I’ve read some EXCELLENT books lately! How about you?
I have read several truly superb books recently–being on crutches has given me more time to read and I’ve picked, in general, a bunch of winners.
The best book I’ve read lately is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr of All The Light We Cannot See fame. While different in scope than the Pulitzer Prizer winner, Cloud Cuckoo Land is a page turner full of fascinating facts–it turns out the Fall of Constantinople is riveting to read about–that left me feeling remarkably hopeful about humanity and our poor beleaguered planet. The novel braids together four different stories, one set in the 15th century, one set during the Korean War, one set in our times, and one set 150 years in the future. Doerr’s characters are palpable and his sinuous plot entrancing. It’s a book that, as soon as I finished it, I bought copies for my sister and a close friend just so I could have others to talk to about its prose. I’ve read 70 plus books this year and this one is, thus far, the very best.
I also loved Prairie Fires, The Night She Disappeared, and Pachinko all of which I’ve mentioned here before. And, thanks to recommendations from AAR readers, I read all the Rockton novels which I thought were great fun and am now, after having read and loved the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter, am reading its predecessor, the Grant County series which, I must say, I like but don’t thus far love–Slaughter’s tendency to torture, literally, her female characters is overly and unpleasantly done although I do love her characters.
How about you? What are you reading? And remember to tell us title and author! Anything you love? And, happy hump day!
I recently read The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros. At first it was in the B+ territory, but by the end, it shot up to an A based upon its unexpected ending. Anything that can surprise me in a good way deserves an A. Before that, I hadn’t read an A book since early August.
I also loved the Will Trent books but quit the Grant County books because of too much Lena Adams–and then she popped up in a Will Trent book and I still didn’t like her. Dabney, have you tried Slaughter’s other, non-Sara Linton, books?
Obviously I’m late to the party but I am binging my way through Ilona Andrew’s Innkeeper series and the Kate Daniels series. Seriously cannot read them fast enough.
I’ve never read the Andrews. I heard them speak at Duke and they were fascinating so I keep meaning to! Several of them are on sale right now so I’m going to pick the first few up.
Lena is so annoying and pretty much a force for utter destruction. I am halfway through the penultimate book and, having read the Will Trent books, know how she literally causes hell to happen and I am gritting my teeth.
I’ve read Pieces of Her and False Witness both of which I really enjoyed.
Oh, excellent. I might try those Slaughter titles. I tried The Good Daughter and quit after about 5 chapters–the torture porn was too much (but it must be said I DNF thrillers very readily if I don’t love them). I’ve noticed female thriller writers tend to really describe the carnage, and men not so much.
For some reason I thought the Andrews books were more (urban) fantasy. Both the series I’m reading have a romance element at the heart, roughly equal to the fantasy/paranormal plot. Kicking myself for not starting them sooner.
Neither False Witness or Pieces of Her are super violent although, of the two, False Witness is a bit worse. False Witness is interesting especially if you’ve read Long Bright River. Both novels feature sisters, one of whom is a cop/lawyer, and the other of whom is an addict. I’ve thought a lot about both books since I read them.
Almost all books by Ilona Andrews include central romantic relationships, but while the relationships are central, most of the books don’t spend over 50% of their text focused on the relationships, so as I apply labels, they are Urban Fantasy or Science Fiction with strong romantic elements. IIRC, their Edge series is closer to the genre romance model and could be labeled PNR. Whatever genre label applies, Ilona Andrews books are EXCELLENT! I recommend the Kate Daniels, Edge, Innkeeper, and Hidden Legacy series.
