I read a fair amount of historical romance this year, and a great deal of it was dreck. (Mostly my fault, since I tend to buy historical romance almost solely when it’s cheap.) But there were some good books.

Historical Romance

The Thief-Takers
Set in London in 1872

I picked up the first book because: Thief-Takers. That makes it a mystery of sorts, right? Well, not so much a mystery, and there is boinking, but it was interesting enough that I got the second book.

I quite like the second sister. Esther, like her older sister Charlotte, is damaged. Their father raised them to be good thieves and con artists, and it’s been difficult for Esther to move past that.

No one person’s good opinion should mean so much that another person should feel compelled to change who they are to obtain it.”

But she slowly does, and she and her sister come to terms with their past and how it shaped them.
A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson : 8/10

Courtney Milan : The Worth Saga
Set in London in 1866

Courtney Milan writes a lot of damaged characters, but she does it very well, and the damage is often something that would less damaging in the modern world than it was at the time. In this story, both the hero and the heroine’s younger sister have what would today be classified as mental illnesses. It’s enlightening and distressing to see how such characteristics that are today mostly accepted were hidden and treated.

Demolition, then division: He’d separated the bits first by size, and when that seemed unsatisfying on some gut level, by deviation from roundness.

Then, he’d very carefully started eating— from the most irregularly shaped crumb toward the most symmetrical.

He was almost finished with the infuriatingly oblong bits when Judith came in.

Once Upon a Marquess (2015) Courtney Milan : 8/10

The Brothers Sinister
A Kiss for Midwinter is set in England in 1863.

Miss Lydia Charingford has been ruined. But thanks to her best friend Minnie, no one knows about her ruin except Minnie, her family, and the doctors who saw her.

Jonas Grantham is a doctor–it has been his dream. And once he became a doctor, he vowed never to allow anyone to act against his principles as he did when a doctor he was following all but attempted to murder the pregnant young girl he was seeing.

The Suffragette Scandal is set in England in 1877

This is set more than a decade after the other books in the series, which allows it to be set during the first calls for universal suffrage.

I like both characters in this story, but what I especially like about her writing is her dialog and humor.

“Are you really left-handed?” Mr. Marshall asked.

“No. I’ve just been pretending to use my left hand my entire life because I enjoy never being able to work scissors properly.”

Lots of boinking in all her books.
A Kiss for Midwinter (2012) Courtney Milan : 8.5/10
The Suffragette Scandal (2014) Courtney Milan : 9/10

The Turner Series
Unclaimed  is set in England in 1841.

Why do I like this story?

“But, Sir Mark! She’s wearing scarlet. She made you give up your coat. You can’t really believe she’s an innocent. She…she could be a fallen woman!”

“There is no such thing as a fallen woman—you just need to look for the man who pushed her.”
…
“When someone falls,” Mark said, “you don’t throw her back down in the dirt. You offer her a hand up. It’s the Christian thing to do.”

That’s why.

Unraveled  is set in England in 1843.

You have to feel sorry for a man whose mother named him Smite. He is badly damaged by his past, but what I particularly liked is that although he found someone to love him, he is not miraculously healed by that love. He is still a prickly difficult person–no magic adoration can change that.
Unclaimed (2011) Courtney Milan  : 8/10
Unraveled (2011) Courtney Milan : 8.5/10

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

Aside from brownies, I think the only time I made bar cookies is at Christmas.

Probably because the recipes make entirely too many cookies, and I either eat them until I’m sick, or they go to waste (or Michael eats too many).

Christmas Cookies by Oxmoor House

Cranberry-Caramel Bars

I follow this recipe only vaguely–primarily I just drizzle the caramel over the shortbread and cranberries, and then sprinkle the other bits on top.

Fine Cooking Cookies: 200 Favorite Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Bars & More by the Editors of Fine Cooking

Cranberry Streusel Shortbread Bars

This is my first year making these, and I think they need some work as far as presentation. The dough is gloopy like a drop cookie, rather than sandy like a shortbread cookie. But if they taste good, I’m willing to tweak the recipe.

Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett

Praline-Pecan-Coconut Bars

OMG. I love these so much. I like to trim the edges off because it makes the bars neater, the cookies fit back in the pan better once sliced, and because then I have to eat those edges, since they won’t fit into the pan neatly.

These are some of the better fantasies I read this year, most of them falling into the urban/supernatural category, but with a couple historical fantasies thrown in (from when I couldn’t find a historical mystery I wanted to read).

Supernatural and Urban Fantasy

Paul Cornell : Lychford
These are two utterly delightful urban fantasy novellas. The three main characters are women, one of whom, Judith, is elderly. All are strong characters—and highly amusing.

“You said he was a being of tremendous power and evil, but I’ve looked him up. He’s got a wife and family. He’s on LinkedIn.”

The telemarketers who called her up now seemed either desperate or resigned to the point of a mindless drone, until Judith, who had time on her hands and ice in her heart, engaged them in dark conversations that always got her removed from their lists.

Witches of Lychford (2015) Paul Cornell  10/10
The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell  9/10

Shadow Police
Paul Cornell’s other series is very different from his Lychford series; I can see that it may well not be to everyone’s taste. I, however, really like it.

This is the second book in his Shadow Police series, and although you could read it on its own, I think you’d be better served going back and reading London Falling first, because a LOT happens in that first book.
The Severed Streets (2014) Paul Cornell  9/10

Charles de Lint : Newford
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors.

