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This is a Good Book Saturday: I Apologize

Really sorry.  REALLY SORRY.

157 Responses

  1. Don’t worry Jenny! We are just happy to know you are fine.

    This week I read Rachel Neumeier’s latest Tuyo book, « Bereket ». Then obviously, I had to reread Rihasi which is one of my favourite of the series. I love that book. If you look at it as a romance novel, it has a bodyguard trope but it isn’t that. It’s a rattling good adventure and it plunges you right into that incredible world that Neumeier has created. You could read it as a standalone but to appreciate it all, it’s probably best to start with Tuyo which starts the central story. I do love all the side adventures very much though. « Suelen » is another favourite as well as « Keraunani ». Good stuff!

    1. I agree wholeheartedly!
      I almost always enjoy Rachel Neumeier’s books, and the ones set in the Tuyo world are some of my favorites.
      Bereket or Rihasi would work as standalone or first entry to the world for readers who like crime stories. Suelen and Keraunani are shorter, and could also work as possible stand-alone entry points for readers who are interested in worldbuilding and adventure.
      Tuyo is the original start of the main series trilogy, and introduces this very interesting and unusual world full of dangerous adventures and honorable people.
      At the moment, I’m enjoying listening to the audiobook of Hedesa, which is not as suitable as a starting point for people new to this world, but very well done, even with the complicated Tarashana names.

  2. It’s good to hear from you. I hope all is well and you’ve been busy only with good things!

    I’m a slow reader and a slow writer, so I’ve got no good books to share this week.

  3. Thrilled to see your very short post, so whatever is going on, hope you will be okay! Love your books and wish all the best for you (and consequently for us, your devoted readers).

  4. Glad you’re okay. I’m reading Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke, about a tradwife influencer who gets sucked back into a real tradwife life a century or two ago. Or did she? The circumstances she arrives in are so over-the-top, they can’t be real. It’s fun, though.

  5. I really hope that you’re alright, Jenny, and were just lost in writing?
    I’ve done slme re-reading in the form of listening thanks to the audible sale not long ago:
    Irresponsible Puckboy used to be a fav in spite of unevenness. In audio, ghough, some derails git a bit on my nerves (like why is it such a deal to be husbands – it’s never elaborated; I get that being officially married makes a difference, noticed this after my own marriage – a run in with my mil, grrr, but somehowit bugged me here that it’s just stated). Thd most obvious annoying ghing was that was hockey related: the off season – from what I know at least – is not just a long holiday but definitively a lot of conditioning and bulking up. Nothing here. I still like thd MCs a lot though
    Another re-read /audiobook: Charles by Con Riley. I’d read it in 2021 and remembered it to be very spicy, but it’s not really that spicy. It’s much more tender. I still/ebmven more so now love that voth MCs struggle with their stuff: severe dyslexia and a difficult school journey and career for Charles, PTSD and career struggles for Hugo who was about to be ordained at Anglican priest but being gay as an Anglican means (meant?) living celibate even in marriage (which sounds cruel unless both are ace through and through) .
    New read: Scoring Chances by AJ Truman. Two life long friends (and rec league hockey linemates) enter a fake marriage when the widow of 4 kids lioses his job and accordingly his health insurance. But the bi friend always liked his bff a tad more snd ghe close proximity that comes with having no bad surprise with their “fake” marriage being exposed makes them grow closer still. It’s relatable why this develops into a real relationship and why it works for the whole family (the bachelor MC was involved with the kids as Godfather/guncle since forever). This one was a nice surprise (it shouldn’t have been, I’m a sucker for friends to lovers) – I didn’t much like the first book in the series, and having a whole group of friends discover their non-straight identity feels a bit much, but hey, maybe they were drawn to each other as friends for a reason?
    Also, I’m slowly making my way through Buzzed on You by Hannah Henry. Like Tammy, I likd it mire than the similar My Kind of Guy by Sarina Bowen. It’s full of thd many many details that I love in a book, the every day details. Very atmospheric, really well fleshed out characters, a lot of character growth for the younger, impulsive guy, no over the top stuff. Yet. I’m only about 45 % in. But I’m optimistic it’ll continue in the right direction.
    And since I finished my audio with Charles, I’vd started a new obe: the third installment in Nora Phienux’s Prince’s series. Only about 6 chapters in, but it feels nice: Niels, the Swedish prince in this quartet of Euro princes longing for some time as an “ordinary” person, has arrived at a college in Buffalo as assistent hockey coach. Coaching one player specifically/ Aiden, the raw talent. I love the teaching aspect here. Niels has realized that he’s attracted to Aiden, but also very aware that there must not come anything of it. Aiden (so far) is learning to accept help/becoming more well rounded as a player and as a person.
    A funny detail is that Aiden aims to make the Buffalo NHL team in spite of them not being any good (for ages) because it’s his home team. Only this season, the Sabres have actually surprised EVERYONE by having a spectacular season.
    I’m conflicted about ghd Sabres after watching one of them attending the WH in a MAGA cap snuggling up to the creeps, but I guess expecting millionaires to have a sound political opinion is unrealistic. The pool of teams I feel at ease to root for has decreased drastically after the Olympics. Well, I’ll still root for my local team, ghey definitely are not millionairs. And safly, ghey’vd just been eliminated on the playoff semi-finals.
    And just when we wheathered that heartbreak, the NHL playoffs are about to begin. With more heartbreak to come (cheering for the Habs and Oilers as usual).

    1. SORRY, SORRY for the many typos. I should NOT type on my phone with its tiny tiny keys!! Proof reading is so difficult her, too. Sigh.

      1. I especially enjoyed “ghough” which I realized on reading again was “though” but it made perfect sense as a sound of disgust.

      2. Made me wonder, Dodo, whether you don’t get spell-checked when writing in English, and whether there’s a way round that?

        1. I usually type on my phone via Browser and as I am totally useless with tech, I don’t have a spell check. The problems come from the phone having too small keys. It’s much easier on the laptop (as now) – I can see what I type because the screen is large enough and it’s no problem to scroll to wherever I need – which is not as easy on my phone. Only, I am impatient and my phone is on me almost all the time whereas I don’t have access to my laptop all the time.
          But I should just refrain from using my phone (never a bad idea) in order not be make so many typos.

          1. No, don’t lose your fresh thoughts! They are worth translating the typos.

          2. Thanks so much, Mary Anne!!
            It feels impolite of me to not check for typos more thoroughly.

    2. I’m cheering for the Oilers, Avalanche and Penguins – in that order. Yea playoffs! Such an exciting time in hockey.

      1. I’m cheering for the Canes, Habs and Ducks, and the Avs are my back up plan if all the others fail.

      2. That’s my list as well. Playoff season: it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

        1. Oops, my reply was to Tammy. Just to be clear: my list is Oilers, Avalanche and Penguins. I’m a bit conflicted about whether I am rooting more for the Penguins or the Avalanche but no doubt that will become clear to me quite quickly!

      3. And then there’s my anti-list: Anybody But The Senators, even if they’re a Canadian team because I loathe Brady Tkachuk so much.

