Today is a work day for us. I’m in a reading lull, so I would appreciate any cool recommendations for blogs by both authors and readers and books. What have you read this year that was amazing? Did you find something odd and interesting and off the wall? Don’t hoard the secret knowledge. Tell us your favorites. 🙂
Rules for commenting
All types of fiction and non fiction are welcome. Don’t feel constrained to just urban fantasy or paranormal.
Please keep the recommendations to no more than 3, otherwise it becomes very difficult to read.
Please tell us a little bit about why a particular blog or book is a standout for you and why you think other people might want to check it out. Just mentioning a title and author is fine, but not as entertaining and the discussion will get boring really fast.
When discussing books, please keep in mind that the book is separate from the author. In other words, “I was disappointed in this book because it had a cliffhanger. It made me feel like this…” is perfectly fine. “The author is a greedy horrible person who only thinks about money and I hate their guts” is not. Please keep the criticism to the book and not to the person who wrote it.
Have fun!
Travis Bagwell
Awaken Online: Catharsis
No, not the same Travis… lol. I found this to be a hidden gem. Long, well thought out and plotted books that were well worth the FREE price tag I got on them through Kindle Unlimited. Highly recommend the whole series.
It is LitRPG which is sort of like the whole, choose your own adventure but only for the author and main character style. Playing a video game as a book. Some think it is blech… I personally found the book and author enjoyable and the litRPG format is just fine.
Forgot to mention, with the first book, just get through the first two chapters or so. I don’t know what happened with the early editing, but it smooths out insanely once the main character gets into the game.
I enjoyed the Hardstorm Saga by Dana Marton. Just discovered it last month.
Nora Roberts Year One and Of Blood and Bone (the 2nd book). They are AMAZING.
Travis, remember, criticize book not author.
Sorry, that was over the top.
Sorry ALs, You can delete my comments on this thread. I overreacted because of my adverse reaction when first reading the second book.
That was probably too harsh, sorry. Two scenes in that second book just made me feel like I needed a shower and after the second I put the book down, finished reading it later after my stomach stopped wanting to rebel and promised myself I would probably not ever be picking up another book in that series. I skipped any scenes with the guy in it to avoid any further possible discomfort. Looking at Kate and Curran, yeah, Curran is rough, but he doesn’t touch her or even make serious overtures until she openly gives permission.
No worries, you are good now. 🙂
Devon Monk’s “Hazard” and “Spark” are 2 fun books that almost made me care about hockey. [Totally a non-sports person, despite living in an area nicknamed Hockeytown.] Romance level is YA, but hockey with magic is serious blood sport.
I’ve had a tough year, and books that make me laugh has gotten me through it. Helen Harper, especially the The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Magic series is good for the soul!
Her cat is fabulous! Love these books
Maria – agreed! I had just added my 2cents below on the series before I saw your comment : )
I liked those! The audio book narrator is great!
This!
On your advice I just read Slouch Witch and enjoyed it very much! Thanks
Thank you for the recommendation. I decided to give “Slouch Magic” a whirl based on your comment…and I am loving it!
Really anything by Devon Monk. Love all her series!
I just finished reading these two books. Great. Hate hockey, love the books.
Have you tried Rachel Gibson or Susan Elizabeth Phillips? They write really good books with hockey and football themes. I am not a sports fan but I went looking for more after reading their books. I like some humor when I read a book.
Those thinking about reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips should know the writing is VERY florid. I DNF It Has to be You within paragraphs.
Thank you. I skip the “florid” unless it adds to story, but it hardly ever does. I sometimes forget to warn people. I liked “It has to be you” but her others are better. I liked that the hero ended up adoring the heroine. Try the Rachel Gibson. I also enjoyed Jennifer Cruise books.
I’ve gotten into Chinese (and Korean and Japanese) web novels. There’s a huge market of serialized web novels in China, like Innkeeper. The website novelupdates.com tracks them- or rather the translations. All sorts of genres, but many of them are Chinese fantasy; Taoist/Buddhist martial arts, dragons and phoenixes, etc.
One I like, which is epic in scope, is Emperor’s Domination:
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/emperors-domination/
Anne Maccaffrey”s, “Dragon Riders of Pern” series, is the first scifi fantasy novels I read when I was young, and have been hooked ever since.
Me too! I loved it (still do). I read it in Polish translation when I was a child, and recently have reread original versions. Wonderful books.
Also Ursula Le Guin Left hand od darkness – pne of the 3 favourite books of my adolescence.
Andre Norton and her Witch World series were my favorites. I particularly liked the third or fourth novel where the now adult daughter calls an extremely powerful wizard by mistake. She thought he was dead.
Dragonsdawn was my favourite book for many years before I ruined it for myself by knowing it too well 🙁
+1 Gotta love the Dragon Riders of Pern, at least the first 6 or 7. I must have read them 25 years ago and again recently. Anne McCaffery created an amazing world.
Loved and still love all of the Dragonriders books – Red Star Rising/Dragonseye is still my favourite
I’d also suggest trying Dragons code by Gigi MccAffrey – came out this year focuses on Piemur of the incredible boyish treble and runs concurrently with the white Dragon – much better read than Todd’s Books.
Still hoping for after the fall to be finished…
I rediscovered Stephanie Laurens and Keri Arthur this year, there were several books by each that I had missed, too many to list here. Laurens writes historical romance and Arthur writes paranormal.
The Essex Witch museum books by Syd Moore- amazing
My recs are for three new-to-me authors who write M/M fantasy romance that I loved, although I’m not sure if you read that subgenre?
A Charm of Magpies trilogy by KJ Charles – historical romance set in the Victorian era in England, one main character is an earl while the other is a magician. KJ Charles also writes M/M historical romance without magic but I haven’t read those yet
Big Bad Wolf by Charlie Adhara – contemporary setting, the two main characters (one human, one werewolf) have to partner with each other to solve murder mysteries
Something Human by AJ Demas – the main characters from opposing sides meet on the battlefied and help each other recuperate, a quiet kind of fantasy that has interesting cultural discussions
Try Lynn Flewelling’s “Night runner” series. Lovely M/M romance in this series.
+1
+1 for KJ Charles’ Magpie series.
You should also try Jordon L. Hawk. SPECTR is an unusual M/M UF/PNR series, but most of her series are M/M gaslit romantic fantasy. Whyborne & Griffin is my favorite of her historicals, despite being semi-Lovecraftian, which usually isn’t my thing.
Laura Thalassa’s The Bargainer Series. It’s three books total, and all are pretty quick reads. I love the imagery and the style of narration – very evocative. She also has a good chunk of novels and other series [Queen Who Dies, very good], so if you like her style of writing, you’re in luck.
I read her books Pestilence and the first of the Queen series . They are really absorbing and pretty well written , but so so dark. She really likes exploring the ethical murk – which is not a bad thing to do at all, it’s almost like she is really exploring and making explicit some of the things hidden in the love for the darker alpha types, but ultimately too hard to deal with for me.
The next one just posted… there’s now four with one of them being 2.5. I’ve downloaded but not read it yet.
The bargainer series i mean… oops
Naomi Novik – Spinning Silver. A really clever fairy tale inspired novel based on the authors Lituanian jewish heritage, in which the main heroine is clever and resourceful but also pretty angry and sensitive about being pushed around – initially by fellow peasantry for being Jewish, and then by arrogant fairies for being human. But there’s also plenty of other interwoven perspectives and really it’s just lovely and satisfying without hiding that life can be really hard.
She also wrote another novel, Uprooted, in a similar vein.
I didn’t enjoy Spinning Silver as much. Uprooted had me hooked. I started it way too late and stayed up till 5am finishing it. I loved everything about it. I loved the Wood and the twists and turns. Spinning Silver didn’t have the same grab. But I still enjoy the author’s style of writing and I can’t wait to see what she has for us next.
+1, Katelin: I much prefer Uprooted to Spinning Silver. Even SS’s “happy ending” wasn’t for me.
I really loved Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I second the recommendation. I hope she is writing more in that vein! (As I ended up not being very fond of her Temeraire series but think she is an excellent writer.)
I loved this one. Thought it got a slower start than her last standalone uprooted, but liked how it all came together. I really enjoy when I don’t see how something will be satisfying when all the characters I really like have conflicting interests but this book really pulls it off. I liked how hard the characters had to work for happy endings.
Both fabulous IMO. I loved Uprooted a little more, but Spinning Silver is also wonderful on so many levels. And of course, if you haven’t read her Temeraire series (His Majesty’s Dragon) you will be kicking yourself for not doing so sooner. The standalones have a very different flavor, though. The series has been described as Jane Austen meets Patrick O’Brien, so they’re very British even when they are jaunting to far-flung outposts of the Empire and beyond.
Martha Wells’s Murderbot series blew me away this year. I just love the absurdity of a deadly robot who would rather watch soap operas than deal with people. Plus there is great action and adventure.
KJ Charles, both for her blogging at http://kjcharleswriter.com/ and her historical and fantasy romance books. She also has endlessly entertaining odd historical discussions in her Facebook group and in The League of Extraordinary Historical Romance Authors Facebook group. Her books are exceptionally written, well researched, and often includes people of colour in historical settings.
And not new this year but I keep rereading Amy Rae Durreson’s fantasy romance books. She has a way of developing worlds and characters that I fall in love with. Her Reawakening series has fascinating dragons, and her Lodestar of Ys book and shorts has amazing flying ships (plus this one is free to download).
Murderbot Diaries are awesome. If you’d want to read about an A I that likes her humans too much I recommend Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. 🙂
+1 for Anne Leckie.
+1 (because I can’t give it +1K) for Murderbot!
Did you know that in addition to the 4 novellas extant, and the novel[s?] planned for 2020, there’s a brand-new flash-fiction prequel available on Wired.com? I think it’d work pretty well for newbies to get a sample of the character and themes: www DOT wired DOT com SLASH story SLASH future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells
To be frank, my best book for the year is Kingdom Of Ash by Sarah J Maas (Knocking Magic Triumphs To A Second Place And Iron And Magic To A Third)
What I like about the book is the ability of the writing to become tangible to me. I mean when reading of the character’s actions and losses, I feel I am the one it is happening to.
And her ending is just pererfect.
The Lady Astronaut Series by Mary Robinette Kowal. Really well-written, lots of science, girl overcoming prejudice against women in positions of leadership. It is a wonderful series.
The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series by Theodora Goss. The daughters of famous mad scientists (Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Frankenstein, etc.) form a club to fight against the nefarious Alchemical Club. a wonderful, madcap adventure.
Blood Trails series by Jennifer Blackstream. Shade Renard is a witch who wants to be a private investigator. I loved this series (3 books so far.) Both exciting, tense, and very, very funny.
Here are two books that I enjoyed this year with heroines who are non-neurotypical:
From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata — contemporary romance with two figure skaters. Think Cutting Edge but with more cursing and a heroine with a learning disability. If you love this, read the rest of her books. Kulti is my favorite.
Fractured Stars by Lindsay Buroker — sci-fi adventure/romance with an autistic heroine bounty hunter in space.
And one fantasy/LitRPG:
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe — this is about a teen heading off to his coming-of age trial in a magical tower and also his search for his missing brother. The author called it his love letter to Final Fantasy and similar games. This was my first foray into LitRPG, and I quite enjoyed it.
I love Lindsay Buroker and have read most of her books, ever since Ilona recommended Emperor’s Edge on this very blog 😉
All of Lindsey Buroker books are great entertainment.She has exciting characters and keeps the action moving…love her as well as all of Illona’s books
+1
She also writes under the pen name Ruby Lionsdrake if you want sci-fi romance with love scenes. (Funny thing, I read her books under both names for a long time before I realized they were the same person :/)
I absolutely love anything by Mariana Zapata! She has away of writing a contemporary romance that makes the characters come to life. Her sense of humor isn’t in your face but very effective. The best thing I can say about her books is that her people come to life.
Normal warning about Zapata— VERY slow burn.
My go-to blog for PNR and UF is https://wickedscribes.wordpress.com/
Gives a great overview over new releases by my favorite authors and has character guides to my favorite series.
PNR/UF series discovery of the year was Hettie Ivers’ Werelock Evolution.
And though I never saw myself as the type to read rom-com or sports romance I fell in love with Helena Hunting’s Pucked series; it’s just so hilariously funny and whacky, but also has all the feels.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher. I never could get into the Dresdan Files but this book was vastly different. Read it because it’s fun with a great cast, read it for the character Rowl.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I watched it Netflix then read the book. The book is waaayyyy better (as usual). I love stories with WWII as a backdrop. A little funny, a little romance, a great story!
+1 for Aeronaut’s Windlass (and Rowl), though I love Butcher’s Dresden and Alera books, too.
I discovered a few interesting series:
1. Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne – I LOVE the Audible books. The books are twisty and unpredictable.
2. Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey- it’s main character is dark, and captivating with sparks of hope. I am currently listening to this series. It’s a great Audible production.
3. Dresden Files by Jim Butcher – another well thought out series with dark twists and steadfast friends. Oh and the Audible narrator’s voice is (sigh) wonderful.
I agree on the Dresden files narrator voice, I don’t usually like audio books but I listened to strong Front and on the library wait list of the others
Me too. I always loved the Dresden books but I didn’t know how they would sound. I was convinced to try and boy were they RIGHT! But it is hard to get more. Tried my Barnes and Noble and they only had one. Can you believe?
I am super picky when it comes to voices in audiobooks. It really breaks the emersion for me when there’s a narrator that sounds 50+ and is narrating an early-twenties character. (Unless the MC is old and is just reflecting on when they were younger or something.)
But I love it when I find a good one and it’s nice to hear that the Dresden Files has a good narrator. I’m about halfway through the series and it’ll be nice to listen through the rest of them at night before I go to sleep.
I’ve found that readers with mostly theatre experience have the best voices for audio books, especially when listening and driving.
Second Iron Druid on Audible, it is amazing! I’ll have to try Dresden Files, I liked the books but didn’t love them, I’ll try to listen. It’s the guy from Buffy reading them, I think.
I’ve read several books on Egyptology recently. The latest about the search for Egypt’s lost Pharoanic tombs was based on the Egyptologist writer’s documentary series looking for the tombs of Imhotep, Amunhotep I, Cleopatra, Herihor and Alexander the Great. For someone who knows little about Egyptian history it could be intriguing but a little dull at times and the writer does have his quirks including calling the man responsible for smuggling the bust of Nefertiti and other irreplaceable artifacts out of Egypt as a great Egyptologist. Finally there are no happy results in this book. In each case several possible tombs are proposed as being the resting place of an individual but none of them are found leaving the reader to feel very frustrated. So not a recommendation. Sadly none of the others I read recently are up to snuff either
Anne Rice has a really good book, The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned) that I really enjoyed. I believe she has recently written a follow up called Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra, which she co-wrote with her son. It’s on my TBR list!
This is book 2. But I really enjoy this series. https://www.jessiemihalik.com/blog/the-queens-advantage-chapter-1/
Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone – absolutely brilliant psychological thriller.
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames and his second book in the same world, Bloody Rose. Epic fantasies told with so much heart they made me choke up, laugh out loud, sit on the edge of my seat, and want to hug the books when I finished them.
Wow! You have sold me on the Kings of the Wyld! Have the ebook on hold at my library. Thank you!
Sarah J. Maas – Both her Throne of Glass series and A Court of Thorns and Roses series are outstanding. Strong female heroines who are relatable and imperfect. A lovely combination of fantasy and romance too.
Eileen Wilks – World of the Lupi series. Again, a strong heroine for the majority of the series, and both thoughtful and interesting fantasy mixed with romance.
Nalini Singh – Her Guildhunter Series and Psy/Changeling series are excellent. The Guildhunter series has a strong female lead also, who undergoes an introduction into a new side of the world she lives in after falling in love with a powerful angel. The Psy/Changeling is a lengthy series that explores two societies and their interactions. Both are full of wonderful fantasy and romance also.
I love all of those!! They are auto buys for me.
I agree. My favorite of both series though, is Heart of Obsidian. That is one dark protagonist. But his absolute obsession for his soul mate (not a term used in the book but it fits so well) is the only believable reason for anything good he might happen to do.
I agree, that book is, not only well written, but the story line is believable and engaging. It is the book that marks the beginning of her story arc ending and another starting.
I love the relationships in Lupi, it is a pity the series has trailed off in quality (IMHO) with the last 4 books getting 3 stars, 4, 3 and DNF from me.
I agree with Nalini Singh. She also two contemporary series: Rock Kiss and Play Hard series. The Rock Kiss series is about a rock group called Schoolboy Choir and four very strong women. The first book Rock Addiction is about the lead singer who meets a librarian from New Zealand. They both have rough pasts, insecurities, and how they make decisions to form a relationship. I love all four books, especially Rock Hard (this one is about a former rugby captain and a woman who throws an industrial stapler at his head). 🙂
+1 to Nalini Singh & Eileen Wilks.
I feel like I’m the only one who really hates Sarah Maas’ books. And I tried really hard because I saw so much potential in book one of Throne of Glass (I don’t remember the title now). But when she was still reveling in the same deeply flawed writing by halfway through book 3, I gave up. Which is weird, because I’m not that picky about my F&SF. I read a lot of stuff that even I classify as junk, but if I enjoy it, I don’t care. And yet whatever it was about Maas’ writing, I couldn’t get past it.
+1 for Eileen Wilks’ Lupi series. Great world-, character-, and relationship-building, despite 2 of the 4 main couples’ beginning as instant-recognition “fated mates”. I think she’d be better-known if her books were easier to categorize, but some are basically PNR, while others have hardly any active/onstage romancing. (I do, unfortunately, have to agree with seantheaussie, though, that the latest volumes — including one cliffhanger! — are not her best.)
Also +1 to Nalini Singh, both Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, though the Raphael of GH #1 is rather a b—d. He grows, and the only one of his Seven I’m iffy about even after their own book is Dimitri. (The still-in-progress series varies between Elena-&-Raphael centric stories and others’ romances, though there is overarching plot through all.)
I love the ‘Murder by Death’ blog on Booklikes. Lovely, thoughtful book reviews interspersed with some regular blogging from Down Under. Also: cats! 🙂
http://jenn.booklikes.com/
This one surprised me. I’ve read the rpg role playing ones before and usually their meh… but this one was interesting and written as an online serial that just keeps getting better… i stalk the twice weekly new chapters like i do your website. Volume 1 was good, but it gets better. I’m definitely invested! The world building and character development has gotten better. I like seeing an author grow into their writing!
https://wanderinginn.com/table-of-contents/
I love this, too! One of the main characters is a Mary Sue, but I still love her (and the whole series). Plus I can’t believe how much the author writes every week
I know you have read some historical romance and I have to suggest Elizabeth Hoyt and Julia Quinn. I lover their series and the banter amongst the characters. Shana Galen and Zoe Archer do historical as well, but have a bit of adventure thrown in. Meljean Brook and her Magic series is great and her stitchers series is a dystopian treasure!
