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This is a Good Book Thursday, January 9, 2025

This week, in an attempt to keep depression at bay, I read Terry Pratchett and Crusie-Mayer. It’s working.

What did you read this week?

224 Responses

  1. I read Brat Farrar, and although it doesn’t supplant Daughter of Time as my favourite Josephine Tey, it comes in as a solid second. Veddy veddy British but charmingly so, and just such a well-written mystery, great character study and beautifully plotted novel. I know several others from Argh were reading this – what did you think?

    I also read Tessa Bailey’s Window Shopping, thank you to Melissa CP for recommending it. Christmasy fun. Although she doesn’t write as well as Ali Hazelwood, there would no annoying male/female dynamics. Combine the two of them and you’d get the perfect F/M romance novel. The window decorating from the female MC was marvellous competence porn; I could have read a whole book of that alone.

    I also read two by Kaje Harper in the Hidden Wolves series. MM romance with shifter wolves but very no nonsense, very little magic, no super strengths, etc. – they even go to hockey games like everyone else in Minnesota. However, as Chacha1 points out, it’s a bit grim as a series, so I will take a break before continuing.

    And have started The Nightmare Before Kissmas; thoroughly enjoying so far!

    Like Christina, I’m saving the new Ari Baran for a good extended curl-up by the fire; I bet Dodo has gobbled the whole thing up already…

    1. Actually, Tammy, I haven’t gobbled up the new Baran yet. I’ve got a nasty cold and the overactive sinuses make reading no fun.
      However, I’ve downloaded the book as soon as it dropped, after I noticed that no automatic download was happening because once again amazon had nixed my preorder the day before. Grrr. I’ve also got the prequel novellas (via newsletter).

      Have only read reading samples of new books – the new hockey title Monumental by AE Jensen (yay, ace rep!!!), Untouchable Player (debut) and sort of speed read through Promises of Forever by Nicky James and the reading sample of the follow-up.
      I’ve decided to take a break from KU -my tbr pile of e- and real books is impressive enough- but will likely cave in eventually as the cost of the books I have in sight adds up fast.

        1. CM Nascosta’s Two for Tea has a main character who is ace, if you don’t mind that they are also nonbinary and not human.

          The FMC is demi. It’s also a book largely about grief (loss is off screen) and ends HFN rather than HEA, but with another installment coming for the loose ends, so I wasn’t bothered.

        2. Sue,
          what fascinated me with Monumental is that one hardly ever finds a sports book with ace rep. With all that brimming testosterone (at least in romances), most authors make the guys into very sexually active types. Not always my favourite approach.

          I sadly haven’t come across many ace books – as demi seems to be clustered into the ace specrtum, I’ve included titles with demi MCs:

          Ace: Last year, I read Skin and Bones by Sophia Soames, book 3 in the London Love series. This is dealing with heavy stuff (domestic abuse, the ace MC had suffered a brain injury as young rugby player with lasting effects; hospitality background, found family, all of them have some burden to carry). I hadn’t read the previous ones and you feel the missing info but it can still be enjoyed as a kind of stand alone. And if it clicks, one has a growing series to enjoy.

          The kid and her book loving best friend read Loveless by Alice Oseman and liked it a lot. I haven’t read it yet, it’s YA which I read sparsely as I’m slightly older myself and not always in the mood for YA 😉
          Upside Down by N.R. Walker is often recommended – I have it on my list, but not read yet. Walker is sometimes too sweet for me, but rarely dissapoints completely.

          Demi: one of my favs is Dipped in Sunshine by Fearne Hill avout a surfer/surfing instructure who was in love with his bff but this never worked out (the bff was too obnoxious to notice). MC is a complete cinnamon roll yet struggles with with vatious problems most of which are caused by not realizing he’s demi. I love the main MC, he’s someone I would love to know in real life.

          One of the reading samples I read lately also has an MC who’s at least demi: A Series of Rooms by AJ Barlowe. Heavier stuff with one MC being an unvoluntary rent boy, the other a virgin. Intriguing and the reviews sound good, but as it’s a bit pricey without KU, I’ve put it on my tbr list for the near future.

          I’m sure, others have far more rexmcs – I’m very interested myself what’s out there. Tammy, ChaCha1, other Arghers, can you help??

          1. I’m generally not fond of books with asexual characters because I like a little heat with my romance but.,,Taylor Fitzpatrick has a character called Vinny who is ace and has a romance with Anton on A03.

          2. Catherine Cloud’s latest “Call it Home” has two MCs who are not labeled as ace, however I was struck by their lack of preoccupation with sex. No testosterone overload in this novel at all. My personal preference is for more passion in romance stories but this one is very well done emotionally and neither MC seems to care much about sex. Maybe it fits the bill?

          3. Thank you everyone for all the recommendations! I’m going to have fun checking them out. It’s so interesting that a lot of them are ones that are new to me, even though I search for ace books pretty regularly.

            I agree about feeling a bit too old for YA sometimes, though they can be fun. I prefer ace over demi, because when it’s an ace book, I want the steam to stay low. However, it’s still nice to have rep either way, and it’s not much different than reading straight romance, which I do too.

            TJ Klune is great, and I have read NR Walker, so those are spot on. And the Petticoats and Piracy is well done and also different, nice for variety.

            I thought I’d share some too, ones that aren’t on every single ace list:

            Hockey and demi: Time to Shine – Rachel Reid. Has some steam.

            Great series with interconnected characters–the ace one is All the Wrong Places – Ann Gallagher

            Small town cozy m/m romance series–the ace one is Best Laid Plans – Roan Parrish

            For the ones who like a more tortured backstory/current story, this one had a different take: Blue Steel Chain – Alex Beecroft

            And I will always recommend MCA Hogarth. Mindtouch is a good place to start. Found family/ace vibes, cozy academia–in space! A huge canon to explore.

        3. A few to add to the list:

          “How to Be a Normal Person” by TJ Klune – grumpy meets asexual hipster with the help of a magical website. LOL funny. (The sequel “How to be a Movie Star” features a demi MMC. For a change of mood, Klune’s super angsty “Heartsong” also has an ace MMC).

          “At the Feet of the Sun” by Victoria Goddard makes it clear that Kip is asexual, even if he is willing to take lovers. I love this book but I would definitely start with “Hands of the Emperor”.

          “The Perfect Assassin” by KA Doore – queernorm fantasy with an m/m romance and an ace MC

          There’s also “The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy” by Mackenzi Lee, which isn’t my sense of humor but if the teaser works for you, it has a rare ace FMC.

          1. Loved it. Best in that series I think, but it has a lot of the things I like. It is darker than Home Ice Advantage. I wrote a little more below but kept it brief as I know you guys are waiting to read it.

          2. Ooohhh that sounds delicious! Will read after Kissmuss. Plus Jesse Reign, a fave author has published her first MM hockey romance. We shall see…

          3. Tammy, I’m just reading the sample of the new Reign book. Reads nicely, though any book about rivals automatically reminds me of Heated Rivalry and that’s probably unfair as I love that story to bits (unexpectedly loved this as my steam level doesn’t need to be high, yes, I’m cinnamon roll-eddicted, i.e. into more boring stuff).

          5. Tammy, I was already “warned” by a friend lol.
            Within the first chapter, the MCs – new team mates – had a fight on the ice, shortly after another kn ghe locker room, followed soon after by an interesting shower scene that jad me wonder how someone can see the cheeks and chest of someone standing under the opposi g shower head AND his back tattoo st the same time.
            Yes, that’s me, thinking about details/logistics or however you’s call it instead of feeling the heat. Nerdy much.

      3. Dodo, I’m sorry to hear about the nasty cold! If it makes you happy I’ve now added all three of the books you mentioned to my ever growing wish list.

        1. One caveat: zhe debut, Untouchable Player, might be less up to hockey standards… probsbly not much hockey, in general nice, but I will get it as KU, wouldn’t buy it judging from the sample.

    2. I love Brat Farrar, really good suspense (especially as I can never remember which way it is going to go!).
      The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart is inspired by it, and refers to it, I think. Lovely Northumberland setting (England). Hated it the first time Iread it and have loved it since.

