Wow. That was a month, wasn’t it?

In what is a surprise to probably no one, I read a LOT this month. Reading is my escape. What else can I say?

What did y’all read this month and what do you recommend to others trying to deal with being cooped up?

So did I read some good stuff this month? YES! Since there was a LOT of comfort reading, I’m only going to talk about the new-to-me books I read and loved. Which is still a lot of books.

For the first time in months I read some comics.

Lady Mechanika Volume 2: Tablet of Destinies by Joe Benitez, Marcia Chen, Martin Montiel is steampunk about a woman who remembers nothing of her life before her limbs were made biomechanical. She wears a few ridiculous outfits, but not all the time. And it’s a fun story. I have volume two waiting for me. Trickster: Native American Tales by edited by Matt Dembicki

takes 21 stories told by Native Americans and pairs them with 21 different artists. Each tale is unique, except that one of the main characters is a trickster.

Because I need the HEAs, I have been reading a LOT of romance.

Rend by Roan Parrish is the second book in the Riven series, and made me cry. This M/M romance has a married couple who had a whirlwind romance, but now one husband is on tour, the other is attempting to deal with his past–now he can no longer hide from himself. Did I mention all the crying? The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang was particularly interesting because the hero is Asian and the heroine is on the autism spectrum.

And Everything Nice by Ada Maria Soto is a novella that I absolutely adored. This M/M romance has no boinking, and kept making me laugh.

Hey! I read some new fantasy releases!

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Charlie Adhara is the 4th book in the series and I am really enjoying this series. It’s got M/M boinking, but the world building is very good. And after a long wait, I finally got False Value by Ben Aaronovitch the latest Rivers of London book.

Murder at Pirate’s Cove by Josh Lanyon

is the first in her new cozy mystery series. A widower sheriff and a guy who inherited a book store. What’s not to love?

Supernatural Fantasy

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (2010) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Rating: 8/10
False Value (2020) Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) Rating: 8/10
Mating the Huntress (2018) Talia Hibbert Rating: 7/10

Mystery

Murder at Pirate’s Cove (2020) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) Rating: 8/10

Mystery, Police

Trace Elements (2020) Donna Leon (Commissario Guido Brunetti) Rating: 7.5/10

Mystery, Historical

Regency London
The Emperor’s Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener Rating: 8.5/10
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Rating: 9/10
A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener Rating: 8/10
Owen Archer
A Spy for the Redeemer (2002) Candace Robb Rating: 7.5/10
The Cross-Legged Knight (2003) Candace Robb Rating: 7.5/10
Kat Holloway Mysteries
Death Below Stairs (2018) Jennifer Ashley Rating: 7.5/10
Scandal Above Stairs (2018) Jennifer Ashley Rating: 7.5/10
Death in Kew Gardens (2019) Jennifer Ashley Rating: 7.5/10

Romance

The Kiss Quotient (2018) Helen Hoang Rating: 8.5/10

Romance, Historical

The Lost Letter (2017) Mimi Matthews

Romance, LGBT

The Agency
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto Rating: 9/10
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto Rating: 8/10
Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Rating: 9/10
Rend (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) Rating: 9/10
Band Sinister (2018) KJ Charles Rating: 9/10
Work for It (2019) Talia Hibbert (Just for Him) Rating: 8.5/10
And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto Rating: 8/10
Finders Keepers (2018) N.R. Walker Rating: 7.5/10
Small Change (2017) Roan Parrish (Small Change) Rating: 7.5/10
Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2016) R. Cooper Rating: 7.5/10
For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper Rating: 7/10
Color of You (2017) C.S. PoeRating: 7/10
Checking Out Love (2015) R. Cooper Rating: 7/10
Dads with Benefits (2019) Jason Collins (Fairview Single Dads) Rating: 5/10

Graphic Novel

Lady Mechanika Volume 2: Tablet of Destinies (2016) Joe Benitez, Marcia Chen, Martin Montiel Rating: 8/10
Trickster: Native American Tales (2010) edited by Matt Dembicki Rating: 8.5/10

And now the stats:

TWO paper books! Two! (and eleven re-reads)

Trade Paperback: 2
eBook: 29
Re-read: 11

As I mentioned, lots and LOTS of romance. Anything remotely resembling a cliff-hanger is RIGHT OUT.

Fantasy: 4
Mystery: 12
Romance: 21
Boinking: 13
Historical: 12
Anthology: 1
Comic: 2

Lots of books by female authors.

Male: 3
Female: 19
Initials: 6
Anthology: 1
Joint: 1

And the breakdown of characters. Still a predominance of white characters, but that’s hard to avoid in historical romances, when I personally can’t read stories set in the Americas (Because slavery. IN general it exists and deeply upsets me, or it DOESN’T exist and I get mad the author is hiding it. Hey. I never claimed to be rational in what I like.)

Male: 17
Female: 7
Ensemble: 7
White: 20
Minority: 9
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 11
LGBTQ: 16
LGBTQ 2ndary: 3

And those are the books of March.

Even having an extra day, February flew by. Very little hiking this month because it WON’T STOP RAINING, so once more an absurd amount of reading.

So what was good last month? A lot!

The Trouble Brewing series by Layla Reyne was almost as good as her Irish & Whiskey series. Imperial Stout, Craft Brew, and  Noble Hops were all fun and thrilling, although lots of boinking.

I finally broke down and purchased Rob Thurman’s Trickster series as ebooks, and   Trick of the Light was just as good as I remembered. 

Because I was talking about it with Michael (and because there was a new book coming out) I re-read Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf, which I enjoyed just as much the second time around.

I’ve found a lot of Ace romances, and most of them were very good. I definitely recommend Upside Down by N.R. Walker, Three Stupid Weddings by Ann Gallagher,  Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox, Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists by Angel Martinez , and  All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher

I even read some comics last month. All were new-to-me series, and I do want to read more of Lady Mechanicka

Here’s what I read by category. The Ace romances may or may not have boinking, so check the tags / categories if you want to be sure.

