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This is a Good Book Thursday, February 7, 2025

I really want to read art crime research but I’m still trying to dig myself out of The Honey Pot Plot. AAAAAAARGH.

What did you read this week?

145 Responses

  1. Well, I am still reading DE Stevenson. I have just finished Miss Buncle’s book. Barbara is so lovely and it’s really quite a clever book: in it, there is a book about a book about a book, which is a lot of fun.

    I have also read a book for my book club which I am still mulling over. It is a book about motherhood, full to bursting with ideas about it. A very busy plot and lots of anthropological and legal tidbits. The author is a friend of someone in the book club, so she came along and it was great fun talking to her, a lovely woman and incredibly accomplished. She is a musician, an author, a creative writing lecturer and she used to be a Human rights barrister. Quite intimidating in theory but she wasn’t at all like that.

    The book is « The Unexpected » by Ellen Wiles. Not an easy book to read (childbirth trauma, severe postnatal depression) but a compelling one and with a thoroughly unexpected happy ending. Not a romance at all but a great book about friendship.

  2. I read D. E. Stevenson’s Amberwell & Summerhills duology, but found them rather depressing: the snobbery and conservatism got me down. The first (set before & during the war) was interesting for the outlook of sheltered, uneducated upper-middle-class girls – which would apply to many heroines of Regencies and other historicals. But the second was published in 1978, though set just after the war, and I’d’ve hoped the author would have had a broader outlook. It doesn’t cross any of her characters’ minds to send a child to the local school, for instance, even though the Scottish education system has a very good reputation.

    So I’ve been cheering myself up with a reread of A. J. Demas’s Sword Dance trilogy: much more humane, intimate & fun.

    1. My copy of Summerhills says first published in 1955. I was sure it was earlier than 1978 because I bought it on my one and only trip to London in 1973.

      1. Oh, that makes so much more sense! The copyright page in the ebook must be wrong. I did think it was odd there was such a gap between them, since they’re really just one story.

        1. The difficulty of even finding a copyright date in ebooks is maddening to my ex-librarian mind.

          1. I share your frustration, but in this case the (incorrect) copyright page is where it should be, after the title page – which is why the 1978 date coloured my reading of the book.

          2. What an odd mistake. She was several years dead by 1978. Possibly a year that should have been written over from a previous use of the template. I would think there would be a double copyright “1956, 1978” even if it were, for instance, a more complete version published by the estate from the original manuscript.

      2. I read a book recently by Sheila Simonson when the wrong author was listed as holding the copyright. I even went and looked to see if one was a pseudonym but it was clearly a different author…

  3. Not a great reading week for me.

    I stuck with Sasha Avice and went to her Australian Rules Football series ‘Contested Possession’ (not really very much footy in them) with ‘Because he’s my Guy’ . This was very slow to get going and I dipped in and out of it. There is a significant element of cheating involved, although technically MC1 is in an open relationship (not a spolier it’s in the blurb). I was interested to see how that worked for me, as I’m not generally bothered by a cheating trope, but usually the person being cheated on is a caricature who is entirely unlikeable. That wasn’t the case here, despite one incident, it was a long stable relationship where the guy cheated on had given up a lot for MC1. I ended up disliking both MCs (MC1 all along, MC2 at the end). I stuck with it, but wasn’t sure the whole way through.

    I followed this with ‘You can do better’ (same author, same series) where MC1 is the guy who was cheated on in the previous book and MC2 is nice, though his ‘issue’ was a bit unrealistic. This was a much better book, and not jsut because i liked the characters more, there was better pacing.
    .
    I also read ‘The Good Boy’ Lisa Henry and JA Rock which is a BDSM (mild) with good characters, so it was worth a read.

    My best read of the week was, unsurprisingly Ari Baran’s ‘Would you promise to be kind’ which is, in effect, a prequel to ‘Goaltender Interference’. It is suggested you read it after ‘Goaltender Interference’ but I think it would work before it, though it is the happy start bit and you’d have a bit of a downer after. It is a freebie on the author’s website. It felt to me like it had been cut out of the main book at some point, so it was nice to get to read it. Sometimes when you read things that have been deleted it is pretty clear they should have been left out. That’s not the case here.

    On audio, continuing Murderbot and am getting through Network Effect which is the full length one. Still great.

      1. She is a product of her time.

        She wasn’t allowed to go to school herself and she does show very well how it affected young women. Green money is a good example of that!

        Incidentally, she has in another book a young impoverished widow moving to Edinburgh because the schools are good so she agrees with you!

        She is rescued of course by a man rich enough to send her boys to public school but she rescues him as much as he rescues her. I think her heroines have a lot of agency.

        1. I just find the class thing depressing, especially since it’s still around; though perhaps nowadays it’s more a matter of wealth buying privilege. I’d have been less bothered if both books had been written in the times they’re set in. And I guess it’s unlikely to bother non-British readers (or even adoptive Brits like you).

          1. Sorry, I can see Jane you found my reply to you!

            You are right, the whole class thing doesn’t bother me because I am an outsider looking in. My husband is working class and the first one in his family to go to University so he feels neither fish nor fowl, which is not great.

          2. I am now rereading The Baker’s Daughter from 1938 (original British title: Miss Bun, the Baker’s Daughter) to see if her handling of class, a major theme in that book, is as I remembered it. The baker’s daughter is the daughter of a village baker in Scotland, and ends up marrying a gentleman, and they both have to get over their feelings about not being the same class and what that will mean in their lives.

  4. Grey Wolf’s VARIATION ON A THEME, Book 6, Chapters 13 and 14. The Core Four plus two have finally returned to College Station. The 85-86 school year is about to begin.

    I mentioned there are other Tales of the Golden Age of the Solar Clippers. I decided to try SOUTH COAST: Shaman’s Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, Book 1 by Nathan Lowell. I could have chosen to follow Ishmael Wong, but I think this fills in gaps in the Trader’s Tales.

    I’m still working on the JENNIFER CRUSIE BUNDLE: An Anthology. Yes, it is a Crusie ReRead. I finished “Getting Rid of Bradley,” with Lucy’s theme – “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BAT GIRL!” – and moved on to “Strange Bedpersons.”

    Triggered rereads: Like I said last week, when I open Mobipocket Reader in ‘sort-by-author’ mode, the first screen always contains Karan K. Anders (Andrea K. Hosth) A Very Secret Garden Book 1 THE BOOK OF FIRSTS. I absolutely adore the two-book series. I finished book 1 and book 2, FOUR KINGS. Loved them. I might put her real name into the sort order to get her off the first page.

