Nicola here, introducing the ever-popular Wenches monthly round up of what we've been reading. As always, our virtual shelves are groaning beneath the weight of recommendations and we hope you will share your reads with us - and add to the TBR pile! - as well as enjoy some of the books we're talking about. October is the perfect time to curl up with a good book, so without further ado, let's dive in!
Anne here. The standout read for me in October was Some of it Was Real, by Nan Fischer. It’s a contemporary, and though there’s a relationship, it’s not really a romance. Sylvie Young is a psychic-medium, a rising star on the verge of having her own TV show. Thomas Holmes is a journalist looking to resurrect his failing career by writing a story exposing her as a fraud. Thomas doesn’t believe in Sylvie’s “powers” and calls people like her “grief vampires” who prey on people’s distress.
Mysteries surround Sylvie’s early childhood. Adopted at the age of six, she has no memories of the time before that — and what little she does remember is fractured, comes in dreams, or sparks panic attacks. Sylvie decides to take Thomas on a journey with her to discover what they can about her past. She hopes he will learn to accept and believe in her powers — even though she’s not entirely confident of them, and augments them with research about her audience — which she calls “forming bridges”. It’s a complicated situation. And Thomas is determined to prove her a fraud.
The story is told in alternate chapters by first Sylvie, then Thomas. They’re effectively enemies, but it’s not so clear cut, and I found myself empathizing with both. I found Some of it Was Real compulsive reading and devoured it in a day.
Otherwise, I’ve been rereading a lot of old favorites — Mary Stewart, Jayne Ann Krentz and others, and several of the wenches have beaten me to recommendations, like Mary Jo’s report of Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing, and Pat Rice’s recommendation of Connie Willis’s Cross Talk, so that’s all from me for this month.
Susan writes:
When reading for research dovetails with reading for pleasure, that's just the best. And with most of my reading time lately going to research for my books, 
it was a joy to discover The Hawk's Way by Sy Montgomery while researching falconry info for my medieval-in-progress. A journalist, naturalist, and author of several books studying a variety of wildlife from cats to octopi and more, Montgomery writes in Hawk's Way not just about hawks, but the art and obsession of falconry. She writes with detail, insight, and love about her personal experience over years of working with hawks in particular, though she touches on other raptors and birds of prey as well. Montgomery is one of those gifted nonfiction writers whose words flow expressively and beautifully, with spare wisdom that gets right to the heart of the matter--these magnificent creatures are fascinating, charismatic, and challenging. They could care less about you, and yet can bring out the best in you all the same. A joy to read, whether you're researching falconry for a novel or just want to know what it's like to fly, admire, love, and pragmatically understand these birds. I've done a lot of research on hawks and falconry over the years for my books, and I've spent some amazing hours with hawks and falconers to try it out for myself. Montgomery's book made me see them in a new way.
While doing a lot of driving lately, I've been listening to the audiobook of Sophie Kinsella's newest release, The Burnout. Sasha is so overwhelmed at work that she has a meltdown, and a long vacation is in order. Thinking a childhood holiday spot will stir happy memories and be restorative, she goes to a beach hotel--but a British beach hotel in February, especially one that's ramshackle and all but deserted twenty years later, is not exactly restful. And the only other person vacationing there is Finn, a grouchy, unapproachable guy who is recovering from his own work meltdown. Avoiding each other, Sasha and Finn are soon confronted with shared childhood memories and a growing mystery on the beach that has them forging a reluctant friendship. I am a big fan of Kinsella, who writes with warmth and humor and spirit, and I loved this one. The audiobook is narrated by Bessie Carter, who skillfully captures character and nuance, and adds a great dimension to the story.
Mary Jo here:
I just finished reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, which is currently a huge bestseller, including weeks as #1 on the NY Times list. This is somewhat 
surprising because it's basically a young adult fantasy novel which follows the traditional journey of a young person attending a specialized and quite possibly dangerous school to learn dangerous skills. Think Harry Potter with a female lead and dragons. <G>
The narrator is Violet Sorrengail, born with a number of congenital problems so that she's small, not strong, and she breaks easily. In the constantly-at-war kingdom of Navarre, she'd been raised to be a scribe like her father. But her father has died, and her mother is the brass-knuckled general of the war academy who insists that Sorrengails are dragon riders so that Violet has no choice but to enter the academy where there is danger at every hand. But she'd tough and never backs down from doing the right thing, plus she's really smart! There's non-stop action, lots of dragons, a military amount of four letter words, and a steamy enemies to lovers romance. If this is the kind of book you like, you will really like this!
Fourth Wing is book one of The Empyrean series, and book two, Iron Flame, will be released on November 7th. My guess is that this will be a trilogy because a very large story has emerged in book 1. We'll see!
Pat:
CROSSTALK, Connie Willis
Connie Willis writes utterly brilliant sf/f. CROSSTALK is set in the reality of the contemporary tech communication world. The fantasy part starts with the invention of a brain implant that allows couples to emotionally bond. The heroine, Briddey Flannagan, works in gossip central at iPhone’s competition. She has an interfering family that’s even worse than hearing phones ringing all day. The constant communication is so maddening that I can’t imagine why she wants even more contact with her boyfriend. The pacing is so frantic that I had to limit myself to reading it for only an hour a day, but the book is so fabulous that I risked racing-brain syndrome to keep reading. And all the insanity reaches great peaks before it all comes together and makes sense. Sort of. There’s even a romance! If you want fast-paced intelligence and a good story, find this one.