Mystery, Historical

Owen Archer
The Riddle of St. Leonard’s (1997) Candace Robb Rating: 8/10
A Gift of Sanctuary (1998) Candace Robb Rating: 7.5/10

Mystery, LGBT

The Art of Murder
The Monet Murders (2017) Josh Lanyon Rating: 8/10
The Magician Murders (2019) Josh Lanyon Rating: 8/10
The Monuments Men Murders (2019) Josh Lanyon Rating: 6/10
Trouble Brewing
Imperial Stout (2018) Layla Reyne Rating: 8/10
Craft Brew (2018) Layla Reyne Rating: 8.5/10
Noble Hops (2019) Layla Reyne Rating: 8.5/10

Fantasy, Supernatural

Trick of the Light (2009) Rob Thurman (Trickster) Rating: 9.5
Big Bad Wolf
The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara Rating: 8.5/10
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara Rating: 9.5/10
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara Rating: 9/10
Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez Rating: 8.5/10
Known Devil (2014) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation) Rating: 8.5/10
The Alpha and His Ace (2015) Ana J. Phoenix Rating: 5/10

Romance, LGBT

Upside Down (2019) N.R. Walker Rating: 9/10
Three Stupid Weddings (2018) Ann Gallagher Rating: 8.5/10
Blank Spaces (2016) Cass Lennox (Toronto Connections) Rating: 8.5/10
Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne Rating: 8.5/10
Arctic Heat (2019) Annabeth Albert (Frozen Hearts) Rating: 8/10
All the Wrong Places (2016) Ann Gallagher (Bluewater Bay) Rating: 8/10
Candy Hearts (2020) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) Rating: 7/10
Save the Date (2017) Annabeth Albert & Wendy Qualls

Romance, Historial

The Winter Companion (2020) Mimi Matthews (Parish Orphans of Devon) Rating: 8/10

Comics

Lady Mechanika Volume 1: Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse (2015) Joe Benitez, Peter Steigerwald Rating: 7.5
Check, Please!: # Hockey (2018) Ngozi Ukazu Rating: 7/10
Mooncakes (2019) Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu Rating: 7/10

So what good did you read last month? Or did you have decent weather and were able to leave your house?

I believe I am going to remain in denial about it being February for another few days. Because WHERE HAS WINTER BEEN? I have not been able to take a SINGLE HIKE in the snow.

Anyway.

Because of the super crappy weather, and because the news has been destroying my calm, I’ve been doing a LOT of reading. I’ve been aiming for comfort reads, and mostly found them, but there were a couple of books that really fell short for me (including a DNF).

What was good? Talia Hibbert is marvelous. I’ve almost read my way through her backlist and then I’ll be stuck waiting for her to write more.

I hate waiting.

C.S. Poe wrote several books that were just what I needed. (I still think her fated-mates penguin shifter tales was one of my favorite stories to read last year). She writes LGBT mysteries and romances and the mysteries are good, but the romances are lovely. And if you don’t like boinking in your books, Joy (States of Love) is boink free.

Although I was kinda MEH on Annabeth Albert‘s Portland series, her Alaska series has been lovely (there is HIKING!) and I’ve really enjoyed reading it.

Elyse Springer‘s Thaw is another LGBT romance without any graphic boinking–because the main character is Ace. So lovely.

Last year I re-read Drew Hayes Fred, the Vampire Accountant series, which I loved, because Undeading Bells was coming out. This wasn’t my favorite book in the series, but it was still quite good and enjoyable and you should really read the series.

Romance

Merry Inkmas (2017) Talia Hibbert Rating: 8/10
Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) Talia Hibbert (Brown Sisters) Rating: 8/10
RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny (2018) Rebekah Weatherspoon (Not Rated)

Romance, LGBT

Joy (States of Love) (2017) C.S. Poe Rating: 9.5/10
Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian Rating: 8.5/10
Arctic Sun (2019) Annabeth Albert (Frozen Hearts) Rating: 8.5/10
Arctic Wild (2019) Annabeth Albert (Frozen Hearts) Rating: 8.5/10
Status Update (2015) Annabeth Albert (#gaymers) Rating: 8.5/10
Thaw (2017) Elyse Springer (Seasons of Love Book) Rating: 8.5/10
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky (2019) Mackenzi Lee (Montague Siblings) Rating: 8/10
American Love Story (2019) Adriana Herrera (Dreamers) Rating: 7/10
A Matter of Disagreement (2018) EE Ottoman Rating: 5.5/10

Mystery

Murder by the Seaside (2013) Julie Anne Lindsey (Patience Price Mysteries Series) Rating: 6.5/10

Historical Mystery

The Nun’s Tale (1995) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Rating: 7.5/10
The King’s Bishop (1996) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Rating: 7/10
The Art of Theft (2019) Sherry Thomas (The Lady Sherlock Series) Rating: 5/10

Mystery, LGBT

Southernmost Murder (2018) C.S. Poe Rating: 8.5/10
Ramen Assassin (2019) Rhys Ford Rating: 8.5/10

Supernatural Fantasy

Evil Dark (2012) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit) Rating: 8/10
The Night Raven (2018) Sarah Painter (Crow Investigations) Rating: 7/10
Black Dog Blues (2014) Rhys Ford Rating: 6/10
Undeading Bells (2019) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant) Rating: 8/10

Supernatural Fantasy, LGBT

Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (2016) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 8/10
The Pill Bugs of Time (2016) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 7/10
Skim Blood and Savage Verse (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 7.5/10
Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 9/10
Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 8/10
All the World’s an Undead Stage (2018) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Rating: 8/10
Dim Sum Asylum (2017) Rhys Ford Rating: 7.5/10

DNF

DNF: His Convenient Husband (2017) Robin Covington

And now: the stats!

All ebooks this month, with 9 re-reads. I’ve got some comics lined up to read, but the burden of having to find my reading glasses has kept bumping them down my TBR pile.

#lazy

Lots of romance this month, because I desperately need the HEAs. Even the straight-up mysteries I read I was certain were going to end on a positive note. Because I just cannot with anything dark or depressing right now.

Fantasy: 12
Mystery: 15
Romance: 22
Boinking: 17
Historical: 6

Almost all female authors this month. You’ll note that the numbers don’t add up, because I read one book by a non-binary author, and I don’t have a category for that, so I’ll just note it when it happens.

Male: 2
Female: 25
Joint + Anthology: 0
Initials: 1

Since most of the romances were M/M it was mostly male characters. A high number of white characters with no minorities, but I read six mostly British historicals, which is going to heavily skew those numbers. (NOTE: I have several historicals set in Asia, they just aren’t what I’m reading right now.) And unsurprisingly, I read only seven books that didn’t have any LGBT representation. Interestingly, the Candace Robb’s Owen Archer (Set in England in the 1360s) series has had gay characters, including a very complicated character who has been redeemed over several books.