        1. I could even (quietly) cheer for the Habs but don’t tell my dad or I’ll be disowned.

          2. Ever since we saw a game (against the Flyers) at Bell Center last April, I’ve got a very avid Habs fan at home (kid #1). He even got me a Saku Koivu jersey for xmas (I had to look him up, I wasn’t a fan yet when he was active, the current jerseys exceeded kid’s budget lol).
            Kiddo is a Sharks fan now. She was furious with herself that she wasn’t into hockey enough last year to realize WE SAW MACK and SMITTY and the others play at Roger’s Arena. Back then she cheered for the Canucks (kid #1 silently cheered for the Sharks and I just enjoyed the fact that we made it to an NHL game without going bankrupt).
            Interesting vibe differences in those two arenas: At Roger’s Arena they needed folks to get the crowd cheering. Not a problem at Bell Center. Neither in my barn (here, the die hard fans in the standing room come with drums and huge flags).

          3. Dodo, the worst prices are for the Leafs, since Toronto is an insane hockey market. My husband gave me tickets in the gold section behind the bench for Christmas and said to me: “This is the most expensive present I’ve ever given you.” And he’s bought me jewellery in the past!

          4. Tammy, we missed out on visiting Toronto (and were scolded last week for doing so by an acquaintance who proclaimed Toronto to be the best Canadian city ever which I cannot judget YET). But I’ve heard about the prices (insane!) – imo it makes for better vibes if not only the very rich can afford tickets to sports or cultural events. I love it that in our arena the standing room only tickets (among the crazy fans) cost only about 20 Euro (if one is lucky to get one). Once hooked you come back even if the seats cost far more.
            Good that your husband knows how to give really good presents!!!

        2. Same here.
          I would love to be able to cheer for the Senators because I really like Ullmark, but no. Not as long as they got cauliflower hair as captain. Even my kids cheer whenever he gets a beating.
          Makes me wonder what to think of fellow German Stützle as he seems to be good friends with the loathsome two.

          1. Ah, and I’m really really conflicted about the Sabres because of Tage Thompson. I liked their team before the Olympics.
            Same with the Wild. Bitter.

        3. I’m exactly the same. Canes are my number 1 team anyway, but I really don’t like the Sens

          1. Jarvis, Aho, Svech etc and their cool head coach are definitely great to watch! I guess Jarvis’s pals will be attending again. At least I hope so.

  6. So glad to hear from you Jenny, I hope everything is okay, and you and yours are all well and happy.

    I finished Silver Master by JAK but was a bit blah about it. I think I have read too many books recently in the Harmony series and it all felt very samey. It wasn’t bad just felt like a re-read and it wasn’t.

    The only other new-to-me book I read was recommended by Jenny Crusie and was Art Heist by Susie Hodge. It is a non-fiction book about 50 books you will never see because they have been stolen and never recovered. (with photos of some of them from before they were stolen). I really enjoyed it and thank you Jenny for telling me/us about it.

    Everything else was a re-read from my own shelves.

    I did however, go to the movies to see Fuze which was great, but only in the cinema for a week because it was a Sky movie and they need it to be in cinemas to qualify for movie awards. Also saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the theatre and it was great, the energy and enthusiasm of the singers and dancers was so uplifting and it was joyous. It was a present for a friend’s birthday and she hadn’t seen the movie but absolutely loved it, as I knew she would .

    Tomorrow night (Sunday) I am going to the Planetarium at Dynamic Earth to hear a talk about the galaxy by an astronomer, it is part of the Science Festival here in Edinburgh that they usually put on over Easter during the school holidays.

    I feel very blessed that I live in a city where there are theatres, exhibitions, galleries, museums, cinemas, lectures and even a planetarium. The only disappointment can be that I don’t have the energy for it all.

  7. Yes, agreed. As long as you are OK we are OK.

    After reading two books in a row that I *really* did not like, I needed a solid comfort read so I read Alexis Hall’s Looking for Group. 4th time. Still adore it.
    Now I am slogging my way through Hell’s Heart, the most recent release from him. I’m finding it quite heavy going. I guess it’s mostly that I am not finding any real joy here, in either the characters or the story. There is only one character I really like (who is not the narrator by the way). She is her own person through and through. Reminds me of the Kipling story about “I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.”

    The other problem I have with this book is that it is based on Moby Dick, one of my un-favorite books of all time. And a big part of *that* is that I consider whales and dolphins at least as intelligent as humans if not more so and the way we have treated them is appalling. I did a lot of reading in an attempt to do a fair representation of cetaceans (whales and dolphins), for my little Turtle Dolphin Dreams book. Did you know that groups of whales have made concerted efforts to show and express to humans that they are thinking, aware, intelligent creatures? Ignored of course. I can’t stand it. Sorry, I’ll pull myself together here…

    Suffice it so say, anything to do with whale hunting I find extremely distressing. I almost didn’t start Hell’s Heart because of that. But it’s on a different planet, so. These are not really whales as we know them, but they are something big and somewhat similar. We’ll see. I’ll let you know what I think when I reach the end of it.

    Meanwhile, about half way through I needed a break so I read a strange little book recommended by dear sister. Sure enough as she says, it is a strange little book where almost nothing happens at yet it is a pure delight. It’s called His Quiet Agent by Ada Marie Soto. What a find! I look forward to reading many more of her books. She has a masterful light touch.

    1. There’s a recent fascinating article about whale communication in The Guardian. They clearly are the aliens in our midst.
      I can’t add a link for some reason but here is the title:
      Sperm whales’ communication closely parallels human language, study finds

  8. It’s so good to hear from you, Jenny! I hope all is well.

    The AC was on yesterday, and the furnace is on this morning. Good old Midwest weather! The weather people were very excited about all the tornado sightings yesterday, and two days before. I am getting a real Kansas sendoff. Today, my sons will get the new tires put on my 22-year-old truck and will pack the smaller pod. I’m treating everyone to dinner, with my newfound wealth. Then the youngest and I will leave Sunday morning for Phoenix. We are staying the night in Amarillo, instead of Tucumcari. I do not want to contribute to the Texas economy, but I’m not the driver.

    I read Obsidian Prey, by Jayne Castle, with Vincent, the dust bunny, starring. This bunny actually bit two nasty people, and he also loves to paint. The two MCs are interesting, talented people, who are getting back together again. Vincent wears a tiny little red tam atop his fuzzy head. He’s a good boy.

    The new roof is on, and did not blow away in the latest storm. I was awakened three mornings in a row much too early, for this accomplishment! The roofers did a good job. I hope the buyers like it. Actually, I don’t care, and I don’t understand why they wanted it black. The spring and summer is getting too hot here, as it is. I signed all my papers, and they will sign theirs on Tuesday.

    The other closing should go smoothly, now that I bought a bunch of “points” and decided to make a larger down payment. I don’ t understand points, but they will lower my monthly and yearly interest rate. The bankers were worried about my “income to debt ratio.”

    Please pray for my yellow truck, that she will make it without any trouble to Phoenix. Thanks for your interest in this adventure.

    1. My 22 year old Jeep, who also needs new tires soon, sends all the best wishes to your truck for this adventure.

    5. I didn’t use mortgage points and never really understood them, but per the internet they’re essentially prepaid interest serving to lower monthly payments, and of course a larger down payment has the same object (or can shorten the length of the mortgage).

    6. Good luck, yellow truck! Bring our Jan with driver and pets safely to the end-destination, please. Thank you!
      Jan, let us know how things went!

    7. Enjoy your adventure Jan. Will be thinking of you, please keep us updated when you can. You and your family are in my thoughts

  9. •Mary Monica Pulver, Murder at the War, Peter Brichter Book 1, 1987, revised edition 2001.