Has Julia Quinn written anything else as funny as What Happens in London? The first 30% of that book is literally the funniest book I know and the rest has a nice blend of humour and romance. I know the 4 Bridgerton books I have tried are nowhere near WHiL in humour.
+1 to Meljean Brooke.
Ok, I just went looking for Meljean Brooks’ Magic series because I thought it was new, but I still only see the Iron Seas series and the Guardians series. Can you give me a title to look for?
JA Sutherland’s Alexis Carew series. Sailing ships in space. Really interesting physics of space travel setup, maybe needs some work on characters/plot but I enjoyed them.
I liked T.A White books this year. She writes paranormal/fantasy depending on which series you read. I enjoyed her Pathfinder book 1 the most. The female lead has brains and isnt afraid of using them.
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse was also interesting. I haven’t read many Native American fantasy writers before so it was fun and different read. Her book is set on a Native American reserve and brings interweaves a lot of Native American mythology into the book.
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. It’s listed for young Adults and I did enjoy the first book in the series when I was a teen but I didn’t appreciate the other books or read them until I was much older. I like the twist on necromancy and When I read about how the characters feel, I can emphathize with them easily. They are just good reading.
Another very fav author is Patricia Briggs and I don’t know which I like more the Mercy Thompson series or the Alpha and Omega series. They are both good. Kate and Curran remind me of Mercy and Adam. 🙂
Faith Hunter toss up between Jane Yellowrock series and Soulwood series. They are both part of the same universe. What got me reading them was a short story called Apple for Creature. If you’ve seen Faith’s fb all I can say is Beast is enough reason to read the books lol
+ 1 for ANYTHING by Patty Briggs (See the Books section on patriciabriggsDOTcom for quick series blurbs.)
+1 for Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock and the Soulwood spinoffs which I may like even better.
John Conroe- Zone war series
John Conroe- The Demon accords
The characters are wonderful and you grow to love them all as the stories progress.
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
I have always loved his books. All of them. But his new book was the best so far. It’s about a girl who wants to be a pilot and her AI ship. It takes place on a world similar to earth, but after the human race has gone out and explored the universe. The second book comes out in 2019.
And.
Thea Harrison just posted about her new book in the Elder Series. She posted a snippet on her blog about it. Awesome!
Oh!! And A.E. Kirk’s Divinicus Nex Series. Highly recommend. It’s funny and awesome. ??
Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra series is amazing. YA, but still very much readable by adults. I don’t see it suggested much, but those that have read the series tend to agree with me.
I’ve got to get caught up on the Elantra series! (But I may keep a notepad next to me for names, species, etc.)
I just finished The Slouch Witch the first book in The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic Series by Helen Harper. The main character Ivy reminds me a lot of Kate Daniels with all her snarkiness and bad attitude. The romance also had a slow burn just like Kate and Curran. It also has a Harry Potter feel to it with it’s own version of Ministry of Magic except magic isn’t hidden. I hope to read more about Ivy’s neighbor who thinks she’s a witch but isn’t : )
Anything by C.M. Owens. She has many series that cover all genres, and the characters and writing are always fresh and funny.
I also liked this year Pippa Grant. Her books are hilarious and her weekly email updates are wonderful.
If anyone else is into New adult romance books, Sara Ney is awesome! She also does live stuff on Facebook that makes me laugh!
+1000 love C.M. Owens! I love all of them but my favorite is the Wild Ones Series because I have to stop reading because I am laughing so hard!!
The Wild Ones are a very guilty pleasure of mine. Insane, unrealistic, and hilarious.
One series I can recommend – currently 3 novels and 3 novellas. Kaylid Chronicles by Mel Todd. Full disclosure – I do know the author. But I LOVE the books.
Without giving anything away it’s set in current day – when all of a sudden people (about 2% of the population world-wide) spontaneously start turning into animals. The story follows the main character (McKenna – a police officer) with a little lead in to each chapter about what is going on in the media and and world as everyone deals with this.
The novellas follow peripheral characters and what is happening to them while the main novels follow McKenna.
Link to series on Amazon – available in Kindle & paperback: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LG8DTKR/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
Question: One review on Amazon says something about repeated rapes. Is that correct, and if so, how is it handled?
Sorry I didn’t realize someone had left a comment – and an important one!
While for some it could be a trigger, it’s not a brutal beat down. It was not consensual (and not overly detailed) – a man trying to minimize a strong woman. It was important to the story, both to the main character as well as one of the secondary characters.
La Passe-miroir by Christelle Dabos (Les fiancés de l’hiver series).
The first book is available in English : A Winter’s Promise: Book One of The Mirror Visitor Quartet.
I do not know how to describe it, the atmosphere of this book is really different from all the books I read this year.
Audiobooks:
1. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, read by the Author himself
An accessible piece for people who want to understand science in their science fiction more. It feels like holding a purring cat. And what made me read that is #2.
2. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, narrated by Peter Brooke
The opening line is: “The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.”
There’s some fiction in that science, but it feels like the humanity is on the verge of getting there. We’ve got characters that resemble Neil deGrase Tyson, Nancy Pelosi/Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos. Pure fun. The Expanse series made me read it, but it’s not #3.
3. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, narrated by Celeste Ciulla
An A.I. is a protagonist here, it’s all set in outside the Sol system, in a distantpolitical Not sciency at all. A political drama with bursts of action, but it all felt somehow intimate, and personal. Superb writing.
Edit:
Some phone fuckery has occured.
in a distantpolitical = in a distant future.
I will now be using the phrase “phone fuckery” from now on!!!
Thank you!
Perfect!? I can hardly wait to tell my online group this one?? so appropriate for all too common autocorrect.
Seveneves was amazing. My only dislike was that it should have been a two book series, rather than cramming it all into one. He definitely did not skim on technical details or imagery.
The award-winning and amazing but sometimes eerie Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King and Silver on the Tree)
Teenage protagonists fight for the Light against the rising Dark in the midst of Arthurian legends, Celtic and Norse folklore with the aid of Merlin, in ancient forest, and Welsh mountains. The chant or spell song still gives me goosebumps, 30 odd years later,
‘When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back
Three from the circle, three from the track
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone
Five will return and one go alone.”
Wikipedia actually does a good overview!
There are two good series by Elizabeth Peters, the first about commanding and eccentric Egyptologist Amelia Peabody who investigates murder and mayham with the aid of a sturdy umbrella and dauntless courage and determination. The second focuses on Vicky Bliss, a museum curator who solves cases of art theft, fraud and mystery. They are a glorious romp across the world with the dastardly romantic ant-hero, the great art thief Sir John Smythe, often in the wings
+1 on Susan Cooper “The Dark Is Rising”. Have always liked that series.
You might like Helen Dunmore “Ingo” series. YA but well written.
+1 on Susan Cooper’s series. It’s a classic. I only read the first as a kid, because I didn’t realize there were more; the rest I read as an adult.
– Jana De Leon, Miss Fortune Mystery Series. 13 Books so far, about an undercover CIA assassin in a Lousiana village. Sassy heroine, cool sidekicks, lots of fun and action!
– K.M. Shea, Vampires Drink Tomato Juice, Goblins Wear Suits, The Lost Files of the M. B. R. C., the series is a bit YA because the heroine is still in highschool but the charactees are so well chosen and the situations she and her friends get into are hilariously weird.
– Lia Patterson, Bride to the Sun; Elephant Thief. Both books have great world building and intense characters!
This list of new authors to try is a great Christmas gift!
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes is a fun new author I’ve fallen into. A combo of Peter S. Beagle, Scott Lynch, and Douglas Adams writing styles. Hilarious. People of color kicking ass. A horny unicorn. So much fun.
I really like Penny Reids work. Not pnr/uf but a smart girls romance novel. She skips the normal stupid problem the couple has that could just be resolved if they had an honest chat.
Smart Bitches Trashy Books is a fun blog that reviews and recommends romance (and other) novels. They have book listings by genre/type so if you’re in the mood for a pnr with a beta male you can look up their recommendations. https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/
I loved Penny Reid’s earlier works, I dnf the last Winston Brothers, and wasn’t crazy about the last 2 knitting in the city books. Hope she gets back on track.
I second the rec for Smart Bitches. My favorite part is the HABO (Help a Bitch Out), where people write in with tantalizing remnants of mostly forgotten books they’ve been trying to track down. It’s amazing how frequently one of the Bitchery is able to identify the lost book. Sometimes I get great ideas for other books that turn out not to be the HABO but have similar theme or details.
+1 to The Palace Job. I think I bought the sequels, but they must have gotten buried in my ridiculously huge TBR queue; I’ll have to dig them out!
If I may add one other series that has been compared to Scott Lynch, try Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress. I love anything by Rachel Aaron/ Rachel Bach (her SF nom-de-plume).
Michael Anderle’s Kurtherian Gambit
Epic is a very good description of this series. It is fairly well written with characters that are well thought out and a plot that carries the reader through to three end of every book. I recommend it highly.
I was in a small, local, bookstore last month and the bookseller handed me a book. Her face just lit up and she said “you HAVE to read this book.” The book is “The Enchanted” by Rene Denfeld and it’s set on death row and has that magical realism of “Green Mile”. But more importantly it has some of the most beautiful writing I’ve come across in a long time. This sentence is a perfect example: “The look in her eyes is of a person who drank from the end of a gun barrel and found it delicious.” OMG. So good! It’s from 2014 – hope you’re good with book published a few years back.
I like Nalini Singh, just read Silver Silence which was really funny 2 characters that have total opposite everything, one open male bear clan, one closed female raised in
Silence. And she gets poisoned rescued by bear and has to hide out in bear clan . It’s one of my favorites from her.
I also loved Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep, sort of Ya, it has main character , orphan of course, whose magic is smell. So she is working in the kitchen.
Her sense saves her,she goes on the run and ends up with a gladiator troop.
Gets in troop by baking.
Then she learns fighting w swords, daggers etc.
it’s really good, shades of Gsme of Thrones with baking and dancing and magic. And Jennifer Estep makes it work. And I want to read the next book.
Someone mentioned Michelle Sagara’s Elantra series. I can also recommend her series written as Michelle West (her married name) starting with Hunter’s Oath, and continuing for 13 more books, with two more scheduled for next year.
I came late to The Others series by Anne Bishop — WHOA, I tore through them and LOVED them.
Trail of Lightening by Rebecca Roanhorse was a fresh of breath air for me as it tore my heart out and stomped on it — in a good way 😀
Just finished up Rattlesnake Wind by Lilith Saintcrow. I am an admitted fan of most anything that Lilith writes so I might be biased. That being said, this one was beautifully told in heart-wrenching detail. Forewarning that it involves the psychological damage that abuse can cause in an individual and how that individual interacts with the world.
fresh of breath air = breath of fresh air
good gods I need more coffee
+1 for Trail of Lightning
Book: Three Mages and a margarita
Author: Annette Marie
Comment: Urban fantasy book . The serie is “The guild codex: Spellbound”. While reading the story it felt like a written manga ( the newcoming mangas about guilds and powers).
Book: Becoming a Vincent
Author: C.M. Owens
Comment: Contemporary? Romance. So lively and somehow different, they are all crazily lovely. No more magic than the one that makes you be huck up on it. Light reading.
Book: Red rising
Author: Pierce Brown.
Comment: Male leaded distopy on a scify world. It brings up the fight for social equality. Very beautifully, the book shows concepts that other books fail to do.
+1 for Becoming a Vincent it was hilarious but I hope you have read Wild One the newest one because that one made me cry laugh so much!
Hi Natasha, I did and loved it! But I just recommended the first one because if they like it, they will go for seconds on their own.
Meghan Ciana Doidge – all of her books in the Adept universe – Jade, Rochelle and Wisteria all kick butt. And of course there is chocolate and cupcakes. ??? dragons, vampires, witches, werewolves.
Absolutely one of my favorite series! The spin-offs are awesome too!
Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and his witcher Geralt, translated into English. There is also a game based on the book. Strong characters, good worldbuilding. I do not know the game, but books are really good.
I’ve been digging into more memoir and travel/journey books this year. I would recommend Blue Highways by Williams Least Heat-Moon for it’s gorgeous language. He really describes things beautifully. It was published in 1982, and I found the contrast between then and America today to be interesting. I also found The Push by Tommy Caldwell to be a real page turner. It was a very intimate look into an extraordinary life with an impossible goal to tie everything together.
I read River Horse by Least Heat-Moon. I learned new words from him, something that very rarely happens. I highly recommend the book. He attempted to travel coast to coast on rivers and streams, on a custom boat. It’s a great read.
Perhaps it’s because it’s fresh on my mind (I picked it up on sale for Kindle after it had been on my wishlist for awhile), but I really enjoyed Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor. The protagonist and her friends are younger than I normally read, but the writing is so engaging, so immersive, that I found that did not matter for me. The book doesn’t talk down to its target audience either, it meets them as they are. Great story about a young woman discovering her own magic, set in Nigeria, with African magic and lore.
Yes, really liked that one too
+1 Just neat to be in that world. There is a sequel as well.
I read Binti and really enjoyed it. I’ll try Akata Witch. Thanks.
I devoured Binti after my son read it. He loves Akata Witch as well. But I haven’t read it yet.
I had a little trouble at the beginning with her other novel He who Fears Death but in the end I couldn’t put it down really loved it.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a Japanese dark fantasy shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Kore Yamazaki. I’m in love with the story and I have shared it with so many of my friends. Also Written in red by Anne Bishop! Her take on Others (i.e. vampire, shifters, elementals.) Is so unique. Fall in love with the main character as she learns how to live with them.
+1 Love it for the art but the twists on folklore are fun too.
+1 on Written in Red!
Christopher G. Nuttall’s Schooled in Magic series. I’m amazed to see a grown man write in the voice of a teenage girl.
#1. Storm Born (Dark swan quartet) by Richelle mead – paranormal romance. First of all I’m from Arizona and so is the heroine. The author does an amazing job capturing the atmosphere and energy of the desert, and that alone was a treat for me. Plus the series does a really cool love triangle/ duel world’s thing.
#2. Dead Witch Walking (The hollows series) by Kim Harrison – urban fantasy. The main character is a witch who also happens to be a cop/ bounty hunter she has a pixy as a side kick ( who may be my favorite character) warning the series is a little long but it has unique an interesting story line. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
# 3. A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles trilogy) by Amanda Bouchet – its a fantasy romance. The heroine cat is hilarious and it’s fun to watch her and the antagonist fight falling in love.
A Promise Fire started so well for me, easily 5 stars (reread list), but the Mary Sueness of the character and a lull in the action led to DNF. A huge and disappointing swing 🙁
I have just finished the 2nd audiobook in the Mary Russell series. They are an older “retired” Sherlock Holmes and his protege Mary Russell. I have been listening to them at the gym in the morning. They are witty, smart, complex and the reader does a great job without going over the top. The best part is that there are 12 book total so I will be happy for a long while:)
I also have to say how much I adore Sarah MacLean’s books. I don’t read very much straight romance because I find them so repetative. Her writing style make the character’s feel so real and I love the slightly broken aspect of her characters lives.
Second the recommendation for the Russell/Holmes series by Laurie R. King. They are mysteries, of course; first book is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.
As you go along in the series the settings include quite a few different cultures and countries. They’re not SF/F but still alien in some ways, even when they stay in England or visit the States, since they’re set in the early part of the 20th century.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m in a book lull at the moment so a new kind of read will be awesome.
Elicia Hyder’s Soul Summoner series is so fun to read! It’s paranormal. There’s mystery and romance. But what made it stand apart were the funny, absolutely lovable characters and fast pace. It’s an ongoing series and I will preorder anything new (like I do with you guys). And she just released a surprise free book as a thank you/holiday gift.
Deborah Harkness- The All Souls Trilogy. It has a strong heroine, paranormal, and time travel. It is a fantastic trilogy.
Marc Levy- (A popular French author so the books are translated -and translated very well, I have to add). I just finished reading The Last of the Stanfields and enjoyed the twists and turns. It is fiction with light romance and a bit of a thriller. He does have other books with paranormal, but mostly they are all well-writte, engaging stories. Check them out!
Kate Canterbury- The Walsh Brothers and The Walsh Sisters is the series you might find when googling the author; however, the series is newly released as two separate box sets so I would recommend reading them in order rather than just the brothers’ stories or the sisters’ stories. (Fair warning, these are on the racy side of romance, but oh so well-written, about a family of four brothers and two kick-ass sisters). I absolutely love the interaction the siblings have and how the author deals with family issues. Every time she released a new book, I would re-read the others 🙂
Canterbary*
+1 on Deborah Harkness. She just released a new book, _Time’s Convert_, in the same world. Also pretty great. Harkness is a historian by trade and it really shows in her writing. There is a TV series in the works (in the UK but there are some episodes online in the US) of the All Souls trilogy but I haven’t seen them yet. I was a little put off by the trailer where Diana came off as kinda whiny.
A friend recommended the book „The Three-Body Problem“ by chinese author Liu Cixin. Since I will start it next year I only copy the text from the Books back:
[…]Beijing police ask nanotech engineer Wang Miao to infiltrate a secretive cabal of scientists after a spate of inexplicable suicides.
Wang’s investigation will lead him to a mysterious online game and immerse him in a virtual world ruled by the intractable and unpredictable interaction of its three suns.
This is the Three-Body Problem and it is the key to everything: the key to the scientists’ deaths, the key to a conspiracy that spans light-years and the key to the extinction-level threat humanity now faces.
I found two interesting sci-fy series in the same universe by Mackey Chandler, The Family Law and April series. Cronologically the April series is first, though I started with Family Law. I found the sci-fy elements quite interesting (as a physicist), and the story is interesting in both series.
I like the April series better then I read the family law one. There was a scene in there with an adult male (bodyguard) perving on the heroine and her cousin, both of whom were naked on the beach shooting at targets. Both girls were under 15. This put me off his books.
The Deathworlder blog series by Philip Richard Johnson (AKA Hambone, Hambone3110 and HamboneHFY). This isn’t a physically published series, but rather several short stories that gained a following on reddit/r/HFY and grew into a huge 50 chapter story arc that is still growing. It can be found here: https://deathworlders.com
The main premise is that the majority of the galaxy’s intelligent life have evolved on low gravity, stable, and temperate worlds. These worlds are so “nice” and frequent that the prevailing belief (among the aliens) is that sentience can only develop from these nurturing cradles. Planets that have extreme gravity, volcanic activity, or temperature extremes are thought to only produce animalistic savages if they produce anything at all. These worlds are called “Deathworlds”, and Earth just so happens to be one of the harshest deathworlds the galaxy has ever discovered.