Male: 20
Female: 4
Ensemble: 5
White: 12
Minority: 16
Minority 2ndary: 1
Straight: 7
LGBTQ: 19
LGBTQ 2ndary: 3

And that’s what I read the first month of 2020.

Any recommendations for me?!

I may just refuse to acknowledge it is now December, and that Christmas is really close.

Nope. Still October. I’m sure of it.

I reached 200 books this month–205 at month’s end.

There was a fair amount of re-reading there, but I also managed several new releases (all of which were borrowed from the Library).

What was good this month?

I’m rereading the Fred, the Vampire Accountant series, which is tremendous fun (and there is no boinking!). It starts with The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant and is just as over-the-top as it sounds.

Being a vampire grants you many things. A sudden burst of intuition and confidence with the opposite sex sitting directly on top of you is sadly not one of them.

You should definitely read that series.

I’m also re-reading Justin Gustainis‘s Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series, which starts with Hard Spell. It’s a supernatural police procedural, set in Scranton, and it’s also marvelous.

My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.

Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9 mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.

Just ignore the covers, because they’re really awful, although they’re bad in an amusing over-the-top way, rather than taking themselves seriously.

And I read what may be the best short story I’ve read in a long time (and I read quite a few short stories). Marriage, Love and a Baby Carriage by C.S. Poe is a short story about gay fated-mate penguin shifters and an unexpected baby. It is an utter delight. (There is boinking here, but even that ended up being charming).

I was attending a singles’ convention for special people like me to find their forever penguin partner. But after I paid the attendance fee, got a hotel room, and booked my flight, I found out it was specifically for guys and gals.

I actually read it twice, because it was so fun. Also, I would TOTALLY read a series about penguin shifters.

Just sayin’.

I also want to mention Whiteout by Elyse Springer, because a couple chapters in I was all, “Oh. No. I do not like where I think this is going. No. No I do not. And then read the remained of the book in a single sitting. This is very much a boinking book.

So here’s what I read:

Supernatural Fantasy
Fred, the Vampire Accountant
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant (2014) Drew Hayes (Rating: 8.5/10)
Undeath & Taxes (2015) Drew Hayes (Rating: 8.5/10)
Alpha & Omega
Dead Heat (2015) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8.5/10)
Burn Bright (2018) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 6/10)
Hard Spell (2011) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation) (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery
The Other End of the Line (2016/2019) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, Historical
Penny for Your Secrets (2019) Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent) (Rating: 5.5/10)

Mystery, LGBT
Murder Takes the High Road (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8.5/10)
Adrien English
Fatal Shadows (2000) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 6/10)
A Dangerous Thing (2002) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
Death of a Pirate King (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
The Dark Tide (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
So This is Christmas (2016) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8.5/10)
The Art of Murder
The Mermaid Murders (2015) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
Holmes & Moriarity
The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (2014/2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 6/10)
In Other Words… Murder (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)

Romance, Historical
Brazen and the Beast (2019) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 8/10) (Bareknuckle Bastards)
The Wallflower Wager (2019) Tessa Dare (Rating: 6/10) (Duchess Deal)

Romance, LGBT
Whiteout (2017) Elyse Springer (Rating: 8.5/10)
Marriage, Love and a Baby Carriage (2016) C.S. Poe (Rating: 8.5/10)
Kneading You (2019) C.S. Poe (Rating: 7.5/10)
American Fairytale (2019) Adriana Herrera (Rating: 6/10) (American Dreamers)
Portland Heat
Served Hot (2015) Annabeth Albert (Rating: 5.5/10)
Baked Fresh (2015) Annabeth Albert (Rating: 7/10)
Delivered Fast (2015) Annabeth Albert (Rating: 6/10)

And… the stats!

I’m almost certainly read a couple more books than I did last year (I’ve already finished one book today) but won’t break my all-time record, which would be 2017’s 230 books. That’s a lot of books, but since I don’t watch video, I squander my time this way.

eBook: 25
Re-read: 13

All eBooks again, and half of them were re-reads. But I did also read six books that were new or new-ish releases, so there’s that.

Genre-wise romance lead the pack, with lots of boinking. Lots of mysteries in there, and fantasy opened and closed the month, with finishing my reread of the Alpha & Omega series and starting two other re-reads.

Fantasy: 6
Mystery: 13
Romance: 20
Boinking: 18

Male authors are simply not going to make 50% of my reading this year.It’s possible they won’t even make 15% of the books I’ve read. And I’m ok with that.

Male: 4
Female: 10
Initials: 2
Male Pseudonym: 9

Character-wise, guys are doing much better, since I’m still reading lots of M/M romance. Not unexpectedly, all the books but one had at least one white main character. But there was pretty good representation with secondary characters.

Male: 20
Female: 5
Ensemble: 0
White: 24
Minority: 7
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 9
LGBTQ: 16
LGBTQ 2ndary: 4

And that closes out the pent-ultimate reading wrap-up of 2019. Anything you read that was particularly good?

Surprise. It’s November.

Lots of re-reads this month, but plenty of new books as well, and some very good books that were not re-reads.

I loved Layla Reyne’s Agents Irish and Whiskey series, starting with Single Malt, despite the fact that it had tropes that I really dislike, including a romance between law enforcement partners, a secret off-the-books investigation, and one person committed to the romance and the other… not. Why did it work for me? First and foremost because of Aidan. It had been less than a year since his husband was killed, so he was still processing his grief and afraid to care for someone who might get killed in the line of duty. But also because Jamie was a delight. He was a thorough geek AND an amazing athlete and a good person. And the mysteries were good and there were repercussions for not following the rules. Excellent!

I finished the last (?) Snow & Winter book, The Mystery of the Bones by C.S. Poe which was an interesting mystery and the romance was good as well.

I’m re-reading Patricia Briggs‘s Alpha & Omega series, which has some of my favorite secondary characters in the Mercy-verse (Asil).

So what did I read? Quite a variety. (Note that the LGBT books are also boinking books.)

