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valkryorNew year, new list. My only resolution: read more than I did last year. Right. Let's do this.
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
January 4 - I've read this book before. Hell, I own this book and didn't need to buy it. I need to start checking my tablet before I make any purchases in future. It wasn't expensive, at least, and No Other Duke Will Do is enjoyable, but I feel silly for not doing a quick search.
January 10 - I finished The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy yesterday. *swoon* The cover blurb said that it was a grown-up Howl's Moving Castle and, well, since Howl's Moving Castle is one of my cozy/comfort reads, I knew I was going to be all in. I cried, y'all. I cried A LOT. My eyes felt puffy and raw for hours afterwards and Good Book Hangover is such a thing.
The comparison to Howl's is kind of accurate, in which there are two leads who are frustratingly bad at communicating with each other (this does improve), a world that is fully realized without any info dumps, and found family. There is also more violence (which makes sense in context) and some steamy sex (and steamy by my standards, which are quite high), so not for the YA crowd.
It would make a fantastic movie, although I'm also certain that it would never live up to that "Good Book Hangover after a good cry" feeling I had afterwards. But maybe like the Ghibli version of Howl's Moving Castle, it would be equally lovely.
January 21 - I finished this a couple of days ago and kept intending to record it here, but... I'll get to it later. *sigh* Anyway. Regency romance. Nothing special (even within the genre), but enjoyable all the same.
January 28 - In the middle of the last of the Windham Brides series. Enjoyable Regency fluff thus far. We'll see if it gets great or simply stays good.
February 6 - Short reads for a short month! I've started in on my graphic novels that have been languishing in my physical TBR. With luck, I can get through all of them this month. I should be able to, but life doesn't often go smooth. In any case, even some of them read is some that weren't read before, so I'll call it a win either way.
I've started with Lumberjanes, a charming read about five best friends at a summer camp for Hardcore Lady Types. There's adventure and derring-do, but there's also a craptonne of being there for each other and encouragement amongst five very different people. It's the summer came I wish I had gone to.
February 27 - I did my best, read a lot of great comics, but I just can't anymore. That's okay. Nine read, and in doing so, I found more lingering on my shelves that were behind another stack of books. *le sigh* I know I will get back to my comics, and get them all read at some point, but this month ain't it. So I'm back into Regency romance, and rather enjoying the premise and the characters, even though I'm only a few chapters in.
March 08 - Something in the Heir was decent if telegraphed. I read it because of the plot moppets, and they were extra moppety. I'm glad I didn't read it for the romance, because that was...lacking. I started right into The Broken Girls, a horror/suspense/mystery that is hitting a sweet spot right now.
March 22 - My reading has fallen by the wayside, it seems. I devoured The Broken Girls because it was fantastic. Then... *crickets* While I was out and about picking up stuff in anticipation of Paul's birthday, I found a physical copy of the first book of the Westcott series for about what I would pick up in digital form at Dollarama. Instead of waiting for it to go on sale, I bought the physical copy and have since finished it. It was decent enough, and maybe I will enjoy it better if I reread it at some point in the future. The leads of this historical romance often show up in the other books, so I'm familiar with them, and yet I think that I prefer them in small doses instead of the focus. It happens some times. :)
March 28 - Welp, wasn't expecting sexual assault in My Sweet Folly, and it completely took me by surprise. It's on the page, but not graphic. Still. It's on the page. While the rest of the book is enjoyable, this author has some interesting ideas about consent (in the last one I read by her) and communication (in this one) leading to questionable actions of dubious reasons. Taking those out of the equation, they're enjoyable reads, but if I were to grade them, it would be about a C- because of those things.
April 4 - I started the second book of the Ascendant trilogy last night. So far, so engaging. It does pick up right where the last one ends, and since I'm reading an e-book of the entire set, it's easy enough to keep going. It did take me a while to get into the groove of Tiger's Daughter, as it's a very long letter, and is a combination of 1st and 2nd person. That took some getting used to. So far, this next one seems to switch POV (which suits me fine), without the letter narrative framing.
April 17 - The Ascendant Trilogy by K Arsenault Rivera? Recommend. Good characters, strong story, and good pacing. High stakes fantasy flavoured by Mongolian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean analogues, with demons, a mysterious illness, and gods. I wasn't quite sure when I started reading it, but I found myself sucked in, wanting to know what happened next.
Currently reading a rather silly historical romance and quietly waiting for the POV to change. I am not a fan of singular POVs in romance, as I rather enjoy knowing what both leads are thinking/feeling. It leads to a much fuller reading experience for me.
April 22 - After going to the doctor's this morning, I have decided that a historical romance (Victorian, this time) is exactly how I want to hide from the real world. It's lovely and engaging and fairly chaste (only a few kisses thus far) and is hitting the sweet spot at the moment.
April 26 - This contemporary romance is going to be extremely silly and that's okay. There's already been a bank heist and a hostage. Now they have to get away. With the hostage. Who is willing and happy to be there. I can only hope that the sexy times are actually sexy and not as goofy as the rest of the premise.
May 9 - The only issue I have with m/m romance, historical or otherwise, is the continued use of 'entrance'. I grit my teeth, lie back, and think of better words, sexier words, or rewrite the sentence in my head with its omission. I might be getting used to it, but I do not like it and it still jolts me out of the story.
May 13 - Both books in Cat Sebastian's London Highwaymen series flow easily from one to the other. Enjoyable reads with solid characters and sexy sex and one duke's dubious morality that ties it all together.
