Now that I have been vaccinated–yay!–I have been doing less reading and watching than during the pandemic. For the past year, I’ve read several books a week (The best: Bench Player and Ten Things I Hate About the Duke and binged what seems like, in retrospect, countless shows. (The best: A Place to Call Home followed by The Queen’s Gambit.)
However, even though I’m reading and watching less, I am still doing both!
I am currently reading Last Hope Island and The Heiress Hunt. The first is taking me a while because I so rarely read nonfiction. The second, well, the jury’s out on this one. I loved the set up but, halfway into the book, want to send Maddie, the heroine, to Golden Rule School. Next up, is Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro and–I can’t wait–The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St. George. I’m watching, for the first time, Mad Men. I love the acting and the sets but, honestly, halfway into the first season I’m over the idea that everyone and every family was fundamentally miserable in 1959. Surely at least one of those suburban homes held some happiness! I’ve also started The English Game which I am enjoying.
How about you? What are you reading and/or watching?
Because the last of the True Gentlemen books by Grace Burrowes has come out, I decided to reread some of her books before getting around to the new release — mostly because I wanted to spin out the time with her characters. Instead of reading books in order by series, however, I began by jumping around.
As far as I know, Burrowes is unusual among romance writers because her books do not so much form a chronology as a web. This means there can be different paths through her work that make rereading a more interesting exercise for me.
One sequence I read began with Matthew (Belmont), and went on to Axel (Belmont), Worth (Kettering), then His Lordship’s True Lady (Hessian Kettering). I did this to read Jacaranda’s story in Worth, which is the first Dorning romance.
Then I read the Dorning books, from Will’s True Wish through The Last True Gentleman, omitting Hessian’s book and the Tresham book that came after. After the Dornings, I read My Own True Duchess (Jonathan Tresham), and then, because the Duke of Anselm appears in Tresham’s book, I read the stand-alone The Duke’s Disaster.
Next I read Nicholas (Haddonfield), who marries Lady Leah Lindsay, in part because I had read Worth, but also because of a remembered connection to Axel Belmont’s sons. Ethan (Grey), the older, illegitimate brother of Nicholas came next. Then I read The Virtuoso (Valentine Wyndham) in which the Belmont boys and Darius Lindsay appear. Next up, Darius (Lindsay) followed by Trenton (Lindsay).
I finished Beckman (Haddonfield) and am almost done with Gabriel (North/Hesketh). Tremaine’s True Love (Tremaine St. Michael) will likely be next, which will veer again into the Haddonfield sisters.
Other times I have read through all the Haddonfields in order by marriage. The Windhams are easy to read that way.
Even though The Duke’s Disaster is a standalone novel outside of Burrowes various series, it can be fitted into reading sequences as a result of her plotting style.
I find it really interesting to vary the reading order among the many parallel novels because my focus on the secondary characters changes. The plotting Grace Burrowes follows on the many interrelated books seems more like a complex television series story arc than the more sequential series from writers such as Jennifer Ashley, Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Roberta Gellis, Mary Jo Putney, or many others.
In the end, what I particularly like about the Burrowes novels in the Regency time frame is that they develop not a family saga, but a community saga that reflects a social network of people I find interesting. But soon I am going to get back to my tbr list and other new releases, too.
I haven’t read her in a long time. You make a persuasive case!
I’m going all over the place. I got back into Agatha Christie (after seeing a couple of documentaries on PBS) and finally read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” I finished a cool (but violent) YA fantasy (The Gilded Ones). And now, I’m reading a domestic thriller — “The Wrong Family” by Tarryn Fisher.
I’ve watched almost nothing since the pandemic started.We even cancelled our subscription services except for Netflix,and we don’t have cable or dish. Pandemic began,I was furloughed from work, and I completely lost interest in visual media. Go figure.
I returned to reading as my default activity, especially audiobooks,which I had almost stopped listening to. I generally go through 3 audiobooks and two print books a week now, because that is like my job. It’s what I do 6 or 7 hours a day–read. Most of my plans for home improvements (like deep cleaning, organizing) have withered on the vine as I read. I have managed to get back to drawing, taking some online courses for fun.
I just finished up a 5 book Boundary Magic by Melissa F. Olson, a UF series from KU that is whispersynced for free on Audible. A cut above in terms of world building and plotting. Very enjoyable. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Annabeth Albert books, and a UF romance series by Jenn Burke, Not Dead Yet.
I also just finished the last Stella Riley book on audio that I hadn’t already listened to. I’m still in awe of her historical fiction books (each with a romance that is so good). She has an amazing talent for weaving historical facts with fictional characters for a completely compelling story. I also really enjoyed her historical romances, the Rockcliffe series.
I’m continuing with Hailey Turner’s Metahuman series, and planning to start a Cat Sebastian series. I honestly rarely know exactly what I’ll read or listen to next. I’m very mood driven.