The story centers around how humanity and the rest of the galaxy interact with each other and the consequences to alien understanding of life due to human existence, and the underlying darkness in the galaxy that humanity reveals. The first few chapters are a little slow and the main character is very cynical about the human race, but I keep coming back to work my way through the story.
Here is a short snippet from the synopsis: ” As an ancient and malicious threat slowly turns its attention towards this anomaly [intelligent deathworlders], how will the human race be changed by the revelation that the alien life forms we have long dreamed of meeting are vastly inferior to us in every way?
And how will interstellar society react when an ordinary bartender from Texas can tear the worst monsters in the galaxy limb from limb?”
Seasons of Sorcery, an anthology from Grace Draven, Jennifer Estep, Jeffe Kennedy and Amanda Bouchet. These are all very fine writers of Fantasy and Urban Fantasy. It is a good eay to find new to you writers as well. Anne Bishop’s Others series is a very creative and new take on UF.
This year was incredibly stressful starting with layoffs (I was one of the survivors) and then the death of my step-daughter. Books that made me laugh were necessary this year. I discovered R. J. Blain’s Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series; Justin Gustainis’s An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series and Drew Hayes’s Fred the Vampire Accountant series. I’m ready for this year to be over!
A Lee Martinez has some good funny books. Urban Fantasy mixed with some heavy sci-fi. My favourite is “Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Trip”. Troy is the most popular boy in school, perfect at everything, while Helen is a vegetarian Minotaur girl working in a hamburger place. Her elf boss tries to summon his God with Helen as the sacrifice, but the God eats his high priest by mistake. Then… Anyway it is a very entertaining read.
Thanks! I’ll look into it
Drew Hayes, Superpowereds.
Love the superhero world and the characters in it. But don’t forget Fred, the Vampire accountant, another of his series. Where SP is more epic like (also in length), Fred is quirky .
Another favorite is by Anne Bishop, The Others. Start with the original series, she also has other novels in the same world.
I LOVED Super Powereds!!! Amazing series and I was so sad to see it end.
The Others is one of my favorites too. The world building and the characters that really showed the „otherness“… wow. And I am with you, one should totally start with „Written in Red“.
I adore Fred. It is the most soothing urban fantasy I know of.
Lake Silence by Anne Bishop.
Anne Bidhop is one of my top authors currently. I like all of her series, but I particularly live The Others series. Humans are not at the top of the food chain. This series puts vampires and werewolves in an entirely new viewpoint.
Lake Silence is in the world but doesn’t take place in Lakeside with Meg and Simon. Those five books should be read first before reading Lake Silence.
All I can tell you since the book came out early this year, is that I have read it five or six times.
Take a chance on this series and then discover all of the books by Anne Bishop.
+1
I like this series and author very much also!
Abigail Padgett wrote an engaging ?paranormal? book with a sixtyish protagonist who becomes aware of a secret world where others who have matured past child rearing (?) combine forces to fight bad things in the world.
Now that doesn’t sound that good as I write this, but..that’s why I read. Reading is my forte not writing…LOL.
The Paper Doll Museum (Taylor Blake Magical Mystery Book One) by Abigail Padgett is truly a fun read. I am still waiting for book 2, but she has written other mysteries as well. I’ve read it several times, I like it so much, just like my Ilona Andrews books.
Hailey Edwards is a fan of yours. She writes a great series about a necromancer. The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy.
I like her series that starts with Bayou Born even more
I have read all her work to date, too. I like the Necromancy series the best because of Woolly.
One more that I should include because my entire family is hooked on her series as she appeals to both genders and her research is impeccable.
Estelle Ryan- The Gauguin Connection is the first book in the series and often free (that is how I got hooked good and well)
If you like art, classical music, spy technology, art forgery, suspense, and non-typical protagonists, do check out this series.
Her website is out of this world and she shares the art and
music referenced in every book. I have learned quite a bit about art reading her books and live listening to the music.
http://www.estelleryan.com/index.html
+1. I love that the heroine is not neuro typical.
Yes, and I love that there is overall character growth as the series progresses. They are the same group, with a new member added here and there, but their behaviors evolve. The author has definitely captured my devotion ☺️
Darkly Sweet by Julianne Wicker. It’s NA( a genre I normally steer clear of). It’s weird which makes it good. I thought this was a very unique take on witches and mages.
Uncommon Enemies by Fiona Quinn. This is a romantic suspense series, also unique in that the heroines never act out of character to drive the plot. I hate when authors do that. Her Lynx books are also really good, very original villians and the heroine is a psychic.
Up with the crows by Zoe Parker. This is UF. Anything by her really, I like her voice.
The Taellenath by Vanessa Nelson. It’s four books in, a UF novel with a half elf. I know it’s been done to death but the author does something new.
Sunny with a chance of monsters by Sara King. This is UF/dystopian and its funny.
Rise of the Iliri by Auryn Hadley. Book 8 came out this year. This is sci fi. I really like her voice and that the heroine and heroes aren’t human or orcs, elves, demons, blue aliens, angels, shapeshifters, witches etc
A study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas. I know it’s another Sherlock book but it’s really good.
The Captive King by Susan Copperfield. This PNR or UF. Its not book one in the series but it’s my favourite one, the detailed descriptions of Mayan culture and the applications of the heroine’s talent were really interesting.
Sorry, those were more than three. Got carried away.
Agree about the Darkly Sweet series. It is a unique take on witches and mages – the first book was free on Kindle, and it roped me into buying the whole series.
Faith Hunters Jane Yellowrock series I thought it was the end but we get a couple more of Jane.
This is a good series which eventually wore me out a little in the last couple of books. I may come back to it in a few years. There is a spinoff series which has its merits, but one of the main characters has a verbal tic that gets on my last nerve.
Same her regarding getting worn out with Jane. However, I revived my interest and finished the last two. Now, I can hardly wait for the next one.
Her spin-off has one of the characters from the main series and I happen to dislike this character enough to not indulge… I know, it is funny this grudge of mine ?
That character get a good wallop of Karma in the spin of, just in case you did want to read it.
The Nell books that are a JY spinoff are good too.
The Belisarius series by David Drake and Eric Flint (6 books). The first book is the Oblique Approach. The first book was written in 1998 and I did not find it until about 5 or 6 years ago. I read it and then immediately reread – if I am waiting for new material from favorite authors I reread it again. Its an alternative universe set in 500 AD timeframe in Constantinople and India. Future humans do not like the way the world has evolved so they send a creature back to this period to make changes in the Roman Empire which is where they figure life went wrong. Opposing them is Belisarius (who is considered to this day to have been one of the best generals ever) and his own contact from the future. Military science fiction but the human relationships that develop and the exploration of that period are incredibly engrossing. I have just started another reread of it while waiting for new material to devour.
The Belisarius series is great. You might want to try the SF Empire of Man series by David Weber, which is just as great and The General series by SM Stirling which is Belisarius on another world but not as good as the other 2.
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Poppy war by R F .Kuang
Also Red winter series by Annette Marie. The last two are young adult, but I really enjoyed them.
I really liked Circe.
+1 for Poppy War and Circe
I saw someone had recommended The Three Body Problem which I read when it was nominated for a Hugo. However, The Goblin Emperor, also nominated that year was a better book, IMHO, which captivated me. It’s written by Katherine Addison, which is a psuedonym for Sarah Monette. Monette also wrote the Iskryne trilogy with Elizabeth Bear, which is an enjoyable read.
Currently I’m really into Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, beginning with Rosemary & Rue. Toby Daye, the main character, is a changling daughter of a Fae woman and human father who is a kick-ass heroine. I started the October Daye series after I had read all of the Incryptid series which has more romance but still has kick-ass women heroines.
I hate reading slumps! ?
Sarah Monette wrote another series on her own which is very good. The Virtu is the first book, and the rest of the series won’t make much sense unless you read it first. It also has some pretty graphic content but not to the level of the Iskryne trilogy as described to me.
Love Seanan McGuire!
October Daye is one of my all time favorites (one has to love the fae world and the coolest Sea Witch ever). And I‘m awed that the series is at book 12, not finished yet and still going strong. And did I say how awesome the Sea Witch is?
Besides, Seanan McGuire writes a lot of incredibly inventive fantasy.
Love The Goblin Emperor!
(Also fond of October Daye…)
The Goblin Emperor is one of my favorite winter reads. I wish she’d write a sequel. It’s a nearly perfect book.
I really enjoyed the October Daye series. There are some great characters in it.
+1 each for Toby Daye and InCryptid
I have a friend who is a writer, I love her stuff. https://tiffanycrystalauthor.com/2017/03/24/say-no-to-zombies-day-1/
She has a fantastic abilityKr to capture the reader and make you want to delve into the worlds she creates. Much like Illona (love you guys!), Anne Bishop, and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I really really loved “Jane Doe”. I had never read the author before and the book was practically free so I decided to give it a go. Incredible book, I absolutely loved it. Now, I look for new books by Victoria Stone.
“We fed an island” by Chef Jose Andres. I had heard of him on twitter, started following him, and just fell in love with his movement. He just cuts right thru the government bullish*t and feeds people in disaster areas.
Jane Doe messed with my head. (Not, I think, in the way intended?)
The Chronicles of St Mary’s by Jodi Taylor, about a mad-cap bunch of historians who carry out historical research in real time (which they repeatedly remind you is NOT time travel). There are eight books and an anthology of short stories, with a new short story released on Christmas Day. Immensely funny, with well drawn characters that you really get invested in 🙂
The author’s blog is good too. She is an amazing storyteller, with a real gift for words.
I love those books ridiculously and re-read them on a regular basis. I didn’t know about her blog! I know what I’ll be doing this evening. Thanks!
Yes, I love all of Jodi’s books, Don’t miss A Bachelor Establishment under pen name Isabella Barclay
+1
If you haven’t read John Conroe’s Demon Accords, I recommend it highly. Really good world building, leading characters with strong ethics, unexpected turns, the writing improves as the series progresses.
As with any author’s work there are things that bothered me. I love the narrator’s voice and his ability to clearly represent each character but the occasional mispronunciation or reading that was incorrect was irritating. He’s so good everywhere else this is a minor thing. As to the author, the use of “or so” when a generalizing verb has already been set is *really* irritating. If he eschewed the use of “or so” forever more I’d be perfectly happy.
The cast of characters is excellent, they all stay in character, no convenient miracles occur . . . all in all, an excellent series.
A series which was a guilty pleasure for me until College Arcane when it became unashamedly great. The answer for, “male MC with romance?” The compendium short stories this year were great with 7 out of 8 getting 5 stars from me.
Nori,
It’s interesting how much more we “read” when listening to audio books. Stuff like ” or so” or repetition of “he/she said” can really stand out. One narrator said “estimated” for Est instead of established. Most of the time the narrator does a great job and sucks you in. I found a narrator I really like but the author made the heroines a dimwit, so I had to give up listening to her.
Pretty much anything by Rebecca Yarros. I read her Flight and Glory series several years ago and adored it. It’s college age series about military love and loss. It’s incredible. Each character is strong on their own, battling their own demons and fears. But the friendship and love throughout the series, along with the depth of emotion is incredible. I reread the series this year, having rediscovered them and they destroyed me all over again. As the author herself is married to an Apache pilot and been through 5 deployments and all the moves that go with it, it lends a lot of weight and reality to that side of things too which is a bonus.
I also really enjoyed her Renegades series about a group of daredevil extreme sport enthusiasts. Again, romance done very well. Admittedly I didn’t really enjoy the second book in this series, as I honestly didn’t think the two characters were any good for each other. But the third book was amazing and far and away my favourite of the 3.
You can find more about her work, and her, here: http://www.rebeccayarros.com
For straight (although very funny in spots) sci-fi, John Scalzi. He has an excellent blog too, but I don’t recall the name. I like his Old Man’s War series best, and he also had standalones which are great (The Android’s Dream and Agent To The Stars are favorites) and a new series starting with Lock In.
For fantastical police procedurals that are truly fantastic, commonly described as “Harry Potter meets CSI”, Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series (start with the first, Midnight Riot; I don’t always do that in a series, but it’s important with this one because it sets up an arc that runs through all of the books to date). He wrote for Dr. Who, and there are graphic novels too.
For sci-fi with fantastical elements, Wen Spencer’s Elfhome series starting with Tinker. I started with the second book, Wolf Who Rules, and was fine with it. If you want a standalone from her I recommend Endless Blue to start. Excellent book, in which the Russians are the good guys btw. She has a lot of books and also another series, which are good as well (some more so than others IMO) if you want to continue reading her.
Waiting for the next one in her Tinker series. Did you ever read ‘A Brother’s Price’
I did. A Brother’s Price is one of the ones I was thinking of when I said some more so than others. For me, it’s one of the others. It’s kind of a thought experiment, so it’s interesting and I do recommend it, but it’s not one I’ll go back to again and again like the Tinker books or Endless Blue.
I’m waiting on the next one in the Tinker series too!
Midnight Riot sounds good! Getting a sample from amazon now.
You will not be disappointed, I promise. I gave it to my brother and his whole family has now read it and are on to the rest of the series.
+ 1. I loved the Elfhome series.
+1 for Rivers of London
Tinker, Wolf Who Rules, and Elfhome are one long narrative. Wood Sprites seems like a whole different story until you’ve gotten a ways into it. The story is getting wider and more complex. Project Elfhome is actually a collection of novellas, stories, and what she calls “drabble” if I remember the term correctly. Drabble is basically literary doodles on the margins of her stories.
(Please do not skip book 5. It fleshes out what else was going on while Tinker was busy elsewhere. “Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden” alone is worth the price. You will love the characters and Elfhome is more interesting than you would believe!)
http://www.tawhiteauthor.com/blog.html
T A White – she’s got several series going. I personally like the Aileen Travers novels, it’s urban fantasy but more focused on the action and the “Why the devil is this happening?!” than “Who will she date?!?!” There is attraction and romance but Aileen is focused on not losing herself in the midst of all that happens to her, her family, and her friends.
She’s also got another Dragon series and Pathfinder’s Way, which completed this year. I like her writing and can easily escape in her books. The books are all told from the female perspective yet that doesn’t detract. All the characters have growth, which is appreciated. At no point do I think “Wow… too stupid to live.” The world building is great with Aileen’s books but not so good in Dragon or Pathfinder, at least for me. It was described as a world that has split away or sundered and the descriptions sort of got very confusing.
Aileen Travers made it into my urban fantasy top five, because Aileen, the Afghanistan veteran that is shoved into the supernatural world, is a courageous person, mostly underpowered and still manages to believably survive the things that are thrown at her. The series just gets better with each book (and the fact that there is no insta love, yay!)
And I just finished „Wayfarer‘s Keep“, the last of the „Pathfinder“ fantasy series and liked it a lot.
+ 1 especially the Aileen Travers books
Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. So much fun and great characters. It’s the first book of the SF Korval/Liaden series. My all time favorite SF book.
Thank you; many people have recommended that series to me, and I’d never gotten around to figuring out what the first book was. Now I know and can find it!
This might help you, too: https://sharonleewriter.com/correct-reading-order/
I’ve read them all, including the short stories, and while you definitely don’t need to read them ALL in order, it definitely helps to know which books are connected.
Thank you so much! That will definitely help.
I love the Liaden Universe. I’d forgotten about that reading order page; it’s a good one to share w/recs, so thanks.
N.b., Sharon Lee on her own also has a great mythopoeaic UF series taking place in fictional “Archer’s Beach”, the Carousel trilogy.
YES! Seconded!
Saga by Brian K Vaughan. Loved his Y the last man and Saga has been a fun crazy read!
I also discovered Bec McMaster and have devoured everything she’s ever written! The Nora Roberts Year One trilogy was so out of her norm and so so welcomed!
Terry Pratchett. The Hogfather is a timely read (the Discworld version of Santa). You can’t go wrong with his books and there are so many to choose from.
Corpies by Drew Hayes, the spin off from Superpowereds.
Thea Harrison. Fantasy / mythical characters in modern day USA. Romance stories.
So right about Terry Pratchett! I’m partial to Wyrd Sisters myself.
Have reread the series several times over the years. Love Granny Weatherwax!
From the village of Bad Ass…
+1 to most anything by the late, lamented Sir Terry Pratchett (though the recent collections of his short juvenilia are more meh).
+1 to Thea Harrison’s Elder Races PNRs.
When I’m not doing homework and writing tons of papers, I am always at war internally between reading and knitting lol, wish I could do both at the same time ?. Here are my books that I recommend:
1) The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker. This book had me at the edge of my seat and is so very interesting. This is probably due to my degrees in psychology, criminal justice, and cyber security lol. This book has a sequel as well which is what I’m reading now (The Fifth to Die).
2) The Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz. This is the only series or books that I have ever read by this author and I love it! All of it is so very realistic and probably could happen and it is intriguing to think about.
3) The Gretal series by Christopher Coleman. I love dark scary creepy books and this delivers for sure!
Sorry, thought my picture would just show next to my name lol oops
I love this thread! I’m going to have to work my way through it really slowly, because there are so many books new to me. But I’m going to put in my own rec for Andrea K. Host (and I should put the double dots over the O in Host, but I have no idea how to do that.) I love everything she’s written, because she’s a really fantastic world-builder. I wish she’d spend more time (read: write more books) in each of her worlds, but each new world is more interesting than the next. Her latest is about a virtual reality game and I’m not going to spoil it at all, but it was fascinating.
I love her books too, and I was going to recommend her. They leave me with things to think about, especially the most recent one.
I have also enjoyed [REDACTED] YA series by [REDACTED]. Her world building and character development are well done. I like the way she focuses on the team and not simply the main male and female lead characters, and her writing is clean. There are three books in the series presently. I think the first is free, and she is working on the fourth.
The Servants of Fate Series by Sarah Fine – Marked, Claimed & Fated as well as the stand-alone UnCanny.
Alex verus. Edgy urban fantasy
Threadbear. Teddybear adventurer protecting his girl. Videogame references and ubercute
And anorher Agent of Change vote.
+1 to Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus. There are some Dresden-Files-ish tropes, but it goes in very much its own direction.
Loved Sin and Chocolate, the kids were so funny and brave.
Try these two authors of detective books, James Lee Burke and Tony Hillerman. Hillerman’s novels are set on the Navaho Reservation where Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn solve crimes committed on tribal land. Burke’s detective is Cajun, ex-military, and saddled with a host of personal issues. David Robicheaux solves crimes committed in southern Louisiana. Both authors have had books made into movies and won numerous awards for their writing. You can get them at your library so they are an inexpensive way to spend your time while waiting for the next Innkeeper.
Yes to both. They are great. Tony Hillerman also wrote a memoir, Seldom Disappointed, which is truly fascinating. He grew up in Indian country and served in World War II, then became a journalist. There is a collection of his nonfiction work, The Great Taos Train Robbery and other stories, also fascinating.