    Another triggered reread was GRANTVILLE GAZETTE VOLUME I. I was looking for the original ebook that had a Peter Paul Rubens painting as a cover. There have been several versions of the cover, so instead, I found the second edition, the one with Anne Jefferson, 20th century nurse, painted by Rubens, draped in an American flag with pom-poms and a baton. (Anne, not Rubins.) I love this one for the stories therein. In 1632, an early scene has a German teenager fleeing mercenary rapists. She knocks over the sherif and disappears from the story. The first story in Gazette V1 is “Anna’s Story.” That teenager is Anna Braun. The second story is “Curio and Relic” and the hero is an old Viet Nam Vet with weird guns and no intention of ever joining any army ever again. Next is “The Sewing Circle,” and it explains how four up-time teens start a sewing machine company (and get filthy rich!) The fourth story is “The Rudolstadt Colloquy.” I learned a lot about the politics of religion. The balance of the volume is non-fiction pertinent to the 17th century.

    I have several books, short stories, and novellas by F. Downey writing as Don Lockwood. I read THE ORGASM GAME this week, one of the shorts. College kids get into the most interesting situations.

    I can’t remember having read SIMPLY THE BEST: A Heartfelt Sports Romance with a Thrilling Mystery, Join the Hunt for the Truth and Find Your Happily Ever After! Phillips, Susan Elizabeth. I thought I’d read all of her “Chicago Stars” stories. It was new to me. Until Chapter 19, when I exclaimed, “Oh, yeah! THAT story!” That makes this another reread, but it might as well be new.

    1. The problem with Nick was that, aside from the fact that she never knew when he was going to be Alan Alda and when he was going to be Donald Trump, it was getting harder and harder to pick a fight with him because he was right there in bed with her, and if she reached out she could have him, and she wanted him.

      Crusie, Jennifer. Jennifer Crusie Bundle: An Anthology Strange Bedpersons (Kindle Locations 4791-4794). MIRA Books. Kindle Edition.

      Donald Trump was an example of Yuppie Scum Dweeb even then?!? 1994?!

        1. Alas, a lost of us listened, or figured it out independently, but a slim majority (this time) did not. They wanted him, now we all have got him. This is what comes of not reading Crusie!

          2. Gary, Remember when no one later than the Founding Fathers worried about “tyranny of the majority”? Remember when primary elections were obviously a better way to nominate candidates than “smoke-filled rooms”?

        1. Don’t reread I’ll Take Manhattan, Trump makes a cameo in that book because the heroine is living in Trump Tower.

          (Well, otherwise it’s a book I enjoy, but that’s sure jarring now.)

          2. I will not now, nor have I ever, restricted my reading list to stories that do not contain The Donald McOrange. I will not commit nose-ectomy to achieve face-spiting. His second regime will affect the rest of my life. I will either live with it or die trying.

      3. Jenny was precient but also in the 90’s Trump was already clearly racist scum. The housing race discrimination case, the attacks against the Central Park 5, the bizarre way he talked about his daughter,…. I think he has had people scrub the Internet but it was all out there

        1. I’m friendly with several people from New York City who remember Trump well – one of them described him as “that weird guy who was always hitting on women.” They knew all about his shady deals, family history and habit of stiffing contractors who worked on Trump Tower.

  5. Read Adrian Tchaikovsky’s 2024 “Alien Clay” this week, which was a jarring contrast to the Administration series I am also reading. Both are totalitarian regimes – but in “Alien Clay” our MC is a dissident who has ended up on a prison planet and is still resisting, whereas in the Administration series our MCs are willing participants in the system – and the series entry I just read “Helen” is a searing indictment on our ability to make hypocritical compromises with ourselves. “Alien Clay” is very good, although not my favorite Tchaikovsky, and the body horror was right up against my tolerable limit. The jungle xeno-ecology was vivid, the world-building interesting, the MC sympathetic, and an ironically hopeful ending. I would be interested to see a critique of the book wrt to the psychology of oppression.

    On a happier note, I loved KJ Charles’ “The Duke at Hazard” – thoroughly enjoyable regency road trip, with a duke trying to be a normal person and getting into and out of scrapes with his MC. I really liked that Daziell had survived seven years living by his wits without turning nasty or bitter.

    Best thing I read was the Bedwyn finale “Slightly Dangerous” by Mary Balogh. I love the careful way Wulfric falls in love without losing an inch of his haughtiness. Sunshine laughing sociable Christine is a perfect match for him. There are some P&P storybeats, but unlike Darcy who comes across as shy but relaxed with his intimates, Wulfric is confident and haughty at all times. I love the scene where Balogh demonstrates how appealing that competence can be as Wulfric rescues Christine by verbally taking apart the people who have been making her life miserable. Almost perfect.

    And now I’m a third into Andrea Wulf’s “The Invention of Nature: The adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science”, recommended by Jo Walton. The man’s story is bonkers and seriously impressive. And it says something about me that I now want the queer historical romance version of his South American 1800-4 expedition complete with HEA.

    1. I read The Invention of Nature years ago and really enjoyed it, as you say Alexander Humboldt was very impressive. And he left his mark… there are so many things/places named after him. The book was an interesting and fun read.

  6. I read CM Nascosta’s most recent, He Loves Me Not, a romance between a half human, half sylvan woman and a naga (snake man) set in her always delightful Cambric Creek town with its embrace of its multi-species population. If you’re looking for an F/M introduction to her world, this is a good one. It’s based on You’ve Got Mail, reversing the roles of the big box franchisee/independent store. Not a lot of sex, although what there is definitely steams up the pages, à la Nascosta.

    And for a paranormal universe set on the dark opposite end from Nascosta’s sweetness, I tried Lake Silence, the Anne Bishop book that someone here and I’m sorry I can’t remember who (!) recommended and I loved it. Many of the species are dangerous – no cute elves and fairies. The MC is a woman trying to set up a lodge for tourists with the suspicious consent of the local indigene, a broad term for non-human, and is being thwarted by human efforts including cops. A couple of good cops, both literal and metaphorical, including a local vampire and a teenage lodger who’s actually a crow come to her rescue. Thoroughly satisfying. I’m onto the next one in this three book series. Thank you, Argher, for the recommendation and please say who you are for me again!

