What We Are Reading!

This month, as always, the Wenches have been indulging in an eclectic mix of books—many of them perfect for light-hearted holiday reads.

Joanna: I think I’ve mentioned Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series before. The first, Midnight Riot, introduces us to London cop Peter Grant. Grant is not just a canny policeman with an encyclopedic knowledge of the odd corners of the city, but a man who can sense the weird creatures who live in its shadows. Ghosts and monsters. Magical creatures.

This month I read Whispers Underground, Book Three in the series. Grant continues his training under Master Wizard Nightingale. The signature humor continues. The cynicism is firmly in place. The cast of quirky characters still delights.

Pat: The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan reminds me entirely too much of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivaldi, but I can’t help it, I love stories about books and librarians, romance and quiet thoughtful plots, and The Bookshop has all of these and more. Nina is an extremely introverted, impoverished librarian who has been downsized out of a job. She’s also filled her friend’s house with so many books that the ceiling cracks and the stairway threatens to fall in. She’s more or less terrified into chasing her dream of owning her own little bookshop—in a mobile van because she can’t afford more. She’s a romantic mess with her head in the clouds, but little by little, she learns how to live a real life, and the story’s unfolding is pure pleasure. It even has a little sex and a lovely romance, but mostly, it’s a love story to the Highlands and the people and to books. If you’re in the mood for a rural escape, try this one!

Anne: Having just finished a book I've found it hard to settle into reading. It seems, looking back through my recent reads that cosy mysteries have ht the spot for me -- nothing too serious, but entertaining and fun.

First up is Nancy Warren's The Vampire Knitting Club—the first in a cozy paranormal mystery series, where the heroine learns she has inherited her grandmother's knitting shop in Oxford. A fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek read. I’m already onto the third book in the series. I also loved her Toni Diamond mystery series, set in the U. S. South.

Paige Shelton has written a number of different series, all based around a theme.  Comic Sans Murder is a lighthearted cozy mystery set in a small town and based in a shop the heroine runs with her grandfather, repairing and collecting old typewriters and books.


Jenny Colgan’s Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe is not a cozy mystery. I picked this up when wench Pat wrote about another of Jenny Colgan's books. Amazon wouldn't let me buy that one, so I chose this one, that won the RNA prize.  When the heroine is made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment. Raised in her grandfather’s bakery and armed with his recipe, she decides to open The Cupcake Café. A pleasant, lighthearted read, with more depth to it than a lot of those change-your-life-and-open-a-café stories.

Mary Jo: I was a fan of Jo Beverley books for several decades and even before we became friends, so I thought I'd read most of her stories, but to my delight, The Wise Virgin, an early novella which was published in several different Harlequin holiday anthologies, is one that I missed. It has just been published as a standalone story, and it's a real winner.

The story has a medieval setting, at which Jo excelled, and features two warring families; think Montagues and Capulets, though in this case the vendetta is over possession of a holy banner that crusader ancestors had carried into Bethlehem.  

One of the families always reenacts the Christmas story, with the youngest virgin of lordly family playing the Virgin Mother.  Unfortunately, the daughter of the house who should play Mary is pregnant by one of the enemy house, and it would be sacrilege for her to play Mary under the circumstances.  
Which is why her somewhat less noble cousin, Joan, has taken her place--and it is Joan who is abducted by the lord of the enemy house.  Both Joan and the Golden Lion are appalled by the error, and even more appalled by the fact they must spend Christmas Eve together hidden in a cave.

The story is funny and sweet and even though the vendetta seems insoluble, you are in the hand of a master and all turns out well.  Highly recommended if you like Christmas novellas!

Susan: This month I haven't read much, between holiday stuff and family stuff and writing stuff. Currently I've almost finished - and I'm really enjoying -- The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory. Princess Thea of a fictional European country (it feels similar to Luxembourg or Belgium) is jilted at the altar in a very public and mortifying way, especially for a high profile princess close in the line to her grandmother's throne. Worse, her ex-groom, a duke, disappears and Thea has no clue why he ditched her. Trying to cope, she sneaks out to a pub one night in sweatshirt and cap, and meets Nick, a mysterious and sexy Scotsman who seems to be a journalist with an interest in Thea and the duke who dumped her. Turns out Nick is more than he seems, and the duke's disappearance is mysterious indeed. Thea and Nick begin to investigate together, and soon Thea is thinking way more about Nick than the missing duke .... This is a fast-paced, clever, fun story that barrels along. There's a film option, I hear, and would be a delightful movie. 

