Jack is the police chief and he remains very much unscrutable through the first PC books, which are all written from Ellery’s viewpoint. It’s fun to see Jack’s side and struggle (which happens for various reasons). We get more of his viewpoint in the main books obviously as the romance progresses, so I am not sure if Lanyon will go through all of the books. But right now I love reading these.
@DonnaMarie, I’ve been slowly collecting Julie James’s books in ebook form, and do reread most of them periodically. I would love more books from her and from Joanna Bourne.
That said, I’m hardly in danger of running out of things to read, LOL!! My TBR continues to grow steadily!
@C and @Kir, I love seeing others picking up SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. It on my reread shelf, and I think somehow it (and most of the rest of the series) fits right into my I-don’t-know-anything-really-about-this and can-handwave mental space and I just really get sucked into the characters and story and enjoy the ride.
Sending a big hug, @Qualisign.
I picked up THE SCANDALOUS CONFESSIONS OF LYDIA BENNETT, WITCH based on the last WAYR and man it was so so good! I raved about it to my best Book Friend and she also got hooked. What a satisfying take.
I also ripped through the audiobook of A WELL-TRAINSD WIFE by Tia Levings but if religious trauma and sexual violence is not your cup of tea, you might want to skip this memoir. It’s very good though.
Otherwise I have been rereading all the fluffy Ashlyn Kane/ Morgan James hockey books starting with WINGING IT and just trying the audiobook of PALADIN’S GRACE.
I’ve enjoyed the first books a few new series lately. The God & The Gumiho by Sophie Kim is an entertaining fantasy set in Korea. There is a romance but no happy ending for the couple (although some hope). Those of you who enjoy Korean pop music and dramas will probably pick up a lot of references I missed, especially in the supernatural gossip magazine quoted throughout. The second book is due out next year.
The Price of Redemption by Shawn Carpenter starts a Napoleonic war style naval fantasy series set in different world with magic and equal opportunities for women. The main characters are a male captain and a female mage. Not sure when the next will be out.
I enjoyed Sanctuary (novella about Roman from the Kate Daniels books, by Ilona Andrews) so much that I am seriously thinking about buying it. As someone who moves every few years and is chronically broke, I very rarely buy books, and only if I know I will re-read more than once. Delighted to see they label this the 1st of series about Roman.
I finally got to read Paladin’s Hope, which was unsurprisingly excellent.
The Grief of Stones (2nd book about Thara Celehar) by Katherine Addison had interesting mysteries and more exploration of the main character as he reluctantly continues to acquire friends.
Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander is a fun romance with a non-binary main character and a setting in food writing/video. I’d read the first book (Chef’s Choice), about the FMC’s roommate, first.
The Countryside: Ten Rural Walks Through Britain and Its Hidden History of Empire, by Corinne Fowler, was fascinating. She explores a lot of history, but also the resistance contemporary Brits have to National Heritage sites addressing racism or the downsides of colonialism/imperialism.
I just took a guilt-free week rereading the whole Earth’s Children series by Jean Auel. The last two books are actually nowhere as bad as I remembered. They actually read like good fanfic. I might even reread them one of these decades.