Operation "Fifty in Twelve": March Round-Up
Funny. I thought I was even more late than in March with last month's reading round-up but apparently, I posted the February round-up on March 6, so exactly a month ago. Figure that.
Anyway, here we go. March reading was excessive, mostly because I read or reread lots of short romances and went light on the heavy non-fiction stuff (which usually takes me longer to read than fiction). At least that gave me a bit of a lead on the tally so I can "afford" slower months (like April might be shaping up to be, but that's okay). Or months when I run out of things to read and have to turn to stuff that's been on my bedside table for ages. Which will be slow reading. But okay, let's just get on with it.
It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing To America, David Cay Johnson
When I heard about this for the first time, it sounded very much like a grown-up, policy-focused version of Fire and Fury which, for a policy wonk (that's what Hillary says people like me like to call ourselves :D) like me, is like honey for a bear. So I ordered it and the wait was mostly worth it. It's full of numbers, as Johnson is a seasoned investigative journalist who has been following Trump for at least twenty years. Johnson knows his stuff, and he's a good writer. My only complaint is that he could have spent more time on taking apart the Trump Admin's failures in security and foreign policy but that's probably just me because that is my main area of expertise (hahahahahaha, expertise, she said...). He does an awesome job at environmental policy, trade, social issues and labor issues so definitely pick this up. For a non-fiction book focused on policy, it's a short (and honestly, terrifying) read and it's obvious that Johnson knows what he's doing. If you want a first in-depth, chilling look into just how good the Trump Admin is at screwing over their base - and the rest of the country, while they're at it - this is the book for you.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Night Maneuvers, Jillian Burns
Yep, a romance. This time, contemporary and military (that's the other subgenre I mostly read: contemporary military romance. If I ever do write a PhD thesis, it will have to include contemporary military romance, just so I can a read a ton more of them, telling everyone "It's for science!"), one of my all-time favorites. I honestly have no idea of how often I have read it by now. My edition is one of those stereotypical cheap Harlequin (yes, it's a bonafide Harlequin romance, sue me) paperbacks, and it has basically every trope I love in that subgenre: protagonists who are both soldiers (Airmen, actually, if we're being nitpicky), fast planes, (best) friends to lovers, slice of life... I love this book. It's not great literature, doesn't even have all the danger and special forces excitement most of the other books in the genre have but maybe that's the appeal: it's just two flawed people - he's a womanizing Casanova, deeply hurt by his childhood with an alcoholic mother and a messy divorce, she's secretly been in love with him for twelve years and is fed up with her role as "one of the boys" - realizing they mean more to each other than they let themselves believe, working through it and getting their happy ending (seriously, if you just wanted to shout "SPOILER!" you have never read a Harlequin romance in your entire life, huh?). Awww!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Bloodline, Claudia Gray
The second Leia book by Claudia Gray I read (the first one was Leia: Princess of Alderaan) and I admit: I mostly bought it because I wanted to read more of Amilyn Holdo (remember her? She was that badass naval officer who jumped through a ship in The Last Jedi? She has a prominent role in Princess of Alderaan, now all go and read that book) only to realize a halfway through that this was written before Princess of Alderaan. Doesn't make it a bad book, though. Instead it's a really good Star Wars book. I still miss the Legacy EU but at least a few books from the "new" EU are worth the read (Princess of Alderaan, Lost Stars, Battlefront: Twilight Company, the Rogue One novelization - some day, I will return to wax poetic about the perfection that is Alexander Freed's writing in-depth and in length. I refuse to buy anything by Chuck Wendig, though, because everything Star Wars I read from it up to now reads like really bad fanfic, and I sure as hell am not going to pay for that), and this is one of them. It's a highly political book - probably the most political Star Wars book I ever read - but that's part of what makes it so good. It raises questions about democracy in partisan-leaning systems teetering on the brink of drifting into autocracy (it was kinda chilling to read that because it had almost too many shades of reality), party loyalty vs. integrity, right decisions vs. easy decisions, the question of when peaceful political resistance needs to change into violent resistance against autocracy... Also, it has underwater stations, speeder chases and dogfights. Perfect combination, if you ask me.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