    I read Josh Lanyon’s Icecapade (even though I said no more holiday books but I’m undependable clearly) which was a thoroughly enjoyable end to my Josh Lanyon exploration. No more cookies in her jar except that cozy series which I don’t want to read. Sad! Now she just needs to publish those books she’s working on please!

    And finally, hockey lovers, I read Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James’ recent, Textbook Defense. Very similar in plot to Cait Nary’s Lucky Bounce with a hockey player single dad, adorable kid, and a non-hockey player romantic interest. Nary’s is the stronger book, because this one has not enough hockey, too much adorable kid, she’s just a stronger writer, but this is still worth the read. After all, Christina, as you say, there’s not that many good hockey books left to read…

    1. Lake Silence has been recommended by many people many times. (Now I have to go read it again.) Welcome to the bandwagon.

          2. Tammy, I meant eventually dripping water makes an impression on the hardest stone.😉

          3. Ah! That makes sense. But honestly, I don’t even REMEMBER anyone saying anything about Lake Silence until last month? So we need a metaphor where something wakes the sleepy stone up by maybe shouting in its ear.

    2. I’m glad the Kane/James book is good and worth the read. I’ve downloaded it but wanted to get others’ views before starting it.

        1. Thanks for reminding me of Lucky Bounce which I stll haven’t read. Will do so first, then get back to Textbook Defence when I’ve decided whether I want to renew my KU subscription.

  7. Amidst other reading, was very happy to see an article in NYT listing Agnes and the Hitman as a good read among romances and this in an interview with Elinor Lipman:

    Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about?

    Art forgery, art thievery, art plundered by Nazis that’s returned to its owners or their progeny.

    So you’re right in the Lipman zeitgeist, Jenny!

  8. I’ve been working my way through Celia Tan’s online serial Daron’s Guitar Chronicles (which does not express the late nights and the difficulty putting it down), which I dimly remember reading while it was coming out. I couldn’t remember how far I’d gotten, but I had left some comments in the first Book, so I made it that far? It moves like a serial and not like a book, but it is absolutely compelling and I am enjoying re-finding these characters. I stopped (I think) after the first 200 episodes, and it goes on to over 1000, so I have a ways to go.

  10. This week I read the Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman (“Beartown”, “Us Against You”, “The Winners”) It’s about hockey in a small town in northern Sweden and the trials and tribulations of the families who are associated with the hockey team. I thought these books were really well written with great characterizations and really good explanation of the grip hockey has on the team’s players and all those involved. It is a bit of a dark story. By the time I’d read book 3 I was a bit relieved it was over. I doubt I’ll reread them but I’m glad I read them once. I don’t think I’ll watch the tv series that was made based on it.

    I also read “The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson. A non-fiction chronicle of Churchill and the blitz in London 1940. I started it not expecting to enjoy it much but it is really well done. It is all based on newly released papers and diaries of people at the time and is written in a very personable way. He approaches it through the voices of the people who were there, both those around Churchill and “regular” people who lived through that period of the war, and it reads almost like non fiction and moves fast. I’ll read more by Larson.

    I then read E.L. Massey “Like Real People Do”. An M/M hockey romance between a student/figure skater and a hockey player. I might have been in the wrong frame of mind when I read it but It was just wasn’t a plausible story for me and a bit too sweet. I made it to 50% and then skimmed to the end.

    Finally, I reread Ari Baran’s “Delay of Game” which I really enjoyed the second time around. I’m rereading all Baran’s books to remind myself of the stories so that I’m ready to read “Goaltender Interference”.

    1. I love Backman and have read all of his books except the Beartown trilogy. I think I’ve avoided them because I’m not a big sports-theme reader, but also because they do seem darker than his others, which I always find heartwarming, at least by the end. Your post has put the trilogy back on my radar, but I’m still undecided about reading it.

    2. I loved the Beartown trilogy, but yes, it is a bit dark. And I feel the same way you do which is I don’t need to read it again.

  11. Belated congratulations, Jenny, for the addition of Johnny to your world. What a cutie! Please keep the updates coming.

    I’ve got another funny/snarky/spicy escape audio book to recommend. “The Nevermore Bookstore (Townsend Harbor Book 1)” by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin has so many of the things that amuse me—quirky tourist town with eccentric shops/residents, bookstore setting, supportive best friends, and characters that have a few issues they are working out. There’s a Naked Book Club where they read erotic books (Ice Planet Barbarians). Also, creative but literary cursing and potty mouth insults. Plus spicy situations that start early on. The female narrator is superb and her male voices are some of the best I’ve heard. The male narrator is the same one from “The Blonde Identity” (recording under a different name!) and he does a good job as the angry hermit MMC. ($2.99 on Chirp or buy the first three of the series for $10.97). The MMC has severe PTSD and the FMC has a spinal inflammatory disease. I found their acceptance and support of each other to be comforting to read. Who needs to know a plot with a setup like this? And it’s the first book in a five book series. I can’t wait to continue the saga!

  12. I still haven’t found time to write up my have-read backlog and items are still being added, but here’s what I’ve got.

    •Andrew Wareham, A New Trade, 2024 and •A New Sort of War, 2025.  Books 2 and 3 of series An Underhanded Invention.  I reviewed the first volume, Damned Un-English, last time.  Wareham continues his WWI British submarine series in two more volumes.  A New Trade finds protagonist Gilbert Maltravers acclaimed a hero for his accomplishments in the first days of WWI.  Promoted ahead of his time to lieutenant commander, per Royal Navy tradition at that rank he is now allowed to marry his fiancée.  (As I noted last book, the religious position of her wealthy family is a bit foggy, but here they refer to themselves as Jews, and are evidently indeed only secularized rather than being nominal converts.  They do not observe dietary laws or other religious practices, and support a Church of England wedding for their daughter rather than a civil ceremony.  In any case, the Navy will certainly regard them as Jewish, with a negative impact on Maltravers’s career prospects.)  Submarine development has by now advanced to the slightly larger E Class.  Maltravers is assigned to a new boat, advising on its assembly and running its trials, allowing Wareham to feed us lots of technical information and for the characters to discuss the overall conduct of the war.  Once the boat is operational,  Maltravers is directed to the Mediterranean to operate against Austria-Hungary or Turkey as circumstances may permit.  He encounters and antagonizes a seeming endless number of incompetent high ranking Royal Navy officers (fortunately lying outside of his chain of command), all totally clueless about modern warfare, or indeed any real warfare, after a century in which the Royal Navy did little except to support colonial land wars or to overawe all comers by its mere existence.  After more derring-do and a bit of luck, Maltravers and his boat wind up for rest and refitting in Alexandria, Egypt, and he learns the assignment that will start the next book.

