Weekly Reading Round-Up

The big reads for the week, of course, were Kristan Higgins’ Until There Was You (which I liked even better than My One and Only) and Tasha Alexander’s A Crimson Warning, her latest Lady Emily mystery.

For those of you who haven’t read Tasha before, a good place to start is with her first Lady Emily book, And Only to Deceive, which appears to be rather sharply discounted just now. ($5.58!)

I also read Beryl Markham’s West with the Night, her lyrical account of her life in Kenya– although, I confess, I can’t use the phrase “life in Kenya” without thinking of Lionel from As Time Goes By. If anyone’s seen the episode with the inflatable elephant– or the one with the cover photo shoot– you know why I’m snickering.

What have you been reading?

21 Comments

  1. Jessica S. on October 28, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    I got hooked on Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Emma Harte series recently, so I’ve read everything my library had — Emma’s Secret, Just Rewards, and Breaking the Rules (I had bought A Woman of Subtance) and am now starting to look around, wild-eyed, for the others. I think the Purdue library has a couple of the others, actually.

    Off to Indy for a conference, so my Kindle, stocked with freebies, is safely packed in my suitcase.

  2. Gina on October 28, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    I just started Middlemarch, and I have to say, I hope Dorothea gets less frustrating or I’m not sure I can handle it. As far as heroine’s go, she’s definitely not my favorite.
    Other than that, I haven’t been reading much lately. (a real shame, considering I’m in 2 lit classes right now and really should be – not enough time!)
    Oh, and in exciting news to me and possibly no one else, the newest of the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce (which I’ve been reading since I was 9) just came out!! Yay!

  3. Christine on October 28, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    I finished “Then Came You” by Jennifer Weiner and really liked it. It was quirky and funny. I also had the privilege of reading an ARC of “Garden Intrigue.” I loved seeing such a different side of Augustus.

  4. Gina on October 28, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    Damn it. *heroines

  5. Lauren on October 28, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    Gina, there are more Tortall books?? I know this sounds like I’ve been living under a rock, but I used to love love love the Lioness Quartet and had no idea there were more!

  6. Lauren on October 28, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Jessica, I was so hooked on those in high school! I still have my cheesy 80’s editions…. “A Woman of Substance”, “To Be the Best”, and… urgh, I’m blanking out on the name of the other one.

  7. Christine on October 28, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    Hold the Dream! I thought the original trilogy was far superior to the newer ones.

  8. Lauren on October 28, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    Now I want to re-read them but I don’t have them with me. Grumble.

  9. Tracie on October 28, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    I don’t read a lot of YA fic, but I blew through Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier in less than two days! The premise was so clever that it made me mad I didn’t think of it myself! A heroine who talks to ghosts, time travel, adventure, family secrets, and romance! What’s not to love?

    My only complaint is that Book 2 of the series won’t be out until next spring. Ruby Red was a rec on this board, so thanks to all of you lovely people for bringing interesting, new books to my attention!

  10. Sophia Rose on October 28, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    I’m catching up on my Anne Perry’s. Just read ‘Execution Dock’ and now am reading ‘Treason at Lisson Grove’. I will soon be reading the Tasha Alexander, I’m sure as I love that series too.

  11. Elizabeth (aka Miss Eliza) on October 28, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    Well, I finished The Night Circus, has to be one of the best books I’ve read this year. Then I went on to The Thirteenth Tale, which I know many people here like, but I hated it. Twinness, meh. Then I read some Neil Gaiman and Charles Addams to catch the Halloween vibe and have now moved on to Amelia Peabody Emerson, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog, which I’m loving, even if I fell asleep while reading last night 😛

  12. Céline on October 28, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    I’ve spent the whole week in Westeros and Essos… with A Feast for Crows, the fourth installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series… I’m almost to the end, just in time for Mistletoe !
    (weird thing, I’ve noticed that it’s already available in trade paperback on amazon.ca … did you know that Lauren?)