Most of my top recent reads were not romances, but here goes:
o Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby. Two men, one black and one white, both ex-cons, search for answers about their sons’ murder. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, these hardened men will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
o Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. The focus is on Agnes (as she is called) rather than the tutor, the husband, the poet (Shakespeare is never actually named). Powerful and poignant. O’Farrell is the only author I’ve read, either in fiction or nonfiction, who tries to answer the question about how the death of his only son affected Shakespeare and his work – and if you think about it, wouldn’t it be odd if he wasn’t affected by this?
o The Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell. Much lighter fare than the previous two books, but not superficial. Interesting, at times intense, Rowell creates a world of magic where human emotions (and at times humor) are central, even if the characters are not quite human.
o The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. At last, a romance, although the love story between the two heroes is almost secondary to the love expressed for the magical youth. To say the book charmed me is an understatement.
o Again by Kathleen Gilles Seidel. Another actual romance. Perhaps doesn’t quite fit the blog topic, since it’s an older book (1994) and I reread it this year rather than read for the first time. However, it’s such a good character study, of both the actual characters and the roles they play in the Regency soap opera where they work, that I have to mention it in a list of great reads.
o Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase. Any list of my favorite reads would include Chase, and this book did not disappoint. The Duke is smart, witty, and exasperating, and the heroine is just as smart, just as witty, and just about at the end of her rope.
After watching Netflix’s adaptation of Shadow & Bone, I picked up all of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books. I’m in the middle of the final duology (King of Scars) right now. Although I could poke some holes in some of the internal logic and worldbuilding, and I like some character viewpoints more than others, I’m nevertheless enjoying the characters and the setting. It’s been interesting how the show expanded some of the backstories and combined the original trilogy with the Six of Crows follow-on. I also really liked the cast in the show. I’ve been reading these picturing all of the show characters.
My favorite read of the year so far is a YA fantasy trilogy I read back in June: Melina Marchetta’s wonderful Lumatere Chronicles.
I loved Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I read those first then went back and read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which I liked but not quite as much. I really enjoyed the Netflix series and how they interwove the 2 series’ storylines. I agree with you that the casting was spot on! I plan to read King of Scars but my TBR pile is so large!
The Guncle by Steven Rowley is a book I enjoyed and have found myself often thinking about. I especially liked the way this story dealt with grieving and loss. The story is about a summer when Patrick (aka Gup, gay uncle Patrick) has a niece and nephew come to live with him in Palm Springs after their mom dies and his brother has some issues to work through. Patrick was a popular TV star on a sitcom years ago and is still grieving from losing a loved one. I appreciated the book’s humor, many quotes, and family love during hard times.
I’m reading that for the site at the moment! It’s very charming thus far. And apparently it’s been optioned for a film.
Dabney, I’m so glad to hear you loved Cloud Cuckoo Land. I am trying to decide whether to read it or listen to it. It sounds complex, so I’m leaning toward reading it. Thoughts?
Most of my reads have been good lately. Cat Sebastian’s Tommy Cabot Was Here and Peter Cabot Gets Lost were both fun stories set in the late 1950s/ early 1960s in the United States. TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, a m/m fantasy novel, was really sweet.
On the m/f front, I enjoyed Laura Kinsale’s For My Lady’s Heart, but Shadowheart disappointed me. I am learning that I don’t enjoy BDSM, so as much as I hated to bail on Allegretto, I DNF’d that one. Finally, I’m listening to Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, and I love the world building, the complex story and interesting characters.
I really loved the Peter Cabot and Tommy Cabot books too!
I love Spinning Silver–it’s such a fascinating take on Rumpelstiltskin.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is complex and the first few chapters were confusing but that’s actually part of the book’s brilliance. It’s a book that, the more I read, the more all I wanted to do was read.
Sounds lovely, and it sounds like I should read rather than listen. Thanks!
I think listening would have been harder especially in the beginning. Lots of different voices and names to keep track of. Although, I listened to All the Light We Cannot See and it was phenomenal so I could be wrong.
