Top Ten Tuesday: Indie and Self-Pub

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

April 4: Indie/Self-Published Books (submitted by Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits)

I officially love this topic! There is so much amazing work out there aside from the traditionally published stuff we see most widely, and I love giving it a platform like this. One of my goals this year is to read more indie work. For the record, I’m considering “indie” as anything outside of traditional publishing. So that can encompass self-publishing, hybrid, small press, etc.

A Spell of Rowans by Byrd Nash – This book begins with the death of Rachel Rowan, a witch and cruel, abusive parent to Philippa, Vic, and Liam. When the Rowan children return to their hometown, Grimsby, to take care of business following Rachel’s death, they discover that pretty much the whole town a good reason to want their her dead. Each of the Rowan children has a magical gift. Vic, the middle child and the narrator, can feel what others are feeling (which is often more of a curse than a gift). Philippa, the oldest can enchant men and charm them into doing whatever she wants. Liam, the youngest, can tell the history of an object just by touching it. They team up to find out the truth about what happened to their mother, and reconcile themselves with each other and their pasts. This is sort of a contemporary murder mystery with some fantasy around the edges. Yes, the Rowans have magic, but that’s sort of secondary to the rest of the plot. That mix works for it, because the author doesn’t lean too far into any one genre. She lets the characters tell the story.

The Witches of Crannock Dale by Thomas M. Kane – In this book (which is the first in a series) we meet Mara, a bright eleven year old girl whose life changes when her favorite aunt is accused of witchcraft. Determined to prove her innocence and save her, Mara stumbles onto a larger puzzle that could have implications for her town, her family, and even her life. The character of Mara is a pleasure to get to know. She’s very smart, and a strategic thinker, but just as we’re a little too impressed with her cunning, something will happen to remind the reader (and Mara herself) that she’s still a child. Mara’s family also had great dynamics. So many books about bright, resourceful children have parents who are absent in some way. But Mara’s parents are an active part of her life and her story. Through her adventures, Mara comes to recognize that they’re people, flawed in some ways and admirable in others. The rest of the series is still on my TBR. The author has referred to this as “low fantasy.” meaning that it’s not a real world, but there’s not really much in the way of magic here. The emphasis is on espionage and adventure.

The Great Snake by Jennifer Mugrage – Beta-reading can be iffy. Sometimes the books are a pleasure to read, sometimes not. Fortunately, when blogger Jennifer Mugrage asked me to read this one, I was in for a treat. I’m going to try not to give away any spoilers here: Klee is a child growing up in ancient North America. When Klee learns that her family has lied to her, she seeks out her birth father. He turns out to be a charismatic but violent man who wants Klee to help him found a city dedicated to a snake god. Because of her recent upheaval, Klee doesn’t trust the family that raised her, so she decides to throw her lot in with her birth father, and begins a dangerous journey. This is actually book three in a trilogy, but I haven’t read the first two books (though I definitely plan to). It stands alone though.

The Van Helsing Paradox by Evelyn Chartres – After being orphaned in the early twentieth century, and becoming a ward of the Church, Clara Gray is made a member of the Tower, a group of hunters who take on demonic threats. In this book we see Clara’s training and adventures through WWI and the 1920s, as she becomes a gun wielding flapper who is sort of a fusion of Indiana Jones (who has a literary cameo here), Sherlock Holmes, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is also the first in a series. I haven’t read the others yet, but I plan to. Clara is a bit of a static character (at least so far) and her adventures are more one after another than any kind of a plot structure, but the book should just be taken as fun–which it is.

Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner – In Belfast in 1968, the paths of three characters cross. Jamie is a wealthy young man who has lost his father under mysterious circumstances. Casey is a member of the IRA who was recently released from prison and is trying to find his bearings in neighborhood that may not be new, but certainly feels like it is after a long time away. Pamela is an American who has just traveled to Ireland looking for a man she fell in love with when she was younger. The lives of these characters intertwine and clash in this series starter. I really liked this book, but I think I let too much time pass since I read it, so I’ll need to give it a reread before reading the next book (which is sitting on my shelf, where it has been waiting for me for several years…).

Tsura by Heather Anastasiu – I really don’t like this cover: it makes the book look like a YA paranormal romance, which it’s not. It’s actually a WWII romantic drama. Tsura is a Roma, trying to survive in Romania in 1944. Though she is love with Andrei, a Jewish man, a dangerous situation forces her into a marriage of convenience with Mihai, a man she loathes. The setting, and the main character set this apart from a lot of WWII novels which tend to be set in England, France, and Germany. This is the first in a duology, and you really need to read both. If you just read one you’re only getting the first half of the story.

The Pirate Captain: Chronicles of A Legend: Nor Silver by Kerry Lynne – Catherine Mackenzie lost her home and family following the battle of Culloden. Wanted for war crimes, she runs away to London, where she escapes on the first ship she can find. Her luck continues to be bad when she’s kidnapped by pirates due to a case of mistaken identity. She finds herself drawn into a vendetta between Captain Nathanael Blackthorne (who may as well be played by Johnny Depp dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow!) and the men who forced him into piracy. This is also the first in a series. I haven’t finished this series either, but the second book kindly provides a summary of the first one, so I don’t think I’ll need to do a full reread before I can move on. Of course, book two is 750+ pages, so it’s kind of intimating to dive into!

Tress by Larissa Brown– Since losing her hand in an accident, Tess has dreamed of escaping her own life and into a gruesome fairy tale where she must free a woodsman from a curse. That’s pretty much the only way I can explain the plot of this one, where fantasy blurs with reality, and that fantasy may not be fantasy at all. This described as “a novella that’s part fairytale, part psychological horror, with a dash of fated love.” I would call it more of a “gothic fairy tale” actually. It’s definitely a dark, sad fairy tale, as opposed to a Disney fairy tale though! Unlike many indie/self-published books, this is a stand alone novella, which is really suited to the material. I was glad the author didn’t try to draw it out into something more.

Once Upon a Broken Sky by MT DeSantis – This novella is a tease of the author’s upcoming novel Grimmfay, which will publish in November 2023. It definitely made me look forward to the book! In it we meet Zelandra. Once a prisoner, Zelandra now performs as part of Grimmfay, an enchanted circus run by the mysterious “Master.” She is admired and beloved by audiences everywhere, and in exchange for this, the Master asks a favor now and then. Case in point: he’s recently told Zelandra to bring two children into the circus. Hansten and Grenna are excited to visit Grimmfay and enthralled by Zelandra’s performance. But Hansten soon comes to understand that his life and his sister’s may depend on leaving Grimmfay while they still can… This is compared to The Night Circus and the Lunar Chronicles. I would say that those comp titles give a pretty good idea of what to expect here.