Currently *devouring* The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. It's like the writer took the seed of the Salem witch trials, found fertile soil, and nurtured something new and and even more horrifying. It reads like a Guillermo del Toro movie, in which the real horror isn't what's in the woods, but the men in power. It's part of the Bad Decisions Book Club, as I have been up way too late over the past couple of nights reading whilst everyone else is abed.
May 19 - Georgian/Regency romance that had some...questionable ethics. The male lead had better ethics than the female lead, although her internal reasoning for her actions was pretty consistent (shitty, but consistent). I still wanted to shake her, though. It probably had the most descriptive sex scenes I've encountered in a historical and yet it still left me with the sense that it needed more grovel and less justification.
May 24 - In Victorian England, they used to call menopause (or, rather, the menopausal transition period) "the dodge" or "dodging". I rather like that, as 'menopause' was coined by a French doctor who was somewhat derisive of the entire process. In any case, I'm only a few chapters in and sense that this will be a VERY informative read.
June 8 - And it was very informative, although I could have happily lived without rolling hot flashes and anxiety spikes at one point (possibly triggered by the book, possibly not - it's hard to tell some days). Good information all the same, even if I don't refer to it all that often.
June 20 - Creepy, atmospheric retelling of Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" with more fungus and less cowardice. Was hoping for a novel, got a novella, still satisfying all the same.
June 21 - Modern romantic smut that I wasn't intending to read, but I accidentally selected it and decided 'why the fuck not' given that it was SO DIFFERENT from my previous choice. It's not terrible, the sex is decent, but I'm waiting for the emotional payoff. It's very light in the Feels department thus far.
June 23 - Started this on a whim from my ever increasing digital TBR pile. I have the next book in the series, too, should I want to dive straight in. So far, so interesting. I like the magic system, and the repressed feelings of wanting something more (something illegal - no, not that). I've read about a third, and am curious where it's going.
June 28 - The only problem with reading a trilogy is reading through the first two books and discovering that the last is...not published. For MONTHS. *frustrated reader noises* *sigh* Do I recommend The Last Binding by Freya Marske? Yes, yes I do. It's queer historical fantasy romance (different pairings each book, same overarching plot) where the naughty bits are actually naughty AND Freya Marske has joyfully remembered that it's anal, not architecture; there are no 'entrances' to throw me out of the sexytimes. Good books. Recommend.
THEN, later that day, I decided that I would get another book selected before wandering off and getting the dishes done. You know, adulting. TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, I finally put The Secret Heart down and did what I should have done earlier. Whoops.
I didn't know I needed a bare-knuckled boxer and a ballerina in my pairings, but here we are.
July 5 - I've finally started the sequel to Hollow Kingdom, and once again, it's narrated by S.T., the One Who Keeps, the human raised crow affectionately named Shit Turd. These are interesting books, with an interesting premise - the natural world AFTER we've offed ourselves and the animals we leave behind, domesticated and otherwise.
July 10 - Modern Regency romance can be so weirdly Old Skool sometimes. This one starts with a kidnapping, involves five men all trying to seduce the same chit (who is the ripe old age of 18 when they are easily 10+ years older than her), and some questionable nefarious nonsense in the background. It's well written, at least, but VERY SILLY.
July 15 - Wicked Designs went from VERY SILLY to BANANAPANTS CRAZYSAUCE. Still well written, but there are only so many times the heroine can be kidnapped before I start yawning with boredom. (Two. The number is two. Once we get to the second, it's just FUCKING BORING.) It was a book, that I read.
You Sexy Thing, however, was the kind of found family in space trope that I love. It's one of the reasons why I adore Farscape and recommend it to others who might enjoy it. I never realized that sentient bioships were my jam, but here we are. There is a sequel (yay!), but it's not until the end of August (boo!).
Found family, sentient space going vessels, big bads, and restaurants at the edge of the universe. Yes, please.
I followed that up with The Widow of Rose House, a mid-Gilded Age gothic romance with sexy sex (although there was my nemesis, 'entrance', right there on the digital page), a grumpy-sunshine pairing, a haunted house, and some appalling classist bullshit. Oh, and domestic abuse and the trauma associated with it. I read the bulk of it yesterday. You know, for reasons (most of that reason being enjoyment).
July 28 - Ten Rules... was mostly fluff and somewhat forgettable. Enjoyable enough to while away the hours, but I don't have any great desire to ever read it again.
Into the Drowning Deep is a creature feature, with mermaids/sirens. Terrifying, murderous, predatory mermaids and the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in any ocean on this planet. I don't have thalassophobia (a fear of the sea), but damn, I'm glad I live in a landlocked little corner of the world whilst reading this. Mira Grant is a pen name of Seanan McGuire.
August 1 - Welp, I spent the day reading. I've Got My Duke... was fun with some delightful secondary characters, a villain, and enough shenanigans to keep me entertained. 'Entrance' came back to haunt me and I changed it to 'foyer' and snickered. Take that, terrible word choice!
August 6 - I started a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but this one with a very firm historical setting. So far, so interesting. I have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast retellings, so much so that it's one of my catnips.
August 18 - Vampires! Interesting world building thus far, and I'm curious to see where this one goes.
August 23 - Sunshine was not what I expected. There isn't a sequel, which is kind of surprising, since there is more than enough story left to tell. A good read, interesting take on both vampires and magic, recommended.