Andrea: I couldn’t resist the title, so picked up A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman, a Victorian mystery, which proved to be a fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek Victorian mystery. Frances, the American-born Countess of Harleigh is a recent widow who decides to escape from her stuffy brother and sister-in-law, who now are master and mistress of the family estate and establish an independent life for herself and her young daughter in London. (It may have something to do with the fact that she had to help her husband’s mistress get his body out of the wrong bedroom and into his own room to avoid a great scandal.)

However her grand plan is complicated by several things—an anonymous letter has the police wanting to open an investigation concerning her husband’s death, as the it accuses Frances of poisoning him. She is, of course, determined to learn the truth of whether her husband was murdered—a task complicated by the fact that her very handsome new next-door neighbor is the obliging family friend from the country house party who helped her and the mistress carry the body.) It’s a fun romp and a very enjoyable read.

So, what have you been reading? Please share—you'll be giving us all lovely gifts for our TBR piles!

 

Comments

[Vicki L.]

Oh my....I've got multiple books to investigate! I do like the light, funny paranormal genre so the knitting shop paranormal sounds fun.

Anne, if you haven't read any of Kristen Painter's Miss Frost series, that is a funny one. The first one is Miss Frost Cracks a Cold Case. (Miss Frost is an elf from the North Pole but there are all kinds of paranormal's involved in the series.)

I have read the novella Jo Beverly wrote, The Wise Virgin and it is indeed everything Mary Jo said about it. A fun and delightful story.

The two standout books that I read this month are Mary Jo's Once a Scoundrel and Emily March's The Christmas Wishing Tree. Both left me with happy sighs after I read them.

I also read 9 different series that I had accumulated. They were middling books. 7 different authors worth! My sister won't be complaining about not having any books in the pipeline. They ranged from medieval to regency to contemporary.

I have high hopes for December since I will be home and I've got a stack of highly anticipated books. We'll see when Dec 30th/31st arrives as to what I report.

[Sarah Webber]

I have a temporary Kindle Unlimited account, so I've been reading lots of Talia Hibbert (excellent) and Ruby Dixon (sexy with unusual premises). Next up, Christi Caldwell!

[Sarah Webber]

P.S. The Ben Aaronovitch Peter Grant books are even better on audio. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith narrates and, well, he is divine.

[Claire Harter]

Mary Jo, When I saw The Wise Virgin on sale at Amazon, I couldn't remember reading it so I bought it. As it turns out, I had read it quite a while ago, but I am enjoying rereading it! I enjoy winter reading (as well as Spring, Summer, and Fall reading :D )because it is such a cozy activity. May you all have a wonderful December, and may Santa leave fascinating reading material under your Christmas trees!

[Charlotte]

Thanks for the recs !
I love the Peter Grant books. That's funny because right now, I'm reading Lies sleeping, the last book published in the series and so far, it's as good as the previous ones :)

[Andrea Penrose]

Isn't Mary Jo's latest wonderful, Vicki.

And can't wait to hear your December report. Sounds like you have a LOT of reading time and interesting reads lined up, so am sharpening my pencil!

[Andrea Penrose]

Best wishes to you, too, Claire. May all our Wenchly community get LOTS of fab reads for gifts.

[Andrea Penrose]

I'm just getting into the series, and it's very quirky and original.I like it!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Vicki, I'm so glad you enjoyed ONCE A SCOUNDREL. I like to tell The Spook that's he's becoming famous as a swashbuckling sea cat, but he ignores me. *G* Now I'll have to look for Miss Frost!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Claire, I'm with you--reading all year round, but it hard to beat burrowing in with a fire, cats, and a good book in winter. *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

Charlotte, I preordered LIES SLEEPING and it's waiting for me as a special treat.....

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Vicki, I'll check out Kristen Painter's Miss Frost series. Am always up for a light funny read. I like darker stuff too, but I have to be in the right mood.