    The third novel first sends Maltravers to Aden to encounter more Naval incompetence in officers outside his chain of command, but with whom he is supposed to be cooperating.  Fortunately, help arrives from seniors in London, and he pulls off his mission, adding to his string of successes. Posted back to England and patrolling locally, he scores yet another success.  For reasons (spoilers), this rather brings the series to a rather abrupt close with several years of war still to go.  Possibly Wareham simply got bored with it, or he may be setting Maltravers up to be a captain of industry in the interwar period—Wareham has also written historical novels about entrepreneurs, although so far all pre-20th century ones, I think.  Anyway, I enjoyed the novels for what they were.

    Other bits of fairly obscure early British submarine naval history still seem open to novelists.  At the end of his trilogy, Wareham says, “The K Boats deserve a book of their own, being a disaster unique in the history of the Royal Navy and possibly beyond my powers of invention.”  These were in fact the world’s only attempt before the advent of nuclear power to run a submarine (while surfaced) by a steam turbine, a remarkably bad idea on multiple grounds.  Bur Wareham has also failed to touch upon the WWI operations of those British submarines improbably enough operating out of St. Petersburg, primarily against shipping between Germany and Sweden.   

    1. Actually, the once and future St, Petersburg was Petrograd for most of the war. Nor do I imagine that the submarines were based in the city itself.

  13. Booklover by J.E. Birk – the MCs meet at a romance book club that made me think of Lupe’s idea of an arghink vook club. Lovely, understated, set in Vermont.
    Just what I needed recovering from ghe flu.

    Listening to UnRivaled by Kane/James. The audio csme out on Tuesday, as did their newest book Textbook Defense of which I’ve only read the sample. One MC is very flamboyant, something I’ve to get used to in a hockey book (he’s not the pro).

    An to calm down in the evenig, I’m re-reading Transformation by Carol Berg, a fantasy. A bit over the top, suspension of disbelief needed but hey, it’s fantasy with magic, so…

  14. I finished “The Ruby Code” by Jessica Khoury and I really liked it. I think it’d would have been even better if the female narrator hadn’t slowed down the pace as much as she did, but it’s definitely a good read. 🙂 The male narrator was turbo-good, especially at doig bad guys.
    Thanks to Lisa Lypowy mentioning the Keys to the Kingdom-series by Garth Nix last week, I gave “Mister Monday” a go. It was very good! Curious to find out where this stuff is going, so I’ll move on to the next when I can.
    On Audible Plus, I read “Always A Bridesmaid” by Erin Clark & Laura Lovely. The blurb wasn’t really accurate, I found, BUT it was a nice read and the narrators were both good. The main characters had issues that they worked on and worked out and some of it clashed, but it was a kind of sweet read anyway. Not even close to Jenny-quality, however! (Can not wait for Rocky Start and the rest to be available in audio!)
    Has anybody else here ever read Don’t Look Down in audio, by the way? That one is constructed very… interestingly, not just switching narrators between male and female chapters, but even dialogue is done by the corresponding gender even during the other’s chapters. Have never encountered that way of doig it before or ever since. And I don’t think it’s recorded in the same studio either, because the male narrator sounds further away from the microphone than the female, so the balance is a bit off. It certainly is an experience, haha. I should reread it sometime.
    Now reading another Garth Nix, “The Left-Handed Booksellers of London”, which I came upon on accident and had to read because of the title. Titles are important! It’s very good and I think there’s a lot of things still to discover. I know there are at least 2 more books in this series after this one, so more good reading ahead. Thanks again to Lisa Lypowy for mentioning this author – I’m making great discoveries here!

  15. I read Olivia Waite’s list of “Classic Romance Novels” in the New York Times, in which Waite recognizes that the “vintage” Agnes and the Hitman has “aged spectacularly well”:

    Agnes and the Hitman
    by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
    (2007)
    “For contemporary romantic comedy, Jennifer Crusie is unparalleled — and this book’s significant body count means it has aged spectacularly well for a time when murder books are hot again. [. . .] Agnes’s secret violent side (the frying pans!) and Shane’s hidden vulnerable heart turn out to be a perfect pairing, and keep the story sweet even as the bodies pile up.”

  16. Pre-surgery, I read Two of Deborah Blake’s Baba Yaga books: Wickedly Dangerous, and Wickedly Wonderful. They were very satisfying, with problems to be solved, which included forays into the Otherworld. In the first book, There is a very earnest sheriff, and a funny “dog/dragon”, and lost children. It was a little close to home with politicians who had sold out to a fracking company, but it ended well. The second one has another “bad guy” who is ruining the environment, and another “dog/dragon”. I applaud the tackling of these important issues, but it’s hard to read about them, too. The stories are gripping, so I read on.

    I took Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes to read during waiting times in the hospital, as a comfort read. I love the found family in that book, and the way Viv turns her life around. I’m reading the prequel/sequel, Bookshops and Bonedust, now. Very fitting, since Viv is recovering from an injury. Also a comfort read, with interesting characters. My favorite is Satchel, a bone man who lives in a satchel, and can reassemble himself when sprinkled with bonedust.

    I want to thank all of you for your support again, in case you missed it in the Wednesday post. This group is fantastic, and I feel fortunate to be a part of it. I’m having some pain, but managing well. I slept well last night, which helped a lot. Thank you!!!!!

  17. I finished Make Your Bed, from my assigned reading for work and it was good. I had read it when it came out, but forgot pretty much everything.

    Then I started The Fred Factor and it is categorically terrible. It is everything that gives self-help a bad name. Self-aggrandizing, puffed up fluffy nonsense. The author has yet to meet a quote, exclamation point or question mark that he didn’t like. His distain for menial labor is pretty obvious, as is his dislike for women. I am more than half way through and while he either remembers the names of the men who are “Freds” or assigns them something slightly generic, not so with the female anecdotes. They are completely anonymous, including the hotel clerk who personally took his pants home to wash them. Dude, she was wearing a name tag and you couldn’t be bothered to look at it. Grrrr.

    I dnfed a bunch of audiobooks that were not recommended here and not worth mentioning. I’m still pretty sure it is them, not me.