Started a Regency afterwards, because that's how I roll. Instead of a woman marrying UP, it starts with a scandal (that wasn't a scandal, just dumb fucking luck that looked bad), a forced marriage (but no forced consummation, thank fuck) to a *gasp* tradesman/business owner, a definite step DOWN for the bride, the daughter of an earl who was engaged to a duke.
So far, so interesting.
August 25 - I'm kind of *meh* on Cassandra Khaw. Hammers on Bone had decent writing, but it didn't grab me. I think it was the language (noir detective in the modern, Old Ones infested world) that was off putting. At least it was short.
August 30 - I do enjoy the odd contemporary romance, and this is one of those authors who is pretty solid. Still fucking hate the word entrance during sexy times, although 'vestibule' is a funny substitution (according to me, at least). Friends-to-lovers, low angst/drama, and it was free! I like free.
September 7 - I am starting to read my TBR at the beginning. Why? Scrolling, yo. I scroll down, up, down, up, down, up, downupdownupdownup... ARGH! It takes me too damn long to decide what the fuck to read some days. I'm hoping hoping that this makes a bit of a difference, if only to combat choice paralysis.
Which is why I'm currently reading one of T Kingfisher's books. It feels gothic, and there is something definitely creepy going on.
September 15 - You know, I've never read any of the Witcher stories, which feels weird, given that they're *gulp* thirty years old. It's an enjoyable entry into the world, with some interesting monsters and Geralt of Rivia being, well, GERALT. It's hard not to picture the actors in their places, as it follows the first season pretty closely. Still, it's solid sword-and-sorcery fantasy with a basis in Polish/Slavic folklore.
September 23 - The best thing about reading Regency romance is that it fuels my own writing. I have no interest in stealing plot or characters or settings (I have my own), but it's the emotional beats, the internal dialogue, that sparks my imagination and gets me in front of a a blank page.
September 27 - I was scrolling through my ebooks yesterday and oh hey, a couple of Christopher Moore books I've not read. I wasn't in the mood for a romance nor did I feel like starting something epic or fantastical. I know what I'm getting with Mr Moore and that suits me fine.
October 5 - Tessa Dare writes lovely, fluffy Regency romances and this is no exception.
October 30 - Historical, locked box mystery with a touch of the supernatural. So far, so interesting.
November 3 - I didn't see the twist coming in The Devil and the Dark Water, and it was an enjoyable read. I think I would also like a short story or an epilogue or a novella or something detailing Sara Wessen's proposal. If only to see how the pieces fit together.
From that to a Regency romance centred around a marriage of convenience. There is even a kitten that initially saw more action with the new bride than her husband. It has been a highly amusing read thus far and the bickering mid-sexy times was pretty damned funny. It felt real, which was a change from what usually happens - experienced hero and virginal heroine do the deed with very little reassurance on his part outside of "let me make this good for you".
I don't know about any of y'all, but my first times with various partners over the years have always had a touch of the awkward to them. Learning how bodies fit together takes experience and learning how your own body fits with someone else? That needs time AND experience. Full marks for remembering that.
November 7 - I started reading this because it was there and... Yeah. It's not great. It's not much of anything, really. At least it's short? I suspect there's going to be some descriptive rape coming up, given the online blurb. Yay? *rolls eyes* I also don't know who the hell even wrote the blurb, since I'm almost half-way and there's not been a wedding yet.
The way it was written, it had more of sense of what was coming AFTER that point, but it seems to be that is the point? I dunno. Short answer: it looked interesting, but it isn't grabbing me.
November 15 - A relatively fluffy Regency romance is a great palate cleanser. I was particularly fond of the elderly Duke, who had exactly zero fucks to give for the "good opinions" of others. He was a great advocate for his granddaughter, Yasmin, and respected her wishes and her choices.
Yesterday, I spent it reading. Because Murderbot. As much as these can be read in any order, System Collapse makes a hell of a lot more sense after Network Effect. I have the sense that rereading the series is in my nearish future. OH NOES. ;)
November 19 - Nettle and Bone gave me all the good fairy tale beats while subverting the hell out of so much. The dust-wife is the kind of character that certainly embodies "Do no harm, Take no shit", and comes complete with demonic chicken. The main character, Marra, was 30, which is so refreshing. I have no problem with fresh-faced girls who are barely 18, but it's nice to have a lead with a little life experience under her belt. All-in-all, a good read. Plus, it recently won the Hugo award. Yay!
From there, another Regency romance, but by KJ Charles, so the leads are less...heteronormative, if you catch my drift. Gareth (London) and Joss (Kent) are two men thrown together by circumstance and sexy times. Often, when I read these kind of books, I often assume that the smaller places, the manor houses and ancestral piles, aren't real. Dymchurch, I have just discovered IS real, as is the Sea Wall, which is what keeps that part of England safe from being one giant tidal flat. Neat.
November 23 - I'm about half-way through a Hungarian-flavoured fantasy. It's pretty decent thus far, although I'm only half-way through.
December 4 - December already? Crimony. Right. The Wolf and the Woodsman. Solid, and well worth the read. It and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver are of a similar vein: modern fairy tales set in fictional Eastern European countries that feature young women and are threaded through with Jewish myth, magic, and folk tales. Tyrants abound, evil is defeated, ever afters are hopeful, if not happy. I enjoy this kind of read as it's comfortable without being tired or tiring.
