Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Overview: October Reading

Books read in October: 23
Books read YTD: 204 (Goodread Reading Challenge completed. YAY!)

Fiction Titles: 
  • 21 (12 historical romance, 8 contemporary romance, 1 paranormal romance)

Non-Fiction Titles: 
  • 1 (Travel/History)

Noteworthy Novels

Noteworthy Non-Fiction

Noteworthy Settings

  • Starling by Virginia Taylor - enjoyed the historic South Australian setting, but you can read my thoughts about the rest of the book here. 
  • Midnight Feast by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner - I am continually surprised by how Barry and Turner can make me buy the HEAs in this series, while at the same time showing the sexist and hypermasculine environment of the 60s. 

Kick-ass Characters

  • Take the Lead by Alexis Daria - Professional dancer Gina Morales is a heroine who has set her professional boundaries, and doesn't take kindly to people who think that these are negotiable. Inspiring. 
  • Hamilton's Battalion by Courtney Milan, Rose Lerner and Alyssa Cole
  •  - literally every main character in this anthology deserves a mention. Just read it. 
  • Bountiful by Sarina Bowen - small business owner and single mother Zara has to decide if she should take a risk and open her heart to the father of her child. 
  • Midnight Feast by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner - I'm still in awe at the authors' nuanced portrayal of a marriage gone sour, particularly their ability to imbue both characters with completely relatable and reasonable struggles, and the way that silence can become so full and heavy with preconceptions, misunderstandings and everything left unsaid. 
  • An Unsuitable Heir by K J Charles - The love story and discussion about gender and sexual identity (sans 21st century terminology) between non-binary protagonist Pen and his partner, Mark were really something.

This Month on the Internet...

Please be aware that some of the links this month discuss abortion, sexual assault and rape. I have added content warnings to the articles that deal with these themes. 

Romance
Other Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry

Other Media

Women, Sexism and Feminism

Weird, Wacky and Wonderful
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Wednesday, 4 October 2017

Overview: September Reading

Books read in September: 25
Books read YTD: 181

Fiction Titles: 

  • 24 (11 historical romance, 7 contemporary romance, 5 speculative fiction romance)

Non-Fiction Titles: 
  • 1 (History)

Noteworthy Novels


Noteworthy Settings

  • Beauiful Wreck by Larrisa Brown - this does double duty with cool settings. First is an futuristic Earth, where people are grouped by which era of the past they choose to emulate. Then the heroine is accidently sent back in time to 10th century Iceland, where the weather and isolation make for hard living. The whole thing feels wonderfully Gothic. 
  • Deep Diving by Cate Ellink - short, cute story about two professional athletes who meet while on holiday on Australia's Lord Howe Island. 
  • A Queen from the North by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese - Set in a alternate England where the Yorkist/Lancastrian enmity of the War of the Roses continues into the present day. A young woman of the Yorkist nobility is given the opportunity to marry the Prince of Wales (although I'm not sure that title still holds) and thus improve the lives of Northerners. There were some elements of worldbuilding that I questioned, or that didn't quite work for me, but it was fun and inventive nonetheless.
  • Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis - Another alternate England this time based on the premise that Boudicea fought off the Romans and established a world in which women deal with politics, and men with magic.

Kick-ass Characters

  • A Taste of Honey by Rose Lerner - I've consistently loved the way this series shines a spotlight on the lives of Regency-era middle and lower classes, but Betsy and Robert struck a particular chord. They had very different ways of approaching everyday business concerns, and watching them figure this - and each other - out both charming and poignant. 
  • Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis - After losing her magic in an attempt to prove herself worthy, Cassandra is adrift, but by no means powerless.

From the Internet this Month


Romance
Other Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry

Other Media

Women & Feminism


Weird, Wacky and Wonderful
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Thursday, 7 September 2017

Overview: July and August Reading

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Soo...what are the chances anyone would believe that I follow the pre-Julian Roman calendar, and that's why July didn't get its monthly overview, and absolutely nothing was posted during August? Because that sounds way better than 'I got really busy with real life and had to put the blog on the backburner'. Even as I apologise for that and tell you that I'm back now, the truth is that my blogging will probably continue to be sporadic over the next few months, as I face the unenviable but unavoidable task of finishing my thesis.

