Weekly Reading Round-Up

Based on the recommendations of many here, the big read for the week was Game of Thrones. I was impressed by the author’s ability to juggle multiple interweaving plot threads so smoothly. And I did not expect the ending of Book I.

Right now, I’m re-reading an old favorite, Elizabeth Peters’ Die for Love. After all, RWA is coming up soon….

What have you been reading?

23 Comments

  1. Georgia on June 3, 2011 at 10:36 am

    The new Julia Quinn (Just like Heaven) is very sweet. Just finished A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Finch). Now I feel like I need to read all of his books in order.

  2. Julie L on June 3, 2011 at 10:55 am

    I’m listening to Game of Thrones on audio, so it’s slow going, but so far so good, though it was confusing at first getting all the different characters straight, but I think I’ve go it now!

    Looking forward to seeing you at RWA at the book signing!

  3. Ashley on June 3, 2011 at 11:02 am

    It was English mysteries all around for me. I read The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie – gotta love that Hercule Poirot.

    I also wanted to try out one of Georgette Heyer’s mystery books since I love her Regencies and chose Why Shoot a Butler.

    Lastly, I finished up the week with Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean. The main character, Dido Kent, is a Miss Marple-esque character set during Jane Austen’s time. I enjoyed it immensely and can’t wait for the rest of the titles to hit the U.S.

  4. Farin on June 3, 2011 at 11:10 am

    I just finished “A Discovery of Witches” by Deborah Harkness and I’m still reeling. It was so fantastic–a little bit history, a little bit “Practical Magic,” and a little bit “Being Human.” Unfortunately, much like with your books, I now have to go through an agonizing waiting period for the second installment. Agonizing as in next year.

    I also breezed through “A Trace of Smoke,” the first of Rebecca Cantrell’s mystery series set in pre-Nazi Germany. I thoroughly enjoyed.

  5. Allison on June 3, 2011 at 11:19 am

    I actually thought the ending of the first Game of Thrones book was crazy creepy. But overall, I couldn’t believe how fast the pages flew by.

    Seriously though, if you want to read a phenomenal fantasy book, you have to read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Hands down my favorite book. Incredibly well written and engaging.

    I just read A Lily Among Thorns by Rose Lerner, which was great. I also read a retelling of Pride & Prejudice (I usually avoid them, but a friend of mine is having a month long Jane in June celebration) called Only Mr. Darcy Will do by Kara Louise and it turned out to be fabulous as well. It was a great reading week!

  6. Céline on June 3, 2011 at 11:19 am

    As far as I’m concerned, I’ve read Blameless, the third installment in the Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger. These are steampunk-fantasy novels that are really really really worth reading!

    Right now, I’m deeply burried into The Betrayal of the Blood Lily and I have to say, Lauren, that it is going to be among my favorites!

    Hubby finished A Game of Thrones last week and started the second installment almost right away… no need to say he absolutely loved it and I’ll read it myself pretty soon! 🙂

  7. Tracie on June 3, 2011 at 11:38 am

    Wow, Lauren, you read Game of Thrones in one week? That must be some kind of record. I know how long those books are! Now you have to watch the HBO show. 😉

    I’m going to dare to be different and say that A Discovery of Witches has been a big disappointment to me. I am a very fast reader and I have struggled for almost a month with this book. It’s got a clever premise and the writer is clearly talented, but the book is SO slowly-paced and the story gets so bogged down in the mechanics of witchcraft and the minutia of the heroine’s life (Who cares what she eats at every meal?) I really feel like the length of the book could have been cut in half. Also, I’m just not connecting with the heroine (too whiney!) and her relationship with the vampiric hero. There are no sparks there and I’m supposed to believe that they have this great destined love? Sorry, but no.

  8. Gina on June 3, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    I’ve just started The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen, and I think I’m going to like it. It’ll be a quick read, but I think it’ll be fun. 🙂

  9. Sheila on June 3, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Minding Frankie, by Maeve Bunchy. This her latest book, with the return of many of her older characters and some new ones who help a struggling young alcoholic care for a newborn who may or may not be his. I really enjoyed it.

