WWW Wednesday 2-20-13

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

I’m reading a Regency romance, The Notorious Atherton, for the amazing Patricia Rice. You have to wait until July to read it. I get to read it now. Me, taunting? You bet! But even though you can’t read it today, you can read the two books in the Rebellious Sons series that came before it, starting with The The Wicked Wyckerly and following up with The Devilish Montague.  Aren’t I generous, giving you links and everything? This way you’ll be ready for the fun when Atherton arrives in July. Rice’s readers have been begging for Atherton’s story and they will not be disappointed!

• What did you recently finish reading?

Last week I lied. I said I was going to read  A Bride Most Begrudging. I changed my mind. Why? I explain why here. Short form: I realized it seems to break some rules that annoy me so much I didn’t want to use this book to form an opinion of Christian fiction.

So instead, I chose a different book that had been on my Kindle for a very long time, another book I picked up free somewhere, The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen.

I liked it a lot. This approach to the Regency time period was fresh and interesting–the legal and personal and professional conflicts between physicians, apothecaries, and other medical “professionals” of the era. I am not sure if this was marketed as a Romance. Most romance readers are going to find it at least a little frustrating, and some will find it totally frustrating. I skimmed a number of reviews to be sure before making that comment. The heroine does not have a strong love story here. Depending on how you view the story, either three or four potential suitors are involved. I loved that it wasn’t clear who she would end up with, but many will not like that. Because the reason it wasn’t clear is because there is because she never seems all that smitten by any of them. Her main goal is saving her father’s apothecary business and keeping her family together. I found her story and world compelling and the book worked for me.

Bonus points for making her Christian faith a small but real part of the book, without sermonizing or making me roll my eyes and stop reading. I find spiritual subplots fascinating no matter whether the main character worships the Judeo-Christian God I worship or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I find living in other person’s world fascinating, whatever that might mean. Just don’t use fiction as a pulpit, and we’ll get along fine.

Bonus: I love the graphic flourishes Bethany House Publishers put in this ebook.

I finished listening to Speaking from Among the Bones: A Flavia de Luce Novel, the newest in the series. How I love this girl and her passion for poisons and death (unless it’s a chicken about to be someone’s dinner). I am sad that I now have to wait for the next book, because I loved this one. Some interesting new characters and story twists (for the ongoing story of the De Luce family). Well-crafted, witty, and adorable. I love Flavia. But I’ve said that before, on several occasions!

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Two books showed up from the library and so I need to read them next. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach and Eleven Pipers Piping: A Father Christmas Mystery by C C Benison. I’ll probably read Pipers first because I really did enjoy Twelve Drummers Drumming and have been looking forward to this one.

I’m keeping a running total of my reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge. The January wrap-up is here and I’ll post a February wrap-up on the 28th, in which I’ll ask everybody who is participating to respond with their current numbers in comments.

Paisely Vandermeir requests the pleasure of your presence.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!

WWW Wednesday 2-13-14

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

Today I started a new book because I’m lazy. Every time somebody mentions reading Christian romance on their WWW list I want to say, “Are they any better than they used to be?” but how rude is that? The same could be asked about any genre one doesn’t read, if one doesn’t mind being insulting. I certainly understand that the reasons people have for liking Christian romance aren’t that different from the reasons one might like fantasy or mystery. It’s a story form that you like. The promise made from author to reader is reliable. “You will get your mystery solved and the killers will not go free.” “You will get your happy ending and the couple will be together.” “You will…” Ah, that’s the problem. What I don’t know about Christian romance is what promises the author makes to the reader.

I guess I’m going to find out. The Big Nerd mentioned Random Reads and for fun I put my Goodreads TBR pile through the randomizer and A Bride Most Begrudging popped up. This has been on my Kindle for a long time. I got it free somehow but just haven’t been in the mood to give it a try. One reviewer says, “A dazzling debut novel….an inspirational tale that truly inspires rather than preaches at the reader… “  I’m guess I’m going to find out, and I won’t have to ask others what the current state of the Christian romance is. This is a two-fer. It will count as Historical Reading Challenge and my EORTBR, too!

