Weekly Reading Round-Up

With my hometown slammed by a Hurricane Sandy, this was not the most calming of weeks. Out came the comfort reads:

— Barbara Michaels, Ammie, Come Home.

An excellent, classic ghost story, set in an old house in Georgetown.

— Helena Dela, The Count.

I’ve always been sad that I’ve never been able to find anything else by this author. The Count is a cross between Elizabeth Peters (think Borrower of the Night) and Elsie Lee, involving a snarky, first person heroine, a marriage of convenience, a German count, a family curse, and a creepy old castle.

— Jen Lancaster, Bitter is the New Black.

There’s nothing like the original! Reading Jen Lancaster’s memoir of losing everything tends to put life into perspective.

What have you been reading this week?

7 Comments

  1. Christine on November 2, 2012 at 10:50 am

    I read Mariana, and, while I really liked it, I wasn’t crazy about the ending. It seemed to come out of nowhere. I still liked The Rose Garden a lot more.

    • Ashley on November 2, 2012 at 2:19 pm

      Christine – I felt the same way about Mariana! Have you read The Winter Sea? It’s my favorite of her books.

      • Christine on November 2, 2012 at 2:28 pm

        I have not, but it’s on my list, along with Firebird and Every Secret Thing. I love her books!

  2. Pam on November 3, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Ammie Come Home was my first Barbara Michaels!

    I read Blushing Pink (Jill Winters) while traveling back to the U.S. to present at a conference (I needed the lighter fare). It was fun but not great. I’d give another of her books a shot, though. Then back to storm-battered NYC and finally out to Italy with A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. Intriguing so far!

    • Jane on November 4, 2012 at 1:25 am

      Ammie Come Home was my first Barbara Michaels book too!

  3. Elizabeth (aka Miss Eliza) on November 3, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    Gaw, posting on Saturday and not Friday seems wrong, but I had to run yesterday (going to Milwaukee). So this week has been pleathora of ARCs week, so my reading of The Warden by Trollope was interupted by the new Gail Carriger book, Etiquette and Espionage, which in turn was interupted by the arrival of the new Alan Bradley, Speaking from Among the Bones, and I also got the new Robin LaFevers Dark Triumph as well as a certain new Lauren Willig book… I am at a loose, too much awesome to read and no time!

  4. Nessa on November 4, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    Due to my three kids not having school the whole (very long…) week, we read together Michael Ende’s “Neverending Story” and bunch of great Cornelia Funke’s books. I also needed some comfort reads – Thank you for reccomending Harriet Evans’ “Love always” and Donna Andrews’ “Murder with peacocks”:)

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