You are inspiring me to read a Stella Riley. Which one would you recommend as a one off?
FWIW, I am new to Stella Riley as well but started with the first Rockcliffe title. It was delightful. Am slowly making my way through them, and will start on the rest of her work as well. BTW – someone mentioned this series around the time of all the “best of” lists for 2020. Not sure I’d have found this author otherwise.
I know I mentioned her on my “best of 2020” post here even though her work was published years ago. She was my biggest find for 2020.
A Splendid Defiance has been one of my favourite books for the last 35 years. Plus, it’s one of her few standalones, so you don’t have to commit to reading a whole series.
I’ve been a big fan of Stella’s since the 1980s (yes, really!) She stopped writing for a while in the 90s, but returned to the fray a decade or so ago. Her historical situations are meticulously researched and she writes heroes to die for. The steam level is moderate, but she’s someone who can write sexual tension so thick you can cut it with a knife.
I agree with Caz that A Splendid Defiance is amazing. It is set in the English Civil Wars period and while it’s a stand alone, the main character does show up in her Roundheads and Cavaliers series,which was always fun to see. I also love The Marigold Chain, another stand alone, this time set during the Restoration period in 1666.
Riley’s Rockcliffe series is a more standard historical romance series, although in my opinion better than most. They are set in the mid 1700’s.
If you enjoy audiobooks, all of these are available narrated by Alex Wyndham at his very best, and worth every minute.
ASD is the first of Stella’s books I ever read – I remember coming upon it (and The Marigold Chain, I think) completely by accident in the book section at Selfridge’s and being utterly smitten with it (and Justin!). Then somehow, my dog-eared paperback copies of both books disappeared – I can only presume they got lost in a move or something) and second-hand copies were going for hundreds of pounds. I kept checking Amazon on the off chance that maybe they were available digitally but no luck – until one day I saw The Parfit Knight – which I hadn’t read – on Kindle and pounced immediately! Stella later told me that it was her husband’s gift of a Kindle for her birthday that set her on the path to republishing her older books – and for that, I am eternally grateful!
I have gone back to re-reading some of my favorite authors: Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Laura Kinsale, Joanna Bourne, Loretta Chase,Kristin Hannah. I find that many of the newer authors do not appeal to my senses though I have tried to understand the themes and gist they do not engage my interest. Searching for new authors and enjoy reading the comments by others.
I think that re-reading has been huge in the pandemic. We all need comfort and there’s nothing more comfortable than reading, again, a book one loves.
As I’ve said elsewhere here, I’ve spent my audiobook time–when I walk and drive–listening to all the Harry Potter books. I’m almost done with my favorite, The Goblet of Fire. I have read them all but all the ones after this one, I’ve only read twice and not aloud (my children got old enough to read them for themselves and hadn’t the patience for me to read them to them). I have loved the time I’ve spent in Rowling’s world which was such a joyful and influential part of children’s’ childhood. Everytime, Dumbledore shows up and helps Harry, I feel as though I’ve been hugged.
I have gone for a conscious read of older titles / authors, that were new to me, recommended (often here), then one book appealed to my taste and I went on a hunt and read nearly all of Sophie Weston, a lot of Essie Summers, Mary Burchell, Elsie Lee’s contemporaries and now I am moving towards re-reading Edith Layton, Celeste de Blasis, with an occasional Carla Kelly and Roberta Gellis thrown in. Maybe I will go for old Kristin Hannah next, or the old old MJ Putney books.
Occasionally, I read a KJ Charles or anything that you specially recommend here, but my trend is above.
I find the non-pc realities of those books, and the heroes who often remain a mystery, as we are all in the heroine’s head, for many of these authors, all this appeals to me right now. There is a sad realism in them that modern books gloss over: Women are weaker, were often prey (still are) and men are mysterious in their behavior, and all this is constantly in the background, in those books.
I have no idea why this is where I end up right now. I was happy with the more modern books for ages, and I still cannot say why I am now so firmly in the close past, and in attitudes that I still personally remember and see in older persons (my age and up), and never liked much, though they are real and pretty pervasive, still.
I do not enjoy watching stuff, and since I have only myself to please, I tend to go out into nature a lot, and read a lot, and spend much more time talking to friends than before this strange times. That is how I go on.
OMG, Lieselotte! A reference to Elsie Lee!!! I first read her in 1970 – before the beginning of modern times ;-) !!!! I always loved her regencies – even more than the contemporaries and of those, Barrow Sinister is the one I recall most.
I tried both. The recommendation for the Nabob’s widow came from here, and I loved that.
But somehow, her contemporaries suit my mood. Those heroines, both confused and yet defiant in the way women could be / were in the 70-ies, both so “modern” and yet still so hemmed in by “manners”, I find it so fascinating right now.
Weird but fun!