I’m listening to Speaking from Among the Bones: A Flavia de Luce Novel, the newest in the series. How I love this girl and her passion for poisons and death (unless it’s a chicken about to be someone’s dinner). So happy to have this to listen to.

I mentioned the cool old edition of The House of the Seven Gables I have awhile back. I am not reading it a chapter a day or even at all. Not because it’s boring, but because I keep starting other things instead. But it’s in the mix.

• What did you recently finish reading?

I finished reading 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King. I can tell from his notes afterward that he did a hell of a lot of research and I respect that. I’m sorry to say that the anachronisms about life in Dallas and in Texas in 60-63 were a distraction for me, and there were a lot of them. But he’s such an amazing storyteller and this is topnotch entertainment. Just know that plenty of people who lived through those times in Dallas saw things quite differently than he did, and a lot of his details were outright wrong.

Still. Read it. You’ll be glad you did.

I also listened to a historical romance that I’m not going to name. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I just found it to be so weak, so shockingly weak, and from a writer I’ve loved in the past, and I just am not comfortable giving that kind of review, so I won’t. I’ll state the issues, though. Hero and heroine kept apart by a misunderstanding. A stupid one, at that. And later, stay at cross-purposes by creating new misunderstandings that only a writer’s extreme manipulation could make work, and then only if you allow that the hero and heroine in question must be very stupid. Yeah, that.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m about to beta a Regency romance, The Notorious Atherton, for the amazing Patricia Rice. Can’t wait to get started on that! You have to wait until July to read it. I get to read it now. Me, taunting? You bet!

I’m keeping a running total of my reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge. The January wrap-up is here and I’ll post a February wrap-up on the 28th, in which I’ll ask everybody who is participating to respond with their current numbers in comments.

$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky Amazon reviewer!

And I have to remind you–it’s the last 24 hours! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon and now, at Kobo) before midnight, February 14. Details here.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!

Embarrassment of Riches Challenge – January 31st Check-In

I‘m doing a quick WWW Wednesday and leaving this post so that everyone can post their January “Embarrassment of Riches” stats!

Okay, my WWW is:

Reading: A Crown of Lights (Merrily Watkins 3) by Phil Rickman and 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King and The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (I barely started it and actually liked it, but have been spending all my time reading Stephen King, first. So much for my “chapter a day” idea.)

Finished reading: Midwinter of the Spirit (Merrily Watkins 2) by Phil Rickman and Blackwood (Strange Chemistry)  by Gwenda Bond.

Reading next: Something from the TBR list.

The best part of the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge is that it makes reading books I really want to read feel like I’m doing something “worthy.” (That’s not the right word, is it? I’m groping for the word here… ETA: WORTHWHILE. I was so close.)

ECRTBR January reads:

Twelve Drummers Drumming. 1/4/13 Contemporary cozy mystery I liked despite an annoying habit of author to cut away when something important is revealed or about to happen and start the next chapter later, and backtrack to let us know what we missed. Yes, that. And still liked the book. (ebook)

Between the Devil and Desire. 1/4/13 Historical romance I liked. You should definitely read the first in series before this one, but this one has the Artful Dodger as hero.  (audiobook)

Unraveled. 1/10/13 Story is fascinating and relationship between intense, and I am seeing why I keep finding Milan’s name on lists of favorite romance authors. (audiobook)

Votes for Vixens. 1/15/13 Sympathetic characters dealing with emotional and physical trauma, rich detail, and an unpredictable plot made it worth the while.  (ebook)

Blackwood (Strange Chemistry). Twisty plot, high-concept idea, solid YA paranormal. I likey.  (ebook)

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. A free gift from audible, Sherlock Holmes narrated by Alan Cumming. Wonderful.

My goal is silver, and I’ve now read 6 out of 24.  I think I may switch to platinum at this rate.

Kindle Samples:

The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. (Verdict, love what I read and will definitely BUY.)

My goal is platinum and I’ve now read 1 out of 50. (Ooops!)

Post your January stats in comments. Link back to your blog or goodreads or anywhere else you have it, if you want!

Leave your stats in comments, and/or use Mr Linky to link to your stats and reviews!

Janine made me do it.