James Lee Burke really ought to be taught in schools. He’s just that good, far transcending genre.
Saving Askara by JM Link is a book by a new author I can’t seem to get out of my head. The Cast series by Michelle Sagara is awesome. The Others series by Anne Bishop was great and the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter too.
Anything by Michelle Sagara/West who also writes a fabulous umpteen book series about a world that is Amazing!
There are TWO!! new books coming in 2019.
I loved Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw, beautiful prose, well developed charterers and world building, and profound subject matter. I am becoming impatient for book #2 in the series (its been 3 years).
Putting the Fun in Funeral by Diana Pharaoh Francis: I’m a sucker for books with dogs (missing Grendel), the characters were funny and the friendships were true.
Suzanne Wright’s The Dark in You Series, great urban fantasy featuring likeable demons, fun world building and Lucifer as an OCD crazy (loved when he complained that OCD wasn’t even alphabetical)
Nathan Lowell’s Tanyth Fairport Adventures.it’s about an older woman wanderer traveling to a ‘wise woman’ in a remote location. She has been studying Wiccan type lore for years and the wise woman is supposed to have answers about some new ‘skills‘ that Tanyth developed with the onset of menopause. Tanyth is not trying to save the world, get revenge, or overthrow a government just live her life.
One reviewer characterized Lowell as the master of the small story. He makes you care about all the characters and their lives. Enough action to move the story but also breathing room to learn about the people.
His Solar Clipper ‘Share’ books are also excellent up to Owners share. Lowell threw a gut punch plot twist in that one which soured me on the series.
I am supposed to be baking cookies ? instead of reading. Back to work for me. Thanks for all the suggestions ??
+1.
I keep reading Glynn Stewart. His sci-fi can have some serious secondary character abandonment issues but he seems to be getting better with years (he still kills them off quite regularly with no though or mention afterward and that drives me mad). I particularly enjoy the Duchy of Terra books (the second trilogy started just a month ago). But the Ship’s Mage universe is engaging as well. Very easy to read and re-read.
Murderbot Diaries by Nora Roberts are weird. But great. But weird. But really really great! I tend to live the non-human perspective.
And the Path of the Ancestor books by Mark Lawrence really made me feel for the main character. (To be perfectly honest the first books flashbacks were a bit disruptive and the addition of other POVs in the second book broke the pacing from time to time but the world building and character development are great.)
I think the Murderbot Diaries series is by Martha Wells? https://www.marthawells.com/about.htm
I also really enjoyed the Murderbot series. The viewpoint is fresh and Murderbot was pretty hilarious. She’d be a neet if she could only bring herself to care less. I borrowed the books from my digital library as the last three (big publisher) books were more along the lines of a pricey serial release.
Ok. That was clearly a mind fart by me. I have no idea why I wrote the wrong name. My bad. That I for the correction!
And now I’ve written “that I” instead of “thank you” it’s 4am where I am at the moment and it is clearly not helping.
I really like the author k.m. Shea… she runs a fun blog too, where she does give-aways and shares information about her books. This summer she did a summer reading program for adults that was cool. All of her stuff is good, but my favorite is the books written under her pseudonym A.M. Sohma. They are LitRPG , poke gentle fun at video game tropes, and I adore the whole series beyond reason or sense. Highly recommend.
Julie Anne Long’s Pennyroyal Green series is very good. (Regency romance) Her characters have an amazing rapport. You actually like and understand their motivations, and admire them for their determination and honor and understanding of human nature. The books are humorous too, which is a huge bonus!
I also love the writing of Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Um, I’m assuming no one has mentioned Patricia Briggs because she’s amazing and huge and her Mercy Thompson series is a given?
Probably. I love the Mercy Thompson stories, but I was a big fan of Brigg’s already from her Hurog series as well as her other pre-Mercy stories.
IIRC they already know PB personally.
Seanan McGuire‘s „October Day“, T.A. White‘s „Aileen Travers“ and Anne Bishop‘s „The Others“ were already mentioned.
So I‘m adding the „Cainsville“ series by Kelley Armstrong, a great „magic realism meets the classic fae in Chicago“ series, Jennifer Estep‘s „Elemental Assassin“ series about the supernatural assassin „The Spider“, who does have a good heart, loves to cook in her barbecue restaurant and kills whoever asked for it, and a beloved classic, „The Deed of Paksenarrion“ by Elizabeth Moon. Paks is such an unassuming, likable character, who lives through a hard and adventurous „hero‘s journey“. The book stayed with me a long time.
Oh that reminds me of „Red Sister“ and „Grey Sister“ by Mark Lawrence, his „Book of the Ancestor“ series in a world that is freezing because of its dying sun. You actually feel the cold, the harsh world. And then there is Nona, the feral little girl with talent for killing. I knew I would love the book when I read the first two sentences: „It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Covenant, Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.“
I could go on and on, I have read a lot more great books. But, well, let’s not overdo it.
… well, there is one author I still to have add, since her writing is pure magic: Maggie Stiefvater. Her „Raven Cycle“ tretralogy and „The Scorpio Races“ are YA, but not. There are none of the usual YA features (so, no teenage angst, no love triangle, you get my meaning), just wonderful magical realism stories. There are sentences I read over and over, because they were so beautiful.
In the previous topic like this on adventure romance I found my new favourite book, The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne. It is so good that it is far beyond, “too good to put down” and has achieved the rarefied level of, “can hardly bear to pick up again” because you are savoring what has already happened, but are also afraid that this sublime quality cannot be maintained. Spoiler— the quality is maintained.
It is a adventure romance of enemies in Napoleonic France and England where the attraction is founded upon respect for each other’s skill and character, with physical sex appeal secondary.
Don’t look at the cover. It is undoubtedly sabotage, the work of a jealous rival who knows they will never equal this work 😉
Tessa Dare’s A Week to Be Wicked is my second favourite romance book. I spent my time reading it feeling warm inside, with a smile on my face and often squirmed and hummed with happiness.
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn is just so damn funny. The first 30% of the book is probably the funniest thing I have ever read of that length. The rest of the book is a nice blend of romance and humour.
I have to heartily second everything you said above about Spymaster’s Lady, including the cover issue. That cover so does that book an injustice. One of my favorite books; I re-read it constantly because the deliciousness of the language and the characters’ sly wit is just wonderful.
I’m going with a funny contemporary romance – man Hands, by Tanya Eby and Sarina Bowen. I do ‘t know how to describe what makes it completely awesome except the writing is hilarious, with witty dialogue- and the characters’ internal monologues are LOL funny. Here’s an example:
***
She hums. And when she lifts her gaze to look me in the eye, it’s a challenge not to humiliate myself.I wind her hair around my hand and quietly convert carpentry fractions into decimals. Three eighths is .375. Five eighths is…
She gives a good, hard suck.
“POINT SIX TWO FIVE!” I bellow.
Her mouth makes a popping sound as she releases me. “Come again?”
“I’m trying not to,” I gasp.
***
I really wish Aliette de Bodard had more audiobooks, because I adored Obsidian and Blood series (Aztec fantasy?) and the ones that are most obvious fits for my interest aren’t so available. I’ll do TTS eventually, but… her ability to place her characters in a really different culture and make it commonplace, without making it less alien, is amazing.
I’ve already mentioned my love of Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey. So much fun. So less stuffy! (So many people of questionable character…!)
This year I was introduced to Shelly Laurenston… and promptly binged on pretty much everything she’s read. There’s this kind of amazing mix of over the top ridiculous with well thought out and a crazy mix of characters… and I just adore the relationships between them, romantic and otherwise. (I was trying to explain Call of Crows to one of my best friends last night, over chat, and ended up just referring her to the SBTB review, after realizing how incoherent my explanation had become.)
I know Tara Westover’s Educated has gotten a lot of press… but damn, I just found it really fascinating and fun. Don’t read it because it’s good for you read it because it’s a great read. (Okay, and I appreciate any family that makes mine look sort of functional?)
If you liked Educated, you would probably really like Evicted by Mathew Desmond. It is very compelling.
I’ve bookmarked it – thanks!
My daughter just borrowed my copy of Educated. It really is good. I genuinely fear for her if her brother ever reads it, though.
“Fun” might have been the best descriptor? But… I read it pretty much all at once, at least, stopping only when I had to, and I enjoyed it. There’s a lot of suck, but there’s good… and just so much interesting.
…and I managed to miss the keep it to three. Bah. I suck.
Oh yeah, there are definitely fun parts. I didn’t find it a “good for you” read at all. The brother, though, brings to mind the courthouse claim “He needed killin'”.
An Easy Death, the first book in a new series by Charlaine Harris. Interestingly for a CH book, the main character, Gunny Rose, is just 18, so she’s a little clueless. Her father was a mage from Russia, passing through the post-apocalyptic village in dusty, hot, formerly-Texas. Her mother is a school teacher. Rose lives alone in a small house she bought. Her dream is to own a refrigerator and hook her house up to the village electricity. A gunny is an armed person who travels with a group as part of a security detail. Rose has perfect aim, thankfully, because she encounters numerous situations that call for her skill.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, by Mariana Zapata. Also set in Texas, this book follows a 26-year-old woman, Vanessa, who works as the personal assistant/housekeeper/media blogger/and vegan chef to a defender on a professional football team. Until she quits. The early chapters where she goes it alone working as a free-lance graphic designer in her low-rent apartment are my favorite. A slow-build romance and personal accomplishment story. I like all this author’s books but Winnie is the one I re-read.
Nichole Christie’s latest book, My Best Enemy. God is she funny. What an ironic voice. A romance goes suddenly very bad. How to recover when your fiancé cheats and the bottom drops out of your world. Ha-ha-ha. Tied with the new Jana Aston book, which not everyone is wild about. Similar comic romance, a young woman out of college moves to Las Vegas for her first job and meets a 30-something lawyer. Light as cotton candy, but intelligent. Reluctant to mention these, they probably will not appeal to the UF crowd.
I loved An Easy Death, and so did my daughters. Point of accuracy, though – Lizbeth and her friends built her house, on a lot her parents gave her. Hoping there are more in this series.
Well it’s live Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox??.. I reread RexStout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries and and rereading Hercule Poirot.. but I loved Anne Bishops Others series
Evicted by Mathew Desmond. This is the best book I have read in the last five years. Although non-fiction, it is written like a novel. And the story is all the more compelling (and heartbreaking) because it is real. It explains poverty in America better than any book I have ever written.
Panchinko by Min Jin Lee. It is absolutely beautifully written.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Funny. Informative. And an example of perseverance in the face of extreme adversity. Also very informative of apartheid if you’re unaware of the intricacies and impact of that policy.
That should read “any book I have ever read….” ??♀️
#1 The [unabridged] Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas — Still my favorite book ever, after 30 years. I was riveted.
#2 Coyote Moon by John A Miller — (short novel) Makes me want to go live in an Airstream in the desert with my true love. Also a nod to the beauty of mathematics.
+1 for unabridged Count of Monte Cristo, which is also still my favorite after 40-some-odd years!
I would like to recommend Michael Ende’s Momo. It is a beautiful story about listening, kindness and the value of time.
It was written for youngsters but it can be appreciated by every age.
You can also watch a cartoon adaption.
Here is a synopsis from amazon:
At the edge of the city, in the ruins of an old amphitheatre, there lives a little homelss girl called Momo. Momo has a special talent which she uses to help all her friends who come to visit her. Then one day the sinister men in grey arrive and silently take over the city. Only Momo has the power to resist them, and with the help of Professor Hora and his strange tortoise, Cassiopeia, she travels beyond the boundaries of time to uncover their dark secrets.
https://www.amazon.de/Momo-Michael-Ende/dp/0140317538/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1545511659&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=momo+michael+ende&dpPl=1&dpID=511j3rEcsPL&ref=plSrch
I recently bought a special illustrated edition of The Secret Garden which really brings to life this beautiful story.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/0062692577/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1545512149&sr=8-3
I always take the opportunity to reread old classics during the holiday season and it sparks the best memories and feelings.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (deadly mermaids)
or
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
“Every Heart A Doorway” is creepy and sad, but rather sweet and hopeful.
I thought it was great until I had trouble sleeping for days after. Something Mira Grant tends to do to me, even as I find her books to not be scary as I read them.
I really enjoy the Seanan McGuire Toby books though.
I love McGuire’s October Day series! I enjoy her Incryptid series as well.
+1 on October Daye!
her news feed series- bloggers in a post zombie apocalypse world following a presidential campaign is awesome.
Agree! I love the Toby Daye series.
Pretty much anything by Keri Arthur – several interlinked series. Particularly like the Lizzie Grace books.
Keri Arthur is good, I like her Outcast novels best; City of Light, Winter Halo and Black Tode are the titles I think ?
+1 but on the Kingdom of earth & air series.
I love the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. It’s a four novella series about a bot that hacks it’s governor module and goes “rogue” so it can find out the truth about its past, but mostly so it can watch more shows.
Paris Letters by Janice McLeod is a fun read that gave me ideas and determination to DO when I was looking for motivation to change my life.
My favorite manga is Fruits Basket. There’s loss, friendship, high school, the zodiac, love, and hope. Sigh. I love it.
Did you know a new Fruits Basket is coming out in 2019?
I knew about Fruits Basket Another, which is just three volumes. I think the third volume comes out in 2019. Is that what you’re thinking of?
I strongly endorse the Murderbot novellas. The Murderbot’s disgust of the notion of being more human, while navigating among humans. It tries to figure itself out, find time to binge watch its favorite entertainment programs and protect everybody. Funny and lots of action. Well, lots of action between all the binge watching.
+1 murderbot
You have probably already read it, but Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik was an amazing experience for me. It felt very personal to me, perhaps because one of the main characters is Jewish. It felt like a present just for me.
I adored her Uprooted also, although the middle was both too slow and too violent for me. But the end was so delightful.
I really enjoy the Rivers of London series by Aaronovitch. The second book I didn’t care for on first read but it has grown on me as I have read the series multiple times and know the characters better.
I’d normally recommend Ilona Andrews 🙂
+1 You’ll probably like the Eastern European fairytale feel of Spinning Silver and Uprooted.
+1 to both Spinning Silver and to normally recommending Ilona Andrews. I have a terrible confession. You sent us to Goodreads to vote for Iron & Magic, but when I saw Spinning Silver was there, I… I voted for it, instead. Iron & Magic was fun, Magic Triumphs was a fantastic end to a great series, but Spinning Silver was poetry about the value of people, especially women. I’m sorry.
Love Rivers of London, his turn of phrase is hysterically funny.
I just recently read the The Starfighter Invitation by Andrea Host (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L784Z62/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title). Even though I am not an MMO player, this was still a great read. It has a similar feel to her “And All the Stars” but in a completely different story.
Blurb: The only thing bigger than the world’s first full virtual reality game is the mystery surrounding its origins. Who is behind Ryzonart Games? How was such a huge advance in technology achieved?Taia de Haas loves having her own virtual spaceship, and wants nothing more than to visit every planet in the solar system. But she cannot ignore the question of whether such a magnificent gift comes with strings attached. Is the game a trick, a trap, a subtle invasion? Or an opportunity to step up and fight for her own planet?Caught in a tangle of riddles and lies, Taia can’t resist trying to win answers from Ryzonart’s mysterious administrators. But will finding the truth cost her the Singularity Game?
I forgot to mention Rob Thurman’s Cal Leandros series (her two Trixa books are a fun read, too).
Start with Nightlife. It’s a 10-book series, and it is a seriously dark and wild ride. I almost stopped with the book that has the troll under the bridge because it was a bit too graphic for my taste, but I had to keep on reading.
Yeah, except that it stops on a cliffhanger and never finishes. If you can stand that, then by all means read the Cal Leandros books. It’s not a slight on Rob(yn) Thurman — her publisher dropped her contract— but it was still a HUGE disappointment.
That reminds me of a series I absolutely loved, The Fire Dancer series by Ann Maxwell…I think it is Elizabeth Lowell writing sci fi romance… it gets into the intriquincies of the relationship of the growing fire dancer and the one who partners, becomes bonded, etc., to her and the many adventures that forces her to grow in her gift a lot faster than normal. After three books that end in a cliffhanger, no more was written… I guess it did not do as well as her other works/genres. It has been many years so it looks like it will remain an unfinished series which is a huge disappointment! As much as I loved it, the fact that it is unfinished makes me not recommend it to anyone so they won’t be left hanging and disappointed.
That also causes me to be concerned about other series I love, but where I may not live to read the end of the series. Yes, I know it won’t matter when I am gone… I had a friend who died while waiting to read more of the Fire Dancer series, but I would be thrilled if I am able to read the completed series I love like J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood and a few others I’ve been reading for years which reminds me of another series I loved that abruptly stopped… Dara Joy’s Matrix of Destiny! I do not like things to be unresolved where you are left hanging, or create more questions than answers, with a lot unresolved and not finished! If those authors would even write one more book to complete the story, I would be so thrilled and if it ends it in a very satisfying way, even better! As much as I love Kate Daniels, still need to read, but bought the last book, I am relieved I will be able to see the series to the end and from what I have heard, people are happy with the way things were concluded.
I am also in the number of fans concerned that George R.R. Martin may not finish writing the Game of Thrones books, especially since he has two more books to write, but instead is writing other books that get into the history and past of the Song of Fire and Ice which has been frustrating! What has people concerned is his age and health… I know that is rather morbid… to whether he will have them written. I realize we cannot predict when an author may die and their story or series may be left unfinished, but there are a couple of examples of relatives cowriting who may be able to continue and conclude a series like Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series and Iris Johansen’s son has also written some books with her… both cases are sons cowriting with their mom… I have been intrigued by the fact that Ilona Andrews is a husband/wife team.
Anyway, what you wrote triggered/reminded me of other cases where the same thing has happened with other series and I hope to live many years to come and continue to enjoy the books and people I love!
My example is Kate Ross, who died young, after writing just 4 Julian Kestrel Regency Mysteries. 🙁 You never know.
Two of Guy Gavriel Kay’s earlier works, if you haven’t read them:
The Fionavar Tapestry – a trilogy (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Darkest Road) about 5 modern day university students who are drawn into the first world, Fionavar, and play significant roles there in a conflict between good and evil that will have consequences for all worlds. Published in 1984, this lyrical and moving trilogy has been one of my favorite fantasy series for over 30 years.
Tigana – A novel about a cursed province, its history and name forgotten by all except those born there, and its displaced people’s fight to free their province and return its name to memory against overwhelming oppression. While The Fionavar Tapestry holds a special place in my heart, I think Tigana is the better-crafted work.
These are both emotional reads, so make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand if you plan to read them.
I love these books- and you’re right about the tissues. Guy Gavriel Kay is a hell of a world builder.
