Book recommendations - comforting/empowering reads

I'll get right to the point: I'm very much a feminist, and quite liberal, and on some topics, I'm even something of a radical. So, I was a bit shocked and horrified when I began to see tweets in my feed supporting ideas that I find, well, horrible. Who the hell was I following that would re-tweet this kind of trash into my timeline?

Alas, it was a romance writer whose books I've read and bought in the past. I immediately unfollowed the author on twitter, went to facebook and unliked her fan page. Mostly though, I was feeling kind of disgusted for having spent money on her books. Sad about the time I'd spent reading her books.

That same day, not too long after I noticed this, I saw quite a few other people commenting on it. Clearly, I wasn't the only person upset - for me, this is the benefit of twitter, knowing others feel the same. Turns out she wasn't the only author expressing some rather icky opinions. I wasn't familiar with the other authors, but suffice it to say, I won't be reading any of their work. I very much appreciate the book bloggers who put together a list of authors to avoid.

Maybe a writer's political opinion doesn't bother some readers. That's fine. No judgement. But for me, I feel like the way a person thinks will reflect in their work. Also, time and money are limited and I don't want to be wasting either on people who hold beliefs I find abhorrent. There are so very many books out there to read. Right now, I've got 871 books on my "to-read" list, and that isn't even counting the hundreds of free kindle books I've gotten from amazon. It only makes sense that I would choose to focus my reading time and money on people I don't mind supporting.

I don't think it's a random coincidence that most of the authors I love tend to hold similar beliefs to mine. Their work resonates with me for a reason.

Now to the point of this blog post. I felt like a I directed a lot of energy toward "authors to avoid" last week. But now, I want to direct some attention to authors I love. These days, a lot of us need an escape into fiction, and these are a few of the books and authors I recommend for that. The following are books I consider to be comfort/empowering reads.

One of the books I keep thinking about lately is Jennifer Bernard's Set the Night on Fire. The story is very relevant to one of the big stories that has been dominating the news lately - except on more of a small town political level - not the Supreme Court. The first time I read this was in July of 2017 - and I feel almost certain there was a similar news story happening at the time, but I don't remember the details, only that after I read the book I thought, "It's so nice to read a story in which the corrupt, bad politician gets what he deserves." I recommended the book to all of my friends at the time. Now, it seems appropriate to do so again. I thought Bernard did a great job at showing what a woman goes through in keeping a secret like that, believing she needs to protect her family, and knowing the risks associated with coming forward. Also, Jennifer Bernard writes the best contemporary romances. I don't read a lot of that genre, but I try to read everything she writes. Her books are so good, really sexy, with great story lines and interesting characters.

Paranormal romance tends to be more my thing. My favorite author in that genre is Michele Hauf. Her books, set in her Beautiful Creatures world are often my escape when the real world is too much to handle. The one I'm going to recommend now though is called An American Witch in Paris. I liked the way Hauf directly addressed issues such as feminism and consent. It felt very relevant. Besides all of that, the story is exciting - they're saving the world from falling angels - and very sexy.

Another great romance that I have read recently is Pas de Deux by Wynter S.K. I hadn't heard much about the book, but the description intrigued me. I don't know much about the author, this is the only book of hers I've read - but I thought she did a great job of showing people realistically dealing with trauma and its effects - both mental and physical. And it is one of the most beautiful love stories I've read in a while. Really wonderful book about a couple who have to endure a lot before they can get to a point where they are truly honest with each other.

My next recommendation is a favorite of mine. I read it every October. Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is the perfect fall read - witches and vampires, libraries filled with magic, history and science - it's all there. It's a story about discovering that love looks beyond differences and long-held prejudices, and families are built on much more than blood connections. Once you read that book, you'll want to read the whole trilogy.

My last recommendation, because I felt like I should have five books, is City of Darkness, City of Light by Marge Piercy. This one, unlike my other recommendations, isn't a romance. It's a story about the French Revolution that focuses on the women involved. These days, we're kind of bombarded by stories of horrible things happening to women, and it might help to read about women trying to claim a bit of power in shaping the direction of their country.

Those are what I could think of right off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll think of others as soon as I post this.

I've attempted to hyperlink the book titles to amazon because that's where I tend to buy books, but I have no affiliation with them. 

Pre-review of The Book of Life

Let’s consider this my pre-review of Book of Life by Deborah Harkness, as I’ve been asked to not post a real review until the book is released on July 15.  I’m okay with that because it’s going to take me a while to put together something  a bit more intelligent than, “OMG, I loved it!  You must read this!”  That being said, I did love it, and you really should read it.  But anyway, I digress.