I just did something I haven’t done in many years–bought a contemporary romance novel. Not historical. Not set in the UK. No magic or fantasy around.

And I freaking hate the cover.

Why did I buy the kind of book I don’t read with a cover I hate?

Janine on Dear Author made me do it.

You see, I often like what Janine likes, and she has pointed me to some really good books. Even if it’s not the kind of book I ordinarily read.

Even if I hate the cover.

But.

Cross-country bike trip with camping*?

Janine liked it?

I am so in.

Ride with Me: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance. It’s a Loveswept Romance, which is what two of my romances were, back in the last century.

Some of you have been around long enough to remember back when I was a bike-riding person*.  I need to get my bike fixed so I can ride again. But that’s a different subject.

Do you have a reviewer or friend who can convince you to read something even when it’s something you don’t usually like?

$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky Amazon reviewer!

And I have to remind you–it’s here! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon, Kobo and BN) before February 14. Details here.

WWW Wednesday (01-23-13)

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

I’m listening to Midwinter of the Spirit (Merrily Watkins 2),  an English mystery series by Phil Rickman. I thought I’d read this kind of series before–Anglican vicar and parish priest as sleuth. I was so wrong. Rickman says: “I knew very little about vicars or how they worked. The last thing I wanted was to write series about one. I’m not much of a churchgoer… not when there’s a service on, anyway. But suddenly there she was, and I realised what a risky, uncertain occupation she’d taken on.”

By the second book, that occupation is established. “Merrily Watkins has been appointed Deliverance Consultant,or Advisor on the Paranormal, for the Diocese of Hereford. This is a real job; there’s at least one in every diocese in the UK. They work with psychiatrists, social workers… and also the police (inevitably, in this series, this is the aspect of the job that predominates.) And their own beliefs are often tested. Which is what I wanted. There are few certainties in this series. The borderline between psychology and the unexplained is laid out in barbed wire.”

You might know this job better as exorcist. From wikipedia:

In 1974, the Church of England set up the “Deliverance ministry“.^[10] As part of its creation, every diocese in the country was equipped with a team trained in both exorcism and psychiatry. According to its representatives, most cases brought before it have conventional explanations, and actual exorcisms are quite rare; although, blessings are sometimes given to people for psychological reasons.^[10]

Anglican priests may not perform an exorcism without permission from the Diocesan bishop. An exorcism is not usually performed unless the bishop and his team of specialists (including a psychiatrist and physician) have approved it.

Fascinating.

So, a bit of paranormal. A bit of mystery. A bit of spiritual testing. And the fact that she has a pagan daughter. Ingredients blended and tossed really, really well by a very good writer. Which may explain why I’ve listened to the first book and most of the second since last week’s WWW, and yet–

I am still reading the same books I was reading last week,  The House of the Seven Gables and11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King and Blackwood (Strange Chemistry) by Gwenda Bond. Okay, I’m lying. I haven’t actually started Seven Gables but am going to read a chapter of it before beginning my next Kindle book once I finish Blackwood. Hawthorne’s waiting by my bed, and King can wait for me to start Hawthorne before I dive back into his time travel tome, right? Right.

• What did you recently finish reading?

As I said above, I just finished Wine of Angels (Merrily Watkins 1) by Phil Rickman. I discovered this series by exploring Ben Aaronovich’s site. Since I have told you before that I love Ben’s urban fantasy series set in London that begins with (US title) Midnight Riot, I decided to follow his lead here and I am loving Phil Rickman’s series, too.  I even love Merrily’s name, which might have seemed too twee in other circumstances, but she is not a twee character. The explanation, that she was born on Christmas Day and her mum hated the name Noelle. Her dad’s favorite Christmas carol, however, was “Ding Dong Merrily On High.” Well, that’s one of my faves, too. Anything that lets me sing “glorias” to my heart’s desire is a very good carol in my book.

This is not as common a carol in the US as it is in England so if you don’t know it, you can listen to the most traditional form here by the Choristers of King’s College Cambridge and a sassier form here by Celtic Woman. I don’t usually like people taking liberties with Christmas hymns and carols and prefer them the way I learned to sing them, but this is a very light, lovely rendition. Is this a new carol to you or had you heard it before? I first sang it in the 9th grade, had never heard it before then.

