It snowed. Then it rained. Now we have two days of freezing temps day and night. Nope, not going out in that, I’ll just sit here and read. Currently trying to decide if I want to spent $17* on an e-book. It’s the latest Ian Rutledge, and those are very well written although I have some issues with them, probably due to having binged eighteen of them in ten days, but $17 buys a lot of yarn. On the other hand, freezing rain. Hmmmm.
What are you reading?
*I was wrong, that was the hardcover. The e-book is $12.99.
Reading a nonfiction book about web design and the latest Illona Andrews.
Reading Eloisa James’s “When Beauty Tamed the Beast” and thinking about postmodern retellings of fairy tales.
I read The Goblin Emperor and totally fell in love with it. I wasn’t crazy about all the Elvish naming conventions but I got over it.
I also just finished Seanan McGuire’s latest Wayward Children novella, Beneath the Sugar Sky, which was also wonderful.
Next up is The English Wife by Lauren Willig and the latest Preston/Child Pendergast book.
I read the first book in the Wayward Children series (Every Heart a Doorway). I really liked it, but the series fell off my radar. Thanks for the reminder! I’m off to get books 2 and 3 on my Kindle now.
We agree on The Goblin Emperor, so I shall give Seanan McGuire a try.
Just finished “Mirror Dance,” which is so far one of my unexpected favorites of the Vorkosigan series. I liked the way each plot twist was so surprising, and it was fascinating to watch an unappealing, cowardly, shifty, rotund former villain get transformed into a good guy.
It also clarified a number of plot points from my zigzag progress back and forth around the series. Very satisfying.
I’ve been reading Lilith Saintcrow’s Road Trip Z books (Cotton Crossing, followed by Among The Ruins), but having finished the second one last night I’m following a slightly mysterious impulse to go back and re-read Barbara Hambly’s Stranger at the wedding.
I can never remember the title of that book unless I’ve looked at it very recently. (The back-cover blurb on the paperback had “Sister Song” in large letters at the top, and for some reason that’s what always sticks in my head.) So in the course of looking it up on Amazon, I found that the author had published several more books in her James Asher Vampires series, which means that my reading list is probably sorted for quite a while to come.
Oh! And I’m also recommending the Sin Du Jour books by Matt Wallace. It’s about a catering service that provides meals for supernatural creatures hidden in the modern world. (What could possibly go wrong?) While it does have some slightly horrifying moments, it’s generally fun and reasonably light-hearted, with an ensemble cast of interesting, well-developed characters. I’ve finished the first two, and I need to pick up the rest.
I love the Sin du jour books. The last one comes out this year.
I am oh so slowly reading Complicated by Kristen Ashley. She is the kind of author I’d like to savor (borrowed word) in reading. So in between cleaning out the dining room hutch I’ll be taking a break with Kristen. The story centers around a recently divorced sheriff in Nebraska who loved his wife and didn’t want the divorce. The ex-wife appears to be a spoiled and controlling person who thinks she is teaching him a lesson. Well to bad for her because by chance her ex meets another woman and starts a relationship ( I hate that word) with her. There’s drama in the workplace because of it. Small town, everyone knows your business. The girlfriend works in a salon and is a singer on weekends. When the ex-wife finds out she tries to get her friends to cancel their appointments with the salon. Drama also at the police station between workers until a murder takes place and you can pick out from that who will stay and who will mosey down the road.
I really like Kristen Ashley as well. She is great to listen to.
I’ve been reading Victoria Laurie’s Ghoul series. And recently discovered the public library’s ebook borrowing system. God bless Overdrive.
In the meantime I’ve started to put my summer reads on hold at the library, Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer and there’s a spot for you Jenny. On the e-book side I discovered this week that I can put up to 99 recommendations in so I’ve been fairly busy with my contributions. When I put your name in the search it came back with 4 titles that the library does not own so I added them. If this keeps up I’ll never have to leave the house.
That’s my plan. And thank you for adding my books, too.
For those of you who might like to check out ebooks from your library but do not have a library card, see if your library allows you to apply for a card over the internet so you don’t actually have to show up at the library which can be a pain if your library is in the countryside and has weird opening hours. I recently noticed that my library allows for internet applications for cards.
A lot of big cities will do ecards for residents of their state as well. I have one for Philadelphia even though I have never been there, and their selection is phenomenal.
I have memberships in three library accounts. ((Cuts eyes to the left and right and whispers)) it’s still not enough.
My husband will not read kindle books so I “borrow” his number to be able to place extra holds and check out more when I am over my limit. In my defense, as soon as I finish a book, I do the return this book option so someone else can get it faster.
Bought the new Ian Rutledge, even though I’m in sunny SoCal and we don’t even have rain in the upcoming forecast, let alone snow and ice.