To avoid the last two months being completely lost, I'm combining their monthly round-ups here, in a slightly more abbreviated form than usual. On the upside, after months of reading relatively little, the vagaries of real life seem to have bolstered my reading, and I'm back on track for meeting my goal of 200 books in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. August also saw a lot of comfort re-reading, which is quicker than reading a book for the first time, making the total for that month is unusually high.

Books read in July: 26
Books read in August: 33
Books read YTD: 156

 Fiction Titles (July): 
  • 24 (17 contemporary romance, 3 historical romance, 1 fantasy romance, 2 romance anthologies)

Fiction Titles (August): 
  • 32 (18 historical romance, 13 contemporary romances, 1 steampunk romance)

Non-Fiction Titles (July): 
  • 2 (1 history, 1 urban studies)

Non-Fiction Titles (August): 
  • 1 (Mythography)

Noteworthy Novels

Contemporary

Historical

Noteworthy Non-Fiction

Noteworthy Settings & Sense of Place

  • Safe Passage by Carla Kelly - set in Mexico during the Revolution, although readers should be aware that it centres the experiences of white Mormon colonists.
  • Freedom to Love by Susanna Fraser - touching and sweeping romance between a British officer and a woman of the gens de couleur libres during the War of 1812.
  • Starlight by Carrie Lofty - Incredible sense of place in working-class Glasgow, where mill owner meets one of his factory workers.

Kick-ass Characters

  • Starlight by Carrie Lofty - Unionist, factory-worker heroine Polly is not here for your bourgeoisie shit. 
  • Saving Mr. Perfect by Tamara Morgan - ex-jewel thief Penelope at a loose end now that her husband has put the nix on her career, and watching her and Grant trying to grope towards a new, happy life together is surprisingly poignant, partly because they are both so kick-ass in their respective fields. 
  • Beauty Like the Night by Joanna Bourne - Sevie - sister of an infamous French spy, adopted daughter of an infamous English spy - was never not going to be awesome. See also: all of Joanna Bourne's other heroines. 
  • Rouge Desire Anthology - The heroes and heroines we need - but probably don't deserve - in these dark times. 
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Friday, 30 June 2017

Overview: June Reading

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown


Books read in June: 19
Books read YTD: 93

Fiction Titles: 

  • 16 (9 contemporary romance, 5 historical romance, 1 paranormal romance, 1 romance anthology)

 Non-Fiction Titles: 
  • 2 (History)

Other:
  • 1 Poetry

Noteworthy Novels


Noteworthy Non-Fiction



Noteworthy Settings


Kick-ass Characters

  • Small Change by Roan Parrish  - Heroine Ginger is not good at letting people get close, and it's lovely to see a spiky heroine and the hero who loves her.
  • The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian - the way the heroes were kind, caring and thoughtful to each other was absolutely my catnip.

From the Internet this Month


Romance
Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry

Other Media

Women & Feminism

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Saturday, 3 June 2017

Overview: May Reading

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Five months in I'm really starting to see the value of tracking my reading like this. For example, I never realised before how, in the normal run of things, I read more contemporary than historical romance, but switch to pretty much 100% historicals  as soon as my stress levels start to go up. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that historical romance - obviously - bears less resemblance to me everyday life, and therefore is more escapist? Or is it because historical romance was my first love and gateway to the genre?

Books read in May: 14
Books read YTD: 76

Fiction Titles: 
  • 11 (8 historical romance, 3 contemporary romance)
Non-Fiction Titles: 
  • 3 (1 memoir/social history, 2 history)

Noteworthy Novels

Noteworthy Non-Fiction

Noteworthy Settings

Kick-ass Characters

  • Unseen Attraction by K J Charles - Neuroatypical hero & neurotypical hero unite to solve a crime threatening their home and businesses
  • Clean Breaks by Ruby Lang - heroine Sarah is feeling angry and threatened due to a melanoma diagnosis and the reappearance of the hero in her life, which brings up memories of a long-ago teenage scandal.

