I read Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, his memoir about his stand-up career, and it was fascinating, especially his insights about comedy and the push-pull of creativity and fame and the perils of genre-bending. Highly recommend.
What did you read this week?
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
117 Responses
I’m listening to Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. It’s mostly really good, but there’s a plot hole near the beginning that I had me saying “this makes no sense.” Fortunately, I figured out a fix that saves the plot, so I’m pretending it happened that way.
Otherwise, the characters are interesting, the pacing is great and action and twists keep coming.
Oh man, I listened to that. It was…a lot of drama.
I added Steve Martin’s book to my list, thank you for the reco!
I listened to the fourth Penric book, Masquerade in Lodi, not my favourite so far, a little too simplistic but still not bad. Onto the next one.
I read Josh Lanyon’s newest, Kill Your Darlings, which proves she has not lost her touch. Hard to believe she’s written this many books, still tends to write about mystery writers – this time at a convention of them where where she drags many of her series MC’s together for cameos: Adrien English, Christopher Holmes, etc. – and yet manages to be fresh. For example, one MC supporting another MC through a migraine is surprisingly romantic. I could read Lanyon all day long.
I also read AJ Lancaster’s latest, How to Find a Nameless Fae, about a princess who was cursed by a fae who was supposed to claim her if her family couldn’t break the curse, which they could not – but no claiming and now she’s middle aged. So she runs away to Fairyland to find him. Both MC’s are charming, and this is a sweet and funny book, ever so slightly saggy in the middle, but Lancaster overcomes.
Lisa Henry’s Love Notes came out, two MC’s in a small town, in a series of linked books by four authors. I can only believe that structure impeded Henry because this was not up to her usual standard at all. Or else writing a cozy contemporary is not her thing. It certainly wasn’t mine.
I’m so glad to hear “Kill Your Darlings” is so good! It is on my list to read as soon as houseguests depart and I can focus fully. Her writing is usually so good I want to read her books when there are no other distractions and I can get all the feels.
I think you’ll like it. I may have to re-read all my favourite stuff of hers.
Would you say “kill your darlings” works as a standalone given the presence of MCs from previous books? I like the premise but haven’t read much Lanyon. 🙂
It totally works as a stand-alone. The cameos are fun but there’s no real back story that you have to be present to.
VARIATION ON A THEME is up to chapter 77. Check out these chapter names:
66 – Clearing the Decks
67 – Good Cop, Bad Cop
68 – An Unwilling Compliment
69 – All Hail Loki
70 – Presents of Various Kinds
71 – Totally Bodacious
72 – Mele Kalikimaka
73 – Ohana
74 – Proposals, and Also Proposals
75 – Happily Ever After
76 – A New Generation
77 – Diabetic Coma Level Sweet
At three chapters weekly, the author thinks he may need to up some weeks to four to get it all in before New Year’s Eve. Brevity is NOT his forte.
Rereading book 5 of the Vixen War Bride series. As alien romances go, Bengipsum and Alacea N’Sha are… excruciatingly slow. Book 5 and still not consummated.
OK, I want “Diabetic Coma Level Sweet”!
It isn’t, really, but one of the characters ascibes that level to another, so…
I read Sawyer Bennett’s Wicked Fall and Wicked Favor; each are the first of a series set in two different sex clubs, and were free for Kindle. Decently written and I enjoyed them, but the rest of the books have a hefty price.
More importantly though, I read Haroom’s Harmonance (book one of the Ice Planet Octegenarians Romance series) by Opal Mason (aka Jeanne), and it was a riot!
Off the wall because alien romance, so of course, and so funny. I had a lot of fun reading it. It’s been a while since I’ve found a book to be FUN. Loved it!
Thanks for the rec! I just bought Haroom’s Harmonance. It sounds like exactly what I need today!
Natasha, I read the sample, and it is hilarious! I put it on my Wish List.
Aw! Thanks!
I’ve pre-ordered the next one!
I read Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – now that is good writing. Makes me realize I read too much in the way of cozy cat mysteries and cheap Regencies!
I do like a good cozy cat mystery or a cheap Regency. 😄
Me too
I read JAK’s It Takes a Psychic and enjoyed it but confess I like her earlier Harmony ones better. I also read Cold Truth by Toni Anderson and loved that the villain–a billionaire who owned a satellite network and rocket program–got his just desserts in the end. I’m now reading The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score. It’s okay but when I set it down, I’m not as eager to get back to it as I am with other books.
I agree. I like her earlier novels in all 3 pseudonyms much better than her books of the last decade.
I too really enjoyed the Steve Martin Born Standing Up! A thoughtful book.
Wiley Cash – This Dark Road to Mercy – a story of a life-changing short period of time in the life of two sisters (11 and 6 years old.) The writing was good and just sucked me in right away. It’s a coming of age story about a young girl coming to terms with her estranged father. It was a quick read. I probably won’t read this one again but I will check out others by this author. Thank you to the Argher who recommended it! (Sorry I can’t remember who it was…🤦♀️)
Harlen Coben – Nobody’s Fool – a typical Harlen Coben thriller/procedural. Lots of action, the MC (a former cop/PI) never gets enough sleep, and a satisfying ending.
I DNF ‘dRJ Scott and V.O. Locey’s Harrisburg Railers M/M hockey romance “First Season” – I will not go back and try any more of those. Having decided I needed a break from hockey romance until I’ve fully recovered from the Stanley Cup results, I then immediately went back and reread some Rachel Reid (“Role Model”) I’m tempted to just go ahead and reread Heated Rivalry and The Long Game but will withstand the temptation for the moment.
