What Are You Reading? (November 2013)
Monday, November 4, 2013
Open Book by Dave Dugdale
It’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s time for your book report. Tell us what you’ve finished, what you’re reading, and what’s on your To Be Read stack/list. (And if you’ve reviewed the books you’ve read somewhere, please include links!)
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- What book(s) did you finish reading (or listening to) since last month’s update?
- What are you currently reading and/or listening to?
- What’s the next book on your To Be Read stack/list?
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KayeDacus.com 
Here’s what I read in October. Several of these authors like Laura Frantz and Jody Hedlund are ones whose books I automatically read. Love them! I am so happy to have discovered some new, debut authors like Melissa Jagears and Melissa Tagg. They will definitely be on my list to read future books by them. I have seen Dani Pettrey’s and Jennifer Johnson’s books around for months, but never picked up any of them to read. Boy, am I glad I did. They are both wonderful writers and have quickly been added to my favorites list.
http://tinyurl.com/m77sx4w
Dani Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series is wonderful! As I was reading her novels I got glimpses of Dee Henderson’s O’Malley books. While reading the author acknowledgements I found out that Dee Henderson mentored Dani in her writing. The characters are younger than Dee’s, but the series is about one family. There’s not quite as much suspense in these books as in the O’Malley books, but the characters certainly get put through the ringer. If it’s not a who-done-it mystery I actually prefer toned down suspense. If one is wondering about the Christian aspects Dani’s books definitely have heavier Christian and moral themes that Dee’s do. There’s usually a conversion experience in the books and the characters seem to have a relationship with Christ. These books should be read in order because the story for the couple in the next book starts building in the previous novel.
Currently I’m reading Burning Sky by Lori Benton.
Next on my list is Beneath the Dover Sky by Murray Pura.
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Ooh, I loved the O’Malley series, so I’m going to have to check out Dani Pettrey’s series!
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I just realized that I never posted my list for October, so I’ll include those (very few) titles here.
Since the September update:
Finished Reading:
–The Queen’s Fool (The Tudors #4) by Philippa Gregory, audiobook read by Bianca Amato. Story: 2.75 stars. Narrator: 4.5 stars. Click through on the title for my review on Goodreads.
—Duke of Midnight (Maiden Lane #6) by Elizabeth Hoyt, audiobook read by Claudia Harris. Obviously, this is a long-running series and this entry was more of a “hit” than a “miss” with me (a couple of the other books were definite misses, while others were much bigger hits for me than this one). I finished this book feeling rather ambivalent about the two main characters and their relationship. This is a new narrator to the series (and one I’d never heard before). In her own right, she’s a good narrator, and I look forward to listening to more audiobooks read by her. However, I still miss Ashford McNabb, who narrated the first four books in the series and set the tone (and pronunciations for names and places). Story: 3.75 stars. Narrator: 4 stars. Click through on the title for my review on Goodreads.
Currently Reading:
—The Life of Elizabeth I by Allison Weir, audiobook read by Davina Porter. I’ve been slogging my way through the 34-hour audio version of this biography since October 6. I’m currently at 23:57:53 and pretty much all I’ve “learned” about Elizabeth I, one of my favorite historical figures, is that SHE HASN’T GOTTEN MARRIED YET! The first 20+ hours of the book were pretty much focused on that—her dancing around the issue of marriage and the several different possible suitors she had and whether or not they were Catholic or Protestant. Around hour 22, we went back to the beginning of her reign and started looking at some of the actual politics of the time that didn’t involve her marital status. Narrator Davina Porter is, as always, stellar.
—Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I thought it would be a good idea to re-read this second book in the Hunger Games trilogy before the movie comes out in a few weeks. I plowed through it in just a couple of hours the first time through, so I’m making myself take it a little slower this time—and I’m catching a lot of details I didn’t really remember from that first time through.
—To Taste Temptation (Legend of the Four Soldiers, Book 1) by Elizabeth Hoyt, audiobook read by Anne Flosnik. This is an audiobook I downloaded for free during a sale on Audible—and I did so only because it was free and because it’s a series by Elizabeth Hoyt, who is currently on my “becoming a favorite author” list. However, listening to this book is reminding me of why I don’t listen to books narrated by Anne Flosnik. I know there are tons of listeners who love her, but her voice grates on me (too breathy, nasally, and high-pitched); either her accent or her pronunciation of lots of words is a bit off, even accounting for differences in British and American inflections; and, for the first time, I’ve discovered that her American accent is atrocious (even more nasally and high-pitched than her regular voice). The story is okay so far, but I’m thinking about dropping the audio version and seeing if I can check the digital version out from the library to finish on my Kindle.
Next on the TBR List:
–When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6) by Julia Quinn. I actually started this a month or so ago, but then put it down. So I’ll start it over when I pick it up again later this week.
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All of my reading for the month of October was accomplished through audio books.
The Secret Keeper, by Beverly Lewis–the book centered around a woman desiring to join the Amish church. She was staying with the parents of Katie Fisher (main character in The Shunning Series) I enjoyed the completion to Katie’s story with the Seeker embracing the life Katie left. I would recommend the book to anyone that enjoys Amish fiction.
Tracie Peterson’s Land of the Lone Star Series–This series is centered around the divisions in Texas among the proUnion and proConfederacy citizenry. In the first book, a Union soldier returns to learn that his land was taken by the Confederacy. The second book revolves around a Confederate soldier’s desire to restart the war. The third book is the best friend of the Union soldier’s struggle to reclaim his ranch, after it was confiscated in the same manner as his friend, due to his fighting for the South. Unlike most of her series, these three books held together. I enjoy finding out what happens to the couples after the wedding. Tracie’s books are generally in the same era and location, but could just as well be stand alone books. It was nice to see the conclusion to all the stories.
Tracie Peterson’s Land of the Shining Water Series–The Icecutter’s Daughter, The Quarryman’s Bride, and The Miner’s Lady. Unlike the previous series, these books did not follow each other. Each are set in Minnesota, but each is a stand alone, as there is no interaction with the early characters in the later books. I miss that. However, I enjoyed the stories.
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