Book of the Month & Year

My pick for December's book of the month is Someone to Love by Mary Balogh, the first novel in her new Westcott series. The author starts it off with a huge plot twist right in the beginning of the book, which sets the stage for some amazing storytelling.

When the Earl of Riverdale dies, he leaves behind a secret as well as a fabulous fortune. His widow learns that her husband provided financial support for Anna Snow, an orphan girl in Bath, whom everyone assumes is the earl's illegitimate daughter. Now a teacher at the orphanage, Anna is summoned to London by the earl's attorney. I won't spoil the surprise, but that's when things then go BOOM.

Anna also has more surprises in store after she meets the new earl's guardian, Avery Archer, the Duke of Netherby. Avery seems like nothing more than a little, foppish kind of guy; not at all hero material. Wait for it, because he's one of the most interesting male protagonists Mary has written in a long time. You'll be cheering for him and Anna by the end of the novel.

I really enjoyed this romance, and I can't wait to jump on Someone to Hold, the next book in the series, which should be released in March.

It was very tough to pick the book of the year. I read 104 books for pleasure in 2016, and the majority of them were terrific. I discovered new-to-me authors I will be collecting, and rediscovered some old favorites that still delivered the magic.

I made my choice based on the one book that I thought about for the longest time, and recommended most often to others. It's the third novel in an indy published series that has from the beginning impressed me to no end. I think this installment delivers even more than I expected after the promise of the first book and the intrigue of the second. It's my #1 book for 2016 for so many other reasons, too. The story is very well-written, adventurous, and packs a wallop of a plot. The characters were already pretty fabulous, but now they're growing up and developing into people whom I want to read about for a very long time.

This book takes me back, too. Science fiction used to be wonderful when I was a kid; I buried myself in books by A.M. Lightner and Edmund Cooper and René Barjavel. Unlike most of the literary nihilistic techfests no one even wants to call science fiction these days, the SF of my teens offered journeys you actually wanted to take. The stories whisked you off to an incredible new future with problems you wanted to solve while you got to know amazing characters in fantastic settings.

I miss all that, and the hope that came from those books. They didn't spit on the future or the reader; they entertained and inspired us. They were the stories that helped us deal with the troubles in the present, and made us want to be better people when we grew up. If that makes me terminally uncool so be it.

For all these reasons LJ Cohen's Dreadnought and Shuttle is my book of the year for 2016. You can read my write up about it here.

Finally, for posterity, here's the list of all the books I read for pleasure in 2016:

January

The Everything Mediterranean Diet by Connie Diekman and Sam Sotiropoulos
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Face of Battle by John Keegan
Scarce Resources by Brendan Detzner
Live to See Tomorrow by Iris Johansen
An Unbreakable Bond by Robyn Donald (revisited read)
Passing Love by Jacqueline E. Luckett
Creative Quilting with Beads by Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader
Silent Melody by Mary Balogh*

February

Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison
American Cooking: New England by Jonathan Norton Leonard
Elegant Stitches by Judith Baker Montano
52 Small Changes for the Mind by Brett Blumenthal
Essentials of English Grammar by L. Sue Baugh
Driven by Fire by Anne Stuart
Heartless by Mary Balogh
The Naturalist by Darrin Lunde
Sight Unseen by Iris Johansen
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
The Arrivals by Melissa Marr
The Private Patient by P.D. James
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson*

March

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
The Elementals by Francesca Block
Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder
Parlor Games by Maryka Biaggio
Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike
Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends by Lewis Spence
How to Publish Your Own eBook by Nik Rawlinson
Alternative Art Journals by Margaret Peot*
Elegant Stitches by Judith Baker Montano
Never Kiss a Rake by Anne Stuart (revisited read)
Never Trust a Pirate by Anne Stuart (revisited read)
Never Marry a Viscount by Anne Stuart (revisited read)
The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
Dante's Circle Box Set by Carrie Ann Ryan
Firefly Hollow by T.L. Haddix
The Gettysburg Campaign by Charles River Editors
Branded by Keary Taylor

April

Creative Journal Writing by Stephanie Dowrick
100 Perfect Hair Days by Jenny Strebe
Bed Riddance by Ogden Nash
Writing the Life Poetic by Sage Cohen (revisited read)
Grimoire for the Green Witch by Ann Moura
Letters to a Young Artist by Julia Cameron
Gladiatrix by Amy Zol
Only Beloved by Mary Balogh*
Troubleshooting! by John Lyons