On audiobook I am continuing to work my way through a reread of Josh Lanyon’s Secrets and Scrabble cosy mysteries — not my favorite of hers but I like the slow romance arc.)
I think I’ll have to try the Secrets and Scrabble just to have something new of hers to read.
I bounced hard off of those but ymmv.
I can see that. Cozies aren’t my thing usually, but these are soothing…
I could use some soothing.
•Kelly Jones. Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, 2015
Recommended here recently and written by an Arghink author. I don’t habitually follow middle-grade novels, but I’ve read a number, either because someone recommended them to me or because they were by authors who I had enjoyed for YA or adult work. So reading this one was not a totally novel thing for me. Even so, I was a bit surprised by the depth I found. I likely would have enjoyed the book if I had read it as a child, but on a markedly superficial level. There is a lot going on to attract the attention of an adult reader. We have a city kid, Sophie Brown, moving to the country and running into some fantasy phenomena (here, the “unusual chickens” for starters), a bit as in the film “My Neighbor Totoro.”
On top of that, Sophie (born in Los Angeles) is half-Latina and visibly brown-skinned, unusual enough to elicit comment in the new community even though still in California. The community does contain an appreciable minority of other non-Anglos, and she encounters more misunderstanding than actual prejudice. In the third place, Sophie has run into a lot of death lately. Most personally, in the form of her abuelita (grandmother), who Sophie knew well and loved. I don’t think she ever met her Great Uncle Jim, the relative on her father’s side from whom they inherited a farm, who died only a few months earlier. (Per the internet, there are ways that Uncle Jim could have set the inheritance up so that Sophie’s family could move in that fast, without probate or during probate.) At least one more past death also later becomes important, but that’s a spoiler. We learn that Sophie’s abuelita was a “good Catholic,” but evidently Sophie’s mother reacted against this pretty violently, so that Sophie has no firm ideas about what death and any afterlife may entail. Being unchurched probably also deprives the family of one possible resource for fitting into the new community after the move. (Not that such factors should be decisive in adopting or rejecting a religion.)
Fourth, her father had been fairly recently let go (probably in some fashion not getting him unemployment compensation, such as an unrenewed contract) prompting the move to the farm in the first place. It’s unspecified what his profession was, but his field seems to be currently in a hiring slump. From what we see of him, it seems improbable that he’ll ever make a real farmer, although he is slowly adapting, and he likely will squeeze some income out of the farm. I haven’t read the sequels, but I would guess that if the family is to stay on the farm, he’d eventually have to find at least a part time teleworking job. In the meantime, the burden for keeping the family afloat falls mostly on Sophie’s mother, a writer who is churning out short feature articles for magazines or websites, about one a day. She is bilingual, but seems to be writing them only for Anglophone markets.
Quite apart from the unusual chickens themselves, a lot of food for thought packed into one novella.
(More coming.)
This was a totally charming read for a post-4th of July recovery day. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m listening to the audiobook version of “Real Food / Fake Food.” The author does an amazing job of describing the real food, how it’s made, the impact that the location has on it, and gets a person hungry to taste that food. Then he describes what we have in the United States and how it’s so very subpar. I may never eat fish again in the US. His definition of fake food is when what is in the package does not actually match what the label says. There are also different levels of fake food. For instance, burgundy wine, technically can only come from that region of France. A California burgundy isn’t a real burgundy because the grapes are grown outside of Burgundy, France. But at least if you buy a California burgundy wine, you still get wine probably even made using the proper grapes. In the fishing industry, you might not actually get the fish that’s on the label. For instance, red snapper you might actually end up with tilapia.
I also read the first six chapters of the murder mystery that goes along with the quilt top that I’m making. It’s not a published novel so I can forgive the typos. However, there are some massive oops in the storytelling. In Chapter 6, two of the characters names slightly changed. Mariana was suddenly Maria and Clarissa became Clarise. I have volunteered to be a proofreader. 😄
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver has similar themes to Real Food/Fake Food, but focused on local. It was pretty eye opening for me, even though it is some years old now.
I’ve read shorter pieces about misnamed fish. That seems to be a real problem.
On the other hand, I think this insistence (often stemming from the French and the EU) on trying to rename products commonly known in American English so as to give the area or country where they were first made or grown the monopoly on the common name is more than a little silly. Bayer lost its US trademark on aspirin a long time ago and the French never had one on burgundy.
Wine is different from aspirin in that the soil it is grown in makes a huge difference in the product. The varietal name such as Burgundy refers to both the style of wine and the terroir (soil conditions and weather) of the region. In France, the producers in a specific region get together and establish criteria for what distinguishes a wine from that region and register them with the government. It is known as DOC. A trademark mostly licenses just the name while DOC covers the varieties of grapes used, means of production and where it was made. For many names it also specifies the percentages of different grapes used.
If it has just appeared on the American market that might be relevant. As it is, (in my opinion) the French and their minions should satisfy themselves with “French burgundy,” or whatever other qualifier they like, much as we now have analog computers, acoustic guitars, print books, etc. And stop whining about long-established usage.
The region of Burgundy existed long before the United States. Saying French Burgundy is like saying American Wisconsin. There is an original and then there are those that followed.