Instead of telling you about the book right now, I’m going to instead tell you about how much I wanted to read this book:

Sunday afternoon, I had a strange, horrible pain in my head.  I have headaches and migraines all the time, but this was something different.  This felt as if there were something small burrowing its way through my head.  For about twenty minutes, I was convinced I was dying.  I thought maybe it was a stroke or aneurysm.  I imagined that the burrowing I felt was a blood clot moving through my head, ready to shut down my brain.  I know this all sounds a bit melodramatic, but it was really bad.

I wondered if this was the sort of pain that I should call 911 about, but decided against that because I wasn’t entirely sure of the location of my insurance card.  And even with insurance, if I survived the pain, I’d wish I was dead after I got the hospital bills.  So I remained on my bed, in the dark, unable to move, my head hurting so much, death would have been welcome at that point.

My life sort of flashed before me.  You know, the way it does when you’re on an airplane and the turbulence is so intense, you’re convinced you’re never going to see land again.  You start making mental lists of things you should have done, meant to do, wish you hadn’t put off until later, grimacing about all the loose ends you never got around to tying up.  Everyone does that, right?  It isn’t just me, is it?  Whatever. Anyway.

As I waited for the end, preparing those lists, I’m glad to say I don’t have a lot of items on my list.  And that’s by design.  I make a point of doing what I want to do, rather than waiting for someday.  So that’s all good.  I’ve traveled, I’ve met people, I’ve done things. 

The first big regret that popped into my aching head:  Damn it, I’m never going to find out what happens to Diana and Matthew. 

Seriously, people, that’s what I thought.  And it upset me, because oh, to wait so long, only to have my head burst a month before the book is released. 

I love these characters so much.  Also, I’d recently finished listening to Shadow of Night, the second book in the trilogy, and so they’ve been very much on my mind.

Well, obviously, I didn’t die.  That was on Sunday, and now we’re in the early hours of Thursday morning and I seem very much alive.  I have no idea what caused that pain in my head.  Even after the initial pain passed, I remained on the bed for a couple of hours, afraid to move.  And my head is still sore in that particular spot and sometimes I have a twinge of sharp pain, but clearly, whatever it was wasn’t life ending. 

But my head is not the important part of this story.  I’m sharing this story to demonstrate that sometimes magic happens.  Sometimes the Universe listens and understands just how much you want something and the Goddess decides to smile on you.

Monday afternoon, I was checking my email and saw an email from NetGalley saying I’d been approved to receive an advance copy of Book of Life.  I was in my bedroom when I read this.  I cheered loudly – in my empty house – and then I’m pretty sure I skipped/ran down the hall to get to my computer to accept the book and have it sent to my Kindle.  Then I spent the next two days reading.  

You know how sometimes you want something so bad, and then you get it and it isn’t that great? – not the case here!  Instead, it was every bit as great as I’d hoped, maybe even better – and I had very high hopes.  Such a good book. 

I finished reading it Tuesday night.  Then I spent Wednesday in a bit of a daze, wondering what I’m supposed to do next.  Already missing these characters.  But it’s okay, because I can revisit them when I want, I know where they are – stored safely on my kindle.  Plus, I’ve got some pretty big travel plans in the near future - like next week - that will allow me to visit the areas where the story took place – Oxford, London, France. 

But yes, point of all this being, my life is now complete, for the moment at least.  And in my mind, it makes the title, Book of Life, seem even more appropriate.  

Actual review to be posted July 15.  

Goodreads Reading Challenge

2013 Reading Challenge

Angel has completed her goal of reading 65 books in 2013!

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81 of 65 (100%)      

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This makes me very happy.  Two years ago, my reading goal was thirty books, and I thought it was awesome that I read 38 books that year.  Last year, my goal was 50, and I read 60.  This year, my goal was 65, and I read 81.  However, I should point out that quite a few of those books were novellas - only around 100 pages each.  On the other hand, I made it through a few 800+ page books, so I guess it all balances out in the end.

Also, I know not everything I read is what might be considered literature, but I read for me, for enjoyment, entertainment, escape, fun.  I'm not in school anymore - well, I'm not a student.  Reading all that high quality literature didn't do me a whole lot of good now, did it?  I still read literature, and I learn something from almost everything I read, so it's all good. 