I just finished reading Remarkable Diaries: The World’s Greatest Diaries, Journals, Notebooks, and Letters by DK and highly recommend it. The diaries highlighted represent a diverse bunch of individuals from a pyramid construction supervisor in Ancient Egypt to a Japanese Buddhist monk sent on a diplomatic mission to China during the Tang Dynasty to Anne Lister and so many more. Each diarist gets one or two page spreads, and the book is filled with pictures of primary source documents, period paintings, artifacts, and photographs. It’s kind of fun to see what famous and not so famous people’s handwriting looked like, as well as their thoughts on daily activities.
Big history buffs might find it a little basic as it is designed more as an overview for the casual historian. It’s one of those books that teases you into doing additional independent research but definitely works as a standalone.
Re your mention of Anne Lister, perhaps you will manage somewhere to see the excellent BBC production Gentleman Jack about her. I think I have seen that a second season is in the pipeline.
I have Gentleman Jack on my “for later” list at the library. At the moment, I am unfortunately backlogged with other books and movies I have checked out. (Isn’t that always the way?) Rest assured though, I haven’t forgotten. :-)
Gentleman Jack? Hear! Hear! Great series!
Has anyone read any of C.M. Nascosta’s books?
She vaulted to the top of Amazon’s bestseller lists after Ruby Dixon did a post/review on her Facebook page praising one of her books (Morning Glory Milking Farm).
”Girl’s Weekend” is her other book (both are available on K.U.) And the quality of her writing really is excellent.
The only caveat I give to anyone who doesn’t know about her is that she writes “monster heroes”. The heroines of Girls Weekend” are Elves and the guys are Orcs.
The hero of MGMF is a Minotaur and the heroine is a human. It also has a very interesting premise and her books are largely set in a multi-species community of Cambric Creek where humans are the minority.
She takes very “fantastic” settings or situations and somehow presents them in an incredibly detailed and “realistic” way but the real monster nature of the heroes can be unsettling.
Anyone else familiar with her work?
I haven’t read any of C.M. Nascosta’s books, but I knew the name Morning Glory Milking Farm because it was #1 on the Amazon erotica charts for ages. There must have been quite a bit of buzz on 3rd party sites as you say because the charts update approximately every hour, and it’s rare to hold rank for so long- especially for the erotica genre.
Her writing really is excellent. And it’s amazing that an author who had one other book -(self published) and who started by posting her stories for free on Tumblr could top the Amazon charts.
It’s a testament to the power of Ruby Dixon’s sway, social media, along with an arresting premise and the fact that she is that good of a writer.
MGMF was even pulled by Amazon for a few days and people couldn’t find it just by searching to buy or borrow it, and it still stayed on the charts.
I’d love to see people’s opinion’s on it. It really shows that there is a market for even the most “out there” story premises if the writing is good.
Girls Weekend is the first in a quartet of books and I am hooked. I can’t wait to read what happens next.
I’ve been curious about the MGMF buzz and—thanks to KU—gave it a try. I’m about a third of the way through, finding it well-written and quite hilarious in its satire of a pharmaceutical industry that basically masquerades and sanitizes sex work in order to acquire a key ingredient for human ED medication. The human heroine and the Minotaur hero haven’t “connected” outside the milking room yet, so I’m curious as to where Nascosta is taking the story. Not for all tastes, to be sure, but if you can get over the premise, an interesting read. Nascosta is certainly a writer to keep an eye on.
I think the reason the story works is because of how grounded in reality it is. In particular all the details about the work, procedure etc. If it were silly all fluff it wouldn’t have captured my imagination.
I really like the character of Violet and her very realistic struggles with trying to find a job out of grad school in her field that allows her to pay her bills etc. Her perfectionist ways.
There is a quote that the author put up on Instagram because it’s like the third most underlined passage in a book that’s supposed to be about erotica, etc. that obviously resonated with the readers and it was all about the pressure of being a perfectionist and nothing to do with the romance or hero.
I agree the whole Minotaur thing is a hill to get over as he’s not a shifter. I’m not someone who was drawn to the whole “monster romance” I just like a well written yarn. She manages to make their romance very sweet and when they finally connect outside of work, despite the fantastic setting it’s very real.