I also finished listening to Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath, another of the Fagin’s Lads romances inspired by Oliver Twist. I really do love that premise, as I’ve said, and I think there may only be one left to read/listen to. I am totally perplexed at why these are marketed as “The Scoundrels of St James” rather than as “Fagin’s Lads.”  I think the hook that they were all raised together as thieves and pickpockets under Fagin’s care is fascinating and handled really well. I think it’s a much more compelling hook than the generic one used. Makes me wonder if somebody thought a reference to Charles Dickens was too literary for a romance series?  This was Frannie Darling’s story, who got her name because that’s what Fagin always called her, “Frannie, darling, will you fetch me my jug?” and so she thought it was her name.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Will I nab the next Merrily book, the next Fagin’s Lad? Will I finally finish Lymond? Will I read something totally different? I do have some totally different books waiting in the wings. I don’t know. I don’t know!

Don’t ask me these hard questions unless you want me to lie.

Wait, I asked the question, didn’t I?

Oh hush.

I’m keeping a running total of my reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge –and will post a January wrap-up on those on the 31st, in which I’ll ask everybody who is participating to respond with their current numbers in comments.

$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky Amazon reviewer!

And I have to remind you–it’s here! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon and now, at Kobo) before February 14. Details here.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!

WWW Wednesday (1-16-13)

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

The House of the Seven Gables
by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I mentioned the cool old edition of The House of the Seven Gables I have last week. It’s now by my bedside and I am reading it. Whether I read a chapter nightly, or a chapter now and then, or drink it down like ice water on a scorching day remains to be seen. But it’s in the mix.

And thank you, for helping me recognize that good illustrations and craftmanship are valid reasons to keep a book, even if the story ends up not being a fave.

I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be reading Blackwood (Strange Chemistry) by Gwenda Bond, even if there is a snake on the cover. I met Gwenda in Max‘s workshop lo these many years ago, and she was just beginning Blackwood at the time. And now it’s a real book in print and epub and I don’t know why it has taken me so long to read it, but I’m truly excited. By the way, MTV is developing it for tv. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoake, Virginia? Can you say… supernatural? YA, this one.

Aaaand… I also started 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King and am listening to Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath, another of the Fagin’s Lads romances inspired by Oliver Twist. Too many books at one time? Probably!

• What did you recently finish reading?

I finished reading the ARC, The Cornerstone, by Anne C Petty, a  contemporary staging of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe which revisits the events that read to the writing of the play–when Dr Dee sells his soul to the devil in order to gain his heart’s desire. I hope this author writes a book set in Elizabethan times eventually, because these were the most compelling parts of the book to me, written with the most verve and energy and detail, making me smell the stench and see the world. A strange mix of history and horror and contemporary Atlanta, Georgia.

For my listening pleasure, Unraveled by Courtney Milan. This was a richly painted story with a young heroine raised by her parents–actors–who lives precariously in London’s underworld and an emotionally uninvolved hero who is a magistrate determined to bring justice to those same streets. Fascinating story, and the relationship between them intense and emotional. I understand now why I keep finding Milan’s name on lists of favorite romance authors. I will be looking for more of her books, because this one certainly worked for me.

I rarely read novellas and wasn’t sure what to expect when I started Votes for Vixens. I knew it was a subject I’m interested in–women’s suffrage–and a love story between two young women caught up in the movement. I knew there would be sex. But from the opening scene, it went places I didn’t expect. This story doesn’t follow a predictable path and that is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much, despite some historical anomalies that distracted me. For the record, the important aspects of the story–the women’s fight for the vote, the march on the New York Opera House–are all true. It was some dialogue/language and clothing details from later in the decade that didn’t quite mesh with the 1919/1920 setting.

I’m glad I didn’t know ahead of time about those things, because they might have stopped me from reading this book, and that would have been a shame. Sympathetic characters dealing with emotional and physical trauma, rich detail, and an unpredictable plot made it worth the while.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Will I finally read the last of the Lymond books? Can I bear to know there are no more? Time will tell.

