Open Thread for Readers for September 2025
Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post about it here!
Has anyone else been going back to comfort reads? There’s just something about this time of the year that makes me do that.
This entire year makes me want to go back to comfort reads. One of my US Senators just made a speech saying that the US is a white homeland. (The other one is Josh Hawley.) Yes, I live in Misery. I mean Missouri.
But having said that, I did read two new novels that I recommend. MODERATION by Elaine Castillo. Don’t let the trippy cover fool you; this is a romance novel, complete with happy ending, dressed in Millennial litfic clothing. A takedown of capitalism, American exceptionalism, and the utter depravity that is possible in an anonymous online world suddenly changes its focus to FMC “Girlie” trying not to have a crush on her new boss, William. There are no icky power imbalance dynamics, I promise, just a lot of pining.
I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS by Holly Smale is romantic but realistic, with messy relationships and a perfect ending. FMC Margot evolves from an angry mess into a still prickly but happier person through changes in her career, family and friendships, in addition to her romance with a cinnamon roll (with occasional nuts) MMC. The brief flashes of the future that Margot experiences are just long enough to be intriguing without requiring any deep explanations of time travel, metaverses, etc. There are no tired romance tropes, but there is a kitten.
Happy Fall to all.
Speaking of comfort reads, last night my 18-year-old daughter and I finished reading PRIDE AND PREJUDICE aloud to each other. It was a transcendent experience. (I hesitate to use that word because it seems like an overstatement, but after we closed the cover, we hugged each other for a solid 5 minutes.) We paused often to discuss the story, the characters and their motivations, and it was always so delightful when we found our understanding enhanced. I remember my parents reading to each other when I was growing up. Many nights I went to sleep listening to snatches of Robinson Crusoe or Catriona; Daniel Defoe was their favourite.
On that note, I want to put in a plug for Lee Welch’s remarkable MR COLLINS IN LOVE. I usually stay far, far away from Pride and Prejudice variations, but I’m glad I made an exception for this one. I read it mid-summer and I’m still thinking about it. It asks the reader, what if Mr. Collins is not a bumbling idiot, but instead plagued by social anxiety, possibly neurodiverse? Welch has written a beautiful queer love story; the writing is often exquisite. It led to some self-examination as I thought about who I allow myself to laugh at and why, and how often we laugh at things that we simply don’t understand. (This brings to mind Mr. Bennet’s famous quote: “For what do we exist but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?”) Mr.Collins always seemed so ripe for mockery; now I read him more charitably.
After doing a fair bit of directed reading for the library’s summer reading program and a summer reading bingo, I was definitely ready to return to some comfort reads. I have happily reread the Linesman books by S.K. Dunstall and several books by Nathan Lowell in the last few weeks as well as one work by Andrea K. Hõst.
After my total immersion in the Liaden universe earlier this year I felt myself yearning for more space opera. Someone suggest the Paradox books by Rachel Bach so I read those three books and enjoyed them. I read the first Volkosigan book Shards of Honor, OK but didn’t wow me. Remembering how much I adored Dune I picked up Brian Herbert’s Caladan trilogy which was entertaining. I also read Sally Gardner’s story The Weatherwoman which I liked.
In any case, the earlier return to Liaden was definitely comfort reading for me because most of the titles I had read many years ago – I loved them then and I loved them now.
If anyone has further suggestions for space opera/romance please let me know.
@MEB ~
Have you tried the Linesman books by S.K. Dunstall? (They have only a hint of romance though over the three book series.)
Or how about Michelle Diener’s Class 5 series?
I have been leaning into comfort reads since about 2019. My reading slumps started about then.
I actually have decided to listen to the full cast audio book versions of various Ilona Andrews series. I tried once before but the background music felt distracting. This time, for some reason, it didn’t bother me. I like the production of the Kate Daniels (i jumped around and listened to a couple of my favorites) and the Innkeeper series.