    3. Brat Farrah has been my favorite Tey since I first read it many decades ago.

      2. Another Brat Farrer fan here. It may be my favorite Tey.

        On a related note, it’s interesting that two of her seven mysteries do not have a murder and a third has a centuries old one. Those three may be her best although I like all her books. It makes me think that more authors should write mysteries without murders.

    4. I’m glad you enjoyed Window Shopping! The windows were fun!
      I agree that Brat Farrer is a good one, too. There was a Masterpiece Mystery show in the 80’s of it that was super. I’ve looked and sadly don’t think it’s available for viewing. I think Daughter of Time should be required in school to open student’s minds to fake news. It was certainly eye opening for me.

      1. Yes when I read it many years ago it had the same effect on me. Was why I was interested in the movie that came out two years ago about the layperson who figured out where Richard’s remains were, coordinated the finding and effort to get them dug up and the watched as the U of Leicester bypassed her and took all the credit.

          1. I’m sure they did. But I did a little bit of research post the movie and came to the same conclusion which is that U of L didn’t give her much credit at all because they did all the heavy lifting. But that was after she did all the research to identify where his remains were. Without her, there is no story or triumph.

      2. I enjoyed “Daughter of Time” but found the starting premise that one can telling from looking at someone whether they’re a villain a bit much.

  2. I loved the way Tey wrote her characters in Brat Farrar. Even the very minor ones had such dimension. And the main characters were brilliant I thought.

  3. You guys introduced me to Brat Farrar. One of my all-time favorites.

    Another book you introduced me to was Expecting Someone Taller. Jenny, you might find a reread of good for brushing away the blues.

      1. I read several of the Tom Holt humorous books (including Expecting), although I see from Wikipedia that he’s written many more. I knew that he also wrote more serious fantasy as K.J. Parker, but I haven’t read those. I just found out from Wikipedia that he has also written straight historicals as Thomas Holt. There are Too Many Books to Read!

  4. I’m rereading Maybe This Time to try and counteract my blues. It kept me company last night when I couldn’t fall asleep until 2 am.

    Also enjoying Nobody’s Perfect by Sally Kilpatrick, another auto-buy author. Middle-aged protagonist trying to find her way through an unexpected divorce while going viral online because of a video she posted. Lots of fun with believable characters.

      2. The protagonist is 44, and just figuring out some ways she went wrong with her life. She’s not presented as a disaster (I hate that trope), just a regular person who made some mistakes. It has some funny bits (although not as much as the author’s usual books) and lots of sweet stuff. Very identifiable.

  5. I finished listening to The Thursday Murder Club (it outlasted our road trip). Delightful. Alicia Keys interviews Richard Osmand at the end of the audio book, and listening to them is just as delightful as the book.

    Currently reading In Too Deep by Lee Child and Andrew child. Before bed. Not sure how I force myself to stop, but I do, so I’m that tired I guess.

    1. I’ve read all of Richard Osman’s books, the follow up’s to Thursday Murder Club, and his latest one, and there’s a new Thursday due out this year, they are so so good, love how he writes his characters – it’s being dramatised by netflix I believe, due out this year. Hope you read the rest of them, I don’t think they will disappoint.

      1. I was thinking yesterday of hitting up the library for them! I want to read TMC because I was driving while listening, and feel like I missed the actual solve.

        The characters are fabulous!

  6. Best read of the week was “Call it Home” by Catherine Cloud: a very slow burn M/M hockey teammates romance. Lots of hockey, lots of hanging out with hockey players and only middling amount of angst. This goes on the reread pile with the rest of Cloud’s books, even though it isn’t my top top one, it is very good.

    I then reread Rachel Reid’s hockey M/M romances: Heated Rivalry and The Long Game. Still loved them both.

    While on the go, I have been listening to hockey podcasts which have been fun, not just Henrik Lundqvist’s “Club 30”, but “32 Thoughts” and “Empty Netters”. Am looking for more good ones. Not sure why but I find myself addicted to listening to people talk about hockey and interviews with the players.

    1. I love Catherine Cloud’s slow pace and hanging out with hockey players, though I do tend to mix the books up in my head (except Adrian Brody which is a favourite, and different as one MC didn’t do hockey).

      1. I have the same problem — I find it very hard to recall which book is which (except Adrian Brody) and when I go back to check I end up rereading them. And I love them all over again. And then I STILL mix them up! 🙂

        1. FrozenPond and Christina,
          you really peaked my interest – when had Adrian Brody ever been made the MC of a hockey romance??
          Well, I could imagine him throwing himself into becoming a hockey pro (and probably making his long beak even more crooked) LOL.

          I’ve definitely now looked up the title of his book and now have Adrian Bradley’s Best Mistake on my tbr list. I guess even with the many mediocre hockey-veneer titles flooding the market, there’re still enough books by good to excellent writers to fuel my reading passion…

          1. Yes, Adrian Bradley not Brody. I have trouble remembering characters names and that sounded right to me. 🙂
            I didn’t even know who Adrian Brody was until I googled him just now. Recognize the face, totally would NEVER have come up with his name. Ha!Sorry for the confusion Dodo.
            As for Catherine Cloud — ALL her books (she is Ao3 SameOldStreets) are at the very top of my favorite hockey books along with Taylor Fitzpatrick. And I would add Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry and The Long Game, of course to that top tier, of course.

    2. Christina,
      thanks for the podcast recs!!
      Henrik Lundquist’s is great, he’s got such a great voice and demeanor.
      One I’ve been listening quite a bit is Wild on 7th. The two guys there obviously focus on the Minnesota Wild team with players and even wags being interviewed. While I still would like the Oilers to finally bring the Cup to Canada, the Wild have grown on me a lot. My loyalty has not found its ONE team (apart from my local DEL team), so the Bruins have taken a backseat this season. The whole organization seems quite good, Flower is on the team, and even their top Russian seems to be not your stereotypical Russian (according to colleague Middleton). And they have a great Social Media team, featuring their players in various interesting formats: their xmas photo shoot was hilarious without being cringey.

      1. Oh yay! Thank you for the rec! I have just put it on my podcast list. The Wild are very much in my top teams — I too have split team loyalties. 🙂 The Oilers take top loyalty (I definitely watch all their games either live or the next day) but I am loving watching these “rebuilding” teams and the amazing young talent there.

        1. Let’s not discount the Leafs quite yet!! And hey the Jets are ahead of them both right now. It’s just that no one outside Winnipeg is rooting for them. Winnipeg who??

          1. I watch the Leafs too! They are in the top 5 for sure and I try to catch most of their games. For some reason I find it hard to get excited about the Jets. Strange cause they are definitely playing great hockey…

          2. I like the Jets, but I know too little of them. A friend of mine spent one year as phd student in Winnipeg and remembers this time VERY fondly.

            Sometime early in 2023, around the start of this new hobby, I started out by rooting for the teams with co-patriots on their team (Kraken and Sabres in particular since Gru and JJ are both Bavarians, Oilers because of Drai, Senators more in nostalgia for Rachel Reid’s series, but Stützle is there, too. Nico Sturm with the Sharks had less impact though he was an integral part of our Silver medal team in 2023 – the Sharks have become real fun with the many young players, but my fav is toothless Mario). The Wild only have an Austrian on their team but seem overall so much fun. And they have Flower!!
            My heart usually belongs to the underdog teams, so the Leafs with their 3 big superstars are simply not that much in my sight. But I keep my fingers crossed for the Cup to finally come back to Canada.

          3. I think the Leafs deserve underdog status because they crash and burn up in every playoffs and haven’t won the Cup since 1952.

    3. Christina, if you really do like listening to podcasts about hockey I do think you would like Shoresy.

      1. I enjoyed what I watched of Shoresy! I found it hilarious even though I missed a lot of it cause the dialogue is so quick. My husband gave up on it for that reason so I watch when he is not in a tv mood. I think I will have to go back and watch again. Such a wonderfully filthy show!

  7. First book of the week ‘Wed to the Barbarian’, Keira Andrews irritated me a lot! I liked the first part, and the MC (MC2 was pretty awful, but that was the point). Made it to 80%, was losing interest but kept going, just to see how the multiple plotlines could be tied up in a few pages. SPOILER they weren’t. I got to the last page and discovered it was effectively a part 1 of 2 rather than the first in a series. I was cross. Presumably I could have found this out with more background checking, but I don’t like to know too much about books before I start them.. Rant over now, but I won’t be reading the second.