I enjoy her multicultural enclave of Cambric Creek and I highly recommend the series she started with “Girl’s Weekend”. It’s about Elves and Orcs but they are very human appearing (much more than the Minotaur) and it’s not hard to draw real life parallels with the Elves being from the snobbish upper crust, very clannish and inclined to look down on “intermarriage” with other creatures who aren’t their “color”. She creates some really compelling characters with a lot of relatable feelings. She’s not a “gimmick” author, IMHO.
Hope you enjoy it.
I finished it last night and enjoyed it very much. One of the best parts was Violet’s friendship with the female vampire—and how this friend explains what is going on in plain sight in Cambric Creek; I love how it’s only the human females who want to “experiment” with non-humans, not the human males (I guess they’re too busy taking their Minotaur-infused ED pills!). I also think Nascosta did a great job with the world-building, explaining whole cultural/social elements with just a few lines of exchanged dialog. She’s writing for a niche romance market, certainly, but I can definitely see the appeal—Roarke is a great guy, ummm, Minotaur.
It’s funny how that book exploded. Ruby Dixon had a lot to do with it getting publicity but I think the writing is what kept people recommending it.
I would have said Ruby Dixon is writing for a niche market as well but she’s getting really huge now. I think it’s funny that they are both writing about “monsters” but the guys are totally respectful, nice, cinnamon roll types. No scary monsters- lots of respect and permission.
Female friendships play a part in a lot of what I have a read of Nascosta’s work and I agree that Geillis is hilarious and a great, succinct way to present background information. I liked that Violet and Roarke’s neighbor Lurielle became friends, and that Roarke’s ex wife wasn’t some evil woman. They simply married young and grew apart.
I agree about the world building as Cambric Creek serves as the background for most of her books even if they don’t all take place there. She’s got one coming up set there where fertility issues for women (humans and elves and other species) are addressed using Werewolves (they look like humans).
The really hot werewolf brothers where at least one of them is a fireman? Girl, I’m there! Lol
LOL, yes! The Hemmings brothers. “Moon Blooded Breeding Clinic”.
I went on the biggest author glom I’ve done in years – not only purchased but read 16 books since the beginning of September by T. A. White. Perhaps not “excellent” in the literary fiction way of Doerr, but excellent in terms of hitting the exact right feelings for me. Kick-ass heroines who have just enough flaws to keep them from being Mary Sues. Partners who match them in strength but allow them to be themselves (while still deciding early on that the heroine will be theirs). Truly I have not had a glom like this in forever.
Other books that have been excellent:
THE YEAR OF THE REAPER by Makiia Lucier – Fantasy novel with an honorable hero (slight romance included) – reminded me a bit of THE GOBLIN EMPEROR which is extremely high praise from me.
HUNT THE STARS by Jessie Mihalik – First in her new SF space opera series. Loved it.
THE WIFE OF BATH by Karen Brooks – Historical fictional take on Chaucer’s wife, told from her point of view.
MICKEY7 by Edward Ashton – If you like PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir (which I loved) you’ll love this one too. First line: “This is gonna be my stupidest death ever.”
THE KAIJU PRESERVATION SOCIETY by John Scalzi – Loved, loved this one. Laid off during the pandemic hero takes a job taking care of Godzilla – or something like that.
A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by Freya Marske – Edwardian era queer romance mashup of steampunk, magic, fantasy and mystery. Adored this one.
I’ll stop now but it makes me so happy that I’ve been on a run of good books when for a long time I was mostly just reading books that were fine or good, but nothing that was a wow.
Coincidentally, I too have read a number of really good books in a row. I’ve been on sick leave from work (back trouble) so have been reading more than my usual couple of books a week—perhaps that increases the odds of finding good stuff. Anyway, here are some recent reads that got a “Favorite Read” asterisk (*) in my reading notebook:
WRATH by Ella James: beautifully-written and heartbreaking m/m about the damage done by “conversion therapy.” Difficult to read in parts (why the hell haven’t we outlawed these abusive practices?), but ultimately an uplifting love story about finding a loving partner and recovering from trauma in a healthy way.