Beautiful: A Tale of Beauties and Beasts by Fran Laniado – You’d think maybe I’d be above this, but no, I’m not. Here’s the synopsis: Eimear is Faerie. She left the land of her birth to find a place where she felt like she could belong. She finds herself in the World, a strange place, where she is the only magical being, and she begins to build a life for herself. But when she encounters Finn, supernaturally beautiful but thoughtless and selfish, she gets angry. In a fit of rage, she casts a spell on Finn. It’s a spell that she can’t undo, even when she discovers that she’s ruined Finn’s life. Finn is wealthy, arrogant, and cruel. He didn’t think twice about insulting Eimear until it was too late. Now, exiled from the only home he’s ever known, he is forced to make his own way, for the first time ever. He does have support- if he wants it. Eimear wants to assuage her guilt by helping him. In an isolated place, thrown together initially out of desperation and need, Eimear and Finn find a way to live together. That alliance eventually blossoms into friendship, and even love. But before they can have their happily ever after, Eimear must go on a perilous journey that will force her to confront everything that she ran away from when she left Faerie.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter Reread List

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

December 13: Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List

I plan to reread some old favorites in 2023. I’ve been meaning to revisit these for a while, but there are just so many books I haven’t read yet that I get sidetracked… Will I get to all of these in 2023? Probably not! But maybe I can aim for one a month or so. In many/most cases the reason for the reread is simple forgetfulness

The Eight by Katherine Neville – I read this in college and enjoyed it. There’s a sequel that I still haven’t read, but I think I’m at the point where I need to reread the first one before I get to that…

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser – This is another one I read in college. I loved it at the time. It was a neo-Victorian novel written in a Victorian style. I didn’t notice that much at the time because I was reading so many Victorian era novels for school, but I was recently talking to someone about it, who found it really dense. I’d like to reread it and see if the Victorian stuff is as natural for me as it felt then. I also want to refresh my memory as to plot and characters.

Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews- I read this when I was about 10 or 11. In retrospect, I was way too young for much of the content at the time! But it did give me a taste of gothic tropes I would love for years into the future. I’ve put off rereading it, because I think that being so young when I read it the first time, made me blind to a lot of its faults. I didn’t want to reread it and see all those faults. But I am sort of curious about it after all this time.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt – I read this my senior year of high school and I loved it. I think part of the reason I appreciated it so much was that my English class was reading Crime and Punishment at the same time, and some of the thematic similarities enhanced the reading experience. I want to see how this holds up independently.

Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott – I had a recent conversation during which the conclusion of this series, Jo’s Boys, came up. I had a memory of the conclusion of the series which I couldn’t discuss with any confidence or authority because my memory is so hazy. So I want to correct that, but I feel like if I’m going to do a reread I should probably start from the beginning.

Emma Brown by Clare Boylan and Charlotte Bronte – When she died, Charlotte Bronte left behind the beginnings of a new book. More than a century later, Clare Boylan wrote an ending to the novel. I read this in college and I remember really liking it, but that’s about all I remember!

Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner – This book starts a series. I read it a few years ago, liked it, and wanted to continue with the series, but I got sidetracked. I’d like to finish the series in 2023, but I need to refresh my memory of this one. Other series starters I need to reread mentioned here.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck – I think someone else (can’t remember who!) mentioned this in a post a few months ago, and I realized that when I read it, I was probably too young for it. I’d like to revisit it now that I have some more experience of the world and the people in it.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’d Like to Finish Someday…

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

November 8: Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish

These are the ones I’ve started and need to catch up on.

The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

books in the series: 6

books I’ve read: 2

reread necessary: I think I’ll be OK without it…

series completed: yes

The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club by Theodora Goss

books in the series: 3

books I’ve read: 1

reread necessary: probably

series completed: yes

The Pirate Captain Chronicles of a Legend series by Kerry Lynne

books in the series: 3 (so far)

books I’ve read: 1

reread necessary: Fortunately the second book has a synopsis of the first in the beginning so I can use that if needed (why don’t more series do this?)

series completed: no

Exit Unicorns series by Cindy Brandner

books in the series: 5 (plus related short fiction and prequel novella)

books I’ve read: 1

reread necessary: probably

series completed: unknown

The Diviners series by Libba Bray

books in the series: 4

books I’ve read: 2

reread necessary: yes

series completed: yes

Shadowfell Trilogy by Juliet Marillier

books in the series: 3

books I’ve read: 1

reread necessary: yes

series completed: yes

The MaddAdam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood

books in the series: 3

books I’ve read: 1

reread necessary: yes

series completed: yes

The Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody

books in the series: 7 (in the US and Canada it’s 8 because the 7th book was split into two)

books I’ve read: 6

reread necessary: probably not

series completed: yes

Kingsbridge series by Ken Follett

books in the series: 3 (plus prequel)

books I’ve read: 2

reread necessary: probably not since each is stand-alone with a common setting

series completed: I think so….

End of Forever series by Paullina Simons

books in the series: 3

books read: 1

reread necessary: probably not

series completed: yes

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want To Reread

For ThatArtsyReaderGirl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

December 1: Books I Want to Read Again (This could mean books you plan on re-reading OR books you wish you could read again for the first time.)

I was commenting the other day about how my “want to reread” list is getting to be almost as long as my TBR. Sadly I hardly ever feel like I have time for rereads because there are so many books out there that I haven’t read yet. But here are a few I want to revisit.

1. Devil Water by Anya Seton– I read this when I was in college or shortly after. I tend to remember Seton’s books by little facts about them rather than overall plot. Only in this case, I don’t remember anything about the plot! I remember that it took place during a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland (1715 according to the synopsis) but other than that, nothing. Actually, if I had all the time in the world to reread things, I’d reread a lot of Anya Seton’s books.

2. Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray– I bought the first book because I liked the cover, but I quickly got pulled into the plot. It combined a lot of things that I love (feminism, fantasy, the Victorian era) and actually got me started reading YA again. I remember the broad strokes of the plot, but the details are hazy. I’m a little nervous to read it again though, because I’m afraid it won’t live up to my memory of it.

3. Evelina by Fanny Burney – I remember I read this because I heard that the author was a strong influence on Jane Austen. I definitely remember seeing the influence (focus on a young woman, comic misadventures, vulgar relatives, hypocritical society), and wanting to read more of Burney’s work, Actually that reminds me that her other work is still sitting on my TBR.