May

Barron's 101 Watercolor Techniques
Troublemaker by Linda Howard
A Shiver of Light by Laurell K. Hamilton
Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787 by Winston Graham*
The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook by Robyn Webb
Reckless by Anne Stuart (revisited read)
Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes

June

Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent
Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki
Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Fun with Fabric by Jane Foster
J'adore Montreal by Isabelle Lafleche
Black & White ~ Bright & Bold by Kim Schaefer
Sewing with Fabulous Vintage Fabrics by Arden Franklin
Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
Dreadnought and Shuttle by LJ Cohen*

July

The Body Reader by Anne Frasier
Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach
The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (revisited read)*
Redemption Road by John Hart
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
French Country by Barbara Buchholz and Lisa Skolnik
Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal
One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins

August

Longbourn by Jo Baker
Slow-Cooker Quick Fixes by Southern Living
Imprudence by Gail Carriger
Wolf in Waiting by Rebecca Flanders (revisited read)*
Light in Shadow by Jayne Ann Krentz
Country French Kitchens by Carolina Fernandez

September

Frostline by Linda Howard and Linda Jones
The Big Four by Agatha Christie
Rex Harrison by Roy Moseley with Philip & Martin Masheter
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
On Thin Ice by Anne Stuart
Second Son by Lee Child*

October

All Shook Up by Susan Andersen
50 Ways to Wear Denim by Lauren Friedman*
Lady Fortune by Anne Stuart

November

Byzantium ~ The Early Centuries by John Julius Norwich
Shadowlands and Songs of Light by Kevin Ott*
Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk by Danielle Krysa

December

Someone to Love by Mary Balogh*
South China in the Sixteenth Century by C.R. Boxer
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses
Ricochet by Sandra Brown
Free-Form Embroidery by Judith Baker Montano
Strip Happy ~ Quilting on a Roll by Suzanne McNeill
Bonk by Mary Roach

*My pick as book(s) of the month

PBW's Book of the Month

I didn't have a chance to read much during April, as work kept me pretty busy. That said, once I got my hands on Mary Balogh's Only Beloved it enchanted me so much I know it would have beat out anything else for book of the month.

The seventh and final novel in the Survivors' Club series is one of the best romances I've read in a long time. It tells the story of the George Crabbe, the Duke of Stanhope, who turned his country estate into a hospital and convalescent home for wounded veterans of the Napoleonic Wars. He also founded the Survivors Club by extending care to six terribly damaged patients, all of whom eventually became his friends, confidantes, and fellow club members. What's always interested me about George is what motivated him to do all that (he is, after all, a Duke), and this book reveals his own, heart-wrenching tragedy that led to his son being killed in battle, and his first wife's subsequent suicide.

Now that all the other members of the club have married, settled down and started families, George feels a little lonely and left out. Yet when he considers remarrying, there's only one lady who comes to mind -- spinster music teacher Dora Dobbins, the sister-in-law of one of the other survivors. Although George feels a bit old to be contemplating a second marriage, Dora is a woman he admires and believes would make him an excellent companion for the rest of his years. Once George does make up his mind, he goes directly to make an offer to Dora, who is understandably shocked (after all, he's a Duke) but after some honest discussion accepts his proposal. And from this point they should have lived happily ever after, but they both have issues they're hiding from each other. In fact, George's happens to come out right in the middle of their high-society weeding.

What I loved about this story is that the main characters are not young people (he's 48; she's 39), and that's pretty rare in this genre. Much as I adore you youngsters, it's a nice change to read about a mature couple's love story. Yes, believe it or not, older people like me still fall in love, all the time. The dynamics are very different from young love or first love, and not easy to pull off, either. I also admire the skill with which the author begins the story like the perfect fairy tale and gradually transforms it to something very different. There's as much hope as heartache, but the underlying suspense just keeps building and building; by the last couple of chapters I was mostly holding my breath between pages. When you do discover the depth and breadth of the secret George has been hiding for so long everything makes sense, but whew. It changes everything you think know about him and what he survived.