    My first trip into the omegaverse worked out fine. Of course, I had to consult Wikipedia to find out how it all worked but I started with Marina Vivancos ‘Fresh Ice’ which had hockey to keep me interested. Verdict, I’m ok with omegaverse, it won’t put me off other books, but this one was kind of light. The plot wasn’t too complex. I may continue the series at some point but I’m not diving into it.

    Finally, Ari Baran’s new one, ‘Goaltender Interference’. This one will in my top books for 2025. It has taken over from Game Misconduct as my favourite of the series. It is quite similar in tone to Game Misconduct, and so is pretty intense. Loved it and will reread many times. Won’t say more as I know there will be others waiting to read it.

    1. If you’re ready for a more complex hockey crossover to the omegaverse world, you might try NJ Lysk’s Cracking Ice, which is a seven novella series, complete with the political complications of l that world, as well as a long arc romance,

      1. Thanks Tammy. I love political complications! Combining that with hockey sounds intriguing.

  8. I am reading Mary Balogh’s new novel, Remember When, Martha Beck’s new self-help, Beyond Anxiety. and Lucy Worsley’s biography of Jane Austen: Jane Austen at Home. Yes, all of them, depending on mood. I am loving the bio of Jane. So unlike her sunny funny novels.

  9. I mentioned (yesterday?) that I thought I was rereading Deborah Blake’s Baba Yaga series, but realized I had never read it, so I’m getting ready to start Book 3. Very enjoyable!

    I also read Jayne Ann Krentz’ new release Shattering Dawn. Very predictable, but a comfort read nonetheless.

    Reading Mercedes Lackey’s new Elemental, Miss Amelia’s List, and am finding it so-so. It’s set in the Regency period.

    2. Miss Amelia seemed less plot and more description. I did enjoy the historical details, and how she set up her magical world, but it felt like that was all there was for most of the book and that all the action occurred in the last tenth of the book? Doesn’t mean I won’t read the next one.

  10. From all the comments so far, I can see we are all deep into our seasonal depression. In my case, it has been accentuated by something really really annoying that happened at work. What makes it even more annoying is that I am partially to blame for it.

    So I have just finished a reread of Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson. It is like an injection of sunshine straight into my brain.

    Books are definitely both my drug and my medecine.

    2. Oooh! I like Ibbotson (at least the children’s books I read as a child), gotta check this one out.

  11. Finally started re-reading ‘Godchildren’ by Nicholas Coleridge, spent years trying to remember his name, and then, a lightbulb came in, somewhere in this deep dark place I call a mind, and some very fast ebaying ensued. I loved this book when I first read it, and I just know I’m going to enjoy rereading every word. Never heard of Brat Farrar, but judging from the comments on her it’s one I will definitely be considering getting. Many thanks.

    Sending big hugs to you too Jennifer, depression is a terrible thing, have experience it myself and well, let’s face it, nothing bad about a hug or two a day is there…..

  12. I was somewhat disappointed with myself when I looked at my year-end reading wrap up. I played it very very safe, lots of comfort, not much experimentation and while I have made it a rule to let myself enjoy my reading and follow where the urge takes me, I feel like I might have missed out on some good stuff that I would have greatly enjoyed last year. So I got out my list from GBT and cross referenced it against all of my media sources. A wonderful friend shared her big city library card with me, so my reach is wider now. I have holds and likes and lists.

    I finished A Nightmare Before Kissmas last week and really enjoyed it. It’s not a perfect 10 for me, but at least a solid 8.5. I would have liked more wrap up on the conflicts, but there is another book coming and I will read it, so maybe I will get my emotional satisfaction there. I will also be rereading this one, because there are some wonderful lines about grief and joy that I want to write down. I do feel that the title and cover for this one do it a disservice. It doesn’t feel like a holiday romance at all to me, much more serious and weighty. Political/court drama, with a very lovely romance. Would recommend to fans of Neon Gods.

    And then I relistened to Forthright, because I couldn’t decide on something new.

    And then my hold on Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross came in and I almost quailed because I almost never do YA anymore and the cover looked very serious and the audiobook is over 10 hours long. But I am in the first quarter of the book, am completely engaged and looking forward to picking it up again. This is another book that is hard to define. The MCs are young, but it doesn’t feel like YA. Maybe NA, but with a slightly magical steampunkesqe setting? Anyway, so far so good. Thanks to whoever recommended it.

    And then my husband and I got into a debate about whether a Wendigo and a revenant were the same thing. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know how it started. They are not the same, thank you very much and a Wendigo would totally win in a fight. But then I had to troll through KU and read him all the silly titles for the dark monster romances involving said ravenous undead. Hubby was greatly amused, especially by Love, Laugh, Lich. There are lots more smut books about Wedingos and Lichs than there are about revenants by the way. I call cultural bias. So I went down a rabbit hole of reading some of those. So far they have all been terrible, but I am amused.

    1. Less what I read this week (basically The Administration saga) and more a round up of recent-ish five star reads I have somehow previously neglected to mention.

      Re-read “A Taste of Gold and Iron” by Alexandra Rowland, a reminder of how differently the characters see the country so maligned in “Running Close to the Wind”, and it made me just as happy as it did the first time. I love the politics, the economics, the way magic subtly influences everything, the culture clash and the oh-so swoonworthy romance. Fealty is close to Rowland’s heart and it shows.

      “A Lady for a Duke” by Alexis Hall is my favorite thing he’s written since Arden St Ives, even though its not a perfect book. A M/F queer historical, gorgeous and funny and angsty and achingly romantic. The affectionate banter between the FMC and her sister-in-law is particularly hilarious. The MMC’s arc didn’t quite feel resolved for me, but I’m not sure if that was my expectations getting in the way – will be curious to see how I feel on the re-read.

      Cherise Sinclair’s contemporary paranormal poly romance Wild Hunt series is oddly cozy despite demons and terrorists etc – a seriously neat trick. “Heart of the Wolf” is an m/m/m/f romance centered around re-building a broken community, pure competence porn including an accountant FMC described as “sturdy”. The whole series is a comfort read for me.

      I’m not a big graphic novel reader, nonetheless Korean-American “49 Days” by Agnes Lee, really spoke to me as a meditation on grief. Effective and evocative, even if it took me a little while to get what was happening, the art is gorgeous, and I loved how the family bonded around the shared experience of kim-chi. Thank-you so much for the recc, Kelly J.

        1. I read some of hers years ago because my cousin liked them, but BDSM and sex clubs have never worked for me. I will have to try her again if she branched out to weres. And while I am not apposed to reverse harem, it is hard to do well. Usually it’s like the seven dwarves. There is Doc and Dopy and five others who nobody remembers…

          1. LOL, it does seem like a lot but I liked how the FMC had distinct relationships with each of the MMCs (btw there’s no m/m action because brothers YKINMKATO)

            Sinclair has written a lot of bdsm, plus now has six paranormal books (all poly as the basic set-up is a gender imbalance), and four straight (m/f minimal kink) contemporaries in the Alaska-set Sons of the Survivalist series, all of which I’ve enjoyed.

      2. Lupe, my husband likes to try to irritate me by asking about what book I’m reading by saying: “ Is that the one where the hockey-playing shifter chipmunk lawyer hooks up with the alien billionaire with tentacles who is one quarter demon?”

        2. I am reminded of the semi-famous quote, from a review of a real book:

          Yes, Alaric is a vampire. And he shapeshifts into a wolf. Alaric is also an Elf. It also turns out that Elves are aliens from the planet Telvron, where there are also sentient trees and unicorns. And he’s telepathic too, because he talks to his brother Marti’el that way. So that makes Alaric an alien vampire werewolf psychic writer. Got that? Good. That way you won’t get confuzzled when he becomes a pirate.

          From: https://crevette.livejournal.com/113659.html

      4. I’m so glad 49 Days spoke to you too, Yuri. I thought it was incredibly well done, and one of those books that couldn’t have been any other format. It’s completely different in style/tone/subject, but Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall was another of my fav graphic novels last year.

        1. Thanks for the recc – looks good: “With magic, broom riding, and a tale of resistance against oppression and protecting your community”. Adding it to my tbr 🙂

      1. Lol! Whereas I was thinking they sounded interesting and Lupe, you must keep me posted on any good ones. Versus purely amusing.