Mystery

At Your Service (2018) Sandra Antonelli (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, Historical

Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon (Lord John) (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, LGBT

The Mystery of the Bones (2019) C.S. Poe (Rating: 8.5/10) (Snow & Winter)
Agents Irish and Whiskey
Single Malt (2017) Layla Reyne (Rating: 8.5/10)
Cask Strength (2017) Layla Reyne (Rating: 8.5/10)
Barrel Proof (2017) Layla Reyne (Rating: 9/10)
Holmes & Moriarity
Somebody Killed His Editor (2009) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
All She Wrote (2010) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)

Romance, Historical

The Work of Art (2019) Mimi Matthews (Rating: 7.5/10)
A Convenient Fiction (2019) Mimi Matthews (Rating: 6/10) (Parish Orphans of Devon)

Romance, LGBT

Riven (2018) Roan Parrish (Rating: 7.5/10)
A Duke in Disguise (2019) Cat Sebastian (Rating: 5/10)

Fantasy, Historical

Gunpowder Alchemy (2014) Jeannie Lin (Rating: 6/10) (The Gunpowder Chronicles)

Fantasy, LGBT

Mainly by Moonlight (2019) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 6/10) (Bedknobs and Broomsticks)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Alpha & Omega
Alpha and Omega (2008) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8/10)
Cry Wolf (2008) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8/10)
Hunting Ground (2009) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8.5/10)
Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8.5/10)

And now THE STATS!

All ebooks this month. I’ve been listening to podcasts instead of audio books. And just under half the books were re-reads, because I finished a series I really liked and then was stumped for what to read next.

eBook: 18
Multiple Formats: 4
Re-read: 7

Mostly mystery and romance, and half of those were boinking books. But almost half were fantasies, so not that far off from normal.

Fantasy: 6
Mystery: 12
Romance: 16
Boinking: 7

No books written by guys this month. Male authors are at only 38% this year, so I don’t think they’re going to catch up.

Female: 14
Initials: 1
Male Pseudonym: 3

And the character breakdown. More than half the books had make protagonists (because M/M romances) and although almost all the books had one white main character, there were plenty of minorities as the other primary character and secondary characters.

Male: 9
Female: 8
Ensemble: 1
White: 17
Minority: 7
Minority 2ndary: 5
Straight: 8
LGBTQ: 10
LGBTQ 2ndary: 1

And that’s what I read in October. Did you read anything excellent recently?

Here it is October. Except it doesn’t feel like October because it’s NINETY BLOODY DEGREES here.

ahem.

Let us begin again.

We’re now in the last quarter of the year, and I’m once again reading a ridiculous number of book, but that’s ok. Sometimes it’s too hot to leave the house. Sometimes I need a break from house projects (which reminds me, I should really start writing those up to post here). So of course I read books.

What did I really like this month?

I am really loving Talia Hibbert. I read her Just for Him series, although I started with the novella, Work for It, which is a M/M story that concludes the series. Then I went back to start the series and of that, my favorite was Undone by the Ex-Con. The hero in that one was particularly interesting, for reasons that are uncovered as you read the story.

Although I’ve had it for months, I finally read Josh Lanyon‘s Come Unto These Yellow Sands, which is stand alone. I’d been hesitate to read it, because one of the main characters is an addict (clean six years) and I thought that might be difficult to read. It was difficult, but it was also very rewarding.

All of the above are boinking books.

The other book was Ada Maria Soto’s His Quiet Agent, which I thought was a spy / mystery story, but is actually a romance. The story itself was fascinating–especially since it’s an Ace romance. It’s quite unlike other things I’ve been reading, but I immediately got the novella that followed this story. (It was not a stand-alone story, but still enjoyable.)

Mystery, LGBT

Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8.5/10)
The Mystery of the Moving Image (2018) C.S. Poe (Rating: 8/10)
Skin and Bone (2019) TA Moore (Rating: 7.5/10)

Romance, Supernatural Fantasy

Sapphire Flames (2019) Ilona Andrews (Rating: 7/10)
Among the Living (2006) Jordan Castillo Price (Rating: 6.5/10) (PsyCop)

Romance

Can’t Escape Love (2019) Alyssa Cole
Just for Him
Bad for the Boss (2017) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 6.5/10)
Undone by the Ex-Con (2018) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8.5/10)
Sweet on the Greek (2018) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8/10)

Romance, LGBT

Agency
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (Rating: 8.5/10)
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto (Rating: 7.5/10)
Work for It (2019) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8.5/10)
Sympathy: MM Romance with a Hint of Magic (2009) Jordan Castillo Price (Rating: 7/10)
American Dreamer (2019) Adriana Herrera () Adriana Herrera (Rating: 7/10)

Romance, Historical

The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter (2019) K.J. Charles (Rating: 7.5/10)
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2019) Olivia Waite (Rating: 5.5/10)

Mystery, Supernatural

Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, Historical

Murder on Amsterdam Avenue (2015) Victoria Thompson (Rating: 7/10)

And now… THE NUMBERS!

eBook: 18
Re-read: 2

Yup. All eBooks. And only two re-reads.

Genres

Fantasy: 3
Mystery: 5
Romance: 16
Boinking: 10

Romance heavy fantasy light this month. Probably because I read most of the mysteries I had in my kindle TBR folder (I still have approximately a million other mysteries TBR, these were just ones I was pretty sure I was in the mood for).

Authors

Female: 12
Initials: 3
Male Pseudonym: 1
Joint: 1

Female writers remain significantly ahead, with no books by solo male authors this month. Which is fine.

Characters

Male: 11
Female: 3
Ensemble: 4
White: 13
Minority: 8
Minority 2ndary: 5
Straight: 6
LGBTQ: 12
LGBTQ 2ndary: 2

Oh, here’s where all the males are! Pretty heavily white, but at least the casts were diverse.

And those are the books of September. Did you read anything particularly good this month?

How is it September already? Where on earth has the year gone?!

I read some good books this month!

I read the rest of the Ravenswood by Talia Hibbert (ie, the first two books and the novella) and really REALLY liked them. In the first book, A Girl Like Her the female main character is on the autism spectrum and is a tremendous geek. I loved her SO. MUCH. The second book, Damaged Goods, I had concerned about, since the main character is the nanny. However, the two characters had known each other back in the school days (and had mutual secret crushes on each other) and he is really unhappy with the idea of having a relationship with his employee. So she did a really good job working out that aspect of the story. I highly recommend the entire series.

