When I’m stressed and anxious, I have in the past turned to books I love, because I know things are going to turn out ok. Then I discovered that romance does the same thing–no matter what happens in the story, things are going to turn out okay in the end.

I’ve been reading a lot of romance in the past several years, in an effort to escape from the misery and anxiety that is the world right now.

Romance, Historical

A Modest Independence (2019) by Mimi Matthews is the second book in the Parish Orphans of Devon series.

The half-brother of the hero from the first book, and the cousin of the heroine fell for each other in the previous story, but had a falling out, and now avoid each other at all costs. As with the previous book, this story makes clear just how powerless women were in society, which is depressing, and in this book, the heart of the problem between the two characters.

But that makes it sound all negative, and it isn’t a dark story. The heroine seeks as much power as the world will allow her to have, while the hero is a man who brought himself up from nothing, yet attempts to keep to his own morals and ethics.

Romance, Historical (Boinking)

And speaking of women’s lack of power in historical times, in the latest by Sarah MacLean, Brazen and the Beast (2019) (8/10), I really want Hen to burn the world down around her.

 “Who’s made you feel this way?”

The question came like a threat, and it was one. Whit wanted a name. And she gave one, as though he were a child and she were explaining something as simple as sunrise. “Everyone.”

She is MARVELOUS.

I’ll note this is not the American cover. If it was, it would have made my good covers list.

Romance (Boinking)

I almost accidentally discovered Talia Hibbert though if I hadn’t read her when I did, I’ve heard so very many recommendations for her, I’m sure I’d have read her by now.

I started with her Ravenswood series, and read it completely out of order, starting with the last book in the series, That Kind of Guy.

The hero of the story is demisexual, but has a reputation in town as a slut. (He’s a guy, so of course he’s not described as a slut, but lets me honest about our words.)

These stories are fabulous.

The first is about a woman on the autism spectrum, who is proudly a geek and that story was a DELIGHT to read.

Now she didn’t know if she should laugh or gasp. She compromised by choking on her own spit.

The second story I almost refused to read, because I really dislike an unequal balance of power, yet the story drew me in and I enjoyed it–despite my issues with that trope.

A Girl Like Her (2018) (8/10), Damaged Goods (2018) (8/10), Untouchable (2018) (8/10), That Kind of Guy (2019) (8/10).

Fantastic!

The other series I read, Just for Him, was also very good, Undone by the Ex-Con (2018) and Sweet on the Greek (2018) (8/10) are excellent, and to be honest to reason I didn’t care for the first book is because I dislike the trope of boss + employee.

Although these are M/F romances, many of the characters are LGBTQ and all these books have at least one character of color.

The Books of 2019

Fantasy, LGBT (Boinking)

Now, onto LGBTQ fantasy, much of which I found utterly delightful and charming.

I discovered Angel Martinez mostly by accident. I picked up her Offbeat Crimes series because I love supernatural police procedural mysteries. I’ll he honest, the title of the first one, Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters, made me hesitant because it was so ridiculous and the covers were really not my thing. But the story was a delight, and I eagerly read the rest of the series—even the book with time travel (which I despise).

My favorite books in the series were Feral Dust Bunnies (8/10), Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (8/10), and All the World’s an Undead Stage (8/10), because my favorite character of the whole series is Officer Alex Wolf, who was changed into a human and then adopted by human parents.

He. Is. So. ADORABLE.

And his mom is WONDERFUL.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Mom stopped on her way past his room with a new book in hand.

“I can’t remember how to human,” Wolf said with a frustrated snarl.

“Oh? You’re still using your words. That’s good. What part of humaning is causing the problem?”

I really recommend you read the entire series.

Family Matters (8/10) is the second book in the Brandywine Investigations series, and although both are good, I liked Family Matters just a tiny bit better. Open for Business is the first book, and it opens with Hades being served divorce papers by Persephone and coming down to earth to give her the space she has requested.

In case you never read any mythology or folktales, gods are randy creatures and that is quite clear in this series. After all, the first story in Family Matters is the story of Dionysus falling in love. (If you don’t know Dionysus, there is no help for you. You must immediately go read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology.)

Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (8/10) is a fun novella about a secret lottery winner and ghosts that seemingly follow him from home to home around the world.

Also, he’s described like this:

Power-save introvert, that’s what Luka called him. He was “on” when he had to be, turned “off” the moment people left him in peace, and occasionally suffered shorts and power outages during which he couldn’t interact successfully with people at all.

Pick any one of these and you should be in for a fun read.

Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series is not your typical werewolf story. Werewolves are still hidden from society at large, but the government helps to keep them hidden.

The public could never know about werewolves, though. That was one of the few things the BSI and the Trust agreed on. The panic, the prejudice, the senseless violence that would surely come if the truth was revealed.

That’s a sadly true thing.

The first story is The Wolf at the Door (8/10) and shares how Cooper Dayton, who had been attacked and injured by the joined the BSI to help police the supernatural world.

The Wolf at Bay (8/10), Thrown to the Wolves (8/10). In addition to policing and trying to work out if they can have a relationship, the two also have to deal with their families and the expectations that come from their families.

Last year I read a lot of K.J. Charles M/M supernatural fantasies and loved them all, but only finally this year got around to reading The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal (8/10), which is an anthology of stories about a mage and the journalist who becomes his lover. And the stories are set in England between 1894 and 1914 and is somewhat the prequel to the Spectred Isle. These are truly short stories, and might give you an idea as to whether you might enjoy her other stories.

I came across Nicole Kimberling reading Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy and decided I wanted to read more of her writing. Grilled Cheese and Goblins (8/10) is the story of Keith Curry, who is a supernatural food inspector.

Actually, that’s pretty much all I had to tell Tania and she wanted to read the book. What I love about these stories is that upon further thought, you know that if there were supernatural creatures secretly living in the world, there would totally have to be health inspectors who policed their businesses and looked into food poisonings and other issues.

I will warn you that despite how light the series title is, the details of how Keith discovered the existence of the supernatural is more than a little gruesome.

Marriage, Love and a Baby Carriage by C.S. Poe (8.5/10) is a M/M, fated mates, penguin shifter romance, with a surprise baby.

And it lives up to that description.

Just read it.

The Books of 2019

In years past, I read more fantasy than any other genre, but this year fantasy books are coming in a distance third. Which is fine, since variety is good! And I am keeping up on some fantasy series, several even as pre-orders (although I realize that both of Faith Hunter’s 2019 books went unrated, because a LOT happened. I probably won’t be able to rate them until a re-read, when I’ve had more time to digest all the events.

Fantasy, Supernatural

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch (8/10) is a Rivers of London novella that is outside the Peter Grant timeline. It’s set in Germany, and we get to see Germany’s equivalent of the Folly, and an apprentice magician there.

Spoiler: this apprentice is nothing like Peter.

I’ve avoided reading reviews of recent books in this series, because it’s taking him a long time to come out with a new Peter Grant story. If the comics and novellas like this are ways of him dealing with writer’s block or being unsure how to go forward with Peter, I am fine with that. I’d rather have a good Peter Grant book that takes a couple years, than something crappy he puts out under pressure.

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs (8/10) is the 12^th (or 11^th if you don’t count the anthology) Mercy Thompson book. The repercussions of claiming the Tri-Cities are as under pack protection are still rolling out, but it’s not all bad, because the pack can often deal with problems that might lead to regular law enforcement officers getting killed.

One of the things I especially enjoyed is that we get a little bit of Wulfe, who is a true chaotic neutral character. I’d hate him in person, but he’s wonderful to read about.

The Phoenix Illusion by Lisa Shearin (8/10) is the 6^th SPI Files book, and Lisa Shearin switched to self-publishing here. A couple years ago this might have been a concern, but she clearly still has editors, so the book is just as good as the previous ones.

I adore Mac.

As much as I wanted to be as badass as my coworkers, I’d come to accept that it simply wasn’t gonna happen, but that didn’t stop me from training and trying. It was the least I could do for the people who had to work with me.

Fright Court by Mindy Klasky (8/10) is the first book in her Magical Washington, but unfortunately, as much as I liked this story, the rest of the series—and her parallel series—both fell flat for me. Luckily, you can read this book without having to read the rest of the series, so if you’d like a fun supernatural mystery, this is good as a stand-alone.

The Books of 2019

In some ways, mysteries have an easier time of it: all the characters are human and they’re rarely in a state of undress. They can at times be boring, but they almost never bring full-on hate the way some fantasy and romance covers do.

An Artless Demise (2019) Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby)

Berkley

Historical Mystery, British, 1831

All the covers in this series are beautiful. You never fully see the woman’s face, which I believe I prefer, and there is usually a sense of movement, either her walking or the windows blowing.

Who Slays the Wicked (2019) C.S. Harris (Sebastian St Cyr)

Berkley

Historical Mystery, British, 1814

Although I love these books, there were several covers that I didn’t much care for. This cover and the previous, however, I do very much like. The man is in silhouette, so we don’t see any features. (The covers I didn’t like showed the man’s features, and that man did not look at all like Sebastian, so it was problematic.)

I also love the starkness of the color palate. It emphasizes the mystery and unknown. I am so very glad they switched up the covers, especially since these have a feel closer to the first, original, cover, which remains my favorite.

A Dangerous Collaboration (2019) Deanna Raybourn (Victoria Speedwell)

Berkley

Historical Mystery, British, 1888

This is another cover series I absolutely adore. You know at a glance this is a Victoria Speedwell mystery. All the covers have a woman with a butterfly net, and that woman is strong and independent–there is no man in sight.

These is a fabulous set of covers.

Penny for Your Secrets (2019) Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent)

Kensington Books

Historical Mystery, British, 1919

A very different sent of covers for this Anna Lee Huber series, which makes sense, since it’s a very different time period. But there are still similarities, in that you never see the woman’s features, and the three books in the series are all clearly tied together.

I don’t love these covers the way I do the Lady Darby covers–they’re not beautiful, but they do give you a sense of time, and again the woman is on the cover by herself, and again there is a sense of moving through space.

I don’t love this cover the way I do the Lady Darby series, but it is still a good cover, and very effective in making it clear this book is tied to the previous three.

A Murdered Peace (2018) Candace Robb (Kate Clifford)

Pegasus Books

Historical Mystery, British, 1400

This cover has elements in common with the previous book, but is better (IMO) in that she is far more active. Here is has not just her dogs, but her bow and arrow (which are accurate to the story).

I also prefer the woman facing away from the viewer, since it leaves all of her features up to our imagination.

The Mystery of the Moving Image (2018)
The Mystery of the Bones (2019) C.S. Poe (Winter and Snow)

DSP Publications *

Mystery, LGBT

What I really love about these covers is just how much they evoke the main character.

Sebastian has a severe form of color blindness that also affects his vision, making him legally blind. These monochromatic covers that are slightly hazy and washed out give you a strong sense of how the world might look to the him.

And the background elements give you a glimpse of what is happening in the story.

Skin and Bone (2019) TA Moore (Digging Up Bones)

Dreamspinner Press *

Mystery, Police, LGBT

Although I prefer the cover of the book before this one, it’s still gorgeous. I love the watercolor feel, the man matches the description of one of the main characters, and most importantly, we get the dog, who is, in fact, a main character. But since she’s belongs to the other character, it’s right that she’s in the background.

A Geek Girl’s Guide to Murder (2015)
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Arsenic (2016)
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Justice (2016) Julie Anne Lindsey (Geek Girl)

Carina Press

Mystery

All of these books are older than my normal cut-off of this year and the previous year, but since I hadn’t heard much about them, and since I think they are so well done, I wanted to mention them.

All three covers are obviously related, but they also give a very strong sense of the main character. If the words “Geek Girl” didn’t give it away, the glasses tell you this is someone who isn’t afraid to wave her geek flag proudly.

The design elements are repeated either exactly, but closely, but colors make it quite clear which book is which, since all three are quite distinct.

I think these are wonderful, distinctive covers, and I love them.

Murder Takes the High Road (2018) Josh Lanyon

Carina Press

Mystery, LGBT

This is a stand alone, and caught my attention enough to give an unknown-to-me author a try.

No regrets here since I then binged on all the books I could find.

Honestly, it’s almost a generic cover that doesn’t give you a ton of hints as to the contents, but it’s very atmospheric, and its a well-done simplicity.

Carina Press: 4
Berkley: 3

Much to my surprise, Carina Press won this round, with is impressive since Berkley almost swept the mystery category last year.

The Books of 2019

* Dreamspinner Press is currently listed by Writer Beware as a publisher of concern, as many authors have not been paid in a timely manner. Several authors have requested their rights back and moved to either self-publishing or a different publisher.

If I’m going to complain about book covers, I should also point out ones I love. Luckily, I’ve got way more covers I liked than ones I hated.

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2019) Olivia Waite

Avon Impulse

Although I kinda wish the two had been doing stuff–like looking at the stars and embroidery, it’s still pretty and quite good.

One of the things I like is that this is sweet and romantic, and yeah, they’re about to smooch, but it’s not all chests and thighs and clothes coming off.

It’s obviously two women in a romantic relationship, but right here they’re enjoying being with each other and the cover doesn’t scream to me CLOTHES ARE ABOUT TO BE RIPPED OFF.

Plus, the red! The red coverings and red dresses are gorgeous, and everything looks so soft and touchable and it looks like it would be comforting to run your hand along the silk and satin and just lovely.

 
Can’t Escape Love (2019) Alyssa Cole

Avon Impulse

I want to find whoever made this cover and give them all the chocolate and gold stars.

It’s sweet and fun and is a precise representation of the characters and it is ALL THE SQUEE!

ahem.

I really like this cover.

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure (2019) Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan

LOOK AT THIS COVER! LOOK AT IT!

It’s a GORGEOUS older woman looking completely comfortable in her skin and happy to be who she is.

It is MARVELOUS!

And it’s SELF-PUBLISHED. Yeah, it lacks some of the qualities of an expensive cover, BUT I DON’T CARE.

Because it’s absolutely lovely.

Whiteout (2017) Elyse Springer

Riptide

This cover is just gorgeous.

I enjoy looking at it–I wouldn’t be mad at all if this was art in a waiting room.

But it also matches the story and the title perfectly. It opens in winter, with the characters snowed in, and the cover looks like a snowstorm where the colors are washed out of the world.

Beautiful.

Counting on a Countess (2018) Eva Leigh

Avon

Although there are parts of this cover that aren’t my thing, the colors here are so striking and so pretty–I keep coming back to look at it.

A Holiday By Gaslight (2018) Mimi Matthews

Perfectly Proper Press

Not only is this a pretty cover, it actually pretty accurately depicts events in the book without being specific and giving something away.

She wears a rich colored red dress on several occasions, the house has gaslights (which are important to the story) and the go out into the woods (in the snow) to collect branches of pine and holly and mistletoe for the Christmas party.

And I love the way her name follows the curve of the hem of her dress.

Very lovely!

Much to my shock, Avon Impulse wins this round.

The Books of 2019

I generally try to squee about covers that are relatively new releases–either this year or last (since I don’t always read new releases immediately). I don’t have a lot of fantasy series that I pre-order anymore, and at least one of those I didn’t like the cover (I didn’t HATE it, I just disliked it; there is a difference).

The Phoenix Illusion (2018) Lisa Shearin (SPI Files)

Murwood Media, LLC

This cover made it here not because it’s perfect, because it does have flaws.

This cover made it because this is book six in a series, and the author switched from traditional to self-publishing.

So even though the author didn’t have access to the original artist, they did an amazing job of replicating the feel of the earlier covers.

Additionally, it is in no way obvious that the author switched to self-publishing: There is no evidence of terrible Photoshop, and it’s clear someone with artistic skills put this together.

Unfortunately, seeing how good this cover is just makes me madder at the big name publishing houses that give their authors utterly crappy covers: Come on publishers! If an author can do this on her own, you can CERTAINLY stop pushing out the ugly, horrible dreck.

Not that I have strong feelings or anything.

Family Matters (2018) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations)

Mischief Corner Books, LLC

This cover is just fun.

It’s depicting the first story in the collection, which involved the Minotaur (WHO IS WEARING A KILT! HOW PERFECT IS THAT?) and Dionysus (yes, that god) and that’s perfect.

But what’s even better are the details: the books and tomes and scrolls made it clear that this is an impressive library. The small creature staring down from the top of the shelves. The magical cloud hovering over the two of them.

It’s just a really neat cover.

(NOTE: This is a boinking book.)

 

Circle of the Moon (2019) Faith Hunter (Soulwood)

Ace

All the covers for this series are gorgeous. I’ve loved every single one of them, but I think this might be the prettiest.

I adore the purple here, but even without the purple this would be a marvelous cover.

With magic users, covers often have difficulty portraying the active use of magic. These covers always show Nell as using magic–and in a gorgeous manner.

Additionally, since Nell is some flavor of what might be considered a druid or dryad, her connection to trees and the land is also clear.

And the moon! And the stars behind the trees!

So lovely!

All the publishers here are winners, with no publisher having more than one book in this category.

The Books of 2019

First, things first, I’m only hating on covers from major publishers. They have budgets and should know better. Independent publishers and self-published books gets points for trying, so I almost never point them out (unless it’s really egregious).

Secondly, I liked the content BETWEEN the covers of both of these books, so I recommend the words themselves, I just HATE these covers.

This year, I only have two covers I really hated, both (coming as no surprise to me) were from Avon.

Sapphire Flames (2019) Ilona Andrews

Avon

I don’t understand how Ilona Andrews consistently get such awful covers. This isn’t the worst they’ve ever gotten, but it’s not good either.

Positives are that I love all the purple. I actually love all the colors in the cover. In fact, if this cover were just the swirly stuff and colors, I’d love it!

But no, it has people. And that is always where Avon screws them over.

One of the characters has a reputation for flitting around the world, and constantly posting beauty shots on social media.

The other character helps to run a detective agency, including going out on investigations.

Can you guess which character runs the detective agency?

I really really hate how weak and secondary the women on these covers always look. Yes, the guy ends up being a super secret agent, but all we know at the start of the story is that he’s a playboy. While she looks like she exists only to be arm candy.

I admit this cover is nowhere near as awful as the one for Burn for Me, but since I despite that cover with the burning hatred of the sun, that’s not saying much.

I just want covers where the heroines look competent and capable of standing on their own two feet and fighting their own battles.

This is not that cover.

The Wallflower Wager (2019) Tessa Dare

Avon

This is nowhere near as egregious as the Sapphire Flames, but I really dislike it. It’s all really bad Photoshop, where the couple obviously were not originally on that bed, and they’ve instead just been roughly pasted into some really bland background.

Then to hide the bad photoshop job, they fill everything in with swirly colors.

And boosted the outer glow on the guy, because he kinda looks like he’s on fire.

And the less said about that facial hair, the better, because that that level of manscaping did not exist in Ye Olde Historical Times.

I’ll also note that there is no way you’d guess from this cover that the heroine is a spunky spinster who has dedicated her life to saving animals. But that’s kinda par for the course with these kinds of covers, so it’s mostly just disappointing, and a reminder of why I love the existence of eBooks.

The Books of 2019

I saw the following picture today, which brought back a book that I bitched about for YEARS because it was so terrible.

In case it’s blurred, here’s the text: 4.5 megabytes of data in 1955 in the form of 62,500 punched cards

4.5 megabytes

Let’s jump aead 60 years, and take a look at what could be considered a modern mechanical or automoton: the roomba. A 2016 teardown of a Roomba found 128 megabytes of memory.

That’s 128 MB for a vacuum that has to have a clear floor to work.

Searching for the one book that pissed me off, I found a second that I’d completely repressed, so I get to rant about TWO terrible books and not just one! Hounds of Autumn (2013) by Heather Blackwood and The Affinity Bridge (2009) by George Mann.

In Hounds of Autumn the main character has created a mechanical cat that uses copper spools for memory.

And when I say a mechanical cat, I mean a creature the size of a cat that moves and acts like a cat, including jumping on furniture and chasing feathers.

She set Giles on the floor, and watched as he moved around their table, looked out the window, and examined their feet and legs before settling by Chloe’s chair. The little cat could make decisions, albeit simple ones.

And learn. And move independently. With wire spools for memory.

And there was also this:

Included among the things it kept were data spools. See, when I took apart the hound earlier this evening, I discovered that it stored data on replaceable spools. Now, even an advanced mechanical like Giles only has a certain number of spools, and I would have to put them in and take them out. But Camille designed the hound so it could replace its own spools. The cloth cover on its abdomen had a simple bone button and the panel underneath had a simple hook closure. The hound could take its memory spools in and out itself. And it did.

Have you ever taken apart a desktop computer? How about a laptop? Tried to replace something as simple as a hard drive or add memory? You generally need specialized tools, small fingers, the device needs to be completely powered off, and yet a good percentage of the time something will go wrong and the stupid device won’t boot back up again so you have to tear everything back apart, put it back together, and hope you just mis-seated the thing, instead of getting a bad part you’ll have to send back.

But sure. A mechanical DOG can undo a mostly invisible button and with its paws and then change (and one would assume) re-thread a wire spool.

And we’re not even talking about the power needed to run such a creature. Just the amount of memory needed for independent moving and learning.

The Affinity Bridge was even worse.

This book has automatons. “Physically, they can function only if their program is loaded correctly. They operate on a series of punch cards.”

OK. Fine.

Then we get a description of them moving.

The automaton set to work immediately, crossing the room with a fluid gait, avoiding a pile of machine parts on the floor and approaching the table with the utmost precision.

“(I)f the device were commanded to walk across this workshop, it would automatically find a route around the workbench there, without having to walk into it or attempting to climb over it. This is achieved through a series of logical questions that the unit’s brain is designed to follow. What will happen if the unit walks into the workbench? How will walking into the workbench prevent it from achieving its goal? What is the quickest alternative route to its destination? Switches trigger inside the brain to enable the automaton to settle on the most effective solution to each question, thus deciding its route around the workbench. In this instance, the unit would obviously decide to alter its course, rather than face potential damage by walking into an immovable object.”

Look back at the first picture. The pile of punch cards. 4.5 megabytes.

Now consider a roomba, a vacuum which has 128 MB of silicone memory and isn’t even smart enough not to spread dog shit all over your house if it accidentally runs it over.

But you want me to believe you can have a punch card or wire spool automaton capable of independent movement and thought?

That, folks, is all you have to do to get me to hate read a book.

For future reference, the eggnog recipe I’ve been using. For one batch this year, I accidentally substituted bourbon for brandy. I’m pretty sure it’ll be just fine.

8 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup dark rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg fresh grated

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks, brown sugar and salt until thickened and pale brown in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in cream and milk, followed by the brandy, rum and vanilla.

In a separate large, clean bowl, whip egg whites and the granulated with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Slowly mix the two egg mixtures together.

Move to a large glass jar (or a couple of smaller ones) and store in the fridge for a minimum of 2 weeks. A month would be better, and two better still.

Wednesday I was lucky enough to get to go to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for the light show.

Yeah, there was flower pr0n galore, but the lights were really wonderful.

I took a few more pictures, which you can see if you click through to Flickr.

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?

Since the fall leaf color is done anywhere within driving distance, we jumped straight into winter with a hike at Blackwater Falls.

Since I’ve been slacking on walking / hiking in recent months, we decided to take a relatively easy hike, and hiked part of the Davis Trail. This is the part of the Allegheny Trail that runs from Blackwater Falls to Cannan Valley State Park.

It was lovely.

Location: Blackwater Falls
Trail: Davis Trail / Allegheny Trail
Distance: 5.1 miles
Elevation: 3203-3669 feet (660 ft)

Thank you, to those who have served, who are currently serving, and to their families.

Thank you.

The eastern panhandle and the southern part of the state are the last areas to lose their leaves. As the eastern panhandle is an easier drive, that’s where we tend to head mid-November.

It was a gray day, and a past peak, although there were still trees that had some leaves.

Harpers Ferry is another place fascinating place to wander around. There is a ton of history there–and not just John Brown’s raid.

There is also some amazing beautify.

Two of my favorite spots there are ruins.

The old water-power ruins.

Wandering around old ruins (and especially finding hidden ruins in the woods) is a reminder of the impermanence of humanity. That of these man-made structures, the only things that are left are the stones our fore-bearers mortared together in an attempt to constrain nature.

And the old church.