    I did finish Mindtouch, and it stayed with me after finishing, a sure sign of a good book. The sequel is moving up my tbr list.

    And I am almost finished with CM Nascosta’s Love Me Not. I am not sure how it is going to end, which is nice. I expect that it will be HEA, but I don’t know how she is going to work out the central conflict. As Tammy mentioned above, it is a gender swapped retelling of You’ve Got Mail, which I loved but haven’t watched in years, or even as a true adult. I wonder if it would hold up for me now, or how I would read it differently not that Amazon has put a lot of the big book chains out of business and a lot of indie bookstores have opened up. Anyway, I am enjoying this retelling. The FMC is 40, plus sized, half Japanese and trying to change her life by shaking off the ‘sunk cost’ mistakes of past decisions. The MMC is divorced with a young child, trying to keep his family business running although it has never been his dream profession and caring for his aging parents as his father descends into dementia.

    I really appreciate a lot of the nuances in the themes of this book and find myself relating to them. The FMC’s mother died young (like mine) which cut her off from the Japanese side of her heritage (much like my husband who was adopted and raised white). I cared for my maternal grandmother as she slipped into dementia, so those stressors ring true. I am also getting flashbacks to working in a flower shop, which is not particularly cute or fun. I really like what Nascosta is doing there, with a realistic look what it takes to run a somewhat seasonal, perishable based business. And the fact that this is a “girl leaves the city (sort of) and moves to a cute small town and opens a cute business” story, only it’s not nearly as cute as she is expecting and there are costs for these kinds of dreams.

    1. It’s hilarious how different your review is from mine. Not that we netted out that much differently the book at all – I mean rather what we each paid attention to the book. I was all about he’s a snake man, she’s half sylvan, smutty sex! And you’re talking about her being plus-sized and Japanese and he’s trying to keep a family business going and dealing with dementia. Just an example. Again, it goes to show how much the reader brings to the material read.

      1. Well, I was also trying not to duplicate your review. And I haven’t gotten to the sex scene yet. Just longing and a heavy kiss. I did feel that the sexy stuff doesn’t quite gel in this one. Would you agree? It feels tacked on, because that is what Nascosta’s readers expect of her rather than essential to the plot.

        I do appreciate a good epistolary romance, though. I like the slow burn of their relationship in that area.

        Oh, and I felt the line about the oldest child getting to parent everyone and thus being a sort of orphan in my bones.

        1. The story of oldest children everywhere. I parent my mom, not so much my dad, but definitely my brothers and their children. Luckily, I have no children of my own if you don’t count dogs.

          2. Yes! I want no other commitments than cats. I told someone once that if I had children, I would be changing their diapers and my dad’s at the same time.

      1. I also love how he is constantly crediting other people for his inspiration, for helping him, for doing good work. You don’t often find that kind of humility, especially in the self help genre.

  18. I have only finished two new books this week. Jenny Holiday’s A Princess for Christmas, which my library did not have when I read the two following books in this trilogy, and which I enjoyed just as much, and which has led me to reread the next ones. (I’m rereading a lot: hello, Lake Silence, next up.)

    My hold on Julie Leong’s Teller of Small Fortunes finally finally came in. I enjoyed it, but! Throughout I felt as though I were in a role-playing game with a really restrictive rule book. The characters, major and minor both, felt real and well-realized, but the plot did not allow them any agency.

    My hold on Naomi Novik’s book of short stories (whatever the title is) came in, too, and I have read the first few. I was interested to enjoy the one set in the Scholomance universe, because I DNFd that completely because I disliked every single character so intensely I couldn’t stand to spend time there. In this story the setting still made the inside of my skull itch, but the characters were tolerable.

    My reread of Victoria Goddard’s At the Feet of the Sun continues (alongside other rereads.) As always, when I reread one of her lengthy and vastly complicated books I find more than I found the first time, or the second….

    1. Mary Anne, I really enjoyed The Teller of Small Fortunes. I thought it was the sort of comforting book that one reads in difficult times. The people, generally speaking, are kind, things work out well, and there is the pleasure of a found family.

      1. I enjoyed all those things, but I kept feeling the author directing every turn of the plot and I couldn’t relax into it.

  19. After finishing Fangirl last week, I picked up the next book in my TBR pile, which happened to be Loretta Chase’s Scandal wears Satin. It was a pretty abrupt change of scene from recent day Omaha/ Lincoln Nebraska to Regency London, and it took me a while to get into it (and remember the previous book). But now I’m all in and racing toward the conclusion.

  20. I’ve just finished Shattered Dawn, Jayne Ann Krentz ,and reread the previous two books ,very enjoyable as usual. She’s a must read for me.

      1. But did she really wrap up the triology? I seem to recall there were a couple of ends still dangling?

  21. I read Accidental Magic, by an author with the unlikely name of Iris Beaglehole. Paranormal romance with an adult single mother and a teen, set in England. Another good quirky one. Picking the second one in the series up from the library today.

    Really liked the book, although I could tell it was self-published, because there were a couple of places where it could have used an editor (I can’t turn that off when I read, alas). But she’s put out a bunch of these, apparently, and this was the first, so hopefully those little glitches got better.

      1. I have to ask. Does a best-selling cookbook author have a nom-nom-nom de plume? Would a best-selling landscaping author have a gnome de plume? Would someone writing a history of the television show CHEERS have, maybe, a Norm de plume?

        Why yes, I am a dad. How could you tell?

  22. Sounds like HPP is involving more BS&T than honey!

    That’s blood, sweat and tears— in initials it sounds like something involving leather and pointy things. 😬

    I am reading The Paris Novel, by Ruth Reichl, and enjoying the Paris setting. I was only there for a few days once in my early twenties, on a shoestring, and my friends would not even splurge on a coffee in an open air cafe. We ate yogurt with granola in our hostel. I will go back one day, sooner rather than later if my country gets annexed.
    The novel is a pleasant read; it could use some of Ms. Crusie’s witty dialogue to give it sparkle, but the heroine is slowly coming out of her shell. If I were a critic, I might say it seems to have been assembled by someone sitting down and making a list of what should go into a Paris novel— a young slim Hepburnesque heroine repressed due to a neglectful glamourous mother and abuse by one of mother’s boyfriends, the Dior dress that opens her eyes to her own beauty, the Parisian food that awakens her senses, the kind older father figure that allows her to trust again, and lots of Paris streets, buildings, and name dropping of literary and art giants of the time.
    But I will finish it, I only have it for a one week express library loan and it is very readable.