        1. Well, the very short one I read so far redeemed said dread bestie by saying he was a lust Wendigo, not a cannibal one. Which is cheating.

      2. Sometimes I read these things just because I want to see how the author tries to make it work. A lot of the time it doesn’t, or they just ignore the beast mythology completely and he is just a horny guy. It’s like spooky drag rather than a plot device :/

      1. Sad they canceled Wynonna far too soon! Also annoyed because I accidentally deleted the series finale and still haven’t seen it (although I did hear about it). Hopefully SyFy will replay it someday soon.

        1. But in case anyone is not familiar with it, Wynonna is descended from Wyatt, and she is a kickass sharpshooter whose mission is to take care of the bad guys in her town. Vampires, zombies, fallen angels oh my. Humor galore. Lots of positive relationships that come in all forms. Reminds me of a profanity and sex laden Buffy the Vampire Slayer set in a modern day Wild West

  13. I reread Coaching the Nerd by Eli Easton & Tara Lain, which was fun but reminded me of another story I thought was better – The Amazing Alpha Tau Boyfriend Project. Turned out I’d read it with my free trial of KU a year or so ago, so I’ve ended up buying four of the series (they’re all self-contained). Favourite is the second, The Amazing Alpha Tau Self-Improvement Project, because Marty’s such a wonderful character, and it’s so funny. (M/m romcoms.)

    1. Totally agree with you, Marty in thf Alpha Tau books id a great character! I difn’t like him much in book 1, so it was especially nice how completely he won me over in his own book. Lisa Henry announced that she and Sarah Honey will write/publish an Alpha Tau adjacent series soon.

  14. Not reading, on a seven day Daniel fast from stuff and food. (A short break to post) I did buy a new book. Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. By Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross. “Compelling research shows how engaging in an art project for as little as forty-five minutes reduces the stress hormone cortisol, no master your skill level…” I’m looking for reading it. The tuning fork vibrations create sound waves to counteract stress sound intriguing.

    I’m will finish the reread of Traitor’s Purse. Will get a couple of Josephine Tey books after the fast. So far the coffee withdrawal has given me a booming headache.

    1. Sympathy for your headache, Carol!!! Two articles this week said that coffee is good for you, but only if you drink it in the morning.

    2. I’m up and discovered the grammar mistakes in the post. That’s what happens when typing in bed at whatever time that was on the west coast. You all are smart and got the “no matter the skill” and “looking forward to reading it.” Mom was such a stickler about grammar.

      Thanks Jan. Headache gone now that I’m up and hydrated. Will have a coffee Monday morning.

  15. I picked up the last Bridgerton book. I didn’t know if I was tired of things, or just wanting to be a completest but I wasn’t anticipating enjoying it. But it turns out that Gregory’s story has been interesting. He’s finally figured out who he wants, who wants him, and his family are behind things. Now to see whether other obligations will stop the HEA. (of course it won’t – I have faith).

    I should probably read something more modern after this. I’ve spent a lot of time in that mind set.

  17. I reread Bet Me by Jenny, and enjoyed it, again. I remember when those studies about men came out. I was post-divorce, and dating, again. The three interests of men: sex, sports, and work, leading to dating professional cheerleaders, was hilarious. I had been dabbling in essential oils for about five years, and remember trying to create a combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves (pumpkin pie), and lavender that didn’t smell wonky, and wouldn’t burn a hole in my skin where I applied it. That was not happening.

    I love Min’s sharp wit, and Calvin’s exasperation at the way fate is throwing them together. The three Elvises are a great touch. The cat is so endearing and protective. Cynthia and David are just annoying enough. The parents are completely plausible, and scary, and I just want to hug Harry.

    1. I can’t believe Hollywood wanted a thin Min. Or I can believe it, but it completely changes the character and the story. I would have liked to see a Bet Me movie (still would!), but that wouldn’t have been a Bet Me movie.

      1. I agree, Jeanine. Jenny was right to refuse. The”fat” theme is part of the dynamic between Min and her mother, and Diana and their mother, and it also figures into David’s warped view of Min. You so seldom see a healthy, curvy, female lead in movies.

      2. They probably would have put the slender lead in glasses, and that would have been her major flaw. Or made her clumsy because, you know, she wears glasses. Sigh.

        I would like to think that Bet Me would be better interpreted into film better in this era, but who knows?

      3. It’s Hollywood, back in the day, they wanted to remove death from Mort… Terry Pratchett was not amused

  18. Oh gosh, you guys!

    I’m still trying to figure out what on earth “ace rep” means.

    (You can see why I’m re-reading Georgette Heyer books.) It took me two weeks to slog through the first 150 pages of “Bath Tangle” until the depression of displacement from the childhood home was over, then the endless Wrong Boyfriend stuff was almost over. I’m finally reading the Good Part.

    Sheesh.

    1. Lol, asexual representation, Jinx. Which I totally get.
      Aro rep – aromantic representation. That I find a more difficult concept.
      Demi – emotional connection needed for secmxual attraction to kick in.
      As always, there’s no strict b/w: ace doesn’t necessarily rule out sexual activity (with oneself, eizh one’s partner), but ace woman would definitely not get a dripping wet panty by the sight/thought of the super hot MMC… a description sometimes found in FM romances.

      1. Thank you for the reply, Dodo!

        (Not that I’ve ever read a book that requires such descriptors, but you know …..

        When a stranger in a strange land, accept and sightsee a bit, but move right on. . . .

        1. Oh, usually one wouldn’t need to know all this stuff about ace, aro etc, but in the rainbow section of romance, there are many sub categories and I guess it’s good to announce an ace rep for an mm hockey title as not to disappoint readers who’re used to those books being more spicy.

          2. Or one wishes to be a safe person for people in ones life who may be part of the rainbow community. Then, knowledge is caring.

          3. What Alanna said!

            Also, having the chance to be “inside” of a character that is “labelled” increases at least my empathy tremendously, especially when their personality is very different from mine – sometimes also when their quirky or weird personality surprisingly is very similar to mine: lately I really loved reading about ADHD personalities (Marty from the Amazing Alpha Tau Improvement book by Henry/Honey) or the weird goalies in Reid’s Time to Shine or the pre-Goaltender-Interference-novellas by Ari Baran.

            Then it’s a small step to caring (a lot).

        2. Love your last comment, Jinx. I find a wide variation in the intersection between my reading interests and the Argh reader community which I enjoy. As I have certainly dipped into a lot of new (to me) genres on a ‘sightseeing’ basis because of recommendations, even if I have then moved on…

    1. I’ve read that a couple of times and liked it, but not recently, so I don’t know how much it has aged. Unless the TV version was alt hist, that version must have had a lot of updating.

  20. I read Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown. I will not be reading any of his other work. I intensely dislike an unreliable narrator.

    SPOILER ALERT**

    The protagonist blames a woman for his unhappiness and come to find out it’s something he did that caused the rift. After spending 80% of the book thinking she was fickle and unreliable, it was him. Also another Big Misunderstanding. Yeah, you could have talked that out… Plus a last-minute twist that changes everything and cops that don’t think for themselves…

    Nope, nope, nope. Moving on.

  21. I wrote long comments and only got a couple of them done, so my backlog is growing!

    •Ali Hazelwood, Love Theoretically,  2023.

    Boston theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway is stuck in the miserable grind of adjunct faculty, working as a part-time instructor at multiple colleges and universities.  For somewhat unconvincing motives (passed over here because spoilers), Elsie feels obliged to stay in the Boston area for extended-family reasons, and there are no open theoretical physics jobs to be had locally—in part because in the novel’s universe, relevant funding is declining.  In the Real World, per a quick net search, it is unclear that there is in fact a decline.  If there indeed is, it likely is due to the theorists’ perceived obsession with purely mathematical constructs and inability to come up with testable theory, an argument explained to the general public in Sabine Hossenfelder’s excellent Lost in Math (2018).  In novel, however,  the proximate cause is actually an article written by Jack Smith, now an experimental physicist at MIT, which bamboozled the editor of a prestigious theoretical physics journal into publishing it despite its being utter nonsense,  which in turn made the whole theoretical-physics discipline look incompetent.  The disgraced and fired journal editor, who retains his tenured university chair, is now Elsie’s mentor.  Elsie is now in competition for a full-time physics position at MIT with the candidate favored by the experimentalists.  As yet another complication,  Elsie is eking out her pitiful income from adjunct teaching by working for a fake-dating service providing “girlfriends” (but not sex) to clients needing to produce a companion for professional or family reasons.  In the case at hand, Elsie is passing as the “fiancée” of Jack’s younger brother.  In an exception to what I earlier called the inevitable outcome in genre romance of fake dating, this time Jack (and not the brother) is swept in.  Still more complications ensue.  I thought there were multiple points of implausiblity here, but I managed to suspend disbelief, given Hazelwood’s usual writing virtues plus a lot of interesting background on science career tracks and dead ends.  Recommended.