If you’ve read any KJ Charles you may already be aware of her new novella, Proper English. If you haven’t, it’s marvelous. It’s set before Think of England which is fantastic.

The final book I really enjoyed was Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, which had a really nice variety of stories, some of which I loved, one of which I despised, and I found some new authors to look into.

Mystery, Historical

A Murdered Peace (2018) Candace Robb (Rating: 7/10) (Kate Clifford)
In Farleigh Field (2017) Rhys Bowen (Rating: 6/10) 

Mystery, LGBT

Snow & Winter
The Mystery of Nevermore (2016) C.S. Poe (Rating: 7.5/10)
The Mystery of the Curiosities (2017) C.S. Poe (Rating: 7.5/10) 

Romance

Ravenswood
A Girl Like Her (2018) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8/10)
Untouchable (2018) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8/10)
Damaged Goods (2018) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8/10)

Romance, LGBT

Proper English (2019) KJ Charles (Rating: 8/10)
Bone to Pick (2017) TA Moore  (Rating: 7/10) (Digging Up Bones)
For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper (Rating: 7/10)

Romance, Historical

Devil’s Daughter (2019) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 6/10) (The Ravenels)

Fantasy, Supernatural  

Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy (2015) edited by Jordan Castillo Price (Rating: 8.5/10)
Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (2018) Brandon Sanderson (Rating: 7/10)

And now: The stats!

All ebooks this month, and two re-reads. Although the second is iffy–it’s the Stephen Leeds story, and I have strong opinions about how it was published.

eBook: 13
Re-read: 2

Mostly mysteries and romance this month. And more than half boinking books.

Fantasy: 2
Mystery: 9
Romance: 10
Boinking: 7
Anthology: 1

Mostly female authors this month. I’ve picked up some hard boiled mysteries on sale recently, but haven’t really been in the mood to read them. But when I do, that’ll might swing me back to male authors for the whole years. :)

Male: 1
Female: 6
Joint + Anthology: 1
Initials: 5
Anthology: 1

And the book characters.

Male: 6
Female: 2
Ensemble: 5
White: 11
Minority: 5
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 8
LGBTQ: 5

About half white males, but that’s mostly because I read several M/M mysteries. Otherwise, a decent amount of variety.

Did you read anything worth recommending this month?

Easy summary–I only read seven books this month. Between remodeling the bathroom and some hiking and a mini-vacation (involving other people and being sociable), not much time for reading.

What was good this month? The LGBT Mystery Anthology Footsteps in the Dark was very good. A variety of stories–some with boinking, some without–and a variety of mysteries. I found some new authors I am very interested in reading. The only other new-to-me read was That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert. It’s the third book in a series, has a women of color as the heroine, and the hero is demi-sexual. I’m going to go back and read the first book (I think it’s the first) because the heroine is a woman of color and probably on the autism-spectrum. PLUS she’s a geek. I NEED to read this story.

Mystery, Historical

The Holy Thief (1992) Ellis Peters  (Rating: 9/10)

Mystery, LGBT

Footsteps in the Dark (2019) L.B. Gregg, Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Dal MacLean, Z.A. Maxfield, Meg Perry, C.S. Poe and S.C. Wynne (Rating: 9/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

The Rook (2012) Daniel O’Malley (Rating: 9.5/10)

Romance, Historical

These Old Shades (1926) Georgette Heyer (Rating: 9/10)
Love for the Spinster (2019) Kasey Stockton (Rating: 6.5/10)

Romance

That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert (Rating: 8/10)

Audio Books

The Naming of the Beasts, Audio Book (2009) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer (Rating: 7/10)

And now, the statistics!

eBook: 6
Audio: 1
Multiple Formats: 3
Re-read: 4

Half the books I read this month I own in multiple formats, and more than half were re-reads. Those things are not unrelated.

Genre-wise a variety. Romance is actually ahead this year by a few books. But I do get into a groove and want to read MORE like the book I just finished. We’ll see how the rest of the year goes.

Fantasy: 2
Mystery: 3
Romance: 4
Boinking: 2
Anthology: 1

Female authors are still significantly ahead of male authors. This number is not significantly related to the number of romances I’ve read, since much of the mystery and fantasy I read has been written by women.

I just pretend to prefer the style of female authors, but go ahead and tell me again how you can’t find any female SFF authors to read.

Male: 2
Female: 3
Anthology: 1
Male Pseudonym: 1

Finally, the gender of the main characters was pretty evenly split, but not a lot of minority characters this month. (Reading historicals has something to do with that.) And a third of the books had LGBTQ main characters. The historicals theoretically should have something to do with that, but one of the first LGBT characters I fell in love with was in an historical. So–who knows.

Male: 3
Female: 2
Ensemble: 2
White: 6
Minority: 1
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 4
LGBTQ: 2
LGBTQ 2ndary: 1

And that’s what I read in July. Anyone read anything fantastic last month? I’d think that with the heat more people would want to be inside, huddled in front of the AC, moving very little, which is a good way to read.

Hard to believe, but the year is half over. I’ve read 124 books so far this year, which is the largest half-year total since I started keeping track (in 2003).

I read two new releases this month, both of which I really liked: Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs and The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch. Note that the Ben Aaronovitch is a Rivers of London novella, but NOT a Peter Grant story. Which worked out perfectly fine.

I also read several LGBT supernatural fantasies, all of which I really enjoyed. The Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara was a nice solid supernatural mystery: a man works for a secret law enforcement agency that polices the (secret) were-wolves. The world building was strong, both characters were complex, and the mysteries were good. The Brandywine Investigations series by Angel Martinez was another supernatural mystery, featuring mythological gods living in the modern world. I LOVED this world building. In fact, I’ve adored everything I’ve read by her, including Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists, which was ADORABLE.

Here are June’s books.

Supernatural Fantasy

Storm Cursed (2019) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8.5/10) (Mercy Thompson)
The October Man (2019) Ben Aaronovitch (Rating: 8.5/10) (Rivers of London World)
Jane Madison
Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft (2006/2015) Mindy Klasky (Rating: 7/10)
Sorcery and the Single Girl (2007-2015) Mindy Klasky (Rating: 6/10)
The Leopard King (2016) Ann Aguirre (Rating: 5.5/10)

Supernatural Fantasy, LGBT

Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez (Rating: 8/10)
Big Bad Wolf
The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara (Rating: 8/10)
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara (Rating: 8/10)
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara (Rating: 8/10)
Brandywine Investigations
Open for Business (2016) Angel Martinez (Rating: 7.5/10)
Family Matters (2018) Angel Martinez (Rating: 8.5/10)

Mystery, LGBT

Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas (2017) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
Seance on a Summer’s Night (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)

Mystery, Historical

A Dangerous Collaboration (2019) Deanna Raybourn (Rating: 7/10)

And now: THE NUMBERS!