And another shout out for SOME OF IT WAS REAL by Nan Fischer:
How can I resist a story about a psychic? Sylvie Young, once an orphan with no hope or home, is on the brink of a brilliant career as a psychic/medium at the young age of 23—until a journalist comes along and says he’s proved she’s a fraud, and he means to expose her. Since the death of his brother, who intended to be a journalist, Thomas has been working toward a Pulitzer-prize winning story, and it’s in his reach. He KNOWS Sylvie is a fraud, like all the fake psychics his mother has consulted over the years.
What follows is essentially a story of death of the past and resurrection of the future as Sylvie and Thomas trace her real origin story, not the one she’s been told. He also learns painful truths. The story is gripping, well-told, believable characters, and the conflict is strong but not enough to stress me out. I have only one tiny quibble about a clue they never followed until the dramatic ending. But one tiny quibble does not break the story. Well worth trying!
Christina here with three recommendations this month:
THE FORGOTTEN SHORE by Sarah Maine is an utterly gripping dual time story about secrets, mistakes, redemption and possible forgiveness. It features a 
mysteriously missing heir, a girl who’s always been a bit of an outsider, and an unlikely but forbidden friendship. The book covers the horrors of war, Highland clearances, forced removal of people living in remote coastal villages in Newfoundland and various environmental issues that engage the reader. It all blends into a fabulous tapestry that will keep you spellbound until the very last page - I absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down.
MURDER AT THE MERTON LIBRARY by Andrea Penrose. Diving into a new book in this series is like visiting old friends – exciting and comfortable at the same time. In this Regency mystery, Lord and Lady Wrexford are yet again embroiled in the quest to catch a murderer, but this time it’s personal because the same man might have caused the death of Wrex’s younger brother. At the same time, there is a suspicious consortium involved in the race to find a viable way of propelling ships across oceans using steam power. They appear to be sabotaging the efforts of everyone else, and are using ruthless methods. It’s up to Wrex and his close-knit ‘family’ to stop them, and to uncover the murderer before it’s too late. As always, I was in awe of how the author intertwines the scientific discoveries of the Regency era with a murder mystery. It’s wonderful to learn more about the thinking of that time. Simultaneously, the reader is emotionally invested in all the characters – a group not connected by blood necessarily, but by love and care for each other – and I loved their various emotional journeys in the background. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these protagonists, and very much look forward to the next book in the series!
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING HEIRESS by Patricia Rice is another wonderful installment in this Regency mystery romance series. We 
meet the characters from the previous book again, but there are new ones added and I absolutely loved the couple in this one - earl's daughter turned cook Elsa and her childhood friend Jack. She has fled from a bullying step-brother and would-be fiancé, both ruthless men who will stop at nothing to secure her substantial dowry for themselves. Burying herself among the pots and pans of the kitchen is her way of coping, until her hiding place is discovered and her pursuers catch up with her. They haven't reckoned with her new-found friends and relatives, however, and I was cheering them on as they prepared to give the villains the comeuppance they deserved. The ongoing search for an old treasure that's needed to save the ramshackle manor the characters all live in adds a fun element. And I really like how all these disparate people band together to form a family by choice, if not totally by blood. I can’t wait for the next book in this series as well!
Andrea:
I loved S. J. Bennett’s first two mysteries featuring Queen Elizabeth II and her very sharp Nigerian-born Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshod as the sleuthing team that solves some very delicate crimes that might have created trouble for the palace. I feared that with the death of the queen, Bennett might feel compelled to give up the series. But to my delight I saw that a new one, Murder Most Royal—a Christmas mystery!— has just been released and immediately grabbed it.
And I’m so glad I did! From the very beginning of the series, Bennett has portrayed the queen as a very careful observer with a very caustic sense of humor. Her observations of various government officials when they “mansplain" things to her are hilarious, but one also senses that Bennett is very careful to portray Her Majesty as accurately as possible—and makes her engagingly human.
In this book, the royal family has gone to Sandringham for Christmas, but when a severed hand washes up by the estate’s beach, the Queen finds herself drawn into the investigation (completely off the record, of course) because she recognizes the signet ring on one of the fingers as belonging to an old family friend when Rozie shows her the police photo . At a family dinner the following night, everyone is gossiping about the hand and Prince Philip announces that most murders are committed by family . . . And yet that doesn’t prevent the queen from pressing Rozie to get involved and follow the evidence, no matter where it might lead.
The mystery is very well done, but what makes the book so special is the queen watching her various children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as they interact throughout the holiday and thinking pithy thoughts about all the people we know so well from the tabloids. She also muses on getting old. All in all, it's is an absolute delight, and I think Bennett saw the book as her personal tribute to a lady whose quiet grace and lack of “flash” hid an inner strength, fierce intelligence and sharp sense of humor.
So there you have it - a number of great books to snap up! And now it's over to you. What have you been reading during October?
