Weekly Reading Round-Up
Lest we forget the books for the covers, here, after a few weeks’ absence–sorry about that!– is our traditional Weekly Reading Round-Up.
As many of you know, I was off at the RWA conference all last week.
(These are from the Literacy Signing on Wednesday.)
I came back with piles and piles of books, through which I’ve been happily reading. Here’s the haul so far:
— The Dead Travel Fast, Deanna Raybourn.
No one so gorgeous should also be able to write so well! A beautifully executed tale of romance and suspense, it contains passages of pure lyricism as well as being a ripping good read.
— Insatiable, Meg Cabot.
Okay, so there’s a slight vampire theme going on here. I loved this book– a lively and clever spin on certain current trends.
— Crazy for Love, Victoria Dahl.
Two best friends, two brothers, one island…. A very fun contemporary romance.
— The Next Best Thing, Kristan Higgins.
Speaking of contemporary romance…. It can’t have escaped anyone’s attention that I’m a huge Kristan Higgins fan. I was thrilled to meet her at RWA and to snag a signed copy of The Next Best Thing.
— Some Like It Wicked, Teresa Medeiros.
What better match than a feisty Highland-bred heroine and a debauched rogue? This book has some of the best banter I’ve read in a while and one of the strongest heroines.
As you can see, I really lucked out in my picks this past week– and I still have a whole pile awaiting me!
What have you been reading?
The Next Best Thing is SOOOO good. I loved it.
I’m actually about to pick up one of the couple of her books I haven’t read yet, The Next Best Thing.
I’ve been curious about Crazy for Love, I might be reading that soon since you enjoyed it 🙂
oops, I meant to say I’m about to read Fools Rush In 🙂
I just finished a Deanna Raybourn novel! Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey Mystery) and it was so good.
I’m now reading Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston and the 9th book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series.
I can’t wait to pick up Meg Cabot’s new book (definitely making a trip to Borders today lol), it sounds like a really good read and I love all her work.
I’ve been on a Terry Pratchett Tiffany Aching kick, totally my favorite Pratchett, also just got the ARC for the 4th in the mail, so I can’t wait to finish re-reading the first 3! Also read all the Scott Pilgrim comics, which were quite fun, though the ending was not as well executed as it should have been.
I’ve been meaning to pick up Deanna Raybourn… I’ll have to add some to my Goodreads Shelf of Guilt. This week I managed to put away 2 full tomes (oooh look at me go):
Evening (Susan Minot) was OK. I wanted to like it, but it was just a little too self-conscious/overwrought for me. It’s like she was trying too hard to be Important and like Virginia Woolf with the lack of punctuation, and just not getting it right. I never knew how much I loved quotation marks until I couldn’t have them!
The Magicians (Lev Grossman) was AMAZING. Imagine if you found out that the worlds of Harry Potter/Narnia were real and that you could go there, attend a college of magic, and were then to learn that the fantasy escape land (and magic itself) is really much darker and more complicated than you thought. The writing reminded me a lot of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, so so so good!
Now on to Ripley’s Game (Ripley #3) by Patricia Highsmith. Hooray for sociopaths.
You read Insatiable? LUCKY! I’ve been trying to get my hands on that book! Oh well. Not really reading anything. Sort In-Between books right now, but love that you’ve been reading anyways, Lauren!
Way to go fellow book readers!!
After reading Cabot’s “Randsome My Heart” and Georgette Heyer’s “Reluctant Widow” back to back, I thought I needed something a bit more cerebral. 🙂 I’m working on a little non-fiction while waiting for my book club to meet again in a couple weeks. The writing in it is actually quite beautiful… Winston Churchill’s “A History of the English Speaking Peoples: The Birth of Britain (Vol. 1 of 3).”
Lately I’ve been on a Julia Quinn/Lisa Kleypas binge. I’m in the midst of both the Bridgerton and Hathaway series and am LOVING them!
I saw “Insatiable” at Borders and immediately ran to request it at my library. I’m usually not into the whole vampire genre, but this one sounded like such fun!
I just finished the 2nd and 3rd of the Lady Julia Grey novels – couldn’t put them down and can barely wait until October when the 4th one comes out! Started “10 Things I Love About You” yesterday and luckily my husband and son were out of town and I almost finished before they got home! Have been seriously thinking about picking up “The Dead Travel Fast” since I loved the Julia Grey novels.