I started on the Hidden Legacy series — so far only the first book is out — and It was a tick disappointing. For one, I wasn’t wowed with the Rogan voice performance. Also they cut out some of book. Little things, but because I am so familiar with the book noticeable to me. For instance when Rogan and Nevada go to the Pit, the whole back story about how the Pit came about excised.
But I am also in a ‘comfortable reads’ phase. Newish books with pretty low stakes that aren’t super stressful. Last Open Thread I posted about cozy paranormal mysteries. I am kinda still in that pocket. This time I found an urban fantasy series that has some fun world-building, slow burn romances and good humor quotient.
It is the Magiford magic series — a series of connected trilogies by K. M. Shea that takes place in a world where Vampires, fae, werewolves and wizards live side by side with humans but also kinda stay apart and have their own governance. I read her Court of Midnight and Deception trilogy first which is actually chronologically the second set of books in the series. It is centered in the Fae and features a heroine, Leila, who is half human/half fae but grew up completed raised by her human mother. But when the Queen of one of the Midnight court dies, Leila is chosen as the new Queen. It employs one of my favorite tropes., the outsider who shakes things up. The Fae in this series are kinda stuck in a 19th century mindset. They are formal and a tuck up. Leila is a brash modern human who upends everything. This is where a lot of the humor in mined. There is an underlying plot where someone is trying to kill her and she has to overcome a lot of dislike and suspicion. But she is pretty funny. I love how she calls her eventual love interest her ‘Fae Bae’ to needle him.
I have tracked backward to read the first trilogy, the Hall of Blood and Mercy that features a Wizard and Vampire. I am enjoying the first book so far, same feeling with an overall mystery of a serial killer who is targeting Vampires but still with noticeable humor.
Not a book, but I have binged The Gilded Age this past month. If tv were a comfort read this would be it. I resisted so long because I could not stand Downton Abbey, but I got sucked into this and honestly, the performances are top tier. I love how the online community has dubbed Bertha and George ‘Big Bertha’ and ‘Railroad Daddy.’
@SusanS: “There are no tired romance tropes, but there is a kitten.”
That alone is enough to make me want to look this up.
@Eliza: Oh, Eliza that is a lovely experience for you and your daughter and what a wonderful thing that your parents did this, too. Now I’m tearing up.
@MEB: Space Opera recs
Linnea Sinclair wrote excellent SFR before that was really a thing – both the world building and the romance are good, imo. Her books are mostly stand alones. My two favorites by her are Games of Command and The Accidental Goddess.
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells – no romance, but a ding dang delight, about a snarky AI / cyborg robo cop type security unit who hacks it’s override controls, so it can do anything it wants. And what it wants is to be left alone to watch its serials and to do it’s job. Very relatable.
Aliette de Bodard’s Universe of Xuya – mostly standalone stories set in different parts of the same universe. The world building is amazing but the books are a little uneven imo – Jayne has reviewed several. My favorite so far is The Tea Master and the Detective which is not a romance, it’s more of a Sherlock Holmes style mystery.
I’ve been re-reading The Murderbot Diaries, after watching the Apple+ series and it is so good and such a comfort read.
I’m still working towards a blackout on one summer book bingo that ends Sept 20, but only have a 3 prompts left.
@cleo: Sirius, Sunita, and Janine have also read lots of de Bodard’s books – many from some of her other series. Some are fantasy rather than SFR.
https://dearauthor.com/?s=aliette+de+bodard
@Eliza: What a lovely experience for you both. That is such a great thing to do.
I don’t know if comfort reads is the right word, but I am doing a fair amount of rereading, reading books I know I can depend on to be satisfying. The last go-round in 2016 I turned to light contemporaries, but now I’m focusing on books I’ve wanted to read for a long time or books I’ve read in the past and would like to revisit. I’m still reading newer books but it’s not as strong a focus for me as it was for many years.
Right now I’m rereading Slightly Married by Mary Balogh, the first Bedwyn book. It’s very good and I think underrated. Like everyone else, I love Slightly Dangerous (the last book) best, but I’m considering rereading the entire series now.