    The Pennsic War is an annual pseudo-medieval mock battle held over about two weeks at a campground in western Pennsylvania. It is the major yearly event of the Society for Creative Anachronism. (Per figures in the Wikipedia, it is now larger in participants and a bit longer in duration than at the time described in the novel.) During the fictional Pennsic War fought in the novel, one of the participants is found murdered in real life on a remote edge of the battlefield. The campground’s location and other factors make it unlikely that an outsider was the murderer. The victim was a lout with zero social skills and many ill-wishers, a lout who stood an excellent chance of getting expelled even from the notriously tolerant SCA.  However, no known person disliked him enough to kill him, especially in a cold-blooded way suggesting careful planning and malice aforethought, and particularly given that he was likely to soon be expelled.

    The local state police are understandably clueless about how to investigate 4500 SCA members, mostly from out of state, and largely knowing each other only by their adopted Society personas rather than their mundane names.  Fortunately, one of the SCA members is Peter Brichter (aka Lord Stefan von Helle), a police detective from a downstate Illinois town. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, the Pennsylvania cops do not want him interfering. Brichter nonetheless is pushed into doing so while trying to stay out of the way of the local police, first when suspicion briefly falls on his wife, and later at the request of SCA officials who desperately want things cleared up before the incident can make the whole Society look bad. 

    I think the novel qualifies as a fair-play mystery, although the reader learns of some clues only late in the book. There are, however, a lot of moving parts to keep track of, more parts than make for a satisfying puzzle.  The Principal Characters list alone includes 15 potential suspects, not counting Brichter, his quickly cleared wife, and the victim.  What I really enjoyed was the depiction of the workings of the SCA.  I have known several SCA members because of the overlap with sf fandom, but I never received a detailed description of its operation. One thing here that struck me that, I probably should have deduced on my own, is that SCA had its own filk music (a term I’ve defined here before; see Wikipedia).  Pulver presents a couple of songs in the novel.  There are no credits for them in the front matter, so I conjecture that either Pulver wrote them herself (whether for SCA events or for the novel) or they form anonymous parts of SCA folklore. 

    Helen mentioned this novel here last week. Note that the most inexpensive used book version was retitled Knight Fall.  The original print version and the ebook have the title shown here.  Strongly recommended.  (Gary Hayenga notes that the other books in the series have little SCA content. Book 2, which I am working on, is a prequel and shows signs of having been drafted first, since in Book 1, Brichter and his wife have far more backstory than they need for that novel.)

    1. One of those songs (“I’m your rebel son”) is based on “The City of New Orleans” train song: “I’ll be gone 500 miles when the day is done…” If you read Pulver’s song’s text, you’ll hear the rhythm/melody in the words.

      1. Yes, that kind of borrowing in characteristic of filk, although my recollection of the original was vague and I had to find it on YouTube to be sure. Another ditty is based on an old ca. 1970s Armour Hot Dog jingle, whose full original lyrics I can still sing. (The novel eventually explicitly identifies the tune.) I’m not sure if there are still other filk songs in the novel since at first I wasn’t paying attention.

  10. Like everyone says, Jenny, just glad you’re okay.

    I read the two new Alexis Hall books which could NOT be any different from each other and it’s hard to believe they were written by the same author. The first is Hell’s Heart, a science fiction ‘sapphic’ retelling of Moby Dick. That’s quite a mouthful and was definitely an ambitious undertaking. Any retelling of Moby Dick would be, give it’s one of the epic greats of English literature. As Marion said above, it’s definitely an arduous read. Hall’s take on it is a roiling, beyond intense version of Captain A’s existential quest to destroy the Mobius Beast. The book captures the original tortuous nature of her quest and the actual science fiction world-building far exceeded my expectations. “Call me Ish…”’s own ‘sapphic’ (sort of) existential crisis is far more sarcastic and she often abruptly interrupts the narrative with modern terms like ‘trolling’ and ‘hookup’. Like Marion, I adored the character of Q whereas Ish is a more broken sort of creature. Overall all though I’d have to say Hall successfully pays successful homage to the original book, detailed cetology and all. However, I was obsessed with Moby Dick when I read it in school. Talked about it incessantly. I remember my classmate despairing of how long it was so I took her book and checked off all the chapters about boiling blubber that she didn’t need to read because they’d never show up on an exam. Not quite as much blubber in Hall’s version but the essence of it captured all the same.

    Hall’s other book was Never After, a regency M/M novel of a sex worker addicted to opium who is rescued off the streets of London by a country vicar, gay awakening and all. It’s actually lovely and poetic, although I could have done without all the flashbacks to the former’s interactions with his clients, all of which are painful to read. An atypical ending also, no spoilers though.

    2. I’m jumping in with a quick note that ‘Never After’ is actually not Regency, it’s set in the 1860s. If I’d realized that, I would have expected what I got, which is

      SPOILER

      not a romance but a Victorian tragedy reimagined in Hall’s inimitable way.

      1. Fair enough! Although I wouldn’t exactly call it a tragedy – more a romance as Shakespeare used the term.

    3. Thanks for this! Can’t wait to read Never After after I make it through to the end of Hells Heart. – Marian with 2 a’s. Spelled “-on” it is the male version of the name, though many people name their daughters with the male version. It’s like Francis (male) and Frances (female). John Wayne’s real first name was Marion. I’m on a life-long mission to spread this information. I’m sure no one else cares, but it matters to me for some reason.

      1. One of my doctors growing up was Marion, which is when I learned the spelling.

        I also knew a female Francis who dropped the ca on the end to sound less Hispanic, but didn’t change it to Frances.

        1. In Germany also. I had a friend called Marion in elementary school who had quite a bad influence on me…

          1. Also in the Netherlands. My sister’s name is Marion. I hadn’t realised it could be a man’s name in English…
            I did know Frances/Francis could be both, but hadn’t realised there was a preferred spelling for either.
            Live and learn!

      3. I actually knew that Marion was the male version of the name but…did it anyway. And my grandmother was misnamed Francis (like the Talking Mule) by her parents but my mother had the middle name of Frances.

        1. One of my favorite books is the memoir Period Piece by Gwen Raverat, a granddaughter of Charles Darwin. I recommend it highly — she made the woodcarving illustrations herself (she was an artist and part of the. Bloomsbury set, although she doesn’t write about it.)
          Her cousin Frances married a Francis, and they made a play about it, which is what reminded me of the book.
          Now I need to read it again. Among many other charms, she writes about her puzzlement at Victorian mores, as a child.

          1. And on checking I see her father was also Francis but none of her five children were, which seems wise.

  11. •Donna Andrews, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, Meg Langslow number 8, 2007; audiobook 2017, as usual narrated excellently by Bernadette Dunne.

    Although renovations are still in progress, Meg and Michael have begun moving into their new home.  Massive numbers of relatives have arrived, ostensibly to help them move in, and actually more to socialize with each other, warming up for the housewarming party scheduled for when the move is complete.  The renovations, alas, are to continue for some time after the couple have moved in. Meg and Michael have a plan to steal away during the party and elope, marrying in the courthouse of the next country over, and departing on their honeymoon. In this way they can escape the elaborate wedding plans that their mothers have laid for them.

    Meanwhile, without consulting Meg or Michael, Meg’s father has volunteered their new place, which has extensive land attached, as a temporary home for some of the animals from Caerphilly’s private zoo, which has just gone bankrupt.  Her father has further gotten the bright idea to dig a penguin pond in the unfloored part of the old house’s basement.  Bad enough in itself, but worse, he discovers a body recently buried there.  Multiple further complications ensue, including the mysterious recent appearance in town of an elderly zoologist media star.