Until There Was You, Jessica Scott
Jessica Scott is a goddess among romance authors, I will figh you on this. She is, in fact, an active-duty officer in the US Army, currently serving as instructor at USMA (that's West Point for those of you who can't make anything of acronyms), and she writes about ordinary soldiers like no one else in the romance community. With Scott, there's no fancy shmancy special forces stuff, no suspense, no high-risk missions (don't get me wrong, I love those, too but once in a while, a girl likes to read something that doesn't involve SEALs). There's the nitty-gritty of day to day Army operations in the trenches of company command, with Brigade Command never getting off your back about getting rid of the low performers, drug addicts, alcoholics, the Article 15s, wife beaters and sexual abusers while trying your best to separate those who really have to kick out from those who need help... Scott's characters are flawed but honest, hard-working people just trying to make a living in an Army stretched out too thin between deployments at the height of the surge (that's 2008/2009, BTW) who actually talk like soldiers talk (so, if you're offended by swearing: not the books you're looking for), which is pretty rare in romance. This is my favorite Scott book, and I will always be eternally grateful to mackenziesmomma for making it possible for me to obtain it (apparently, you can't get it with a German delivery address as it's only sold in the US. On fucking Kindle) because it is just. So. Good. It has two protagonists who have known each other for a few years and who have a lot of professional antagonism go on between them (yes, I'm a sucker for the love/hate trope, sue me. I also love the Battle Couple trope, and those two are a prime Battle Couple ), who are both scarred inside and outside and who still manage to get their happy ending despite everything. Also, scorching hot sex scenes. Trust me, this really is a good one.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
It's Always Been You, Jessica Scott
Yes, another Scott, taking place in the same 'verse as Until There Was You, only a couple months later. It's my second favorite one, and after re-reading Until There Was You for the n-th time, I felt a hankering for another one without SEALs (yes, I have a thing for SEAL romances. Mostly that I'm really, really, really tired of them and would rather read anything featuring the fucking uniformed branch of the Public Health Service than another SEAL romance) and turned to re-read this one. It's not quite up on par with Until There Was You in my heart but it's definitely still an outstanding book. Its main line of conflict comes from the protagonists - one newly minted company commander in a combat unit who had no desire ever to command again after getting seriously wounded in Iraq and one military lawyer tasked with untangling a mess of malfeseance, bad conduct and low performance - trying to figure out what drives a dutiful, devoted NCO to violent outbreaks, which doesn't sound very exciting but touches on difficult issues of soldier care, spousal abuse, op tempo, an Army having to juggle several wars at once and it really does make a difference if military romance is written by civilians or someone who's actually been there. If you want to go for military romance, go for Jessica Scott before you go for anyone else. Seriously.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
Strike Fast, Kaylea Cross
This isn't strictly military romance, but it takes place in the greater realm of let's call it government agency romance, as it features DEA agents. I started reading Cross with her Bagram Special Ops series about US Air Force Pararescue Jumpers (funny enough, she actually put a reference to one of the Bagram Special Ops characters in Strike Fast, so, apparently, same 'verse) which I liked (yeah, special forces but NO SEALS AHAAAAAAA!) but I wasn't really interested in her other government agencies stuff (she also has a series about a group of FBI HRT agents). This one perked my interest because the female protagonist is a helicopter pilot and you literally can sell me anything with helicopters in it and I will read it. In the end it was... okay. Sadly, not on par with Bagram Special Ops but entertaining. I would have wished for a longer read and a more extensive plot (some stuff felt pretty rushed) but it had one thing that definitely sets Cross apart from the rest: parts of the story from the antagonist's point of view. That's rare, and she does it pretty well. The romance itself was a little... fast (I like my courtships to be longer. Not a big fan of "love at first sight" type of stories) and it felt a little haphazard. She can do better than this, honestly.