Ship Wrecked was great until it wasn't. I had to stop reading because it was late and then woke up after only four hours of sleep angry about the characters and the choices they were making. Both have some pretty deep-seated childhood trauma regarding abandonment, and whilst having a conversation regarding future employment plans in which the hero clearly states that he wants her to come with him, the heroine decides to NOT FUCKING LISTEN to what is being said and reacts by fucking running away, doing the abandoning before she can be abandoned. Up until that point, I could believe in their HEA. After that? YIKES ON TRIKES. Yes, I did finish it, and yes, it got resolved, and yet it left a sour taste in my mouth.
After building up and building up and building up their relationship, after establishing good communication practices between them, to have a breakdown in communication be the device that drives the lovers apart? No. Just no.
At it's core, that kind of literary 'device' is just lazy writing. There are other ways. And hell, I don't think this even NEEDED that kind of contemporary romance plot beat. It could have been done differently, in a dozen better ways than misinterpreted conversation that sent the characters spiraling.
Now, I'm reading about four women on a retirement cruise. Sounds dreadfully dull, yes? Except they're all trained assassins and I have a feeling that this isn't a simple pre-paid boat ride to celebrate the end of their forty year careers.
December 9 - Killers of a Certain Age was fucking fantastic. It definitely held up to the adages "Don't start none, won't be none" and "Fuck around and find out". It's also a testament how women after a certain age are invisible, dismissed, underestimated. If it were a group of sixty year-old men? VERY DIFFERENT BOOK. Having a penis as short hand for competency is just so fucking frustrating. I've experienced it when I worked in tech support, despite being better educated AND qualified than the other new male hires. But I wasn't a dude, and my cocks can be boiled between personal uses for extra precaution, so it wasn't good enough.
Fucking hell. Can we get past this already?
It's violent and the women are crafty, outplaying their opponents up until the last page. It's also a great antidote to the James Bonds and Reachers and Bournes of the world, and might make a few see post-menopausal women as the badasses they really are.
December 11 - NEW SAINT OF STEEL PALADIN! I flailed when I found out about it. FLAILED, y'all. Started it yesterday, Have been making good book noises since.
December 15 - And I kept right up making good book noises until it was finished. I really want Judith's book now. Or hers to be last. UGH. There are grabby hands, but directed here as an invested reader and not anywhere near the author as an entitled asshole. T Kingfisher doesn't owe me squat, but I will live in perpetual longing until the series is finished.
Then it was back to Courtney Milan and a Victorian romance. There was pining. And revenge. And just warm fuzzies wrapped in a cozy blanket and drinking green tea. Can I also say that I need more virginal heroes in my romance? Instead of "this is the best sex I've ever had and I don't fuck virgins", you get "I don't want anyone else for the rest of my life". It's just nice. And a little bit swoony.
December 28 - A reread of a Regency that I can't find a record of, so it was likely read in 2020. This is the kind of nonsense that I enjoy: sharp-tongued heroines, scarred and broken heroes, obvious villains, pants feelings that are acknowledged and understood to be pants feelings and nothing more. I should be finishing it today, and I don't know if I will start anything else before year's end. That's okay. A reread of a well-written historical romance is a satisfying end to my reading year.
December 30 - Turns out, I did have the sequel and I had read it in 2021. I didn't make any notes, and now I know why: it's okay. Young couple, marriage of convenience, he weds and beds her, leaves her behind at the family estate and then fucks off back to London to continue with his bachelor lifestyle. He doesn't tumble anyone else, as they're not the untried and passionate virgin (yuck - I dislike this particular notion in historicals) he left behind, and she shows up to win him back 3.5 years after being left in the country. It's a book, that I am reading, with two leads I just want to yell at, because they are both so intent on winning that neither are doing any talking.
January:
- Progress (novella) and Windmills (short story) - Poul Anderson
- No Other Duke Will Do - Grace Burrowes (reread)
- The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy - Megan Bannen
- Never Seduce a Scoundrel - Sabrina Jeffries
- A Rogue of Her Own - Grace Burrowes
February:
- Lumberjanes Vol 1: Beware the Kitten Holy - Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis (reread)
- Lumberjanes Vol 2: Friendship to the Max - Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis
- Lumberjanes Vol 3: A Terrible Plan - Noelle Stevenson and Shannon Watters
- Saga Vol 7 - Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples
- Saga Vol 8 - Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples
- Bitch Planet Vol 2: President Bitch - Kelley Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, and Taki Soma
- Bitch Planet Triple Feature Book One - various writers and artists
- Pixie and Brutus: Gnome Sweet Gnome - Ben Hed
- Sex Criminals Vol 1: One Weird Trick - Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
- The Work of Art - Mimi Matthews
March:
- Something in the Heir - Suzanne Enoch
- The Broken Girls - Simone St James
- Someone to Love - Mary Balogh
- My Sweet Folly - Laura Kinsale
- Tiger's Daughter (Ascendant Trilogy) - K Arsenault Rivera
April:
- Phoenix Empress (Ascendant Trilogy) - K Arsenault Rivera
- Warrior Moon (Ascendant Trilogy) - K Arsenault Rivera
- Uncertain Magic - Laura Kinsale
- The Matrimonial Advertisement - Mimi Matthews
- Hostage Bargain - Annika Martin
May:
- Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey
- The Queer Principles of Kit Webb - Cat Sebastian
- The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes - Cat Sebastian
- The Year of the Witching - Alexis Henderson
- Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed - Anna Campbell
- The Menopause Manifesto - Dr Jen Gunther
June:
- Her Wicked Marquess - Stacy Reid
- What Moves the Dead - T Kingfisher
- Perv - Dakota Gray
- A Marvellous Light - Freya Marske
- A Restless Truth - Freya Marske
- The Secret Heart - Erin Satie
July:
- Feral Creatures - Kira Jane Buxton
- Wicked Designs - Lauren Smith
- You Sexy Thing - Cat Rambo
- The Widow of Rose House - Diana Biller
- Ten Rules for Marrying a Duke - Michelle McLean
- Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant
August:
- I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm - Kelly Bowen
- Marvelous - Molly Greely
- Sunshine - Robin McKinley
- How to Survive a Scandal - Samara Parish
- Hammers on Bone - Cassandra Khaw
- The Roommate Risk - Talia Hibbert
September:
- A House With Good Bones - T Kingfisher
- The Last Wish (Witcher book 1) - Andrzej Sapkowski
- You Were Made To Be Mine - Julie Anne Long
- Secondhand Souls - Christopher Moore
October:
- When a Scot Ties the Knot - Tessa Dare
- The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton
November:
- To Marry and to Meddle - Martha Waters
- Prisoner of the Crown - Jeffe Kennedy
- The Reluctant Countess - Eloisa James
- System Collapse - Martha Wells
- Nettle and Bone - T Kingfisher
- The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen - KJ Charles
- The Wolf and the Woodsman - Ava Reid
- Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade
December:
- Killers of a Certain Age - Deanna Raybourn
- Paladin's Faith - T Kingfisher
- The Duke Who Didn't - Courtney Milan
- Beast of Beswick - Amalie Howard (reread)
- Rakehell of Roth - Amalie Howard (reread)
January 4 - I've read this book before. Hell, I own this book and didn't need to buy it. I need to start checking my tablet before I make any purchases in future. It wasn't expensive, at least, and No Other Duke Will Do is enjoyable, but I feel silly for not doing a quick search.
January 10 - I finished The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy yesterday. *swoon* The cover blurb said that it was a grown-up Howl's Moving Castle and, well, since Howl's Moving Castle is one of my cozy/comfort reads, I knew I was going to be all in. I cried, y'all. I cried A LOT. My eyes felt puffy and raw for hours afterwards and Good Book Hangover is such a thing.
The comparison to Howl's is kind of accurate, in which there are two leads who are frustratingly bad at communicating with each other (this does improve), a world that is fully realized without any info dumps, and found family. There is also more violence (which makes sense in context) and some steamy sex (and steamy by my standards, which are quite high), so not for the YA crowd.
It would make a fantastic movie, although I'm also certain that it would never live up to that "Good Book Hangover after a good cry" feeling I had afterwards. But maybe like the Ghibli version of Howl's Moving Castle, it would be equally lovely.
January 21 - I finished this a couple of days ago and kept intending to record it here, but... I'll get to it later. *sigh* Anyway. Regency romance. Nothing special (even within the genre), but enjoyable all the same.
January 28 - In the middle of the last of the Windham Brides series. Enjoyable Regency fluff thus far. We'll see if it gets great or simply stays good.
February 6 - Short reads for a short month! I've started in on my graphic novels that have been languishing in my physical TBR. With luck, I can get through all of them this month. I should be able to, but life doesn't often go smooth. In any case, even some of them read is some that weren't read before, so I'll call it a win either way.
I've started with Lumberjanes, a charming read about five best friends at a summer camp for Hardcore Lady Types. There's adventure and derring-do, but there's also a craptonne of being there for each other and encouragement amongst five very different people. It's the summer came I wish I had gone to.
February 27 - I did my best, read a lot of great comics, but I just can't anymore. That's okay. Nine read, and in doing so, I found more lingering on my shelves that were behind another stack of books. *le sigh* I know I will get back to my comics, and get them all read at some point, but this month ain't it. So I'm back into Regency romance, and rather enjoying the premise and the characters, even though I'm only a few chapters in.
March 08 - Something in the Heir was decent if telegraphed. I read it because of the plot moppets, and they were extra moppety. I'm glad I didn't read it for the romance, because that was...lacking. I started right into The Broken Girls, a horror/suspense/mystery that is hitting a sweet spot right now.
March 22 - My reading has fallen by the wayside, it seems. I devoured The Broken Girls because it was fantastic. Then... *crickets* While I was out and about picking up stuff in anticipation of Paul's birthday, I found a physical copy of the first book of the Westcott series for about what I would pick up in digital form at Dollarama. Instead of waiting for it to go on sale, I bought the physical copy and have since finished it. It was decent enough, and maybe I will enjoy it better if I reread it at some point in the future. The leads of this historical romance often show up in the other books, so I'm familiar with them, and yet I think that I prefer them in small doses instead of the focus. It happens some times. :)
March 28 - Welp, wasn't expecting sexual assault in My Sweet Folly, and it completely took me by surprise. It's on the page, but not graphic. Still. It's on the page. While the rest of the book is enjoyable, this author has some interesting ideas about consent (in the last one I read by her) and communication (in this one) leading to questionable actions of dubious reasons. Taking those out of the equation, they're enjoyable reads, but if I were to grade them, it would be about a C- because of those things.
