This week, I’ve been on a binge of Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series, about a forensic archaeologist who finds herself drawn into police investigations. (Many thanks to my best friend for the recommendation! And to my husband for making a large pile of the books magically appear.) It’s a little bit like reading a DCI…

It’s a funny thing. When I get down to the writing stage of a new book, I need new books to read. Not old comfort reads, but brand-new-to-me books, preferably a series, if one can be had. Laurie King’s Kate Martinelli mysteries got me through the end of That Summer, Laura Resnick’s Esther Diamond novels…

This week, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an early copy of Jennifer Robson’s latest, Goodnight from London. Unlike her earlier books, this one moves forward to World War II, when an American journalist takes a job with a paper in London, covering the Blitz (and living through it). In the best…

So many thanks to Carly for mentioning The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope in the Facebook comments on last week’s Weekly Reading Round-Up! Where has this book been all my life? Short answer: on my bookshelf. A friend gave it to me years ago, but it languished with the other “I’ll get to this…

First off, so many thanks to everyone who came out to the Boston Public Library on Tuesday night! It is always a joy to talk books in such great company. The other great thing about heading out to Boston? Reading time on the train. (I wasn’t meant to be reading. I was meant to be…

Which has been more like monthly reading round-up around here recently…. Sorry, all! That’s partly because, instead of fiction, a lot of my recent reading has looked like this: Back in fiction land, I’ve been on a Julian Kestrel binge. For those who haven’t stumbled on them yet, they’re Regency-set mysteries, featuring dandy sleuth Julian…

Happy January, all! To kick off the New Year, I’ve been reading: — Snowdrift and Other Stories, a Georgette Heyer short story collection, featuring three rediscovered stories. (For those of you who have read Pistols for Two, it’s Pistols for Two plus three.) Of course, I loved them. You can’t beat Georgette Heyer for historical…

Happy Friday, all! This week, I read: — Trisha Ashley’s Twelve Days of Christmas, which has become something of a holiday go-to read for me, in part for all the descriptions of holiday cooking. Mmm, mince pies. You can’t go wrong with a stately manor, a brooding owner, dotty side characters, and fictional meals cooked…

My find for this week? Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, brought to you courtesy of a wet day, a conveniently located bookstore, and ten minutes to kill before school pick-up. Set in Singapore, New York, London, and Paris, it’s a deftly written social satire focusing on Singapore’s old money set– which, like old money sets…

Happy Thanksgiving! (Or really, Happy Black Friday!) I was in an epic mood this week, so I revisited a very old favorite: Joan Wolf’s Born of the Sun, about a sixth century Saxon king of Wessex and his British wife, Niniane. There are court intrigues, family strife, battles– and, of course, a wonderful love story,…