Weekly Reading Round-Up

Happy 2018, all!

The new year came in with a blast of frost– in other words, perfect weather for curling up at home with a book.

It’s been an eclectic reading week for me. I started off with the first book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, Storm Front, about wizard Harry Dresden battling the forces of evil in present day Chicago.

Moving from black magic to other forms of mayhem, next up was Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom, a satirical novel about a year in the life of a kindergarten mom who brings new levels of snark to the position of class mom. (For any other Jen Lancaster fans out there, the tone reminded me a lot of Bitter is the New Black— possibly also because the heroine was named Jen.)

With a Nor’easter closing in on New York, it was time for a wintery favorite: Trisha Ashley’s A Winter’s Tale, in which a woman unexpectedly inherits the familial stately pile and rural English hijinks ensue. I can never resist a house book…

What have you been reading during this first week of the new year?

p.s. Only four days to go until The English Wife! Here’s a snowy book on a snowy day….

English Wife Snowy Day

11 Comments

  1. Jan Siler on January 5, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    I finished up my reprise on the Pink Carnation series, and am now reading Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly – a poignant story about 3 women during WWII who were impacted by the events in Hitler’s Europe.

  2. Jean on January 5, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    Reading Beartown after seeing it listed on a number of “best of 2017” lists. Off to bookmark the suggestions here!

  3. Céline on January 5, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    I’m keeping the Christmas spirit a bit longer with Christmas at Lilac Cottage, by Holly Martin. I had loved Fairytale Beginnings and One Hundred Proposals. Xmas at Lillac Cottage is nice and feel-good, although not as wonderful as the other two – yet, at least!! 🙂

    And I’m trying to squeeze a bit of writing inbetween going back to work and life… 😀

  4. Freya on January 5, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    Thanks for pointing us toward *A Winter’s Tale*! I have an unappeasable craving for house books. 🙂 I just finished *Remarkable Creatures* by Tracy Chevalier, a fictionalized tale about Mary Anning. I’m about to start *Hollow City* by Ransom Riggs (a Christmas present from my brother <3), and I'm rereading *The VIew From the Cheap Seats*, a collection of essays by Neil Gaiman. Happy New Year, everyone.

  5. LynnS on January 5, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    I finally unearthed “Jane Austen Made Me Do It” from the TBR pile it was buried in and finished it in two days. (I had to work.) I also unearthed Captain Wentworth’s Diary, so started a reread. I will probably put A Winter’s Tale on hold at the library. (I could get through my TBR piles much faster if you would stop tempting me to read other interesting books, Lauren! ?)

  6. Betty Strohecker on January 5, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    Reading The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen.

    • Lynne on January 6, 2018 at 1:08 am

      …as am I – and loving it so far!

  7. DJL on January 5, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    In a departure from my usual fare, I picked up There’s Someone In Your House by Stephanie Perkins. It’s basically a slasher teen movie (think Scream) except in print form–surprisingly funny, super creepy, and a definite couldn’t-put-it-down, stayed-up-all-night-to-finish-it book. So, something different to start the new year 🙂

  8. Miss Eliza on January 5, 2018 at 8:03 pm

    I’m reading my book club’s selection for the month, Stiff by Mary Roach, which is making me realize that perhaps I knew way too much about dead bodies to start with…

  9. Rachel Adrianna on January 6, 2018 at 3:49 am

    Diving into The Handmaid’s Tale for book club… and breaking up the heaviness with the nonfiction You’re the Only One I Can Tell by Deborah Tannen (about how important conversation is in female relationships).

  10. Lori on January 6, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Looking forward to 1/9!!!

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