November Reading
In November my re-reading continued via audiobooks, most notably Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. Her newest book, Rogue Spy was released this month and when I heard that it overlaps some of her earlier books, I decided to re-read them all. And this time to try the audio versions. I like the way narrator Kirsten Potter reads these books and I'm looking forward to listening to Black Hawk next.
A comment by Emily Jane on Twitter reminded me that Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins has been in the TBR for a few years now, so I moved it to the top of the list and I'm glad I did. This novel is not a romance, although it has some romantic elements. It's a fascinating story that was touching, funny, and thought-provoking. Set somewhere in modern-day, rural Kansas, it uses as its backdrop the history of freed slaves who migrated west after the civil war and founded towns that thrived for generations. Today, only Nicodemus, Kansas remains. Jenkins' fictional town of Henry Adams is on its last leg, so the town leaders decide to put the town up for sale on Ebay in hopes that someone would invest in the town to keep it together. The buyer turns out to be Bernadine Brown, a woman with a huge divorce settlement who has a vision to turn Henry Adams into a home for foster children and the families who take them in. There is an ensemble cast of characters with multiple points of view. I laughed and I cried and became really invested in the various story lines. I've already finished the 2nd book in the series, A Second Helping. It appears there are now 5 books in the series and I'm anxious to read them all. I highly recommend this series for anyone looking for something a little different.
There was lots of normal romance reading this month as well. A favorite was Kristen Ashley's Breathe, part of her Colorado Mountain series. The heroine of this book is Faye, the town librarian. Ashley uses every librarian stereotype I can think of describing Faye--she's shy, retiring, and walks through town with her nose in a book. Still, Ashley makes more of Faye than those stereotypes. Faye becomes concerned when she notices a young boy who frequents her library, but appears to have been abused. As she becomes involved with Chace [that's how Ashley spells the name], a police officer, they join forces to rescue this little boy. It's very typical Ashley and I really enjoyed this one.
Also worth noting is that I read The Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev. This book received a lot of positive buzz which was well-deserved. Mili has come to the States to study; she was married at age 4 in a traditional village ceremony, but hasn't seen her husband since. She's been waiting patiently for him to come for her. But it turns out he wants a divorce and he allows his brother, Samir, to go to America to secure the divorce for him. When Samir arrives, a series of mishaps leaves Samir caring for an injured Mili and thus they get to know each other. But Samir doesn't reveal who he is and why he is there. That bugged me, I have to admit, although not enough for me to stop reading. I thought the book was mostly fun and funny. Dev is a talented author and I look forward to reading more from her.
Before I close, I guess I should mention that I got a start on my Christmas reading with Sarah Morgan's Maybe This Christmas and Marion Lennox's Christmas at Waratah Bay. I thought Morgan's was a really well-done conclusion to her 3-book series. I have quite a few Christmas titles queued up on my Kindle for December. Some will be re-reads. I've found it very relaxing to go back to old favorites, so I'm looking forward to them.
You can see the rest of what I read by taking a look at my sidebar.
A comment by Emily Jane on Twitter reminded me that Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins has been in the TBR for a few years now, so I moved it to the top of the list and I'm glad I did. This novel is not a romance, although it has some romantic elements. It's a fascinating story that was touching, funny, and thought-provoking. Set somewhere in modern-day, rural Kansas, it uses as its backdrop the history of freed slaves who migrated west after the civil war and founded towns that thrived for generations. Today, only Nicodemus, Kansas remains. Jenkins' fictional town of Henry Adams is on its last leg, so the town leaders decide to put the town up for sale on Ebay in hopes that someone would invest in the town to keep it together. The buyer turns out to be Bernadine Brown, a woman with a huge divorce settlement who has a vision to turn Henry Adams into a home for foster children and the families who take them in. There is an ensemble cast of characters with multiple points of view. I laughed and I cried and became really invested in the various story lines. I've already finished the 2nd book in the series, A Second Helping. It appears there are now 5 books in the series and I'm anxious to read them all. I highly recommend this series for anyone looking for something a little different.
There was lots of normal romance reading this month as well. A favorite was Kristen Ashley's Breathe, part of her Colorado Mountain series. The heroine of this book is Faye, the town librarian. Ashley uses every librarian stereotype I can think of describing Faye--she's shy, retiring, and walks through town with her nose in a book. Still, Ashley makes more of Faye than those stereotypes. Faye becomes concerned when she notices a young boy who frequents her library, but appears to have been abused. As she becomes involved with Chace [that's how Ashley spells the name], a police officer, they join forces to rescue this little boy. It's very typical Ashley and I really enjoyed this one.
Also worth noting is that I read The Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev. This book received a lot of positive buzz which was well-deserved. Mili has come to the States to study; she was married at age 4 in a traditional village ceremony, but hasn't seen her husband since. She's been waiting patiently for him to come for her. But it turns out he wants a divorce and he allows his brother, Samir, to go to America to secure the divorce for him. When Samir arrives, a series of mishaps leaves Samir caring for an injured Mili and thus they get to know each other. But Samir doesn't reveal who he is and why he is there. That bugged me, I have to admit, although not enough for me to stop reading. I thought the book was mostly fun and funny. Dev is a talented author and I look forward to reading more from her.
Before I close, I guess I should mention that I got a start on my Christmas reading with Sarah Morgan's Maybe This Christmas and Marion Lennox's Christmas at Waratah Bay. I thought Morgan's was a really well-done conclusion to her 3-book series. I have quite a few Christmas titles queued up on my Kindle for December. Some will be re-reads. I've found it very relaxing to go back to old favorites, so I'm looking forward to them.
You can see the rest of what I read by taking a look at my sidebar.
Thanks for the heads-up about the Kristen Ashley. I'd heard of the book, of course, but didn't realize it had a librarian heroine. I've added it to my list of "librarian romances" over at my blog.
ReplyDeleteI need to go on a Christmas reading binge as well, although I'm currently getting my head turned by the Harlequin Romances in my immediate TBR pile. Some of them are Christmas, so maybe I'll be able to sneak in a mini-binge....
I'm glad I could help! I had especially looked forward to that particular book in the series because Faye was a librarian. So I'm happy that I ended up liking it.
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