I think that what causes confusion here is that the French are trying to trademark the product, not just the name. They want to diferentiate between the original product and those made in that general style. I believe the Italian winemakers have a similar system, but I can’t remember what it is called.
Aunt Snack,
According to the Wikipedia, the official French name for their burgundy is “(vin de) Bourgogne.” Since that’s not in common English usage, they could trademark that with my blessing. I don’t want them messing with ordinary English. They work hard to keep English from messing with French.
Dear Patrick,
I’m sure that this comment will come in the wrong place, so let me tell you that I am replying to your comment posted at 5:57 pm. I think we are arguing apples and oranges here. The French vintners are trying to presrve the distinction of their brands and you are aggravated by their ristrictions on the names of wines. One root of this confusion is that French wines are classified by their place of origin (Burgundy, Bordeau, St Emilion, etc.) while American wines are mainly named after the predominant grape used. Nowadays it is more common to see wines named with more singular names (e,g, Opus One), but traditionally, varieties of wine were named after the area where they evolved. This gave buyers a hint of what styke of wine they could expect.
Aunt snack explained very well the difference in the naming of wine in France and in America.
A.O.C., appellation d’origine contrôlée, is a very serious thing in France. It’s not just for wine but all manner of foodstuff, especially cheese. If you buy a « Brie de Meaux », you know it will be made according to very specific guidelines and in the region around Meaux.
This system was extended to the rest of the European Union and when the UK was part of the EU, the Cornish pasty became protected under EU protected names which means you can’t call something a Cornish pasty if it wasn’t made according to a specific recipe in Cornwall. I have no idea if they will keep this.
LN, We may partly be talking apples and oranges here as Aunt Snack suggested, but the Cornish pasties example suggests an intrusive sort of language control, if in Britain closely similar pasties made elsewhere by long tradition were already called Cornish pasties, meaning Cornish-style ones. (I don’t know if this was the case.) This all started with an author’s assertion that there was something fake about calling Califonia burgundy “burgundy.” In English! That’s not even the French word for the region or its wine! Before Putin fully turned to the Dark Side, I noticed that the Russian-made distilled product made from wine that Russia had called коньяк (cognac) through my lifetime and presumably long before had suddenly become бренди (brandy), I presume because this was the only way to export it to the EU. What arrogance! I can see labeling it as brandy in EU languages for EU sales, but the very name in Russian had changed! This, like calling Califonia burgundy fake, is just silly. (We do have an existing sort of parallel in US English, in that the product known in the US as “Canadian bacon” is now labeled “Canadian style” bacon when not imported from Canada (if any ever was imported, which I never noticed). Come to think of it, I have seen some imported German beers where the carton says Bier in German but where local law required that it be called “malt liquor” in English on the label because its alcohol content was too strong to be locally labeled as beer. But at least they let the German word stand.)
Cornish pasty comes from Cornwall, I am not aware of any other place in the UK that has that specific type of pasty.
Patrick, you probably know that a beer can only be called “Bier” in German if it’s brewed according to our “Reinheitsgebot” (defined in the mid 1500s): it needs to be brewed with 5 specific ingredients only. This is very similar to the French A.O.C. system for wine: a seal of a certain quality. Not just a name.
•Alli Hazelwood, Problematic Summer Romance, 2025. Most of the characters from the author’s novel Not in Love (2024) recur here. Some years after the events of that novel, its protagonists Eli and Rue are officially getting married, at a destination wedding in Sicily. Among the guests are Conor Harkness, lead founder of Harkness Associates, where most of the guests work, and Maya Kilgore, Eli’s younger sister, who is now 23. Not a Harness employee, Maya has just gotten a master’s in physics in Austin, Texas, where her brother lives, and now has open both an industry offer in California and a place in doctoral program at MIT.
Conor and Maya have been in an ambiguous relationship (not involving sex, at least by Bill Clinton’s definition) since Maya was 20. We see its development through numerous flashbacks. The age gap is a bit problematic in itself, but is exacerbated by Conor’s resolve not emulate his super-controlling and cradle-robbing father, recently deceased to the relief of Conor and some of the other guests. Conor had sworn off Maya “for her own good” ten months before Eli and Rue’s wedding, much to Maya’s displeasure, since she sees herself as strong, independent, and capable of making her own decisions about the age gap. I won’t say a lot more about the novel because it’s been mentioned here before and because I’m well outside the target demographic. I did strongly object to the way that one difficulty in the course of true love magically goes away—because the author withheld from us pertinent information known all along to Maya. I’m also unsure what the point was in making Maya such a physics superstar, since the plot would have worked much the same without that, or if she were just a normally bright physics grad atudent, not utterly brilliant. (Is this some wish-fulfillment thing for Hazelwood’s target audience?) And, as the author herself comments in the acknowledgements, there really were a remarkable number of sex scenes, many of which I skipped. But all in all, I enjoyed the novel and I look forward to her next one.
(One more book posting coming when proofread.)
Having a tough week after a tough month and rereading Lavender’s Blue for therapy. Thank you Jenny and Bob, for writing this book.
You’re welcome.
Seriously, you’re saving the tiny fragment of sanity I’ve got left.