4. Sophie by Guy Burt– This book is sitting on my shelf. I have a vague memory of picking it up and reading it at some point in my life. I also remember something about it frustrated and confused me. Based on some of the reviews it looks like I wasn’t the only person who was confused. But I do wonder what it was about…

5. Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livsey- This is one of several books by Margot Livsey on my bookshelf. I remember at some point about 10-ish years ago I really liked her and read several of her books. But I don’t remember much about them. I picked this one to reread first because I liked the cover. I figure if I enjoy it, I’ll reread the others.

6. Middlemarch by George Eliot– I read this for a class in college. I remember finding it hard to get into, but once I did, I enjoyed it. But I suspect I’d probably get more out of it reading it now. It seems like the kind of story that improves as one matures.

7. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle– I read this as a kid and I remember liking it, and I remember it was about kids on a journey through space and time, trying to find their father. When the recent movie came out I read an article somewhere (I can’t remember where) that discussed some of the religious, political and scientific undertones and subtext in the book. Needless to say, that went totally over my head as a kid, but now I’m curious about them.

8. A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L’Engle– This is actually 4th in L’Engle’s Austin family series. I remember enjoying the series as a kid, and finding it very different from the sci-f of A Wrinkle in Time. The reason I want to read this one in particular was that I recall the main character writing a poem in it, that 12 year old me found beautiful. I’m curious as to whether that holds up.

9. The Quincunx by Charles Palliser– I read this in college and I remember it was a combination of historical fiction and mystery. It was a complex, Dickensian plot, that when all was revealed it was kind of like a puzzle. But I don’t remember the specifics. It had something to do with a kid whose mom dies, and some inheritance. But that’s it.

10. This one is two books I want to reread for the exact same reason.

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The Pirate Captain by Kerry Lynne and Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brander– Both books are the first books in a series. I enjoyed both for different reasons (The Pirate Captain was just a lot of fun, Exit Unicorns was a vivid depiction of characters and historical setting) I remember the broad strokes of the plot of each. But that’s all I remember. Both books are first in a series (the sequel to The Pirate Captain is Nor Gold, the sequel to Exit Unicorns is Mermaid in A Bowl of Tears) and I want to continue with both series. But I think I should remember more about how they started.

Top Ten Tuesday: Literary Rebels

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

December 11: Freebie (Make up your own topic, or use a previous TTT topic you might have missed.)

This week I decided to go with an old topic. These are some of my favorite rebellious characters in books.

1. Randal Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey– I’ve actually started to feel differently about McMurphy in recent years. When I first read this book, I was in high school and my sympathies were 100% with McMurphy as he tried to upset the routine in a  mental hospital, rallying the patients to demand better treatment. But since I started teaching, I saw how important routine is when managing large groups- especially groups of people who are vulnerable to upset and need consistency to feel safe. I started to see Nurse Rached’s reasons for wanting to run her ward the way she does, and McMurphy’s tricks (running a card game, sneaking in prostitutes) seemed like less an admirable attempt to think outside the box and more of a dangerous upset to a vulnerable population. 

2. Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood– It’s ironic that Offred’s rebellion against role that she’s been forced into as a woman, initially involves reading fashion magazines and sneaking cosmetics. Usually we see those things as part of the role into which out society pushes women. But when the basics of bodily autonomy are denied, when one’s clothing is no longer one’s choice and reading is forbidden, then secretly indulging in these ways of claiming your own identity are acts of rebellion. From these initial rebellions, Offered goes further, embarking on affair with a mean who also longs to escape Gilead. In doing so, Offred asserts her right to make choices about what she does with her mind and her body.  

3. Matilda Wormwood in Matilda by Roald Dahl– I love that this rebel us a five year old girl, who stands up to the adults who don’t live up to their responsibility to protect and care for her. In doing so she also “frees” her teacher, an adult who has been cowed by cruelty. Matilda is someone who has been told she’s powerless by everyone in her life, but flat out refuses to accept that. As a kid, I was very jealous of her ability to take power into her own hands!

4. Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte– Jane is a rebel early on, with her Aunt Reed and at Lowood. But it’s really at Thornfield that she refuses to violate her principles, even when a part of her wants to. She’s given the opportunity to spend her life with the man she loves. He’s a rich man and she’ll live a life of luxury. Yes he’s secretly already married to a crazy lady, but no one has to know that. But Jane knows, and she knows that in trying to marry her anyway, without telling her, he tried to make her into something she’s not. So she leaves, even though it breaks her heart to do so. Rebelling against your own desires is one of the hardest things to do. 

5. Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell– Scarlett initially seems like a perfect southern belle. And she is, until she doesn’t get what she wants! When she’s widowed a sixteen year old Scarlett refuses to live the quiet, dignified life that society dictates for her. Instead she goes dancing. And stops wearing black. And gets remarried. Her rebellions continue as she insists on living on her own terms in spite of a world that tries to dictate the terms. But she discovers that pursuing what she thinks she wants, may cost her what she truly does want. Actually I see Melanie Wilkes as a rebel too. When society turns its back on Scarlett and condemns her, Melanie remains a steadfast friend. 

6. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyoevsky– Sometimes rebelling against the status quo doesn’t lead characters to do “the right thing.” In this case, Raskolnikov  rebels against conventional morality by murdering a woman whom he believes the world would be better without. Regardless of his victim’s moral character, this act of rebellion has ripples that Raskolnikov never could have predicted, and he learns that sometimes when society says something (like murder) is wrong, we should just listen!

7. Valancy Stirling in The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery– Valancy isn’t a rebel initially. She’s a 29 year old spinster who lives under the thumb of her domineering family. But when a devastating medical diagnosis gives her an expiration date that’s a lot sooner than she’d like, Valancy gets the courage to rebel, to live the way that she wants to, with the person she wants to. She’s definitely not what we tend to think of when we think of rebels. But she defies her surroundings and her inhibitions to live the life that she wants. IMO that makes her a rebel. 

8. Pamela O’Flaherty in Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner– Again this is a seemingly odd choice in a book that’s essentially about rebels. Other characters are more overt about leading political rebellion. But for other characters, that rebellion is something that they were born into. For Pamela isn’t not. Pamela is an Irish American. She grew up far away from any conflicts between British and Irish, Protestant and Catholic. Her rebellion started in her very choice to leave behind that distance and throw herself headfirst into the conflict. 

Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery– A lot of critics see Becky Sharp as the inspiration for Scarlett O’Hara. Whether or not that’s true, only Margaret Mitchell can say, but Becky is a character who doesn’t have many advantages in terms of the world she was born into. She makes a place for herself in it by seeing the flaws in people- the way they see the world and the way that they see themselves- and exploiting those flaws. Vanity Fair is subtitled A Novel Without A Hero, and while that’s perhaps true, it does have a compelling, rebellious protagonist. 