Christy, I love Churchill’s “English Speaking Peoples”. He writes such beautiful prose.
Adding “The Magicians” to the TBR pile….
I just finished Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K Jerome. This is a classic I have wanted to read for years. Incredibly witty…my favorite scene involved canned pineapple…
@Nikki – I loved “The Dead Travel Fast.” It was mysterious, fun, and hinted at the whole vampire thing wouldn’t getting ridiculous.
I’ve been working on The Essential Ellison (the 2000 edition) for the past week. Slightly less than 900 pages down, about 350 to go.
OMG – I’ve gone crazy with my Nook since the last thread. Having a book store at your beck and call is very dangerous. 🙂
I’ve read all 3 of Nora Roberts Bride Quartet series (Bed of Roses, Savor the Moment and Vision in White).
The Diamond Slipper – Jane Feather
Marcia Schyler and Phoebe Deane – Grace Livingston Hill
A Reliable Wife – Robert Goolrick
His Lady Mistress – Elizabeth Rolls
And I’m still working on “An Infamous Army”…Can’t seem to get into it.
And a ton of really cheesy stuff I’m too embarrassed to admit I’ve read. 🙂
On a Georgette Heyer kick myself. just finished Silvester was great! I also grabbed Deja Dead by Kathy Reich. Its a true crime novel that the TV show Bones is based on figured id give it a shot.
I have on my table the Thirteenth Tale, have yet to read that. Then Georgette Heyers the Masqueraders.
Also good is Tasha Alexander’s To Be Deceived series. There great historical mysteries with a bit of romance and a lot of fun. I think those who enjoy Lauren’s books would also like hers. i will try to do a review of her book on my blog next week (8/12 ish) so if your interested check it out.
I’ve just finished ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho’ by Ann Radcliffe. It was very silly – every second chapter someone seemed to faint (or nearly faint) and the heroine was annoying, oppressively virtuous. I could imagine Catherine Moreland reading it, late at night in her bedchamber at Northanger Abbey, jumping at the slightest noise.
I am now moving on to the Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
Let’s see, I had to return Dracula by Bram Stroker, but my friend let me borrow hers. I’m still reading it.
Also, I’m reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami. I am LOVING both of them.
In the last 2-3 weeks …
After zooming through several Lisa Kleypas’ books (Hathaways in audiobook form), I’m now on a serious Loretta Chase kick right now (thanks Lauren for recommending “Mr Impossible”). Since that one, I’ve read “Your Scandalous Ways” and am about half through “Lord Perfect”. I got all of the ones by her that I could find in my local used-books store (6 of them), and just bought “Last Night’s Scandal” when it came out at the end of July. … Fun!
Also, I was delighted to discover that Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness series has been recorded at last – read by Katherine Kellgren (wonderful!). Audiobook fans rejoice!
In the middle of this, I took time out to listen to “Souless” by Gail Carriger (read by Emily Gray). Thanks to the several people on this site who all agreed that it is great, which it most certainly is.
I just got “Soulless” from the library—can’t wait to dig into it! I’m finishing up Jasper Fforde’s “Shades of Grey” now. Not my favorite of his stuff; it’s taken me awhile to get into the world of the book. A slow start, but it’s picking up now that I’ve passed the halfway mark. And I’ve still got a couple of non-fics (a bio about Alva and Consuelo Vanderbilt and a collection of Edward Gorey interviews) that I open between novels as a palate cleanser. 🙂
I loved Shades of Grey, I think it’s easily my favorite of Jasper Fforde’s now! Also Soulless rocks!
The last hundred pages of Shades of Grey zipped right along, and now I’m really looking forward to the next one!
I read both The Magicians and The Thirteenth Tale this summer, and enjoyed both of them greatly! The magicians was great, loved the dark twist, and the Harry Potter references, they made it feel very real.
I read Bill Bryson’s _I’m a Stranger Here Myself_ on the train on Thursday (thanks for the rec, Lauren!) and now I’m reading Anita Shreve’s _Change in Altitude_. Oh, and of course, _Individual Differences in Instructed Language Learning_…for work… Happy New Semester.