Weekly Reading Round-Up
I’m still being boring, reading-wise. It’s all been Sayers, Sayers, Sayers (for that 1920’s tone!) with a brief excursion into Elizabeth Peters’ The Copenhagen Connection, which is neither 1920s nor English, but was unwisely left in my path by my little sister. It’s really not safe to leave books lying around near me….
What have you been reading?
I finished Naughty in Nice. I liked it but I can see what other people meant when they said the author is losing her touch – some of the details were taken right from her other books, and Fig is really irritating me.
Last week-end I reread The Murder of Roger Ackroyd but knowing the identity of the murderer took all the interest out of the novel, the story being not that interesting (to me, anyway!).
But then, on your recommendation (it was in the Mistletoe “If you Like”), I read Mr Impossible and really really enjoyed it! Thanx for the rec!!!
Still stuck in various books for class. Right now, it’s Bleak House (which is surprisingly not bad!), North and South (which I was supposed to finish 2 weeks ago…), Gulliver’s Travels, and Pamela (which may be the worst book I’ve ever read).
But on my list for the future are some Sherlock Holmes stories, the last two of LotR, and some more Bill Bryson.
About halfway through The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg, a Swedish crime fiction writer. Very accessible and quick reading.
I’m so glad someone feels the same way I do about Pamela! I’m reading “Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet”. It’s been a challenge to get through (it’s very dense at times) but some very intriguing social history, overall.
Reading Annette Vallon by James Tipton right now. Not exactly historically correct, but still a good read of her anti-terror exploits in France during the French Revolution/Terror. Very little of it covers her romance with William Woodsworth.
I really WANT to read more Sayers – I read the first four or five…and I’m really looking forward to reading the ones with more Harriet. But I’ve recently moved out and started living on my own, and I’m very easily creeped out, so I don’t know that murder mysteries are a great idea.
I’m on a huge Mary Balogh kick this week. Reread a bunch of Bedwyns (quite possibly my favorite romance series ever), finally finished the Simply series, and just started the Huxtables. Mary Balogh does such great characters, which is why I love her series.
Currently reading ” The Black Prism” by Brent Weeks. Lived his assassin series “The NightAngel” trilogy. I love how fast paced his style is and all the action it contains.
“Silent in the Grave”, by Deanna Raybourn-Kindle had a great deal on the first three books, so I am finally getting around to these. Am hooked now for sure….of course, would never have known about her if not for this site
“Escapade”, by Kasey Michaels, an older style regency, but great fun
I went to Austenland this week, re-reading the first book and the plowing through an ARC of the sequel, Midnight in Austenland, which makes it less happily ever after, more if Agatha Christie wrote it, with just a pinch of the movie Clue.
Now I’ve just started The Garden Intrigue!
Slow reading week for me as this is one of the busiest times of year at work, but I did finish Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series that I’d started last week (Wanderlust, Doubleblind, Killbox, Aftermath). Understand there will be one more book–Endgame–and I cannot wait. Great series.
I hated Pamela, too. (And Tom Jones, but not as much as Pamela.) I’ve tried to quash all memories of that Early Novels class I took many years ago.
This is a stretch, but The Copenhagen Connection reminds me that I’ve been meaning to re-read Anna’s Book (aka Asta’s Book in the UK) by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell). It’s one of my all-time favorite mysteries. It bears no relation to Peters’s book, but there are transplanted Danes and numerous references to Copenhagen–which made me think of it. Yep, a brain tangent; I have a lot of them.
I’m still reading “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova. I feel like the beginning is really slow, but that’s probably because we are moving in three weeks so I’ve only been able to read about a chapter a day. Everything is slow going when you have no time to read it.
Shelia: Thanks for the heads up about the Deanna Raybourn bundle for Kindle. I’ve also been wanting to read those. Soon I’ll have my chance.
And Mizz Eliza: So Jealous! 🙂
Its interesting you’re reading Sayers to get a 1920s tone.
I read the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker. I may have butchered the long title but google it and you can find. It was a funny memoir. I recommend it. It isn’t that religious, its more about religion vs. the real world.
I also read An Unwilling Bride by Jo Beverley. It was okay but Not my favorite.
Oh, I love Pamela (and not just because of the title). I think it’s hilarious (and quite interesting from the standpoint of cultural and intellectual history in its intersection with then-current philosophical ideas about personhood and property). But mostly I just love how sensational and overblown it is. So fun!
It’s been a slow week for me on the heels of an onslaught of grading and student conferences, but I started Dracula In Love by Karen Essex the other day and think it’s pretty cool so far. I like the concept of a feminist retelling of Dracula and the way that it critiques the notions of gender, psychology, madness/”hysteria,”etc. in Stoker’s text (and in the Victorian period) and the writing is pretty evocative. A good “October” book.
Just read through (and enjoyed very much) most of the short story selections in Jane Austen Made Me Do It (Laurel Ann Nattress, ed.) Our very own Miss Willig has a story in the anthology for Northanger fans! 🙂
Susanna Kearsley’s The Rose Garden….just wonderful, as usual.