Space operas – I second the recommendation of the Murderbot Diaries enthusiastically. Don’t be put off by the character’s name as I was – they’re not murderous at all, it’s an ironic name they give themself while watching soap operas in secret (because they can’t reveal they have hacked the technology that constrained them).
I recall also liking Games of Command and while I haven’t read any of de Bodard’s SF I did enjoy a fantasy novel.
If you are okay with advanced technology and deep futurism, I also recommend Anne Leckie’s Imperial Radch books. I fell hard for Ancillary Justice (the sequels were good too) and I also loved Translation State, although (be warned) there is body horror in the latter.
Bujold has better books than Shards of Honor, I personally like the Miles books better so far (I’m still catching up on that series). I can see that it might not be everyone’s cuppa though. My favorite works of hers are the first couple Chalion books but those are fantasy.
@Eliza: My husband and I read to each other sometimes, it can be very satisfying.
I am seeking recommendations for good retellings. Fantasy genre retellings would be great but suggestions for any good retellings, regardless of genre, are also welcome. Some of my own favorites include:
Aster Glenn Gray’s Briarley (Beauty and the Beast) and The Wolf and the Girl (Little Red Riding Hood), The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine (a feminist take on The Twelve Dancing Princesses), What Souls are Made Of by Tasha Suri (Wuthering Heights) and—probably my favorite retelling ever—Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Rumpelstiltskin, and if someone told me you could make a great book out of that, I would have been very surprised).
For the recommendations, they don’t need to be fairy tale retelling specifically.
@Janine: The odds of me suggesting something you haven’t read are slim, but I always like to try. I seem to mostly have mythology retellings.
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane – a trans reimagining (and reclaiming) of the Achilles legend. Compelling, weird, occasionally bloody and quite different from any other Achilles retelling I’ve read. The author uses Hittite names for most of the cities which was initially confusing – but once I figured out that Wilusa = Troy I was fine.
Lost Things by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott – a riff on myths about the goddess Diana, specifically Diana Nemorensis, set in the 1920s in the US and Italy. An ancient evil is accidentally unleashed when archeologists drain Lake Nemi in Italy and four Americans end up working to defeat it. One is an archeologist and the rest are aviators – there’s a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe but with more magic and less imperialism. There’s a low key romance but it’s mostly an adventure story. It’s the start of a series but this book is stand alone.
@cleo: I have heard excellent things about Wrath Goddess Sing but Achilles has a tragic ending in the myth and I don’t like it when the main character dies.
Lost Things sounds good. A long time ago I read a thoughtful book about worldbuilding by Meilssa Scott so I imagine her worldbuilding must be solid.
@ Cleo, Karina and Janine – Thank you so much for the recommendations. I shall pursue them!
@Janine: Thought of another one – Great or Nothing by Jessica Spotswood, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe and Joy McCullough.
It’s a re-imagining of the 2nd half of Little Women, set in WWII. I read it for a short-lived family book club with my teenage niece and mom and we all enjoyed it.
@Janine: Oh and yes, Wrath Goddess Sing has an unusual take on the Achilles myth but the ending is definitely tragic – the body count is pretty high.
@TinaNoir: Yours is the second recommendation of The Gilded Age I’ve seen recently that makes me think I might enjoy it after all.
I stumbled on a big list of popular retellings on Goodreads just today, so now I’m a happy camper.
Cleo, I recommend The Gilded Age also. It’s not perfect but it’s much better than Downton Abbey. Although this last (third) season wasn’t quite as great as the earlier two, I still really enjoyed it.
Tina, George and Bertha are my favorites. So so good.
@Janine: T. Kingfisher has done a few fairytale retellings: The Raven and the Reindeer (Snow Queen); Bryony and Roses (Beauty & the Beast); The Seventh Bride (Bluebeard). Also, What Moves the Dead is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher, but it is one of her creepy horror books so proceed with caution.
There are also Robin McKinley’s classic retellings of Beauty & the Beast, with very different endings: Beauty, and Rose Daughter.
@SusanS: I have tried both Beauty and Nettle and Bone in the past, and neither worked for me. Thank you for trying, though.