April 4 - I started the second book of the Ascendant trilogy last night. So far, so engaging. It does pick up right where the last one ends, and since I'm reading an e-book of the entire set, it's easy enough to keep going. It did take me a while to get into the groove of Tiger's Daughter, as it's a very long letter, and is a combination of 1st and 2nd person. That took some getting used to. So far, this next one seems to switch POV (which suits me fine), without the letter narrative framing.
April 17 - The Ascendant Trilogy by K Arsenault Rivera? Recommend. Good characters, strong story, and good pacing. High stakes fantasy flavoured by Mongolian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean analogues, with demons, a mysterious illness, and gods. I wasn't quite sure when I started reading it, but I found myself sucked in, wanting to know what happened next.
Currently reading a rather silly historical romance and quietly waiting for the POV to change. I am not a fan of singular POVs in romance, as I rather enjoy knowing what both leads are thinking/feeling. It leads to a much fuller reading experience for me.
April 22 - After going to the doctor's this morning, I have decided that a historical romance (Victorian, this time) is exactly how I want to hide from the real world. It's lovely and engaging and fairly chaste (only a few kisses thus far) and is hitting the sweet spot at the moment.
April 26 - This contemporary romance is going to be extremely silly and that's okay. There's already been a bank heist and a hostage. Now they have to get away. With the hostage. Who is willing and happy to be there. I can only hope that the sexy times are actually sexy and not as goofy as the rest of the premise.
May 9 - The only issue I have with m/m romance, historical or otherwise, is the continued use of 'entrance'. I grit my teeth, lie back, and think of better words, sexier words, or rewrite the sentence in my head with its omission. I might be getting used to it, but I do not like it and it still jolts me out of the story.
May 13 - Both books in Cat Sebastian's London Highwaymen series flow easily from one to the other. Enjoyable reads with solid characters and sexy sex and one duke's dubious morality that ties it all together.
Currently *devouring* The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. It's like the writer took the seed of the Salem witch trials, found fertile soil, and nurtured something new and and even more horrifying. It reads like a Guillermo del Toro movie, in which the real horror isn't what's in the woods, but the men in power. It's part of the Bad Decisions Book Club, as I have been up way too late over the past couple of nights reading whilst everyone else is abed.
May 19 - Georgian/Regency romance that had some...questionable ethics. The male lead had better ethics than the female lead, although her internal reasoning for her actions was pretty consistent (shitty, but consistent). I still wanted to shake her, though. It probably had the most descriptive sex scenes I've encountered in a historical and yet it still left me with the sense that it needed more grovel and less justification.
May 24 - In Victorian England, they used to call menopause (or, rather, the menopausal transition period) "the dodge" or "dodging". I rather like that, as 'menopause' was coined by a French doctor who was somewhat derisive of the entire process. In any case, I'm only a few chapters in and sense that this will be a VERY informative read.
June 8 - And it was very informative, although I could have happily lived without rolling hot flashes and anxiety spikes at one point (possibly triggered by the book, possibly not - it's hard to tell some days). Good information all the same, even if I don't refer to it all that often.
June 20 - Creepy, atmospheric retelling of Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" with more fungus and less cowardice. Was hoping for a novel, got a novella, still satisfying all the same.
June 21 - Modern romantic smut that I wasn't intending to read, but I accidentally selected it and decided 'why the fuck not' given that it was SO DIFFERENT from my previous choice. It's not terrible, the sex is decent, but I'm waiting for the emotional payoff. It's very light in the Feels department thus far.
June 23 - Started this on a whim from my ever increasing digital TBR pile. I have the next book in the series, too, should I want to dive straight in. So far, so interesting. I like the magic system, and the repressed feelings of wanting something more (something illegal - no, not that). I've read about a third, and am curious where it's going.
June 28 - The only problem with reading a trilogy is reading through the first two books and discovering that the last is...not published. For MONTHS. *frustrated reader noises* *sigh* Do I recommend The Last Binding by Freya Marske? Yes, yes I do. It's queer historical fantasy romance (different pairings each book, same overarching plot) where the naughty bits are actually naughty AND Freya Marske has joyfully remembered that it's anal, not architecture; there are no 'entrances' to throw me out of the sexytimes. Good books. Recommend.
THEN, later that day, I decided that I would get another book selected before wandering off and getting the dishes done. You know, adulting. TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, I finally put The Secret Heart down and did what I should have done earlier. Whoops.
I didn't know I needed a bare-knuckled boxer and a ballerina in my pairings, but here we are.
July 5 - I've finally started the sequel to Hollow Kingdom, and once again, it's narrated by S.T., the One Who Keeps, the human raised crow affectionately named Shit Turd. These are interesting books, with an interesting premise - the natural world AFTER we've offed ourselves and the animals we leave behind, domesticated and otherwise.
July 10 - Modern Regency romance can be so weirdly Old Skool sometimes. This one starts with a kidnapping, involves five men all trying to seduce the same chit (who is the ripe old age of 18 when they are easily 10+ years older than her), and some questionable nefarious nonsense in the background. It's well written, at least, but VERY SILLY.
July 15 - Wicked Designs went from VERY SILLY to BANANAPANTS CRAZYSAUCE. Still well written, but there are only so many times the heroine can be kidnapped before I start yawning with boredom. (Two. The number is two. Once we get to the second, it's just FUCKING BORING.) It was a book, that I read.
You Sexy Thing, however, was the kind of found family in space trope that I love. It's one of the reasons why I adore Farscape and recommend it to others who might enjoy it. I never realized that sentient bioships were my jam, but here we are. There is a sequel (yay!), but it's not until the end of August (boo!).