10. Satan in Paradise Lost by John Milton– When he announces “Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven” Milton’s Satan tells us that he’s a rebel who won’t be beholden to anyone. He’s literally happy to be in the worst place imaginable, as long as he gets to do what he wants. According the William Blake, Milton (whether or not it was intentional), glamorized Satan making him an epic, almost heroic figure. “‘The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.” So if you believe that, Milton was a bit of a rebel too. 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Indie Reads

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday

June 5: Books I Decided to DNF (did not finish) too Quickly (are you questioning your DNF choices on any books? If you have a policy to not DNF, put a spin on the topic to make it fit you.)

This week’s topic didn’t really speak to me. It’s rare that I don’t finish a book.

But I decided to use the opportunity to look at some great indie reads this week. Ebooks have really helped to allow indie authors to connect with readers in a way they never have before. But there are a lot of misperceptions about independent publishing and authors. A lot of people seem to think that only the reason an author would publish a book him/herself is that s/he isn’t good enough to land a traditional publishing deal. While this may be true in some cases,  it’s not the most common reason. A lot of writers don’t want to deal with the long process of querying agents and submitting manuscripts for possibly years. Others want creative control of both the process and the product. Still, others have difficulty finding a traditional publishing deal, not because of the quality of their work but simply because they’re writing about a subject or in a way that the market doesn’t have a lot of interest in at the moment. But whatever the reason a lot of writers are going indie and there are some really good indie books out there. Not all the books on this list are great literature, but they’re fun reads and highlighting them can help get them some well-deserved attention.

1. The Pirate Captain by Kerry Lynne- Catherine MacKenzie escapes Britain after several desperate years of living hand to mouth under the radar. Her husband was a Jacobite leader and following the defeat at Culloden, she’s a wanted woman. She stows away on a ship bound for the West Indies, but when a kidnapping goes wrong, Cate finds herself on board the Ciara Morganse, under the protection (as it were) of Captain Nathaniel Blackthorne, a pirate with a mysterious past and a vengeful mission. Sparks fly between Cate and Nathaniel but their respective pasts might keep them from having a future. Yes, it often reads a bit like Pirates of the Carribean meets Outlander. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of fun. It’s the first of three (so far) books. I haven’t read the others yet but they’re on my TBR. Also part of the series: Nor Gold (book 2) and Treasured Treasures (book 3)

2. Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner– In 1968 Belfast, Jamie Kirkpatrick is a wealthy industrialist with a tragic past. He’s just lost his father. Meanwhile, Casey O’Riordan is somehow involved with the IRA and has just been released from prison after five years. Pamela O’Flaherty is an American who has traveled to Ireland to find the man that she fell in love with as a child. The lives and fates of these characters intersect as Ireland teeters on the brink of revolution.  I didn’t know much about the situation there before I read the book and let me just say that it’s complicated. I appreciated that in spite of the sometimes gritty realism, the characters were still tied into the magic and myth of Ireland’s past. Also part of the series: Mermaid In A Bowl of Tears (book 2), Flights of Angels (book 3), In the Country of Shadows (book 4), Spindrift (short stories involving the characters; can be read as a standalone), Bare Knuckle (prequel novella)

3. Dark Desires by Eve Silver–  Darcie is alone, homeless and hungry. Her desperate situation leads her to a position as a maid in Dr. Damien Cole’s household. But her artistic ability means that Dr. Cole uses her as an assistant who can help him record his work (this is before photography). She and Damien begin to develop feelings for one another. But someone is murdering prostitutes, and taking their body parts. Often Damien will ask Darcie to sketch those same body parts not long after a body is found… So is Damien the killer? I forgot what made me pick this up initially, but I kept reading it until it was done because I wanted to know more about the characters. The whodunnit aspect didn’t interest me as much as who didn’t do it. It’s very much a gothic romance that indulges in all the common tropes without apology. This is the first in a series, though each novel is more or less a stand-alone. They’re united thematically as gothic romances. Also in the series: His Dark Kiss, Dark Prince, His Wicked Sins, Seduced By A Stranger, and Dark Embrace.

4. The Wayfarer by Jennifer  L Hayes– The first in a trilogy, this introduces us to Emma Clayton, whose life is pretty predictable, until an electrical storm sends her to Victorian England. Emma is pretty desperate to make it back home, but when she meets Lord Henry Drake she develops a fondness for the nobleman that eventually becomes love. The only problem is that Emma knows from historical records that Henry is going to die very soon unless she can somehow stop it. I love a good time travel romance, but indie publishing is full of bad time travel romances! Every once in a while a good one sneaks in though. If you’re looking for something on par with Outlander, look elsewhere. This is about 250 pages and doesn’t have the complex plot, historical detail, and large cast of characters. But it’s a diverting read. I enjoyed this one, even though it had some formulaic elements. Also in the series: The Wayfarer’s Daughter (book 2) and The Last Wayfarer (book 3)

5. The  Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan by Steve Wiley– Richard Lyons is a businessman living a boring life that’s on the verge of falling apart. He’s completely forgotten the one, magical night,  he spent as a twelve-year-old boy, traveling the Lavender Line of the L train through a secret section of the city alongside the mysterious Francesca Finnegan. It will take another trip on the Lavender Line to get Richard’s life back on track. This is sort of an urban fairy tale in which we learn alternative explanations for events in Chicago’s actual history. The author, Steve Wiley, is donating 50% of the profits from this book to Chicago’s Public Schools. You can learn more at the website, here: http://fairytalechicago.com/

6. Social Death by Tatiana Boncompagni– Clyde Shaw is a veteran news reporter. When she’s called to the scene of a murder on NYC’s Upper East Side, she expects another story. What she finds, is Olivia Kravis, the daughter of Clyde’s boss, and Clyde’s childhood best friend. Clyde takes on the case, desperate to solve her friend’s murder. But then another body is found. And then Clyde is poisoned… Solving this mystery might drag some demons from  Clyde’s past back into her present, and put everything that she values at risk; including her job and her life. This book is called “A Clyde Shaw Mystery #1” but despite the fact that it was released in 2014,  no other Clyde Shaw mysteries are listed on Amazon.

7. The Photo Traveller by Arthur Gonzalez– Gavin Hillstone was put into foster care when he was orphaned at the age of four.  His only escape from his abusive foster family is photography. But when he learns that he’s not alone in the world, after all, he goes to Washington DC, to find his paternal grandparents.  From them, he learns that he’s a Photo Traveller, someone who can travel through time and space via images. But someone wants something that Gavin has, and is willing to track him around the globe and through time to get it.  Many, many years ago (like 5 years ago) I reviewed this book for Synchronized Chaos magazine and I also interviewed the author. At the time, he mentioned he was working on a sequel. That sequel, The Peace Hunter is now available.

8. The Mask of Duplicity by Julia Brannan–  After their father dies, Beth’s half-brother, Richard arrives to claim his inheritance. However, the family estate doesn’t live up to Richard’s expectations. He wants to reconcile with his father’s extended family (who disowned him, when he married Beth’s mother) and he wants Beth to marry well. Beth finds herself lost in a social whirlwind of suitors after her substantial dowry, and confused by the effeminate Sir Anthony Peters, who has taken an interest in Beth but has secrets of his own. This is also the beginning of a series and is followed by The Mask Revealed (book 2),  The Gathering Storm (book 3) The Storm Breaks (book 4), Pursuit of Princes (book 5) and Tides of Fortune (book 6). I’ve only read the first one so far, but I’m looking forward to the rest!

9. Tsura by Heather Anastasiu – Tsura is a Roma or gypsy, living in WWII Romania. A local family hides her away along with Andrei, a Jewish man, with whom Tsura falls in love. When one careless night out risks everything, Mihai, the grandson of the man hiding Tsura, covers for her by pretending that she’s his fiance. One thing leads to another, and Tsura ends up having to marry Mihai for real in order to protect Andrei and the others hiding in Mihai’s grandfather’s basement. It’s to be a marriage in name only, and when the war ends, he’ll divorce her, and she’ll marry Andrei. In the meantime, Tsura must pose as Mihai’s wife, even though she sees him as an apathetic Nazi collaborator. Of course, there’s more to Mihai and Andrei than meets the eye… The story is continued in the sequel House of Stone. Each book is about 300 pages so there’s really no reason why the story couldn’t have been told in one long book, other than that this way the author sells more.

 

 

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want To Get Early

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

May 1: Books I’d Slay a Lion to Get Early (Submitted by Emma)

I’m assuming that the topic for today is a hyperbole because however anxious I am to read these, I’m not in the habit of lion slaying. Most of these are from authors/series that I already know and trust. Hey, if I’m going to take on a lion to get one of these books, they’d better be worth it!

1. Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley- I really just want this because I’m excited to have a new Kearsley book to read. A Desperate Fortune came out in 2015, so it’s been a few years! I like this cover but I’m not sure, I may prefer the Canadian cover simply because it’s more consistent with most of my other Kearsley books.

Release Date:  August 7, 2018

 

2. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton– Morton is another author whose work I have followed for years. Her last novel, The Lake House, came out in 2015, so I’m more than ready for a new one. This isn’t the cover, the actual cover art hasn’t been revealed yet.

Release Date: October 9, 2018

 

 

3. Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati– I enjoyed Donati’s Wilderness series and I liked The Gilded Hour even better. While several plot lines were resolved in The Gilded Hour, there were some major ones that weren’t. I want to see how those play out. The cover shown here isn’t the book’s actual cover. Rather it’s a temporary cover stolen from the author’s website.

Release Date: Unknown

4. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)- Again it’s been three years since Career of Evil, the last Cormoran Strike novel. That one left us with a cliffhanger regarding the relationship between two major characters. I’ve been waiting to see how that plays out! The cover shown here was a fanmade cover based on the artwork of previous books in the series. It is not the real cover.

Release Date: Unknown

5. Bare Knuckle by Cindy Brandner– I really enjoyed Brandner’s Exit Unicorns. I’m reading the rest of the series slowly so that I’m not left too long with nothing to read. But since Bare Knuckle is a prequel to Exit Unicorns, I think I’ll be OK  reading it, even though I haven’t finished the whole series.

Release Date:  May 1, 2018

 

6. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl– I loved Pessl’s Night Film, and this boarding school set murder mystery seems right up my alley!

Release Date:  June 5, 2018

 

 

7. The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye– I discovered Lyndsay Faye via Jane Steele, and her next book is a murder mystery set in the 1920s and it sounds really good!

 

 

 

8. A Question of Trust by Penny Vincenzi– Penny Vincenzi is always a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Her books are long, glamorous and just soapy enough to float. This is her latest.

Release Date: July 10, 2018

 

 

9. When We Caught Fire by Anne Godberson– Anne Godberson’s Luxe series is another major guilty, soapy, pleasure. I’m looking forward to her upcoming historical novel, about the love triangle that supposedly caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Release Date: Oct 2, 2018

 

From Gabaldon’s site: The images above on this page show an ancient Egyptian amulet with a bee hieroglyph. Ancient Egyptians were the first documented beekeepers in human history, dating to 5,000 years ago.

10. Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon– According to Gabaldon, the Outlander series will be 10 books in all making this the second to last.  I’m looking forward to seeing the Frasers and MacKenzies reunited on the Ridge once again, hoping that the Revolutionary War finally ends and that the whole crew survives it. According to buzz (no pun intended), it won’t hit bookshelves until 2019-ish. The title refers to the Celtic custom of talking to one’s bees that made it to the Appalachians. It was believed that a beekeeper should tell the bees if someone is born, dies, comes, or leaves, because if they’re not informed they’ll fly away. Of course, that information makes me wonder if the title is literal or metaphorical, and who the speaker is.

Release Date: Unknown

 

 

Top Ten Tueday: Books I Didn’t Read in 2017 But Meant To

For The Broke and The Bookish’s Top Ten Tuesday:

January 9: Ten Books We Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn’t Get To (and totallyyyy plan to get to in 2018!!)

1. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien– I know. I can’t really call myself a fantasy reader (let alone writer) and not have read these! I will, I swear! They’re sitting on my shelf waiting for me. I think part of the reason I haven’t read them yet is that I want to have a nice chunk of time to really get lost in them. But I did make some progress already. I decided to get started and I’m about 100 pages into The Fellowship of the Ring.

 

2. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey– This one starts off a series has been recommended to me for years. I have it sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me. But again I feel like I’m waiting for a point where I can just read, and lose myself in the world of the books.  That time may never come though!  I do want to get through some of these books before I’m a senior citizen.

 

3. Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson– I’m not usually a fan of “westerns” but this was very highly recommended by a coworker, who isn’t usually a big “reader” so I feel like I should give it a chance. Actually plot-wise it does sound interesting. It’s about Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by the Comanche Indians at the age of nine and grew up to be a Comanche woman. It’s based on a true story and is supposedly very well researched.

 

4. Trinity by Leon Uris– I’m a fan of author Cindy Brandner’s Exit Unicorns series and she cites this as a book that book that was hugely influential to her. She says “Long ago I read the book Trinity by Leon Uris. It changed everything for me. I was thirteen at the time and I remember reading that last page, closing the book with a sense of profound loss and just knowing that this is what I wanted to do, tell stories that made people think, cry, laugh and create characters that would live for others as vividly as they lived for me. People that readers would consider personal friends and that they would wonder about long after the last page was turned.” I certainly want that experience as a reader!