If you ever wondered what happened next for the folks from the Fionavar Tapestries, read Ysabel! Its not exactly a sequel, but is connected. Its also a lovely standalone on growing up and choices
Thanks for that, I will have to give Ysabel a try. I just couldn’t get into GGK’s historical fiction, but Ysabel looks like it’s a callback to his fantasy roots.
I reread the Fionavar trilogy whenever I am feeling down. You are right, it is a very emotional read. However, after reading it and having a good cry I always feel better. His other books are epic tales of world-building and emotion.
Kay’s Sarantium books are my favorite of his. It’s an alternate world Byzantium era (and forwards from there) series and while most of the books don’t exactly have connecting characters they do have lovely and clever call backs to the other novels
1# My brilliant friend (and the other four books of the Neapolitan quartet) by Elena Ferrante. The HBO series is very good, but the books are amazing. Because men are always supposed to be the most important people in a woman’s life, and not another woman, like Lila is for Elena. Because female friendship is so seldom the focus of a novel, and these books describe it in a wonderful way, from little children to teenagers to adults, with all its joys and pitfalls. And Because Lila is absolutely a mesmerizing character.
2# N. K. Jemisin The broken earth series. I had a bit of a hard time with the first pages of The Fifth Season, because the narrating voice is so peculiar, but after a while, I was hooked. The conclusion of the first book was just great. The series deserves all the awards it won.
3#Almost anything written by Terry Pratchett. When I need a good laugh, the Discworld is the place to go. The cycles of the Witches and the one of Death are my favourites, but there are plenty of other good books. And the footnotes. God, if I love his footnotes. And the Luggage. Oh, the Luggage.
+1 to Broken Earth. It took me a bit too get used to the alternating narrators (I listened on audible and it was really confusing at first until I figured out the child’s voice was a tad softer), but, like you, once I did I was hooked. This series is so unique to everything out there right now. Such a gem.
I enjoy Chuck Wendig’s blog and novels. His blog is rather laced with profanity and some wackadoo language that rarely fails to make me laugh and you can see some of that in his novels too. He writes a lot about writing and the business of writing, but also about pop culture, photography, and apples.
My favorite of his works are his Miriam Black series starting with Blackbirds. Miriam is a psychic with a particular gift/curse – she can see how you’ll die, and she’s such an interesting antihero.
http://Www.terribleminds.com
Love these post. I go back to them when I run out of book suggestions. I want to mention authors that I do not see post or mention.
1. My still favorite binge read/listen to is A Cold Day For Murder by Dana Stabenow. The charaters in this Alaskan wonderland are perfect. You will love them, hate them, and love to hate them. Kate and Mutt solve the mysteries in a backhanded sassy way. I love how Alaska come alive in these books. The Author did the research!
2. Another binge series is Whiskey W hitches by S.M. Blooming. Totally different from my suggestion above. This series have shape shifters, witches, etc. I laughed, cried, and was totally frustrated with the patients of the main character. This series is so family and action driven. It made the day to day erands of the family interesting.
3. OTHER start of new series I think you’ll like are:Boundary Lines by Melissa F. Olson; Winter by Marissa Meyer; Semi Charmed by Isabel Jordan; Schooled in Magic, by Christopher G. Nuttall; Samantha Watkins book 1 (WTH); Bound by Magic, by The Wonderfull Jasmine Walt; and finally The Imager Series, by L.E.Modesitt, Jr.
My recommendations are straight contemporary mysteries. First, Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series, set in Alaska. It’s a long series, with the last one touching on current issues like opening up ANWR.
Then there’s C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett series. Joe is a game warden in Wyoming. Some of his books also touch on current hot button topics, like the sage grouse controversy. His stand-alones, like Blue Heaven, are remarkable.
Carol O’Connell’s Mallory books are completely different, set in New York City with a sociopath as the main character but the elegant writing and supporting characters are great.
I heartily second the Dana Stabenow recommendations. They are great reads and usually great fun, but once in a while a plot twist whacks you upside the head. That’s a good thing in my book (as it were). As for the author having done the research as the previous poster mentioned, Stabenow is Alaska born and bred, and has lived a lot of what she writes about.
I loved the Kate books until a character I loved died. I have lost to many real peeps to endure literal one. Then I lost interest.
I read the Mallory books years ago and have recently been trying to remember the series name or the author. Thanks!
I listened to many books this year. I discovered whole new book genre for myself. I read so much. It is so hard too choose just Three books or authors. So three genres I liked this year.
1.LitRPG It so rich with posibilities. I really like the world building and character development. Every book has its own system and characters have to get stronger or die. Sometimes there are multiple deaths. And in most books you can see the progres of characters via status screen. Not that every book is gem. There are so many harems and none of them are a stud stable. 🙂
Survival Quest by Vasily Mahanenko is first book in The Way of the Shaman series. I like the way the world interact with the virtual reality. Main character is prisoner and is sentenced to hard labour in virtual mine. The book has secred skills, tresures, battles big and small and character in game interaction.
The Wayward Bard by Lars M. is raally good but I love it becous of the violin. The audio version is soo awsome.
Super sales on super heroes by William D. Arand is more peseudo-LitRPG. It has harems and slavery and main character is more antihero than a hero but it is so much fun.
2. I love non human characters. The way they interact with world and with humans. And the way they develop is completaly diferent then human characters. I like the humor of these books.
Threadbare series by Andrew Seiple are as soft and kind as your first plush toy. It is the story of tedybear and his litle girl. Sometimes sad but mostly hilarious.
The Divine dungeon series by Dakota Krout is story with split personality. There is hungry dungeon who likes to eat people and human who wants to make money out of the dungeon.
A goblin’s tale by Scot Straughan There is goblin in a forest. He is Small skiny green and scared of trees.
Morningwood by Neven Iliev this book is only for peple with strong stomach and sick sense of humor.
3.I like M/M romance. I have favourite authors and I want to share them with you.
Megan Derr I like her work becouse of the fairy tail kvalities. Some of her works are like legends with true heroes. Most of all I like Dance with the Devil and Prisoner.
T.J. Klune his work is so strong in its emotins. Brutaly sad or so funny you laught yourself under the table. Or both. At the same time.
Lyn Gala is easy to read and hard to stop
I love TJ Klune, too!
For some reason, I started typing this here, but it posted on the totally wrong comment.
If you like M/M Romance, Gail Carriger’s San Andreas Shifters series is really good. It’s present-day but in the same world as her Victorian Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocol series’. Both of those aren’t romances as much as steampunk + magic adventures with some romantic elements (like even though KD and Curran got together, the series is not a romance. But the novellas are). Both of those also have straight relationships for our leading ladies, although the first LL is bi. But there are quite a few M/M romance novellas (& one F/F) set around the two trilogies. And the San Andreas Shifters is pure M/M romance
I love the SAS by G.L. Carriger.
I really got into LitRPG this year, too! My favorite so far is The Luckless by AH Sohma.
1. The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker – Its a take on Arab and Jewish mythologies but the main characters find themselves lost in a strange world. Though alike and dissimilar at the same time they forge a friendship the takes them through life in the early 20th century. I fell right into this book and couldn’t get out. I read there was supposed to be a sequel this year, but it hasn’t been published yet.
2. The Anansi Boys – I am originally from the Caribbean so I grew up with tales of Anansi and his mischief with the other animals. This was a great twist on the tales. It follows Anansi boys as the come together to deal with his apparent death. The problem is one brother did not knownthat his father was a god or that he had a brother or anything about the supernatural world he is thrown into. The dialogue is on point and never felt like a convoluted version of my Caribbean english language. In fact when I listened to the audio it felt like I was close to home, even the the island is a made up place. The book is a good mix of fun, mystery and suspense to keep you hooked until the end.
3. The SPI Files series, by Lisa Shearin – This is a very light hearted UF series, which is an offshoot of another series. The books are a fun fast read, but good enough that I’ve set them to my auto buy list. I am waiting on my library to lend me the first series the Raine Banares series. You dont have to read the first to get into the SPI Files though.
I enjoy Lisa Shearin, too 🙂 A light, humourous read, for dreary days
+1 for The Golem and the Jinni. For all of the mythological nature of the two main characters, it’s really just an immigrant story of finding your way in a new and strange place where everyone is different from you and you don’t know who you are.
It is, and being an immigrant myself, I understood.
I like the SPI files also ?
In light of the holiday season, I’m going to reccommend Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather. All of the Discworld series is fairly brilliant, but this book remains my favourite among them. In a way, it’s about Christmas, but it’s also about humanity. It makes you rethink the way traditions and society affect our concept of reality, cry a little, and then very importantly, laugh your ass off.
I’ll also reccommend Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, and Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow cozy mystery series. All of these are among my favourite comfort reads that I intend to reread this Christmas as a treat for myself. Howl’s Moving Castle is a questioning of the established norms of a fairy tale, a non-traditional love story, and has realistic characters that are incredible fun to read. The Meg Langslow series follows a blacksmith and her quirky extended family, and their combined shenanigans where someone will stumble upon a corpse, obligating Meg to solve yet another murder. There are a few books in the series with a Christmas setting, which should be nice for this time of year. Happy holidays!
I’ve seen the Studio Ghibli version of Howls Moving Castle, is the book the same or did they change things for the movie? I don’t really care, I am about to go buy it!! I didn’t even know it was a book!!
The book is wonderful, a lot more detailed but quite different. I read the book years before the movie came out and still re-read it in occasion. You almost can’t go wrong with any of Dianna Wynnes Jones books.
“Castle In The Air” and “House Of Many Ways” both have Howl and Sophie in them from Howl’s Moving Castle”.
Imo the book and the movie complement each other. The book has more details but I will forever hear the anime voice of Sophie as I read the book
My kids and I have watched the movie Howl’s Moving Castle but I never thought to read the book! We watched it since it’s by the same folks who did Totoro. Very fascinating story but I’m betting there’s more details in the book.
Yes, and as someone points out above, there are sequels as well.
+1 for Meg. I love her and everyone in her far out family. Funny how writers named Andrews take my mind off the bad stuff in the world.
I would also recommend Sam Kean’s books – The Violinist’s Thumb, The Disappearing Spoon, Caesar’s Last Breath, and The dueling Neurosurgeons
Hello. I would like to recommand first Thursday Next serie by Jasper Fforde which I find very funny, very immiaginative and very absorbing : in a world where time travelling is commun, clonning is real (they resurrected dodo’s as pets) litterature is very serious. To the point that there is a litterature police who protect books and work. In a very serious disapperance of a character from every volume, the main character Thursday Next need to rescue Jane Eyre inside the book. It’s very english and very creative, I just love this serie.
Second, I would like to recommand Gail Carriger Universe which begin with The Parasol Protectorate. It’s steampunk fantasy. I find it witty, fun and very english. The best is to read it with a good cup of tea.
Lastly, I would recommand everything from Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson (I just read the stormlight archive in 2018 which was very good), but someone probably has already said it.
Happy Holidays everyone !
If you like M/M Romance, Gail Carriger’s San Andreas Shifters series is really good. It’s present-day but in the same world as her Victorian Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocol series’. Both of those aren’t romances as much as steampunk + magic adventures with some romantic elements (like even though KD and Curran got together, the series is not a romance. But the novellas are). Both of those also have straight relationships for our leading ladies, although the first LL is bi. But there are quite a few M/M romance novellas (& one F/F) set around the two trilogies. And the San Andreas Shifters is pure M/M romance.
How weird. This comment should have gone way up there ^^ under the poster who liked M/M romance. I don’t know why it came here. I’ll repost it in the right place, and if any moderators want to delete this one and the one it’s replying to, please go ahead.
I also really like Brandon Sanderson, but I’be given up buying his books until he stops writing new “Books 1” and finishes something!
Neil Gaiman goes without saying.
i’ll never give up getting his books. The stormlight series is awesome and all his stand alone stories are brilliant. The graphic audio books for them are spectacular.
Oh, my goodness, YES! The Thursday Next series is wonderful! Early this fall a student gave me a wonderful book titled My Grandmother asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (2013). Funny and sad and sweet and magical, and ultimately about being the bravest even when you are the smallest and the youngest. It was one of those books that found me just when I needed it. You know.
The Thursday Next series is hilarious.
Also, someone a few posts up mentioned Anansi Boys but did not name the author – it’s by Neil Gaiman, and yes, very worth reading. He also wrote a book with Terry Pratchett whom many posters have recommended. It’s called Good Omens and is most excellent. It concerns the coming of the Antichrist. Who knew the end of the world could be so funny?
I love both Good Omens and Thursday Next. You might enjoy The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Patricia Werde
The Invisible Library – Genevieve Cogman
https://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library
Parallel worlds accessed by The Library. Covert ops to retrieve lost books. Fifth just published.
The Federal Witch – T.S. Paul
https://www.goodreads.com/series/192714-the-federal-witch
FBI police-procedural with magic and a witch on the team and alternate world history. 8 books so far.
Light hearted and tremendous fun – Agatha’s antics when someone messes with her remind me of how Dina reacts to misbehaving guests at the Inn!
InCryptid – Seanan McGurire
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Incryptid
The Prices are a family of cryptozoologists who alternately protect supernatural creatures and hunt those which are seriously dangerous. The Prices are seriously dangerous too! Think a family of Mauds and you won’t be too far off. 7 books with the next one next year.
Very snarky sense of humor. Worth it for the Aeslin mice on their own – hyper-religious talking mice who worship the Prices and keep an oral history of the family. And the quotes from previous generations at the top of each chapter are priceless!
The Ghost Roads series is a crossover, telling the story of urban legend The Phantom Hithhiker, Rose Marshall, told by the ghost herself. She appears in InCryptid as the family’s Aunt Rose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/218126-ghost-roads
There’s a lot of free short stories about previous generations of the Prices on Seanan’s website.
I highly recommend two Romance authors, Courtney Milan and Sarah Maclean. Courtney does unconventional romances, they’re touching and her characters are *interesting*. Sarah does intense and wonderful stories with characters who affect you. (sometimes it takes me a while to read one of her books because “the feels” get to be too much).
I’m reading a new-to-me author at the moment, Thea Harrison (altho apparently I read her when I used to read Harlequins under the name Amanda Carter). I’m just finishing the 3rd book in her Moonshadow series. I like her strong, no nonsense heroines.
Stacey Brutger- An academy of assassians novels
An 18 year old who has magical runes carved into her back she doesn’t know how she got them she doesn’t remember anything from before she was found at 10. She is a hunter of magical things from the Otherworld who has just been sent to the Academy of Assassins to stop a killer who is carving the same runes that are on her back onto witches. Is considered a reverse Harlem but the first two books don’t have any sex. I liked the story that is told and how independent Morgan is.
Kimbra Swain- Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen. This one is fun she is a banished royal fairy who lives in the south in a trailer park. Grace is witty and uses southern charm when it suits her.
I recommend Nancy Gideon’s By Moonlight series; Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series; and Laura Thalassa’s Bargainer series. Happy reading!!!
Yes! Love Patricia Briggs’ series. She weaves a great mystery within her interpretation of supernatural mythology. The character development, relationships, and twists in plot are fascinating. I love a strong heroine who finds a strong, supportive partner
I am rereading the Mercy Thompson and the Alpha & Omega series right now. They are both excellent.
I will add in Ann Bishop’s “The Others” series. Really good world building and character development.
I will also add in Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Shelter In Place is a really good one from this year about a mass shooting in a mall. Her books suck you in an you feel like it is real. Past favorites are way too long of a list, but The Villa and The Witness have been favorite rereads.
Most recently, I have been reading Sarah J. Maas. 🙂
For a change of pace please try the Inspector Chopra (Baby Ganesh Agency) by Vaseem Khan. Detective stories set in Mumbai. The 4 book series introduced me to a culture I knew little about and didn’t leave me confused. The author even has a glossary in the back to help. I have thoroughly enjoyed the 3 published books and 1 short story.
Martha Wells “Wheel of the Infinite”. What wonderful characters and twisted storyline, excellent descriptions of temples, and the surrounding countryside,
with a delightful ending.
+1
One of my favorites.
Definitely a good read. When I was fourteen and picked up the book it was the first time I’d really read about an older woman as the heroine of a story and it completely fascinated me.
Some authors that haven’t been mentioned that I really love…
Jane Lindskold. Her “Fire keeper” fantasy series is interesting, but her stans alone novel “Marks Of Our Brothers” S/F dealing with alien life is my favourite.
Eoin Colfer “Artemis Fowl” series is very well written YA that both myself (40’s) and my parents enjoyed reading. The first book features a 20 year old criminal mastermind, Artemis, that is trying to kidnap a fairy to decode a book, but gets Holly, an reconnaissance agent of the Lower Elf Patrol, otherwise known as LEP RECON.
“Drowntide” by Sydney J Synoc is a wonderful fantasy book. A coming of age story of a boy whose father left with his sister just after she was born. His mother, the head of their village sends him to ask for his sister back for the women’s magic that she should have. Be warned it doesn’t have a sequel.
As an aside, classic books that have sequels or are the start of a series…
Pollyanna = I think there is about 10 to 15 in this series, quite a lot anyway.
The Scarlet Pimpernel = I think that there is about 5, but could be more.
ET = 2 books that I know of.
Heidi = 3 books in the series.
What Katy Did = 5 books in the series, including Katy, Clover and Elsie’s husbands.
10 year old criminal mastermind, not 20.
I read Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant. Picked it up with a $1.50 surprise kindle credit. Most worthwhile book I’ve read in a long time. It’s a simple message about changing your life through three words. Great book for people with anxiety.
One of my favorite books that I don’t see people talking about often is A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain (and the sequels. The third book was released this year.). I am a sucker for time travel books, and this series combines that and solving crimes. There is a little bit of romance, but it’s not the main focus.
I enjoy Lisa Shearin SPI and Raine series
I’ve been on kind of a non- fiction kick in my book clubs. Right now rereading Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X Kendi. Starts way back in the 1400s. A lot of history I was never taught. Fascinating to follow how the justifications changed over time. I actually listened first.
The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman. Yes he does go on about how special water is…..duh, but really interesting look at water management and conflict ( not armed conflict) from around the world. The section on Vegas, city of fountains, is fascinating.
And really enjoying The Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I grew up on space opera and this is much better.
And you can delete this, but Endurance by Scott Kelly, who spent a year on the space station, was a book few of us expected to like, but we were all fascinated.
Thanks for doing this Ilona/Gordon! While your works are always worth noting I don’t hear Lilith Saint’s name as often. Her latest, “Rattlesnake Wind” is some of her best work. It seems a little slow at the start but finishes so well that it is worth investing the time. Reminds me of the original take she had on the fae in the “Gallow and Ragged” series. I’m now onto “Sunny with a Chance of Monsters” by Sara King. I’m not done yet but has been an absolute joy. Hope it continues…
I am a little late to the series, but I just read The Others series by Anne Bishop. I liked the twist of the shifters being animals who turn into humans and how that simple fact changes how they perceive the world.