    This might be the last of the early Langslow novels that I missed because a former lack of easy access.  I’ve certainly read book 9, but I’ll have to check for gaps later in the series, and I am certain that some such gaps exist. These early books seem to contain a bit more slapstick than the later ones.  Also, number of relationships, both personal and institutional, well established in the recent books, have yet to be formed and the early books show their origin stories.   The mystery element itself in this novel strikes me as good, although not strikingly ingenious.  Recommended.

  12. Glad you’re okay, Jenny!! I was getting worried.

    I did some more comfort reading plus got the edits back on the book releasing at the end of the year so I’m reading that.

    1. Haha – I know my vision is terrible and I need to get new glasses, but I saw your first sentence as:
      “Glad you’re okay, Jenny!! I was getting MARRIED.”
      New glasses, STAT!

  13. Ditto everyone else – it’s so good to hear from you, Jenny! I hope everything is OK.

    Best of my reading week was probably “The Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories” by Bora Chung, translated from Korean by Anton Hur (2025). A slow start but with each story the world builds and I liked the gentle humour and compassion of it.

    “Not Here to Make Friends” by Jodi McAlister (2024) is an m/f contemporary set on a Bachelor-like TV show and the dual POV in flashback worked surprisingly well with only the MMC’s POV in the present when his widowed colleague shows up as a surprise contestant. Friends-to-lovers, morally grey MCs, really very good.

    Re-read Martha Wells’ “Witch King” (2023), and then went on to “Queen Demon” (2025) and really liked it despite the sad elements – mostly for the MC, but also what a world might look like after the apocalypse. A solid adventure story mostly, sometimes the dual timeline was distracting and sometimes it reinforced the emotional beats. It feels like the story has an ongoing episodic arc, so the main plot resolves but there’s an obvious next one opening.

    Best of the short fiction was Kate Elliot’s “Barnacle” (2025) – a sci-fi novelette in a pay-as-you-go society, except that it’s not done in good faith. Really good FMC, about holding on to hope. Free at https://reactormag.com/barnacle-kate-elliott/

    And I just finished Susanna Kwan’s “Awake in the Floating City” (2025). Beautifully written, about remembrance and the value of palliative care and unfortunately, I am not the right reader for this book. Some of the authorial choices towards the end tipped me out of sympathy with it but I could see how it would work for someone else.

    1. I just picked up Midnight Timetable from the library this morning, so it’s nice to see a positive review 🙂

  14. So glad you’re okay Jenny!

    This week I read the latest Val McDermid “Silent Bones” which is volume 8 in the Karen Pirie series which I find to be a terrific procedural series. I did not guess the ending and that always counts as a Good Thing for me. Definitely a fun read.

    I also enjoyed Hannah Henry’s “Buzzed on You” . As Tammy says, it is very similar to the latest Sarena Bowen and where the Bowen book was a DNF for me, Buzzed on You was great. This one will go on the reread loop.

    Finally I listened to the second in the Wyndham and Bannerjee series by Abir Mukherjee “A Necessary Evil” This series is about a Scotland yard detective who finds himself in Calcutta in 1919 after WWI. This episode takes place largely outside of Calcutta in one of the principalities and is just great at conveying the atmosphere and the “feel” of life in these principalities and the final decades of the British Raj, as well as giving a good story that hangs together well. I will definitely continue with the series.

    1. Did you see the Karen Pirie tv series? I’ve never read the books, just saw the series, and I was underwhelmed, but I couldn’t tell if it was the story itself or the adaptation that didn’t work for me. It wasn’t bad, and I watched the whole thing, but it just felt meh. I couldn’t really see what was interesting about the lead (in the tv show). She just seemed generic. I assume she’s more interesting in the books.

      1. Yes, the adaptation doesn’t do her justice and I much prefer the flawed book character. That said, I really enjoyed the adaptation once I got used to the characters not matching my mental image of them.

      2. I agree with Christina, not that I have seen the tv series. The reason I love the Karen Pirie character is because she is so normal and relatable, and flawed. I think it helps that she is from parts of Scotland I know and the characteristics of the areas she comes from and moved to come across as well written. All Val McDermid’s characters in this series are recognisable if you live here.

  15. Very glad you were able to post Jennie. I hope all is well.

    Not much from me this week as I was stuck reading a book club book that I hated. I eventually bailed after 70% but it had been a struggle to get that far. The rest of my club loved it (except for one other) so we had a pretty lively discussion but I wasn’t converted…

    As an antidote I went back to Josh Lanyon ‘Secrets and Scrabbles’ and read the fourth one ‘Scandal at the Salty Dog’ which was very cosy, but also very enjoyable.

    In our continued discussion of series, I find they work better it I don’t read them one after another, but spread them out. I have got a box set of the next four ‘Secrets and Scrabble’ and I will try and ration than so that I don’t get jaded. Also on amazon I came across a ‘Series of One’ which is certainly an interesting concept. No idea if the author was planning more but gave up, or just wants to mess with us!

    I also read ‘His Quiet Agent’ by Ada Maria Soto, which has been much recommended here. A short quiet MM romance, set in the world of spies, but mostly at the paper pushing end of things. It is a low key, sweet read.

    On audio I started ‘An Officer and a Spy’ by Robert Harris, about the late 19th Century Dreyfuss Affair in France. Excellent so far.

    Then one of my library reserves came in, ‘Service Model’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is read really well by the author. This has a robot narrator who worked as a valet for a human master whom he murders (not a spoiler, it’s in the blurb). It takes a little while to get going but it is a lot of fun a few hours in. Can’t judge fully till the end so I’ll update next week.

    1. I try hard to finish book club books, but occasionally one defeats me too and I bail out.

        2. There’s no e, Rosanna, and in the US this seems to be available as an ebook so far only in German translation (there is a hardcover). The Guardian has what strikes me as an informative review. Not a book that sounds as if I would enjoy it.

    3. Me too on the needing a break between series books – I can do two together maybe, but more than that and my reading experience suffers. I need at least a week or two in between.

      Also sometimes an authorial voice starts to grate on me, even though I quite like the books. I can’t read more than one Balogh or Nora Roberts a year at this point 🙁

  16. Like everyone else, Jenny. I was starting to get worried. You narrowly escaped an “Are you okay?” email this morning. Whew. I do still owe you an “Argh Authors” email for my new witchcraft book.

    I finished reading Katie Fforde’s new book, A Cottage in the Country, and thoroughly enjoyed it. On the Kindle, I’m rereading Mrs Pargenter’s Murder series 1-3 by Simon Brett, the first one being A Nice Class of Corpse. They showed up on sale and I remembered that I liked his mysteries quite a lot back when I read them many years ago. Mrs. Pargenter is British, in her 60’s, and her late husband had many dubious skills that he taught her between his times between being unavoidably “away.” She’s clever, stubborn, and for some reason has moved into a hotel that is essentially a retirement home for older people, although at least so far the author has not explained why she would do so. Murders ensue and she is enjoying trying to solve the mystery. A very nice before bed read.

    1. I have not read those in years, and I find that my library has A Nice Class of Corpse along with a whole lot more Simon Brett in ebook. Thank you for retrieving those memories for me.

      1. I think there was another series by him that I liked as well. I’m enjoying this one, despite it being dated, and I may need to explore others for those times when I need a comfort reread.