I also loved Mary Jo's Once a Scoundrel. I'll also look up the Emily March book you mentioned. Thanks.

[Kareni]

Books read over the past month:

— enjoyed AJ Rose’s Reaping Havoc which seemed seasonably appropriate as it features a reaper. I then went on to read the sequel Reaping Fate.
— enjoyed a re-read of Cooper West’s Parker’s Sanctuary: A Guardsmen Novel along with the FREE prequel Rescued: A “Parker’s Sanctuary” Story and the very short sequel, Second Chances. Also re-read Cooper West’s The Protector.
— Shadow Hunt (Disrupted Magic Book 3) by Melissa F. Olson which I enjoyed. This is definitely a series to read in order.
— enjoyed re-reading Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy.
— read Out of Bounds (The Boundaries Series) by A.R. Barley. This was a pleasant read, but I doubt it’s a book I’ll be re-reading.

— the novella The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard which proved to be an interesting read. Somehow I’d hoped for more, but I would try another work by the same author.
— Martha Wells’ novella Rogue Protocol which is the third in The Murderbot Diaries. 
— Kelly Jensen’s contemporary romance novella Best in Show which was enjoyable though I don’t think I’ll be re-reading it in a hurry.
— Jennifer Gracen’s contemporary romance It Might Be You (The Harrisons Book 5) . While this is the fifth book in the series, it’s the first I read and it stands alone well. That said, it took me two weeks to finish, so I didn’t find it that compelling.
— the anthology Irregulars: Stories by Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Ginn Hale, and Astrid Amara which I enjoyed.

-- Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren — this is a contemporary romance with a fun heroine.
-- Martha Well’s Exit Strategy — this is the final novella in the author’s Murderbot Diaries series.
-- Fortitude Smashed by Taylor Brooke — this is a male/male romance set in our world but with an interesting science fiction twist.
-- A Walk Between Stars by Tyler Parsons — this is a science fiction short story in which a man is rescued by aliens after the destruction of his space ship. It is a mystery.
-- On Basilisk Station (which is currently free for Kindle readers) plus The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington books one and two) both by David Weber — these are military science fiction novels; I’ll happily read on in this series.
-- For my book group: I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows — this was set in the depression era dust bowl and was admittedly depressing. I’m happy to have read it though.
-- These I found not terribly exciting: The IT Guy by Wynter St. Vincent and One Broke Girl by Rhonda Helms
-- I did not finish Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure by Colleen Helme — this is the first in a cozy paranormal mystery series with an intriguing premise; however, I gave up after some thirty percent of the book as it was not speaking to me. Too bad.

— Grace Draven’s fantasy romance Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire Book 1) which I quite enjoyed. Now I’m wondering if the series will continue with more about the two major characters in this book (I think not) or whether secondary characters in this book will get their own books (I think so).
— The Short Victorious War (Honor Harrington Book 3),Field of Dishonor (Honor Harrington Book 4); the latter had me crying. This is a series that should be read in order. The first book On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1) is currently free to Kindle readers.
— went on to read Flag in Exile (Honor Harrington Book 5) and Honor Among Enemies (Honor Harrington Book 6)

-- Shay Savage's Luffs which is a newly released companion novella to her caveman romance Transcendence. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from the earlier novel but wanted more.
-- the author of a favorite series published a new book in that series. I promptly bought it, read it, and re-read it. I was very happy to read it and my only complaint is that it is finished: Expedition, Estimation, and Other Dangerous Pastimes (Claimings Book 4) by Lyn Gala
-- Continued on with the Honor Harrington series and read David Weber's In Enemy Hands (Honor Harrington Book 7) which I enjoyed.
-- I'd burned out on J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books after about the first six and was not taken with her Bourbon Kings novels; however, I quite enjoyed her newest book which I finished late last night; I'd describe it as romantic suspense. Caution: gore alert. Consumed (Firefighters series) by J.R. Ward.

[Mary M.]

For my book club, I'm (gladly) reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles, a quietly told story just stuffed with interesting historical detail about frontier Texas after the Civil War. That description hardly suffices, you'll just have to try it for yourself.