    •My Neighbor Totoro (classic Miyazaki anime, 1988; Disney dub 2005).  A fantasy film in which sisters aged about 10 and 4 move to the country and there meet a huge but friendly magical creature, Totoro, visible only to children, who leads them on adventures and helps them with their problems, sometimes with effects visible even to adults.  The setting is a bit confusing both in time and space.  Temporally, I was first inclined to place the story either in the 1930s or just after WWII. The one appliance that the family has brought along is a huge console radio, and the girls’ mother is in a hospital a few miles from the house, to which she obviously has been moved for the country air.  She presumably has tuberculosis,  which I thought was curable through antibiotics by the late forties. Nonetheless,  the setting is the 1950s.  TB was curable (and in the illustrations with the closing credits, the mother is shown healthy and home with her family), but the antibiotics cure had a slower roll-out and required a longer course of treatment than I had thought.  Japanese broadcast television started in the early 1950s but took a few years for general uptake, making 1955 or so the most plausible date for the temporal setting, despite mutually inconsistent clues pointing to various other years.

    In space, the moving-in scenes make the rural location look like the back of beyond, but it turns out to be in the exurbs of Tokyo, within commuting distance for the girls’ father, a university professor.  It’s possible to phone him in Tokyo in an emergency,  but making the call involves contacting the operator (even on a dial phone), then hanging up and waiting for the operator to ring back when the call is set up.  (I’ve seen this procedure in movies from other countries, but I never experienced it, even before my parents’ phone was switched to a dial one.)  The sisters are allowed to range pretty freely over the countryside despite their age, although this may be in part because of their overstretched father and the flagging energy and multiple responsibilities of their aged minder, called Granny in the Disney dub and Nanny in the subtitles (an earlier dub preceded the Disney one but I have not heard it). I could go on at length about childhood universals versus cultural specifics.  I had been vaguely aware for years that this anime existed, but I had only a vague idea of its contents, and most of my idea was wrong.  I was pleasantly surprised. Recommended.

    1. I enjoyed Love Theoretically, though on quite a few occasions I wanted to thump the heroine and tell her to get it together!

    2. Someone else who read “Lost in Math!” However, funding for theoretical sub-atomic physicists is never enormous. Sometimes they have the edge over experimentalists, because smaller institutions can support them.

      We’ve been watching Studio Ghibli movies (with subtitles instead of dubbing). My favourite will always be Spirited Away. We recently watched Ponyo. Typically Ghibli strangeness, Highlights include a marital spat over Morse Code and just the beauty of the undersea animation.

      1. Funding of research projects: cannot say anything about US funding for maths, but the Erasmus research project funding by the EU has kept its available amount, however the submitted proposals have increased significantly, thus chances to win funding has declined a lot.

    3. Totoro is one of the best Studio Ghibli movies, although I like most of their movies. Spirited Away is a great one as well.

  22. I have been listening to Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland after Lupe recommended it. Thanks for the rec. I am surprisingly invested in the cake competition and in all of the main characters getting a happy ending. Fun.

    I’m reading Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. Someone on Goodreads described this as Korean “healing fiction”. It is a book about friendship, finding your own way in the world and books. It is a quiet book but thoughtful. I would recommend it.

    1. Glad you liked it! “Funny” books don’t usually work for me but this one did. Also, the narrator for the audio book did a great job.

    2. Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is definitely a quieter, more literary book but I too enjoyed it! Would recommend! I’ve been consuming a lot of Korean media lately what with all the K-drama and romance and fantasy that I’ve been binging on Netflix. Someof the cultural differences are fascinating. I just finished a romance series that was definitely a feminist meditation on how Korean society treats women as well as a surprisingly decent romance. I suspect the romance may have been partially inspired by Pride and Prejudice.

      1. I like K-dramas a lot. Certainly better than our Hallmark equivalent. I think that it is the self awareness. We went on a binge of all the ones we could find where the heroine gets mistaken for a boy because she has short hair. We all know it’s silly, including the creators, which is what makes these stories fun to me 🙂

        2. It’s called Love to Hate You. And if you’re looking for other Korean romcoms, I liked Business Proposal too. Both are on Netflix. Unfortunately Coffee Prince isn’t so I haven’t been able to watch that one yet.

          1. The differences of what’s available in various regions is frustrating. All three series are currently available in my region. I’m off to try Love to hate you…

  23. I read the new Mary Balogh. I love her work for its period accuracy and credible adult characters. This one has hero and heroine turning 50, a reuniting after a teen friendship, and a class difference where the woman is the higher class, which we don’t often see. I don’t want to say too much because spoilers but I will say the character arc is more the man’s and interesting. Also I like how the woman appreciated the good as well as the bad in her dead husband. I really enjoyed it.

    Then I tried a Grace Burrowes. I read a lot of her work when she first started and found them evocative but was really frustrated by her lack of period authenticity and weird mistakes about it. She needed a good editor. So after 20 or so I stopped. She seems to have found a good editor but I didn’t get drawn in the way I did with her earlier books and it is going to be a DNF.

    And I am trying to read the book on patriarchy from my son in law. It has a lot of interesting descriptions of matriarchal societies but so far hasn’t even started on what the title suggests it’s about “The Patriarchs: how men came to rule”. The fact that there are matriarchal societies doesn’t tell us why patriarchy is so prevalent. Which is too bad because I think a good book on that topic would be great. But I’m plugging on. I may take breaks with the book on physics and dance from my son.

    I had asked for the book about the British Library exhibit on medieval women because the exhibit is fabulous. It closes March 2 so if anyone is in London I strongly recommend it. Instead my daughter gave me a different book on four medieval women (and promised to pick up the exhibit one.) I had studied all four of them in college but maybe it will be a nice refresher . I may grit my teeth and order the exhibit book—well worth the price but the shipping to the US costs as much as the book!

    1. As I’ve said before, there are ways to get British books besides Amazon. Abe.com shows it used for about $35 dollars plus about $2.60 shipping in the US, and new for about $35 plus about $10 shipping to the US.

        1. Interesting, since it competes with Amazon’s own used book service offered through Amazon dot com. But I had in mind ordering in the US directly through amazon.co.uk , which (last I checked) entails huge shipping fees. And abe dot com only connects customers with individual dealers, taking a percentage for doing so.

          1. Agree about the high cost of shipping. I ordered from AZ UK three times (despite the high S&H) and three times the books arrived damaged. They made me ship the damaged books back for a replacement; the return shipping fees cost more than the replacement books. Crazy. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the hassle that is AZ customer service. Would like to order more UK books but it’s just not worth it anymore.

          2. I’ve mostly shifted to ebooks when possible, but not that long ago I’ve successfully gotten British books from dealers located through abe. Also, there evidently bad customer ratings really hurt the small dealers. The one time I had a problem, it was quickly resolved to my satisfaction.

          3. Patrick M, I definitely will read the ebooks but sometimes I just want my very own paper copy so that I can caress it and hiss “My preciousssss.” Everyone else does that too, right? Right??? (Blushes)

          4. Jeanine,

            My apocalypse library is amongst my prized possessions. I often operate on a four copy principal for the ones I really love. 1 a digitial copy to read 2. the audiobook version, if available 3. a pretty copy that is never to be touched and should be buried with me and 4. a crappy copy to give/lend that I don’t care if it gets returned or not.