I love those authors also and reread them often . I’m reading Gentlemen Prefer Blondes /Loretta Chase I love it interesting plot
Reading The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black. So many recipes (adapted) sound like fun to try but also call for huge amounts of saffron which costs a fortune. My DH and I are wallowing in series 11 of Blue Bloods, watching Devils, Unforgotten, The Terror, MasterChef and I keep wondering if Outlander will manage to return in my life time ;-)
Saffron is remarkably affordable at Trader Joe’s!
Long way from England!!
This is actually something I adore about our community. I have no idea where anyone is! And yet we are all here.
Last week I finished KJ Charles’ The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting, which I loved. Now I’m about halfway into Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan, and I’m feeling spoiled getting two great books in a row. Thanks AAR!
My viewing’s been going well, too. I loved Nomadland. Francis McDormand is amazing and the gorgeous cinematography was like a love letter to the American west. Just started Lupin on Netflix, which is about a “gentleman thief.” The series was made in France, and the dubs are so good, you hardly notice. The first episode was well done with wit, intrigue and great action. Plus it was shot in Paris. I am hoping the rest of the series will be as good.
My husband and I had a mild argument about whether it was dubbed or not. Halfway into the third episode, he was like “I don’t think they’re speaking English.” Yup Dude told you that 5 minutes into the first episode.
I found Nomadland to be good but not great. And while I think McDormand is astonishing in all she does, I didn’t feel that this role was Best Actor worthy–she appears to be the forerunner.
Thanks to recommendations from AAR, I just finished Stella Riley’s Rockcliffe series. It was very enjoyable, low heat, more than wallpaper, Georgian romance. Several of the series dragged a little, and as it went on it got a little melodramatic, but it was refreshing to have clever dialogue and protagonists who mostly behave historically. I am looking forward to her series set in the Restoration.
Since I’ve decided I don’t care for the world c. 2020-2021, I’ve been reading old mystery stories. I just finished Barbara Paul’s “Your Eyelids Are Growing Heavy”, which is a combination amnesia/hypnosis story, and I am a sucker for both of these tropes. She appeals to my anarchic sense that private justice beats legal justice.(Not that I’d actually do it, but…)
Reading across a few genres, including nonfiction (“The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery), literature (“The Buried Giant” by Kazuo Ishiguro), romance (an oldie but goodie, “In the Midnight Rain” by Ruth Wind/Barbara Samuel), and mystery (“Murder in Old Bombay” by Nev March). Never would have thought that a book about octopuses would hold my interest, but it did. Only half finished with the Ishiguro but find it mesmerizing and sweet, very much a fairy tale with knights, and ogres and a lovely elderly couple on a journey. The mystery wasn’t bad but was much less satisfying. An interesting setting (1890’s India), but I got tired of the hero telling me how wonderful his lady love was, and there were a number of other questionable aspects to the book as well.
I totally agree with Dabney that “A Place to Call Home” was wonderful. A bit over-the-top sometimes but totally engrossing, with beautiful sets and costumes, people I cared about, and included history and social issues without preaching. Definitely made me want to visit NSW in Australia (especially if I could have visited in the 50’s, when the series is set).
More recently I watched the documentary “My Octopus Teacher” (octopuses are definitely having their Andy Warhol 15-minutes, as Stephen Colbert even mentioned this recently), “Happy Valley” (only two seasons so far but fingers crossed there will be a third), “Queen’s Gambit” (I felt I was the only person I knew who hadn’t seen it and my friends/family got tired of me telling them not to talk about it since I didn’t want spoilers), “War & Peace” (2016 version with Lily James, Paul Dano, and James Norton). I know I’m shallow, but I am a sucker for costume dramas, and the sets and costumes for QG and W&P were quite amazing. I don’t think all the women’s costumes for W&P were totally historically accurate, although there’s a scene of Prince Andrei leaning out a window, dressed in a shirt which has the correct early 19th C collar and buttons only to mid-chest, so is more accurate than most romance novel covers. I don’t even really like the women’s styles of the 1960s, but Anya Taylor-Joy in QG carried them off so well.
You’re not kidding about octopi being a trend right now. Recently, I ran across a science fiction anthology entitled And Lately, the Sun, which had a whole introduction about octopi building a village of sorts out of refuse off the coast of Australia. An interesting choice for a non-fiction intro to a SF anthology, I thought, but I didn’t realize the subject was popping up elsewhere. Interesting…
I think all of us who long for a third season of Happy Valley will be sadly let down. But wasn’t James Norton amazing?
Amazing doesn’t begin to describe it – he’s petrifying as Tommy Lee. And to think he then played Sidney Chambers, a vicar, and Prince Andrei, a troubled 19th C nobleman, and made all of them believable. Did you notice that there’s a scene near the end of the first season of Happy Valley where he’s carrying a copy of War & Peace – I think it was an Easter egg about his role in the miniseries of the novel.
I need to watch War and Peace. I so wish he’d be the next Bond!