        1. Charlie Paris series. His bad life choices bother me a bit, but also quite funny in spots.

  17. I’m always happy to talk about books, doesn’t matter what day, just glad (like everyone else) that we’re all here. 🙂

    1. ‘Lady Like’ by Mackenzi Lee. FF Regency with a lot of twists and unfortunately some of the same tics I didn’t like in Alexis Hall’s ‘something’ Regencies. I wouldn’t not recommend it – for those looking for FF Regency that is both hella queer and anachronistic, it’s fine – but for me, not a winner.

    2. [re-read] my own MM novella ‘Sugar Daddy,’ the one about an older man who meets a young doppelganger of his long-lost love.

    3. ‘A Gentleman’s Gentleman’ by TJ Alexander. MM Georgian romance. Ahoy, spoiler ahead: both MCs are trans men. It’s a lovely slow-burn love story in which the titled MC chooses to leave it all behind to love on his own terms. Definitely recommended.

    4. ‘Never After’ by Alexis Hall. As mentioned under Tammy’s post, this was not what I expected, and if I’d realized about the time setting, I could have adjusted my expectations. I’m glad I read it now because the GeoIV story I’m working on also involves a country clergyman and I definitely want to steer clear of too many parallels. (Mine has a happy ending, for starters.) If you love mid-19th-century tragic romances, have at it. Would not choose to re-read.

    5. ‘And Then He Pressed Play: Track One’ by Robert Halliwell. An excellent MM YA romance. MC1 is a Canadian doing a school year in Ireland; MC2 is a local classmate. Loved everything about this and preordered the sequel.

    6. ‘Jack’s on Fire’ by Owen Lach. Another MM YA romance, this one set in the US, and per the lengthy subtitle it’s explicitly a fairy tale. But a couple of authorial choices didn’t sit well with me and, while there is a sequel, I’m choosing not to read it.

    6.5 ‘Sebastian Moran Gets Mauled by a Tiger’ by Kit Walker. Jay Moriarty book 2, which was not quite as entertaining for me as book 1 due to authorial choices, though I did like where Moran and Moriarty end up and will continue with the series.

    7. ‘The 49 3/4 Year Old Virgin’ by Beck Lewis, MM contemporary which was on sale to the point of free thanks to a credit, and free was the right price. Could not in good conscience recommend even by implication, so this one got 2 stars, only because I technically read (skimmed) all of it.

    8. [re-read] ‘Division Bells’ by Iona Datt Sharma, MM feat. a minister’s official and a new special advisor trying to get a bill through Parliament. Super geeky, sweet, slow burn, with on the job conflict, official’s ill-addressed grief for a lost friend + burnout from Brexit, and advisor’s family pressures. Love this book.

    9. two disappointments by Ann Lister. ‘For All the Right Reasons,’ F/M feat. a rock photographer and the front man of a rock band, DNF at 3% which should tell you how much I didn’t like FMC or the fact that an introductory chapter jumped directly to a flashback. I neither needed nor wanted the story of FMC’s beginnings in her profession. … Then ‘Beat of his Own Drum,’ second-chance MM feat. the rock band’s drummer, several years on, as he’s coming out of rehab; the love interest is his drum tech. I am glad to know the job of drum tech exists but I did not learn what one *does.* Instead there was too much sex for me, a really long flashback setting up the initially contentious reconciliation scene, so much more sex that I skimmed to the end where there is a TO BE CONTINUED and I was so annoyed I didn’t rate it at all.

    10. ‘Eight Cousins’ by Louisa May Alcott, as a palate cleanser. A sweetly didactic 1875 novel which manages not to be infuriatingly preachy and also features a sympathetic portrayal of FMC Rose’s merchant uncle’s Chinese colleague. Rose’s adoptive father (another uncle) is quite the radical in some ways, I liked him too; though I do cringe at calling a 13-year-old a “little girl.” Uh, no. 4 stars

    11. ‘Rose in Bloom’ by Louisa May Alcott, the sequel, in which Rose is 20 going on 21 and due to inherit pots of money. The extended family all want her to marry one of her cousins. The eldest of those falls in love with Rose’s BFF/adopted sister (a foundling) instead, to family disapproval; they mournfully part and the BFF moves away to pursue a career as a singer. Meanwhile, the next eldest cousin has fallen for Rose but is a charming wastrel with a drinking problem who comes to a bad end. The *next* eldest is the one Rose read to for months in book 1, when he was confined to a dark room due to sunstroke / eye damage. He matures very nicely over both books, a budding poet and medical student, and a late bloomer who eventually falls for the very lovable Rose, who needs a minute to get her head around the changes. I liked the ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ message, the realistic if merciless disposal of the troubled charmer, the recurrence of the Chinese colleague and actually bringing him into the family/friends circle through marriage (there is stereotyping in the characterization and in others’ references to him, but his presence is pretty radical), and the patient development of both central love stories. The editing/typography of this one screams “OCR” but I rounded up to 5 stars anyway.

    A general note on Alexis Hall, as if this post isn’t long enough … I didn’t love the first two baking books, so didn’t read the third. I didn’t like the ‘mysterious letter’ book, so didn’t go near the ‘mortal follies’ books. I was bored to sobs by Moby Dick so will not be reading the space monster thing. I continue to admire his dedication to queering up multiple genres and his truly excellent writing, but he has not been an auto-buy for me for a long time, and I feel so pummeled by ‘Never After’ that he is apt to be a sale buy for me in the future. Alas.

    1. I also loved “Division Bells”. I believe Alexis Hall plugged it in one of his emails and so I decided to try it and truly enjoyed it. I’m very wary of author recommendations but I’m glad I took a chance on this one.

      1. On the Alcott books: I’m inured to squicky first-cousin marriages in historical or old British novels (and real life then and there), but am surprised that it was unexceptionable in 1875 in the US. (I knew it was and is legal in some US states, but in a didactic book for children??)

        In 1875, at a time when a 13-year-old girl could (possibly with parental permission) legally marry in many or most (or all?) US states, perhaps calling one such a “little girl” could be Alcott striking a blow for letting a child have a childhood before prematurely forcing her into adulthood. But I’d have to know context before deciding if that was a valid possibility. (Ariel Durant was able to legally elope at 15 in 1913 in NYC, and evidently had a happy marriage, but I doubt if that was the usual outcome.)

        1. Alcott has a lot to say in many books about the custom of dressing children like adults–bustles on six year olds!–so I expect the “little girl” was aimed in that direction, although I haven’t read Eight Cousins in years (my copy got mildewy). Rose’s guardian Uncle Alex is the dress-reform one who opposed corsets for growing girls, and taught Rose and her cousins (gasp!) anatomy and physiology.

        2. Massachusetts allowed and still allows first cousins to marry. I don’t recall Alcott specifying the state in Rose in Bloom. Alcott lived in Massachusetts.
          In general before the civil war most and maybe all states allowed it and even today 25 states do.
          On a related note, genealogists have been analyzing the Hapsburgs mathematically for inbreeding and confirmed (what we all assumed) that the Hapsburg jaw and various genetic abnormalities were indeed due to inbreeding. But they went far beyond one first cousin marriage. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/distinctive-habsburg-jaw-was-likely-result-royal-familys-inbreeding-180973688/#:~:text=This%20means%20that%20roughly%209%20percent%20of,according%20to%20Ed%20Yong%20of%20National%20Geographic.