If you haven't read some or any of the Survivors' Club series you don't have to go back; Mary makes this final novel an excellent standalone while providing the necessary backstory to understand the gist of the other books and characters (although the whole series is pretty amazing, so it wouldn't waste your time to invest in any or all of them.) I highly recommend Only Beloved as a terrific novel that will keep you absorbed from start to finish.

PBW's Book of the Month

Now that I'm home I can catch up on my blog posts, like my pick for book of the month for October, which is Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh.

Only a Kiss is the sixth novel in the Survivors' Club series, and tells the story of Lady Imogene Barclay, the only female member. To give you a short version of the series premise, the club is formed of seven people who were injured either physically or emotionally (sometimes both) during the Napoleonic Wars and came together afterward to heal and help each other. Imogene is the only female Survivor, and since she was captured by the French along with her husband, the Earl of Hardford, I thought I had her story figured out before I began reading the book. All you really know about Imogene from the previous books, however, is that she witnessed her husband's death, and that she never talks about it. When she's not meeting up with the other Survivors Imogene lives very quietly on her husband's estate in Cornwall, at least until the new Earl, Percival Hayes, decides to finally come and see what he'd inherited.

Mary Balogh is our generation's Jane Austen, and this novel showcases why. In addition to being extremely well-written and deviously plotted, it offers a bit of a role-reversal, with a heroine struggling to deal with her past while being haunted by it, and a lovely, happy hero who shows up to help and change everything in the process. Don't make assumptions about Imogene, either, because when you do finally discover exactly why she's a Survivor it will stun you. I found this story a beautiful read, as well as one that made me cry (the revelation is a heart-wrencher) but that's all part of the very real magic Mary instills in her work. All of the novels in this series are basically standalones, so you don't have to read the previous five to keep up.

Here's where you can buy a copy:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

PBW's Book of the Month

There will not be a Just Write Thursday this week as I'm finishing up a project for a client today. Since it's the last day of April I'll use this post instead to make my pick for the book of the month, which is Longing by Mary Balogh. You can read my thoughts about it here.

The new glasses are helping me quite a bit with reading, which is why I was able to knock out a total of fourteen books in April. That's also the most I've read in one month since the eye surgeries, so I feel very good about my reading future. The last remaining problem with reading is that my book-buying budget is quite a bit tighter now that I'm freelancing, so I'm looking for creative ways to get more books without breaking the bank.

One major thing I've done this month is to sign up for Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, as I can now actually read anything I might receive. I also plan to post about the program and what books I receive from it here on the blog -- and as it happens the LT folks just notified me to expect one of my requests:

Congratulations. You've been selected to receive an Early Reviewers copy of In a French Kitchen: Tales and Traditions of Everyday Home Cooking in France by Susan Herrmann Loomis from the April 2015 batch.

This is the book I wanted most out of all my requests so I think the universe is giving me a nod there; I'll be reading and reporting on it here at the blog as soon as it comes in and I read it.

While dropping off a bunch of books at our local public library I also went into their books-for-sale nook for the first time, and was able to score this batch for a grand total of six dollars. The cookbook is not only exactly what I was looking for (my guy loves pasta) but is spiral-bound, which makes it a lot easier to use in the kitchen. It's in brand-new condition and originally listed for $18.95, so at $1.50 it was quite a bargain.

Actually I was surprised by how nice all the books in the book nook were; the Anne Perry hardcover and The Arabian Nights were also in pristine condition, and the Arabian Nights has a bunch of gorgeous color plate illustrations by Maxfield Parrish. The next time you stop by your public library you should definitely check out any books they have for sale. Unless I want to keep them all the review copy or used books I receive will be donated to our Friends of the Library for resale to benefit the library's many excellent programs, or donated to our local public high school for their media center.

What are you looking forward to reading in May? Any exciting new releases I should be keeping an eye out for? Let me know in comments.

Revisited Reads

Mary Balogh, one of my all-time favorite historical romance authors, recently published a new edition of her 1995 novel Longing, and since it has been about twenty years since I first read it I decided to revisit it this month to see how it holds up after two decades.

Here's the copy for Longing:

The illegitimate daughter of an English lord, Sian Jones abandoned her heritage to live in a stalwart coal mining community in South Wales. Empowered by their cause, she’s engaged to be married to the leader of a revolutionary movement that is bracing itself against the tyranny of English mine owners. But Sian’s principles are unexpectedly shaken when she accepts a job as governess under Alexander Hyatt, the mysterious Marquess of Craille, the oppressive symbol of everything she has come to resist. She never expected Alexander to upend all her expectations. He is sympathetic to her cause. He is a loving father. A man of wealth and position, he is fatally attractive. And he is offering his heart to the independent woman who has illuminated his life. Now, caught between two worlds, and between the promises and desires of two men, Sian must make a choice that will define her future — one that can only be made in the name of love...