Let me know what you think. I think that’s the last one I’m buying, but I may just be very grumpy.
I am reading “Ian Fleming’s Commandos,” by Nicholas Rankin. It’s fascinating (I am weak on WWII history) and I recognize chunks of it from a TV thing on Fleming we saw recently.
“But $17 buys a lot of yarn.”
I read that as “But he’s a good author, so I expect $17 will buy me a really good tale” then realized you probably mean yarn as in … yarn.
Conclusion: I really know how to complicate things.
LOL, I never thought about that. Must be more careful in my word choice.
I read Love’s Not Colorblind, about race and polyamory, back to back with Sarah Dunn’s The Arrangement, about a dumb monogamous couple deciding on a DADT open relationship without even googling. A trans character is very normal but everyone’s responses are transphobic as heck.
Do cis mono people just have so little contact with queer culture, even in 2018??
Most of my contact comes from reading Captain Awkward.
It’s about 50-50 in most polling this year, so you’re just getting the trolls on the internet. 60% were against Trump’s trans ban in the military, about the same majority for legal protections. It’s changing so fast at this point that I think the reason the trolls come out is that they’re frightened that LGBT will be considered normal, and of course it is considered normal on both coasts. It just takes the middle awhile to catch up.
I think your contact point is key, though. I imagine it’s a LOT easier to come out of the closet in NY and CA that it is in Oklahoma, so a lot of the haters don’t realize that friends and family are part of the group they’re bashing.
also, of course, a lot of the non-cis peoples LEAVE the middle in order to go to the coasts where they feel like it safe(r) to come out.
I’m reading Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford. I’m not entirely sure why I’m reading it or even why I bought it (except that it was on sale and I apparently can’t resist ebook sales…), but it’s interesting.
I’m in the middle of re-reading the first Rockton book since the library got the new one surprisingly fast, and I’m racing the copy I put on hold. It’s already on the way to my branch.
Finished Deanna Raybourn’s A Treacherous Curse. That was really good. The more Veronica Speedwell books she writes, the more I like them. In fact, I prefer them to her Julia Grey series. Part of that is just that Veronica is more my kind of character, but I think it’s also that she and Stoker formed a true partnership very quickly. Julia and Nicholas took much longer to head toward that since he wasn’t enthusiastic about her sleuthing at first, and with the last book I remember in the series, they weren’t even quite there yet. Veronica and Stoker seemed to have that equal partnership almost from the start. It would be fantastic if she set one of the mysteries during the expedition to the South Pacific they’re planning. Once I find a lull in my current reading list, I want to track down some of the non-fiction about the Victorian female explorers Raybourn based Veronica on; the series has made me really curious about them.
I’m leery of the third Rockton because it evidently ends in a cliffhanger (per Amazon reviews) and I hate cliffhangers. Really enjoyed the first two, might just wait on the third.
A cliffhanger? Hate those. That’s not like her, either. It’s unlikely to be the mystery, probably something to do with other things going on in Casey’s life or the town. That would be annoying but not a deal-breaker for me. I trust her enough to risk it. Guess I’ll find out in about a week.
Plus it’s from Amazon reviews, not my experience. I did like the first two.
This is good to know. I bought the third, read a few pages, decided that it was going to be even darker than the second, and put it down. I love the characters and the concept but have trouble with so much darkness. I have been thinking of going back to it but a cliff hanger ending decides it for me. I won’t read it (at least not until the sequel gets here).
Instead, I have just bought Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook and will happily read about knitting until a good book drops in my lap.
Again, that was Amazon reviews, not from me reading it. But yeah, I need closure. I’m fine with not knowing what happens personally with all the characters, that’s just arcing over the series, but if there are questions left unanswered, I’m done. I do like what she did with the romance over the two books, and I really like the protagonist–good, strong woman–and she does great characters.
I just bought Crochet Geometry and that’s looking good: simple but with really interesting stitch patterns.
The library just told me it arrived, so I’ll probably update about whether there’s a cliffhanger next Thursday (if there is, I’ll need to vent). I skimmed a few Amazon reviews, and most of them said they didn’t want to call it a cliffhanger, just that things weren’t as settled as at the ends of the previous books. That sounds more like she’s raising questions to set up trouble for the next book(s) rather than leaving the mystery for this book unresolved. That seems encouraging. So, we’ll see.
The Amazon review thing is tricky. I ignored the reviews to read the latest Charles Todd/Ian Rutledge and wanted to throw it against the wall (didn’t, it’s on my iPad). So now I’m leery. Or I may just be grumpy; nothing I’ve read lately has been a read-again story, and several of them I got into and then skipped to the end to see if it got better. I made it to page 175 in the Todd book before I thought, “This is ridiculous,” and turned to the end and then tossed it (figuratively). If you’re more than halfway through a book and turn to the end and don’t recognize anybody the protagonist is talking to, something went wrong somewhere.
