Blog detour: My book group chose to read a book due to its setting in a nearby town (on Hatteras Island). They didn’t realize it was a romance. There was not one good thing said about the book during our meeting. The poor gal who proposed reading the book apologized for her poor selection. Their complaints had some merit (yes, there were some setting mistakes and a few too many coincidences), but all in all, they were not romance readers. I get that, but I was also amazed by their level of disgust. Perhaps because I write, I have sympathy for other writers. I tried to tell them they just weren’t the audience for this book—but I don’t think I got through to them. It’s sad to think that intelligent and educated women couldn’t get past their own tastes and snobbishness to realize that the book had its appeals, but it wasn’t a good read for them. For heaven’s sake—it was cute! Perhaps at a convention of chocoholics, listing the merits of marshmallow topping or caramel syrup is not realistic. But still—I was amazed and a bit humored by their vehemence. End blog detour.
Here are a few of the series/books I read: Anne Chase’s Heartsprings Valley Winter Tales, Ana Bisset’s Libby Foster Cozy Mysteries, J. A. Holder’s Michelle Bishop Paranormal Mysteries, JB Lassalle’s Murky Midlife Waters, Emily Oberton’s Hadley Home Design’s Cozy Mysteries, M. J. Caan’s Singing Falls Witches, Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, Janet Evanovich’s The Recovery Agent, Janet Evanovich’s Dirty Thirty, Sandra Kring’s A Life of Bright Ideas, Julie Mulhern’s Only the Good Die Young, Spencer Quinn’s Up on the Woof Top, Ali Rosen’s Recipe for Second Chances, Jen Lancaster’s Housemoms, and Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House.
What did you read over Christmas break?
I only had a long weekend for Christmas, and I was working on Steve Hockensmith's Partners in Crime, a collection of 5 stories with his Holmes on the Range characters. I kind of liked having the shorter stories to read since I was with my family and not reading quite as much as normal. I didn't have to try to track an entire plot over a longer period of time than it would typically take me to read a novel.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty busy over the holidays, but I did continue my habit of reading a short story every night in bed before I turned off the light. I found "Mistletoe Mysteries: Tales of Yuletide Murders," a book of Christmas short stories by classic mystery authors for my Kindle, and am almost done reading them. They are an interesting bunch; some I liked, and some were had an old rambling style that I found tedious, but I'm reading them all.
ReplyDeleteI was reworking my way through Bobbi Holmes' Marlow House cozy mysteries, (I do that when a new one comes out, although I may have to cut back to doing it once per year), then re-read a science fiction trilogy by A.G. Riddle, The Origin Mystery. The Wrong Place, Wrong Time book sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteMore TBR --- I went for the long over the holidays -900 pages of Barbra
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of reading two books, one electronically and the other in paperback. The electronic is William Kent Krueger's latest standalone, The River We Remeber. It's set in the late 1950s in southern Minnesota. I received the paperback for Christmas. It's Matthew Fitzsimmons Chance. It, like your pick, Elaine, blurs science fiction and mystery. I am enjoying them both, but will withhold judgement until I finish.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Now I have more to add to my TBR list!
ReplyDeleteGreat, my TBR is toppled in the first week of the new year! Some great suggestions here, and I’m putting Wrong Place Wrong Time on simmer for later consideration. I decided to clear my Kindle backlog in 2023 and I’ve been more or less successful. I have three books left! I read Linda Rodriguez’s Every Last Secret and loved it. Linda has such a deft hand with character and story. If you haven’t read it, please pick it up. I also read K.B. Owen’s Twelve Thieves of Christmas and enjoyed it. I don’t read many historicals, and I’m glad I picked this one up.
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