I loved Mary Balogh’s Simply series.
The book that introduces the Bedwyns,
“A Summer to Remember” is one of my all time faves. Baloghs new book about Lady Muir is due early next year.
I read “Yankee Doodle Dixie”. Did not like it.
Dyan Cannon has written a juicy tell all about Cary Grant. I loved it!
Hey Lauren,
When will I be able to purchase
the flip flops!
I really enjoyed Mary Balogh’s latest, The Secret Mistress, and Laura Kinsale’s Lessons In French (whose books have the greatest old school bodice-ripper covers). Just finished The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. Love those Scottish accents!
@Virginia – I enjoyed “The Historian” although it was so different from any other book on the subject. It was slow at points but in the end I did enjoy it.
Still reading “Villette” (sp?) — not much time for reading this past week unless I can count “reading through my eyelids” time.
@Gina — to what would you compare Bleak House? All that comes to mind is Gillian Anderson in that movie I can’t remember the name of~ Or “Jane Eyre”. I have it on my pile and look forward to reading it.
Just finished
The Night Circus-good read, thought provoking
and Bucket of Ashes–love, love, love the Nell Sweeney series!
Finish ‘A Quiet Gentlemen’ by Georgette Heyer and am half-way through ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel. It’s an interesting book, with an unusual tone and style of writing. Also dipping occasionally into a book on Celtic myth and legend, appropriately called ‘Celtic’.
@Amy: Hmmm. That’s actually a hard question. It’s chock full of characters (with hilarious names) and tons of things going on, with a detective story too…It’s almost similar to North and South by Gaskell, but significantly better, I think.
As someone who has hated Dickens forever, I can honestly say this is an enjoyable book with an interesting look at the time period.
Sorry, that didn’t answer your question at all. I rambled on a bit.
I finally got the chance to finish Water For Elephants and found it very entertaining. I’m now re-reading one of my all-time favorites: Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy…all 5 volumes and 600+ pages. (Anyone for a little Vogon poetry?) A Persuasion group-read is starting next week on a neighboring website and I’m going to try to squeeze that in also. FINALLY, I also read Pamela and it was so corny and sentimental that I couldn’t put it down. Go figure….
Just finished Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis. Contemporary romance with many lol moments. Quick, fun read. Looking forward to The Sweetest Thing, the next book in the series.
Agree with the comments about Mary Balogh’s Bedwyn series…and her “Simply Quartet” which ties in nicely with the Bedwyn clan.
@April – I am with you: love, love, love the Nell Sweeney series!! Did you see there is a reissue of the series – a box set with new covers?! (check it out on Patricia Ryan’s web site)
I just finished The House at Riverton by kate Morton. I loved the setting in the twenties and the pre-war era. Very intriguing and romantic and yet a bit tragic.
Hi, Leslie! The flip-flops aren’t in the Pink Shop, but you can buy them here: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/customize/product2.aspx?number=576006640&utm_medium=cp_social&utm_source=addthis&utm_campaign=CreateAndBuyPDP#.Tne9U-g2P3Q.email
I just finished rereading the first Harry Potter book and Patricia Veryan’s The Riddle of the Reluctant Rake (great fun!), and am now rereading the Half Magic series.
I just finished reading The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, probably my favorite of hers.
And now I’m rereading The Count of Monte Cristo for about the 30th time, my favorite book ever.
To Cho–so happy to see another Veryan fan. Her books may be hard to find, but well worth the hunt. JUST THE GREATEST…
Thanks Cho,
I just checked out a stack of Veryan books from the library!
Just finished listening to Georgette Heyer’s Venetia. The reader was great!
Just finished the first 3 Deanna Raybourn (thanks to this site for the recommendation) and the latest Julia Spencer-Fleming – One was a soldier. Great series. Am trying, for the second time, to read Jonathan Strange. I’m finding it slow going. Also Fanny Burney’s Evelina and Denying History by Michael Shermer, a fascinating story of who denies the Holocaust and why.
Unfortunately work has kept me busy and little time to read, so I only just finished Heat Rises by Richard Castle . Sort of predictable, but I love the show and could not help myself from also loving the book. Perused the under $5 nookbook selections and have now started Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen.
This is an accurate summation of my nerdiness: The other day I went to the Boston University bookstore to pick up TEXTBOOKS and ended up also getting “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire”, which is for another class, just because it looked interesting.
Just started A Garden Folly by Candice Hern after finishing the The Regency Rakes Trilogy. I am thoroughly hooked!
I’m reading (and loving!) The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai. It’s about a children’s librarian who inadvertently kidnaps (or is kidnapped by) her favorite 10 year old patron. It references a lot of classic children’s books in little sections between chapters, and their road trip story also references aspects of Lolita (without the less-savory aspects of rape). It’s hilarious, and touching, although I haven’t finished it yet and can feel a sad ending coming…
Still wading through The Far Pavilions (less than a hundred pages to go!), but I took a break over the weekend and read Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (fun YA time-travel romance) and Murder on the Bride’s Side by Tracy Kiely (second in a Jane Austen-inspired mystery series).