Rating: * * */* * * * *
Never Surrender, Kaylea Cross
And while we're on the subject of Bagram Special Ops, have this novella. It's a collaboration between Kaylea Cross and Liliana Hart (basically, Cross wrote it and Hart provided the setting and some supporting characters). I like collaborations, because they offer the chance to get to know a new author and maybe expand one's reading radius, and I liked this one because it features my probably favorite couple from the Bagram series, back on US soil as the protagonists and has the rest as supporting cast as they prepare for the wedding for one of their own. It's fast paced, laced with some hot sex and has a really unusual adversary for suspense/military romance - white male Americans on a quest to "punish" the government (you know, the militia "Don't Tread On Me" kind). It's pretty short - that's kind of the point of novellas, though, so I don't mind - with a much more balanced and better paced plot than Strike Fast. I also like how she tackles what romance novels by definition leave out - the after in the happy ever after. Her protagonists have been married for a while, and there are some serious questions about reenlistment vs. getting out, starting a family, figuring out where to go next, underlying conflicts between partners that need to be addressed, that kind of thing. She balances that well with the plot in this one, and I like her solution to it, so yeah, she really can do better.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
A Rogue of Her Own, Grace Burrowes
Yo, we're back to the Regency romances. I discovered Burrowes just last year, through The Trouble With Dukes, the first book of the Windham Brides series. This is the fourth and last, and I think it's my favorite. I wasn't conviced I was going to like it, and mostly ordered it because I can't stand starting a series and not finishing it but I was pleasantly surprised. The protagonists are a little... brittle as they both tend to be sarcastic, even cynical at times, having built a shell around themselves after years of not really fitting in society. I especially love the female protagonist because she's a fierce advocate of female independence, and has made it her life's work to help unmarried working women who became pregnant and have nowhere else to go, and I like the male protagonist because he doesn't even try to change her way but actually admires her for the way she treats men who think they can treat women as property. This is a book that shows that yes, even Regency romance can be feminist romance, even without having to resort to anachronistic writing. Burrowes also has a way of writing with wry humor, and she has a gift for dialogues that almost rivals Suzanne Enoch and Julia Quinn. I'm glad I discovered her books!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Blue-Eyed Devil, Lisa Kleypas
Last one, and a rare one (for me, anyway). It's contemporary romance, but not military. It's Texas Oil Millionaires, and usually, I don't care for that genre. It's Lisa Kleypas, though, and I bought it years ago because I liked her Wallflowers series and wanted to give contemporary romance a chance. I re-read it because it fell into my hands while I was looking for something to read that I didn't have to buy first and it's been a couple years since I read it first. It's... okay. It tackles one issue that seldom makes it into romance novels - spousal abuse and the consequences for victims - and mostly, it tackles them fine. Knowing what I know now, though, I found a couple scenes between the female protagonist - daughter of an energy company millionaire who marries the wrong man and ends up in a three year abusive marriage before returning home and clawing her way out of her trauma - and her love interest - working class self-made millionaire who's her family's biggest rival - kinda borderline not okay (some do border on coercion though Kleypas manages to turn them around in the last moment). It's mostly okay for a contemporary romance in a subgenre I don't really care about but it wasn't interesting enough to make me care about it, so I'm a little "eh" on it. Kleypas definitely has better books than this one.
Rating: * * */* * * * *
Book count as of March 31: 20/50.
So what have you all been reading, if you had the time to read. Anyone got any books in their Easter baskets? Any recommendation for me (I'm trying to break the streak of romances but I just got a new one and have another waiting to arrive here...)? I also take good non-fiction stuff, so if you do have anything, knock yourselves out!
Anyway, here we go. March reading was excessive, mostly because I read or reread lots of short romances and went light on the heavy non-fiction stuff (which usually takes me longer to read than fiction). At least that gave me a bit of a lead on the tally so I can "afford" slower months (like April might be shaping up to be, but that's okay). Or months when I run out of things to read and have to turn to stuff that's been on my bedside table for ages. Which will be slow reading. But okay, let's just get on with it.
It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing To America, David Cay Johnson
When I heard about this for the first time, it sounded very much like a grown-up, policy-focused version of Fire and Fury which, for a policy wonk (that's what Hillary says people like me like to call ourselves :D) like me, is like honey for a bear. So I ordered it and the wait was mostly worth it. It's full of numbers, as Johnson is a seasoned investigative journalist who has been following Trump for at least twenty years. Johnson knows his stuff, and he's a good writer. My only complaint is that he could have spent more time on taking apart the Trump Admin's failures in security and foreign policy but that's probably just me because that is my main area of expertise (hahahahahaha, expertise, she said...). He does an awesome job at environmental policy, trade, social issues and labor issues so definitely pick this up. For a non-fiction book focused on policy, it's a short (and honestly, terrifying) read and it's obvious that Johnson knows what he's doing. If you want a first in-depth, chilling look into just how good the Trump Admin is at screwing over their base - and the rest of the country, while they're at it - this is the book for you.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Night Maneuvers, Jillian Burns
