Weekly Reading Round-Up
Happy Friday, all!
My kids have gotten me sick– again– so hello from the fever haze!
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I dug into my old Jo Beverley collection and re-read her Forbidden Magic, which contains some of my favorite tropes (we all have our favorite tropes): the heroine of good family fallen on hard times, struggling to support her younger siblings, who makes a marriage of convenience with a dashing but unpredictable nobleman, who, of course, turns out to be exactly the man for her. There’s also a magic statue, an evil dowager, and a full complement of comic side characters.
Back to mid-century mysteries, I continued my Charlotte Armstrong-athon with The Unsuspected, a very Hitchcockian story of a young woman’s murder and the relatives determined to find the truth, and A Dram of Poison, which was less a murder mystery and more an examination of human character. One thing I will say about Armstrong: she’s unpredictable. You don’t quite know what you’re going to get when you pick up one of her books. A spy thriller? A murder mystery? A slice of life? Results may vary.
Right now, I’ve dipped into one of my old favorite Bill Bryson books, Notes from a Small Island, which I first discovered on a Waterstone’s 3 for 2 table when I was a grad student living in London a very long time ago. But I’m yearning for some fiction to read and have no idea what I want– not even the genre. All recommendations accepted!
What have you been reading this week?
p.s. in other news, the third Team W book, All The Ways We Said Goodbye, is on e-book sale for $2.99 today! You can get it for Kindle, Nook, or however else you read e-books.
I’ve been reading Stephanie Laurens and Mary Jo Putney the last few weeks and have had a lovely time! Having gone through all of those, I was just thinking of a “Pink” re-read. It’s been a while and I’m not having much luck finding a new author to immerse myself in, so back to old favorites, like you!
Finished up Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold, space opera/murder mystery, enjoyed it.
Taking a break from the Vorkosigans and now reading Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose, Regency Engkand murder mystery first in series, very good!
Still reading the Rowankind series by Jacey Bedford, it’s so magical Regency but at the same time there are pirates and evil Walsinghams, it’s fabulous. Read them!
If you want to howl with laughter and occasionally sob, you should read the Chronicles of St. Mary’s books by Jodi Taylor. The first one is Just One Damned Thing After Another. I assure you, you won’t regret it.