Weekly Reading Round-Up

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:

FullSizeRender (2)

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 Kestral, beautifully researched, beautifully plotted, and beautifully written. Even on a tenth or eleventh re-read, I find myself reading phrases out loud, just to savor the cadence of them.

After my Kestrel binge, it felt incumbent upon me to actually read something new for a change, so I hied myself off to the library’s new books shelf, where I came upon Brunonia Barry’s The Fifth Petal, a murder mystery set in Salem, around the 1989 murders of three women and the old secrets that get stirred up when the survivor of those murders, a child at the time, returns to Salem as a grown-up.

Next up is Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia, and, held in reserve until the writing gets tough, the latest Rivers of London novel, The Hanging Tree.

What have you been reading recently?

19 Comments

  1. AngelB on February 3, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    Started a new series but I’ve been really slow and have barely gotten through. I’m still on book 1 – Dark Desires by Eve Silver. It’s the first book of her Dark Gothic series. I needed something a bit different. Straight romance was getting a bit boring.

    • Betty Strohecker on February 4, 2017 at 8:44 pm

      I’ve read two of these and enjoyed them. They don’t seem to be connected so can probably be read in any order.

  2. Lori on February 3, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    I’m reading a romance called Playbook, Lauren Grahams I’m Talking as Fas as I Can and just finished The Futures. Next up is Wicked City by Beatriz WILLIAMS. Yay!

  3. Sarah WJ on February 3, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    I just brought Belgravia back from the library. Can’t wait to read it. Waiting for Beatriz Williams’s newest so indulging in the newest Jane Fallen.

  4. Christine on February 3, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    I read Beatriz Williams’ “The Wicked City” which was fantastic. It might be my new favorite of hers (feel free to let her know, Lauren!)

    Also read “The Girl Before,” a psychological thriller. It gets compared to “Gone Girl,” which made me a little wary because I HATED “Gone Girl,” but it was… lighter. Just enough crazy without going overboard.

  5. Miss Eliza on February 3, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    I’ve stumbled on Rick Geary’s graphic novels about Victorian serial killers and great crimes, it’s very interesting and breaks down the crimes well, I just finished the one about the Lindbergh kidnapping. I’m also reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy… so I guess I’m going gruesome and well plotted right now?

  6. Sheila on February 4, 2017 at 12:39 am

    Of all that I have read this month, Chase’s Black Rabbit Hall was the BEST: a house book, a mystery, a little romance, poetic writing: delicious.

    I also enjoyed very much Landay’s Defending Jacob, Finch’s The Inheritance, Kasey Michaels’ Nione Brides and a Witch, and Maxwell’s So Long, See You Tomorrow

  7. Tara on February 4, 2017 at 7:11 am

    I finally finished A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, and I am eagerly awaiting her third and final book in the trilogy A Court of Wings and Ruin out in May.

    Right now, I’m reading the screenplay of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling. Absolutely love it! I can’t wait to see the movie!

  8. LynnS on February 4, 2017 at 11:57 am

    Connie Willis’ Blackout, one of her time travel novels.

  9. Betty Strohecker on February 4, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    I recently finished Victoria by Daisy Goodwin. It reads like a screen play which makes sense since she wrote it while writing the TV series. I enjoyed the interesting look at a young Victoria.

    • Tara on February 5, 2017 at 7:19 am

      If you liked The Crown on Netflix, Sally Bedell Smith’s biography of Queen Elizabeth the Second is amazing and recounts plenty of what was in the show.

  10. Céline on February 5, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    Oooooooh… are you back to the Caribbean book, that huge saga you’ve been wanting to write for quite some time?

    • Lauren on February 6, 2017 at 11:24 am

      Yes, it is!! I’m finally biting the bullet and writing it. Wish me luck….

      • Céline on February 6, 2017 at 11:28 am

        Wishing you all the luck you want and need, but I am pretty sure it’s going to wind up as good as everything you ever wrote! ♥♥♥
        And if you need support and encouragement, we are but one click away to give it to you!

        • Lauren on February 6, 2017 at 11:35 am

          Thanks, Céline!!

  11. Alice on February 6, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    Finally read “People of the Book” by Geraldine Brooks and loved it! Jayne Ann Krentz’s newest which was entertaining. And Veronica Speedwell’s latest adventure. I’m a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn, but I don’t love the Veronica series like I love Julia Grey. The Veronica series moves slowly and I feel like the characters stagnate. Next up? The Woman on the Orient express. I love agatha Christie!

  12. Alyson on February 9, 2017 at 12:06 am

    I’ve got Belgravia on my to read list too.

  13. Carla on February 26, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    Just finished the Goldfinch, loved it

  14. Lauren Ashley on March 3, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    I’ve been on a non-fiction bend and am currently reading The Book Thieves: the Nazi looting of Europe’s Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell. So far I’m really enjoying it and it is so fascinating.

    Lauren, I would love to hear what you think of the Fifth Petal! I read it not too long ago.

Leave a Comment