This month was all eBooks, all the time. I’ve been listening to podcasts instead of audio books, so that dropped those off the list.

eBook: 14

Genre-wise things were pretty evenly spread. Lots of multi-category books, which is great since I adore supernatural mysteries.

Fantasy: 11
Mystery: 9
Romance: 10
Boinking: 9

Only a single male author this month (Ben Aaronovitch).

Male: 1
Female: 8
Male Pseudonym: 5

And looming at the character breakdowns, since I read a lot of M/M romance, I had lots of male characters. Lots of white males, although at least some of the books had diversity in their supporting characters (the Brandywine Investigations might have counted as secondary minority, what with Anansi and Coyote showing up, but they didn’t play very large parts). And lots of LGBTQ stories, with lots of LGBTQ secondary characters (although the historical mystery was a little shaky in that category)

Male: 6
Female: 7
Ensemble: 1
White: 13
Minority: 1
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 6
LGBTQ: 8
LGBTQ 2ndary: 5

And that’s what I read in June.

Anything you’d recommend this month?

Between family events and hiking and working on the house, I read a whole lot less this month.

And I’m good with that.

I enjoyed the The Geek Girl Mysteries by Julie Anne Lindsey. They solutions might have been a bit over-the-top, but I was perfectly OK with that, because they were fun stories, with a female lead who I really liked. Amy Stewart‘s Kopp Sisters mysteries are interesting in a different way, as they are based upon a real woman, who was one of the first women in NY to become a law officer. And finally, a M/M romance Family Man by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton was very sweet. It was also a little over-the-top at times, the characters were wonderful–and also complex, with complicated lives.

I also read some books that pissed me off, but those will be obvious from their ratings, and you’re welcome to read my reviews to see why I disliked them.

Fantasy

The Darkling Thrush (2012) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 5/10)
Ravensong (2018) TJ Klune (Rating: 4/10)

Romance, LGBT

Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery

The Geek Girl Mysteries
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Murder (2015) Julie Anne Lindsey (Rating: 7.5/10)
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Arsenic (2016) Julie Anne Lindsey (Rating: 8/10)
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Justice (2016) Julie Anne Lindsey (Rating: 8.5/10)

Mystery, Supernatural

Magical Washington
Fright Court (2011) Mindy Klasky (Rating: 8/10)
Law and Murder (2017) Mindy Klasky (Rating: 7.5/10)
High Stakes Trial (2019) Mindy Klasky (Rating: 7/10)

Mystery, Historical

Kopp Sisters
Girl Waits with Gun (2015) Amy Stewart (Rating: 8/10)
Lady Cop Makes Trouble (2016) Amy Stewart (Rating: 8/10)
The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (Rating: 8.5/10) (Brother Cadfael)

Mystery, LGBT

Hell & High Water (2014/2018) Charlie Cochet (THIRDS) (Rating: 5/10)

Now: THE STATS!

All ebooks. Not a surprise. Only one re-read, which is slightly more surprising.

eBook: 13
Re-read: 1

Split fairly evenly across the genres this month, with mysteries slightly ahead.

Fantasy: 6
Mystery: 10
Romance: 9
Boinking: 4

Almost no male authors this month. And sadly for them, it was one of the books I strongly disliked, mostly because the story went off-the rails right at the end, with several things that just PISSED ME OFF.

Male: 1
Female: 9
Male Pseudonym: 3

Male: 5
Female: 8
White: 13
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 9
LGBTQ: 4

Variety of characters this month was a little low, but that happens. After all, I’m reading for fun.

Finally! Decent weather! That means less reading, but I’m OK with that.

I managed to read some new releases this months–including books that were published within the month!

So what did I really like?

Some very good historical mysteries, including the new Sebastian St Cyr mystery: Secrets in the Mist by Anna Lee Huber (Rating: 9/10) Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr) (Rating: 8.5/10)

I am really enjoying Josh Lanyon’s writing, and I hope that this is actually a series:

The Haunted Heart: Winter by Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10).

And in the LGBT romance line, I want to mention a book that I really enjoyed, even if I don’t think it was that good of a book. How to Be a Normal Person by TJ Klune (Rating: 6.5/10). This book had one main character who was an ace, another who was probably along the autism spectrum, and some AMAZING supporting characters, including an elderly female biker (Vespa) gang. There was also a fair amount that annoyed me, including one of the characters being a hipster and smoking a LOT of pot. But it DID make me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. So I don’t know if I could read it again, but it was definitely worth reading once.

So what made the ranks of the read this month?

Mystery, LGBT

Hazard and Somerset
Reasonable Doubt (2018) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 7/10)
Criminal Past (2018) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 2/10)
Digging Up Bones
Bone to Pick (2017) TA Moore (Rating: 7/10)
Skin and Bone (2019) TA Moore (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, Historical

Secrets in the Mist (2016) Anna Lee Huber (Rating: 9/10)
Who Slays the Wicked (2019) C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr) (Rating: 8.5/10)
The Potter’s Field (1989) Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael) (Rating: 8.5/10)
An Artless Demise (2019) Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby) (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery, Police

Death at Sea: Montalbano’s Early Cases (2014/2018) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Rating: 8.5/10)

Romance, Thriller

Scandal Never Sleeps (2015) Shayla Black and Lexi Blake (Rating: 5/10)

Romance, LGBT

The Haunted Heart: Winter (2013) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
Wolfsong (2016) TJ Klune (Green Creek) (Rating: 7/10)
How to Be a Normal Person (2015) TJ Klune (Rating: 6.5/10)

Romance, Historical

Castaway Dreams (2012/2016) Darlene Marshall (Rating: 6/10)
A Modest Independence (2019) Mimi Matthews (Parish Orphans of Devon) (Rating: 8/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Inspector Hobbes and the Gold Diggers (2014) Wilkie Martin (Rating: 6.5/10)

Now: THE STATS!