My main contribution, though, is this NYT essay on what we lovingly call "the TBR pile":
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/books/review/personal-libraries.html?fallback=0&recId=1BddvBf6gGZT2qh0hGHTP10zsQB&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=AZ&recAlloc=control&geoCountry=US&blockId=home-living-vi&imp_id=31170856&action=click&module=Smarter%20Living&pgtype=Homepage
A universal issue, apparently. And considering the size of mine, very reassuring.

[Maryellen Webber]

I am currently reading Duchess by Design by Maya Rodale. I finished Mary Jo's Once A Scoundrel and truly loved it! Thanks Mary Jo for writing such wonderful books!! The Bookshop Around The Corner was very entertaining, I love reading books set in Scotland.

[Andrea Penrose]

Gaaasp—my hand now has a writing cramp, Kareni! Thank goodness it's the holiday season when I can ask for LOTS of book gifts! (Your lists are always a lovely gift! THank you for sharing!)

[Andrea Penrose]

Sounds like a wonderful book club read, Mary.

And thanks so much for sharing the TBR essay!It's terrific.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks for sharing Maryellen! I think Scottish settings are near and dear to all of the Wenchly readers!

[Quantum]

I mostly listen to audio books and was delighted to find that some old Catherine Anderson books (Kendrick Coulter series) are at last available in the UK.

I'm really enjoying 'Blue Skies' (book 4) about a woman struggling with eye disease and blindness who enters a marriage of convenience with Hank after becoming pregnant by him ... complicated story and beautifully narrated.

In the fantasy genre I tried Naomi Novik's 'Uprooted'. Thoroughly enjoyed the early part of the book which was helped with excellent narration but felt that the plot got a little too complicated for audio towards the end ... might be better read visually.

Finally in the mystery genre I listened to Andrea's 'Sweet Revenge'. It is an ingenious mystery with the prince Regent being poisoned by a chocolate dessert. I felt that I have received an education on the lesser known aspects of chocolate as well as being hugely entertained by all the twists and turns. The narrator, Mary Sarah has an unusual 'dreamy' style which I liked more and more as the book progressed. Will report on Book 2 'The Cocoa Conspiracy' next month .... though I will be treating the traditional chocolaty Christmas deserts with some caution! 😉

[Karin]

The Ben Aaronovitch books sound tempting, they will go on my TBR.
I'm afraid that whenever I see a book that has the main character opening a bookstore, I can't help but think of "The Bookshop" by Penelope Fitzgerald. All her books are wonderful but she has a very sardonic take on that theme, so don't expect a lot of sweetness and light!
I started reading Anne Cleeland's Doyle & Action police procedural series, which is so addictive that I am already up to Book 5. Can't stop, won't stop! The first book is "Murder in Thrall" and it delivers some real shocks to the reader. The romantic relationship between the 2 main characters is central to every book, but fair warning: the hero is actually an anti-hero, so you may love them, or be horrified by the amorality.
To balance that, I read two very sweet Betty Neels stories, "A Christmas Romance" and "Only By Chance".
I was lucky enough to win a free copy of "My One and Only Duke" by Grace Burroughs, so I am now happily reading that.
And I have another of Sharon Cullen's Elizabethan spy series, "Wed to a Spy", which I expect to be very good, because I loved the first one I read, "Bound to a Spy".

[Kareni]

Your hand may have a writing cramp, but mine does not. You're busy writing which I admire tremendously; I can only read!

[Kareni]

Mary M., my book group read News of the World earlier this year and we had a lively discussion. It was a lovely story (albeit showcasing some lovely and unlovely human behavior).

Thanks for sharing that NYT essay; I am in good company have books read (and re-read), unread, and partially read in my personal library.

[Kareni]

I agree, Karin, that the Acton and Doyle books are addictive. I like the series very much, but I've known others who cannot abide the hero's behavior.

[Andrea Penrose]

I'm truly honored, Kareni. Thank you!

[Andrea Penrose]

I'm so glad you're enjoying the audiobook of Sweet Revenge, Quantum.(All the chocolate aspects are historically accurate— work, work, work!)

I enjoyed Naomi Novak's last book, but it did get a little dark and convoluted. I admire her writing, but not sure I'll tackle this latest one.

[Andrea Penrose]

These sound great. I'm definitely adding them to my TBR pile.

[Kareni]

I'll be waiting with interest to see if they show up in a future What We Are Reading.