Yep, a romance. This time, contemporary and military (that's the other subgenre I mostly read: contemporary military romance. If I ever do write a PhD thesis, it will have to include contemporary military romance, just so I can a read a ton more of them, telling everyone "It's for science!"), one of my all-time favorites. I honestly have no idea of how often I have read it by now. My edition is one of those stereotypical cheap Harlequin (yes, it's a bonafide Harlequin romance, sue me) paperbacks, and it has basically every trope I love in that subgenre: protagonists who are both soldiers (Airmen, actually, if we're being nitpicky), fast planes, (best) friends to lovers, slice of life... I love this book. It's not great literature, doesn't even have all the danger and special forces excitement most of the other books in the genre have but maybe that's the appeal: it's just two flawed people - he's a womanizing Casanova, deeply hurt by his childhood with an alcoholic mother and a messy divorce, she's secretly been in love with him for twelve years and is fed up with her role as "one of the boys" - realizing they mean more to each other than they let themselves believe, working through it and getting their happy ending (seriously, if you just wanted to shout "SPOILER!" you have never read a Harlequin romance in your entire life, huh?). Awww!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Bloodline, Claudia Gray
The second Leia book by Claudia Gray I read (the first one was Leia: Princess of Alderaan) and I admit: I mostly bought it because I wanted to read more of Amilyn Holdo (remember her? She was that badass naval officer who jumped through a ship in The Last Jedi? She has a prominent role in Princess of Alderaan, now all go and read that book) only to realize a halfway through that this was written before Princess of Alderaan. Doesn't make it a bad book, though. Instead it's a really good Star Wars book. I still miss the Legacy EU but at least a few books from the "new" EU are worth the read (Princess of Alderaan, Lost Stars, Battlefront: Twilight Company, the Rogue One novelization - some day, I will return to wax poetic about the perfection that is Alexander Freed's writing in-depth and in length. I refuse to buy anything by Chuck Wendig, though, because everything Star Wars I read from it up to now reads like really bad fanfic, and I sure as hell am not going to pay for that), and this is one of them. It's a highly political book - probably the most political Star Wars book I ever read - but that's part of what makes it so good. It raises questions about democracy in partisan-leaning systems teetering on the brink of drifting into autocracy (it was kinda chilling to read that because it had almost too many shades of reality), party loyalty vs. integrity, right decisions vs. easy decisions, the question of when peaceful political resistance needs to change into violent resistance against autocracy... Also, it has underwater stations, speeder chases and dogfights. Perfect combination, if you ask me.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
Until There Was You, Jessica Scott
Jessica Scott is a goddess among romance authors, I will figh you on this. She is, in fact, an active-duty officer in the US Army, currently serving as instructor at USMA (that's West Point for those of you who can't make anything of acronyms), and she writes about ordinary soldiers like no one else in the romance community. With Scott, there's no fancy shmancy special forces stuff, no suspense, no high-risk missions (don't get me wrong, I love those, too but once in a while, a girl likes to read something that doesn't involve SEALs). There's the nitty-gritty of day to day Army operations in the trenches of company command, with Brigade Command never getting off your back about getting rid of the low performers, drug addicts, alcoholics, the Article 15s, wife beaters and sexual abusers while trying your best to separate those who really have to kick out from those who need help... Scott's characters are flawed but honest, hard-working people just trying to make a living in an Army stretched out too thin between deployments at the height of the surge (that's 2008/2009, BTW) who actually talk like soldiers talk (so, if you're offended by swearing: not the books you're looking for), which is pretty rare in romance. This is my favorite Scott book, and I will always be eternally grateful to mackenziesmomma for making it possible for me to obtain it (apparently, you can't get it with a German delivery address as it's only sold in the US. On fucking Kindle) because it is just. So. Good. It has two protagonists who have known each other for a few years and who have a lot of professional antagonism go on between them (yes, I'm a sucker for the love/hate trope, sue me. I also love the Battle Couple trope, and those two are a prime Battle Couple ), who are both scarred inside and outside and who still manage to get their happy ending despite everything. Also, scorching hot sex scenes. Trust me, this really is a good one.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
It's Always Been You, Jessica Scott
Yes, another Scott, taking place in the same 'verse as Until There Was You, only a couple months later. It's my second favorite one, and after re-reading Until There Was You for the n-th time, I felt a hankering for another one without SEALs (yes, I have a thing for SEAL romances. Mostly that I'm really, really, really tired of them and would rather read anything featuring the fucking uniformed branch of the Public Health Service than another SEAL romance) and turned to re-read this one. It's not quite up on par with Until There Was You in my heart but it's definitely still an outstanding book. Its main line of conflict comes from the protagonists - one newly minted company commander in a combat unit who had no desire ever to command again after getting seriously wounded in Iraq and one military lawyer tasked with untangling a mess of malfeseance, bad conduct and low performance - trying to figure out what drives a dutiful, devoted NCO to violent outbreaks, which doesn't sound very exciting but touches on difficult issues of soldier care, spousal abuse, op tempo, an Army having to juggle several wars at once and it really does make a difference if military romance is written by civilians or someone who's actually been there. If you want to go for military romance, go for Jessica Scott before you go for anyone else. Seriously.