He writes urban fantasy—magic/fae exist, but they’re not the super-sexy, uber powerful creatures of supernatural fantasy. The magic in his books is that of folklore and myth—the Green Man, the Raven. It is the magic that exists just out of the corner of your eye.

Charles de Lint also writes some of the strongest female characters of any fantasy writer today. And I read a LOT of fantasy with female characters. His women are faliable creatures with whom you’d love to have coffee or go to a show with.

But these are not children’s stories any more than the original Grimm’s tales were stories for modern children. There are often monsters in his stories, but they tend to be human.

How can a smile, a laugh, a good deed, stand up against the weight of such a history?”

“I… I guess it can’t,” Jilly said. “But you still have to try.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s all you can do. If you don’t try to stand up against the darkness, it swallows you up.”

And I adore the Crow Girls.

 “And now I feel like I’m forgetting what it’s like to be happy,” I said, finishing up. “It’s like that stupid ghost boy stole all my happiness away, and now, ever since I talked to him, all I meet are unhappy people with very good reasons to be unhappy, and that makes me wonder, how could I ever have been happy? And what is being happy, anyway?”

Zia gave a glum nod. “I think it might be catching, because now I’m feeling the same way.”

“You see? That’s just what I mean. Why is it so easy to spread sadness and so hard to spread happiness?”

All of these books are short story anthologies—you don’t need to read them in any order, because in addition to being one of the best writers of strong female characters, he is also the best short story writer of any I can think of.

I just wish his Dreams Underfoot would come out as an ebook so I could easily reread it.
Muse and Reverie (2009) Charles de Lint : 10/10
Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Charles de Lint : 10/10
Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint : 9/10

Daniel José Older : Bone Street Rumba
There are not enough squees in the world for how I feel about Daniel José Older.

The Bone Street Rumba books are not YA books, but they have an utterly marvelous teen character, Kia.

A textbook lies open on the counter in front of me; I don’t even remember taking it out. It’s trig, some shit I already know how to do, and can’t be bothered answering a bunch of mindless questions about. I know this is a terrible reason to be getting Cs, but the truth is, I’m bored out my mind almost every day in school.

I also don’t have enough squees for how much I love Kia.

I mute the TV— you have to stand up and turn the remote at some hypotenuse-ass angle while pressing the button eighteen million times to get it to work…

Midnight Taxi Tango is the second book in this series; you should definitely read the first book before this one, because it’s just as awesome. But if you’re not sure if this is for you, check out his short story collection, Salsa Nocturna. It’s also marvelous, and will give you an idea of whether you’ll like his stories or not.

Also, he is the reader on his audiobooks, which initially concerned me, but he is quite good. (Although I’ll admit that although I like the idea of his daughter reading the raps Kia listens to, I’m afraid she’s not quite strong enough to do them justice.)
Midnight Taxi Tango (2016) Daniel José Older : 9/10

YA Standalone
This is a standalone set in a similar (the same?) world as the Bone Street Rumba series, but is not a part of that series, and doesn’t have boinking and quite as much language as that series.

But he understands teens—and women—very well.

(T)he words crept in, made a home in Sierra’s mind no matter how much she fought them off. Her wild, nappy hair. She ran her hands through her fro. She loved it the way it was, free and undaunted. She imagined it as a force field, deflecting all Rosa’s stupid comments.

Further down Gates Ave, a couple of guys were throwing dice in front of the Coltrane Projects. “Why you frownin’, girl?” one of them called out as Sierra walked past. “Smile for us!”

Sierra knew the guy. It was Little Ricky; they’d played together when they were small. He’d been one of those boys that all the girls were crazy about, with big dreamy eyes and a gentle way about him. A few years ago, Sierra would have been giddy with excitement to have his attention. Now he was just another stoopgoon harassing every passing skirt.

“I ain’t in the mood, jackass,” Sierra muttered, hugging herself. She was still shaky from the horrible night and she knew any sign of weakness would encourage them.

The guys let out a chorus of ohs and pounded one another. “I’m just saying, Sarcastula,” Ricky called after her. “C’mon back when you in the mood …”

This is such an amazing book, I really cannot encourage you enough to read it.
Shadowshaper (2015) Daniel José Older : 9.5/10

Mercy Thompson
I’m currently re-reading this series for the second time this year, which probably tells you how I feel about it.

Mercy is a half Native American WV mechanic who can change into a coyote, but aside from that doesn’t have much in the way of super powers, although she does have a propensity for getting herself into trouble.

This book continues the issues with the Fae and the rest of the US, and takes us for the first time Underhill.

This is the 9^th book in this series (there are currently four books and a novella in the Alpha & Omega series) AND graphic novels, so if you want to start at the beginning you have your work cut out for you, but I do love this series, so I think it’s well-worth your time to do so. Additionally, there are generally no cliffhanger endings, so you can read a book and then stop with no ill effects.
Fire Touched (2016) Patricia Briggs : 8/10

Faith Hunter : Jane Yellowrock
I am a huge fan of the Jane Yellowrock series—in fact I’ve been slowly working through the audio versions (I listen to audio books when I’m doing repetitive tasks or exercising, but it has to be something I’ve read before or else I get nothing done).

Jane Yellowrock is a skinwalker and a vampire hunter. She is also currently the enforcer for the head of the New Orleans vampires.

Shadow Rites is book ten of the series, and although you could start here, you probably want to go back to the beginning, because Jane does a lot of growing and learning through this series.

And there is Beast.

Beast perked up at the description of the food. Gator. Human killed gator? Human man is good hunter! Hungry for gator. And the picture she sent me was a whole gator, snout, teeth, feet, claws, tail, skin, and all, crusty with batter. I chuckled and sent her a more likely mental picture. Inside she huffed with disappointment.

You can, however, pick up the short story collection, Blood in Her Veins, if you’d like an idea of Faith Hunter’s writing and Jane’s world. The Jane books do not have cliffhangers, so you can read one and come back to the series.
Shadow Rites (2016) Faith Hunter : 8/10
Blood in Her Veins (2016) Faith Hunter : 8/10

Soulwood
Soulwood is a new series that parallels the Jane Yellowrock books.

Nell Ingram appears in a Jane Yellowrock short story, and I was quite pleased to discover that these is also a good series. Some of the characters from the Jane stories appear here—one being Rick LeFleur, who I don’t much care for. But at least he isn’t a love interest for Nell.

One thing I especially liked about this series is that although Nell left the religious cult in which she was raised, and the cult is seen as very negative in the short story, Nell’s relationship with her family is far more complicated than “escaping a cult” would make it sound. I may not be religious, but I appreciate the effort to make Nell’s family and religious faith complex.

One thing I did not like is that the second book ended on a cliff-hanger of sorts. I despise cliff-hangers. Let me be clear, I like story arcs that develop over the course of several books. I love bits that crop up again several books later. But I hate left in the dark as to what has happened when the narrator knows damned well what has happened. So the second book was dinged for the ending.
Blood of the Earth (2016) Faith Hunter  : 8/10
Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter  : 8/10

SPI Files
This is an utterly delightful series. Mac is a seer for the SPI—the group in charge of policing the supernatural. Her only talent is that she is a seer, which puts her at a disadvantage when going up against supernatural monsters, which is one of the things I like about this series.

Mac knows her limitations. Which is something I very much appreciate.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ian drew his gun, which was loaded with silver-infused hollow points. “Stay here,” he told me.

“I can do that.” Not only could I do that, I was glad to do that.

We’ve also listened to the first two books of this series, and they were quite enjoyable.
The Brimstone Deception (2016) Lisa Shearin : 9/10

Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold : 9/10
This is a single book story that is part fantasy, part SF, but only that there is advanced technology (a technology that is in some cases indistinguishable from magic). I read this years ago and was pleased to enjoy it just as much coming back to it the second time.

The Dark Side of The Road (2015) Simon R. Green : 8/10
This is a Simon R. Green story that is—best I can tell—not part of a series, which is unusual for him. Nope. Just checked, it’s a new series, but it’s certainly written as a stand-alone.

I tend to either love or hate Simon Green’s series. I adore the Nightside series, but didn’t care for his Secret histories. This book fell into the Like Very Much category.

My reflection met my gaze with a cold, mistrustful stare. A very familiar face because it hadn’t changed in so very long. Not the one I would have chosen; but good enough. I was tall, slim, dark-haired and handsome enough if you weren’t too choosy. A long rangy figure who appeared to be in his mid twenties. Dressed well, but anonymously. The kind of stuff you can buy anywhere, so you can fit in anywhere. An easy smile, a casual look, and dark eyes that gave away absolutely nothing.

Historical Fantasy

The Sarantine Mosaic
Guy Gavriel Kay is an author I absolutely love, but whom I have to be careful reading for two reasons. First, his books are complex and absorbing—not something I can pick up and put down, or read in a couple hours. Second, his writing and story-telling are phenomal, and I usually have trouble finding something to read after I finish one of his books, because everything else pales in comparison.

This series is set in alternate Byzantium, and the main character is a mosaicist, gone to the capital to decorate the rebuilt sanctuary.

To say of a man that he was sailing to Sarantium was to say that his life was on the cusp of change: poised for emergent greatness, brilliance, fortune— or else at the very precipice of a final and absolute fall as he met something too vast for his capacity.

Although there are touches of magic, this isn’t a fantasy in the traditional sense. It is instead a past the was never quite ours, and a glimpse into a great empire at its peak.

If this was the world as the god— or gods— had made it, then mortal man, this mortal man, could acknowledge that and honor the power and infinite majesty that lay within it, but he would not say it was right, or bow down as if he were only dust or a brittle leaf blown from an autumn tree, helpless in the wind.

Do not look to Guy Gavriel Kay if you are looking for a quick read, or a book you can easily put down. Look here is you want to become immersed in a world so like our past, yet that never happened.
Sailing to Sarantium (1998) Guy Gavriel Kay : 8/10
Lord of Emperors (2000) Guy Gavriel Kay  : 9/10

Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy : 9/10
This is historical fantasy of the what-if-magic-existed type. The world is much as we know of it, except that humans have the ability to use magic. It’s a re-telling, of sorts, of Jane Austen.

I was looking for some escapism, this fit the bill to a T.

Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover : 7.5/10
This is a prequel of sorts to Swordspoint, written by various authors as a serial novel. If you have not read Swordspoint, there it is difficult to explain Tremontaine to you. There is no magic here, just a world and time that could have been our past, but wasn’t.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

Every December I find myself scrounging around trying to find last years list of proposed Christmas cookies, and trying to remember what cookies I made, and what cookies everyone liked best.

This year I’m making note of everything.

I’ve made several different kinds of biscotti, and I have Many Thoughts on how biscotti should be properly made.

Biscotti aren’t supposed to be “high fat”; a biscotti recipe without butter is the correct way (or the traditional Italian way) to make biscotti. I hate the “less fat” designation because it makes you think something is missing, rather than something is made correct.

Biscotti are for dipping into hot drinks. They are supposed to be crunchy and hard. If you make biscotti with butter, they may hold the flavor better, but they don’t properly absorb the liquid when you dunk them in tea or cocoa (or coffee).

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Chocolate Biscotti with Less Fat

These “low-fat” biscotti are very delicious, and my new favorite biscotti recipe–dutch process cocoa AND chocolate.

YUM.

Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett

Cranberry Ginger Spice Biscotti
Spiced Chocolate Biscotti

Nope. The spices were interesting, but the butter made the texture all wrong, so I gave them all away. I learned my lesson–don’t even try making biscotti if the recipe has butter. I won’t like it.

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook by King Arthur Flour

Orange-Cranberry Biscotti

The KAF cookie book has two recipes for biscotti–Traditional Italian or American Biscotti. You then try any of the variations with your choice of base recipe.

I of course used the Traditional Italian base.

Couple things I’ve discovered making biscotti. First, even when using parchment paper, lightly grease the paper. It makes it much easier to slide the hot biscotti loaf onto the cutting board without burning your hands. Second, in a tip I learned in David Lebovitz’s Room For Dessert, once you blop the the dough into a log (or logs), wet your hands to shape and smooth the log–it makes the sticky dough much easier to handle.

These are some of the better mysteries I read this year. With the except of the three series at the end, I’ve noted only the books I particularly like. If you’d like to see all the books in the series, click on the author and you’ll see all the books listed in publication order at the top of the page.

I read a lot of mysteries this year–more mysteries than fantasy at current count (this could change as I am currently tearing through the Mercy Thompson series for the second time this year).

Most of the mystery I read was historical. For those who are particular about the historical mysteries, or just interested in reading about an unfamiliar era, I’ve noted the years in which the stories were set. (I recently started this, so if you go too far back in the archives, you won’t see the year(s).)

Mystery

Inspector Rebus
This is a collection of all the Rebus stories, including a couple written just for this volume.

Rebus is a fascinating character, with a past in the military before joining the Edinburgh police. He’s a loner and has a sense of justice that doesn’t always see following the rules as the best course of action. If you like police mysteries, this is a good introduction to Rebus. (I think the first story is one of the weaker ones, so don’t judge Rebus on that story.)

I own this series mostly in paperback, and am hoping the ebooks go on sale soon so I can re-read them.
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2015) Ian Rankin : 9/10

Inspector Montalbano
I adore Inspector Montalbano, even though in real life I might be tempted to punch him.

If you are not familiar with Montalbano, then this short story collection, Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories, would be an excellent place to start. It’s in no way a complete collection (Andrea Camilleri is very prolific) but it gives you a good taste of the characters and the stories.

Some of my favorite exchanges in this series are between Montalbano and Cat. I especially like how Montalbano’s attitude towards Cat changes over the course of the series.

“Catarella, I want you to do me a special, important favor.”

“Chief, when y’ax me poissonally in poisson to do yiz a favor poissonally in poisson, yer doin’ me a favor jess by axin’.”

The baroque courtesies of Catarella.

A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli 8/10
Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories (2008/ 2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli : 8/10

Susanna Horenbout and John Parker
Set in England in 1525

I read all available books in this series, but this one I particularly liked. Susanna Horenbout is a Flemish painter sent by her father to the court of King Henry VIII to be his illuminator. John Parker is a trusted courtier of King Henry. Both were real historical figures about whom little is known, aside from their names and that they eventually married.

There is boinking in this series.
In a Treacherous Court (2011) Michelle Diener : 8/10

Regency London
Set in London in 1812.

Giselle Barrington is the daughter of a folklorist with a fascination for cooking. After witnessing the murder of her father, she goes into hiding with the hopes she can pass on the message her father died for.

Although they are not historical characters, they are historically grounded, and the mystery was very good.

There is boinking in this series.
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener : 9/10

Lady Darby
Set in Scotland, England, and Ireland 1830-1831

The first book was interesting, but didn’t especially impress me. The succeeding books were much better done, and very enjoyable.

Lady Darby has spent the last year and a half hiding in Scotland with her sister and brother-in-law, after the death of her husband and the scandal that arose following that. Sebastian Gage is the son of a famous London inquiry agent. When a murder occurs, both Gage and Lady Darby look into the death—Gage because of her father and Lady Darby because of her past scandal.

The mysteries here are particularly good.
Mortal Arts (2013) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
A Grave Matter (2014) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
A Study in Death (2015) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
As Death Draws Near (2016) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10

Malcom & Suzanne Rannoch
Set in London in 1818

This is an interesting series that often jumps back and forth in time—the books are written jumping through time, although most of the books stick to a single timeline. This book is latest in the timeline, and like all the books in the series, can be read without the previous books.

Malcolm and Suzanne are spies—Malcolm for England and Suzanne for France. In this book, Malcolm knows of Suzanne’s past, and they are continuing to work through the issues caused by this (and other) revelations.
London Gambit (2016) Tracy Grant : 8/10

Sebastian St. Cyr
Set in England in 1813.

I picked up the first book in this series What Angels Fear  back when it came out in 2005, and I’ve pre-ordered every book in the series since then.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A lot has happened to Sebastian since the start of the series, including a marriage and a child. I love this series, but you really should start at the beginning, for there are all kinds of revelations as the series progresses.
When Falcons Fall (2016) C.S. Harris : 8.5/10

Kat Halloway
I started the Captain Lacey series and abandoned it several books in. Theoretically there are supposed to be more Kat Halloway mysteries coming, but I haven’t seen one yet.

Set in London in 1880.

Kat is a cook for Sir Lionel Leigh-Bradbury, and better than he deserves, but since he allows her an unusual numbers of days off, she is fine with the situation. They mystery is good, and I especially liked Kat.
A Soupçon of Poison (2015) Ashley Gardener : 8.5/10

I tore through several series–some completely through from start to finish–so rather than listing the books and ratings, I just listed them all in order. If you click through to the author page you can find my reviews on the individual books (and any other books written by that author).

The Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne
Set in England and Ireland in 664-

This is a series I own most of in paperback, and am trying to find on sale as eBooks so I can re-read them. Peter Tremayne was the pseudonym for the scholar Peter Berresford Ellis, and the books are full of historical tidbits, many of which are surprising to the modern reader.

Clergy, even bishops, took spouses; even the religious of houses, whether mixed or not, could have wives and husbands, under Brehon law and custom. But the position of an abbot and abbess was in a different category for they were usually bound to celibacy.

‘Easter?’

‘The Saxons have accepted most of our teaching of Christian faith but as for the Paschal feast they insist on naming it after their pagan goddess of fertility, Eostre, whose rituals fall at the time of the Spring equinox.

The mysteries in the first two books are fine, but improve (IIRC) over the course of the series.
Absolution By Murder (1994), Shroud for the Archbishop (1995)

The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters
This series is set in England and Wales from 1137 to 1144.

Brother Cadfael is a Welsh Benedictine monk and herbalist living in Shrewsbury, on the Welsh border. He lived a full life as a crusader before he came to take his vows, which makes him far more worldly that many others in his abbey. This series intertwines the fictional characters of the abbey with the historical events of the English Civil War between factions of Maud and Stephen.

The mysteries are good, but what I like best is brother Cadfael.

Meet every man as you find him, for we’re all made the same under habit or robe or rags.

(L)eave agonising too much over your sins, black as they are, there isn’t a confessor in the land who hasn’t heard worse and never turned a hair. It’s a kind of arrogance to be so certain you’re past redemption.”

What you yourself did, that you may rue, and confess, and do penance for, to your soul’s content, but you may not lift another man’s sins from his shoulders, or usurp God’s right to be the only judge.

There is no one who cannot be hated, against whatever odds. Nor anyone who cannot be loved, against all reason.”

A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977), One Corpse Too Many (1979), Monk’s Hood (1980), The Leper of Saint Giles (1981), The Virgin in the Ice (1982), The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983), The Devil’s Novice (1983), Dead Man’s Ransom (1984), The Pilgrim of Hate (1984), An Excellent Mystery (1985), The Raven in the Foregate (1986), The Rose Rent (1986), The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987), The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988), The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989), The Potter’s Field (1989), The Summer of the Danes (1991), The Holy Thief (1992)

The Owen Archer series by Candace Robb
This series is set in England and Wales from 1363 to 1373.

Owen Archer was the Captain of the Duke of Lancaster’s archers until he lost an eye, after which he became the Duke’s spy. After the Duke’s death, he takes a position for John Thoresby, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York. The first book is all from Owen’s POV, but the following books (with the exception of A Gift of Sanctuary) splits POV between Owen and Lucie Wilton, the apothecary of the first book.

There are both fictional and historical characters throughout this series, and the author tried to be as true to both the historical characters and the time as she could. Lucie is a Master Apothecary not because women in such positions were common, but because the town needed her services and the Archbishop owed them a favor.  It is these historical bits that most fascinate me.

“Lucie examined her, Tom. Got her hands in all that blood. What will that do to the child, Lucie looking at all that blood? And the horror of it all?”

‘With each visitation of the pestilence folk have become more inventive with their precautions. A wealthy merchant asked yesterday for enough crushed diamonds to strew round his bed and cut Death’s feet to shreds.’

Yet some things remain the same.

‘Do not leave,’ Phillippa said as Lucie began to walk away. ‘I am relieved to have spoken of it. But I do not remember— oh Lucie, it is the cruellest curse, to be witless one day, lucid the next. It is as if I have been sleepwalking and everyone has witnessed my foolishness. All look at me with such pity— and fear that they, too, might come to this end if they live so long as I have. It is horrible. Horrible.’ Her jaw was set in anger and frustration.

The Apothecary Rose (1993), The Lady Chapel (1994), The Nun’s Tale (1995), The King’s Bishop (1996), The Riddle of St. Leonard’s (1997), A Gift of Sanctuary (1998), A Spy for the Redeemer (2002), The Cross-Legged Knight (2006), The Guilt of Innocents (2006), A Vigil of Spies (2008)

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

It’s the end of 2016 (which seems nigh near impossible to me, yet there it is), so it’s time to look at the books of 2016.

The following links will be live as I publish (or write) those posts. This is just a handy place to link to everything.

In this year-end round-up, I’ve made note primarily of books I have not read before. I made an exception for two authors I hadn’t read in years. I figured if I didn’t have a real review for the books, I was good mentioning those books here.

Mystery
Fantasy
Romance
Graphic Novels
Non-Fiction (aka Cookbooks)
Good Covers of 2016
– Modern
– Historical

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

The year is pulling to a close, which seems utterly ridiculous to me, yet there it is.

I read a LOT this month, for a variety of reasons, some of which were spending an inordinate amount of time in hospital waiting rooms. Let’s just say the past two months have not been the best.

But, I read a lot of GOOD books, some of which were in published in this millennia!

I read two Paul Cornell books, The Severed Streets (2014) and The Lost Child of Lychford (2016), both of which were very good. In fact, Paul Cornell gets kudos for his second Shadow Police book, as it took me COMPLETELY by surprise. Also good was Faith Hunter’s latest Soulwood book, Curse on the Land (2016). If you are a Jane Yellowrock fan, then you’ll like Soulwood, but if you haven’t read any of the Jane books, you’ll be OK jumping into this series. All three of these are supernatural fantasy, but without much boinking.

I also stumbled upon C.E. Murphy’s historical fantasy, Magic and Manners (2016), which was utterly delightful. It’s a Pride & Prejudice with Magic retelling, and there was much to love here–especially the fact it was boink-free. There was also a new Inspector Montalbano, A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) by Andrea Camilleri. This book isn’t a good starting point, but as a series it is well-worth starting if you like police mysteries or loving descriptions of fabulous meals. (No, seriously, Montalbano’s meals are a character all their own in these books.)

So here’s what I read this month.

Mystery
Inspector Montalbano
A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)

Historical Mystery
Sister Fidelma
Absolution By Murder(1994) Peter Tremayne (8/10)
Shroud for the Archbishop (1995) Peter Tremayne (8/10)
Brother Cadfael
The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Potter’s Field (1989) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Holy Thief(1992) Ellis Peters (9/10)

Supernatural Fantasy
Shadow Police
The Severed Streets (2014) Paul Cornell (9/10)
Soulwood
Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)
The Witches of Lychford
The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell (9/10)

Historical Fantasy
Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy (9/10)
Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover (7.5/10)
Glamourist Histories
Shades of Milk and Honey (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal (7.5/10)
Glamour in Glass (2012) Mary Robinette Kowal (8/10)
Without a Summer (2013) Mary Robinette Kowal (8/10)
Valour and Vanity (2014) Mary Robinette Kowal (5/10)
The Escapement of Blackledge (2016) Mary Robinette Kowal (7.5/10)

Anthology
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy (2013) Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Audio
Midnight Taxi Tango, Audible Version (2016) Daniel Jose Older, read by the author (8/10)
The Dragon Conspiracy, Audible Version (2015) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker (8/10)
Broken Soul, Audible Version (2014) Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam (8/10)
Salsa Nocturna, Audible Version (2012/2014) Daniel Jose Older, read by the author (8/10)

That’d be 23 books for the month, the most so far this year, bringing this years total to 170; I’ll probably break my previous record for books read in a single year (2013 and 174 books).

Format-wise, no paper books this month, but I did get around to finally reviewing a bunch of audio books I’d finished and forgotten to write up.
eBook: 19
Audio: 4

This month was NOT all historical mystery! Not that the historical mysteries weren’t good–I just ran out of ones I wanted to read, and none of the new-to-me series I started caught my interest.
Fantasy: 15
Mystery: 8
Romance: 2
Anthology: 1

As far as authors, I actually read some male authors this month, but female authors (including those using pseudonyms) were still ahead.
Male: 7
Female: 9
Male Pseudonym: 5
Anthology: 1
Joint: 1

And those are the books of November. If you haven’t read Paul Cornell, I really enjoy his writing and both of these books. However, the Witches of Lychford and the Shadow Police are quite different, and I wouldn’t recommend the latter for people who don’t like monsters (including human monsters who do terrible things).

If you don’t like historical mysteries, feel free to skip to the end. And if you already know how awesome Ellis Peter’s Brother Cadfael mysteries, same.

I’d picked a bunch of the Brother Cadfael mysteries up years ago, when they were on sale, but hadn’t gotten around to reading them. After finishing the Owen Archer series, I was floundering about looking for something else and couldn’t find the book/series to hit the spot, till I decided to read this.

I really like this series. It’s one of the best historical mystery series I’ve read in a very long time, and doesn’t suffer when reading one book after the other (some series, I can ready a couple books then have to take a break).

Historical Mystery

Brother Cadfael
A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
Monk’s Hood (1980) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Leper of Saint Giles (1981) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Devil’s Novice (1983) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
Dead Man’s Ransom (1984) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Pilgrim of Hate (1984) Ellis Peters (9/10)
An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Raven in the Foregate (1986) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Rose Rent (1986) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987) Ellis Peters (8/10)

Charles Finch
A Stranger in Mayfair (2010) Charles Finch (6/10)

Now to the stats!

I read 14 books in October, bringing my total for the year to 147–the same number of books I read in all 2009.

All the books were ebooks, the books were mysteries. Currently, this is the highest percentage of mysteries I’ve read in a single year 92010 and 2015 were 34% mysteries).

And male authors fell even further behind, with only a single book this month–Ellis Peters was a male pseudonym, so this puts female authors even further ahead of the male authors writing only 19% of the books I’ve ready this year.

That’s it for October. I’m getting close to the end of the Brother Cadfael series, so I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to read next–possibly a bunch of new releases I’ve been ignoring.

And it’s barely October!

I read 14 books this month, which puts me at 133 books for the year, which means I’ve read more books by October than I read in all of 2008, 2010, and 2011.

For what that’s worth.

Which isn’t much.

The best books were the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb (I believe this historical mystery series is completed),
Blood of the Earth the new start of a new series by Faith Hunter set in Jane Yellowrock’s world, and the second Rivers of London comic series, Rivers of London: Night Witch by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero. Plus I enjoyed Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder. That was fun, even if there was a crap of subtext I totally missed.

Mystery, Historical

Owen Archer
The King’s Bishop (1996) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Riddle of St. Leonard’s (1997) Candace Robb (8/10)
A Gift of Sanctuary (1998) Candace Robb (7.5/10)
A Spy for the Redeemer (2002) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Cross-Legged Knight (2006) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Guilt of Innocents (2006) Candace Robb (8.5/10)
A Vigil of Spies (2008) Candace Robb (8/10)
Charles Lennox
The Fleet Street Murders (2009) Charles Finch (6/10)
The September Society (2008) Charles Finch (6/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Soulwood
Blood of the Earth (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)

Graphic Novel

Rivers of London: Night Witch (2016) by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero (9/10)
Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder (2015) Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman (8/10)
Hellboy in Mexico (2016) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Mick Mahon, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba
She-Hulk Volume 2: Disorderly Conduct (2015) Charles Soule and Javier Pulido (6/10)

You might find this hard to believe, but I actually read four paper books this month!

They were all comics, but still! Paper!

And only two re-reads in September. Mostly because I was busy devouring the Owen Archer series.

Genre-wise, it was predominantly mysteries this month, plus the comics.

Fantasy : 2
Mystery : 9
Comic : 4

As far as authors go, men were almost even this month, but female authors are still way ahead for the year. (And will likely stay ahead, since the series I just started, I discovered was written under a male pseudonym.)

Male : 6
Female : 8

And that’s this month’s reading wrap-up!

This was a month for reading historical mysteries, with a dash of urban fantasy.

I re-read Salsa Nocturna: Stories by Daniel José Older and still love it. You should really read Daniel José Older.

Otherwise, nothing awesome stood out last month.

Historical Mystery

Owen Archer
The Apothecary Rose (1993) Candace Robb (7/10)
The Lady Chapel (1994) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Nun’s Tale (1995) Candace Robb (7.5/10)

Akitada
Black Arrow (2006) I.J. Parker (7.5/10)
Island of Exiles (2007) I.J. Parker (6/10)
The Hell Screen (2003) I.J. Parker (8/10)
The Masuda Affair (2011) I.J. Parker (7/10)
The Fires of the Gods (2011) I.J. Parker (7/10)
Death on an Autumn River (2011) I.J. Parker (7/10)
The Emperor’s Woman (2012) I.J. Parker (7/10)
The Crane Pavilion (2014) I.J. Parker (6.5/10)

Urban Fantasy

Salsa Nocturna: Stories (2012) Daniel José Older (8.5/10)
Jack the Giant-Killer (1987) Charles de Lint (7.5/10)

I read all eBooks this month. Except for cookbooks, which I REALLY need to review Any Time Now.

Genre breakdown is mostly mystery. As I said.

Fantasy : 2
Mystery : 11
Anthology : 1

Gender breakdown is overwhelmingly female, as the initials belong to a female author.

Male : 2
Female : 3
Initials : 8

That makes only 18% of the books I read this year by male authors, but I will note that the Akitada books had a male protaganist, while the Owen Archer series series splits the story between multiple characters, but primarily the male and female leads.

And that’s it for the books of August. As temperatures FINALLY drop, I’m hoping for more hiking and less reading in the coming months.

We’ll see.

So I was pointed to this article on the lack of female protaginists (more specifically in childrens and YA lit) by NeuronDoc.

I was name-checked in the discussion by Shawn, because I read and recommend a lot of books with female protagonists (especially YA).

So I decided to put my own reading habits to the test. I went through the books I’ve read since Jan 2015 (6) and looked at whether the protagonist of the story was male or female.

However, I’ve been reading a not insignificant amount of historical romance, so to be fair, I did not count romance books in this tally. (5)

I divided the books into three categories: books with male protagonists, books with female protagonists, and books where the narrative is split between male and female characters (this also concludes short story anthologies).

In the year and a half, I read 199 books that were not romances and here’s how the main characters fell out.

Male: 43% (86)
Female: 46% (91)
Split: 11% (22)

Now here is where it gets interesting. As you may well know, I track the gender of the authors of the books. So here’s the gender of the authors I’ve read since Jan 2015. (4)

Male: 23% (57)
Female: 70% (173)

But you excluded romance! That must account for it!

Nope.

Fantasy 34% (114)
Mystery 33% (112)
Romance 18% (59)
YA 7% (25)
Comic 4% (15)
Anthology 3% (9)

Do I purposely choose authors because they are female? Not really. In fact, 6% of those female authors are writing under a male pseudonym or initials. (To be honest, that’s the real reason I started tracking author sex, because I was curious as to the number of women writing under male pseudonyms.)

It just happens that I tend to prefer female characters and the writing of female authors. Not heavily, after all, some years I read more male authors than female (like when I re-read the Spenser mysteries) (3). But in general, I prefer strong female characters, and the male authors I love tend to write strong female characters (See: Charles de Lint)

What does this mean? Not a whole lot, unless you’ve been listening to people who claim there aren’t any good female authors out there. (2)

I suppose my point is that I could–theoretically–subsist solely upon female authors of I so chose and not feel deprived of quality writing.

But why would I want to? I like reading about male AND female protagonists AND books where the narrative is split between the male and female characters. Because I like reading a variety of viewpoints. (1) But a variety is not a 30/70 split in favor of one gender or the other.

