Weekly Reading Round-Up
This week, I treated myself to a bunch of books I’ve been wanting for a while:
— Pamela Morsi, The Lovesick Cure
A sweet, heartwarming romance set in the Ozarks. It reminded me of both Kristan Higgins’s and Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s books, with as much focus on the supporting characters as on the central couple. Part of the strength of the book was how well it captured that giddy, beginning of relationship feeling once the hero and heroine realize that they’re it for each other.
— Kathleen Gilles Seidel, Summer’s End
This book was like crack. I stayed up well into the wee hours on a night when I shouldn’t reading it from cover to cover. Although it has a romance component (a former Olympic gold medalist and the son of the woman her widower father has just married), it’s really the portrait of a family learning how to heal and reunite during a time of stress and change.
— Rosemary Clement-Moore, Texas Gothic
I hoard my Rosemary Clement-Moore books, trying to eke them out. Since she has a new one coming out in May, I decided I could finally indulge and let myself read Texas Gothic. Like the Maggie Quinn books, this one features a sensible, smart-talking heroine who finds herself dealing with the abnormal. Perfect for just before Halloween….
— Barbara Michaels, The Walker in Shadows
And since we’re getting into my Halloween theme-reading time, I trotted out a favorite old Barbara Michaels to start my ghost story marathon going: unquiet spirits from the American Civil War haunt a pair of Gothic houses in Maryland.
I have no idea what to pick up next. Possibly another Barbara Michaels, like Here I Stay
What have you been reading?
I’ve read quite a few good things lately!
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, which I absolutely can’t believe I didn’t read when I was a kid.
Death in the Floating City, the newest Tasha Alexander book, which I am STILL reeling over. I could rave about it for hours.
A really good chick lit/romancey read, one of the better I’ve read I think. Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners.
And two historical romances, If the Slipper Fits by Olivia Drake and Simply Unforgettable by Mary Balogh.
Based on all the recommendations here, I picked up the audiobook version of A Discovery of Witches. I’m half-way through, and I’m finding it difficult to get out of my car to go into work in the mornings, haha. So, thanks, people! 🙂
I also finished up Kasey Michaels’s Illusions of Love this week. It wasn’t my favorite marriage of convenience book, but I liked the characters a lot, especially the heroine.
This week I reread The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.
I am in fall/halloween mode too:
-Practical Magic
-Rebecca (why, oh why, did I read it again, her paranoia is just as annoying the second time around)
-A Discovery of Witches
Recently finished A Grown Up Kind of Pretty and Princess Elizabeth’s Spy. Both were very good.
The chiklitmanfan is into romance with both feet this week. Author Cynthia Wicklund has struck a chord with me after reading In the Garden of Temptation and In the Garden of Seduction. Full speed ahead for the other 2: In the Garden of deceit and In the Garden of Disgrace.
Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley – not my favorite of her books, but still pretty good.
I’m so glad to find another Rosemary Clement-Moore fan! Her Maggie Quinn series is one of my favorites to re-read.
I am planning to read “Lady of the Rivers” this weekend, and am super excited for it!
Also, Lauren, what did you think of “A Discovery of Witches”? Is it worth rushing out to get it?
Have a great weekend,
Tiffany
Tiffany, I have to confess, I haven’t started it yet. (I’m saving it for The Right Moment, whenever that is.) But the store clerk from whom I bought it took one look and said, “Good call”– and this was at one of those big B&Ns where they usually don’t comment on your purchases.
I pretty much stayed up all night last night, I should say today to read Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander. Very good. Nice descriptions of Venice, almost like you are there.
I am pretty new to your website and don’t know if anyone has ever mentioned Lynn Kurland. I just discovered her books — they are romance time travel and also ghosts all in medieval and modern timeframe. Simply delightful and I am reading all the ghost ones for Halloween. Wonderful and fun. G-rated romance.
Lynn Kurland is great, I have been reading her for years. I forgot to mention, I read The Ugly Duchess earlier in the week, nice plot, nice twists and turns. I really enjoyed it. I have not read any of Eloisa James’ books for awhile. I will be looking more up now.
Bernadette, welcome to the website and thanks for the recommendation! I remember being given one of Lynn Kurland’s books years ago– I’ll have to see if I can dig it up out of the bookshelf….
Nancy, try “When Beauty Tamed the Beast”! It’s based on the TV show “House” (transposed to the Regency, or thereabouts), and it’s fabulous.
I think it was the second in Eloisa James’s fairy tale series, right after “A Kiss at Midnight”. But they’re unrelated, so you can read them out of order.
Thanks for the recommendation Lauren, I just ordered it. I will report back after I read it.
I finished up Terry Pratchett’s Dickensian Dodger, which I quite enjoyed. I then started my book club selection of the month, Mary Roach’s Spook, which is about trying to find if there is life after death, but ended up making me really grossed out about how Spiritulists actually did ectoplasam (esp. women mediums). There was a story about bunnies that will leave you scared. Following on the Halloweeny vibe, I than read The Haunting of Hill House, and while I enjoyed it, it lacked the awesomeness of We Have Always Lived in the Castle for me…
I just “devoured” Andrea Penrose’s “chocolate” regencies–Sweet Revenge and The Cocoa Conspiracy. They are fantastic! I can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks so much, Doreen! I’m delighted that you’ve enjoyed Lady Arianna’s adventures!
Summers End was terrific! I loved it.
Lynn Kurland has a hilarious short story in an anthology called Tapestry.
I read Kearsley’s Shadowy Horses, I didn’t love it, but I’m glad I read it and would probably enjoy reading her shopping lists, she’s so good.
I read some Sherry Thomas backlist, out of four I only managed to finish Private Arrangements.
A Discovery of Witches audio!!!! I am so there!
Rereading Possession by A.S. Byatt, but skipping all the poetry.
Oh boy, I read and did NOT enjoy A Casual Vacancy.
Aaah, Witch of Blackbird Pond–so good! I finished Regency Buck (by the incomparable Ms. Heyer), which I really enjoyed. All the historical characters popping in and out were great and Lord Worth was deliciously jerky. My Halloween-themed reading this week has been Blackbriar by William Sleator. It’s a smart YA British novel about a teenaged boy named Danny, an orphan, who moves out to a creepy cottage in the middle of nowhere with his guardian and gets sucked into the mystery and possible haunting of the house. So far it’s been excellent.
Has anyone else read The Casual Vacancy? I can’t decide whether to buy it and I can’t seem to find a review that discusses the book on its own merits rather than compare it to Harry Potter. I’d love to know what everyone thinks!
This is for all those who love Austen. Warning this is a theoretical book (its all I’m reading these days). It’s called Austen’s Cults and Cultures by Claudia Johnson. In short it is about how different eras viewed Austen’s writing. It’s really interesting and well written.