I’m keeping a running total of my reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge –and will post a January wrap-up on those on the 31st, in which I’ll ask everybody who is participating to respond with their current numbers in comments.

$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky Amazon reviewer!

And I have to remind you–it’s here! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon and now, at Kobo) before February 14. Details here.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!

Decisions, decisions.

Pay attention. At the end, there will be a test.

I cleared out (well, still working on it) all my books that just exist in my life as “books” rather than “books I love for some reason” and am instead, building a library of books that are special for some reason or another. Books I love. Books I have sentimental attachment to. Books I admire deeply. Books that mean something.

And I came across this old, stained slipcase with a book in it as I was filling another box of books to give away.

Meh.

Pulled it out. Huh. I have never read this book. I don’t know why I have it. I do know it wasn’t on the shelves in our home when I was growing up. No sentimental value here.

Vague recollection of writing a Junior theme on Nathaniel Hawthorne. Very vague. Read The Scarlet Letter. Didn’t love. Again, never read this one. Didn’t even remember the title correctly. I didn’t know there was a second “the” in it. Hmm. Ho-hum.

Check publication date. 1935. Almost 80 years old. Still, not doing anything for me. Check abebooks and amazon, not a valuable book, either.

This is difficult. It’s kind of a cool book but I don’t even remember what it’s about. (I wrote that theme. I assume at some point I knew.)

And really nice illustrations at the top of each chapter.

Okay, Mr Hawthorne, here is the deal. I am going to read your book and hope it’s a keeper. Because if it isn’t, I’m not sure what to do with it.

For now, it’s part of the TBR and will be read at some point this year as part of the challenge.

First sentence of the prologue:

When a writer calls his work a Romance, it need hardly be observed that he wishes to claim a certain latitude, both as to its fashion and material, which he would not have felt himself entitled to assume, had he professed to be writing a Novel.

So, dear reader. What would you do? Let’s assume the worst. Let’s assume this book doesn’t keep my attention and I end up not considering it “special” by definition of “stories that appeal to me.”

Do you think it’s pretty enough to keep anyway? On the shelf it’s not. Open, it is. But… is that enough?

Side-discussion welcome: How shallow can Pooks get, holy chickadees, to judge a literary classic by its pretty-quotient?

I’m all ears. Okay, eyes.

And depending on how you do on this test, I have another for you. Only, it will be MUCH more difficult. Promise!

WWW Wednesday (01-09-13)

First things first –

Happy birthday, Severus Snape, the favorite character in the Harry Potter books!

Now, then.

Back to WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

I’m reading an ARC, The Cornerstone, by Anne C Petty.  How do you catch a banshee? But more importantly, if you succeed, how can you hope to survive the ordeal? The consequences of such dark magic are high, and if you try to let go once you’ve got that tiger by the tail, it may cost your very soul!

Atlanta is a cosmopolitan, theater-going city that supports its fair share of the arts. But when a small theatrical company takes on the production of Christopher Marlowe’s famous play, Dr. Faustus, in the century-old Janus Theater, things don’t go as planned. Unexplained stage effects appear as cast members disappear, accidents seem more than coincidence, and an earthquake splits a busy downtown thoroughfare. Oh, and did we mention the rumored ghost in the basement?

Paramedic Claire Porter thinks her volunteer prompter’s job with the company will give her some relief from her stressful day job, and it is fun, at first. But as they say, the Devil is in the details.

I read that description prior to requesting the book from the Library Thing Early Reviewer program, but by the time I found out I’d been chosen as a reviewer I’d forgotten it. Thus the opening sequence and cover had me all prepared to settle in for spooky paranormal historical novel set in England. Ooops! Next thing I know, we’re in Hot-lanta! So far it’s an intriguing book.

I’m listening to another historical romance, this time, Unraveled by Courtney Milan. This is a richly painted story with a young heroine raised by her parents–actors–who lives precariously in London’s underworld and an emotionally uninvolved hero who is a magistrate determined to bring justice to those same streets. So far the story is fascinating and the relationship between them intense, and I am seeing why I keep finding Milan’s name on lists of favorite authors.