I reread three books about a town where a bunch of retired spies and operatives live, and die. These books also deal with alcoholism, sex addiction, serial murderers, drug trafficking, dark warfare, poisoning, cyber surveillance, gambling addiction, coming of age romance, misogyny, German pastry baking, various types of art, wilderness survival, llama husbandry and dog training, wars in Afghanistan, hidden treasure, guns- lots of guns, trigonometry, Russia, Tesla engineering problems, and many other interesting things. Very exciting books. I recommend the Rocky Start trilogy.
Thank you, Jan.
Thank, YOU, Jenny!
•Andrew Wareham, Nothing New on the Land; The Agricultural Lord Palfrey, Book 3, 2025.
Here we continuine the saga of Lord Palfrey’s efforts to adapt to new social and economic conditions, and to modernize his estate, in the peace following the Napoleonic Wars; I reviewed the first two books last week. In one respect Palfrey’s long string of good luck runs out, and a lot of the volume concerns his efforts to deal with the consequences. Another theme is the advent of the Steam Age. The new technology receives some cautious off-estate investment from him (Palfrey is well aware of frauds and self-deluded inventors). However, so far, not even the stationary traction engine for agriculture has been marketed, so Palfrey sees no way to apply steam power to his estate and he is casting about for other ways to improve the estate’s viability. We must await further continuations for any real conclusion.
•Sherlock Holmes, film, 2009. I’m not a huge movie fan, so I just now got around to this DVD of the reinterpretation of Holmes and Watson as action heroes. Not totally devoid of justification in the Canon, unlike what the screenplay (following a lot of extracanonical precedent) does to Irene Adler and her relationship with Holmes. Also, every screen portrayal of Waton, including this one, still seems to be reacting against Nigel Bruce, and I think that here we are definitely in overreaction territory in terms of Watson’s physical prowess and quickness of mind. The canonical Watson has strengths, but not the same strengths as Holmes.
I would not be surprised if the Russian makers of “The Duelist” (2016), which I wrote up here a while back, had based a lot of their cinematography on this film—most scenes are grimy, dim, and claustrophobic, although for all I know, that was a more general cinematic trend. Probably not a bad representation of a 19th-century large city in either time and place, but a bit overdone, presumably in the service of mood and of keeping the shooting costs down. (Smaller sets, details hidden by murk, easier special effects.). One Sherlock Holmes film in this style was probably enough for me, but nonetheless I’ll likely try the sequel at some point. And I definitely approve of ditching the deerstalker cap, appropriate headwear only in rural settimgs.
Read most of Neverwhere by Nail Gaiman on the 9 hrs flight and finally finished the last 20 pages this night.
It’s very cinematic (and yes, the film series came first), I usually prefer to get more insights into the inner life of my MCs, but it was very good to read something else than I usually do.
A bit on hold due to lack of reading time are emery fox’s third player book (bad that I can’t remember the title) – very melancholic, but I like it. And Eden Finley’s Unspoken Vow, also very melancholic as one MC suffers from PTSD from having been almost killed by his former boyfriend.
I expect to het some reading done on the 10 hrs flight home, but must try to sleep, too. The jet lag after flying east is much worse than west, I find.
Dodo, Yes. It’s well established that resetting the body clock to get up earlier is harder than resetting to later. This routinely hits North Americans going to Europe. I also had a terrible time readjusting after my Australian trip back when, especially since my body insisted on gradually moving 14 hours backwards over many days rather than 10 hours forward. (Cues from sunlight and having to get up to go to work may have forced the direction.)
Patrick, I’m very aware that the effects of jet lag going west is much different to jet lag going east. That’s why I tried to find the “no jet lag” medication that helped us very effectively years ago when flying home from NZ. Sadly, since it’s produced in NZ and not approved here, I couldn’t get hold of this homeopathic remedy.
Still reading yours, currently with Agnes and her hunky hitman; Shane. Finished with the Fortune sisters yesterday and the vanquishing of their nasty aunt Xan. What a epic ending so wish I could have seen that, shame its not real life. Thats what I love about your books, the way they drag you in and feel like you’re involved. Anyway, after this Ill be onto Dogs & Goddesses. Very much looking forward to reading that, what more could you ask for magic and dogs, though I loves Piwacket in the last book. More cats please.
Thank you for your awesome novels Jennifer, love them all so very much.
Thank you for reading, Lisa.
I’m kind of jealous you get to read Jenny’s books for the first time. Although rereading them is also marvelous!
I read all three Rocky Start-books (expertly described by Jan above) and had the best of time. Thank you, Jenny and Bob. You are sanity-saviours and rescuers of people in various ways and forms.
Things I thought about:
1. The narrators are the same as for the Liz Danger-books, which is… not bad, because they are good, but a bit odd to have the “same voices for the wrong people”.
2. I can’t help wondering what Dodo thinks of Coral’s (is that how her name is spelled?) German accent.
3. Female narrator can NOT do a Russian accent. Fortunately most of Mr Russia’s dialogue is in the male narrator’s court.
4. In book 1, there’s an error and I can’t tell if it’s the narrator reading it wrong or if it’s the actual text. It says Lianne’s dad has called because he wants contact with his daughter, where it should say May. Whoops.
5. The autopsy scene was not my favourite, I discovered. Brrr!
I had a great time and they auto-placed themselves on the comfort-reading list, because of course they did. Such a big happy!
After the Rocky Start-books, I went back to “Water Moon” by Samantha Sotto Yambao. It is described as dreamlike, and it is. I still am not really sure what rating I would give it, but I don’t regret spending time with it. There’s a lot of incredible imagination in that book!