Rating: * * * * */* * * * *
Strike Fast, Kaylea Cross
This isn't strictly military romance, but it takes place in the greater realm of let's call it government agency romance, as it features DEA agents. I started reading Cross with her Bagram Special Ops series about US Air Force Pararescue Jumpers (funny enough, she actually put a reference to one of the Bagram Special Ops characters in Strike Fast, so, apparently, same 'verse) which I liked (yeah, special forces but NO SEALS AHAAAAAAA!) but I wasn't really interested in her other government agencies stuff (she also has a series about a group of FBI HRT agents). This one perked my interest because the female protagonist is a helicopter pilot and you literally can sell me anything with helicopters in it and I will read it. In the end it was... okay. Sadly, not on par with Bagram Special Ops but entertaining. I would have wished for a longer read and a more extensive plot (some stuff felt pretty rushed) but it had one thing that definitely sets Cross apart from the rest: parts of the story from the antagonist's point of view. That's rare, and she does it pretty well. The romance itself was a little... fast (I like my courtships to be longer. Not a big fan of "love at first sight" type of stories) and it felt a little haphazard. She can do better than this, honestly.
Rating: * * */* * * * *
Never Surrender, Kaylea Cross
And while we're on the subject of Bagram Special Ops, have this novella. It's a collaboration between Kaylea Cross and Liliana Hart (basically, Cross wrote it and Hart provided the setting and some supporting characters). I like collaborations, because they offer the chance to get to know a new author and maybe expand one's reading radius, and I liked this one because it features my probably favorite couple from the Bagram series, back on US soil as the protagonists and has the rest as supporting cast as they prepare for the wedding for one of their own. It's fast paced, laced with some hot sex and has a really unusual adversary for suspense/military romance - white male Americans on a quest to "punish" the government (you know, the militia "Don't Tread On Me" kind). It's pretty short - that's kind of the point of novellas, though, so I don't mind - with a much more balanced and better paced plot than Strike Fast. I also like how she tackles what romance novels by definition leave out - the after in the happy ever after. Her protagonists have been married for a while, and there are some serious questions about reenlistment vs. getting out, starting a family, figuring out where to go next, underlying conflicts between partners that need to be addressed, that kind of thing. She balances that well with the plot in this one, and I like her solution to it, so yeah, she really can do better.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
A Rogue of Her Own, Grace Burrowes
Yo, we're back to the Regency romances. I discovered Burrowes just last year, through The Trouble With Dukes, the first book of the Windham Brides series. This is the fourth and last, and I think it's my favorite. I wasn't conviced I was going to like it, and mostly ordered it because I can't stand starting a series and not finishing it but I was pleasantly surprised. The protagonists are a little... brittle as they both tend to be sarcastic, even cynical at times, having built a shell around themselves after years of not really fitting in society. I especially love the female protagonist because she's a fierce advocate of female independence, and has made it her life's work to help unmarried working women who became pregnant and have nowhere else to go, and I like the male protagonist because he doesn't even try to change her way but actually admires her for the way she treats men who think they can treat women as property. This is a book that shows that yes, even Regency romance can be feminist romance, even without having to resort to anachronistic writing. Burrowes also has a way of writing with wry humor, and she has a gift for dialogues that almost rivals Suzanne Enoch and Julia Quinn. I'm glad I discovered her books!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Blue-Eyed Devil, Lisa Kleypas
Last one, and a rare one (for me, anyway). It's contemporary romance, but not military. It's Texas Oil Millionaires, and usually, I don't care for that genre. It's Lisa Kleypas, though, and I bought it years ago because I liked her Wallflowers series and wanted to give contemporary romance a chance. I re-read it because it fell into my hands while I was looking for something to read that I didn't have to buy first and it's been a couple years since I read it first. It's... okay. It tackles one issue that seldom makes it into romance novels - spousal abuse and the consequences for victims - and mostly, it tackles them fine. Knowing what I know now, though, I found a couple scenes between the female protagonist - daughter of an energy company millionaire who marries the wrong man and ends up in a three year abusive marriage before returning home and clawing her way out of her trauma - and her love interest - working class self-made millionaire who's her family's biggest rival - kinda borderline not okay (some do border on coercion though Kleypas manages to turn them around in the last moment). It's mostly okay for a contemporary romance in a subgenre I don't really care about but it wasn't interesting enough to make me care about it, so I'm a little "eh" on it. Kleypas definitely has better books than this one.
Rating: * * */* * * * *
Book count as of March 31: 20/50.
So what have you all been reading, if you had the time to read. Anyone got any books in their Easter baskets? Any recommendation for me (I'm trying to break the streak of romances but I just got a new one and have another waiting to arrive here...)? I also take good non-fiction stuff, so if you do have anything, knock yourselves out!