Found family, sentient space going vessels, big bads, and restaurants at the edge of the universe. Yes, please.
I followed that up with The Widow of Rose House, a mid-Gilded Age gothic romance with sexy sex (although there was my nemesis, 'entrance', right there on the digital page), a grumpy-sunshine pairing, a haunted house, and some appalling classist bullshit. Oh, and domestic abuse and the trauma associated with it. I read the bulk of it yesterday. You know, for reasons (most of that reason being enjoyment).
July 28 - Ten Rules... was mostly fluff and somewhat forgettable. Enjoyable enough to while away the hours, but I don't have any great desire to ever read it again.
Into the Drowning Deep is a creature feature, with mermaids/sirens. Terrifying, murderous, predatory mermaids and the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in any ocean on this planet. I don't have thalassophobia (a fear of the sea), but damn, I'm glad I live in a landlocked little corner of the world whilst reading this. Mira Grant is a pen name of Seanan McGuire.
August 1 - Welp, I spent the day reading. I've Got My Duke... was fun with some delightful secondary characters, a villain, and enough shenanigans to keep me entertained. 'Entrance' came back to haunt me and I changed it to 'foyer' and snickered. Take that, terrible word choice!
August 6 - I started a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but this one with a very firm historical setting. So far, so interesting. I have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast retellings, so much so that it's one of my catnips.
August 18 - Vampires! Interesting world building thus far, and I'm curious to see where this one goes.
August 23 - Sunshine was not what I expected. There isn't a sequel, which is kind of surprising, since there is more than enough story left to tell. A good read, interesting take on both vampires and magic, recommended.
Started a Regency afterwards, because that's how I roll. Instead of a woman marrying UP, it starts with a scandal (that wasn't a scandal, just dumb fucking luck that looked bad), a forced marriage (but no forced consummation, thank fuck) to a *gasp* tradesman/business owner, a definite step DOWN for the bride, the daughter of an earl who was engaged to a duke.
So far, so interesting.
August 25 - I'm kind of *meh* on Cassandra Khaw. Hammers on Bone had decent writing, but it didn't grab me. I think it was the language (noir detective in the modern, Old Ones infested world) that was off putting. At least it was short.
August 30 - I do enjoy the odd contemporary romance, and this is one of those authors who is pretty solid. Still fucking hate the word entrance during sexy times, although 'vestibule' is a funny substitution (according to me, at least). Friends-to-lovers, low angst/drama, and it was free! I like free.
September 7 - I am starting to read my TBR at the beginning. Why? Scrolling, yo. I scroll down, up, down, up, down, up, downupdownupdownup... ARGH! It takes me too damn long to decide what the fuck to read some days. I'm hoping hoping that this makes a bit of a difference, if only to combat choice paralysis.
Which is why I'm currently reading one of T Kingfisher's books. It feels gothic, and there is something definitely creepy going on.
September 15 - You know, I've never read any of the Witcher stories, which feels weird, given that they're *gulp* thirty years old. It's an enjoyable entry into the world, with some interesting monsters and Geralt of Rivia being, well, GERALT. It's hard not to picture the actors in their places, as it follows the first season pretty closely. Still, it's solid sword-and-sorcery fantasy with a basis in Polish/Slavic folklore.
September 23 - The best thing about reading Regency romance is that it fuels my own writing. I have no interest in stealing plot or characters or settings (I have my own), but it's the emotional beats, the internal dialogue, that sparks my imagination and gets me in front of a a blank page.
September 27 - I was scrolling through my ebooks yesterday and oh hey, a couple of Christopher Moore books I've not read. I wasn't in the mood for a romance nor did I feel like starting something epic or fantastical. I know what I'm getting with Mr Moore and that suits me fine.
October 5 - Tessa Dare writes lovely, fluffy Regency romances and this is no exception.
October 30 - Historical, locked box mystery with a touch of the supernatural. So far, so interesting.
November 3 - I didn't see the twist coming in The Devil and the Dark Water, and it was an enjoyable read. I think I would also like a short story or an epilogue or a novella or something detailing Sara Wessen's proposal. If only to see how the pieces fit together.
From that to a Regency romance centred around a marriage of convenience. There is even a kitten that initially saw more action with the new bride than her husband. It has been a highly amusing read thus far and the bickering mid-sexy times was pretty damned funny. It felt real, which was a change from what usually happens - experienced hero and virginal heroine do the deed with very little reassurance on his part outside of "let me make this good for you".
I don't know about any of y'all, but my first times with various partners over the years have always had a touch of the awkward to them. Learning how bodies fit together takes experience and learning how your own body fits with someone else? That needs time AND experience. Full marks for remembering that.
November 7 - I started reading this because it was there and... Yeah. It's not great. It's not much of anything, really. At least it's short? I suspect there's going to be some descriptive rape coming up, given the online blurb. Yay? *rolls eyes* I also don't know who the hell even wrote the blurb, since I'm almost half-way and there's not been a wedding yet.
The way it was written, it had more of sense of what was coming AFTER that point, but it seems to be that is the point? I dunno. Short answer: it looked interesting, but it isn't grabbing me.
November 15 - A relatively fluffy Regency romance is a great palate cleanser. I was particularly fond of the elderly Duke, who had exactly zero fucks to give for the "good opinions" of others. He was a great advocate for his granddaughter, Yasmin, and respected her wishes and her choices.