          1. Debbie, Irrelevant. The mere fact that something was and is legal doesn’t mean that it’s recommended, even as an eventual life goal, to children. Cousin marriage is still legal in many states and cousins anywhere would merely have to take a day trip to such a state and marry to be legally married in their home state, but many of us, at least, still see it as squicky and mildly dangerous genetically for offspring (although not severely so). As I said, I am surprised at the absence of this feeling in Alcott. I can’t recall coming across cousin marriage in other 19th century US novels, not that I’ve read stacks of them.

          2. Debbie, Wikipedia says I’m wrong about out of state cousin marriages always being recognized in home states. I thought the US constitution had applicable provisions about recognizing contracts made in other states, but I’m not lawyer.

          3. I agree that it’s genetically not great but while it doubles the risk of birth defects it’s still pretty low (2% v 4%). My point however was that Alcott wouldn’t see it as a problem.

          4. I have this memory of going down a rabbit hole and finding that discomfort with cousin marriage is quite a recent phenomenon, but I cannot for the life of me find the GBT I posted it on. Argh!!!

        3. Yuri, Wikipedia says laws starting getting passed in the US in 2nd half of the 19th century and increasingly into early 20th, evidently because of exaggerated genetic fears and prejudice against immigrants who by custom routinely married cousins. And some Christian denominations have rules against cousin marriage. I mentioned earlier that it’s an issue in War and Peace for Russian Orthodox, and obviously for Catholics (in both cases, possibly deriving from custom in the pagan Roman Empire), and per Wikipedia it was frowned upon even by Quakers. But, never to my recollection having seen cousin marriage in 19th century American novels (or among prominent Americans other than Poe even in reality) against many examples in British, I had assumed that there was a long standing general distaste for it in the US before people started trying to enforce custom by law. Possibly not, but I think that the Alcott is the first counterexample I’ve come across.

    2. I agree with you on Alexis Hall – simply not an automatic buy and rarely a re-read. And like you, I totally admire his dedication to roaming around all the genres and finding/injecting them with a queer narrative.

      I wouldn’t quite call Never After tragic though…more an ambiguously happy one.

      Did no one here on Argh like Moby Dick??

      1. Hahaha I would probably like Moby Dick a lot if it were 75% shorter.

        fwiw, my assessment of Never After cannot be fully explained without thoroughly spoiling it for those who haven’t yet read it.

      2. I had to read Moby Dick when I was taking a lot of English classes for my Secondary English Ed certification, and I thought it was one of the most boring things ever written. It was actually supposed to be a boy’s adventure story, not a classic. Who writes over 700 pages? One chapter was completely dedicated to the whiteness of the whale. It was as white as milk, it was as white as clouds…ARGH.

    3. Chacha1, your posts are NEVER too long, regardless how many dozen books you manage to read and review in just about one week.
      Thanks a lot for your reviews!!
      I’ll give the new AH titles are pass – Moby Dick is not for me and I read romance as escapism, to specifically NOT be devastated, at least not in the end. What info I’ve found so far about the end of Never After make it clear I have to stear clear of a heart breaking book. Angst, hurt and comfort I can stomach, but to be left with melancholy and heart break – nope.

    4. Oh but, Boyfriend Material and Husband Material – both lovely books!
      And Looking for Group – stellar! And the billionaire trilogy (very BDSM, but the relationships are exquisite! I think you have missed his best ones. And he has written so many outstanding books. I too didn’t like the letter one all or the Something ___ ones or Lady for a Duke. But his best are among the best ever IMHO.

      1. The ones you mention were definitely good. I’d also liked Glitterland, Waiting for the flood and Pansies. I think maybe they are better at contemporaries.

        I thought the regencies were over the top.

      2. Oh, I’ve read and re-read all of the “London” books, the billionaire books, the Spires books. I’ve even read the paranormal investigator FF books, all the shorts that used to be on his website, and years of his old blog. I liked ‘Lady for a Duke.’ 🙂 It’s just, in terms of consistently delivering the reading experience I want, AH is not it for me, because the many genres he is engrossed by are not all genres I enjoy.

      4. If you like Boyfriend and Husband Material, you’ll be happy to know there’s a third book coming out shortly. I think it’s called Father Material, IIRC.

    5. I agree that Alexis Hall is hit and miss, but his hits are favourites – the billionaire trilogy, Waiting for the Flood and Boyfriend Material, for example.

    6. I loved those two Alcott books and re-read them regularly in my youth. So great that you’re reading them now or again.

      1. First time for me, for these. 🙂

        The vocabulary is simpler and themes less philosophical than one might find in books of the time aimed at Full On Grown-ups – but I think it’s fair to say the vocabulary is more advanced and themes subtler than one might find in “young readers” books now.

        YA books, honestly, today’s teen readers are a tough bunch because I’ve seen some very gnarly content out there.

      2. I loved those books. I group them mentally with the “what Katie did” books by Susan Coolidge. But the Coolidge books are much more supportive of Victorian values than the Alcott ones. (Or Period Piece for that matter.)

      3. ‘Eight Cousins’ actually reminded me a bit of ‘The Good Master’ by Kate Seredy in its ‘getting orphan out of confinement and into health’ aspect.

        1. Have you read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet? That’s another Victorian with that theme, and one and a half orphans (one child has no mother and a mostly a set father.) The full orphan is one of the crankiest children in literature for much of the book and that is largely what saves them.

          2. I resisted The Secret Garden for a long time because the book jacket design was so infantile, but when I finally read it (within the past 10 yrs) I really liked it.

  18. Like everyone, I’m relieved to hear from you.
    I reread Maybe This Time. I realized it’s my Sanctuary Moon episode 127. When reality is too much, I sink into that.
    Thank you, Jenny, for prompting me to reread the whole Murderbot series with Liz Danger’s Sanctuary Moon tee shirt. That was a treat.

  19. This week I reread one of my favorites, Elizabeth Hoyt’s Thief of Shadows. The hero is a Scarlet Pimpernel-like character except he roams the St. Giles section of London rescuing small children from the “lassie snatchers” and whoremongers, etc. as well as saving the poor and downtroden while disguised as the Ghost of St. Giles in Harlequin costume. By day he’s actually a mild-mannered master of an orphanage. The romance is a twist with his love interest being about 6 years older, a titled lady, and as a widow, much more experienced in love. Something different from the usual of the more experienced male teaching the young innocent woman.

    1. Put it on my reserve list at the library. Thank you for the recommendation Helen.

  20. It’s been a slow reading week because DD is here and next week will also be slow because she still is here and we have a short trip to NYC planned.
    This week I read part of The Fabric of Civilization which I find fascinating. I had not realized how long it would take to spin the thread for a single garment. And I started the Jane Austen letters which are imbued with her humor and I plan to read them slowly and savor.
    I think I have DNFed Unruly but that was always the plan— I have reached the part of British history I know well. It’s on my phone though so I might go back to it when waiting somewhere. I am also dipping in to Heretic but will report when I am further in.
    ( I continue to keep up with the New Yorkers.)

    1. Ok I need to share that it took 380 days to spin enough yarn to make a viking sail—not counting shearing the sheep, washing, carding, weaving …. The sail took more time to make than the ship.

  21. Had I read one or more books this past week that I was eager to share, I might have been mildly annoyed at the delay of GooBooThu. Very, very mildly. As is, I have no book(s) to report, besides which I don’t feel entitled to be annoyed. Argh Ink is yours and we share when you share. Please be well.

