What We Are Reading

Cara/ Andrea here, It’s time for our monthly What We Are Reading post, and it seems as the new season gets ready to kick in (beach reads here in the northern hemisphere, while Down Under it’s curling up under a woolly blanket), we’ve all been exploring outside our usual genres—so be prepared for some different types of recommendations! (Both Jo and Nicola have been enjoying some traveling, so they promise to report on all the books that were tucked in their suitcases next month.)

Mary Jo: Something a little different this time!  Among the Hugo nominees for the best science fiction or fantasy novel of 2014 is a book called The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, whom I've never heard of.  (I later learned it's a pseudonym for Sarah Monette, whom I have heard of but haven't read.)
 

Intrigued by the title, I read the beginning on Amazon and liked it, so I bought the book.  The hero, Maia, is 18 years old and the despised fourth son of the Emperor of the Elflands.  Raised in exile, after the death of his beloved mother Maia was handed over to the guardianship of an abusive older cousin.
 
All that changes in an instant when the emperor and his three older sons die in an airship crash and Maia becomes the emperor.  Young, mixed blood, and raised far from the court and the government, he is ignorant and alone.  But he is not stupid, and he has a genuine desire to rule with more compassion than his father and the previous emperors.
 
Maia is a wonderful, compelling character and I loved following him as he gradually finds his feet and makes allies and even friends in the shark tank of the imperial court.  I sneak-read pages when I could fit them in, didn't want it to end, and now I'm hoping that Katherine Addison will write another book in the same world.  Not that there was a cliffhanger ending, but the world and the characters are so rich and full of possibilities.  I hope The Goblin Emperor wins the Hugo and Addison has more tales to tell in this world!
 
Anne here, talking about some of the books I read in May:
First there was Eloisa James's Four Nights With the Duke which, as expected,  I thoroughly enjoyed. I also read and loved Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier. I'm not the only one who loved this one; it recently won Australia's Aurealis Award for the Best Fantasy Novel. It's also the first in a new series -- Blackthorn and Grim -- and I'm very much looking forward to the next story in the series.
But the new-to-me author I most enjoyed this month was Sarina Bowen, a writer of "New Adult" fiction. The Year We Fell Down is the first book in "The Ivy Years" series, about young people in their first years away at university, growing up, separating from their parents and forming relationships. The Year We Fell Down  blew me away and I loved it so much I glommed the rest of the series. The books are about strong heroines, interesting and strong-but-flawed heroes and that very intense, formative and re-formative time of life. Highly recommended.

Pat: I’ve been saving my favorite authors for a cruise we’re taking in another month. Please share your favs so I can stock up!

In the meantime, I’ve been reading a lot of relatively new authors. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of editing, but I have finished only one book lately, and I would have quit on it sooner had I known the ending would be so unsatisfying. If an author makes me love a character and admire her determination and the way she’s saving a troubled kid—I get extremely irritated if she packs it all in at the end and says nah, neither of them can have what they want because they made one single mistake. Bah humbug!

And a note to budding romance writers—don’t spend your first twenty-five pages describing your perfect date through a heroine who has no goals, personality, or flaw—or even much of a setting or background. I’m reading for story, folks! An unknown couple dancing and drooling for twenty-five pages isn’t a story.
Then there was the mystery that wasn’t a mystery. I gave up at the end of Chapter Fifteen when it never evolved into anything but two stupid kids doing really stupid things and a cop who knows they’re up to no good but can’t keep up with two stupid kids.

Anyone else having difficulty with their reading material lately?

Joanna: I’ve just finished Barbara Hambly’s Graveyard Dust. I’ve liked all her books I’ve read and I particularly enjoyed this one. The protagonist is Benjamin January, a free man of color in 1830s New Orleans. Every paragraph makes us understand what that means for a thoughtful, strong, sensitive man. It’s not a grim book, but the heart of it is the bravery of people living in a hard, unfair world.

January must uncover the killer of a white man of the city before his sister is hanged for the murder. His investigation takes him into the world of Louisiana voodoo. Voodoo dieties and the threat of yellow fever and cholera make for a fascinating story and January's musings on religion are worth the price of admission.

Susan: This month I read here and there, but what impressed me most, unexpectedly and delightfully, is a wonderful, creative little series of board books for babies and toddlers by brothers Jack and Holman Wang. I picked up a few books in the series for my baby granddaughter, who enjoys patting and pulling at the pages rather adorably while she figures out what books are.

