Weekly Reading Round-Up
From Georgette Heyer, it was an easy hop to another set of old favorites: Kate Ross’s Julian Kestrel mysteries, Cut to the Quick
What have you been reading this week?
p.s. I nearly forgot to mention: it’s Mischief of the Mistletoe month on The Bubblebath Reader! Want to chat about Turnip, Arabella, and the myriad uses of Christmas pudding? Just pop over there to join the discussion….
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton – I always enjoy Kinsey Millhone and this was no exception.
Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie – I think I learned about this retelling of The Turn of the Screw here. I didn’t really like The Turn of the Screw but this was great. Lots of fun for the fan of the creepy house/ghost story book.
Men We Reaped – Jesmyn Ward. A memoir about Ward’s childhood in Mississippi and 5 young men she was close to including her brother who died in a 4 year span. Not my usual reading fare but I highly recommend it.
True Colors by the always reliable Kristin Hannah
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
And I have to confess, tearing through Mischief of the Mistletoe…just adore Turnip!
I have to add, I loved the Julian Kestrel series, learned about it here.
How would describe Kristin Hannah’s books for someone who’s never read her?
Kristin writes contemporary fiction. Her books Night Road , Home Front and Firefly Lane are fabulous reads. Great characters– well-written, not perfect. Complex storylines that draw you into the book and the characters.
Love everything I’ve read by Kristin Hannah. First found her in book of the month club listing, Winter Garden – present day story of mother/daughter relationships with flashbacks to mother’s life in war torn (WWII) Russia. Firefly Lane is amazing and just read the sequel Fly Away last fall. Also enjoyed On Mystic Lake set in Pacific NW. Comfort and Joy is a shorter but realing gripping novel – read it as a Christmas read several yrs. ago, but it would be good anytime.
I know what you mean. I really enjoyed the Julian Kestrel books and it is depressing to know that’s all there will be. I am currently watching the Pimpernel everyone likes with Anthony Andrews. First time for me. Now, just finished Kilmoon by Lisa Alber. Really liked it and curious how this series will develop. All the past week, finished Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley. Amazing how some of her books remind me so much of Mary Stewart. Also read My Lord’s Invitation to Passion by Bronwen Evans, Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson, and Cloche and Dagger by Jenn McKinlay.
I re-read Bryan Lee O’Malley’s newest books “Seconds”. Has some similarities with Scott Pilgrim, but so amazing and unique weaving mythology into the story. Adore it! So glad I finally have my own copy to I don’t have to get it from the library anymore.
I also read Kate Morton’s “The Distant Hours”. It was a little too depressing for a January read. Now I’m reading “Ashenden” which starts as an inherited house book, but instead of following that storyline, it’s about all the previous people who have lived in the house since it was built. It’s interesting, but I haven’t made my final decision on it yet…
After seeing recommendations all over the place and people listing it as one of their top five romances, I finally read “Lord of Scoundrels” by Loretta Chase. And…….I didn’t like it. Hugely disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the heroine and there were several laugh out loud moments. But once we passed the half way point, the book just died for me. I didn’t like the development of the hero, I didn’t like where the story line headed and I thought the ending was cold. I’m sorry. All of you who love it, please don’t hate me. Moving on, in the midst of “When the War is Over” by Jennifer Robson. Sort of a sequel to “Somewhere in France,” which I loved. I am enjoying this book a lot, though not as well as the first one. Still, it’s very good. Finally, “Every Secret Thing” by Susanna Kearsley. It’s Susanna Kearsley so it’s excellent. But I do love her historical books more.
I am reading Jane Aiken Hodge historicals. Savannah Purchase and The Adventurers. Not as good as Georgette Heyer, but am enjoying them.
I finished up Have His Carcase, then on to Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake by Sarah Maclean, which I hated. Then Grace Burrowes’ novella in the “Christmas in the Duke’s Arms” anthology, which was nice and featured pet rabbits. Now starting Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden. I’m not very far in but fascinating–the heroine is a translator for the US Navy in the 1890s.
Finished Kelly Bowen’s I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me warm for Fresh Fiction. Not sure where the title originated from…it’s a great read. Finishing up Erin Knightley’s new novel -The Earl I adore-today.
Reading Mischief of the Mistletoe and will visit Ashley’s blog later. 🙂
I am reading The Winter Sea!!
Really enjoying it! 😀
Loved this book and The Firebird to follow.
I reread David Liss’s The Twelfth Enchantment and started a reread of his The Whiskey Rebels, and in between I read “A Case of Spirits” by K.J. Charles.
It seems I’m on a cowboy romance kick and gradually drifting away from regency romances. The author who stands out in Western romances is Shanna Hatfield. I just finished The Cowboy’s Christmas Plan, a contemporary Western Christmas story and she has a huge stable of both historical and contemporary series of stories to choose from.
The book I mentioned, True Colors, fits this category, and so many more. Have you checked out Deb Kastner?