  22. We were all just concerned for you! I’m reading Strangers by Belle Burden right now and feeling grateful that I got through my divorce in one piece and had an ex who was concerned for his children.
    I devoured Ilona Andrew’s new epic fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, despite reading an ARC months earlier. I am almost compulsively rereading it too. I think because it is a cozy slice of life set in a grimdark world. Found family is very much part of the book as well and I just eat that up.
    Some ARCs I’m working on are Jo Walton’s, Nobody’s Perfect, and Jeaniene Frost’s A Curse of Beasts and Magic. I won an ARC on Goodreads for a debut author, Heather Frances, who’s Chase Me if You Can is being published in June. It’s a stormchasing romance and so far the banter and tension is a delight! Final exams await, but I’m reading where I can.

    1. I have not read Belle Burden’s book but the interviews leave me pondering about what motivated her to make bad choice after bad choice with the money. I assume she trusted him. But even so to put the houses only she paid for in both names when he wasn’t doing the same for her? It makes me ponder the power of romantic myths. And how her choices hurt her kids as well as her. She had all the knowledge and power to protect herself, advice from lawyers, law school, a high powered law job , and still.
      It was really poor estate planning for their kids even if she completely trusted him.

      1. It definitely makes you think about the ways women are not taught to protect themselves. The romance (man) will save us and take care of everything! But how to have a marriage without trust? A conundrum for sure. I trusted but I also refused to give up my career.

        1. And her mom made her promise to get a prenuptial agreement so she did get some counter messages.

  23. Not much reading. Listened to Faro’s Daughter while gardening. Watching documentaries, purchased several non-fiction books on BookPub. Re-reading bits of Emma Jameson’s London detective stories, just because. Saw Hail Mary last night. Long movie. It is a feel good space story. Ryan Gosling. Some references to movies and music in the story line. Reminded me a little bit of Space Odessy 2001 without the rogue computer. Back to listening to stories while I garden. All stories I know well. Time to listen to Bet Me and Agnes and the Hitman and Fast Women again. Soooo much gardening to whip the back garden and lawn into shape with favourite stories.

  24. Glad you’re OK, Jenny.
    Lois McMaster Bujold’s Dreamweaver’s Dilemma, published in 1995, had been on my Bujold shelf forever. I read it once, years ago, although my memory of it was blurry. I decided it was time for a reread. Sadly, I wasn’t impressed.
    The book contains several old short stories (all rather average), a few essays (long since outdated), and the novella The Mountains of Mourning. The latter was the only story worthy of another reread. In fact, I have it included in another book, Borders of Infinity. So I’m going to donate this collection.
    The only interesting tidbit about it: in one of the short stories, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, one of the characters bears the name Cordelia Naismith. Not the Cordelia who is Miles Vorkosigan’s Betan mother – the story is not of the Vorkosigan canon – but her full namesake. I guess Bujold liked the name so much, she recycled it later when she started writing her true Cordelia, the wife of Aral Vorkosigan, the Countess of Barrayar, etc., etc., and my favorite female science fiction character.
    Jessie Mihalik’s Silver & Blood was a disappointment, too. Her previous fantasy book, Books & Broadswords was a delight. One of its better aspects was the short lengths of its stories. Tight narrative, sharp focus, no unnecessary words, and quick pacing implied a master. It was a pleasure to read, and I’m looking forward to more books in that series.
    This book was the opposite. Flabby narrative, wandering focus, mountains of extraneous words, and a truly sluggish speed made it a chore to read. In many places, I just skimmed the text until the action resumed after pages of prurient dawdling. And, as a cherry on the cake, a cliffhanger ending. Yikes!
    If the author cut off about half of the excess verbiage and made it a novella, it would’ve read so much better. I’m not sure I want to read a sequel, even to learn what happened after the cliffhanger.

    1. Fascinating. I mildly liked Books and Broadswords and loved Silver and Blood.

  25. Very relieved to see this post. Glad you’re here and hope you just forgot and that you’re doing okay.
    I’m starting to wonder whether Regency romance is for me or… just not. Keep trying to read A LADY’S GUIDE TO FORTUNE HUNTING by Sophie Irwin, but keep getting stuck. I think someone here has read this one? What are your thoughts on it? Is it worth persisting? The narrator is good (same as FMC in “The Road Trip” that I read last week), so it’s not the narration. It’s probably me.
    I finished THE NAME GAME by Beth O’leary and enjoyed it, except for in a few spots where MC was a bit more dramatic than I felt necessary. I don’t quite know how to describe this book now that I’m done except for how I did it last week: Two people with the same name jockey for the same position as a store manager on a tiny island in an attempt to start a new life. Who’s the actual Charlie Jones that applied for the position? Those of you who have read THE NO-SHOW, also by O’leary, this one is a bit twisty like that, but different. I ended up really liking it.
    I proceeded to read another O’leary: THE SWITCH. I found it very cosy. An overworked lass switches places with her grandma to get some change of scenery and perspective on life, and life starts happening. The romance-element is more a side-thing here, it’s really more about the two women and their adventures in their switched lives. I found it an easy and cosy read without being too sweet. Some things were easy to spot from afar, but that’s okay – it felt more as a comfort than an annoyance. I don’t regret buying this book, it’s on my comfort-reading list now.
    Needed a break after that because life AND 4 new books in a row, so I reread MEN AT ARMS by Terry Pratchett. It was very Pratchett and I loved it.
    Haven’t really figured out yet what to read next. Watching “Avatar, the Last Airbender” until I find the right book. I never watched this as a kid, but everyone tells me it’s fabulous, so I’m enjoying the discovery-process, AND it’s uncomplicated watching that doesn’t require anything much from me. Whew.

    1. I haven’t read that Regency romance. I think the better regency romances capture everyday life in that period as well as having the virtues of good books generally. If you haven’t tried Heyer, or Balogh’s Slightly series, or Loretta Chase’s Carsington series, or Carla Kelly’s books if you want books not about nobility, you might want to before you decide you don’t like regency romances.

      1. I have not read any of these, but I know Heyer and Chase have been on my list for many years thanks to Argh. I even bought a few of Heyer’s books a couple of months ago. I’ll definitely give them a go. The question popped up because I’ve read a few more modern ones and either felt they were not as good as I’d hoped, or I failed to finish them altogether. I like other books set in the same time, hence why I was really starting to wonder if it was the romance-element that didn’t work for me. It was a bit frustrating, because the blurbs/back-cover texts very often inrigue me very much. I am aware there are more factors factoring in than just romance + timeframe, but the question remained.
        I’ll wait with my verdict until I’ve done some more reading then, especially of the ones you mentioned. Thanks for the encouragement!

    2. I read a lot of Regency romances back in the day. I now do it only very occasionnally. I recently read Balogh’s Huxtables series. In my opinion, it’s not on a par with some of her older books (my favourites are the first and last in the Slightly series) but I did like the Huxtables themselves very much so wanted to know what happened them.

      I tried reading that Sophie Irwin but it didn’t work for me and I didn’t finish it and it’s very rare for me not to finish a book even if I don’t like it.

      1. The first and last are definitely the best of the Slightly series. And the laws, values, and customs of the period are intrinsic to their plots.

      2. I’m about halfway now, and I’m still not convinced. I’m still reading it, but… unless something revolutionary happens, it’s not going on the reread-list.
        I didn’t use to DNF books either, until I came to a point where I realized that life is too short to read books I hate. No sense in torturing myself when I actually read for pleasure. Why I’m still at it with this one… not sure, but I will probably finish it now that I’ve come this far.