    1. First, never say our country will be annexed. Shutter. Lord of Chaos has certainly exposed our many vulnerabilities. He wants the natural resources.

      The Paris Novel was the second novel by Ruth Reichl. She is/was a food critic.
      I enjoyed the book because I love fashion, food, and there is my French heritage. It is a very readable book. The first novel which I can’t remember the name of at the moment. Was quite good.

      The first trip to Paris was for a day with a girlfriend and her daughter. We took the chunnel. It was a memorable first trip. We ate at the restaurant which is often filmed. It was very good food. Aside from the great meal, we did see the Eiffel Tower and wandered until it was time to take the train back to London. No galleries. Strike. Second trip was with my husband. Again the train from London. A few galleries and more good meals, no Eiffel Tower that trip. Next time I want to stay in a hotel and wander and eat for several days. Search out perfumeries and some antique shops for vintage bracelets. I love a good bracelet. Small pieces only and probably costs the earth.

      1. No museums? I think if I only had a few hours in Paris it would be expressionists and a meal …

          1. I meant museums. I was probably thinking art galleries. My husband and I went directly to the Louvre. And now that I think of it just the Louvre. Third trip to be one day soon will be a good wander around. And a visit to the cathedral.

          2. That seems to be a US-ian distinction. In Europe a gallery is any place that displays art – whether a room or a palace, whether for sale or not, whether for public or private display. Hence the National Gallery in London, where the art is definitely not for public sale 😉

  23. I read A Holiday by Gaslight, a novella by Mimi Matthews, and enjoyed the sweet romance between a baron’s daughter and a self-made man.

    I also read Dorothy Cannell’s The Thin Woman. That one took me a while to get into because I didn’t like all the negativity expressed by Ellie and at Ellie by everyone else because of her weight. However, the mystery was a crackerjack one, and I got hooked on that. Not a typical romance but satisfying overall.

  24. I’ve had some odd trips to Paris too. My first trip all the art galleries were on strike so…didn’t do any of those. My second was to stay with a friend who’d been working there for a year and she and her family wanted nothing to do with anything touristy. So on the one hand, that meant they wanted to go biking and we actually did the bike paths in Paris which was a unique way to look at it. On the other hand, we spent a lot of time inside their condo watching House episodes. Then the next two times I was with a vegan husband – very tough the first time to get any vegan food in Paris so we ate some sub standard sushi instead and the second time ate sub standard vegan food. I quietly hid my disappointment about not eating French food as it was meant to be eaten – with lots of butter, eggs, cream, etc. We did get to go to the art galleries though, finally.

      1. My old neighbourhood, the 9th arrondissement, has now been designated as the « veggie » quarter. The place to go for your hubby!

        1. Although I’ve been there four times, I’m not a huge Paris fan. I know – gasp! Even the four times I’ve been there were all opportunistic – I had three different friends living there at different points and went to visit them. I’m much more a London, Rome and St. Petersburg fan.

          1. Italy; Rome and now Florence. The next trip overseas is back to London and on up to Scotland.

    2. I feel you on the food. Of the two times I visited my sister in Boston and Providence, one was with my father who will not eat anywhere other than a familiar chain and the second time was with my vegan cousin, who was over the moon about how many options were available. The vegan ice cream was fine and she was so happy about all the choices, but to be that close to the ocean and not be wallowing in sea food made me sad inside. Also, I got a double bacon cheeseburger as soon as I got home. I am not usually a carnivore, but it was necessary.

      1. I never complain to my husband about the workarounds we need to do for his veganism, because I’ve discovered all kinds of weird and whacky little neighbourhoods and places around the world in our quest for vegan food, and because I truly admire the discipline it takes to stick to your values and be a vegan. But Paris is the one placed I have sighed about not being able to eat the way I’d really wanted to. The seafood issue would have got to me too.

        1. Yes, my cousin is a lovely vegan. She never complains or asks for special accommodations when we go out, brings her own dishes with enough to share to events… It was really fun to make her happy, but if we were to do it again, I would probably sneak away for some private shrimp.

  25. Going to race through this so I can sign on for Day Job.

    1. ‘Traitor’s Purse’ by Margery Allingham, just as good as you all said, plus eerily prescient in its rich egomaniac trying to take control of England by wrecking its economy.

    2. ‘Swordheart’ by T. Kingfisher, just as good as you all said, though there is a lot of bloodshed in this book which embittered its otherwise sweet flavor.

    3. [re-read] ‘Bet Me’ by Jennifer Crusie, just as good as it ever was. 🙂

    4. ‘Romantic Comedy’ by Curtis Sittenfeld (turned up on sale), which was very good though probably not a re-read for me. While I very much appreciated the craft, especially in the deep & consistent characterizations, I was a bit too much aware of the craft and did not connect emotionally with those well-drawn characters.

    5. ‘Finding Roger’ by Rick Elice, a memoir/eulogy by one Broadway guy about another (Roger Rees) in the context of their 33-year marriage (4 years legal). Excellent and full of feels.

    6. ‘I’ll Have What He’s Having’ by Adib Khorram, M/M contemporary set in Kansas City, MO, with one Iranian American MC and one Black American MC; the first is struggling with career path, the second deep into studies for master sommelier test which could take him away. Realistic and satisfying.

    7. [re-read] ‘Northanger Abbey’ by Jane Austen, I love this book.

    8. ‘The Scapegoat’ by Daphney Du Maurier, would have been five stars except the genre reader in me wanted the excellent literary character study (POV character ends up in mostly the same condition as at the beginning, only having opened his heart to love) to have a satisfying genre conclusion (POV character gets rid of the shitheaded Comte he replaces for a week). It’s a very good book.

    9. [re-read] my own M/M novella ‘Hush’ and F/M novella ‘A Secret Chord.’

  26. Allingham reading continues. Just started Sweet Danger. Finished Coroner’s Pidgin. Purchased Brat Farrah after reading GBT comments.

    Dick Francis wrote a art crime investigated by a jockey or former jockey. I think.

    Mostly watching the hummingbirds. One little beauty flew to me, asking for the feeders to be filled. Snow still on the ground. Cold and sunny. Poor birdies.

    1. Dick Francis wrote To the Hilt with an artist hero. And In the Frame is about art theft although I can’t recall if it’s about art fraud …

  27. I’m still enjoying The Ministry of Time. I finished The Lost Story and liked it. Can’t recall if I said these last week or not, but there you go.

