Weekly Reading Round-Up

In between festivities, I’ve been kicking off my research for my next book by reading Paula Byrne’s Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. (Hint: the stand alone that comes out in 2015 will be set in the heavy partying world of the Bright Young Things.)

I also received a haul of books in my stocking, promising much happy reading in the days to come: Jonathan Howard’s Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Julia Quinn’s latest, The Sum of All Kisses, Sherry Thomas’s The Luckiest Lady in London, and a non-fiction book, Servants: A Downstairs History of Britain from the Nineteenth Century to Modern Times, which is going to come in very handy for the next novel.

What have you been reading this week?

20 Comments

  1. Julie on December 27, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    I am reading the Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani. It is so good! It’s my book club’s January book.

    • Betty S. on December 27, 2013 at 9:12 pm

      I read that when it came out last year. It is great – so is her Valentine series.

  2. Heather on December 27, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    This week has been Fern Michael’s “Texas Rich” and “Texas Heat,” and Veronica Roth’s “Insurgent.” I’m debating starting “Allegiant,” but my boyfriend got me the entire James Bond movie collection for Christmas…

  3. Susan Gorman on December 27, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    Reading The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. Just started and and enjoying it.

  4. Diana on December 27, 2013 at 12:31 pm

    Cecelia by Francis Burney…I’m channeling my inner Charlotte.

  5. Patti O on December 27, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    I’m reading MIDNIGHT RIOT by Ben Aaronovitch, I have one more novella to go in CHRISTMAS IN LUCKY HARBOR by Jill Shalvis & I started BOOK, LINE & SINKER by Jenn McKinlay yesterday. For Christmas, I was blessed with SHATTERED GLASS by Tasha Alexander, THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS by Julia Spencer-Fleming and HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny (all signed !!!).

  6. Sheila on December 27, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    I just finished The House at Riverton, very very good, and am almost done with the always inspiring Mitch Albom”s The First Phone Call from Heaven.

    • Lynne on December 29, 2013 at 12:34 am

      Both good reads, Sheila. Read more of Kate Morton – her other books are just as good, maybe even better!!

  7. Christine on December 27, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    I finished The River of No Return and LOVED it! Similar aspects to A Discovery of Witches but also very different. I think I read online somewhere that there will be a sequel and I can’t wait for it.

  8. jeffrey on December 27, 2013 at 3:48 pm

    Diana: Cecelia? Tenacity is the watchword. It is about 900+ pages.

    I just finished Teach Me Under the Mistletoe by Kay Springsteen and just BRAVO. Another beautiful Christmas love story by the same author that wrote The Toymaker, my last year’s favorite Christmas romance.

    I got my wife Starry Night, Debbie Macomber’s 2013 Christmas romance. Well, I’m just starting out and I want to find out for myself why she is so popular. (Hallmark’s Cedar Cove, which we both watch, happened to be an additional incentive)

  9. Betty S. on December 27, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    I read Melissa Hill’s A Gift From Tiffany’s – really good with a twist. And am now reading Mary Balogh’s Under the Mistletoe – an anthology of Christmas short stories.

  10. Christina on December 27, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    I read Mary Stewart’s first book – Madam will you talk? I loved the car chase scenes and liked the overall plot but the romance was way too abrupt & unbelievable.

  11. Lynne on December 28, 2013 at 1:01 am

    I jussst finished “Behind the Shattered Gless”, Tasha Alexander’s latest. I don’t think it was quite as good as her previous books, but still a very good read. I have just started “Wolf Hall” by Hilery Mantel – it was a Booker Award winner 3 yrs. ago. It’s the 1st of her 3 books on Thomas Cromwell. Looks very good!

  12. Am7 on December 28, 2013 at 1:48 am

    I read Elizabeth Berg’s The HandMaiden and The Carpenter. It was a short, but eloquent and romantic version of the Christmas Story centering on Mary and Joseph.

  13. SusanN on December 28, 2013 at 5:39 am

    I hope you enjoy your Christmas haul. I’ve read the Quinn and Thomas books and quite liked them.

  14. Alice on December 28, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    I read “The Countess Conspiracy” by Courtney Milan. It was good but I enjoyed her first two books in The Brothers Sinister series better. Just finished “Tainted Angel” by Anne Cleeland. I just discovered this author and love everything she has written thus far. (Just three books, sadly) I wish she would write faster. 🙂 Her books avoid the usual plot devices, are very action packed and keep you guessing until the end.

  15. Yvette R on December 28, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    Life has been very busy (new job!), but I managed to re-listen to Mischief of the Mistletoe (for the 5th or 6th time … but don’t mention the chickens!) while doing Christmas stuff around the house. It is just as wonderful every time!
    I am currently on a Georgette Heyer jag (audio books while running errands & doing chores). “The Unfinished Clue”, “Behold, Here’s Poison” are the most recent. I love GH’s mysteries as much as her romances!

    • Sheila on December 29, 2013 at 1:19 pm

      Stay away from Penhallow…well-written as always. but very annoying and almost painful to read! Check out the reviews on Amazon. She wrote this book for the purpose of getting out of a contract!

      • Yvette R on December 29, 2013 at 6:41 pm

        Yes, I heard about that. Penhallow is the only one of her mysteries that I have not read. I own it, but I’m not sure if I will read it. On the other hand, I own most of her mysteries in audio – cassette, CD, and/or mp3. I think that No Wind of Blame is probably the funniest … maybe tied with The Unfinished Clue.

  16. Pam on December 29, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    I’m wrapping up the Donald Thomas Sherlock Holmes addenda. The stories are good if a bit too long. I also devoured Rose Cottage (Mary Stewart), thanks to Santa, and loved it. Now I’m looking forward to finally reading Ashford. Hooray for Christmas books (all 11 that I received)!

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