Now onto my backstory: in the mid-nineties I was staying at home with two little ones in diapers, and with only their dad's income to support us we lived on a very tight budget that did not allow for lots of book purchases. So once a week I would go to the library to pick up books to read during naptime or after the kids went down for the night. Longing came home with me on one of those trips. I'd read only a few of Mary's books back then (the first I read was Dark Angel, which knocked my socks off) but I was already hooked on her lovely writing style. This story was also set in Wales, about which I knew absolutely zero, so I considered that a bonus.

I remember reading it slowly while I mentally tried to sound out all the odd Welsh names and words, too. When I finished it I felt a bit walloped. The story was very emotional as well as very non-traditional in how the romance (more like a romantic triangle) played out, and in the HEAwful era of the 90's it was quite refreshing. It also had an intense cast of characters that stayed with me a long time after I finished the story. When I returned it to the library I promised myself I'd buy a reread copy for myself the next time I was at the used book store.

Actually I never did get a copy of Longing for myself (another long story), so I was quite pleased to see it back on the shelves with its pretty new cover art. I think as soon as I began reading it I remembered that walloped feeling superimposed over a similar experience I had when I saw BBC's production of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South for the first time. While Longing has a different setting, plot and characters, much of the emotional stakes in both stories had the same effect on me. Now that I've written 50+ books of my own, including a few like Dreamveil and Disenchanted & Co. that have more than one hero, I can also personally appreciate how tough it is to publish a story that features multiple romantic interests that last longer than the usual two pages.

Longing definitely held up very well after a twenty-year reading break, and for those of you who didn't get a chance to read the original release I can definitely recommend it as an excellent choice.

3 Books

This year I considered adding one of those "What I'm reading" sidebar elements to the blog, because I like to see what other writers are reading and I often don't get a chance to write as many recs as I'd like. The main problem is that I go through between fifty and seventy books a month, so all I'd be doing is changing it.

As a compromise I'll be writing a post now and then about three books from my TBR: what I've just finished, what I'm currently reading, and what's next.

Just Read: A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh, hardcover

Why I picked it up: Mary Balogh is one of two historical romance authors I still read, and is the sort of writer who could publish her grocery list and I'd happily buy it.

What I liked: This little jewel is a new spin on what she does best (classic Regency romance), wonderfully structured with great characters. The twist is such that I saw it coming but still found charming anyway; builds to an excellent conclusion.

What I didn't like: The book jacket, which is mainly evil yellow, but I took care of that by removing it.

Reading: Inked anthology featuring Marjorie M. Liu, paperback

Why I picked it up: I needed a Hunter Kiss fix, thank you, Marjorie.

What I like: Marjorie writes short stories as well as she does novels, and so far Armor of Roses is terrific (I'm reading first because I'm a brat that way, and I'm not rushing because I don't want it to end.)

What I don't like: I'm not crazy about anthos for the same reasons I won't ever again write for one: no choice over which authors are included, the quality of the writing is often a mixed bag, and sometimes the editing is just all over the place. That said, I'm pretty sure I haven't read anything by the other three authors in this one, so this is a good opportunity for me to test-drive them.

Will Read: The Daily Reader by Fred White, trade paperback

Why I picked this up: Fred White is the author of guided writing exercise how-to The Daily Writer, which despite all the literary content I liked and found quite useful.

What I expect to like: He manages to talk about writing from a literary perspective without insulting me the genre writer in the process, which I rarely find and greatly appreciate. Although this looks like another great big pile o' lit, I'm hopeful for a repeat experience.

What I expect not to like: I already dislike the cover (why so many evil yellow covers out there this month? I'm about to break out in hives.) And I haven't looked but I'm almost positive there's going to be a reference to Chekhov (Anton, not the Star Trek dude) and then I'll remember being forced to read and analyze The Cherry Orchard in ninth grade and have those inappropriate fantasies about punching out my English teacher again. Do we ever get over the damage done to us in high school? I wonder . . .