          5. Lupe,
            your apocalypse library concept sounds very reasonable!!
            Your 4 copy priciple in particular.
            I’ve noticed that I own a similar number of the more recent favourites – ebook, audio, paperback and translation (so that the publisher here knows the books is sought after).
            With my Bujold books I tried to get the hardcovers, too, whenever available/not too costly, as the paper quality of paperbacks far too often is not the best. If the paper is horribly yellow and almost crumbles between one’s fingers after only a couple of years, the idea of an apocalypse library becomes quite dystopian in itself.
            I take it you are also not one who marks her reading progress by folding over the corners of the pages?
            It’s horrible in what state some books get back to their owner after being lent out … if they are given back at all.

          6. Folding corners?! The horror! I sometimes underline in books that I own, or make marginal notes or ones just inside the covers, but I don’t think I ever sank that low (except possibly with a magazine that I would soon throw out?). I had a childhood friend who could just remember what page number he had stopped on. Even back then, I myself had to use bookmarks or just flip through until I found the intersection between remembered and unremembered pages.

    2. Based on nothing but decades of occasional World History reading, I’d venture a guess that patriarchy is so prevalent in the modern world because of Christianity (and the European colonization which spread it, mostly by force), followed by the reactionary spread of Islam (and by reactionary I mean the adoption by native populations of Islam as a reaction to / rejection of Christianity, mostly under the influence of charismatic opposition leaders, almost uniformly male).

      The ancient world’s original animist and polytheistic belief systems had their limitations, but I can’t help wondering what the modern world would look like if those had prevailed.

      1. Even taking into account the forced conversions by Christianity, Islam, and other patriarchal religions, the largest Moslem country in the world is Indonesia, which wasn’t reacting against Christianity since it was largely Islamic by the time the Dutch and other Europeans arrived, and unlike much of the rest of the Islamic world wasn’t even coverted to Islam by force.

        And most of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations for which we have any records (Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Jews, etc, etc), were pretty darn patriarchal before Christianity or Islam arrived. Artwork suggests, but only suggests, that Minoan Crete may have been an exception. Perhaps we’ll know if Linear A is ever deciphered. I’ve seen no evidence that Mesoamerican or Andean civilizations were non-patriarchal before European contact. I think the same is true of China,, although I know less about it. Evidence does seem to be better for the existence of less or no patriarchy in some cultures before the rise in the relevant regions of cities. (Although about the best one can say about Ireland is that before the quite late arrival of cities in Ireland, they seem to have been rather less patriarchal than they became.) So I think much of the answer likely is somehow is related to the rise of cities (“civilization” in the narrow sense).

        But this site is probably not the place for a prolonged discussion.

        1. I was going to say that Christianity is largely a repurposing of the power structure of the Roman Empire, so the patriarchy was already embedded there.

        2. I have also been reading The Household and The Making and f Hostory, which argues that Western Europe’s unique role in creating the modern world was because Western Europe had late marriage for women —men and women were much closer in age at marriage than in other cultures where women were much younger. That suggests patriarchy was widespread around the world not just in areas with Christianity and related religions. I need to go back and read her case on the other countries

          1. The first example I came across in the Household
            And the Making of History was female infanticide in China in the first millennium BC so hard to argue that’s Christianity.

            The patriarchy book offers a number of examples of matriarchy so presumably it’s not all about force. And when I checked human dimorphism is actually shrinking over time which would indicate so should patriarchy be?

            I am curious whether the patriarchy book will mention the research done in India about how female leaders became much more accepted in India after they were required to have 1/3 numbers in local government and women got things done. Also they are more likely to invest in health care and education. Suggesting that practical experience helps break down stereotypes and patriarchy.

            Stay tuned

      2. A favorite book by Maria Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, with a foreword by Joseph Campbell, explores the prevalence of feminine/Goddess culture in ancient arenas by parsing the sculpture, etchings, pottery, reliefs, and recurring symbols of matriarchy and Goddess found there. There is another theory that the Mongol hordes, and other conquering male-led armies, obliterated matriarchal/Goddess societies as they overran them.

    3. I haven’t read her in a while, but I consumed all that the library had a decade or 2 ago. I always loved how Balough’s characters were all different, and written such, and weren’t just a different caricature of the same person, if that makes sense.

  24. I will go back & read comments but I want to get this in first.

    I very much enjoyed reading The Rock by Bob Mayer. Despite being a genre I don’t normally read, it drew me in right away and kept me reading until I finished it. Not sure what the genre would be called but maybe military sci fi. The plot was compelling. I was definitely concerned with the fate of the characters. The end was satisfying. After reading so many books where he collaborated with Jenny, I could sense his voice as the writer. Those who enjoy competency porn will find it here in spades. I highly recommend it.

    I also read Jayne Ann Krentz book Shattering Dawn. It is the 3rd book in her Lost Night Trilogy. I have enjoyed all 3 books & this was a very satisfying conclusion.

    I’ve been making my way through Deborah Blake’s Baba Yaga / Broken Rider series & I read Dangerously Driven which is a novella that ties up some stories in those series; also very satisfying.

    1. Do you think Shattering Dawn is the conclusion? or the start of new trilogy? I wasn’t sure, because the villain’s daughters were still alive at the end, and the secret drug lab operators dismantled the lab but were still around to start over with a new evil venture…

  25. I’m starting to feel like a cynical bitch when I read romance, which sucks because at heart, I’m a romantic (albeit incognito!). Jenny’s books work for me, because her women are smart and independent and the sex isn’t just sex, it leads somewhere. The men are not douchebags de luxe, they are also smart and kind and thoughtful without being doormats for the women to wipe their feet on, but instead competent and sexy in their own right. They don’t need to prove anything, they’re just themselves and it works so, so well. Because reality has happened for the past x years, I have trouble reading most romance novels with the same eyes (ears, fingers, WHATEVER) as when I was younger, and it makes me a bit sad. I think being able to dream away to those places would do me good sometimes. Now, my brain goes: “NOPE, that’s unrealistic – NOPE, can’t happen that way – NOPE, that’s exaggurating!” and I just… It’s very hard to find a romance novel that doesn’t frustrate me. I wanna get back to the “Aaaah I want this tooo!”-stage of romance novel-reading.
    I read two books last week that I’m not even gonna mention, because the romance-plot of the one annoyed me a bit and the misunderstanding-plot of the other annoyed me a bit (it was not a romance novel, I should add), and even though neither book was a bad read, I’m not feeling very happy about them. Now that I write this, I feel sad and frustrated that life has bitched with my reading, because things that never bothered me before bother the hell out of me now, and I DON’T WANNA.
    And, I want books that make me laugh. And most books that are labelled “hilariously funny” or have “great comedic timing” seem to not work for me. Is it wrong expectations in combination with selling-tricks from publishers? Or am I becoming a cynical, boring, un-fun person? Please send help! Because that is SO NOT ME!
    I don’t know what the recipe is for me to enjoy romance these days, unless they’re written by Jenny, but I’d love to find out. Until then, I think I’ll go reread Bet Me, because I still love that book. And it’s funny, too.

    1. Shass, I’d like to think that my F/M romances avoid the problems you mention (that’s why I wrote them, after all), but they’re not yet available for audio. I’m looking into that. 🙂

      1. Chacha! Please let me know when they are! Heck, talk Jenny into doing an Argh Author-post for you, so we all get to know as soon as it’s gonna happen. Even if I’m the most “audio-dependent” in here right now (as far as I know), many Arghers seem to enjoy audiobooks, and I’m sure they’d love to dive headfirst into them, too.

        1. Shass, I’ll tell everybody here when I get the audio project rolling.

          It’s impossible for me to do anything else in my life that needs doing while listening to a book; I can’t even listen to music while I work, read, or write. So I’m going to need some beta listeners.

          🙂

    2. Shass, imo you’re not cynical and your expectations are not too high, you’re simply an adult with your own opinion and a need for sound fictional characters with personality and intelligence. That’s why you like Jenny’s book because she delivers.
      I always regard descriptions of ‘hilariously funny” etc with a lot of scepticism – I reserve the right to judge what I find funny as much as this is a very subjective thing.

      1. And it also pays to remember that many of the people who write the online synopsis haven’t necessarily read the book.

          1. YES!!!
            She says from personal experience… as once upon a time I wrote blurbs for a big publishing house and often an extensive knowledge of the book was detrimental to the quality of the U4 or Klappentext (German for blurb).

      2. THANK YOU! This makes me feel so much better already. I really was starting to question my own mind. I don’t want to get annoyed or angry by what I’m reading – I want to be swept up in it and wrapped in it and carried off to places, but in a Jenny-way; smart, funny, snarky, intelligent with no-bullshit-people just being really great people. Community, family, humour, connection, love. I want to connect to the world, not disconnect because it annoys the heck out of me.
        I know I carry romance in my heart and soul, because music makes me think of the one I love, I used(!) to write lots of romantic poetry when I was younger, tender moments in movies (even in stuff like Deadpool 2, which I just watched) make me cry. Books used to make me dream and smile and want to be there, too. I don’t want to lose that. I want to reclaim that and the power to dream! For that truly is a power, and a gift from authors who can bring you there.

        1. Other than Crusies, I suspect you might have already read KJ Charles? Smart romances I typically don’t find aggravating at all. Not romantic comedies though.

    3. Shass, I’m completely with you on your comments. I have DNFd way too many books lately. As I said about a week ago, I’m spoiled by Jenny and Bob’s writing, and a few others.

      1. Oh thank goodness, I am not alone! So what else have you read lately that you feel is on (or at least close to!) the Jenny/Jenny&Bob-level? There’s a while yet until Rocky Start and sequels are available in audio, I would love to have something to read to bridge that time-gap…

        1. Shass, I would recommend Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen, as the romance moves slowly, and the characters are great. I would also recommend Mary Kay Andrews’ Hissy Fit, another romance that sneaks up on the reader, and the plot is complex. I am not a history buff, so any inaccuracies in Grace Burrowes’ books don’t bother me. I really like the True Gentlemen series for the principled men and the independent women in them. It’s a long series, so there’s plenty to read!

          1. Thanks for the recommendations, Jan! I have read Garden Spells a couple of times and it’s truly lovely. Think it was one of the first recommendations from GBT I gave a try. Also read the sequel. I’ll check out the others you mentioned, thank you so much!

        2. I think foreign settings and different, yet sympathetic, viewpoints help. I give stories set in other countries and cultures more leeway; and have got very into m/m romance. Like you, my tastes have evolved, but I’m happy to be really picky – I’ve found many new authors and genres here. Do hope you will, too.

          1. Good points! I indeed don’t really read Swedish romance at all. Never read a Dutch one, I think. I think I have a soft spot for British stuff.
            I’m very relieved to hear it isn’t just me, and that there’s hope! Thank you!

        3. Shass, have you tried any Barbara O’Neale books. She has quite a few in audio it seems. She has some that had a food/baking influence with strong FMC. I have not read her more recent ones as some had some triggers that I was avoiding exposure to at the time but I will likely revisit now I am more confident in my mental health.

          1. Hi Elly, thanks for the recommendation! I have not read anything by this author and will check her out. Food/baking in romance can be lovely! I’m sorry to hear triggers kept you away from reading, but happy to hear you’re marching right back into it with newfound strength and with sword in hand!

      2. Shass – I have tried those – if you like (name an author) – you will like – searches on the internet & everytime I put in Jenny Crusie the suggested authors books are not nearly as good.

    4. Shass – I’m going to again recommend Deborah Blakes’s Baba Yaga / Broken Rider series. Her female main characters & male main characters all meet your requirements.

      Same can be said for Sarah Wynde’s Tassamara series that starts with A Gift Of Ghosts which also has a very funny sex scene.

        1. Hi Judy! That’s okay, I knew they weren’t in audio, but I believe Deborah is working on that too. I have seen some of the Baba Yaga’s at the e-book library, but let’s be honest: my computer speech isn’t the funniest narrator for fiction… although he does okay duty for nonfiction. I’ll go check out Sarah Wynde! Thank you!

  26. A quick post before I sign on for Day Job.

    1. ‘Yours Cruelly, Elvira’ by Cassandra Peterson, an entertaining and gossipy but occasionally hair-raising memoir by the horror-movie late-show host.

    DNF at 7% – ‘The Spectacular’ by Fiona Davis, which should’ve been a home run (a Rockette in the 1950s?) but neither modern day nor past characterizations worked for me At All.

    2. ‘It Takes Three to Tango’ by Jem Wendel, M/M/M set in Barcelona, complicated setup and resolution, not a lot of dancing but some music appreciation; chosen family scenario. Rounded up to 4 stars.

    3. ‘Baited by Fortune’ by Mia West, the latest in her queer King Arthur Plus Shifters reimagining, ends on multiple cliffhangers. It’s good but I should know by now not to start reading a series until it’s complete.

    3.5 ‘The Inappropriate Date’ by Jax Calder, a cute M/M novelette about a young Auckland lawyer who asks a new non-traditionally-presenting acquaintance to his sister’s wedding in an attempt to spite his controlling mother and learns over the course of the day that the guy is practically perfect.

    4. ‘The Boyfriend Subscription’ by Steven Salvatore, M/M ‘Pretty Woman’ pastiche in which the sex worker is the one with money. Neither MC was very likable, plus poor editing (Harlequin) and recurring can’t-get-past-it reference to blue and green amethysts (just NO) from the rich guy who supposedly knows his crystals. Gave it 3 stars because at least I finished it.

    5. [re-read] ‘Strangers From the Sky’ by Margaret Wander Bonnano, a cracking good Star Trek: The Original Series novel. Ambitious, high-stakes, mostly Earth-bound, time travel masterpiece set during Kirk & Spock’s first year of missions and between the events of the first and second movies and in 2045.

    6. ‘A Night with the Knight of the Burning Pestle’ by Julie Bozza, an amusing contemporary novella set on closing night of a run of a play called ‘The Knight of the Burning Pestle’ which was written in 1607 and involved cast members in the audience demanding knightly revisions to the rest of the cast trying to put on a play called ‘The London Merchant.’ Very clever, can easily see why the play was only performed once but also why JB wanted to play with it.

    6.5 ‘The ‘True Love’ Solution’ by Julie Bozza, M/M novella featuring a romance-reading accountant, an incident of memorabilia fraud, the charming cop who helps solve the case, and the romance author whose memorabilia it wasn’t. Sweet, sexy, full of love, and a complete story; 5 stars.

    2. I’m completely uninformed on amethysts,
      but per our friend the Wikipedia,
      “Green quartz is sometimes called green amethyst; the scientific name is prasiolite. Other names for green quartz are vermarine and lime citrine.” The article has nothing on blue ones, though. On the internet blue quartz is mostly called just that. However, if you google “blue amethyst” you do get hits, and some photographs that indeed look blue, although I wonder about special lighting or photoshopping.

    3. I was amused to see that Strangrs from the Sky is cheaper on US Kindle in German translation than in English.

    4. Chacha1, I know you don’t live right in LA but you live near enough that I want to ask how things are for you given the terrible news that we are seeing about the wildfires down there?

  27. I can’t seem to stick to one book at a time. Instead, I have been switching from one to another (not right away, but when I feel like reading, it’s not always the book I was reading previously). My current reads are Staff and Crown byW.R. Gingell (a reread) on my kindle; A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne, and The House Witch by Delemhach.

  29. The Murderbot Diaries “reread” was exactly that until Chapter 6 of Book 8, SYSTEM COLLAPSE. Suddenly, I recognized nothing. Either I read the book in a daze, or something interrupted. I think the latter, because Kindle opened to chapter 6. Huzzah! A new book, sort of.

    The ever on-going word opera, Grey Wolf’s VARIATION ON A THEME, Book 6. This week was Chapters 5 and 6, in which our main characters, having attended the 1985 Live Aid concert and a showing of CATS, continued with touring England and followed up with a tour of Scotland. Maybe next week they’ll nip over to the continent. Or Ireland.

    Also rereading QUARTER SHARE. I think I blame Patrick M. for this series.

    I watched several football games. That’s unusual, for me.

    1. I don’t think I get the credit. When somebody else mentioned Nathan Lowell, I said I’d really liked The Wizard’s Butler but had bounced off his space opera. I may give it another try at some point.

    2. Thanks to Judy/ Clever Cherry’s “Tod” typo, I remembered rereading THE VIXEN WAR BRIDE. I suspect I’ll be rereading the whole series.