Now back with the bloodthirsty unicorns in the third book in the Skandar-series: “Skandar and the Chaos Trials” by A. F. Steadman. I have the feeling something bad is gonna happen in this book…
So glad that worked for you, Shass!
An absolute pleasure, I assure you. <3
I’m pretty sure that was the narrator, Shass. I don’t remember a slip like that in the book. Herc is Lian’s ex and Mei’s dad,
Mei, it is, thanks. Hard with spelling when you only hear the names spoken. Good thing everyone here knows the books and can figure out what character I mean. 🙂
This is the kind of error I always ask myself whether I should report or not. I also always think it’s weird that the narrator themselves don’t catch things like that, or the editor and/or producer.
Shass, it’s sometimes hard to catch your own errors, because you don’t notice them. You know what you wanted to say, and you assume it says that. LOL
Jan, I entirely agree about how hard it is to catch one’s own typos, odd word choices and the like from my own experience a different what I know of others’.
And Shass, I don’t think that even sighted people go to much trouble to establish the spelling of the names of characters that they have only heard in audiobooks. A phonetic spelling or a guess at how a name is conventionally rendered is close enough for us to figure out if we’ve read the book in type, and is irrelevant if we haven’t.
My dad thought watching him perform an autopsy would incentivize me towards studying medicine. It’s not a fun watch but mostly it’s a horrible smell between the formaldehyde and the intestines. I look forward to listening to the autopsy scene.
Of course, I decided to work for food and candy makers.
Shass, I’m very intrigued now to listen to the audiobooks lol. To me, my own accent in English sounds awful anyhow. My kid’s hostdsd does a very good imitation of a German accent, nevertheless the more difficult thong is usually that some of our sounds and language melody is rather difficult to reproduce if you don’t speak the language yourself. Especially the “Umlaute” ä/ö/ü, or the -ch- within a word.
The same must be true for Swedish, Dutch for the other Skandinavian languages?
I’m really looking forward to the German (inspired) pastries. I don’t expect it to reflect what’s sold in our bakeries, though, but what would sell in a US town.
This week or last week, can’t remember, I read the latest Lord Petteril mystery — Petteril’s Baby — and enjoyed it very much. Such a good series. Usually, I get tired of a series by about book 5.
Also got partway through a bunch of other books which I will eventually finish. Nothing totally gripped me, but they’re good for when I have insomnia.
Also started rereading an old, old John Buchan novel, Prester John, which takes place in South Africa in the early 1900s. It’s interesting because there’s a lot of racism which might not have been so noticeable in, say, the 1950s but which stands out now. The difficulty for a modern reader is to separate what is hateful racism and what is just how an intelligent, well-meaning white colonial in South Africa saw the Africans at the time. The main character is not unkind, he treats the locals well, they aren’t slaves, he recognizes their intelligence, appreciates their input, etc. Buchan was an outstanding storyteller, but as time marches on, I have to remind myself more and more that he wrote over 100 years ago and to a certain extent his writing reflects the attitudes of the time.
When I read something written between, say, 1890 and 1940, I look for what the characters do and say versus what the narrative voice says. If it’s the characters being racist or whatever, an argument can be made that the author is reflecting their reality while not wholly subscribing to it.
If the framing text contains racism, antisemitism, etc, or if a character is written according to a vicious stereotype that serves no purpose to the story other than to provide other characters an opportunity (or “justification”) to be racist, that’s the author being racist.
I read A Terribly Nasty Business by Julia Seales, her sequel to A Most Agreeable Murder. This series is a mash-up spoof of Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes, with the heroine Beatrice Steele having an unladylike fascination with solving murder mysteries, first in her own home region of Swampshire, and currently in London’s Sweetbriar district. Her partner is Vivek Drake, the former assistant to Sir Huxley, the charismatic Holmes persona. In this book, the crime is centered around cancel culture when a group of gentlemen is determined to shut down all means of artistic and personal expression. Entertaining and timely.
I picked up Moonlight and Vines by Charles De Lint to take with me to Jury Duty. The writing is beautiful and I love the weird, quirky artis communities he builds but I rarely read him anymore because he has a tendency to break my heart. I don’t know if I will finish it or not because of this.
Because of my fragile emotional state, I have returned to watching K-dramas. My latest, Her Private Life features an actor from Coffee Prince which I enjoy for nostalgic and scenic reasons. He has excellent cheekbones. It has a lot of the usual tropes and fluff and silliness, but the main character also diffuses multiple Big Misunderstandings, which makes me very happy. We also watched The Other Miss Oh, which I enjoyed.
Reading wise I stuck to short, smutty, fluffy stuff. Some new to me Josh Lanyons have appeared in Hoopla, so I started listening to the first Holmes and Moriarity book.
Currently listening to the third Peter Grant book. Not having much time to read actual books, but I did pick up the sequel to that Luminous Deep book. And I walked outside today and immediately found “Rethinking Narcissism,” which seems like a sign after watching bullying going on last night.
I’ve been very slowly going through a book I picked up at the used book store – Irresistable by Mary Balogh. It’s a post-Napoleonic War novel set in London. The female MC is a war widow, honored for her husband’s service. The male MC is one of the officers that used to hang around while she was following her husband on his various postings. They’ve already acknowledged to themselves that they are drawn to the other, but haven’t necessarily told their partner. I believe there is some blackmail too, and a dog. I’m sure everything will work out.
