On the Shelf: November 2024

October was such an overstuffed reading month that November almost feels light in comparison. Not that 17 books is anything to dismiss. If you're keeping score, that brings my year-to-date total to 243. As I've said in past round-up posts, reading is/was definitely a coping mechanism--but, I swear, I did not start out intending to absorb this many books into my brain. It's just my go-to activity when I have quiet time. Given that I have no steady work at the moment and no social life, there's a lot of quiet time. Maybe I need more hobbies? Like baking. Jamie Wesley's A Legend in the Baking certainly made me consider it. (I concluded I'd rather eat baked goods than create them.) I've always loved her sports romances and this charming contemporary featuring football players who own a cupcake shop is another winner. Social media maven Sloane and accidental viral sensation August have been secretly pining for each other for years, and it's so fun as a reader to be like "Omg, you doofuses!" until they get their shit together.

I'm not gonna lie, cackling at the cluelessness of romance novel protagonists is a huge part of why I read them. There's something so satisfying about watching characters succumb to emotion, to see that lightbulb go on when they realize they love someone and can have that happiness. What would I even call that feeling? Nice schadenfreude? Taking joy in their misfortune but also rooting for them? (I did a good amount of snickering at Alex and Genevieve in What I Did For a Duke, for example.) Can I count that as a separate hobby from reading? Probably not.

The Reading Rundown
It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier (romantic suspense)
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (suspense/thriller, domestic suspense)
Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar (contemporary romance)
Speak of the Devil by Charish Reid (erotic romance, novella)
A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley (contemporary romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: I went all the way back into my Kindle library for Pearl by Kelly Rand, one of first the trans romances I ever read. And I stayed in reread mode with Nightfall by Anne Stuart, Devil in Winter and four of the Hathaways books by Lisa Kleypas, and What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long. I'm slowly making my way through Julie Garwood's historical backlist—somehow, I only ever read two of her westerns—and I really enjoyed Honor's Splendour. I also read two Liz Caryles that I hadn't gotten to before, A Woman of Virtue and A Deal With the Devil. My last complete read of the month was Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin. It's a dark romance set in the Golden Age of Piracy and it's accordingly violent and intense but with some compelling romantic geometry at its center.

Currently reading: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter.

On the TBR/ wish list
If I Told You, I'd Have to Kiss You by Mae Marvel
The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri
Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

On the Shelf: October 2024

I finished 29 books in October—which means I averaged almost one book a day. I actually got the 29th done at 11PM CT on 10/31. I'm going to call that unintentional overachieving as opposed to "Suleikha needs to get out more." It brings my total count for the year up to 226. Fortunately, a good chunk of that number is due to the Chicago Public Library system and the glory that is the Libby app. I love being able to check out e-books. Otherwise, my bank account would be in even worse shape than it is now. 

Unsurprisingly, this past month had a lot of suspense and horror—I do like to stay on theme! I'm generally good at predicting where stories from those genres are headed, but that was not the case with Clay McLeod Chapman's What Kind of Mother. I don't want to give anything away, but it took a turn from a normal amount of creepy to absolute Weirdsville. And, as someone allergic to shellfish, I'm now even more wary of crustaceans. I wish I could say that was the end of my animal-related trauma this month, but Kelley Armstrong's I'll Be Waiting really reinforced my aversion to bugs. She's a longtime favorite author of mine and her newest page-turner is about a recent widow living with cystic fibrosis who has really bad luck with seances—and that's putting it mildly! While I guessed the culprit pretty quickly, it's the how and why that kept me invested. (Were the swarms of midges really necessary, though? Ew. I can practically feel them in my mouth!)       

The Reading Rundown
I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong (horror, thriller/suspense)
One Kiss to Desire by Grace Callaway (historical romance)
What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman (horror)
A History of Fear by Luke Dumas (horror)
The Unheard by Nicci French (domestic suspense)
The Tiger Came to the Mountains by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (historical fiction, short story)
Goldie & the Bears by Hannah Murray (erotic romance, bisexual romance)
Return to Love by Tara Pammi (contemporary romance, novella)
Defying the Earl by Erica Ridley (historical romance)
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (contemporary fantasy, mainstream fiction)

Backlist titles & rereads: Your Wicked Heart by Meredith Duran was my carry-over from September and I followed it with a revisit of Perfect by Judith McNaught. Then I reread all five Stillhouse Lake books by the late Rachel Caine and the sixth, Trapper Road, by Carrie Ryan. I gave in and bought Angel Betrayed by Cynthia Eden because I liked the previous book. After a twinge of guilt for that impulse purchase, I hit up Libby for House of Correction by Nicci French and dove into a bunch of  Kindle rereads: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary, Hidden Honor by Anne Stuart, Lorraine Heath's Waking Up With the Duke, A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long, Wild Child by Molly O'Keefe and The Secret Heart by Erin Satie. To cap off the month, I bounced back to the public library for more backlist suspense—His & Hers by Alice Feeney and What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin. I think Gaylin's book made me go WTF just as much as the shellfish horror, although for completely different reasons. 

Currently reading: Speak of the Devil by Charish Reid.

On the TBR/ wish list
It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

On the Shelf: September 2024

I had some disappointing DNFs in both August and September and it sent me running right back to the comfort of backlist titles—but then I got lucky with a few excellent new reads! All was not lost! Honestly, all five of them were bangers (not literally—only two had sex in them 😂), satisfying different parts of my brain. Erin Langston is still one of the freshest voices in historical romance. In The Finest Print, she sets Belle and Ethan's love story amidst the early days of print news publishing and penny dreadfuls. Every time I expected a predictable plot turn, Langston surprised me. I love it when that happens. (Side note: this Belle reminded me a lot of Belle from The Artful Dodger, whom I adore.)

Speaking of surprises, am I the last person to know that Meg Shaffer is a pen name for Tiffany Reisz? It wasn't until I finished The Lost Story and read the acknowledgements that the lightbulb went on. It's no shock that her foray into contemporary/cozy fantasy is as well-written as the steamier books in her catalog. Further to my missing things, I didn't get to Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder when it dropped last year, and I'm so glad I caught up! It's a second-chance romance for two actors on a popular X-Files-Supernatural type TV show and it really worked for me. I'm very particular about celebrity/media romances (barring my own, because they're ridiculous) and Wilder's felt true to the industry and how actors navigate it. I was all-in on Lilah and Shane.

The Reading Rundown
The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst (young adult horror)
Blood Betrayal by Ausma Zehanat Khan (suspense, thriller, mystery)
The Finest Print by Erin Langston (historical romance)
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (contemporary fantasy)
Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder (contemporary romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: I kicked off the month finishing Something Like Love by Beverly Jenkins. I'll never get tired of shenanigans involving the Julys, the Blakes, Preacher, Dix and their ladyloves. After that I dove into rereads of At Your Pleasure and Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran, The Lily Brand by Sandra Schwab, Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas and The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale. Unfortunately, that last one didn't age so well. I love other Kinsale titles, but there's just too much Orientalism threaded through TSATS. I moved to my physical bookshelf for longtime favorites, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and Many Waters, by Madeleine L'Engle before wandering back to digital historicals. I snagged Lisa Kleypas's Then Came You from the library and reread Suddenly You (no relation! lol!). And then the paranormal cheese stands alone—Angel of Darkness by Cynthia Eden was a fun diversion from my historical path!

Currently reading: Your Wicked Heart by Meredith Duran.

On the TBR/wish list
One Kiss to Desire by Grace Callaway
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti