Books just bought
Midsummer Moon, by Laura Kinsale. Sounds like an alternate history about a woman inventer, and also possibly a romantic comedy? I hope so, as I really enjoy Kinsale's sense of humor even though it doesn't come up that often. Incidentally, the heroine and hero are Merlin Lambourne and Lord Ransom Falconer. Excellent!
The Game of Kings, by Dorothy Dunnett. I have already obtained the second book, Queen's Play, and am taking them to Japan in the hope that a nine hour plane ride will allow me sufficient time to plow through the totally opaque opening which I failed to get through when I had it out from the library, and then get to the good stuff.
Reforming Lord Ragsdale, by Carla Kelly. Regency romance, which sounds completely dreadful from the back cover and generic from the front, but I recall coffee_and_ink recommending Kelly, so I bet it's actually good. Unless I managed to get her only sucky book, which given how the rest of the week has been going seems totally likely.
Snare, by Katharine Kerr. Anthropological sf.
Stopping For A Spell, by Diana Wynne Jones. Three novelettes.
Touch Not the Cat, by Mary Stewart. A thriller where the heroine has been getting psychic messages from an unknown man for years. I think sartorias might have recommended this? I have mixed feelings about Stewart's romantic thrillers-- the few I've read have started out with a bang and then petered off, but I've read a few. Her style is quite gripping.
Kilmeny of the Orchard and A Tangled Web, by L. M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of new Moon books-- both touchstones from my childhood. I recently read The Blue Castle, about a woman who is diagnosed with a fatal illness and decides to defy her hideous family and live a little, and enjoyed it very much. Two twists at the end are entirely predictable, but the hero's secret-- no, his other secret-- is both surprising and gratifying. The romance is also very satisfying.
Kilmeny is about a mute woman and a substitute teacher. According to the back cover, the protagonist of A Tangled Web is a brown jug.
The Game of Kings, by Dorothy Dunnett. I have already obtained the second book, Queen's Play, and am taking them to Japan in the hope that a nine hour plane ride will allow me sufficient time to plow through the totally opaque opening which I failed to get through when I had it out from the library, and then get to the good stuff.
Reforming Lord Ragsdale, by Carla Kelly. Regency romance, which sounds completely dreadful from the back cover and generic from the front, but I recall coffee_and_ink recommending Kelly, so I bet it's actually good. Unless I managed to get her only sucky book, which given how the rest of the week has been going seems totally likely.
Snare, by Katharine Kerr. Anthropological sf.
Stopping For A Spell, by Diana Wynne Jones. Three novelettes.
Touch Not the Cat, by Mary Stewart. A thriller where the heroine has been getting psychic messages from an unknown man for years. I think sartorias might have recommended this? I have mixed feelings about Stewart's romantic thrillers-- the few I've read have started out with a bang and then petered off, but I've read a few. Her style is quite gripping.
Kilmeny of the Orchard and A Tangled Web, by L. M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of new Moon books-- both touchstones from my childhood. I recently read The Blue Castle, about a woman who is diagnosed with a fatal illness and decides to defy her hideous family and live a little, and enjoyed it very much. Two twists at the end are entirely predictable, but the hero's secret-- no, his other secret-- is both surprising and gratifying. The romance is also very satisfying.
Kilmeny is about a mute woman and a substitute teacher. According to the back cover, the protagonist of A Tangled Web is a brown jug.