  13. Am7 on October 28, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    Immortal in Death
    My favorite in the In Death series so far. Great plot loved seeing Roarke off his game Only the body count was a bit high.
    When Beauty Tamed the Beast
    I loved the hero but loathe the heroine. Still courageous of James to do a completely different type of heroine~ one who is too pretty to get along with other women unlike the usual type of James heroine. Also liked the castle. Not a huge House fan so the supporting cast didn’t quite line up. Also eloisa James’s fairy tales all have the most beautiful covers particularly this one and the one coming out in December

  14. Sheila on October 28, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    The Vintage Caper, by Peter Mayles….a totally delightful romp by one of my favs.

  15. Ashley on October 28, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    I am such a slow reader this past month…studying for my tax midterm makes it very hard to pick up the latest books. Still reading Jane Austen Made Me Do It! But I am totally loving it

  16. Loramir on October 28, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    AS TIME GOES BY!

    Other people who are not grandparents watch that show? It is quite possibly one of my favorite shows ever. Although, just to further cement my belief that I am actually an elderly person in a 25-year-old’s body, I have now moved on to Waiting For God, which I also love.

    Your post about Austen-inspired books a while back got me to re-reading all my Darcy’s point of view books (Confession of Fitzilliam Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s Diary, and Darcy’s Story). And then I read The Last Little Blue Envelope, the sequel to Maureen Johnson’s 13 Little Blue Envelopes, which are great YA reads…so kind of all over the place this week.

  17. Virginia on October 28, 2011 at 9:38 pm

    This week I read books two and three in the Lady Emily series (A Poisoned Season and A Fatal Waltz). So good! I can’t wait to read the next three. 🙂

    Gina, I hadn’t realized Mastiff had come out! Thanks for the heads up!

    Lauren, Yes, there are definitely more Tortall books out! There are two more quartets (“The Immortals Quartet” which takes place shortly after The Lioness quartet and is about girl with Wild Magic that can talk to animals. And “The Protector of the Small Quartet” which is about the first girl to legally go through the training to be a knight). Then there are two books about Alanna’s daughter (Tricker’s Choice and Tricker’s Queen). All of these books have appearances by your favorite characters from the Lioness Quartet. The Tortall book that just came out is the third in Beka Cooper’s series, who is an ancestor of George Cooper. They are all wonderful. You definitely need to get caught up when you get the chance. 🙂

  18. leslie on October 28, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    One thing I’ve always loved about Jane Austen besides her wicked sense of humor is that everyone gets what they deserve at the end of the story. George Eliot is a totally different kettle of fish.
    Sorry Gina, Middlemarch is an amazing novel, but very frustrating from the beginning to the end.
    I got Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field from the library last weekend. I loved it so much I went and bought a copy.

  19. Pam on October 28, 2011 at 11:47 pm

    I read number 4 in the Sebastian St. Cyr series by C.S. Harris (Where Serpents Sleep). The plot wasn’t as cohesive and complex as that in Why Mermaids Sing but she’s really hit her stride in terms of writing and characterization now. Now I’m embarking on my first Jane Austen mystery by Stephanie Barron (The Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor) and very much looking forward to it.

  20. jeffrey on October 29, 2011 at 5:14 am

    I’ve been slowly relishing the short stories in Laurel Ann Nattresse’s Jane Austen Made Me Do It and, to borrow a quote from Forrest Gump, It’s been like rummaging through a gift box of fine chocolates. Why? I’ve already read at works by at least half of the authors but now I get a “sampler” on the others I have not. Lauren, Night At Northanger Abbey did NOT disappoint! You have a unique style that is just so compelling. Your distinctive voice stands apart from others in the anthology and the awards you have received bear witness to your talent!

  21. Jessica S. on October 30, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Lauren and Christine — other than A Woman of Substance, all I’ve been able to find is the later books. I have to admit, Breaking the Rules was SOOOO cheesy, there was supposed to be this BIG MYSTERY as to who the heroine is, which I had figured out by the middle of the first chapter and I do not say that with any pride because there isn’t any in decoding that mystery. I did like the books about the American cousin, though, but sheesh, how many family members can come out of the woodwork? Anyway, I can get one of the other 2 from the original trilogy from my university library, as well as Unexpected Blessings. That will just have to do until I can unearth the other original book.

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