    3. Shass, I couldn’t finish A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting either. Can’t remember now why but something was definitely off.

      Did enjoy enormously The Switch but not some of the other O’Leary novels, so am glad my library stocks them and I can hand them back unfinished if I don’t get too far.

      1. Yeah, I’m halfway in A Lady’s Guide… and I think the only reason why I’m still reading it (now that I’ve had a couple of minutes to think after my last comment) is that I haven’t figured out what else to read yet. That’s not a great reason to read further but… it is a reason.
        I think the O’leary I’ve enjoyed the least was “The Wake-Up Call”, I didn’t like that one much. “The No-Show” I liked, but it was also a very sad and painful read. Since I actually bought these last three, as opposed to read through library or subscription-app, I’m happy I liked them all. Also happy you too liked “The Switch”! 🙂

  26. My new book score continues to be zero. I finished my reread of Murderbot in anticipation of the release of Platform Decay next month, and immediately started City of Bones, not being ready to leave Martha Wells yet.

    I am picking my way through 12 Seconds of Silence, trying to find the good bits. He suffers severely from “My research–let me show you it.” It’s full of things I already knew mixed with things I have never heard of, so it’s going to take me a while, since I am certainly reading it for the facts, not for the prose.

    I am in the middle of four other library books, some of which are almost certain to be DNFs. I just looked through the past month of my book list and it’s almost all DNF, “skimmed last third”, “meh”. Whereas my rereads are delighting me.

    1. Any chance you could post the link to that Undiagnosable story Jane. I am hopeless at finding things on AO3!

      1. Oh, me too, LN. But I think this is it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754929

        This is my list of their works that are original rather than fan fiction (which I don’t fancy); I would also have ignored F/F, if any:
        Like the Back of My Hand (2018 – May)
        Dont Gotta Stay the Same (2018 – July)
        Two Types of Sacrifices (2019)
        Got It Made (2020 – April)
        Dire Straits(2020 – July)
        Here There Be Dragons (2022)
        Irish Exit (2023)
        Two Truths (2024)
        Antagonist (2025)

        1. Thanks Jane,
          I have read some you mention and loved them but not all.
          By the way, your pics of Italy on Instagram are stunning!

  28. Glad you made it, Jenny! Hope you’re okay.

    I read All the Young Men, by Ruth Coker Burks. Not sure if someone here recommended it or if I heard about it from somewhere else, but it’s an extraordinary story about the woman who cared for young men dying of AIDS in the 1980s when hardly anyone else – often including their families – would touch them. She sounds like an incredible woman with amazing courage. The book is a reminder of a devastating time, particularly for the gay community.

    So then I needed something lighter so I read Lisa Henry’s Anhaga. It’s a fantasy MM romance with hedgewitches and necroromancers, and very different from anything I’ve read of hers before. But it’s a good story with high stakes and appealing characters, and I enjoyed it a lot.

    Third good read of the week was The Decent Inn of Death, by Rennie Airth, the latest in his John Madden mystery series. Airth wrote one of the most powerful and adrenaline charged mysteries I’ve ever read, River of Darkness. The subsequent books in the series haven’t been quite as good – the first one set such a high bar – but they are still an excellent read. This one is set in the Cotswolds with a house isolated by a snowstorm. The people in the house come to realise that one of them is probably a killer, but don’t know which one.

    1. I worked in legal services in the late 80s and early 90s in NYC and also had a gay roommate and I am haunted by that time . (Roommate recently retired. But I knew a lot of people who died…)

      2. I had a client with AIDS with a wife and two kids and got them benefits but it was clear to me there was a strong likelihood he had given it to her and the kids would be orphans. I still have a towel she embroidered. I can’t use it and can’t get rid of it.

        Maybe he got the good drugs in time, I don’t know…

  29. Jenny, I woke up today with my brain in low gear, so even though I posted prewritten reviews early on and made some comments to others’ postings, it’s taken a bit to get alert enough to formulate thoughts on the Minor Hiatus.

    I wasn’t yet too worried, since in the past you’ve failed to post on schedule for non-worrying as well as distressing reasons and the distressing reasons have included equipment problems as well as health ones or other emergencies. But I was getting a tad more worried as each day went on. I’m relieved to see you back even with a brief post.

    I hope the problem was the throes of creativity or the need to meet a deadline rather than anything bad.

  30. I didn’t read anything that I would recommend to others this week. But I did get a notice from Victoria Goddard’s mailing list that The Hands of the Emperor is now available as an audiobook. And I know that there are many fans of The Hands of the Emperor here, and also many audiobook fans, so I thought I should mention it.

  31. I grabbed the first of Deb’s Baba Yaga books in the Audible sale and have been listening as my “commuting book”. I’ve known about these for years but never actually read them – very enjoyable! I liked the narrator as well, so no worries there if you decide to get the audio version.

    Simultaneously, as my “lunch book,” I’ve been reading “the Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder” by CL Miller. It reads a bit like Christie, and seems to be trying to be a bit gothic although it’s too light for that. It’s keeping my interest enough to keep reading, but I don’t feel much connection between the characters – maybe because each chapter is from a different POV.

    I’m reading the “Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion” as my “bed book” and was really enjoing it but was a bit peeved with the inconclusive ending of the first volume. The arc is apparently over 4-5 books, but there wasn’t any resolution of mini-arcs in the first…or not enought to satisfy me! If you are able to get several at once, you can read them like a Victorian novel that comes in multiple volumes – probably the author’s intention. Other than that, I find them engaging and well written although perhaps not quite up to the hype: “Readers have compared Beth Brower’s writing to Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and L. M. Montgomery.” Hmmm, well, no one could live up to that!

    1. I’m so glad you’re enjoying Wickedly Dangerous! I actually didn’t like the narrator (I wasn’t consulted, which is pretty typical), so I’m glad she didn’t bother you.

  32. New Jodi Taylor Time Police-Out of Time!!! Team Weird’s back together and Dr. Maxwell will be traveling in from St Mary’s. (I must have the willpower to put it down and go to sleep.)

  34. Like other Arghers before me, I loved Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian and An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister. In fact, I’ve already ordered the next book in the McAlister series which is coming out later this year. I also enjoyed Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern. It’s the first book in a cozy mystery series about a female columnist in NYC in 1925 who rubs elbows with people such as Dorothy Parker in the course of writing her columns and investigating a series of murders among her acquaintances. I love Mulhern’s sense of humor, deft turn of phrase, and feminist sensibility so I will read anything she writes, although I’m extremely partial to her Country Club cozy murder series set in the 1970s.

    1. Jeanine, When I saw that the new McAlister is (per Kindle) an actual sequel to Academic Affair, I figured Fiona was the logical FMC, and on hitting the link I proved right. It will have a job to be as good, absent the academic background. Multiple earlier McAlisters are still on my tbr list and we’ll see when I get to those even though they’re already out.

      1. And after Fiona, the brother. BTW, I have enjoyed McAlister’s other books, although Academic Affair is the best.

  35. Instead of the “literary” read for my next book club, I read Joss Richard’s It’s Different This Time, which somehow made it onto CBC Radio’s 2026 Canada Reads competition.

    And … hmm. It’s a second-chance romance with a sweet characters who have cool jobs but I just could not get past the shaky premise. These two were hot for each other for six (!) years, living in the same brownstone and never ever acted on it? It reminded me of why I found Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation so exasperating.

    Need a new recommendation for something contemporary and believable.

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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