  28. I had a fun read of a book about RomComs called Falling in Love at the Movies by Esther Zuckerman.

    It’s a look at romcoms movies from the classics to today with lots of pics. It’s not so much a reference guide as a deeper dive into the genre. Been interesting. Cute cover with Audrey Hepburn (on my insta here if anyone’s curious: https://www.instagram.com/katyleen_author/p/DFTXOz-xoR9/ )

    Since I’m in writing mode and can only read non-fiction it’s nice to pick up and flick through on a writing break:)

      1. Yeah the cover is totally cute. Reminded me that I hadn’t seen Roman Holiday in a while, lol. The interior pics are nice complement to the text, too.

  29. A friend gave me The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett years ago and I couldn’t get into it. I borrowed the audio book of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett this week and loved it. The actor Tony Robinson reads the book and he does a fantastic job. I now have the audio version of The Colour of Magic on order with the library.

    1. Galway Tea, the Colour of Magic is the weakest book in the series. I’ll never re-read it, where Going Postal is on my forever list.

    3. The Colour of Magic, and its direct sequel The Light Fantastic, are very different from the other Discworld books. They are definitely not for everyone. I recommend starting with the first book in one of the other sub-series. Going Postal (fantastic book) is the first in the Moist von Lipwig sub-series. I recommend starting with Wyrd Sisters (The Witches) or Guards, Guards! (The Watch). Or if you would prefer a standalone Small Gods.

      1. I love Wyrd Sisters (Macbeth largely from the witches point of view) and anything with the witches in it. Or anything with Vimes. Agree about color of magic … Although I think we meet the Luggage there ?

        1. Yes. We meet The Luggage, Rincewind and The Librarian in The Colour of Magic, but mostly it and The Light Fantastic are just following TwoFlower (the Discworld’s first tourist, and initial owner of The Luggage) around as he visits Ankh-Morpork and encounters various denizens of the twin cities. The third book, Equal Rites is the first one with an actual plot, but I wouldn’t recommend starting with that or Sourcery (book 5), Mort is excellent (and the beginning of the Death sub-series) so you could start there, but to someone who dipping their toe into Pratchett I would definitely recommend starting with Wyrd Sisters (book 6) or Guards, Guards! (book 8)

    4. And Jennie pointed out awhile ago that the antagonist in Going Postal lived in Tump Tower, a rather shaky building if I remember correctly.

  31. Tasha Black’s Alien Ruler Needs a Nanny was simple, quick, and fun, with erotic undertones. But don’t make the mistake I did – don’t read two of this author’s books in a row. They are written on the exactly same formula. Take a break of a few months between her books, and you’ll enjoy them all.
    Grace Burrowes’s latest Lord Julian mystery, #8 in the series, A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes, was published a few days ago. Its attempted murder of a marquess was a complicated case worthy of Lord Julian, and he solved it with his usual flare, accompanied by his usual self-doubts and self-castigation. However, during the investigation, his betrothal to the love of his life, Hyperia West, underwent some troubles. And frankly, I blame Hyperia. She could’ve and should’ve behaved much better, with more understanding of Julian’s demons. As it was, while he suffered from PTSD, totally understandable after his war experience, she acted like a spoiled teenage girl. There was no need for her to fly into the boughs and threaten to end the betrothal. The rift between them and Julian’s customary inclination to blame himself for every problem upset me. It even spoiled this story a little for me. But only a little.
    Kate Healey’s Persephone in Bloom was a lovely contemporary romance, by turn funny, cute, and heart-wrenching. Its protagonists touched my emotions on the deepest level. The only complaint I have about this novel is what every other reviewer raved about: its association with Greek mythology. Not much to it either, because every other fiction story of our times usually have at least one element borrowed from Greek myths. Not for nothing Ancient Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization. In the case of this book, the borrowed elements are names: Zeus, Hades, Persephone, etc. Maybe, vaguely, some plot twists. But if the author called her characters Zack, Harry, and Phebe, the story would remain exactly the same. It didn’t win any points aping the Greek pantheon. Didn’t lose any either. Overall, it was a delightful contemporary romance. I enjoyed it and I will read more of this series.
    Finally, I re-read Georgette Heyer’s Black Sheep. Enjoyed it immensely too. The hero and heroine’s banter was beyond priceless and into sublime. I laughed like a loon at their irreverent dialogs.

    1. See if you accidentally erased your email and name? And the save button. It’s very quirky.

  35. I feel like I haven’t read anything in the past week, but it’s not quite that bad. It’s mostly because I was putting my contribution to Revenge of the Wallflowers up on various vendors and learning how to use Book Funnel, etc. I’m not really into revenge stories, but I had this story mostly written and just couldn’t finish it, and having a deadline and more of a theme really helped. It may not be any good, but it became fun in the end, and I grew to love the hero.

    But anyway, I did finally finish The Bookseller’s Tale, and since it’s double points day (I think), I’ll buy the next one. Also started rereading Sayers’ Murder Must Advertise, just for fun. And now am reading the most recent in the Heathcliff Lennox mysteries by Karen Baugh Menuhin. They’re fun and entertaining, with recurring characters one grows to love (including a dog and cat), and I rarely guess who the murderer is until close to the end, if at all.

  36. Christina, I think that post is stuck until Jenny gets around to reviewing and releasing it. If you have the text and can figure out what went wrong (like links to more than one website) you could try reposting the corrected text.

  37. Just read the new J.D. Robb, Bonded in Death. Another engrossing outing with Eve, Roarke, et al. Also read the new Jonathan Kellerman, Open Season, another engrossing outing with Alex, Milo, et al. I don’t think anyone here ever mentions Kellerman, maybe because the books can be grim, but I find him to be a good writer, and both psychiatric Alex and police detective Milo exemplify competence porn. Also read Abduction of a Slave by Dana Stabenow which is one of a series of historical mysteries set in Ptolemaic Egypt. The female MC works as a detective/problem solver for Cleopatra (yes, that one). Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series is still my favorite, but this series is pretty good too. As an aside, I note for Jenny’s benefit that the title doesn’t quite seem to fit, and yet I still enjoyed the book very much. 😀 In addition, I read Deep End by Ali Hazelwood. It’s a M/F romance between two college athletes (diver, swimmer, no hockey, sorry!) who share certain sexual kinks in, I think, the consensual, negotiated BDSM genre. That kind of kink does not attract me at all so I skipped over the sex scenes. Didn’t mind doing that because the story in between was a sweet depiction of two very nice young adults falling in love while learning how to heal from past trauma. Finally, I read The Dark Lord’s Daughter by Patricia Wrede which is a, I think, MG fantasy about a young teen girl who gets transported, along with her adoptive mother and younger brother, to another medieval fantasy world where she is expected to assume the throne and follow in her deceased Dark Lord father’s evil footsteps. Of course, a well loved, well balanced, and well raised modern thirteen year old girl will have her own thoughts about how this new regime should go.