—

(6) I could have gone back further, but I got bored.
(5) Solely because I wanted to head of claims that my numbers are biased, since romance is dominated by female authors.
(4) For those curious, since 2004 (when I started keeping track) I’ve read 42% male to 50% female authors.
(3) I’m a sucker for private detective mysteries, unless the detective is a sexist pig. Then not so much.
(2) This may be a genre issue–at least that’s where I’ve read the complaints.
(1) See also my current love of Daniel Jose Older

It’s barely August and I’m posting about the books of July! Shocking!

Only nine books read this month, but that’s because I spent a week on vacation with many wonderful small people, and by the time I went to bed every night, I fell right to sleep. On the other hand, I’m still dealing with stress and anxiety, so I did a fair amount of re-reading and reaching for favorite authors. But despite “slacking off” this month, I’ve already read more than 100 books this year.

My favorite books of the month were two re-reads: A Matter of Magic by Patricia C. Wrede, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint I had not previously read: Someplace to Be Flying. I really love Charles de Lint–he is possibly the best short story author I’ve read, and he does a fantastic job writing female chracters.

Historical Fantasy (YA)
A Matter of Magic (2010): Mairelon the Magician (1991) and The Magician’s Ward (1997) Patricia C. Wrede (10/10)

Urban Fantasy
American Gods (2001) Neil Gaiman (10/10)
Someplace to Be Flying (1998) Charles de Lint (9/10)
Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint
Moonlight & Vines (1999) Charles de Lint

Supernatural Fantasy
Chaos Choreography (2016) Seanan McGuire (6/10)

Historical Mystery
As Death Draws Near (2016) Anna Lee Huber (8.5/10)

Historical Romance
A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson (8/10)
To Charm a Naughty Countess (2014) Theresa Romain (6/10)

I read all ebooks–aside from cookbooks, which I haven’t gotten around to reviewing, I haven’t read a single paper book this year.

Here’s the genre break-down:
Fantasy : 6
Mystery : 2
Romance : 3
YA : 1
Anthology : 2

And the gender break-down:
Male : 4
Female : 5

But male authors are still really far behind this year, at only 18% of the books I’ve read so far.

And those are the books of July.

I’m a huge fan of Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, and although I don’t love how much skin the covers have Mercy showing, I otherwise very much like the covers, since Mercy is typically shown being a mechanic or doing some other activity.

Orbit just released the cover of the next Mercy Thompson book.

I. Hate. This. Cover.

If I were coming across this series for the first time, I would most likely not give this book a second glance.

This cover tells me nothing about the book, and the model doesn’t look at all like Mercy. Mercy doesn’t have fancy hair. Mercy is usually covered in either grease or blood.

I have no idea why they shifted from an artist’s rendition to this photograph thing, but I do not like it.

No sir, don’t like it at all.

I also despite BOTH the title font and the author font. They’re fussy and unappealing and also do not suit Mercy.

To whom it may concern at Orbit: Please go back to the original style of the covers. This is simply not appealing.

Little late, but then I thought I’d already done this post.

I read a LOT of crap I didn’t much like last month. Mostly a mystery series I kept thinking would get better, but didn’t.

Luckily, I also read some really good books. Like:
The Dark Side of The Road by Simon R. Green (8/10) which is a stand-alone urban fantasy. Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories by Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10) is a collection of Montalbano short stories. I re-read two Charles de Lint anthologies, Tapping the Dream Tree (9.5/10) and Muse and Reverie (10/10). And re-reads of Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Jane Lindskold (9/10) and Sabriel by Garth Nix (10/10).

If you haven’t read Charles de Lint, he is one of my all-time favorite authors. He writes marvelous short stories that–despite being full of darkness–are uplifting and usually make me feel better about myself and the world. And Jane Lindskold’s urban fantasy is also strange and wonderful.

Urban Fantasy

Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Charles de Lint (9.5/10)
Muse and Reverie (2009) Charles de Lint (10/10)
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold (9/10)
The Dark Side of The Road (2015) Simon R. Green (8/10)

Mystery

Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories (2008 (except where noted) / 2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)

YA Fantasy

Sabriel (1995) Garth Nix (10/10)

Historical Romance

Your Scandalous Ways (2008) Loretta Chase (7/10)
The Mystery Woman (2013) Amanda Quick (6/10)

Historical Mystery

Lady of the Ashes (2013) Christine Trent (5.5/10)
In Milady’s Chamber (2006) Sheri Cobb South (6/10)
A Dead Bore (2008) Sheri Cobb South (6.5/10)
Family Plot (2014) Sheri Cobb South (6/10)
Dinner Most Deadly (2015) Sheri Cobb South (5/10)

Audio Book

The Grendel Affair, Audible Version (2013/2014) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker (8/10)
Black Arts audible version (2014) Faith Hunter, narrated by Khristine Hvam (8/10)

I read 15 books in June, which is a lot, but I’ve been having major anxiety issues, so lots of escaping.

Nothing but eBooks and audio books this month–in fact, aside from cookbooks (which I really need to review, but haven’t) I haven’t read a single paper book this year.

Genre was a bit more variety than previous months

Fantasy : 7
Mystery : 6
Romance : 2
YA : 1
Anthology : 2

And male authors caught up a tiny bit this month, with 5 male authors and 9 female authors…and that doesn’t add up to 15. So, 5 and 10. Male authors still haven’t caught up much, since I’m at 15% male and 85% female authors.