Jul 4, 2016

Reading Update: My Favourite Five, January-June

by Bronwyn Jameson

I closed my eyes for just a minute, I swear, and opened them to find half the year gone. How did that happen? Why does it happen every year?

Way back in January, before I closed my eyes, I pondered the merits—and methods—of recording my reading. And I did start a spreadsheet. And I have kept it up to date. So now I can report on my reading for the first six months of the year without needing to scan my Kindle library and my (increasingly faulty) memory.

The statistics:
  • 52 books read...which staggers me a little. I would have guessed around 50 a year, but perhaps I was propelled to read more by the recording exercise. I can't imagine getting to 100 before year's end. We'll see.
  • 2 audio, 48 digital, 0 paper...again, surprised. I usually read SOME actual hold-in-hands books.
  • 3 non-fiction, 49 fiction (no surprise!)
  • 6 novellas, 20 category length, 23 single title (I didn’t count the non-fiction.)
  • 1 historical, 48 contemporary – this is quite a departure for me; although I’ve still been buying historicals, I’ve not been in the mood to read them. 
  • 8 mystery/thrillers/suspense
  • 6 womens fiction/chick-lit
  • 1 new adult
  • 3 erotic
  • 31 straight contemporary romance (including category romance.)
Enough with the numbers, which I wanted to record here for comparison purposes at a later date, and on to the best part of my spreadsheet. I rated each read on a 0-5 scale and wrote a (very) brief précis of why I liked or didn’t enjoy each book. And here are my top five 5-star reads from January-June and the reasons why I loved each to bits: (Note that most of my reading isn’t of brand new releases; I tend to buy and stockpile and scan through the library for what I feel like reading at the time.)

FAITHFUL PLACE, Tana French

Irish mystery/crime; Dublin Murder Squad Book 3

This is a dark, grim story about a cold-case disappearance that shaped our hero/anti-hero detective Frank Mackey and which brings him back home 20 years later. It’s brilliantly crafted and intensely compelling—not just the mystery but the family dynamics, the secrets of Faithful Place, and how French uses the two timelines.

  


BROKEDOWN COWBOY, Maisey Yates

Contemporary romance, Copper Creek 3

This is ALL my catnip: snappy banter, loads of emotion, unrequited love, forced proximity, friends to lovers, supporting cast of family and small-town community, western/cowboy...with a barn-raising! It could have been written especially for me.


INVISIBLE INK, Brian McDonald

Non-fiction, writing how-to

Sub-titled A Practical Guide to Building Stories that Resonate, which is a pretty good “plot” summary. I bought it on the recommendation of Anne McAllister. McDonald is a screenwriter and the title is a reference to the craft behind the words (the visible ink). The focus is storytelling structure and I found it highly readable, succinct and on point, and peppered with excellent movie examples. Bonus: it really helped me sort some WIP issues.


THE MOST SCANDALOUS RAVENSDALE, Melanie Milburne
HM&B Sexy/Presents, The Scandalous Ravensdales 4

My favourite kind of category romance, with fun banter and internal musing, believable conflict, a heroine who is no pushover and a hero who deserves her; I felt their connection, I got their attraction, I believed their happy ending. Bonus points for the use of setting (wet London) and the relatable dog and cat characters.

PURSUED BY THE ROGUE, Kelly Hunter
Contemporary romance novella, The Fairy Tales of New York 1

For a novella, this punches far above its weight in emotion and character development. It’s also hot and superbly well written and researched. I loved the contemporary NYC setting and the fairy-tale tie-in (The Ugly Duckling) and the characters’ occupations: she’s a genetic researcher; he’s a violinist. This has gone on my Recommend To Everyone list.


Let’s talk reading...


How has your reading year been thus far? Have you been reading more or less than usual? Have you been "off" a certain type of reading—as I've been with historical romance? Have you been glomming a certain genre or sub-genre or author recently?




25 comments:

  1. Hey Bron. I've read 2 out of your list. I read Maisey's in my RITA reads which I absolutely adored and promptly went and bought and read the others in the series and Kelly's FToNY book was just super fabulous! Thrilled to see it being up for a Ruby. Being part of that series with her was all kinds of awesome!

    I've read mainly digital this year and pretty much stuck to my staple contemporary. I have found an amazing new Aussie author though - Eve Dangerfield. She only has 2 books out but her voice is fabulous!

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    1. Isn't it fun when you find, not just one, but multiple fab books to read? Like with a series or a new-to-you author with backlist.

      I must check out Eve Dangerfield. I do love a strong voice; it's pretty much essential to my 5-star reading.

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  2. I love reading other people's reading summaries. I'm at 29 books for the year, so well behind you!

    I actually have Brokedown Cowboy on my shelf at the moment but haven't gotten to it yet. Looks like I'll have to rectify that!

