Book Lovers Open Thread

This post is for you! Love books? Share why! What are you reading right now?

I’ll go first 🙂

I can’t remember when I haven’t loved books. Some of my earliest childhood memories are about reading books. As I grew older (still a kid though) and still obviously had way too much time on my hands, I used to pretend my books were part of a library and I would create little card catalog squares that I’d tape on the spines. Some of my children’s books still have those little slips of paper. I have no idea what system I used or if I just made it up. I think I even had check out slips on the inside and tried to make my brother check them out from me. I don’t think it worked.

I’ve always dreamed of having a library in my house where I’d need a ladder that slides on wheels or a track. Sigh. Someday. I just love physical books and having them on shelves or in stacks around me bring me comfort. I love looking at them. That’s why I’d never be able to fully go digital.

It’s rare that a day goes by when I haven’t read from a book. At my local hamburger joint, the kitchen staff calls me “The Reader” because I sit at the bar twice a week and read and eat my hamburger.

I also generally have more than one book going at a time. I used to be better about alternating non-fiction with my fiction, but I’ve gotten lax lately, unless I’m needing to do research.

What I’m reading:

The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma. I picked this up about a month ago and found the tale interesting but apparently not interesting enough as it’s still sitting in my To Finish pile. It’s told from an Omniscient POV.

Characters real and imaginary come vividly to life in this whimsical triple play of intertwined plots, in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence.

What happens if we change history?

Félix J. Palma explores this provocative question, weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting—a story full of love and adventure that transports readers from a haunting setting in Victorian London to a magical reality.

A Groom of One’s Own by Maya Rodale. Picked up all the ones in this series last week for my Kindle as they’re only .99 right now and am a sucker for characters who are writers. The plot is well paced as I really want to finish and find out what happens! My only quibble is some of the historical inaccuracies which pulled me out of the story several times. Mind you, I’m not one of those that needs to have it all accurate (that’s impossible) and we’re writing fantasy after all and walk a fine line between reader needs/expectations and historical accuracy. But these were small, non-plot-related details that could’ve easily been fixed without affecting the story. It’s weird because I can tell she’s researched the time period.

Miss Harlow’s marriage in high life
London, 1823 
A handsome duke. His beautiful soon-to-be duchess. A whirlwind courtship. It is this author’s privilege to report on the event all of London is talking about: the upcoming wedding of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon to the only daughter of the Duke of Richmond. Every detail of the “Wedding of the Year” will be reported in these pages as a London Weekly exclusive.
But I, Miss Sophie Harlow, must confess to a secret infatuation with this “double duke” that can only lead to trouble. It is impossible that this notoriously upstanding gentleman would ever jilt his bride for a scandalous female newspaper writer. And yet . . . the arrival of a foreign prince, the discovery of a shocking secret, and one passionate kiss could change everything. Will this perfect duke risk the scandal of the year to marry the woman his heart desires?

How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling. This was one of my free books from RWA. Just started it and enjoying so far. Was pitched as The Bachelor set in The Regency.

Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne is a man with a mission: find a wife he can tolerate as long as they both shall live. Love is not necessary–nor desired. But how to choose among a dizzying array of wealthy-yet-witless candidates? Hire London’s infamously prim and proper matchmaker. Then pretend she’s not the most captivating woman he’s ever met…

Helping a devilish Duke create a contest to pick his perfect mate is the kind of challenge Tessa Mansfield relishes. Her methods may be scandalous, but she’s determined to find the notorious bachelor more than a wife–she’ll bring him true love. Yet when Tessa watches the women vie for the Duke’s affections, she longs to win his heart herself. And after a stolen kiss confirms Tristan’s desire, Tessa knows she has broken a matchmaker’s number one rule: never fall in love with the groom.

Werewolf in Seattle: A Wild About You Novel by Vicki Lewis Thompson. Just started reading this one too. Another freebie from RWA.

The last thing Colin McDowell wants is to inherit his Aunt Geraldine’s mansion in the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington. As the pack leader of the Trevelyans in Scotland, he had little time to travel halfway around the world to take care of his inheritance.

But the trip takes a pleasant turn when he meets Luna Reynaud, the young secretary his aunt hired shortly before she died. He isn’t sure which surprises him more-Luna’s clever plan for turning the mansion into a resort of the fact that she’s drop-dead gorgeous. Both intrigue him-until he learns that Luna is only a half-breed. There’s no way a pack leader can mate with a woman who’s partly human…or is there?

Celtic Myths and Legends by T.W. Rolleston. I blogged about this last week and am still enjoying it.

Masterful retelling of Irish and Welsh stories and tales of the Ultonian and Ossianic cycles, the voyage of Maeldun, and the myths and tales of the Cymry (Welsh). Favorite and familiar stories of Cuchulain, King Arthur, Deirdre, the Grail, many more.

So what about you? What are you reading? What do you love about books?

7 Replies to “Book Lovers Open Thread”

  1. Just finished re-reading one of my all time favorites, The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. As a fantasy classic (published in 1982), it’s a little slow to start when you’re used to today’s fast-paced openings, but every line is beautifully written and the story is brilliant. It’s sort of a British empire colonization story in an alternate world where it’s not really Britain, where the wild Hillfolk ride their horses through a desert to fight demon-kings, and where the magic the colonists don’t believe in turns out to be real. As a girl I desperately wanted to be Harry, the protagonist, who refused to be called Angharad and never quite seemed sure as to how she ended up a hero of the hills.

      1. Hi Angela, kudos on the agent and winning the latest contest. I’m really enjoying the blog. Am reading The Tiger’s Wife which I’m loving. A great story that takes place somewhere in former Soviet Union. Goes back and forth from grandfather’s and grandaughter’s time. Wonderful examination and telling of myths and I love the intelligent magical realism in it. There’s a deathless man in it who is a wonderful character, but all the characters are beautifully portrayed. Keep going grill, the publishing industry will soon start paying you to create this blog and let us know what’s happening with your Mss.

  2. My mom was a book lover who always brought books home for my siblings and I, and loved reading to us. At first I loved the connection books built between me and my mom, but later, I grew to love them of their own right. I read a great deal the first half of this year, but now I’ve slowed. I’m 40 pages from finishing Lucifer’s Shadow, but can’t seem to force myself to finish it, and I’m about 40 pages into The Grace of Silence. (That’s a book I’m loathe to put down!) Guilty admission: I’m also reading a Sweet Valley e-book, in memory of the old days of reading them defiantly because my mom said they were the only thing she didn’t want me reading.

  3. I’m currently reading a Sci-Fi romance from an indie published author that I just discovered. It’s called, “Demon Possession”, by Kiersten Fay. It was her first and needed a bit more editing, but the characters are unique and intriguing and the plot is exciting. The heat level is high and the sci-fi part satisfies my curiosity (since it takes place in space). I’m curious to see how her second book turned out.

    Before that I finished reading Sherrilyn Kenyon’s, “Born of Silence”, and oh jeez…. I didn’t come out unscathed. Read it in two days. It is one of her darker, torture filled stories but I felt so much emotion from each character and the relationship between the hero and his best friend just wrenched my heart into pieces.

  4. Very much behind the curve here, but here’s the book I’m currently (re) reading as it inspired this year’s NaNoWriMo novel: Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt which combines insights from classical studies and Egyptology to produce a fresh and scholarly look at the famous yet enigmatic Cleopatra. The mention of the Arab traditions about Cleopatra as a virtuous scholar-queen inspired me to write the steampunk version.

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