THE IMPOSSIBLE BOY & THE LOST BOY by Anna Martin: m/m duet covering five years in the on-then-off-then-on relationship between a pan-sexual musician and a gender-fluid fashion journalist. It’s written in a gentle, low-key way that belies some of the serious subject matter (anorexia, drug addiction).
FINDING IVY by Claire Kingsley: a romance with suspense and paranormal elements. A man with no memory of who he is is convinced he has to protect a woman from an unknown danger. The couple fall in love as they try to uncover the hero’s past and the source of the danger.
HIS HEART by Claire Kingsley: a woman connects with the recipient of her late boyfriend’s transplanted heart. Super-angsty and rather dark for Kingsley. In its broad outline, the book reminded me of a similar book I read earlier this year, Jennifer Hartmann’s THE WRONG HEART. Both good books with similar stories, but the executions and focuses were completely different.
THE ENDLESS ROAD TO SUNSHINE by Nicky James: m/m with lots of tropes (age-gap/grumpy-sunshine/professor-student) that don’t really feel like tropes because of how individualized James makes the characters; and also because of the propulsive plot involving the older MC having been married for many years to a serial killer. I thought James did a good job of making it plausible that someone could be married to someone and not realize what a monster they were.
I’ve got the James in my Audible wish list – I’ve really liked the books of hers I’ve listened to so far, and this sounds really unusual.
It was the first book I’d read by James and I liked it very much. I will say it took a while for me to connect with the younger MC—he’s hyperactive and a non-stop chatterbox with no filter—he’s a bit exhausting at first; but I immediately sympathized with the older MC who is trying (and initially not doing a very good job of it) to rebuild his life after discovering that the man he loved for years was a cold-blooded psychopath.
I’ve listened to her Hometown Jasper series, which is a low-angst contemporary series (excellent narration from Nick J. Russo), but I know she generally writes fairly angsty stuff (I have the first two books in her Healing Hearts series – which form a duology – ready to go when I get a minute!), and a friend recently enjoyed Love Me Whole, about a character with dissociative personality disorder; she said it was really well-written and researched.
The Endless Road to Sunshine sounds very good! It reminds me of the Stillhouse Lake series by Rachel Caine, which is about a woman with 2 kids who finds out that her husband is a serial killer when an SUV accidentally crashes into their home’s garage (her husband’s workshop) and a body is revealed. The books are more thriller/mystery but there is a romance. I highly recommend the series!
Thank you for the recommendation, Manjari. I’ll have to check those out. As I said, I thought James did a great job of showing a character totally undone by the knowledge that his long-time partner was a serial killer. Initially, the police, the media, the families of the victims, and even the guy’s own parents don’t believe he didn’t know about the killings; and he tortures himself with guilt about whether he should have noticed the signs. Naturally, his trust in other people and his ability to let anyone get close romantically is utterly broken. James captured all that so vividly.
The same happens to the main character in the Stillhouse Lake series! She wonders how she didn’t realize what was going on and no one believes she didn’t know. She gets attacked by the media and persecuted by Internet trolls and victim’s groups. She has to change her name, move herself and her children, and be on constant guard. Her life completely changes from happy housewife to wary, tough protector of her family. I like that it’s a series so we can see her evolution.
I’m just finishing up In My Dreams I Hold a Knife which is mystery/thriller with a romance. It’s very good. I loved/hated The Sight of You by Holly Miller. I swooned over the YA book Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter. Thanks to Goodreads, I found and enjoyed The Bride trilogy by S. Doyle. It’s a marriage of convenience/ age gap/ friends to lovers/ cowboy romance. If you have Kindle Unlimited it’s worth a try. Good,