In contemporary romance, I read the Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and Melt for You by J.T. Geissinger several times since they were released earlier this year. I enjoyed the characters so much that I had to read them again (and again).
I would love to recommend Michelle Sagara, also known as Michelle Sagara West…she’s got several series but I’m totally in love with her Elantra series. There’s about 13 books now I think. I own them all, both print and digital ? I love them that much. The main character is essentially a cop, but a cop in a world with multiple races and magic, no technology.
Another series I’ve really enjoyed recently is Black Tide Rising by John Ringo. They’re his take on a modern zombie apocalypse. Lots of fun but maybe a bit graphic in some places.
Thumbs up for both of these. The Elantra series works are amazing. Pure poetry to read, engaging, not black and white and fantastic world building with well developed characters and twists you didn’t see coming but that grow out of the character and world building.
Please check out “the story about the baby” http://www.ironycentral.com/babymain.html
It’s a week by week story blog of this guys daughter from the early 2000s. From birth to a year. It’s hilariously written with tongue and cheek sarcasm.
Here’s a quote “having a baby around makes it much harder to manage the voices in my head. I mean, before, they just told me to do horrible things to myself and my wife. But my wife knows Tae Kwon Do and could kick my ass, and I can’t do anything painful to myself because I’m a big pussy. So that was all right.
But now I spend all of my time having internal conversations like:
Me: “Oh, hell. Did I remember to put out the diapers so the service can pick them up?”
Inner voice: “Boil the baby.”
Or,
Me: “Phew. She’s finally asleep. I can get some work done.”
Inner voice: “Boil the baby.”
Or,
Me: “I’m hungry. I sure could use a ham sandwich.”
Inner voice: “Boil the …. wait. Did you say ham?”
Me: “Mmmmm. Sandwich.”
Inner voice: “Mmmmm. Sandwich.”
Me: “Better clean this plate.”
Inner voice: “Put the baby in the dishwasher.””
Give it a shot if you want to read a less romantic version of childcare. He also published a book on it.
I’ve been looking for new satire & humor since Terry Pratchette died. Thanks for the new lead!
The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. The first book is A Discovery of Witches. A witch, that is a historian, who denies her powers ends up falling in love with a vampire scientist. It is forbidden for creatures to fall in love with each other. There are also Daemons (not evil) in the stories. Also centers around a lost manuscript. The second book takes place in 1591, and a wonderful read because the author is a historian herself. There’s a lot to try and describe. This series is also a new tv show too! Coming to the US January 17th on Sundance Now and Shudder.
Anything by Shayne Silvers because life is way too short to be serious all the time and I have just started reading Kimbra Swain for a giggle on the recommendation of other shayne silvers fans
<3 Aww, thank you so much! So glad you liked them. <3 <3 <3
Really love them, darlin’. I read them and re-read them and giggle every time. “Cheetahs Never Win” is on my pre-order list. I also have Claustrophobia and I am sure I’ll love it, too.
I need to track down your third (fourth?) alter-ego and get those, too.
I need something like your books to take the “taste” of the news away.
I really need to wander over to Amazon and leave some reviews. I am sorry I put it off, but I always hated book reports. (It made reading – my favorite thing in the world – work. And nobody wanted a fun book – it had to be “literary” and a “good” book. Yuk!)
I am re-reading the Dresden files. L. E. Modesitt books are auto-buys at our house. Illusions by Richard Bach is my most read book.
The Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke, set in Louisiana. Good v evil is a strong theme. The main character is a flawed man, a recovering alcoholic police detective. Awesome writer.
Yes he is. Those books are really, really good, even when I don’t necessarily agree with him. You don’t have to read them in order. I started in the middle and jumped around.
I absolutely love the Faith Hunter books. Jane Yellowrock and the Soul wood series. As well As Everything Patrica Briggs they are both close to as awesome as yourselves!
Merry Christmas and GodBless
the Jane YellowRockl books are about rouge Vamp hunter she is a skin walker with the soul of a mountain Lion trapped within her. Kick ass chick and only one of her kind. Soulwood is unlike anything i ever read before. very cool stuff. sorry 4 second post
Both excellent authors.
+1 Faith and Patricia
Garth Nix has some good series. The keys to the kingdom is ya, centred around the main character of Arthur who has mysteriously been chosen as the successor to the creator called the architect. A good fun read.
THe Abhorsen series is fantasy, centred around a strong a female character (sabriel, then in following books lirael) who is basically charged with keeping down dead spirits and overcoming great evil! Sort of a necromancer who uses their skills with magic and swords to put the dead spirits/ monsters back into death. Great world building. Is a fantastic read and there are several books in the series to enjoy.
My favourite series:
The Invisible Library – Genevieve Cogman
https://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library
Parallel worlds accessed by The Library. Covert ops to retrieve lost books. Fifth just published.
The Federal Witch – T.S. Paul
https://www.goodreads.com/series/192714-the-federal-witch
FBI police-procedural with magic and a witch on the team and alternate world history. 8 books so far.
Light hearted and tremendous fun – Agatha’s antics when someone messes with her remind me of how Dina reacts to misbehaving guests at the Inn!
InCryptid – Seanan McGurire
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Incryptid
The Prices are a family of cryptozoologists who alternately protect supernatural creatures and hunt those which are seriously dangerous. The Prices are seriously dangerous too! Think a family of Mauds and you won’t be too far off. 7 books with the next one next year.
Very snarky sense of humor. Worth it for the Aeslin mice on their own – hyper-religious talking mice who worship the Prices and keep an oral history of the family. And the quotes from previous generations at the top of each chapter are priceless!
The Ghost Roads series is a crossover, telling the story of urban legend The Phantom Hithhiker, Rose Marshall, told by the ghost herself. She appears in InCryptid as the family’s Aunt Rose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/218126-ghost-roads
There’s a lot of free short stories about previous generations of the Prices on Seanan’s website.
I just have to express my appreciation for the description “a family of Mauds”.
I love the InCryptid series.
I love New Zealand author Nalini Singh’s Archangel series as well as her Psy/Changeling series. http://www.NaliniSingh.com
Action-packed, violent, and a bit of murder and mystery in with the urban fantasy and romance. I like that her characters are different races/ethnicities and the interactions are so intense. There’s always a scene or two that makes me cry.
Kelley Armstrong http://wwwKelleyArmstrong.com is another author whose work I adore. She’s a Canadian writer and I started with her otherworld series with the book Bitten and fell in love with her crime series about a cop turned assassin named Nadia Stafford. She then came out with this creepy fantasy/mystery series called Cainesville that knocked my socks off.
Another author I’m reading is Carrie Vaughn whose main character is a radio talk show dj who also is a werewolf who keeps finding herself in all sorts of supernatural predicaments. Another interesting take on the supernatural mythology.
For straight up awkward and real romance that cracks me up with humor and touches the soft spots on my heart, I recommend Penny Reid. http://www.pennyreid.ninja
I read her online first and then finally found her print books.
Re. Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville, get past book 1, and you’ll like her a lot more. She does not start out as confident and self-determining, but becomes stronger.
Mysteries: I was very pleased Louise Penny continued writing this year and released a new book in her Gamache series. I missed the release date, but found Robert Galibrath (aka J. K. Rowling) newest in the Cormoran series.
Paranormal: I discovered Noami Novik this year – really enjoyed her Uprooted & Spinning Silver. Main female character rely on their wits & mortal fortitude to overcome magical powers. Remind me of Russian folklore. Also, new author Rebecca Roanhorse 1st book Trail of Lighting. Native American legends in a post apocalyptic setting. Looks to be an interesting series.
Design: Downsides to a very, very small house. Who knew it would be so much harder to decorate such a small area? Can’t have color / style clashes when the living room / kitchen / dinning so close together. (Exterior of the house is only 20 x 20 ft.) Need dark upholstery & don’t really care for modern or mid-century modern and no ones making what I like! Very frustrating.
Illona – I’ve twice tried to post recommendations for three series but my posts aren’t appearing. When I tried to re-post the original the site said it was a duplicate post. So I changed it a bit and tried again. Still no go. Not sure what the problem is.
I can see that comment so I’ll try reformatting the text again and try one last time.
Tried one last time and nada. What the website doesn’t like about the text is a mystery.
I’m having trouble too. Not sure if it’s too lengthy or what
@Huyen
I suppose it could be length – tried to give an overview of each series and Goodreads links. I’m not used to posting on the main blog. I usually hang out in the Innkeeper chapters and the comments sections there seem to work differently to here.
Links, guys. If you have 3 or more, the site holds it in moderation. I fished you out, no worries.
Ah so! Thanks Ilona.
The Invisible Library – Genevieve Cogman
https://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library. Parallel worlds accessed by The Library. Covert ops to retrieve lost books. Fifth just published.
The Federal Witch – T.S. Paul
https://www.goodreads.com/series/192714-the-federal-witch
FBI police-procedural with magic and a witch on the team and alternate world history. 8 books so far.
Light hearted and tremendous fun – Agatha’s antics when someone messes with her remind me of how Dina reacts to misbehaving guests at the Inn!
InCryptid – Seanan McGuire
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Incryptid
The Prices are a family of cryptozoologists who alternately protect supernatural creatures and hunt those which are seriously dangerous. The Prices are seriously dangerous too! Think a family of Mauds and you won’t be too far off. 7 books with the next one next year.
Very snarky sense of humor. Worth it for the Aeslin mice on their own – hyper-religious talking mice
who worship the Prices and keep an oral history of the family. And the quotes from previous generations at the top of each chapter are priceless!
The Ghost Roads series is a crossover, telling the story of urban legend The Phantom Hithhiker, Rose Marshall, told by the ghost herself. She appears in InCryptid as the family’s Aunt Rose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/218126-ghost-roads
There’s a lot of free short stories about previous generations of the Prices on Seanan’s website.
Links? Doesn’t tend to like more than one, I think.
@Tylikcat
Don’t think so. Tried making the Goodreads plain-text rather than clickable links.
What I tried to post, with a synopsis of each series and Goodreads links were:
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman,
Federal Witch by T.S. Paul; and
InCryptid by Seanan McGuire; plus the crossover Ghost Roads series and the free stories on her website.
Finally – looks like it may be a size issue so I split the post.
InCryptid – Seanan McGuire
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Incryptid
The Prices are a family of cryptozoologists who alternately protect supernatural creatures and hunt those which are seriously dangerous. The Prices are seriously dangerous too! Think a family of Mauds and you won’t be too far off. 7 books with the next one next year.
Very snarky sense of humor. Worth it for the Aeslin mice on their own – hyper-religious talking mice who worship the Prices and keep an oral history of the family. And the quotes from previous generations at the top of each chapter are priceless!
The Ghost Roads series is a crossover, telling the story of urban legend The Phantom Hithhiker, Rose Marshall, told by the ghost herself. She appears in InCryptid as the family’s Aunt Rose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/218126-ghost-roads
There’s a lot of free short stories about previous generations of the Prices on Seanan’s website.
Example:
“There’s nothing wrong with making a last stand. Just make sure you bring enough grenades to share share with the entire class”.
“The Covenant of St George isn’t evil, simply misguided. This doesn’t mean you can’t shoot them, but it does mean you should apologize to their next of kin, should the opportunity ever arise.” – Enid Healy
The Federal Witch – T.S. Paul
https://www.goodreads.com/series/192714-the-federal-witch
FBI police-procedural with magic and a witch on the team and alternate world history. 8 books so far.
Light hearted and tremendous fun – Agatha’s antics when someone messes with her remind me of how Dina reacts to misbehaving guests at the Inn!
The Invisible Library – Genevieve Cogman
https://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library. Parallel worlds accessed by The Library. Covert ops to retrieve lost books. Fifth just published.
For fun read, try the books by R J Blain. I particularly enjoyed the book “No Kitten Around.” The series is called A Romantic Comedy with a body count.
Excerpt: “That is a rather young kitten,” the woman conceded, reaching over to a stack of papers to grab a few sheets. “I will need to make a file for you, sir. What is the kitten’s name?”
All naming it would do was make it harder to let the damned thing go, and judging from the woman’s smirk, she knew it. Maybe if I gave it an awful name, it’d rethink its decision to force me into adopting it until I could find a better home for it. “Kitten, Destroyer of Worlds.” There. No one could be mistaken about what I thought about felines and their innate desire to rule—or wreck—the world. “Give it the last name of Overlord, if this is that sort of place. I’m pretty sure it’s going to stage a takeover very soon.”
She snorted her laughter. “You’re not a cat person, are you, sir?”
I love Nalini Singh and her two series: The Psy/Changling series and the Guild Hunter Series. I love how she weaves Changelings with those with psychic abilities that are all about their minds and shun emotions. The Guild Hunter Series is one of my favorites, and you have to love angels, archangels and vampires. The Guild Hunters are the ones that hunt down rogue vampires and bring them back to their angels. Both of those are in a different version of our world.
Also, The Discovery of Witches trilogy by Deborah Harkness. So well written and well researched. We have humans, witches, vampires and daemons who have to learn to live with each other. We have a witch and a vampire that love each other, and that love changes the course of their world.
If you want a series that is a hoot, try Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune Series. It is about a CIA agent who has a price on her head by a middle eastern arms dealer, and is sent to hide out in a small backward Louisiana town run by the Sinful Ladies Society, and in particular, by two Viet Nam Vets who are in their 70’s. Some of their shenanigans had me almost rolling off my chair I was laughing so hard.
A series that is older and not to be forgotten is Anne McCaffreys The Dragon Riders of Pern Series. After a vicious war on earth and other planets, a group of settlers set out for Pern, a planet many light years away to start an agrarian world, devoid of technology. Eight years after landing they are faced with a crisis that almost wipes them out, and they end up genetically engineering Dragons to help them with surviving on their planet. Such a wonderful series where you feel like you know all the people involved and you actually live on the planet with them.
Peace and blessings to all this Holiday Season, and thank you for the new author suggestions. I am a reader and am always looking.
I second both Nalini Singh (having trouble posting but she’s one of my recs) and Ann McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern- read those when I was still in school
I just want to add, if you haven’t read the Dragonriders of Pern, they are best read in publication order. They are absolutely wonderful books, to a point. Anne McCaffery unfortunately kept writing well past the point where the series jumped the shark, and now her kids/grandkids are still writing more.
Whether you decide to read in order of publication date* or to try chronologically, Amazon’s order is just wrong. Amazon attempts to reorder the series chronologically and fails. So, if you want to read chronologically, pick up All the Weyrs of Pern* and look at what is listed there as the order. But don’t do that. Start with Dragonflight, Dragonfall, Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums, and The White Dragon. Read those first. Everything else is extra. Sometimes good, sometimes not, but extra.
*All the Weyrs of Pern is also where you should STOP reading, no matter the reading order you choose.
Agree on All the Weirs of Pern. The series is what got me into SF/Fantasy when I was still at school.
Oh, and +1 to Nalini Singh as well. I know Ilona has said that angels aren’t her favorite (although these angels are completely divorced from any religious connection), but the Psy-Changeling books are also really good.
Anne Mccaffrey’s series Rowan, Damia, Lyons Pride based on people with mental strength to effect intergalactic travel by boosting spaceships/cargo using generators.
The Ship who Sang series where humans with seriously deformed bodies are connected nerve/electrically to a space ship and thus have a vastly rewarding life.
The Killshandra series where miners with perfect tune cut crystals that the universe needs.
Jayne Ann Krentz under the name Jayne Castle wrote Shields Lady- my favorite and a host of other science fiction series.
Forgot Anne Mccaffrey’s Powers That Be series involving a sentient planet and she does it so well!
The Crystal Singer trilogy is also pretty good.
Trying once again to get my post to appear, figuring it might be something with the links to Goodreads.
That’s why they aren’t clickable in this version
The Invisible Library – Genevieve Cogman – http://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library
Parallel worlds accessed by The Library. Covert ops to retrieve lost books. Fifth just published.
The Federal Witch – T.S. Paul – http://www.goodreads.com/series/192714-the-federal-witch
FBI police-procedural with magic and a witch on the team and alternate world history. 8 books so far.
Light hearted and tremendous fun – Agatha’s antics when someone messes with her remind me of how Dina
reacts to misbehaving guests at the Inn!
InCryptid – Seanan McGurire – http://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Incryptid
The Prices are a family of cryptozoologists who alternately protect supernatural creatures and hunt
those which are seriously dangerous. The Prices are seriously dangerous too! Think a family of Mauds
and you won’t be too far off. 7 books with the next one next year.
Very snarky sense of humor. Worth it for the Aeslin mice on their own – hyper-religious talking mice
who worship the Prices and keep an oral history of the family. And the quotes from previous generations
at the top of each chapter are priceless!
The Ghost Roads series is a crossover, telling the story of urban legend The Phantom Hithhiker, Rose
Marshall, told by the ghost herself. She appears in InCryptid as the family’s Aunt Rose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/218126-ghost-roads
There’s a lot of free short stories about previous generations of the Prices on Seanan’s website.S
Martha Wells Murderbot was my ‘hang out for publication date’ series this year.
Other people mentioned Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, which I highly recommend, too. I bought that hardcover, because I love Sarah Monette’s writing. (Mildmay, you are fantastic.)
I also read and enjoyed Witchmark, by C. L. Polk, which was–and I’m quoting directly from one of the reviewers on Goodreads (thanks, Elise,The BookishActress, hope you don’t mind), who said–
“Witchmark is sort of steampunk-fantasy murder-mystery with paranormal romance vibes set in a world inspired by WWI Britain, following a witch disguising himself as a doctor to avoid being essentially enslaved by his sister, Grace.”
I was a bit iffy about some aspects of how the HEA worked (for reasons that will be obvious if you read the book) but overall, I really enjoyed the story.
Trying a bit to stay away from F&SF, at least partly:
1) Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome. This was intended to be a narrative travel guide of a journey on the Thames from Kingston to Oxford and back. There’s far more narrative than travel guide and it’s absolutely hilarious. It is a bit uneven, though, when the travel guide portion attempts to reassert itself, but it goes back to hilarious very quickly.
2) I have clinical depression. Once upon a time, almost 20 years ago, an acquaintance gave me a book of Raymond Chandler’s non-mystery short stories. I was about a third of the way through before I couldn’t get out of bed. I’m telling y’all this to explain why I finally read my first Philip Marlowe novel this year. I was damned well going to read the classics, even just one, so I could say I read them. And there’s a reason he’s a classic. His Marlowe books are wonderful and self-aware and funny and don’t make me wonder why I even want to go on living. I also read Dashiell Hammett this year, and while I still hate The Maltese Falcon, his short stories are fantastic, especially the Continental Op. One of my 3 annual non-e-book books this year went to The Big Book of the Continental Op, which has all those stories in publication order.