  30. My new book in the past week was Anne Gracie’s latest – The Secret Daughter – a nice, low-key F/M regency romance. No villains, no fights, no calamity, just two people attracted to each other and working through their own problems. Nothing exciting, but the writing was solid, the story interesting, and the hero and heroine utterly sympathetic. I enjoyed it, in a quiet way.
    Then I decided to re-read A.J. Demas’s One Night in Boukos. Of course, after that I had to re-read all three of the SWORD DANCE books. I’m now on the second book, Saffron Alley and thoroughly enjoying it. For those who don’t know: all these books are M/M romances set in the author’s imaginary version of ancient Greece. Delightful, as always.

    1. Have just downloaded A.J. Demas’s One Night in Boukos. This one sounds like just the thing right now. Thanks!

  32. I haven’t read much beside this blog lately because I am too tired. But I got my free ride pass reactivated today and an appointment with a new shrink on Friday, so I hope to be more in the mood for reading soon. In the meantime, I am starting a romance that I probably won’t mention here because it seems to be too much like many others that I’ve read. But I will tell you next week if it differentiates itself from the pack.

    1. Good luck with the new shrink on Friday! I hope they will be a good person with whom you’ll connect and feel good about working through things with. Makes me happy to read that you’re determined to kick depression’s arse good and hard, taking action for yourself. Be proud, it’s not an easy step to make. Sending some extra pocket-hugs to keep you company for the meeting with the therapist!

    3. Glad you got your ride pass reactivated, Aunt Snack. Good luck with the new doctor.

  33. I haven’t really been reading print this week (too much going on) but I’ve enjoyed two books on audio.

    First, Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake”, read exquisitely by Meryl Streep. This is a slow, quiet, contemplative book, about a mother (and father) telling their daughters the story of their youth and how their lives intersected with a famous movie star back then. There’s no dramatic narrative arc, and aside from a brief surprise mid-book, there are no major jolts, no suspense. It is set on a cherry farm in Michigan during the pandemic, and somehow that backdrop seems very appropriate for the tone. But Ann Patchett has always been a beautiful writer, from the first, and although some of her books have been more dramatic than others, they’ve generally been quieter books. I can understand some fans not resonating with this book, but I thought it was lovely!

    I’ve also been listening to “Nothing to See Here” by Kevin Wilson. Marin Ireland won a well-deserved Audie for her performance, because it’s a delight! This is a funny warm book, very unique. Highly recommended.

  34. I’ve mostly been re-reading (via audiobook) the early-ish Dresden Files (in the book 5-6-7 range, forget how many there are now — 20ish?), and discovered they’re the PERFECT books for listening to while quilting. Engaging (especially with James Marsters narrating), but nothing too deep, nothing I need to really parse, and I know the gist of the stories, so I don’t care if I miss a few sentences or even paragraphs while I’ve got the sewing machine going at top speed, and really, the time spent with the sewing machine being loud is relatively small compared to the time spent on more silent activities, since quiltmaking involves a lot of getting up from the sewing machine (to iron or pin or cut pieces, etc.), so I don’t miss a whole lot.

    Meanwhile, I seem to have skipped the January/post-election depression (or perhaps I’m still in denial), perhaps because I threw myself into a LOT of quiltmaking, which always cheers me up.

  35. My two best reads this week:
    War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, which I reread after having recently read and loved Territory. It was first published in 1987, but stands up really well to modern sensibilities as a young musician gets drawn in to a war between two different groups of faeries.

    Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. I loved 99.9% of this, but the crisis annoyed me. Maybe it was true to the era, but it made me think less of the MMC that he gave in and went along with it. Hard to say more without spoilers. I thought the ending was a bit rushed, too. Despite all this, it was a very enjoyable read.

    1. War for the Oaks is by now regarded as a classic, but I still have never read it. One of these days?

  36. Update to my car comments yesterday: The hoped-for solar heating from more exposed window area after I cleared snow seems to have done the trick. Despite temperatures still below freezing, today I got most of the remaining ice and snow off the car just with gloved hands. I may actually go out tomorrow, if I feel up to it (and the car cooperates). We are due for yet more snow before the book club meeting on Saturday, but how much is still to be determined.

  37. This is my reply to SHASS, as this site keeps say9ing I’ve already said this and won’t let me post it.

    Shass, I would recommend Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen, as the romance moves slowly, and the characters are great. I would also recommend Mary Kay Andrews’ Hissy Fit, another romance that sneaks up on the reader, and the plot is complex. I am not a history buff, so any inaccuracies in Grace Burrowes’ books don’t bother me. I really like the True Gentlemen series for the principled men and the independent women in them. It’s a long series, so there’s plenty to read!

    1. OK. It posted it without me! How weird is that? So this is a repeat. I apologize. I did check, numerous times, for it under Shass’ name.

      1. No worries, Jan, we’ve all done some version of this at some point. Besides, now you can say: “I’m 80.” And everyone will be quiet.

      2. That’s happened to me too. I can’t remember if reloading the page made the missing comment appear, but I think I’ll try that when I next encounter it.

  38. One more for today, and then I can return the ebook to the library:

    •Ali Hazelwood, Not in Love, 2024.  Rue Siebert is a biochemist working for Kline, a synthetic fuel startup in Austin, Texas.  Part of her deal with her friend Florence, the founder-CEO of Kline, a deal that reinforces Rue’s loyalty, is that Rue be given time and facilities to work on the side on her own pet project, a treatment to keep fruit and vegetables fresh longer, and that, when it is perfected, Rue will retain the patent.  A new factor has just arisen.  A loan of Kline’s has been bought by Harkness Associates, one with conditions that give them considerable leverage over Kline, and indeed the ability to take over the company if it is running in the red.  A complication, one not particularly original for genre romance, is that before she knew who he worked for, Rue had a hot one-night stand with Eli Killgore, a Harkness partner.  Both of them are commitment-shy but mutually hugely attracted.  Dark secrets from the past emerge, entailing more complications, but naturally all ends (relatively) well by the conclusion.  An interesting look at other aspects of the tech world and a new city.  The romance-plot elements seemed a little overused, both with some quirks characteristic of Hazelwood’s work and some widely used genre elements bordering on cliche.  I enjoyed this novel, but I may want to give Hazelwood’s work a rest for a while, so that her standard moves become a little less obvious in my mind.

    1. I think that may be why I often like the first novel I read by a new author best. Although I look for the familiarity of a favored author’s style, after a while it all becomes too predictable.

  39. First time making my own post!
    I read Sleep : a very short introduction by Russell G. Foster. Some good tips in it, but more a science book than a self-help book. That’s what i wanted. I loved the chapter on do all animals sleep and why do we sleep? The answers are complex. It turns out, sleep is hard to define, and the definition gets caught up in what we think is the purpose of sleep. I loved how the author reframed the question at the end of the chapter to: do all animals have regular circadian patterns of activity and inactivity, and what biological housekeeping tasks get slotted into these patterns. I’m also reading “Think Again” by Adam Grant. It’s a philosophy/pyschology book about the value of having an open mind. I’m not sure what i think of it yet. For fiction, I’m reading “The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby” by Ellery Lloyd, which was recommended here. Liking it so far. Not this week but recently, I read “The Teller of Small Fortunes” by Julie Long. That was also recommended here and I really loved it. Thank you to the person who recommended it first!

    1. Ruth – the Sleep book sounds interesting. I am told by doctors that my job working overnights is not good for my health due to circadian rhythms & sometimes I buy that sometimes I don’t.

      1. Judy, do you think some people are able to adapt to that better than others and make it work for them?

        1. Seems like some people are naturally night owls and some are early birds. Guessing the night owls might have an easier time adapting but whooooo knows. (Apologies for my fowl attempt at owl humor). 😉

        2. From what I’ve read, even straight night shift can have negative health effects, presumably related to circadian rhythm, but I would imagine that varies by individual. From personal observation, I’m sure that some people cope with rotating shift better than others, at least regarding how they felt rather than their long-term health. In my early thirties or so, I worked rotating shift for two years and coped, but often felt slightly off. But one of my coworkers, of around my age or a little older, was constantly cheerful and retained enough energy to moonlight (or rather, to daylight) as a tour-bus driver when his shifts left daytime free.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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