• What did you recently finish reading?

As I mentioned last week, Between the Devil and Desire. You should definitely read the first in series before this one, but this one has the Artful Dodger as hero and I’m looking forward to see what Lorraine Heath does with the other of Fagin’s boys that she writes about. Clever concept and well done.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

This hasn’t changed since last week, but as I did get the ARC in the meantime, I decided to read it first.  Votes for Vixens  is my most likely “next read,” written by Tara Chevrestt. Suffragettes, women’s rights, and a love story between Elizabeth and Margaret, it’s all intriguing and new ground for me. I haven’t read a LGBT genre romance before, and I’ve been interested in the suffragettes for a long time but haven’t ever actually read much about them so am looking forward to this one.

I’ve joined two reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge –and Votes for Vixens satisfies both.

$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky Amazon reviewer!

It’s here! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon and now, at Kobo) before February 14. Details here.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!

2012 and Books I’ve Loved

This was originally posted at the Book View Cafe Blog on Dec 20, 2012.

These books weren’t all published in 2012. And they aren’t exactly “the best” for several reasons. One, because as soon as I hit “post” I’ll remember something I forgot. Two, because I’m writing this on December 17 and I’m fully prepared to read something before the end of the year that belongs on this list, because I am an optimist. Three, because I decided I was not going to list anything written by a friend, cohort in crime or colleague.

That said, here are some of my favorite reads from the year 2012.

First, a library ebook loan,The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, by Barry Lyga. Fanboy is a high school sophomore with more than his share of burdens to bear. A geek who loves comics and is the smartest nerd in school, he only has one friend, and that friend doesn’t acknowledge him if others are around. I can tell you more, but it makes him sound pretty pathetic. And honestly, he’s so wicked smart and wicked funny (with an emphasis on wicked, if you consider that he had Planned Parenthood send his mother abortion brochures when he found out she was pregnant with the “step-fascist’s” baby) that this book sucked me in from the first words. Oh, and he meets Goth Girl, which gives him another friend. (Not spoiling anything there. Read the title.) I read this in June and may go ahead and buy the book so I can reread instead of checking it out again.

WWW Wednesday (01-02-13)

Happy new year!  Again, this meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

I’m enjoying Twelve Drummers Drumming: A Mystery (Father Christmas Mysteries) Despite the title, it’s not a Christmas book, and it’s not particularly twee. It’s a cozy mystery set in an English village, the first in a series.  Tom Christmas is the new vicar whose wife was murdered in his Bristol, England parish. The countryside of Devon seems a safe place to bring his young daughter to heal and forget and move forward in their lives.

Of course it does.

I’m listening to the second in a romance series by an author new to me. This is an interesting premise, Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath. Since I just listened to the first in the series, I think I’ll skip ahead to the next question to describe them.

• What did you recently finish reading?

Imagine Fagin’s boys. You remember them–Oliver, the Artful Dodger? Well, now imagine that amongst them is a 14-year-old who, when about to be convicted of murder and hung, allows an old Duke to believe that the young thief and murderer is the Duke’s long lost grandson. Now, he’s the Duke with the sinister past, the one few in Society believed was truly the Duke’s blood, anyway. And yes, the Artful Dodger is in these books, too, all grown up. Lorraine Heath has captured my imagination with these characters, and the reader, Susan Ericksen, does an excellent job. She doesn’t attempt to deepen or growl a male voice, and thus doesn’t get in the way of my ability to just listen and enjoy with jarring accents or shrill tones. The first in the series, In Bed With the Devil.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Since I’ve joined two reading challenges–the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see banner at the bottom of the right sidebar) and my own challenge, the Embarrassment of Riches Challenge (not too late to join that one, btw)–I’m going to choose a book that satisfies both. I’m not sure which one.  Maybe Votes for Vixens by Tara Chevrestt. Suffragettes, women’s rights, and a love story between Elizabeth and Margaret, it’ all intriguing and new ground for me.

The Book That Launched the Contest is Now for Sale

It’s here! The chance for you to win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for leaving an Amazon review of Scandalous (available at Book View Cafe, Amazon and now, at Kobo) before February 14. Details here.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!