3) Finally, The Mapmaker’s War is book one of the Keeper of Tales Trilogy by Ronlyn Domingue that struck me as incredibly new, fresh, and hopeful. Book one is the only story I have ever read that was written in the second person, that actually worked. The next two books take place 1000 years after book one and are written in normal old third person but are still wonderful ?. Anyone who has a relationship with their mother that can best be described as “difficult” will relate to the heroine of books two & three, but saying that ignores the magic of transformation that ribbons through all three.
Reviews like this are HARD, and while I almost universally hate “back of the book” blurbs, and have been known to theorize that the people who write them are actively trying to repulse prospective readers, I understand them. It’s like my comment about Spinning Silver up there. If I talk about the incredibly strong message of human, especially women’s, value, then I’m drawing away the people who would love it for the beautifully retold fairy tale. If I talk about the poetry inherent in every paragraph, I alienate those who just want a simple story. So I’ll say that the Keeper of Tales trilogy has all of these elements — a beautifully written fantasy story with subtext that is there if you want it to be, and can be ignored or overlooked with no detriment to the story as told.
On a slightly different subject, I know that book titles are italicized and short stories are put in “”. What about series’ names? I’m leaving them without formatting or punctuation here, at least until I can find my Chicago Manual of Style.
Don’t worry Siobhan. No one here worries about formatting. Or spelling (except that caused by autocorrect (autocurrupt!). Grammar’s optional and off-topic within reason. We’re pretty chilled.
As an example I should have said “off-topic *is OK* within reason”. 🙂
Thank you, Simon. But it matters to me. Blame it on my slight OCD.
I love New Zealand author Nalini Singh’s Archangel series as well as her Psy/Changeling series. http://www.NaliniSingh.com
Action-packed, violent, and a bit of murder and mystery in with the urban fantasy and romance. I like that her characters are different races/ethnicities and the interactions are so intense. There’s always a scene or two that makes me cry.
Kelley Armstrong http://www.KelleyArmstrong.com is another author whose work I adore. She’s a Canadian writer and I started with her otherworld series with the book Bitten and fell in love with her crime series about a cop turned assassin named Nadia Stafford. She then came out with this creepy fantasy/mystery series called Cainesville that knocked my socks off.
Another author I’m reading is Carrie Vaughn whose main character is a radio talk show dj who also is a werewolf who keeps finding herself in all sorts of supernatural predicaments. Another interesting take on the supernatural mythology.
For straight up awkward and real romance that cracks me up with humor and touches the soft spots on my heart, I recommend Penny Reid. http://www.pennyreid.ninja
I read her online first and then finally found her print books.
Darynda Jones. Her books and your books are a must buy for me. She has new fiction on her site called the NeverNeath.
I loved Mary Robinette Kowal’s books Calculating Stars and Fated Sky… Lady Astronaut stories of an alternate 1950 world history… These stories are so amazing of women computers and punch-cards and astronauts…
I also enjoyed Nathan Lowell’s latest books, he released 3 of ’em this year in his Golden Age of the Solar Clipper saga… If you haven’t met Ishmael you’re missing out on a great Space Opera!
And lastly my favorite podcast is Futility Closet as they find and talk about the forgotten stories of history
Beyond your books, which are currently on top of my favorites list, I loved Juliet McKenna’s Green Man’s Heir, Martha Well’s Murderbot series, and Faith Hunter’s Soulwood series.
Non-Fiction recommendation as there don’t seem to be many:
Myke Cole’s “Legion versus Phalanx”. Really well-written and approachable.
Here’s the blurb: “Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280-168 BC), this book looks at each formation in detail – delving into their tactics, arms and equipment, organization and deployment. It then examines six documented battles in which the legion fought the phalanx: Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC)”
That sounds GOOOOOOD. Now I will see if my library will buy it for me.?
I just finished the 4 Vampire Knitting Club books by Nancy Warren which had a fun premise. Also The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Magic books by Helen Harper. This was funny, though I felt it needed a little more world-building. The cat familiar was an absolute riot. Snarky self-absorbed talking cat! The author definitely has cats!
I’ve enjoyed Kindle Unlimited as I can find authors to try before buying.
I loved the cat. He’s entire reason I read more than one book in that series.
Jennifer Esteps Elemental series is pretty good to listen to. I’m waiting on the next book
The Baine Chronicles by Jasmine Walt is a pretty good read. Didn’t like the audio so much. Follows the life of some one who is suppose to unite the territory under the grip of oppressors. Not a modern day setting, one with horses and boats for travel.
Molly Hunters Half Moon Hollow is pretty good. It follows the turning and future of Jane (vampire) and the rest of Half Moon Hollow. After a few books, each additional book follows someone else. Narration is pretty good too. Mollys other series are good to read as well.
The Elemental Assassin series is awesome – and plenty of books already to keep you going for a while.
Somewhat reformed seriously badass female assasin, with magic in two elements – earth and ice.
Nowdays she runs a restaurant and sorts out problems for people – kind of like The Equalizer.
But anyone who comes after her gets dead real quick! 😉
I love New Zealand author Nalini Singh’s Archangel series as well as her Psy/Changeling series. http://www.NaliniSingh.com
Action-packed, violent, and a bit of murder and mystery in with the urban fantasy and romance. I like that her characters are different races/ethnicities and the interactions are so intense. There’s always a scene or two that makes me cry.
Kelley Armstrong is another author whose work I adore. She’s a Canadian writer and I started with her otherworld series with the book Bitten and fell in love with her crime series about a cop turned assassin named Nadia Stafford. She then came out with this creepy fantasy/mystery series called Cainesville that knocked my socks off.
Another author I’m reading is Carrie Vaughn whose main character is a radio talk show dj who also is a werewolf who keeps finding herself in all sorts of supernatural predicaments. Another interesting take on the supernatural mythology.
For straight up awkward and real romance that cracks me up with humor and touches the soft spots on my heart, I recommend Penny Reid. http://www.pennyreid.ninja
I read her online first and then finally found her print books.
Love Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter Series as well.
Love that series!
+1 to Cainsville. I mean, anything Kelley Armstrong writes, but Cainsville also blew me away. The first time in a long time I have been genuinely creeped out, like lying under the covers and leaving the light on until my husband came to bed creeped out. Loved the Nadia Stafford books also, and the Rockton Files is also excellent. Her first big series, that started with Bitten, taught me to trust her. I stopped reading halfway through because book 5 or 6 sounded terrible according to the back of the book and I wasn’t interested in that character. I came back 2-3 years later, bored out of my mind, and said “what the hell, I’ll give book whatever’s next a try.” And loved it. And kept reading through MORE books that sounded terrible about peripheral characters I didn’t like, and kept loving them. Now I don’t read her back of book blurbs anymore, I just pre-order the book. Just as with Ilona Andrews, I’ve never been disappointed.
I read the entire series and I think you’re talking about book 5 of the Kelley Armstrong series. I totally get where you’re coming from but seriously read Haunted. It turned out to be my favorite book in the series. Kelley Armstrong makes you invested in Eve’s backstory and you really understand why she ended up where she did. It was an amazing book. If you read it I really believe you’ll like it.
Also Rockton and Cainsville were my recommendations also ?
Oh, I read it all, eventually. It just took longer than I wanted. And yes, it was Eve’s story where I stopped.
Where I originally stopped, before ultimately going back and finishing.
+1 to Armstrong’s Rockton series. I went in blind thinking it’d be uf but actually enjoyed the suspense/thriller. Loved how diverse this series was as well.
Her Ohoenix duet is very fine as well. She doesn’t miss.
Thanks for the rec ?
Absolutely love Nalini Singh!! I love both the Psy Changeling and Guild Hunter series’
Another Archangel/Guild Series fan here. I know some fans were disappointed by the cliff hanger ending for the latest book, but I love how Singh continues to take a lot of risks with this series. The twists and turns aren’t predictable and the evolution of the characters is some of the best writing I’ve come across.
+1
+1 for Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series. I enjoyed her Cainesville series as well, but I just find the whole premise of the Rockton series fascinating!
I loved the “Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox” (Amaranthine Saga #1) book. Book 2, and a short story collection are also out. The author does a fabulous job of blending Japanese myths with a modern society where magical beings have recently come out to the humans. It has romance, but also action, commentary on human natures, etc. The author started writing fan fic for her favorite animes, and now has her books on Amazon. I’m also on a cozy mystery kick, and love Beth Byers books. She has one contemporary series, and one set in the 20s. They aren’t terribly complex or long, but they have a straight forward mystery, quirky characters, and are nice for needing a relaxing afternoon.
https://www.amazon.com/Forthright/e/B079KW4GQ7/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
https://www.amazon.com/Beth-Byers/e/B077LFPNVD/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1545525396&sr=8-1
Darynda Jones. All of her books are a must buy for me. She also has fiction on her website that is in the first stages called the NeverNeath
Like Ilona Andrews and Kate, it’s a time of PAUSES…….
Darynda’s last Charley Davidson book is out next month. I reviewed it from Netgalley and it is almost as perfect as Kate & Curran’s PAUSE.
No spoilers, but it is snarky and funny and sad and wondrous. And I thought I knew the ending until the last 10 pages, but DJ slipped in some coffee fueled perfection.
Charley is a PI who is the Grim Reaper who is a god who is a coffee addict who is a mom who is a best friend who is in love……
I can’t wait to get to the last Charley book. But its the sad that worries me some.
If I had to pick only one book that I read this year as a recommendation, I would suggest Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. It is both different and beautiful, and it’s engaging in a way that is unusual and sticks with you long past when you turn the last page.
Her Uprooted is excellent as well!!
+1
I started her dragon series because I loved her standalones so much. I just finished the first book and I really enjoyed it.
One of my newer favorites is Molly Harper’s Half Moon Hollow series. It’s still in the paranormal genre but it’s more of a comedy. The characters have become old friends and the audio versions are great.
If you’re look for a sweet, funny romance I love Carolyn Brown’s stories. My favorite is the Yellow Rose Barbeque Ball.
I love Molly Harper! The Jane Jameson and Half-Moon Hollow have made my reread list. I’ve also recently read through her Southern Eclectic series which is a more traditional modern romance set, but with a cast of characters that makes for entertaining read (the family business is a fishing/boat company and a funeral home run out of the same building!).
Here’s a really eclectic group –
Choosers of the Slain by Cobb. Great military thriller with a female hero.
Metzger’s Dog by Thomas Perry. It’s an oldie – I’ve read it numerous times and howl with laughter every time.
The Drifter by Nick Petrie. Great suspense. (also 2 sequels)
And you’ve probably already read The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
The goblin emperor is one of my favorites. It’s not an action fantasy, but I’ve found it a very satisfying read. I’ve also enjoyed “A Brother’s Price” by Wen Spencer. It’s an alternative earth where women outnumber men 30 to 1.
If you want fluffy mysteries, Donna Andrews “Meg Langslow series” is amazing. Her latest book, “Lark, the Herald Angels sing” concludes with a VERY powerful and hilarious scene of women uniting and succeeding where the menfolk failed.
Metzger’s Dog is an all time favorite.
Metzger’s dog is actually one of the best books I have ever read! Thomas Perry usually writes a heavier mystery, but this book is just delightful!
There’s a really great audible audio book of Metzger’s dog, I relisten every few years.
Jonathan Howard’s Necromancer series (Johann Cabal). Well written and hilarious too. Have you read Richard Kadrey yet? Sandman Slim series + others. But talk about fight scenes!!! Do you read JD Robb’s (Nora Roberts) In Death series? Always entertaining, easy, quick reads and good for some laughs too. Also some pretty good hand to hand fighting. That’s 3! Happy Holidays! And if I may, thanks again for Magic Triumphs this year. Fabulous wrap up for Kate.
I can really recommend The Skull Mantra by Eliot Patterson. It is a murder mystery set in Tibet. I love a story which offers a different world view and the author presents the beauty and brutality of modern day Tibet in a way that is both powerful and spiritual. This is the first in the series but the series lost it’s pull for me by around book 4. I may revisit one day
I like Dianne duvall’s immortal guardian series. It’s a good mix of humor and action. Every book has a different couple with their HEA and a main story arc.
1) I would recommend, “The Sun Sword” series by Michelle Sagara West. To me, it’s like an epic Japanese screen painting. Captivating in its entirety and stunningly precise and immediate in its details.
2) The “Vorkosigan Saga” by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. I read it in the chronological order starting with “Cordelia’s Honor” without having a clue about so called space operas. And then .. Miles Vorkosigan exploded to life and that was an unforgettable introduction.
3) When I am in a bonbon kind of mood, I read Georgette Heyer and Shelly Laurenston. Heyer’s regencies are a sheer delight. Shelly’s shapeshifter series is laugh out loud, unashamedly hot and has female characters ranging from nerds, bikers, fashionistas to car racing hillbillies.
This comment makes me want to give The Sun Sword another try. I love Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra series so I bought The Broken Crown as well, but haven’t been able to get past the first couple of chapters. It’s not holding my attention the same way.
You might try starting with either the House War books (vol.1 the Hidden City), or the Sacred Hunt duology. Either of those is a better intro to the Essalieyan Series, which is made up of The Sacred Hunt duology, The Sun Sword series, and The House War series.
The House War books are most similar to the Chronicles of Elantra.
The Essalieyan series’ timeline (Not publication order) begins with The Hidden City and Sacred Hunt duology anyway. Despite being published earlier, the Sun Sword series doesn’t begin until after both House War vol. 3 House Name and the Sacred Hunt duology.
And yeah, I really love reading (& rereading) Michelle Sagara/West’s books!
Definately the Vorkosigan Series. My favorite is “A Civil Campaign” I haven’t read the Sun Sword series but like Katy, I love the Chronicles of Elantra. The world building, the mystery of Kaylin’s ablilities, and the twists in the stories are wonderful.
The Vorkosigan books are among my favourites- exceptional character building, brilliant observation, and a very clear understanding of how people tick.
I keep reading the Elantra books, but really wish that Kaylin’s character would show some growth. She’s kind of stuck as a particularly truculent teenager.
I love both Michelle Sagara and Lois McMaster Bujold, but am I the only one who read Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, and thought, “I think I missed a plot point at some point in the series?”
Has anyone mentioned Maria V. Snyder’s Study Series, or J.V. Jones’ The Barbed Coil? Worth a read!
Georgette Heyer is the standard by which I judge all period romances. I don’t care about sex scenes — I lump them with battle scenes under “things I care about only if I’m doing them,” and skim them to get to the end — but great characters, great writing, and some actual historical accuracy are required.
One thing about Georgette Heyer is that a lot of authors cite her as a favorite, and sometimes give her shout-outs in their books. I’m not just talking about romance authors, either; I’m talking about bestselling mystery and fantasy authors, including at least a few named in these posts.
Kelley Armstrong she has 3 Amazing Series in which I devour the books as soon as they come out.
1. Otherworld series. 13 books in the series. It is done now. It’s categorized in horror. Started off as a werewolf series but she introduced witches, demons and angels. She spent 4 books building this incredible world and then in the 5 book Haunted she added a whole new dimension that was just incredible. Haunted is still my favorite book in the series. I love how well developed the characters are and Kelley Armstrong stays true to her characters. The way she writes them and how they react stays genuine throughout the series. It’s a very rich and finely crafted world.
2. Rockton series. When people need to disappear they go to Rockton. You can’t find it on a map, you only find out about Rockton by word of mouth, and you need to apply to get in. If you do, you have to walk away from your life. There’s no internet and no cell phones. Totally off the grid. The main character Casey isn’t a good candidate for the town. She murdered someone when she was 18 and was never caught. She’s now a homicide detective and her best friend is in an abusive relationship. It’s her BFF who wants to go to Rockton but they won’t take her without Casey because Rockton has had its first murder and they need someone with Casey’s experience to solve it. I thought this would be a good murder mystery but it’s even better than I though. There’s something more going on in Rockton and the readers find out more about what’s happening with each book in the series. There are currently 3 books in the series with the fourth coming out in February and I can’t wait to read it. It’s a really interesting premise and the way Rockton and the conditions there are described are so well done I feel as if I’m living there when I’m reading about the town. Plus actual mystery and the interaction between Casey and the sheriff of Rockton is great.
3. Cainsville series. A wealthy young woman Olivia just finds out that she’s actually adopted and is the child of serial killers. Let the media frenzy begin. Olivia wants to hide out from the press and ends up in the town of Cainsville. There she tries to find out the truth of her parents and their crimes. Olivia starts working with her mother’s lawyer Gabriel. Gabriel is a very interesting character. He probably has the most growth throughout the series. Also his and Olivia’s relationship is very interesting. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to spoil the series but I highly recommend this one. I read all these books in a day as soon as they were released. There’s also a hot biker character Ricky in the series. Olivia, Gabriel, and Ricky eventually form a very tight friendship. It gets tested throughout the series by romance, unrequited feelings, and deceptions. Through it all they all remain loyal to each other. The way their relationships develop both romantic and platonic is incredible. I got my payoff in the fifth and final book of the series and it was so worth it. It couldn’t have happened any earlier in the series as there was growth that was required by all of the characters to occur for that ending. I really love this series. There’s also a fae aspect to this series that’s woven throughout all 5 books. When you see something written in italics it’s part of the larger ongoing mystery. You can choose to either look it up on your own or wait for the mystery to be explained.
I know the rule is for 3 recommendations but I have to give a fourth. Altar of Bones by Philip Carter. Philip Carter is a pseudonym for an internationally known author. The book reads like an adventure movie. I felt like I was watching a movie as I read this book. It has flashbacks to Marylin Monroe and JFK’s relationship. It informs the main story but most of the book takes place in the present. The book starts off with a son hearing his father’s deathbed confession “they didn’t have to kill him, he never drank from the altar of bones…” and the book takes off and doesn’t stop. This is one of my favorite books. I highly recommend it and guarantee I will get thanked by whomever takes me up on this one.
Happy reading ?
These are same amazing recommendations! I think I’ve discovered a few for my own list ?.
I would like to recommend: the Protector of the Small series by Tamara Pierce. It’s the story of a girl who wants to become a lady knight after ten long years once the initial proclamation allowing for young women to try for their knighthood. I don’t know if you’ve read the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce, but this series takes place in the same world.
Keladry, the main character, of all the books I’ve read is the one character who I would describe as truly noble. That’s not to say she doesn’t have her flaws, but the way Keladry works at them, faces them the way we all should face our fears and faults, is what makes her brave. She has the moral courage to always take the right action despite the consequences and when she fails (as humans are inevitably set up to do) she picks herself right back up and tries again.
She’s a very solid character, and being the lone girl among her male year mates, sets her up to go through certain troubles that are very realistic to how the world is today.
Tamora Pierce builds her supporting cast just as admirably well and best part of her series are the animals who become part of the family!!! The author is a master world builder, and doesn’t limit herself to only humans as beings who can make a difference.