The first I got for her is Star Wars Epic Yarns: A New Hope, by Jack & Holman Wang. Though I got the book more for her dad, who loves Star Wars, I was surprised at how much the baby loved the experience and wanted to repeat it. All the stories--the Star Wars trilogy and "Cozy Classics," including Pride & Prejudice, Emma and several others--are reduced to one word per scene, twelve words to twelve pages, all illustrated with photos of little hand-stitched felt dolls in miniature sets. Adorable and brilliant -- each book tenderly and sweetly captures the essence of the story without overwhelming little readers. Star Wars begins with "princess," "boy," and "trouble." Pride & Prejudice includes "sisters," "dance," and so on. I've got several of these books lined up for my granddaughter as she gets older, and I highly recommend them for the smallest to the biggest readers. Even if you don't have kids or grandkids -- you'll love these versions of Austen!
 
Cara/Andrea
I’m not usually drawn to paranormal books featuring witches and vampires, but I had heard a lot of good things (including from some of our readers here at the Wenches) about A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and after reading the blurb—it features an arcane ancient manuscript  at the Bodleian Library, a scholarly witch-heroine and brilliant geneticist hero-vampire, along with lots of history as they try to untangle an intellectual puzzle—I decided to try it. It’s the sort of mystery plot that appeals to me.
     Sooooo . . . I raced through it, and there’s lots to like—the writing is very good, the characters are very interesting, and the ideas behind the mystery are intriguing. That said, I struggled with some parts of it. There were places that felt overdone, and some of the scenes tended to ramble or be repetitious with the themes. I only throw that out as a caveat. But it’s a compelling enough read that despite the faults, I’d recommend it. If you like deep, meaty books with lots of intellectual ideas and history featured, give it a try. (I’ll be curious to know what you think.)

So, are you like us and occasionally like to experiment and try new genres? Or do you prefer to stay with tried and true favorites. And have you made any surprising discoveries lately? (As always, please share whatever has been tickling your fancy—I get so many great recommendations from reading this column!)

Comments

[Anne Gracie]

Gorgeous painting, Andrea. I do love the way we wenches all share our reads for the months and how it causes a flurry of buying as we each buy up the others' recommendations.

And I'm just jumping in to tell people that THE YEAR WE ALL FELL DOWN was free on amazon last time I looked. I know at least half the wenches have snapped it up -- and several have bought the next in the series. I've read them all .

[Andrea Penrose]

Couldn't agree more, Anne! I get SO many great recommendations here from fellow Wenches and our wonderful readers. I've downloaded THE YEAR WE FELL DOWN and can't wait to start it!

[Sonya Heaney]

I just reread - and then reread - Pride and Prejudice. I picked up Sense and Sensibility for variety (some variety!) but found it not very good... She has two-paragraph-long sentences in that book!

I'm also rewatching the 1980 P&P BBC adaptation, which is the ONLY version where I think Darcy is attractive (but DO NOT Google recent pictures of him!). If only people could still adapt Austen with the correct social rules and fashions...

As for new genres, I'm trying. I'm going through one of those phases where I'm bored with reading (though keep in mind I've already read most of the upcoming releases!). However, usually this means a few months of great books will come after.

[Sonya Heaney]

I meat I've already read the GREAT upcoming books (The Spring Bride!). And now I'm a bit lost with what to read...

[Sonya Heaney]

"Meat"! I'm triple-posting because that's really bad...

[Andrea Penrose]

Well, P&P is ALWAYS worth a re-read, Sonya. And it certainly sets the bar very high. S&S isn't one of my favorite Austens either. Persuasion rates right up there.

I hope the "boredom with reading" passes quickly! I go through stages where I'm casting around to find something that really grabs me. But I always have a book going.

[Cate]

I'm halfway through Annie Barrows The Truth According to Us, it's different but I'm enjoying it. I also raced through Elizabeth Hoyts Dearest Rogue .. I loved it ! And I'm less than a week away from a certain Miss Gracie' s Spring Bride, and the phenomenal Nalini Singh's Shard of Hope magically appearing on my Kindle (hooray !)