    1. Jeanine, I have occasionally read novels by J. Kellerman, but I like better (most of) the ones by his wife Faye Kellerman and some of their collaborations. I have read a little of Dana Stabenow, but I see that I’m far behind, since I didn’t even know of the Egyptian series. Too Many Books to Read. I’m also behind on Patricia Wrede, but this one looks worth an eventual look.

      1. Huh.  On that theme, I vaguely remembered hearing at a con a filk song with the refrain, “Too many books to read.”  Thinking that that refrain might be the title and that it might be online, I googled it.  Google could not turn it up, but its AI at the top of the results page decided to help me compose it!  Actually,  from what I recall, it came out fairly close to the actual song.  (Except that most sf fans prefer not to use “sci fi,” although that, alas, may be changing over time.)  And I think in the real song, the narrator met his demise from a collapsing stack of books.

        >>A filk song titled “Too Many Books to Read” would likely be a lighthearted, slightly self-deprecating tune about the dilemma of having a large personal library and not enough time to get through all the books you want to read, often expressing the joy of accumulating books even if you can’t read them all.

        Possible lyrics could include:

        • “My shelves are groaning, my TBR pile is high,

        So many stories, I could just cry,
        A new release comes out every day,
        But I’ll never catch up, no matter what I say.”

        • “Fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and more,

        I’m a bookworm, can’t resist the bookstore door,
        A bargain find, a classic tale,
        My reading list grows, it’s a never-ending trail.”

        • “I dream of cozy nights, a cup of tea,

        Lost in a world where I long to be,
        But the clock ticks on, and time slips away,
        Too many books to read, just not enough day.”

        Key themes:

        • The joy of collecting books:

        Even if you can’t read them all, the sheer pleasure of owning a diverse library can be a big part of the song.

        • The struggle of choice:

        Having so many options can be overwhelming, making it hard to choose which book to pick up next.

        • A sense of humor:

        The song should acknowledge the absurdity of having “too many books” while still celebrating the love of reading.

    2. Jeanine, I’ve read all the Jonathan Kellerman’s until the last 2 or 3. They are definitely good stories and the competence is just wonderful. The audiobooks also are very well narrated. Thanks for reminding me that I have a few to read and catch up on!

  38. This week I read the Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman (“Beartown”, “Us Against You”, “The Winners”) It’s about hockey in a small town in northern Sweden and the trials and tribulations of the families who are associated with the hockey team. I thought these books were really well written with great characterizations and really good explanation of the grip hockey has on the team’s players and all those involved. It is a bit of a dark story. By the time I’d read book 3 I was a bit relieved it was over. I doubt I’ll reread them but I’m glad I read them once. I don’t think I’ll watch the tv series that was made based on it.

    I also read “The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson. A non-fiction chronicle of Churchill and the blitz in London 1940. I started it not expecting to enjoy it much but it is really well done. It is all based on newly released papers and diaries of people at the time and is written in a very personable way. He approaches it through the voices of the people who were there, both those around Churchill and “regular” people who lived through that period of the war, and it reads almost like non fiction and moves fast. I’ll read more by Larson.

    I then read E.L. Massey “Like Real People Do”. An M/M hockey romance between a student/figure skater and a hockey player. I might have been in the wrong frame of mind when I read it but It was just wasn’t a plausible story for me and a bit too sweet. I made it to 50% and then skimmed to the end.

    Finally, I reread Ari Baran’s “Delay of Game” which I really enjoyed the second time around. I’m rereading all Baran’s books to remind myself of the stories so that I’m ready to read “Goaltender Interference”.

    1. I loved the Beartown trilogy – and felt the same way you did by the end about the darkness. Oh those Swedes.

  39. Have a shiny new borrowed JAK I haven’t read yet. However listened to Dizzy Heights Jazz band audiobooks, characters from Lady Hardcastle Mysteries. fun, easy kind of cosy listens. Of course now listening to Lady Hardcastle now. I’ve only read one book, but they are in the same style

  40. I reread Manhunting. Watching Kate take down one rich jerk after another was therapeutic and of course the humor was wonderful.

  41. The dotter asked me several times for my beef Stroganoff recipe, and I always give it to her. So today a bowl of Stroganoff appeared on my desk while I was napping.

    It was delicious. I hope she and the kids liked it, too.

  42. Does anyone know storygraph, an alternative to goodreads?
    I’m thinking if switching to there as to find places to document my reading NOT feeding into the Bezos Empire.

    1. I opened an account, but haven’t done much with it. It seems very geared towards new recommendations, which I am not interested in.

      I did upload my goodreads list to it, which was nice, but was finding it hard to navigate back to the list to see my books. I haven’t been adding to it either, as I read. I can be bad about that… Sigh.

      1. Hm, difficult to navigate doesn’t sound tempting.
        These days I tend to read s lot of new stuff, so getting rec’s wouldn’t be bad.
        I’ll definitively look into it – the option to trasferring my xx years of reading back log id somewhag attractive.

        1. It may just be me. And I didn’t put a lot of time into playing with it. There may be a button somewhere that fixes all my woes.

  43. I finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry in a little over a day. I found it to be relatable and romantic. It gave me a lot of feels, laughing and happy and also sad and weepy.

  44. Just finished Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin and starting Touch of Red which really has a lot of police/forensic procedural.
    I also started Whitney, My Love and it is LONG 736 pages! It reminds me SO MUCH (so far) of a historical Gone with the Wind, weird.

  45. I have re-visited some old, trusted friends of mine. September and Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher.
    I absolutely love her longer novels. I love the rich descriptions of Scotland or Cornwall, the multitude of different characters, all fascinating in different ways, and the communities in which they live.
    When I start reading a book by Rosamunde Pilcher it’s like being enveloped in a warm, cosy blanket.

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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