It’s not that much of a cliffhanger. There are some unanswered questions is all.
Barrayar. I’m really liking Bujold. There is something comforting about her writing – even with murder and meyhem. In fact, I’m reading when I should be writing. Bad Kate.
I’m reading ‘Wash this blood clean from my hand’, which is the fourth Commissaire Adamsberg mystery from French author Fred Vargas (who is a woman). Translations can be a bit dodgy sometimes, but I just love Vargas’s books. They remind me just a little of Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache series – maybe the French connection. Gorgeous writing, fascinating characters, gripping mysteries.
The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen. Comes out soon. I have an ARC. Very hard to put down.
All of this foul weather has translated into a good book week for me. I finished In Calabria and it was gorgeous and haunting. Loved it. Need to buy.
I have also been listening to Anne Stuart’s Ice books. I finished the first two. I always loved them, but it is lovely to revisit.
I am also almost through Show Your Work by Austen Kleon. I have perused some of his other books with mixed feelings, but this one is really resonating with me. I am finding lots of good advice. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to navigate social media.
Oh, and I finished J.D. Robb’s Secrets in Death. It was fun.
Oh, and I forgot! Tamora Pierce’s new book came out this week. It is next on my tbr list.
I finished that over the weekend, so I had to go back and re-read The Immortals series. I hope it doesn’t take too long for part 2 to come out…
I’m rereading my own current manuscript for the bazillianth time (proof edits, how I hate thee).
But tomorrow morning I get to start the new Tamora Pierce book, Tempests and Slaughter. Huzzah!
I have just started reading Year of Yes. So far it is funny and exactly right on. Her oldest sister told her “You never say yes ” and she wrote it off (oldest sister right) until later when she realized she would not have said yes to attending an awards ceremony and sitting with the Obamas if she had been given a choice. And she had a wonderful time. But if left to herself this is an experience she would have missed because she would not have said yes. I can hardly wait to see where she goes with this.
Maria Headley or Shonda Rhimes?
Shonda Rhimes. It was good. The first part was the best. Laugh out loud. Towards the end it became predictable. She has a writing style where she repeats sentences or phrases which works at first then doesn’t work as well. It reads as though she dictated it then had someone else type it. But she made some very interesting observations about the nature or writers and fame. I would recommend it.
A giant thank you to the person who recommended the Napoleonic era spies in London- I’m working my way through my second, and the library just handed me another. Joanna Bourne is the author, and the books hit a sweet spot for me; twisty, engaging, and people are clever! and respect cleverness in others! I like them a lot.
Also I had forgotten how wonderful the intersection of ebooks and libraries is. The library will 1. put my ebooks in lists 2. check them out to me when it is my turn and 3. return them automatically when my time is up – no lines, no fines, no fuss… this IS the future!
Joanna Bourne’s books are delightful. Intelligent protagonists!
I’m about a quarter of the way through The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design by Lance Hosey and I’m finding myself wishing it were a paper book rather than an Ebook because I want to highlight sections and write so very many notes in the margins* – both emphatically agreeing with what he’s saying and occasionally arguing strenuously that he’s simplifying issues or just (imo) totally off base. I’ve been driving my family insane by looking up from this one and saying “Oh wow! Let me read you this bit –”
I really do love when nonfiction books stretch my brain, make me really think about the subject, and leave me examining both accepted norms and my personal opinions. Reading this book is like turning lights on in dark rooms and then finding doors you didn’t know existed that lead into rooms you were unaware of and before you know it you’re boggling in amazement because was your house always this large and you just never noticed? Anyway, if you’re at all interested in design or ecology I highly highly recommend it. (Actually, I recommend it even if you’re not!)
*Yes, I know my Kindle can technically do this, but the bugger is 6 and a half years old and that feature is slow and frustrating.
Thanks for the recommendation. On it!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!
I just read the latest novella in the McMaster Bujold series about Penric and Desdemona. They’re not as complicated or deep as some of the Vorkosigan titles but I sure do love that woman’s books.
Me too. It’s a treat getting the novellas in between the novels.
I am finishing the second book of the Akata Witch series by Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian-American writer in the Afrofuturism genre. On 2 library wait lists for her other series, Binti. Fantastic writing – it’s been a long time since I read a book that pulled me into such a vivid, exotic world.
I just finished reading Binti, and it was pretty wonderful. More of a novella than a novel, it referenced a number of things you seldom run across in mainstream YA fiction — the Himbe people of Namibia, for example, and complex jellyfish. I hope to read more of her books.
Love the Binti books! Waiting for the third one to be available; long long reserves for ebooks. Similarly waiting for Akata Warrior. Apparently everyone has suddenly discovered Okorafor.