From the Internet this Month


Romance



Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry


Other Media

Women & Feminism
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Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Overview: April Reading

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Another slow reading month *sigh*. Maybe it's time to face up to the fact that this is the new normal, and adjust my expectations accordingly.

 Books read in April: 13
Books read YTD: 62

Fiction Titles: 12
  • 12 Romance (5 historical romance, 6 contemporary romance, 1 historical paranormal)
Non-Fiction Titles: 1
  • 1 Scientific Journalism/Personal History
Poetry Titles: 1


Noteworthy Novels


Noteworthy Non-Fiction

  • N/A - Once again, I only read one non-fiction book this month, and I'll be damned if  I let it win by default, because it was self-aggrandizing and tone-deaf Kindle Single about Henrietta Lacks, written by the journalist who originally broke the story. I only bought it because I can't afford The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks at the moment, but I wish I hadn't. 

Noteworthy Settings

Kick-ass Characters

  • Bernie from The Undateable by Sarah Title - A great unlikeable heroine
  • Nate & Robyn from Perv by Dakota Gray - They're the dirty, fucked up couple you didn't know you needed in your life. Nate's your classic playboy with a fresh twist, but Robyn's not buying his practiced routine.
  • Gabriel from Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas - Come on, he's Evie and Sebastian's son. It was genetically impossible for him not to be kick-ass, but he endeared himself to me in the way he dealt with Pandora's worries about losing her legal personhood.

From the Internet this Month

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Saturday, 8 April 2017

Overview: March Reading

The blog's been pretty quiet this last month, because I've been drowning in uni work. I've come up now for a quick breath of air, but I suspect I'll be pulled back down in a week or two. Apologies in advance for that.

 My uni commitments also meant this wasn't a very prolific reading month for me. Reading in English also seems to interfere with my ability to slip back into German when I step out my front door or put away my book at the end of a bus trip. Nonetheless, here is my reading for the month, in all its underwhelming glory:

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Books read in March: 14
Books read YTD: 49

 Fiction Titles: 13
  • 13 Romance (4 historical romance, 7 contemporary romance, 1 fantasy & 1 mixed anthology)
Non-Fiction Titles: 1
  • 1 Social History/Theology

Since I started this feature in January, I've been playing around with what I want it to look like. The previous months have focused heavily on setting, but I'm not sure that interests anyone as much as it interests me, so I've come up with something new and different this month that I think has better long-term potential (and is less time-consuming so maybe I'll actually get these posts up on time, even if I am busy). Also, if you have any opinions about what you would like to see in these posts, feel free to give me a shout.


Noteworthy Novels


Noteworthy Non-Fiction


Noteworthy Settings


Kick-ass Characters

  • Elle from An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole - Elle is a free woman with an eidetic memory, who goes undercover as a slave to pass information to the Union during the Civil War
  • James Hook from Peter Darling by Austin Chant - not all anti-heroes wear capes, but James probably would if you gave him the chance

From the Internet this Month
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Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Overview: February Reading

This month was a bit of a slower reading month than January, mostly because of a big personal change that happened in my life: I moved to Germany to study!

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Books read in February: 15
Books read YTD: 35

 Fiction Titles: 12
  • 11 Romance (2 historicals, 8 contemporaries, 1 historical fantasy)
  • 1 General Fiction
Non-Fiction Titles: 3
  • 2 History
  • 1 Sociology/Social History
I am currently reading Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, but I don't anticipate will be finished by the end of the day, so this will appear in March's stats. 