I've already started my reading list for 2014.  There are currently 63 books on the list, but I know that will change weekly.  I'll add some, remove a few, all depending on my mood and what's available or catches my interest.  I've already have a fairly good idea as to what I'll be reading for the next two months.  A nice mix of paranormal romance, vampires, and historical fiction and a memoir or two.  These are the things that get excited :)

In more long term reading plans, I'm wanting to finish up the Outlander series in the next few months.  Also planning to start re-reading the PD James books, in order.  I think I have the first three on my kindle.  The big read I have planned for this summer is Doctor Zhivago.  I've wanted to read that for a while. 

I'll probably set this year's goal at 75 books.  Anyway, happy reading to all!  Going to get back to reading City of Lost Dreams now, had hoped to add this as my last book of 2013, but I guess instead it will be my first of 2014.

Goodreads Choice Awards and reading challenge

Sometimes when I look at these "best of lists" I get annoyed because I feel like I read a lot and yet, I haven't read anything on the list.  On Amazon's editors top 100, I'd not read a single one.  But I've read 64 books this year.  Most of them new books.  A few of amazon's picks are on my to-read list, but none have been read.

However, I was pleased to see that several of my favorite books from this year have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards.

My four favorite books from this year were written by two different authors.  Susanna Kearsley's Winter Sea and its sequel, Firebird, and Jojo Moyes' Girl You Left Behind and Me Before You.  If anyone asks for a book rec, I mention those four.  I read Winter Sea and Firebird one right after the other, so in a way, they're one big story in my head.  But I'm told it's possible to read Firebird as a stand-alone, but why would you want to do that?  Both books are great.  Winter Sea is set in Scotland, while Firebird takes place in Russia.  Wonderful settings, interesting history and so very romantic.  Firebird is nominated for best fantasy.  I would think of it as more historical, but I do understand the fantasy label.  Two people in present time are using their psychic abilities to see what happened in the past.  I'm not describing it well, but trust me, it's a great story, even if you aren't all that into paranormal or fantasy type books.  For me, I just sort of accept that psychic abilities are a real thing, so it didn't seem all that "fantastical" maybe.  But point being, you should read Winter Sea and Firebird.

Also, Me Before You is nominated for Best Fiction.  Easily my choice.  Though in the first round of voting, Girl You Left Behind was also nominated.  I loved both books and they're very different books.  Girl You Left Behind is about a painting, and part of the story takes place in France, so as an artist who loves all things French, I was a little partial to that.  But even I voted for Me Before You.  That book is amazing.  It left me an emotionally drained mess who couldn't stop crying when it was over, but nonetheless, amazing.

Other books I've read and liked that are nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards:  Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald is nominated for Best Historical Fiction.  I think any fan of the Fitzgeralds would enjoy this.  And in the humor category - Wallbanger by Alice Clayton.  Such a cute, funny story.  I loved it. 

So I was able to vote in four categories this year, made me feel somewhat accomplished.  I did find it odd that I'd not read any of the paranormal or romance books - since that's mostly what I read these days.  But oh well. 

And in other reading news, I'm one book away from reading my goal of reading 65 books this year.  Clearly, I will surpass it.  Last year I read 63 books.  I sort of feel like I've cheated because several of the books were short novellas.  But at the same time, quite a few of the books were around 800 or more pages.  My page count has by far exceeded last year's page count.

A few of the books were re-reads.  I listened the Handmaid's Tale, narrated by Claire Danes - it's a great version if you're into audio books.  I've read the book a few times, but was nice to have it read to me.  I also re-read Discovery of Witches, my third time to read that.  I was doing a real-time read, following along the same days as the characters.  Doing the same with Shadow of Night now, but won't finish that until next year.  I also finally started reading the Outlander series, or rather listening to the audio versions of those.  I'm on the fifth book.  Don't like it nearly as much as the first two books, but it keeps me entertained on my commute to and from work each day.  I finally finished listening to Great Expectations, and wasn't all that impressed.  And I listened to the entire Beautiful Creatures series.  I'm becoming quite a fan of audio books.

Well, closer to the end of the year, I'll put together my best of list, just because.  Looking over the list of books I've read, I'm seeing a lot of favorites.

I'm sort of thinking after Thanksgiving this year, I'm going to read nothing but Christmas-themed novels and novellas and anthologies.  Because I want my brain to turn to candy?  I don't know.  I don't have a real Christmas, so I have to immerse myself in fictional ones.  Same reason I watch so many Hallmark holiday movies.