5. After Anatevka by Alexandra Silber– In 2007 Alexandra Silber played Hodel in the London revival of The Fiddler on the Roof. In 2015 she played Hodel’s older sister Tzeitzel in the Broadway revival of the show. She’s obviously spent a lot of creative time and space with these characters. In this book, she imagines what Hodel’s life would be like after the curtain falls. We leave Hodel on the way to join her lover, Perchick in a Siberian labor camp.  This book picks up at that point. Often actors imagine a backstory for their characters, but I like the idea of imagining a “forward story” for one. I think that when you’ve spent a lot of time and energy in a creative world, it’s can be hard to let go of. This is an interesting way of keeping it alive. Plus, a historical love story against a turn of the century Russian backdrop? Yes, please!

6. Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn– This was written in 1966 and has been in print ever since its publication, yet for some reason, it doesn’t get talked about all that much. Learning that made me curious. It’s about a black man and a white woman who fall in love in Depression-era New Orleans. I bought it in 2017 and haven’t started it yet because it’s 750+ pages about a pretty heavy subject (race in America). Hopefully, in 2018 I’ll be able to give it time/attention/thought.

7.  The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss- I loved The Name of the Wind, the first in the Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy. This is the follow-up. It’s sitting on my shelf and I’ve been putting off starting it because I want to know that the trilogy will have a conclusion. This book came out in 2011. No word on a release date for number three yet. Hopefully, we’ll hear something about a release date for it in 2018 so that I can start this one!

8. The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett– This is book three of Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. They follow the adventures of the main character (sometimes he’s a hero, sometimes he’s more anti-hero), a sixteenth-century Scotsman with a talent for getting into and out of trouble. The first two books in this series can work as stand-alones, but supposedly with this one, it becomes more of a series where each book is dependent on the books that came before. These books can be a lot of fun but they’re dense. We hardly ever get inside the main character’s head, so his motives are often a mystery. Sometimes it’s only in seeing the result of an action that we understand why the character did it. They’re also loaded with allusions to classical literature and words and phrases that you need several dictionaries to understand. That means that reading them when you have other stuff on your mind can be a challenge. I really hope I get to make some progress on this series in 2018 though.

9. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset– This is another series that I’d intended to start in 2017. It’s the story of a woman’s life in 14th century Norway, and it hasn’t been out of print since it was initially published in 1927. The author won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the 1930s and at the time, this trilogy was her only published work. I had intended to begin this year, but the translation that I had felt very laborious. I’ve since learned that the translation by Tiina Nunnally (linked) is the way to go.

10. Nor Gold: The Pirate Captain, Chronicles of A Legend by Kerry Lynne– I read The Pirate Captain, the first book in what is intended to be a trilogy in 2017. I enjoyed it a lot in spite of the fact that there was some serious “borrowing” from Outlander and Pirates of the Carribean in terms of plot and characters! It’s not literary greatness by any means, but it’s a fun historical romantic adventure. I wanted to wait until book 3 is out (projected release is sometime in 2018) before reading this one because it supposedly ends with a cliffhanger, and I have no patience to wait and see what happens!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Settings I’d Love To Visit

For the Broke and the Bookish’s Top Ten Tuesday:

December 5: Ten Bookish Settings I’d Love to Visit

I decided to keep this list to bookish settings that actually exist. So much as I’d like to visit Narnia, or Hogwarts, these can all be found on a map or globe. Also I decided it to limit to places where I’ve never been (yet).

1. Prince Edward Island, Canada as seen in the work of LM Montgomery– I’ve loved the work on LM Mongomery since I was a child and Prince Edward Island is a character that is consistent in her work. It sounds beautiful. It looks beautiful based on the pictures that I’ve seen. It’s definitely on my literary travel list!

“…the Lake of Shining Waters was blue — blue — blue; not the changeful blue of spring, nor the pale azure of summer, but a clear, steadfast, serene blue, as if the water were past all modes and tenses of emotion and had settled down to a tranquillity unbroken by fickle dreams.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

2. Scotland as seen in the work of Diana Gabaldon, The Lymond Chronicles by  Dorothy Dunnett, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson,  the  Too Deep for Tears trilogy by Katheryn Lynne Davis, Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware- I’ve read a lot of books set in Scotland, that draw on the rich history and beautiful landscape. My third grade teacher was Scottish and had what sounded like the coolest accent to me at the time. In some ways it seems that Scotland is an enchanted fairy land more than a real place to me! But I do know people who have been there and assure me it’s real, and that while there are certainly the fantasy places that are described in books, there are many normal places too.

“The sigh of all the seas breaking in measure round the isles soothed them; the night wrapped them; nothing broke their sleep, until, the birds beginning and the dawn weaving their thin voices in to its whiteness”
― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

3. Cornwall, England as seen in the work of Daphne DuMaurier– The cliff-side mansion in Rebecca. The smugglers hideout in Jamaica Inn, the pirates of Frenchman’s Creek. Cornwall is a place of mystery, danger and romance in my eyes, thanks in large part to Daphne DuMaurier.

“The peace of Manderley. The quietude and the grace. Whoever lived within its walls, whatever trouble there was and strife, however much uneasiness and pain, no matter what tears were shed, what sorrows borne, the peace of Manderley could not be broken or the loveliness destroyed. The flowers that died would bloom again another year, the same birds build their nests, the same trees blossom. That old quiet moss smell would linger in the air, and the bees would come, and crickets, the herons build their nests in the deep dark woods. The butterflies would dance their merry jug across the lawns, and spiders spin foggy webs, and small startled rabbits who had no business to come trespassing poke their faces through the crowded shrubs. There would be lilac, and honeysuckle still, and the white magnolia buds unfolding slow and tight beneath the dining-room window. No one would ever hurt Manderley. It would lie always in its hollow like an enchanted thing, guarded by the woods, safe, secure, while the sea broke and ran and came again in the little shingle bays below.”

4. The Yorkshire Moors, England as seen in the work of the Bronte sisters, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgden Burnett

‘And what are those golden rocks like when you stand under them?’ she once asked.

The abrupt descent of Penistone Crags particularly attracted her notice; especially when the setting sun shone on it and the topmost heights, and the whole extent of landscape besides lay in shadow. I explained that they were bare masses of stone, with hardly enough earth in their clefts to nourish a stunted tree.

‘And why are they bright so long after it is evening here?’ she pursued.

‘Because they are a great deal higher up than we are,’ replied I; ‘you could not climb them, they are too high and steep. In winter the frost is always there before it comes to us; and deep into summer I have found snow under that black hollow on the north-east side!’

-Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte

“Listen to th’ wind wutherin’ round the house,” she said. “You could bare stand up on the moor if you was out on it tonight.”
Mary did not know what “wutherin'” meant until she listened, and then she understood. It must mean that hollow shuddering sort of roar which rushed round and round the house, as if the giant no one could see were buffeting it and beating at the walls and windows to try to break in. But one knew he could not get in, and somehow it made one feel very safe and warm inside a room with a red coal fire.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

5. Paris, France as seen in Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- Yes, I am very aware that these are books that depict very different era’s in Paris’ history. Of the three the Paris in The Elegance of the Hedgehog is probably most like the Paris I’d visit today. But I also know that the Cathedral de Notre Dame , still stands, with it’s gargoyles even if Quasimodo isn’t hiding among them. And there are still shades of the reign of terror that Dickens depicted.  I’ve read about Paris in a lot of other books too. Books set in occupied Paris during WWII. Books depicting la belle epoque. In some ways that convergence of beauty and violence is what makes the city seem so appealing to me.

“Admirable, however, as the Paris of the present day appears to you, build up and put together again in imagination the Paris of the fifteenth century; look at the light through that surprising host of steeples, towers, and belfries; pour forth amid the immense city, break against the points of its islands, compress within the arches of the bridges, the current of the Seine, with its large patches of green and yellow, more changeable than a serpent’s skin; define clearly the Gothic profile of this old Paris upon an horizon of azure, make its contour float in a wintry fog which clings to its innumerable chimneys; drown it in deep night, and observe the extraordinary play of darkness and light in this sombre labyrinth of buildings; throw into it a ray of moonlight, which shall show its faint outline and cause the huge heads of the towers to stand forth from amid the mist; or revert to that dark picture, touch up with shade the thousand acute angles of the spires and gables, and make them stand out, more jagged than a shark’s jaw, upon the copper-coloured sky of evening. Now compare the two.”

-Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out…”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

6. Barcelona, Spain as seen in The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon- The Barcelona seen in this novel is a twisty, Gothic place full of hidden secrets. In other words, it’s the kind of place I could really go for! Sure Zafon claims that some locations from the novel such as the rambling Hospice of Santa Lucia or the mysterious Cemetery of Forgotten Books are fictional, but it seems like the kind of place where one might turn a corner and unexpectedly find something strange and beautiful.

“Before we knew it, we were walking along the breakwater until the whole city, shining with silence, speak out at our feet like the greatest mirage in the universe, emerging from the pool of the harbor waters. We sat on the edge of the jetty to gaze at the sight.

“This city is a sorceress, you know, Daniel? It gets under your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it.”

-The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

7. The Greek Islands as seen in The Magus by John Fowles- The book’s setting, the island of Phraxos, is technically fictional. But the author based it on his time on the real Greek island of Spetses, so I think it still counts for this list. The island that Fowles describes is beautiful and mysterious and isolated. It’s the kind of place where it’s easy to be overwhelmed and see menace hidden in the beauty. That’s certainly what happens to our narrator, Nicholas Urfe, in the novel. But since his sanity is open to debate, I think it’s also the kind of place where I might enjoy going and getting away from it all.

“The lifeless sea was ruffled here and there by a lost zephyr, by a stippling shoal of sardines, dark ash-blue lines that snaked, broad then narrow, in slow motion across the shimmering mirageous surface, as if the water was breeding corruption.”

-The Magus by John Fowles

8. India as seen in The Far Pavillions by MM Kaye- Actually, I think that parts of this novel also take place in what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. While it’s set in the 19th century the beautiful mountains stand out to me as a strong setting. It’s what I remember most about the book, and what I’d most love to see if I ever visit that part of the world. 

“They rode out together from the shadows of the trees, leaving the Bala Hissar and the glowing torch of the burning Residency behind them, and spurred away across the flat lands towards the mountains…
And it may even be that they found their Kingdom.”
― M.M. Kaye, The Far Pavilions

9. Egypt as seen in The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif- When I was a kid I think I imagined Egypt as being desert, pyramids, sphinxes, and mummies walking around wrapped in toilet paper (in retrospect I think my childhood perception of Egypt might have been largely based on an episode of Scooby Doo). The Egypt that this book depicts has none of that. Well, we do see desert and pyramids, but  we also see cities and the Nile. It makes Egypt seem like a vivid place that’s almost breathes and has a pulse.

“Fields and more fields on either side of the road.From where they are it looks as if the whole world were green.But from higher up,from a hill-if there were a hill in this flat country-or from a pyramid(one of the many that two thousand years ago lined this route from Thebes to Memphis,from the Delta to the Cataract)or from an aeroplane today,you would be able to see how narrow the strip green was,how closely it clung to the winding river.The river like a lifeline thrown across the desert, the villages and the town hanging on to it, clustering together, glancing over their shoulders at the desert always behind them.Appeasing it,finally,by making it the dwelling of their head.”
― Ahdaf Soueif, The Map of Love

10. Ireland as seen in the novels of Maeve Binchy, Cecelia Ahern, Marian Keyes, the Exit Unicorn series by Cindy Brandner, The Mermaid’s Singing by Lisa Carey- In some ways I think if Ireland in a way similar to Scotland; full of myths and lore. But I’ve also read enough Irish work set in contemporary times to have a better sense of what it is today. I’d still like to go, because I think that the richness of the lore pervades a place.

But the sea, despite its allure, is not our destination. For we seek land- a land of myth and madness, of poets and politicians, rebels and raconteurs, of blood and brotherhood. A land unlike any other, half legend, half truth, wholly and terribly beautiful.

We fly through the night, until we see a line on the horizon, and we feel the relief of homecoming after such a very long voyage, after the faceless ocean undulating eternally beneath us. And so here we arrive, to the edge of a country of limestone cliffs, soft-faced with moss and nesting gulls . In we fly across a patchwork quilt of a thousand shades of green and low stone walls, with sheep dotting the dawn’s landscape. But do not let this enchantment fool you, for this is a land that has known much pain, whose fields are watered well and deep with blood. This is an old land, and our people have lived here long, some saying we were the small dark ones that dwelled in the trees, before the coming of the Celts, but we are older even than them. We knew this land before man, before God, before light.

-Flights of Angels by Cindy Brandner

11. Florence, Italy as seen in The Light in the Piazza by Elizabeth Spencer, A Room with a View by EM Forster- Florence in these books seems more alive than other places. It’s a place where people are able to get away from social notions of respectability, and really get in touch with their feelings.