  10. Sheila on June 3, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Sp : Binchy

  11. Sarah on June 3, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    My Antonia by Willa Cather – loved the beautiful language and sweet, simple story. Also read The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, which was wonderful! Can’t believe I never read her books before, really enjoyed her humorous style.

  12. Susan on June 3, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    Today I read the 5th installment of Hungry Ghosts, a modern paranormal romance. There’s a new chapter each Friday. I like it so far.
    http://noveltruths.blogspot.com/

  13. Samantha on June 3, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    I’ve fallen in love with Deanna Raybourn’s Julia Grey series! I am currently reading “Silent on the Moor” and it is fantastic!

    I also recently finished Eloisa James’ “A Kiss at Midnight” which was also very good! I loved her take on Cinderella!

  14. Cho on June 3, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    I’ve been rereading some of my old Georgette Heyer paperbacks (Venetia, Regency Buck, The Corinthian) and enjoying them very much, as per usual. I also read The Beautiful and Damned, which I can’t decided how I feel about, and Laura Lee Guhrke’s Scandal of the Year which was a nice Regency fluff read 🙂

  15. Am7 on June 3, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    I finished A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer Fleming book 2 in the Rev. Clare Fergusson series. It was good, but got slow. I also didn’t enjoy the daredevil stuff towards the end.
    It reminded me a little of the ABC Mysterym but no spoilers as to why. I miss Christie’s detectives who think rather do physical stunts.
    That being said I recommend the Rev. Clare Fergusson series and I recommend you start with book 1 In the Bleak Midwinter.
    I also reread Sarah MacLean’s Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake. I liked this book so much I wished I didn’t have to give it back to the library.

  16. Elizabeth aka Miss Eliza on June 3, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    I second Allison’s Name of the Wind, and also help her give a shout out to Misty’s Jane in June (aka Book Rat).

    So I finished Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, not my favorite by either author, but fun.

    As for other reading, you Lauren, aka, 1920s girl as of late, should check out Murder Your Darlings, it was a fun cozy mystery with Dorothy Parker and the other members of the vicious girl solving the murder of a fellow writer. The little short story on e-book was also fun, can’t wait for the 2nd in December.

    Now I’m reading Wrapped, being a mummy/regency book… kind of slow and too predictable, but not every book can be solid gold awesome…

  17. Virginia on June 3, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    I’ve been reading Kate Quinn’s Mistress of Rome. It’s a good read if you like 1st century Rome and all the crazy that goes with it.

    Amy, technically you don’t HAVE to return books to the library. Sure, it’s frowned upon if you “lose” library books, but sometimes they get taken by gnomes and there’s nothing you can do but pay the library fees.

  18. Pam on June 3, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    I just started Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt and am loving it. Perfect thing for solo nights in Europe!

  19. Sheila on June 3, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    OMG–Mistress of Mellyn–I think I was 12 when it got me hooked on gothics, and every other romantic/historic genre. Victoria Holt,and her other noms de plume, was a very classy, and classic , writer.

  20. Jessica C on June 4, 2011 at 5:32 am

    Just finished ‘The Forests of Avalon’ (also called ‘The Forest House’) by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It was pretty good, though the ending was a bit contrived – tensions were building between the diff characters all throughout the book, and were suddenly resolved in one big act that just happened, without warning.

    I’m now a quarter of the way into Game of Thrones and really loving it. Can’t wait to finish it and move on to the next book.

  21. Farin on June 5, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Tracie: Opinion on “A Discovery of Witches” seems to be quite firmly divided into responses like yours and responses like mine. So interesting, isn’t it? I love it!

  22. Tracie on June 5, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Absolutely, Farin. Different strokes for different folks. I really wanted to love Witches. Maybe my expectations were too high? Ah well, moving on . . .

    Has anyone read Jude Morgan? A friend recommended her to me as a cross between Austen and Heyer, which excited me, so I immediately bought An Accomplished Woman and am waiting with bated breath for it to arrive. I thought that Little Folly and Indiscretion looked promising, too.

  23. Farin on June 6, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    Could not get into Jude Morgan. I wish I could because the covers are always so pretty!

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