Yesterday, I spent it reading. Because Murderbot. As much as these can be read in any order, System Collapse makes a hell of a lot more sense after Network Effect. I have the sense that rereading the series is in my nearish future. OH NOES. ;)
November 19 - Nettle and Bone gave me all the good fairy tale beats while subverting the hell out of so much. The dust-wife is the kind of character that certainly embodies "Do no harm, Take no shit", and comes complete with demonic chicken. The main character, Marra, was 30, which is so refreshing. I have no problem with fresh-faced girls who are barely 18, but it's nice to have a lead with a little life experience under her belt. All-in-all, a good read. Plus, it recently won the Hugo award. Yay!
From there, another Regency romance, but by KJ Charles, so the leads are less...heteronormative, if you catch my drift. Gareth (London) and Joss (Kent) are two men thrown together by circumstance and sexy times. Often, when I read these kind of books, I often assume that the smaller places, the manor houses and ancestral piles, aren't real. Dymchurch, I have just discovered IS real, as is the Sea Wall, which is what keeps that part of England safe from being one giant tidal flat. Neat.
November 23 - I'm about half-way through a Hungarian-flavoured fantasy. It's pretty decent thus far, although I'm only half-way through.
December 4 - December already? Crimony. Right. The Wolf and the Woodsman. Solid, and well worth the read. It and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver are of a similar vein: modern fairy tales set in fictional Eastern European countries that feature young women and are threaded through with Jewish myth, magic, and folk tales. Tyrants abound, evil is defeated, ever afters are hopeful, if not happy. I enjoy this kind of read as it's comfortable without being tired or tiring.
Ship Wrecked was great until it wasn't. I had to stop reading because it was late and then woke up after only four hours of sleep angry about the characters and the choices they were making. Both have some pretty deep-seated childhood trauma regarding abandonment, and whilst having a conversation regarding future employment plans in which the hero clearly states that he wants her to come with him, the heroine decides to NOT FUCKING LISTEN to what is being said and reacts by fucking running away, doing the abandoning before she can be abandoned. Up until that point, I could believe in their HEA. After that? YIKES ON TRIKES. Yes, I did finish it, and yes, it got resolved, and yet it left a sour taste in my mouth.
After building up and building up and building up their relationship, after establishing good communication practices between them, to have a breakdown in communication be the device that drives the lovers apart? No. Just no.
At it's core, that kind of literary 'device' is just lazy writing. There are other ways. And hell, I don't think this even NEEDED that kind of contemporary romance plot beat. It could have been done differently, in a dozen better ways than misinterpreted conversation that sent the characters spiraling.
Now, I'm reading about four women on a retirement cruise. Sounds dreadfully dull, yes? Except they're all trained assassins and I have a feeling that this isn't a simple pre-paid boat ride to celebrate the end of their forty year careers.
December 9 - Killers of a Certain Age was fucking fantastic. It definitely held up to the adages "Don't start none, won't be none" and "Fuck around and find out". It's also a testament how women after a certain age are invisible, dismissed, underestimated. If it were a group of sixty year-old men? VERY DIFFERENT BOOK. Having a penis as short hand for competency is just so fucking frustrating. I've experienced it when I worked in tech support, despite being better educated AND qualified than the other new male hires. But I wasn't a dude, and my cocks can be boiled between personal uses for extra precaution, so it wasn't good enough.
Fucking hell. Can we get past this already?
It's violent and the women are crafty, outplaying their opponents up until the last page. It's also a great antidote to the James Bonds and Reachers and Bournes of the world, and might make a few see post-menopausal women as the badasses they really are.
December 11 - NEW SAINT OF STEEL PALADIN! I flailed when I found out about it. FLAILED, y'all. Started it yesterday, Have been making good book noises since.
December 15 - And I kept right up making good book noises until it was finished. I really want Judith's book now. Or hers to be last. UGH. There are grabby hands, but directed here as an invested reader and not anywhere near the author as an entitled asshole. T Kingfisher doesn't owe me squat, but I will live in perpetual longing until the series is finished.
Then it was back to Courtney Milan and a Victorian romance. There was pining. And revenge. And just warm fuzzies wrapped in a cozy blanket and drinking green tea. Can I also say that I need more virginal heroes in my romance? Instead of "this is the best sex I've ever had and I don't fuck virgins", you get "I don't want anyone else for the rest of my life". It's just nice. And a little bit swoony.
December 28 - A reread of a Regency that I can't find a record of, so it was likely read in 2020. This is the kind of nonsense that I enjoy: sharp-tongued heroines, scarred and broken heroes, obvious villains, pants feelings that are acknowledged and understood to be pants feelings and nothing more. I should be finishing it today, and I don't know if I will start anything else before year's end. That's okay. A reread of a well-written historical romance is a satisfying end to my reading year.
December 30 - Turns out, I did have the sequel and I had read it in 2021. I didn't make any notes, and now I know why: it's okay. Young couple, marriage of convenience, he weds and beds her, leaves her behind at the family estate and then fucks off back to London to continue with his bachelor lifestyle. He doesn't tumble anyone else, as they're not the untried and passionate virgin (yuck - I dislike this particular notion in historicals) he left behind, and she shows up to win him back 3.5 years after being left in the country. It's a book, that I am reading, with two leads I just want to yell at, because they are both so intent on winning that neither are doing any talking.
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