DA Recommended Reads for October 2012
Contemporary
- The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley (this review will have a giveaway component. Yay). Recommended by Jayne and Sunita. Reviewed here by Jayne
- The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. Recommended by Dabney
- Lean on Me by HelenKay Dimon. Recommended by Sunita
- St. Piran’s: Wedding of the Year by Caroline Anderson. Recommended by Sunita
Historical
- Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas. Recommended by Kati D and Jennie
It’s slim pickings this month for the DA crowd. Maybe you all have read a book we should be reading and recommending? Help us out. (Reviews of all books to come)
I too liked Lean On Me. It, and another book I enjoyed, Sultry with a Twist, both had strong, amusing male friendships in them.
I am currently reading Death Rival by Faith Hunter. The latests in her series about Jane Yellowrock.
The contemporary recommended list reads like a list of some of my favourite authors. I adore anything Caroline Anderson writes and Wedding of the Year is a wonderful read which fans of Penhally Bay and St. Piran’s will love as it’s Kate and Nick’s journey to their happy ever after.
I read Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden and just loved it, so The Secret Keeper is definitely on my list of favourites.
Like most romance readers, I adore Sarah Mayberry and Susanna Kearsley.
I’ve never read Helen Kay Dimon but must give her a try!
I am re-reading Dorothy Dunnett’s Johnson Johnson series, which originally published between the late 60s – early 90s and were recently released as ebooks and aren’t romances – they aren’t really mysteries, either, more sort of unrequited crush amidst mildly baffling chaos. Dunnett’s love for history and words really shines through the giddiness. These are miles lighter and faster moving than her historicals.
Also I am happily stalking the free serial on the Ilona Andrews site. Yay!
Are the Oct recommendations just for books coming out in Oct?
I’m looking forward to Zoe Archer’s latest steampunk novella, Skies of Steel, coming out next week (I think). Haven’t read it yet, so don’t know if it’s recommendation worthy or not.
@Sandy L: Oh, me too! I managed to kill yet another Kindle when I was just starting it and just about went berserk. I finally had to switch over to the Fire to read it, which bothers my eyes something fierce. But it’s worth a little pain.
You know, I wouldn’t consider books from the 1950s to be contemp. I’m 32 (next week) so I’m wondering if my age has a lot to do with that — I guess I’d go 20 years back? Maybe to the rise of the computer as such a key part of how we deal with the world. That seems to be a strong marker of current culture even if not visible in writing. 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80s all seem to have a very distinct vintage feel. Of course if we did apply that limitation there’d be even less contemps in general. where do other people feel the line between contemp and historical is? It’s obviously a blurry one (even for me ;-)
@amandine: @amandine:
Just want to add this comment doesn’t really tie into this post very well, sorry about that.
Jennifer Ashley’s Mate Claimed was out Tuesday, and that was a great book! It’s part of her Shifter’s Unbound series where the shifters are basically second-class citizens who are collared and shoved into “Shiftertowns.”
I’m looking forward to reading Tiffany Reisz’s The Angel, which was released last week. It’s the second in her Original Sinners series after The Siren–I quite enjoyed this book.
I’m currently reading Dex in Blue, the latest m/m by Amy Lane and just loving it. So far it’s my favorite type of romance. There’s little external conflict – just the story of two friends falling in love, figuring out how to make a life together, and helping each other make peace with their respective families and pasts – I’m a complete sucker for romances where the h/h help each other negotiate their relationships with their families of origin. It’s the sequel to Chase in Shadow, which is *much* darker and full of angst – the events in the two books overlap each other – but I think this one could be read alone (honestly, reading the sample on Amazon for CiS will give you a good overview of CiS if you’re not an angst fan – CiS was too dark for me but DiB is just right so far).
I can’t help but point at at And All the Stars again, since it does have a romantic subplot and you’ve reviewed YA sf books here before (and while it is apocalyptic it is NOT dystopia). Sherwood Smith liked it, too ^^ , here’s her non-spoilery review.