That’s part of a trilogy and the one I reread the most. And there is a fourth couple in that book that I wish had gotten their own book.
Books! I read some.
I also bought a new computer desk chair, because the old one was uncomfortable. Some assembly required. Given a 50/50 chance of installing the arms backwards, guess which way I done it?
Some disassembly and reassembly required.
🤣
*sigh*
Dis- and re- complete. The old chair, with a dish towel cushion zip-tied to one arm and a folded throw for added butt-cushion is still superior to the new chair.
Ima keep it anyhoo.
This is why I do not order furniture off the internet. A chair may look great in a picture, but only actually sitting in one will tell you how it fits your body. Going to a furniture store with someone who was 14 inches taller than me was a demonstration I will never forget.
Yeah, well, you’re smarter than me. Harrumph.
I’ve been a fan of Steve Martin for a long, long time. He is so very talented. (That ‘Dancing in the Dark’ homage with Gilda Radnor! ‘The Jerk’! ‘Pennies From Heaven’! ‘Roxanne’! ‘All of Me’! Plus once upon a time, DH and I got to see his play ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’ which was an LA memory moment. And let’s not forget ‘Only Murders in the Building.’) Have added the memoir to my wishlist so I don’t keep forgetting about it, thanks Jenny. 🙂
This week’s reading was a lot of re-reading, plus one new thing which I will specify as new. The brain, she was tired. All of these that aren’t by me myself can safely be construed as 4 to 5 stars in my reading opinion. (Obviously I like my own stuff too. Heh.)
1. ‘If We Were Villains’ by M.L. Rio
2. ‘Death in the Spires’ by KJ Charles
** note: 1+2 make a great double feature **
3. ‘Stripped,’ my own F/F Hollywood coming-out income-gap novella (free at Prolific Works)
4. ‘An Unseen Attraction’ by KJ Charles
5. ‘An Unnatural Vice’ by KJ Charles
6. ‘An Unsuitable Heir’ by KJ Charles
** the plotting in 4-5-6 is effing brilliant **
7. ‘Cici and the Curator’ by S.J. Wynde
8. [new] ‘Cici and the Curator Search for Treasure’ by S.J. Wynde
9. ‘Second Act’ by Kaje Harper
plus re-read my own short story ‘Empty Shelves, Full Hearts,’ M/M with fiftysomething MCs, one an HR manager and the other a novelist, who meet in a neighborhood bookshop that’s going out of business.
Notes on the Cici books – I like both of them a lot but they’re just this side of cliffhanger endings, in the sense of “either the precipitating narrative event or the evolving narrative question is not resolved” and also “are you truly intending this to be some flavor of romance or are you simply teasing us with these hints about Cici and the Curator’s mutual attraction / affection.”
Would happily read a third volume, especially now that we know who the Curator actually is. No objection to high-stakes moral quandaries resolved in predominantly nonviolent and caring ways – I like that! – but there is a through-story here, and I want some sign that it is going to become the main course, versus feeling like a sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt on a chocolate cupcake.
Oooh yes, Sins of the City is an excellent trilogy. There’s a moment in “An Unsuitable Heir” I loved where Clem awkwardly advising Pen that having told Mark to go away Pen would need to make the next move (and it takes Pen a beat to realize that’s a good thing). So refreshing!
Random aside – I just checked out Prolific Works and they have more than 800 works by “Next Chapter” – I think someone is gaming their system?
Me, too — would love a third Cici book.
A.J. Lancaster’s latest book, How to Find a Nameless Fae, was a strange novel, weird and charming at the same time. I read her Stariel series and loved it. I enjoyed this one too. It was told from the single POV of the heroine, a 40-years-old Gisele, a human princess first-born to the royal family. Before she was born, her mother made a bargain with a fae to give up her first born for the chance to marry the old king’s son. The fae granted the woman’s wish, and in time, she became a queen. She and her entire court waited for 40 years for the fae to come and claim the princess, but he never did. Nevertheless, Gisele’s life has been on hold for 40 years, while the unfulfilled fairy bargain twisted into a curse, making everyone uncomfortable around her.
Eventually, Gisele decided to take her fate into her own hands and enter the Fairy Realm to find the fae who failed to claim her. If he didn’t come for her, she would go to him, no matter how scary the unknown fae was.
The entire backstory took very little page space in the beginning of the book. The rest was a few months of Gisele’s life after she found the fae. Her falling in love. Her learning to trust herself and the others. Her efforts to untangle her curse.
Overall, it was a quiet and heart-warming story, if a bit slow. My only complaint was that both protagonists – Gisele and her fae – often acted much younger than their years. They behaved and struggled with emotions like teenagers, not adults with decades of experience behind them. Other than that, it was a nice reading experience.
I didn’t read anything brilliant this week. Still working my way through the Deborah Crombie police procedurals and enjoying them. Tried a fantasy by a male author with a bisexual female heroine/narrator, but she just didn’t read as female, so in the end I got irritated and gave up.
Do men read female authored books with male leads and find themselves unable to continue? Do we write men as badly as some men write women?
Now I’m reading Charles Todd mysteries.
If a novel written by a woman with unconvincing men has an interesting plot, I’ll often shrug it off and read on. Men in such novels often share far too much about feelings, romantic interests, etc. with their best buddies. In principle, I would expect women to be better about writing male characters than vice versa since on the whole they seem biologically to be better equipped to understand other people (or so it seems in our culture, and of course there are exceptions). I think that on the whole I’ve seen fewer complaints that women authors get men wrong. But women report that many male authors do well at portraying women. A classic controversy is whether Heinlein portrayed plausible women characters. I think the majority opinion from women is no, but there is a vocal female minority for the affirmative.
