All Those New-to-Me Books
This has been a very good reading year so far. Not only are there a lot of good new books out there, but there are more good reissues than I’ve seen in ages. For the past year or so, I’ve been enjoying the gorgeous reissues that Sourcebooks has been doing of Georgette Heyer’s novels. I haven’t gotten to read them all yet, but I’ve been collecting them and replacing some of my more tattered books. They’ve also reissued some of Laura Kinsale’s novels with absolutely beautiful covers. One of the difficulties of keeping up with romance for me used to be that books had such limited shelf lives compared to other genres. I would find a series I wanted to follow only to discover the first few books were out of print. Very frustrating!
However, now I’m starting to see lots of good reissues out there. Avon has reprinted some of Christina Dodd’s older books from the now-defunct HarperMonogram line as well as Susan Wiggs’ Lord of the Night, which is one of my very favorite historicals. I can’t wait to reread it, and revisit Renaissance Venice. Harlequin has been getting into the reissue game, too. They’ve reissued Susan Wiggs’ Tudor Rose trilogy with beautiful covers, though I was disappointed to see that they took away the imaginative, romantic original titles and gave everything more generic titles. Though I’ve seen worse titles than the ones employed with this trilogy, these more unimaginative titles take some of the fun out of discovering a books’ contents after all. I’m still very glad to see them getting back on shelves, though, and I understand Mira will be reissuing more of Wiggs’ backlist.
Harlequin also has reissues of some very early titles coming out in celebration of their 60th anniversary, and their Famous Firsts reissues gave readers a chance to read some debuts of authors who are now very well known. I’m hoping publishers continue reissuing some of the much-loved but out of print books along with each month’s new releases. This has been making me feel more energized about reading for the first time in years!
I’ve been picking up quite a few of these “new to me” books, and it’s gotten me thinking about books I would LOVE to see reissued. How about Roberta Gellis’ Roselynde Chronicles? Or Carla Kelly’s traditional Regencies from her Signet days (A little birdie on our message boards indicates that the rights have reverted to her…..)? I wouldn’t be averse to seeing the rest of Judy Cuevas/Judith Ivory’s backlist available again either. I understand she has been incommunicado for some time, but I can still hope!
If the reissue fairy came you way, what would you wish for?
-Lynn Spencer
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Thanks for the tip, Lynn. Bride of Pendorric and King of the Castle were two of my favorite Victoria Holt novels.
@Renee – I haven’t seen any news of Dorothy Eden’s books, but some of Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt’s backlists are being resissued. Chicago Review Press has been reissuing Mary Stewart and Anya Seton, and St. Martin’s has been reprinting some of Victoria Holt’s titles. Mistress of Mellyn and Bride of Pendorric are already out, and Lord of the Far Island is coming out in December.
All the reissues that are coming out are a mixed blessing. I was at Context (Science Fiction Con) a few weeks ago and one of the writer guests (Rosemary Laurey) talked about how publishers are dropping authors from their lists–even to the extent of canceling contracts when a part of a series has already been published and reprinting backlist books instead.
I just finished Viscount Vagabond by Loretta Chase — I liked it just a bit more than Delilah. I’m thinking of tracking down a copy of Barbara Metzger’s Snowdrops and Scandalbroth — sort of a similar theme to the Chase book I just finished.
So many OOP books, so little time! I’m thrilled with the re-issues … altho I wish Mary Balogh’s publishers had started with the most expensive oldest books but no matter: I’m just thrilled they’re starting to trickle into the pipeline.
I would enjoy seeing reissues of some of the old gothics by writers like Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and Dorothy Eden. Those were some of the first romances I ever read as a teenager and I am curious to see if the charm is still there.
I would definitely love to see Loretta Chase’s “”The Devil’s Delilah”” on the shelves again. It was re-issued like 4 or 5 years ago, but I didn’t know about Loretta Chase back then! and I don’t want to pay more than the original price for a used paperback with creased spines….maybe when I get older and richer, I will cave in. I would also like to see a reissue of some Marion Chesney books-especially the Six Sisters series since they were the first romance novels I’ve read. All the used paperback copies must be really yellow now since the books were published back in the 80s.
I haven’t read them, but have been curious for years about JAK’s Guinevere Jones books (written as Jayne Castle), but am not willing to pay the outrageous rates some dealers are asking for them.
I am proud to say that I own every Anne Stuart except for the first Maggie Bennet book. And also the old Lisa Kleypas books published by NAL.
I’d love to see some of Joan Wolf’s old regencies re-issued. Another author whose books I love dearly is Marjorie Farrell. I cherish my old copies of her books. I also love Gayle Wilson’s historical novels dearly and take good care of my copies.
I just read a few books that I just thought were excellant…”” Evans Castle”” and “” Reasons “” both by Tracy Fabre…also, “”The Sweet Gum Tree”” written by Katherine Allred…all 3 books were page turners..I love a book that makes you want to keep reading it…
The reissue fairy did come my way, and I got my wish! For a while now I’ve been wanting Jennifer Crusie’s older titles, The Cinderella Deal and Trust Me on This, to be reissued — mostly because I don’t want to spend $40 on a used paperback. (!) Well, us Crusie fans got our wish when it was announced a few weeks ago that both of these long out-of-print titles will be reissued in 2010.
Her current publisher, Dell, is making a start on that, with some 2-in-1 volumes coming out over the next few years.
Laura London: The classic Regencies (I loved, loved, loved them back in the day), the contemps, and The Windflower. I want them all!
I am so happy that Heyer is being reissued — the beautiful covers are just icing.
I’d like to see the reissue of a four-book series by Linda Howard (don’t believe the series has a title) which contains “”Midnight Rainbow””, “”Diamond Bay””, and two other titles which I think are “”White Lies”” and “”Heartbreaker””. The series is contemporary and it falls into the category of romantic suspense. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a reissue of a medieval series by Rexanne Becnel which was set in Wales. The individual titles escape me, but I remember that each title contained the word “”bride””.
Oh yes! Getting some more of Anne Stuart’s backlist out there would make me a very happy camper. Also, Laura London aka Tom and Sharon Curtis.
I second, To Have and To Hold by Gaffney, even though I have my own copy, it looks like it’s been through the mill. Another one…Heart Breaker by Nicole Jordan. Have a copy of that one too, but it’s such a fantastic book. I can’t believe it hasn’t been reissued for readers enjoyment.
I’d love a new copy of To Have and To Hold by Patricia Gaffney…and the Maggie Bennet series by Anne Stuart. *sigh*
I’d like to see Pamela Morsi’s “”The Marrying Stone”” and “”Simple Jess”” reissued. Lavyrle Spencer is another.
I would love to see all of Mary Balogh’s earlier Regencies reissued. Some of them are impossible to find and some are very expensive.