Setting Statistics

USA: 5


 UK: 4


 Australia: 1

  • Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss - this was my General Fiction read. Engaging and eye-opening story about a Japanese escapee from a POW camp in Cowra and the Wiradjuri family who shelter him. Romantic elements, but non-HEA warning!
Nigeria: 1

  • A Tailor-Made Romance by Oyindamola Affinnih - Cute romance where the conflict comes from the heroine's perception of a class difference between her and the hero. Had some trouble with her self-absorption, even though it makes sense in the context of the story.

Philippines: 1



 Non-Fiction with a Setting: 3


Non-Fiction without a Setting: 0

As you can see, I'm still mucking around with the format for these monthly overviews. I liked the idea of highlighting books I read that took place outside the dominant settings of the US and UK, but I also don't want to focus on that at the exclusion of marginalised and/or ownvoices authors, and characters that are something other than the white, cishet able-bodied default. So we'll see what I end up feeling comfortable with; it may be that it continues to differ from month to month. 
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Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Overview: January Reading

This year, I thought it might be fun and enlightening to crunch some numbers at the end of each month. It'll give me - and you - and overview of what I've been reading, and help keep me on track with the resolutions I made at the end of last year: to be better at reviewing diverse fiction I enjoy, and to read and review more Australian and New Zealand literature.

Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown

Books read: 20

 Fiction Titles: 17

  • 15 romance (5 historicals, 10 contemporaries)
  • 1 Literary Fiction
  • 1 Short Story Collection

Non-fiction Titles: 3

  • 2 Gender Studies/Feminist Theory
  • 1 History

Setting Statistics

USA: 9

 Canada: 1 


Australia: 1 


New Zealand: 2 


Philippines: 1 


Spain: 1 


Fictional setting: 2

Non-Fiction with a setting: 1 (New Zealand History)

 Non-Fiction without a setting: 2 (both Gender Studies/Feminist Theory)

 I'm interested in the statistics about setting because calssifying my reviews my setting a few months ago really drove home how much of the literature I read is set in the US. 

 I just did a quick tally, and of the 234 books I read last year, about 106 were fiction with a US setting (and that's excluding books only partially set in the US, or set in an alternate universe US). I thought that the UK wouldn't be far behind, given how many historical romances I read, but it's pulling a distant second with roughly 33 books. Even though I I've spoken about my disillusion with my Beyond a Single Story Challenge, I still think it's important to be aware of US (and British, and English-language) cultural hegemony in literature, and the effects that it can have.

 At this point, I'm not aiming to read less books set in the US this year. I just want to keep an eye on the statistics, rather than being hit with a fait accompli in December. As you can see, 9 out of 17 fiction books I read this month were set in the US; that's 53%. I've also listed the books with real-world non-US settings in case people are interested, and made notes of which ones I intend to review. Hopefully that make me feel accountable and those reviews will get past the draft stage!
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Monday, 12 December 2016

Recommendations/Reflection: Best Reads of 2016

EDIT 12/3/18: In light of recent revelations about Santino Hassell, I am no longer comfortable featuring his co-written book Fast Connectionas on this post. it has been removed from the 'Top 5 Unreviewed Reads' section, leaving it with only 4 items, instead of the original 5.

 It's that time of the year where wrapping-up-the-year's-reading posts are a dime a dozen, so here's mine. My best 10 books of 2016 - five that I reviewed, and five that never got reviewed - plus an extra five that I read this year, but were not published in 2016. They're listed 1-5 in each category in terms of reading order, not as an internal ranking within that category. In instances where I haven't reviewed the book, I've linked to other reviews where the reviewer has felt the same way about the book that I have. Looking back, I've had a really good reading year, with lots of great discoveries, but there are also some things that I'm looking to change and refine as we move towards 2017.

Top 5 Reviewed Reads of 2016



1. Level Up by Cathy Yardley
Sweet, geeky flatmates-to-lovers story between two colleagues at a video development company. Light-hearted, but nuanced. Read full review. 

2. Earth Bound by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner
1960s space race romance, with female computer engineer squaring off against misogynistic sausage fest. Grumpy chief engineer hero who's her adversary during the day, and her lover once they clock off. Atypical romance arc makes it very engaging and satisfying. Read full review. 

3. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
This office romance was one of the year's most loved romances, and I was a definite fan. Funny, off-beat with a great slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance at its core. Read full review.


 4. The Gossip by Jenny Holiday
It's campus cop versus popular college girl in this swoony 1980s novella that packs a massive emotional punch despite its short length. Read full review.

5. Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar
An Aussie YA/NA romance where the hero and heroine are young, imperfect and at competing university colleges. Raw, honest and feminist. Read full review. 

Top 5 Unreviewed Reads of 2016



1. Let it Shine by Alyssa Cole
Bittersweet novella about the romance between a young black woman and her Jewish childhood friend, set in the 1960s against the background of the Civil Rights Movement and Freedom Rides. Read review by Rudi at Book Thingo.

2. Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik
Chick lit-slash-contemporary romance told through diary entries. Sofia's attempts to chronicle Muslim dating for the publishing house where she works are hilarious, insightful and leads to a very sweet romance! Read review by Carrie at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.


3. A Gentleman's Position by K J Charles 
Inter-class romance between a lord and his valet in another strong book from K J Charles. I truly admire the way that she can take a situation and spin it so that the reader empathises with each character's perspective. Read review by Jay at Joyfully Jay. 

4. The Horseman by Charlotte Nash
The mystery sub-plot and well-developed characters in this rural romance set in Victoria make it a real page-turner. Read review by Lee at Scandalicious Book Reviews. 

Top 5 Not Published in 2016


1. Under the Sugar Sun by Jennifer Hallock (2015)
In the Philippines at the turn of the century, an American schoolteacher meets a kind-hearted mestizo sugar baron. Heart-squeezy romance and heart-wrenching exploration of colonialism ensues. Read full review. 

2. Act Like It by Lucy Parker (2015)
Probably one of the most praised books of this year, even if it was published in November last year. Fake romance trope-y goodness between a Darcy-esque West End actor and his castmate to counteract bad publicity. Read review by Sarah by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

3. Haveli by Zeenat Mahal (2013)
In 1970s Pakistan, headstrong Chandni resists her grandmother's attempts to push her into a union with a family friend's son, Taimur a.k.a 'Alpha Male'. Masterful novella with such strong characterisation. Read full review. 

4. Jasper and the Dead by R J Astruc (2013)
I only gave this M/M AU romance four stars (damn third-person present tense writing style) but the original yet familiar worldbuilding of Astruc's AU colonial Sydney has stuck with me over the course of the year, and I've recommended it to several people since, so I think it deserves to be here. Read full review. 

5. Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins (2013)
Small-town New Zealand romance with All Black hero and vet heroine. Quirky but so emotional. Read full review.


Concluding Thoughts

The Top 5 unreviewed section is the most diverse, with 2 M/M romances, Cole's Let it Shine with a Black heroine and Jewish hero, and Malik's Sofia, a British Muslim of Pakistani extraction. This is disturbing and - quite frankly - not good enough. It's not good enough to be reading diversely if my blogging doesn't represent the full extent of this, especially when they are books that I could have reviewed positively. Clearly, next year, I need to more closely examine what I choose to review, what I choose not to review, and the unconscious bias or reasoning behind it. 

 Recently, classifying my reviews by setting, I realised how few books I'd reviewed that were set on my own turf, which prompted my to check how many books from Australia and New Zealand I'd actually read this year. The results were dismal: 7 entirely set in Australia, and 5 in New Zealand. Given those stats, the Antipodes is grossly over-represented on this list, with 3 books set in Australia, 1 in New Zealand and 2 more (1 each) by Australian and Kiwi authors that were set elsewhere (Act Like It takes place in London, and The Hating Game in a unspecified New York-style city). Good books set in Australia or New Zealand bring with them a warm, familiar feeling, and every time I experience that, I wonder why I don't read more local fiction. Next year, I will. 

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has read and supported this blog over the last two years. It's been a blast. 

 Onward and upward to 2017!
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