Biologically better equipped to understand other people? How about raised to believe that it was their responsibility? Also, if you are old enough that you started reading when the majority of books were written by men, you eventually get a picture of what is desired by publishers. You accept the male view because it is what is presented to you in textbooks, news reports and “official” writings.
Yep, raised not biologically equipped. When your survival in partriarchal siociety depends on reading (male) people, this might tramslate to being equipped to write both perspectives well.
Just my opinion. No sources provided.
Um … what makes a character not read as female to you? As opposed to just not being credible as a character aside from gender?
Heh, only 27.7% of men read fiction in the first place (2022 NEA data), and men tend not to read women authors and tend to prefer male leads regardless of authorship. There’s a lot of data on that e.g. “Nielsen Book Research found that, of the 10 bestselling male authors, readership was roughly evenly divided by gender, with 55% male readers and 45% female readers. In contrast, only 19% of the 10 bestselling female authors’ readers were male, compared to 81% female.”
That is so interesting. It makes sense though. Both my brothers prefer fiction but they definitely prefer male authors. I read 99.9% female authors.
Yuri, the character was constantly wisecracking, rating her own body, lusting after everyone in sight, making sexual references ditto. I’m all for a bit of smut in the books I read, and I certainly don’t mean that female characters have to be prim and proper, but I just kept thinking, ‘This doesn’t sound like a woman.’ Not sure I can describe it better than that.
Fair enough. It’s interesting how our minds work.
I tried various samples and gave up on all of them. Finally decided to reread Murderbot rather than trying to watch the TV version – I like the books so much I can’t see an adaptation matching them. So I’m having fun.
I’m with you, Jane. I have a free trial of Apple TV, so I’m enjoying Ted Lasso. I considered trying Murderbot, but I figured I wouldn’t like it as much as the books, and watching some clips on YouTube confirmed it.
I am enjoying Murderbot the Apple series. I just decided to approach it as a different entity from the novels and try not to be constantly going ‘that was not in the book!’
The actors are pretty good and it is worth it, I think. Gets better as it goes.
The tv show has *some* marked differences from the books but having just watched episode 9, I feel like they have captured something that I really enjoy…
The casting for Mensah, MB and Gurathin is absolutely perfect to me.
For me the big difference between the show and the books is that almost all the characters on the show are less experienced than their book counterparts and have much further to grow.
You just pinned down what has been bothering me: less experienced. I suspect that’s because they need to not know things so they can be explained without Murderbot’s complete narration.
For me, Gurathin is not working well, but everybody else is just what I expect them to be.
Oh Jane, but it is good! And comic. And sweet. One of the great television adaptations, I think.
I read a bunch of library holds that came in. Some of them I waited many double-digit weeks for, and I’m glad I waited, not because they were worth it, but because I’m glad I didn’t purchase them. Instantly forgettable.
The best of the bunch was Deep End by Ali Hazelwood, which I think is her best book yet. That one went on my wish list, because I’ll want to reread.
Totally with you on Deep End.
I read Pomona Ashton Can So Solve a Murder. I’m a sucker for a good character arc and Pomona’s is wonderfully satisfying.
Have read (or half-read) too many duds in the past month. So it was nice to find a snarky male character and some laugh-out-loud devices and plot turns in Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn. But, sigh, am I getting old and cranky? The fornicating scenes seemed to go on and on and on with escalating scatalogical detail that created characters who I almost didn’t recognize from the beginning of the book.
I don’t think there are many writers who abide by Jenny’s rule that the sex is plot-driven. So, still looking for a book with snark and sex that’s not off-putting. I’m trying Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life next.
Just finished Mhairi McFarlane’s MAD ABOUT YOU. She’s almost as reliable as that team…What are the names? Oh yeah, Crusie and Mayer. 😀
Best thing I finished this week was “Four Lost Cities” by Annalee Newitz (2021) –it covers Catalhoyuk in Mesopotamia, Ankor Wat, Pompeii, and Cahokia and was quite fascinating. I particularly liked hearing about new techniques such as data archeology that shows us people in Pompeii drove on the right or anthropogenic geomorphology that shows us Ankor Wat was a huge jungle city, with only a few temples made of stone (the same sorts of Lidar surveys that show maize production in Michigan). Good reading to give context to Cahokia after fiction reads: “Cahokia Jazz” and “Black Sun”. Also, some intriguing prompts for further reading such as “Nero was great for women” (Lisa Hughes) and critiques of Diamond’s collapse thesis.
In fiction, Kaje Harper’s “The Rebuilding Year” (2012) was solidly enjoyable – m/m contemporary with MCs who turn from friends to housemates to lovers. I liked that they had complicated lives, including one MMC having a son. The sequel “Life, Some Assembly Required” was also good, with plenty about negotiating a relationship.
“Party of Two” by Jasmine Guillory (2020) is an m/f contemporary. I liked that the MMC had changed his mind to switch from being a hard-line prosecutor to a Senator focused on restorative justice (bit of wish fulfillment there I think!). I liked that the FMC was a confident lawyer. And I liked that neither of them was perfect. Guillory is a bit mixed for me, and this is one of her better ones.