    So far my reading year has been pretty standard - about half and half print vs ebooks, lots of contemporary romances with some YA, thriller/mystery and erotica reads mixed in. Best 'new to me author' so far this year is Victoria Aveyard who writes YA fantasy - loved her debut, Red Queen!

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    1. Ooh, yay, another new-to-me author recommended. *claps hands*

      Thanks, Stefanie. I'll be checking that one out!

      As for my reading numbers: I'm sure this is way up on recent years, I suspect because the commitment to recording prompted me to try harder. I am *slightly* competitive, even with myself.

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  3. Hi Bron

    Ooh I also love seeing what other people have read I have read 98 books in the first 6 months of the year one of which was an audio book I am pretty sure most of them are digital although I there were a couple of paperbacks that I read I don't have a breakdown of what genres they are although my list is on goodreads but I think most of them were contemporary historical erotic and a few paranormal but I truly enjoyed them :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    Replies
    1. 98 sounds like so many, but when you break it down...that averages 2 days per book in round figures, approximately. Which is still impressive.

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  4. Oh and there are some woman's fiction as well which I really enjoy

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. So do I, Helen. It's nice to change things up with different genres, isn't it? I'm currently on a bit of a women's fiction jag; I grew a bit tired of straight contemporary romance. But I will return, once I tire of heavy and serious and less romancey books.

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  5. Love this idea, Bronwyn. So much I'm going to start my own list this afternoon. Have to admit to a little memory loss about titles sometimes. Hate it when I start talking about a great book I've just read and can't remember the title or the author.
    Lately, since joining a book club, I'm reading very different stories to my usual reading and enjoying it. I still read my favourite authors of course.

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    1. Sue, that is what prompted me to start recording my reading. I could never remember the titles -- even of books I loved! -- when I wanted to recommend them a few months later. It was such fun going back through my list to compile this post.

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  6. Bron, what a great idea. In my teens I used to keep lists of books read (and an ever growing list of ones I wanted to read) but now I wonder where they are. I've toyed with a reading list lately but not got around to it. I seem to be reading a lot of fiction that's not romance this year, though lately I'm getting back into the romances again.

    My big find lately is Christine Well's 'The Wife's Tale' which I just read in the last couple of weeks. Such a terrific story - well two stories - one past and one present. Maybe it would help you get over your historical slump?

    Thanks for sharing, Bron.

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    1. I have Christine's by my bed, Annie. I just want some clear time so I can glom it all at once!

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    2. This is on my wish-list; it's been recommended by enough people that I need to move it to my (virtual) bedside table. I think it would be right up my current-reading-mood alley, since I'm on a women's fiction jag.

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    3. I highly recommend Christine's The Wife's Tale also such a fabulous story

      Have Fun
      Helen

      Delete
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  7. You're better organised than I, Bronwyn. I use both Goodreads and pen with paper and stickers to track my reading. Stickers are basicly me printing the book covers of everything I read on sticker paper - adds some life to an otherwise boring (to me) list of what I've read. Goodreads is usually fairly reliable to me, but I knew this year part of my goal was to get as many of the 'unread' titles on my ereader read. As I had to reload the entire collection late last year due to syncing quirks causing multiple copies, I knew there would be re-reading.

    My handwritten list says I'm on my 111th book for the year at present: Michelle's An Unlikely Bride for the Billionaire (thanks for the review copy Michelle), and this definitely doesn't line up with Goodreads <- partly because of re-reads and also because there are a couple that I can't switch from 'to read' to 'read' until late next month.

    Can't say I actually keep track of audio, print, ebook (or even epub v Kindle). I find it hard enough to keep track of the actual books at the volume I seem to go through them. Perhaps if I cut back a little on the reading, I'd find more time to write. That said a lot of my reading is before bed or between calls at work.

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    1. 111!!! What an awesome number, Lyn, and I love that it's a LoveCats book. Yay! I'm also intrigued by your stickers. How do you use them? Are they only for your own records? You would have so many and I totally love this idea.

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    2. I'll take some pics later in the week and share them on the Lovecats FB page. :)

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    3. Lyn, I can't tell you how chuffed I am to be your 111th for the year! :-)

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  8. I love your system, Bron! I record my books too, but only the title, author and date finished. You've inspired me, to add whether I read print or digital now, though. Of the 30 titles I've read so far this year, 20 have been digital, which is a bit of a surprise.

    Ashley Gardner's Captain Lacey regency mystery series has been my real find this year -- I glommed 10 in a row! I loved Anne Gracie's Autumn Bride, Jean Webster's Daddy Long Legs, and Jessica Gilmore's Proposal at the Winter Ball too.

    Mind you, you have me eager to read Brokedown Cowboy right now and Melanie's book (which is on my TBR pile) right after it. :-)

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  9. Michelle, I have your recommendation for the Captain Lacey series on my Wish List. I'm saving up until I have some clear reading time...I'm a bit afraid that it might consume me and I will want to glom the whole series. There are some books I deliberately avoid when I can't read all day (and night) long!

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