I truly hope you give this series a try!
I felt the need to add: the series has a really interesting magic system! It’s woven throughout flawlessly, and the series begins with Keladry as a young girl and ends as her with a young woman (18). It’s incredible to see her grow and truly come to her own, especially in her own unique role.
+ 1
Well said.
Alana books are great too.
Kel and Alanna’s books are great, but I like the Circle series better. Especially Tris.
+1000 to all Tortall books by Tamora Pierce. Keladry IS my favorite, but since I’ve been reading Pierce since Alanna: The First Adventure came out when I was 12, I say read them in publication order. This is my policy anyway, but you get to watch not only Pierce’s characters grow through each of their series, but also her personal growth as an author.
Mercy Thompson serie by Patricia Briggs.
Love this series, who would have thought that a coyote could be so clever and I love how she wrote the alpha wolf’s phone number on her junked car and wrote “for a good time call..” very cleverly written with laugh out loud moments, moments that make me smile and, of course the drama/mystery together with a cast of great supporting characters. Can’t wait for the next one which is already pre-ordered.
If you like this series, try Anne Bishop and her “Other” series which is though provoking, interesting, again great supporting cast that can stand on their own in the story. Sometimes I wonder how it will tie in, always it is interesting.
+1
Humorous: Mercy is almost as funny/witty/snarky as Kate in a mood …
Fun read!
Really interesting and admirable characters with interesting development.
I like to try books from new, indie authors with less than 50 reviews. I recently read this awesome science fiction book called Renee by Jessica Eise. It’s the first in a series called Reborn (and available on Kindle Unlimited.) I highly recommend it! Here’s a quick overview:
On a brisk fall morning while out for a jog, Renee blacks out and disappears without a trace. One millennium in the future, a team of scientists stare in horror at the bloodied corpse that materializes in their lab. Breaking the trance, an assistant darts forward to scan the body’s oxygen levels. “It’s alive!” she yells desperately. Stunned by their discovery, the team fights to keep her alive. Yet their fragile guest begins to awaken genetic memories they had long forgotten, setting in motion an unstoppable chain of events.
Ooh, like the sound of this. Will be looking for it.
You are super brave. Every time I have tried one of the “new, indie” authors on KindleUnlimited, I have gotten a pile of pure, heaping, crap. After reading one book that combined werewolves, mating rape, Nazis, a gypsy curse, multiple uses of “not my first rodeo,” and a cliché in every. single. paragraph*., I was done. The sad part was, that had fabulous reviews. I use KindleUnlimited now to read the free tastes from less indie authors with actual editors.
*oddly, I finished this one. It was so incredibly bad that it woke the rubbernecker in me. I just kept wondering how it was possible to be so incredibly, perfectly, clichéd in every way.
It’s got 4.32 out of 5 on Goodreads. Enough for me to add it to my reading list.
I agree with you about kindle unlimited. Goodreads is just so much blah!
I am trying to find good books on kindle unlimited due to my new year budgeting attempt.
Any suggestions are welcome
.
1. Non fiction: This is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay.
Adam Kay is a obs and gynaecologist doctor turned scriptwriter. When he decided to give up his job as a uk NHS doctor he went through all his medical diaries and turned it into this memoir. Interesting, frequently funny and super metimes sad observations on people, doctors and the NHS.
I don’t think the NHS context would cause issues for US readers.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Broken Lands trilogy by TA WHITE, Pathfinders Way is book 1. Not quite sure of the genre, fantasy romance probably but more focused on the fantasy, with an interesting lead female character.
That should say ‘sometimes sad’
3. Mike Carey’s Felix Caster novels are a great UK based urban fantasy series. The lead character, Felix Castor, is a reluctant freelance exorcist working in a London where a supernatural shift has caused an upsurge in paranormal activity. Great series.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley – this book is comfort food for me. An unusual take on magic, the supernatural, and (of course) baking amazing cinnamon rolls!
+1 to all the other recs for SuperPowereds by Drew Hayes. I stalked that blog for several years 🙂
Sunshine is great, anything by Robin McKinley is going to be a treat.
+1
+1, especially Sunshine
(Though I might say “almost anything”: Deerskin needs a trigger warning. It’s much darker than her usual.)
+1 on Deerskin. I’m glad I read it once, but I won’t read it again. And I’m sorry to say I never read it through The Outlaws Of Sherwood, which was not graphic at all, but was uncharacteristically tedious. Dragonhaven is not necessarily the best introduction to her work either, because the voice of a teenaged boy seems to be a little bit of a stretch for her. That still leaves plenty of titles, and I’d have a hard time picking a favorite because I’ve read them all multiple times, and Sunshine is simply superb.
I love Sunshine. The only bad about the book is it is calling out for a sequel and there is not one. Not likely to be one either, the author says life has loose ends and it is ok for this novel to have loose ends also. To be fair she was bugged for years about a sequel, and one fan even went through the book and cataloged all the loose ends.
Oy. I have to agree with her about life having loose ends. Fiction doesn’t have to be rid up with a pretty little bow. While I would be first in line if she did write a sequel – it’s a great book – I wish readers would check their entitlement. Considering that very few authors make more than a tolerable living, if that, a good book is a gift horse that should not be looked in the mouth.
Tied up. TIED up, auto corrupt!
For something completely different:
Dorothy Dunnett : Lymond Chronicles. Set in mid-16th-century Europe and the Mediterranean area, the series tells the story of a young Scottish nobleman, Francis Crawford of Lymond, from 1547 through 1558. The huge cast of characters are wonderfully developed.
Robin McKinley: Sunshine. One of my all time favorites. Paranormal.
And for a wonderful blog: https://www.facebook.com/peterandjaneandmummytoo/ about raising children and running a family
I have many favorites but if we are talking about an author and their blog then a good one is Mark Henwicks blog.
I’m a little late to this so, sorry if I am mentioning a repeat. I’ve looked through several pages and have not seen Mark mentioned.
He has 2 series “The Athanate Series” and “A Name Among the Stars”.
His blog serializes his 2nd series (2 books in) and it’s a great Sci-fi with incredible world building.
It’s a mystery with everything from spaceships, deposed heiresses, a sort of Alien/Welsh coastal culture, AI, and aliens.
K.B. Spangler – the Rachel Peng series, and Stoneskin, the prequel to the Deep Witches Trilogy. Well written, excellent tight world building.
Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher – the Clocktaur Boys duology and Orcus in Summer. Because excellent.
On K.B. Spangler, the Peng books are a side story to her running blog “A Girl and her Fed”. It’s updated twice a week. https://www.agirlandherfed.com
“All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault” by James Alan Gardner, and it’s recently released sequel “They Promised Me The Gun Wasn’t Loaded”. In one of many parallel worlds with superheroes and supervillains four college students stumble into a the middle of evil goings-on and gain superpowers. Idiosyncratic ones. And they work through the problems to successfully thwart the evil genius’s plot, while not making serious enemies of the various other entities around.
At the end of the story one character muses that a main reason for being masked is so they can’t be sued for the damages incurred during their heroics.
The second book has a different member of the quartet as it’s focus.
I already posted my recommendations but I have two more and they’re both by Rachel Cain
1. Stillhouse Lake. Gwen discovers she’s married to a serial killer and her world falls apart. Years later she and her kids have new identities but someone has discovered who they are and leaks it to the press. There’s two books in the series with the third and final coming out this year. It’s a great series and very intense. Gwen is still trying to come to terms with how she could have lived so long with her husband and not have known who he really was. All the while she’s a mamma bear who’s focused on protecting her kids. It’s an amazing series. I highly recommend it.
2. The Weather Wardens. There’s people on earth who can control the weather with the aid of Djinn. The Djinn are essentially enslaved to the weather wardens and the series tackles that issue. Joanne is a weather warden and David is a Djinn. The two get romantically involved while working to save the world. There’s a twist in the ending of the first book. A few of the books end on cliffhangers but since the series is done (10 books) you don’t need to wait to find out what happens next like I did.
Enjoy ?
I read and watch the news, nobody author can compete with the headlines.
just drop the body out of “nobody”
Truth, but some of us need occasional relief from the news.
I truly loved Martha Wells’ Murderbot novellas, starting with “All Systems Red” and ending this year with “Exit Strategy”. They’re character-based sci-fi from the perspective of a crabby, misanthropic semi-organic security bot who would rather be watching soaps than protecting humans and following the rules.
Anything by Janet Edwards my favorite is the Earth Girl series but love the other series or books almost as much. My other favorite book is the Touchstone trilogy by Andrea K. Host.
I humbly recommend my own nonfiction blog, which I co-write with a dear friend. It’s called The Botanist in the Kitchen ( https://botanistinthekitchen.blog) and is full of biological explainers of the food we eat.
Charlie Rhodes mystery series by Amanda M. Lee. They’re quick reads and pretty light, which sometimes you need. The group dynamics are great and poor Charlie has so much growing up to do. Charlie and her coworkers hunt for proof of the supernatural. Cryptozoology.
The City Between series by W. R. Gingell. I adore Pet. She’s spunky and so wise in her own weird way. The only beings not confused by Pet are pure evil. Oh, the books are about her adeventures with her “owners” dealing with this world and between.
Kate Danley Maggie McKay series. Maggie is a paranormal bounty hunter who can walk between worlds. Her family and friends try to help her out with various degrees of success. These books are always filled with plenty of light moments and Maggie is a trip. ( Who should probably take up yoga).
I loved Gingell’s Masque, and liked several others. I just read the first City Between novel, and it’s quite unique, but I think I love it, too.
I read Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw, and it was such a perfect little book. It’s a mystery and an adventure, set in modern London, and the main character is a doctor for supernatural beings – mummies, banshees, whatever. The author gets being a doctor SO. RIGHT. I also very much enjoyed all of the characters in the book that she interacts with.
I enjoyed Strange Practice for a while, but it has a definite horror aspect to it that gradually crossed my ick threshold which is admittedly pretty low.
SPOILER!
The bad guys are basically dying of radiation poisoning and the descriptions were too graphic for me. That aspect of the story didn’t match the overall story IMO.
I’ve seen a lot of names and titles I recognize go by, but I feel surprised not to have seen mention of Patricia Wrede. While the Enchanted Forest books are a fun, loose romp, the somewhat darker books like Raven’s Ring, Caught in Crystal, and the rest of that series (not remembering a series title, here,) is a good (often fast) read. And there are a couple of times, even on a re-read, that I know if I *don’t* finish the book, I’m not going to sleep that night.. (It’s not horror, it’s just.. creepy.)
While I’d also like to pile on some of my favorite authors that have been mentioned, well, they’ve already been mentioned. So onto something that seems like it hasn’t gotten a lot of love in this thread, non-fiction.
So recently, I just finished Richard Preston’s “First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe” which is a history-of-science type book. Preston’s acting as a reporter, spending time in the observatory with the astronomers as they’re using the Hale 200″ telescope to find quasars, what they are, where they are, and why. It’s also a bio of the various people involved, including the telescope operator/mechanic, and a history of the telescope itself.
But there are a bunch that fall loosely into “history of science” that are good for us non-scientists. “Napoleon’s Buttons”, “The Disappearing Spoon”, “Periodic Tales”..
And I keep waiting for Derek Lowe’s book on chemistry (much of it, “things I won’t work with” inspired,) but has a sometimes interesting blog on chemistry, organic chemistry, drug-discovery, and so on. https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/
What an unusual reaction to Patricia Wrede! Almost everything by her is among my “comfort reads”, with the exception of a couple of the Lyra books (the series name you didn’t know).
If you don’t mind a non-speculative fiction recommendation, I highly recommend the Kat Shugak series by Dana Stabenow ( or her Liam &Wy series set in the same area). They are murder mysteries set in Alaska. The protagonist is a Native American woman who lives in a small town surrounded by a National Park. Lots of humor and romance with the mysteries. Fully fleshed out characters (and some them are truly characters!), and the authors descriptions of the Alaska wilderness make you feel like you are there. I highly recommend!
+1 Dana Stabenow is very supportive of new writers too – check out her Storyknife initiative.
Lindsay Buroker is a favorite of mine. Her Emperor’s Edge series is more band of misfits battling the status quo for the good of the kingdom. Fallen Empire is more space opera with an interesting riff on cyborgs. Sky Full of Stars is a spinoff to Fallen Empire with the younger generation’s adventures. Her new series, Agents of the Crown, is set in a universe where magic applies at the end of a war between humans and fae. Her books have tons of adventure, some extremely slow-burning romance and – important for me – some very hilarious moments.
I like to pick up a Linda Howard book. The Woman Left Behind really just grabbed me. Her stories are very interesting with strong women characters.
+1, agree!
One action series I adore is Mark Greaney’s “The Gray Man” series based on the character Courtland Gentry. Court is an amazing lone assassin with a conscience who was in the CIA but is now outrunning a shoot-on-site sanction on him. The books go all over the world and tell all sorts of stories. And the narrator for Audible does an incredible job bringing the characters to life if you do audiobooks! It’s fast-paced, keeps you entertained, and brings a twist in the end of each book I don’t usually guess. Each book can be read on its own, but it’s fun to read the series from the start.
Another series is the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker. Parker has other series and they’re pretty good, too, but Spenser’s stories are my fave. (The author that’s taken over since Parker’s death has stayed true to Spenser’s voice.) Spenser is a PI that gets involved in various cases and has an interesting and eclectic cast of characters in his orbit…not all of them are friends! I love the twists and turns his stories take, and the surprising endings!
1st_old school, or I should say one of the best authors in science fiction and amazing female forerunners…Jo Clayton.
It’s sci-fi because it’s set on other worlds, and it’s urban because magic can and does exist everywhere. Patricia Jo Clayton was prolific, and her Diadem to the Stars series also has spin offs. Very strong female lead, the world building is superb and it opens your mind to wonders, – it’s about a girl that is alone and faces the hardships that entails in a violent universe. It’s about moving forward, fighting for your path, what motivates any sentient being, and survival. How can you be kind in a space that isn’t?
2nd_the Hunter Kiss series by Marjorie M. Liu
Sadly there are only 5 books to the series but you can see the next series just shining like a star, winking and tantalizing. Maxine Kiss is a demon hunter/ prison guard , kick ass fighter and deep thinker. Kate would like her. The dialogue is smart, smart, smart; the world building is extraordinary and the violence quick and brutish. Like Kate, Maxine starts out thinking life holds little for her, only to find love and family.
3rd_ early CJ Cherryh, pre 2000ish. She is still writing but the early stuff is unbeatable. Sci-fi at it’s best, with a lot of space ships, tech wizardry, and inter-species relationships (in every sense of the word). My favorite is the multi-author series Merovingen Nights, but another 4 are hard followers.
Another author I would add is Anne Bishop, especially her Others series.
Of course I’m a Nalini Singh fan. What’s great is she’s in the process of writing a straight up thriller so that’s something to look forward to.
Recommend Kelley Armstrong as above. Especially her Phoenix duet.
Sci fi wise, Michael C Grumley has a series that starts with Breakthrough and has three more after. With one coming. I was surprised at how intense these books are. Based on our time, on Earth but encompasses a wide range of topics wihout confusing you or leaving the reader behind.
For laughs, I read anything by Pippa Grant. Yes there’s language and easy sex scenes but the humor is def worth a look. And I won’t turn someone out for writing sex lol. The Pilot and The Puckup is hilarious and I’m not even a hockey fan (there’s only oblique references to the game) and she peels her characters back in an affectionate way so that you’re able to understand their motives. And I’m sorry but when you’re playing hockey with a rubber chicken or golfing at a drone, it’s tough not to laugh.
I scrolled and didn’t see these, sorry if they’ve been suggested already:
1- mystery:
Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series. Words are not enough to describe my love for this series. Charlotte Holmes was a breath of fresh air. She’s brilliant. Her world is interesting. The secondary characters are extremely well written and fully fleshed. The mystery had me guessing until the very end of each book. The romance is a slowwwww burn (she’s up to book 4 now). And Charlotte’s beautiful mind is fascinating.
After anything new released by you guys, this is the series I most anticipate reading.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35009017-a-study-in-scarlet-women
2- historical romance:
I discovered Courtney Milan this year and have been reading, among others, the Brother Sinister series. I love how strong all the heroines are and I walk away feeling empowered after reading each of these books.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13489919-the-duchess-war
3) contemporary romance:
This one’s tough. I’ve loved so many books this year that it’s hard to narrow it down to only one. In the end, I decided to go with the one that i learned the most from: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. There’s a lot about Indian culture here that I knew nothing about and laughed my ass off for large portions of it. The middle dragged a bit, but overall, I really enjoyed this book about the arranged marriage of two modern Indian Americans.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28458598-when-dimple-met-rishi
Can i cheat and recommend a fourth that I think you guys might really enjoy? The Poppy War by RF Kuang. It’s a little bit wuxia, a whole lot of f bombs, extremely bloody, and really different from anything I’ve ever read. It reminded me of the HK, Chinese, and Taiwanese dramas I grew up watching, but with a shitload more gore and a history lesson (rape of Nanjing) thrown in. It also features an anti-heroine who, at the end of the book, is standing on the precipice of greatness/evil. I’m both looking forward to and dreading the next book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36444163-the-poppy-war
I endorse Brothers Sinister. It is the most consistently great series I have read with 5, 4.5, 5 and 5 stars. Chapter 3 of the Duchess War is awesomely good.
You might like Alisha Rai’s contemporary romances. Hate to Want You is very good.
1. Empire of Man series by David Weber and John Ringo. The series starts with March to the Sea and ends with We Few. As you can tell by the titles, it is a militaristic tale of the stranded spoiled prince who is protected by a group of Marines whose sole goal is to get him safely home to the Empress (Mother). They are stranded on a primitive planet and the way home is on the other side of the planet that has monstrous beasts and plants and hostile tribes in their path. The Marines wage a bloody battle across the planet to get their charge home .
2. The Baba Yaga series by Deborah Blake. This series follows the modern Baba Yagas and their familiar who answer the call and are assisted by the Riders (males with supernatural abilities). The first story is Wickedly Magical and instead of a teapot for a house, the Baba Yaga travels in an Airstream (RV trailer) that is more than it seems. The series is a unique twist on an old tale.
3. The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. This series follows the adventures of Atticus, the last Druid and his sidekick Oberon, a wolfhound. The books cover many pantheons from the Celts Morrigan and Brighid, to the Norse with Odin and Hel to the Greeks Diana and Artemis. Kevin Hearne does a wonderful job building this world and stories, also including werewolves , vampires and FAE.
Empire of Man is great. Anyone who loves it should also read the Belisarius series by David Drake.
New readers of Iron Druid should beware. It is great at the start, but tails off badly at the end.
I have to agree about the ending of Iron Druid, but the first books in the series are wonderful.
+1, Empire of Man
+1 for Empire of Man