Weekly Reading Round-Up

Between The Lure of the Moonflower launch and toddler being toddler-ish, I haven’t been able to snatch much reading time this week.

I’ve been craving my traditional comfort read: Gothic. (Whenever I’m tired, I revert to old school Gothics with houses on the covers. They’re my happy place.) Fortunately, my wonderful friend Vicki keeps me well-supplied with care packages of crumbling 70s-era paperbacks, so I was able to steal a few moments with Catherine Gaskin’s The Property of a Gentleman, which I am loving so far. Mysterious tumbledown house crammed with treasures; heroine who’s a junior employee at an auction house; sixteenth century historical secrets…. Yes, please!

Speaking of Gothics, did anyone else know that Gothic novelist Isabelle Holland (I went on a big Isabelle Holland kick around the time I was writing The Passion of the Purple Plumeria) was Harper Lee’s publicist for To Kill a Mockingbird? The world, it is small.

What have you been reading this week?

Happy weekend!

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19 Comments

  1. Christina on August 7, 2015 at 9:51 am

    The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara – Extremely well written. Unique format in that it is fiction written in the format of an academic journal with footnotes. Her world building of a lost society is very good. But I really did not like the book. This was one instance were an unlikeable narrator did not work for me and there were some parts that were very upsetting to me.

    Beautiful Bastard Christina Lauren – I’ve been reading lots of serious stuff and was ready for something fluffy. BB got its start as Twilight fan fic. I liked this a lot more than 50 Shades. I will probably read more of the series at some point.

    The Fair Fight Anna Freeman – ALL the LOVE. Historical fiction with women boxing in the early 1800s.

  2. Pat Dupuy on August 7, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    I just finished Beyond the Sunrise by Mary Balogh.
    It takes place during the Napoleonic wars, mainly 1810 in Spain and Portugal. Wonderful story. In fact, my mind keeps going back to it. And I started reading The Other Daughter. I’d gotten about a quarter of the way in and had to put it down and go to sleep, darn it.

    • Betty S. on August 8, 2015 at 8:30 pm

      Love Mary Balogh, and I have this book. Will have to read it soon.

  3. Céline on August 7, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    Finished The Other Daughter just in time to start The Lure of the Moonflower!!!

  4. Office Wench Cherry on August 7, 2015 at 5:00 pm

    I got The Other Daughter in from the library, just in time for a long weekend of camping in a spot with no internet and no cell service.

    I also have the last book in Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series, Kitty Saves the World. This is a big year for many series ending novel. Sigh.

  5. Laura on August 7, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    I finished The Other Daughter just in time to start Moonflower! Both were excellent!

    Now I’m going to start Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I’ve heard good things!

    • Céline on August 8, 2015 at 12:19 am

      Oh Laura!!! My boyfriend read Uprooted a few weeks ago and he loved it!!! He recommanded it to me right away!!!

  6. Miss Eliza on August 7, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    Laura, I’ve heard good things about Uprooted too!

    I’ve been laid up with a bum knee this week, so I let myself have some indulgent reading. AKA, I read the second Charlaine Harris Midnight, Texas book, which was a lot of fun and so much better than the first. Then, because I’ve put it in the hat two months running for book club and it’s never picked, I read Andy Weir’s The Martian, which made me realize I would NEVER survive on Mars.

    I’m also re-reading The Lure of the Moonflower for my and Ashley’s year long Pink re-read on The Bubble Bath Reader (my first week reading roundup is live now).

    • Laura on August 7, 2015 at 11:36 pm

      Miss Eliza, I really enjoyed The Martian. I’m usually more of a fantasy girl and I don’t usually read a lot of Science Fiction but I liked that one. I’m looking forward to the movie (although I would also have difficulty surviving on Mars)

      • Miss Eliza on August 8, 2015 at 2:49 am

        Oh, I am SO looking forward to the movie. Matt Damon!

  7. SuzanneH on August 7, 2015 at 10:46 pm

    I finished reading The Other Daughter, which I really enjoyed, and Julie Klassen’s The Apothecaries Daughter, which I am not sure about. It was OK but not as good as the two previous books of hers that I have read. Oh, well, not to worry, most of favourite authors have at least one book that didn’t really grab me. I am now re-reading Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope mysteries in preparation for the new one coming out in October. It is a few years since I read the early ones and it is amazing how much I have forgotten.

    I am really looking forward to Moonflower but my copy hasn’t arrived yet. Hopefully Monday.

  8. Lynne on August 7, 2015 at 11:28 pm

    The first 5 chapters of Moonflower are under my belt and I’m loving it. I keep getting a little sad thinking this is it! But so far the adventure looks very exciting. I just finished Suspicion at Sanditon by Carrie Bebris, one of her excellent Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries. Her stories are well-crafted and a nice, relaxing read.

  9. Sue Gorman on August 8, 2015 at 10:19 am

    Finishing The Other Daughter this afternoon.
    It’s much cooler and I plan to write a review or 2 and read on the front porch.
    Saving Jane’s story for my vacation in September.
    Have a nice weekend Lauren!

  10. Betty S. on August 8, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    I read Sebastian St. Cyr #3 Why Mermaids Sing. Planning to read the next two on vacation. My Moonflower book should be here when I return on the 17th.

    • Lynne on August 9, 2015 at 12:25 am

      Enjoy your books and have a wonderful holiday!

      • Betty Strohecker on August 10, 2015 at 5:35 pm

        Thanks, Lynne. We are having fun in the sun. Tomorrow is swim with the dolphins. Will catch up with you and Suzanne when I return.

        • Lynne on August 10, 2015 at 11:45 pm

          Perfect!

  11. Michelle on August 9, 2015 at 9:24 am

    I sat down and read The Lure of the Moonflower in one day. Loved it! Thank you, Lauren, for bringing all these characters to life and writing 12 great books in the process. I’m going to miss them all but they are just a re-read away.

  12. Julie on August 9, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    I read The Other Daughter last week and really enjoyed it! One of my favorite time periods for historical novels setting.
    Also, interesting tidbit about Isabelle Holland. I read and loved her YA books years ago; I don’t think I’ve read more than one or two of her gothic novels. Maybe I should give them a try.

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