All ebooks this month! I couldn’t find anything I wanted to listen to, so I’ve been listening to podcasts while I walk and do housework. And only one re-read this month!

eBook: 16
Re-read: 1

Oddly, almost no fantasy. Lots of mystery and lots of romance though.

Fantasy: 2
Mystery: 12
Romance: 10
Boinking: 8

Even more strangely, I read a fair number of male authors! However, when you take pseudonyms into consideration, I still read more female authors.

Male: 6
Female: 5
Initials: 3
Male Pseudonym: 2

As far as character breakdown, lots and lots of white characters. Not surprising considering the number of British historical I read, but still, very white. And very few female leads this month, which IS unusual, but then I have been reading a lot of LGBT romance.

Male: 11
Female: 2
Ensemble: 3
White: 16
Minority: 2
Minority 2ndary: 1
Straight: 11
LGBTQ: 5

So there you are, the books of April.

Did you read anything fabulous this month?

Lots of crappy weather this month, so I read a lot again. (We shall not mention the indoor projects I ignored for reading. Moving right along.)

Although I still haven’t settled on a final rating, I enjoyed Faith Hunter‘s latest Soulwood book, Circle of the Moon.

I read a LOT of LGBT books this month, and I particularly enjoyed Josh Lanyon;s All’s Fair series, which starts with Fair Game (but the last book is my favorite in that series).

I also really liked The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles which is a collection of short stories, and a prequel of sorts to the Green Man series. (Sort of) Plus the series Angel Martinez‘s Offbeat Crimes series, which had ALL the Michelle Catnip: supernatural police procedural. I really liked the world-building in that series.

So here’s what I read:

Fantasy, Supernatural

Circle of the Moon (2019) Faith Hunter (Rating: Undecided) (Soulwood)

Mystery, LGBT

All’s Fair
Fair Game (2010) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
Fair Play (2014) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
Fair Chance (2017) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 9/10)
Adrien English
Fatal Shadows (2000/2012) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 6.5/10)
A Dangerous Thing (2002/2012) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
The Hell You Say (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
Death of a Pirate King (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
The Dark Tide (2011) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
So This is Christmas (2016) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks (2011/2016) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
The Ghost Had an Early Check-Out (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
Hazard and Somerset
Pretty Pretty Boys (2017) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 6/10)
Transposition (2018) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 6/10)
Paternity Case (2018) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 6/10)
Guilt by Association (2018) Gregory Ashe (Rating: 7.5/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural LGBT

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal (2013) K.J. Charles (Rating: 8/10)
Offbeat Crimes
Skim Blood and Savage Verse (2017) Angel Martinez (Rating: 6.5/10)
Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez (Rating: 8.5/10)
All the World’s an Undead Stage (2018) Angel Martinez (Rating: 8/10)

Audio Books

Salsa Nocturna: Stories, Audio Edition (2012/2014) Daniel José Older, narrated by Daniel José Older (Rating: 9/10)
Stiletto, Audio Edition (2016) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Moira Quirk (Rating: 9.5/10)
Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition (2015) Daniel José Older narrated by Daniel José Older (Rating: 8/10)

Mystery

Suffer Little Children (1995) Peter Tremayne (Sister Fidelma)
Unto Us a Son Is Given (2019) Donna Leon (Rating: 7/10) (Commissario Guido Brunetti)

Graphic Novel

Rivers of London Vol. 7: Action at a Distance (2018) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Brian Williamson (Rating: Grrrrr)

Romance, LGBT

Short Stories: 2007 – 2013 (2015) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure (2019) Courtney Milan (Rating: 7.5/10)

And here’s how the stats came out:

Trade Paperback: 1
eBook: 26
Audio: 3
Multiple Formats: 2
Re-read: 4

AN ACTUAL PAPER BOOK!

OK. It was a comic, but still! Paper!

Fantasy: 10
Mystery: 21
Romance: 21
Comic: 1
Boinking: 18
Anthology: 1

Lots of mysteries this month, and lots of romance. And a fair chunk of fantasy so… pretty much everything. Plus a lot of boinking.

Male: 9
Female: 8
Initials: 1
Male Pseudonym: 12
Anthology: 1

More male authors than in past months, but adding in female pseudonyms, it’s still predominantly female authors.

Male: 24
Female: 4
Ensemble: 1
White: 26
Minority: 6
Minority 2ndary: 6
Straight: 10
LGBTQ: 20
LGBTQ 2ndary: 3

So lots of male main characters this month, mostly cuz I read a lot of M/M stories. And lots and lots of white characters, although there was a little bit of diversity with secondary characters. But still, pretty white.

And those are the books of March.

What did you read recently that you loved?

Rain rain rain rain rain means lots of reading for me. Which is fine, but I’d rather have been hiking.

So I read some good books last month, and also a couple not so good, including a did not finish and a book I finished mostly out of spite. But the lets talk about the good!

I reread a couple historical mystery series that I loved, and I can highly recommend: The Thief-Takers Series by Alissa Johnson has private inquiry agents and a family of thieves and ends with a heroine with a neurological disorder. The Regency London Series by Michelle Diener is another series I love, and the middle book has a young woman hiding as a French chef.

I read a new K.J. Charles book, Any Old Diamonds which of course I enjoyed. Note: MM boinking here, but it’s also a heist book.

And I found a MM mystery author, Josh Lanyon, who I am enjoying. The first book in the series I wasn’t quite sure about, but by the second book I was all on board. (I just started a new series by her.)

As far as audio books, I’m having a hard time finding a cleaning/exercise book, so went back to The Rook, Audio Edition by Daniel O’Malley narrated by Susan Duerden, which I utterly adore, and which is so unlike anything else it doesn’t get mixed into whatever else I’m reading.