Yuri, thanks for your recommendation of Overload Flux by Carol Van Natta. I enjoyed it.
I do wonder though why you suggested starting with that one rather than the first book in the series. Is Book 1 not good according to you?
I am a bit of a completist so usually I read all books in a series in order 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it!
I usually read in publication order, so “Overload Flux” is the first book (I think!). There’s a prequel novella “Last Ship off Polaris-G”, also good, but I think published a few years later. I think they’re all good,
Its one of those worlds that always feels deeper than she shows on the page – and other than the MCs from OF in “Pico’s Crush”, there isn’t any real overarching series narrative I could discern.
Aah, looked up her website – she’s changed the branding. My copy of LSOPG is labelled #0.5. I wonder if she revised and expanded it from a novella?
Thanks Yuri!
Jasmine Guillory is a favorite of mine. I particularly like The Wedding Date and Royal Holiday the former is a younger couple with more explicit sex and the latter is an older couple is less explicit about their lovemaking. I like her FMCs intelligence and career drive.
I had a great time listening to the audiobooks of the Rocky Start trilogy. The timing of the recordings becoming available was serendipitous, I was jonesing for a new listen, but nothing sounded good, and these exactly hit the spot. I especially enjoyed them once the female narrator stopped saying “butterkushen.” And now, of course, I want some cake.
My book group is reading Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, which apparently I read a couple of years ago, but can barely remember. I think I used to be able to read dense writing much more quickly than I can now. Now I read maybe 10-15 pages at a time, with a pen to mark. There’s a wonderful recording of it narrated by Juliet Stevenson that I am also using, it’s interesting to listen to passages one has read, and vice versa.
Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends here. I know it’s been a tough week down there and I want you to know that this too shall pass.
Thanks, Tammy. I sorrow for what has happened to our country, and will happen to those affected by loss of Medicaid and SNAP. I proudly flaunt my magnetic bumper sticker “Make America Kind Again,”.
Thank you for the reminder. I’m heartbroken and frightened by the impunity in the bill for this regime and its policies. Top it off with the receipt of an email from the social security adm. “Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors” *^%#?!!!
I got that and it made me gag!
Do any of you know of a succinct breakdown of the Admin’s email re: social security and it’s implication for those in need that I can send around to the Quebécois I know who tout your president as promoting some benefits for Americans? Tx. (English is okay as long as it doesn’t include “Go!”]
Offended me too. And according to WAPO, not all that accurate.
Thank you, Patrick M. I am now rereading “Unusual Chickens” for the third time. Just what I need right now. (Yesterday I DNFd several books where the characters were just too boring or unpleasant.) Thank you, Kelly, for writing it.
I read Strawberry Hill and Huckleberry Lake by Catherine Anderson. I loved the horses and the countryside. Also interesting the MMC and the FMC life challenges were engaging. These are a balm for this week’s stress. Although alert to sexual assault.
I spent most of this week reading all the Mayer and Crusie collaborations 🙂 I also read The Far Side Galleries 2-5 (waiting on 1 to come in from the library.) I always love the Mayer and Crusie works, and I especially enjoyed the trilogies. Seeing the characters grow on different ways over three separate arcs was deeply enjoyable in a way I often miss in one-off novels (I love one-off novels too, but I love the room to breath and grow that series give to the characters. I’m a character-driven person)
The Far Side’s wackiness is a balm for days when I’m feeling a bit too stagnant at work and in life, especially in a world where it frankly feels like all the people in power have gone to the wrong sort of madness.
Continue to be very happy with DH knee revision recovery. He is weaning himself off the heavy pain meds too. Tomorrow is post op 2 weeks. It’s amazing.
I bought an apple time piece to monitor my sleep and heart beats at night. I don’t wear in daytime because I have many Birks watches. (Canadian jewellery company, owned by out of country owner, never the same, just think about Hudson Bay Company. Birks, It was such a great store to shop, no more silverware, no more Murano glass, no more great wedding gift ideas, now mediocre.) Favourite is a Henry Birks and Sons time square watch. Sort of a take on a Cartier watch, but not. Funny how I started with Sieko watches in my 20s. My g-daughters love the bracelet style Sieko from 1970s.
So far I had my best sleep last night. Once I can get back to sleep after the usual 3:20 wake up. 8 1/2 hours compared to 4 1/4 hours the night before. Sleep, sleep glorious sleep.
And the hummingbirds make me happy. And, Aunt Snack, ever since the old Lani Diane Rich, et al, blogs years ago, so many of you argh-ers from the long ago blogs. So many books and so many discussions. All because of you, Jenny. And you, Bob. It’s time for my annual Agnes and the Hitman re-read. Finally have a new book for GBT.
And my fresh veg garden. I will have to have an indoor garden like Gary this winter.
I’ve been wallowing in audio romances for a while now,totally hiding from reality. Thank god for libraries! I did Julia Quinn, Lucy Parker (really fun, a new find), Penny Reid (not recorded, dammit), Susan Elizabeth Philips, Jenn McKinlay. Just lots of stories to get me through the day so I don’t freak out on Threads. Somehow, though reading books has always gotten me though before, I can’t justify just reading books—when I listen, I can do laundry, or garden, or knit—but now I can’t relax and read. My world has just destructed, politically, but with implications on how I believe people are, and fiction is the only way to survive, but I can’t even read the way I used to, it’s too easy to be distracted by how much all this completely sucks.