[Molly]

I hit three different Goodwill stores yesterday, with my oldest granddaughter, looking for some of Mary Jo's books, I found two, one paperback and one hardback. We also hit up the Book Cellar in the basement to the central library here to not only look for romance books for me but to look for books for the oldest three granddaughters. The Book Cellar now sells paperback romances at a dime each or 12/$1, I bought 29! Right now I'm reading Christmas Bells by Susan Carroll and I'm enjoying it.

[DB Tait]

I've just finished Kat Atkinson's Life After Life and really enjoyed it. I was a bit iffy at the 5% mark but then I got hooked. Very moving book about a family during WWII. I've started a few books and put them aside (the Pat experience of not enough to keep me going) and am impatiently waiting for the Spring Bride. Thanks for the tip on The Year We Fell Down Anne. Just downloaded it.

[Andrea Penrose]

All great reads, Cate! I've been meaning to read Nalini Singh—have heard such great things about her books. So little time! But but get to them.

[Andrea Penrose]

Sounds like you are stocked for summer reading, Molly! You have to share which other treasures you found next month too!

[Andrea Penrose]

Kate, Life After Life is another book I want to get. Sounds very interesting.

[Janice]

I'm reading Julie Klassen's The Secret of Pembrooke Park (I'm enjoying the mystery; it's a flashback to all those young adult gothic/mystery stories I read in junior high); listening at bedtime to Dark Voyage by Alan Furst (a cracking good WW2 tramp steamer/spy story); and finishing up The Devil's Bride by Penelope Stratton, a vintage regency. On the dining room table I'm reading Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen. And on Tuesday our own Anne Gracie's The Spring Bride should arrive :)

[Andrea Penrose]

What a wonderful list, Janice! You're like us and in the mood to taste a variety of genres. This month's post is really reminding of all the great authors I've been meaning to try. Alan Furst is another—I've heard such good things about his WWII spy mysteries. Thanks for sharing!

[Karin]

I read "The Orphan Pearl" by Erin Satie and was very impressed by the excellent writing and complex flawed characters. It's her 3rd book, and I plan to go back and read the first two.
"Somewhere in France" set during WW I by Jennifer Robson was a perfectly OK story, but there were so many realistic details-everything from chilblains to lice-that those were the parts that stuck in my head instead of the love story. I know that seems like a strange complaint. So it's back to the 19th century for me!
I read a pair of books by Isabelle Bradford and loved them, the heroes were absolutely wonderful. It's hard to even say which one I enjoyed more. The first one, "A Wicked Pursuit" had that trope where the hero is planning to marry the gorgeous sister, but ends up with her less pretty and totally overlooked but much nicer sibling. In the second one, "A Sinful Deception" the hero is a younger son and there is a mysterious heroine who was raised in India.
I am anticipating a visit to the bookstore to get "A Spring Bride" and Elizabeth Hoyt's latest book and whatever else catches my fancy.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, LOL on the details like lice affecting your enjoyment of the story. I find that can happen too—strange what little things can distract our attention!

The Bradford books sound lovely! Thanks for sharing

[Sue W. McCormick]

Most people seem to put Persuasion at the bottom of the Austen list. I'm glad one of the Wenches agrees with me that it belongs near the top!

[Sue W. McCormick]

Through her entry in "A Dozen Rakes, Renegades, and Rogues" I found the Highland Pleasures series by Jennifer Ashley. I have been burning through the series. I do like them very much.

[Patricia Rice]

Jennifer Ashley is amazingly prolific and eminently readable. Thanks for the reminder to see what new books she has out!

Keep the titles going, folks! I'm filling up my cruise list!

[Andrea Penrose]

A fun series, Sue! There's definitely something irresistible about Scotland!

[Andrea Penrose]

Lots of interesting titles mentioned! I've added way too many things to the groaning TBR pile!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for the love comment, Sonya. You could try the Sarina Bowen book -- I found it really worth the read. The other thing I do when I'm in a reading slump and a bit bored, is to change genres. I often head for fantasy -- currently I'm reading a Patricia Briggs novel and loving it.

Or maybe Juliet Marillier would please you — she delves into ancient celtic myths and fairy tales. Lovely writing and excellent storytelling.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Cate -- I'm hanging out for Nalini too. :)

[Anne Gracie]

Hope you enjoy it Deb.

[Marian]

Cara/Andrea: The Allsouls Trilogy of which Discovery of Witches is the first title is a fascinating construction of the paranormal within the normal world. The next title involves time travel. Any novel that starts in the Bodleian library has to a big read!