Historical Mystery

The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters (Rating: 8.5/10) (Brother Cadfael)
Dark Angel (1994) Tracy Grant (Rating: 8.5/10) (Lescaut Quartet)
The Thief-Takers Series
A Talent for Trickery (2015) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 8.5/10)
A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 8.5/10)
A Dangerous Deceit (2017) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 8.5/10)
Regency London Series
The Emperor’s Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener (Rating: 8/10)
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Rating: 9.5/10)
A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Rating: 8.5/10)
Lady Arianna Hadley Mystery
Sweet Revenge (2011) Andrea Penrose (Rating: 6.5/10)
The Cocoa Conspiracy (2014) Andrea Penrose (Rating: 5.5/10)
Recipe For Treason (2014) Andrea Penrose (Rating: 4/10)

Mystery

The Overnight Kidnapper (2015/2019) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Rating: 7/10) (Inspector Montalbano)

Audio Books

The Rook, Audio Edition (2012) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Susan Duerden (Rating: 9.5/10) (The Rook)

Historical Romance

The Duke I Tempted (2018) Scarlett Peckham
DNF: The Curse of Lord Stanstead (2015) Mia Marlowe (DNF)

Supernatural Mystery (LGBT)

Offbeat Crimes
Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (2016) Angel Martinez (Rating: 7/10)
The Pill Bugs of Time (2016) Angel Martinez

Romantic (LGBT) Mystery

Murder Takes the High Road (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
Holmes & Moriarity
Somebody Killed His Editor (2009/2016) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7.5/10)
All She Wrote (2010/2017) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)
The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (2014/2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 7/10)
In Other Words… Murder (2018) Josh Lanyon (Rating: 8/10)

Romance, LGBT

Any Old Diamonds (2019) K.J. Charles (Rating: 8/10)
Another Place in Time (2014) by Tamara Allen, Joanna Chambers, K.J. Charles, Kaje Harper, Jordan L. Hawk , Aleksandr Voinov (Rating: 7/10)
Hexbreaker (2016) Jordan L. Hawk (Rating: 5/10)
Mr. Winterbourne’s Christmas (2018) Joanna Chambers (Rating: 6/10)

OK, the breakdown. Multiple re-reads (but some new releases as well) and almost everything was an ebook.

eBook: 24
Audio: 1
Multiple Formats: 1
Re-read: 7

Lots of romance and mystery and boinking this month.

Fantasy: 5
Mystery: 17
Romance: 22
Boinking: 15
Anthology: 1

Not many male authors this month, although there were several male pseudonyms.

Male: 2
Female: 15
Initials: 1
Male Pseudonym: 6
Anthology: 1

Now for the new categories I made last month. Lots of male leads (due to the MM romances) and lots of LGBTQ, but not many minority characters. Some of that has to do with reading historicals, but I’ll note that KJ Charles often has minority characters in her historicals, so it can be done, it’s just not necessarily easy.

Male: 13
Female: 1
Ensemble: 10
White: 24
Minority: 1
Minority 2ndary: 2
Straight: 14
LGBTQ: 11
LGBTQ 2ndary:

And that’s February in books.

Did you read anything last month you’d really recommend?

Bit late, but that’s because I was off in the north gallivanting.

I read a LOT this month. I mean a somewhat ridiculous amount. Partially because I read a lot light historical romances that I could down in a couple hours. And partially because the weather was not conducive to going outside.

So what was good this month? Quite a bit!

I read the latest Rivers of London book, Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, which tied up a lot of loose ends. I’ll need to listen to it in a month or two, to catch all the bits I missed while roaring through to discover what happened. I also really liked the newest SPI files entry, The Phoenix Illusion by Lisa Shearin . It’s just a fun series.

I read a bunch of books by Lisa Kleypas, some of which I really liked, some of which were just fine.

And I read a new KJ Charles book, which I really really liked.

Fantasy, Supernatural

Lies Sleeping (2018) Ben Aaronovitch (Rating: 8.5/10) (Rivers of London)
The Phoenix Illusion (2018) Lisa Shearin (Rating: 8/10) (SPI Files)
Inspector Hobbes and the Curse (2013) Wilkie Martin (Rating: 6/10) (Inspector Hobbes)

Mystery, Historical

Brother Cadfael
The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987) Ellis Peters (Rating: 7/10)
The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters (Rating: 7/10)

Romance, Historical

Hathaways
Mine Till Midnight (2007) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 8/10)
Seduce Me at Sunrise (2008) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 6/10)
Tempt Me at Twilight (2009) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 8/10)
Married By Morning (2010) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 8.5/10)
Love In The Afternoon (2010) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 8.5/10)
The Ravenels
Devil in Spring (2017) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 8.5/10)
Hello Stranger (2018) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 7.5/10)
Devil in Winter (2006) Lisa Kleypas (Rating: 7/10) (The Wallflowers)
Rule of Scoundrels
A Rogue by Any Other Name (2012) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 7/10)
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover (2013) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 8.5/10)
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished (2013) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 7/10)
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover (2014) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 7.5/10)
Wicked and the Wallflower (2018) Sarah MacLean (Rating: 7/10) (Bareknuckle Bastards)
The Providence Series
As Luck Would Have It (2008) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 7.5/10)
Tempting Fate (2009) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 7.5/10)
McAlistair’s Fortune (2009) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 7/10)
Destined To Last (2010) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 8/10)
Counting on a Countess (2018) Eva Leigh (Rating: 5.5/10)
The Governess Game (2018) Tessa Dare (Rating: 7/10)
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson (Rating: 7.5/10)

Romance, LGBT

Think of England (2014) K.J. Charles (Rating: 8.5/10)

Now to the stats!

Nothing but eBooks last month. Not a single paper or audio book. Eight of those books were re-reads, which is relatively low, considering my total numbers.

What kind of books? Well, I added some new categories for this year.

Fantasy: 3
Mystery: 6
Romance: 21
Boinking: 21

Lots of boinking books this month. Because there was a lot of romance read this month.

Male: 2
Female: 21
Initials: 1
Male Pseudonym: 2

Probably related to the number or romances I read, I had mostly female authors.

And some new categories. I’ve been wanting to track for awhile the characteristics of the books characters. I’m not quite sure if these categories are what I want, but they’ll work for now. I can always change them later.

Male: 5
Female: 1
Ensemble: 20

Although there were mostly romances, they generally switched between the male and female lead, hence the “ensemble” category. (I don’t like that term, but couldn’t come up with something else.)

White: 23
Minority: 3
Minority 2ndary: 0

White white white is what I read, with a smattering of minorities.

Straight: 25
LGBTQ: 1
LGBTQ 2ndary: 2

Most of the characters were straight, but there were two books with secondary LGBTQ characters. Those were, unsurprisingly to me, the supernatural fantasies.

So that sums up January. Anything you read that you’d recommend? (Because my TBR pile isn’t large enough)