“It was pleasant to wake up in Florence, to open the eyes upon a bright bare room, with a floor of red tiles which look clean though they are not; with a painted ceiling whereon pink griffins and blue amorini sport in a forest of yellow violins and bassoons. It was pleasant, too, to fling wide the windows, pinching the fingers in unfamiliar fastenings, to lean out into sunshine with beautiful hills and trees and marble churches opposite, and, close below, Arno, gurgling against the embankment of the road.”

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Book Recommendations for Outlander Fans

For the Broke and the Bookish‘s Top Ten Tuesday:

August 15:  Ten book recommendations for ______________: (Skies the limit here…examples: for Hufflepuffs, for fans of Game of Thrones, for people who don’t normally read YA, for animal lovers, for video game lovers, etc.

Maybe it’s the fact that the 3rd season of the TV series is coming up, but lately I’ve been looking for read alikes to the Outlander series. If you haven’t read Outlander, the series is 8 books in at the moment with a ninth in progress (the author says she expects it to be 10 in all) and it follows the adventures of Claire, a WWII combat nurse who falls through time, and her 18th century husband, Jamie Fraser.  Even though the premise is fantastical, these books are really well researched from a historical perspective. Jamie and Claire find themselves caught up in the Jacobite rebellion of 1845 and later in the Revolutionary war. They interact with actual historical figures and at real events. After eight books, the characters start to feel like old friends. So once you finish the series it can be hard to jump into something else. Here are some suggestions:

1. Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati (the Wilderness Series) In 1792, Elizabeth Middleton, a 29 year old spinster, arrives in upstate New York. Her father brought her there with promises that she could be a school teacher, but the real motive was to marry her off to Richard Todd, a physician who is more interested in her inheritance than her. Elizabeth finds her attention drawn to Nathaniel Bonner (son of “Hawkeye” Bonner, hero of James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans). Nathaniel has a strong connection to the Mohican (Mahican) people. His wife was a Mahican woman who died years earlier. The Mahican want to buy part of their land back from Elizabeth’s father. Richard Todd wants it for his own purposes and Elizabeth finds herself sympathizing with the Mahican claim. Meanwhile, her relationship with Nathaniel leads to more conflict between the Mahican and the European settlers.  This kicks off the start of a six book series (it’s followed by Dawn on a Distant Shore, Lake in the Clouds, Fire Along the Sky, Queen of Swords, and The Endless Forest) that follows Elizabeth, Nathaniel and their family.  Outlander fans should be on the look out for a cameo from some Outlander characters in the first book.

“Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sight of an eagle circling overhead, and saw at once that it could not be far to Paradise.”

2. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons (the Bronze Horseman trilogy) -On the day that WWII begins, Russian, Tatiana Metanova goes out to buy some food. On the bus, she meets Alexander Belov, a young soldier in the Red Army. Alexander and Tatiana are drawn to one another immediately, and he helps her bring her packages back to her family’s apartment. That’s when Tatiana discovers that Alexander is the same man that her sister, Dasha, had been talking about falling in love with. Tatiana is very devoted to her sister and refuses to steal her boyfriend. So she tells Alexander that nothing can happen between them. Complicating matters further is the fact that another soldier, Dmitri, has information that could destroy Alexander. And Dmitiri is romantically interested in Tatiana. In order to protect Dasha’s feelings and Alexander’s life, Tatiana and Alexander find themselves draw into a romantic quadrangle, as German forces siege Leningrad.  As the brutal Russian winter begins, Tatiana, Dasha, Alexander, and Dmitiri face starvation, deception and danger. This is the first in a trilogy (it’s followed by Tatiana and Alexander and The Summer Garden). There are also two prequel books that tell the story of Alexander’s parents; Children of Liberty and Bellagrand.

“Tatiana lived for that evening hour with him that propelled her into her future and into the barely formed, painful feelings that she could neither express nor understand. Friends walking in the lucent dusk. There was nothing more she could have from him, and there was nothing more she wanted from him but that one hour at the end of her long day when her heart beat and her breath was short and she was happy.”

3. Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon (The Lord John series)- Maybe this is cheating, because it’s technically an Outlander spinoff series, but I’m counting it anyway. We meet Lord John briefly in Dragonfly in Amber, and start getting to know him better in Voyager. The events of this series take place during the events of Voyager, usually while the main Outlander characters are doing other things. Lord John is an interesting character. He’s a good man, and honest by nature, but the reality of the world he lives in forces him to live a lie every day. He’s involved in several mysterious events in this series. There are a few full length novels in addition to this one; Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, and The Scottish Prisoner (Jamie from Outlander is the title character, and a co-narrator in this one) as well as a number of novellas. You find find some information about the books and the suggested reading order here and here.

Tom gave him a look of mingled bewilderment and suspicion, obviously suspecting that Grey had made up the word upon the moment for the express purpose of tormenting him.

4. The Pirate Captain: Chronicles of A Legend by Kerry Lynne (The Pirate Captain series)– This series has faced accusations of being an Outlander rip off (with no time travel) mixed with a bit of Pirates of the Caribbean, but it’s still a fun read in it’s own right. It takes place in the years after the battle of Culloden. Catherine MacKenzie is the widow of a Scottish rebel. She has survived for several years living secretly London. She gets passage on a ship away only, to be kidnapped in a pirate raid. Captain Nathanael J. E. Blackthorne wanted revenge against the men who destroyed his life. He ended up with Cate MacKenzie as a rather inconvenient hostage. They fall in love but have both been hurt in the past, and are both hesitant to trust. They’re also facing several external threats. This series continues in Nor Gold, and Treasured Treasures (coming in late 2017).

Beset by a chill reminiscent of the more sour days in the Highlands, Cate hunched on the trunk, listening to the gale tear at the windows and doors, clawing to violate her solitary bastion. The ship lurched to dizzying heights, and then sickeningly pitched downward, disorienting one to the point of doubting which way was up. The rain a hammering drone, the wind screaming through every crevice, and the grind of planking combined into a din that battered one to numbness.

5. Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner (the Exit Unicorns series) – In 1968 Belfast, Northern Ireland, the lives of three very different characters intersect. Pamela O’Flaherty just arrived in Ireland, after the death of her father, looking for the man that she fell in love with as a child. James Kirkpatrick is a wealthy industrialist who has lost everything he cares about. Casey Riordan is a member of the IRA who just been released after five years in prison. As the lives of these characters intersect, love for people comes into conflict with love for country. Ireland itself is on the brink of revolution. A civil rights movement is building. The changes threaten the lives of these characters and extend them possibilities  they never imagined. There is also a connection to Ireland’s mythical past that skirts the edges of this story; a sense of a lost magic. The series is continued with Mermaid in A Bowl of Tears,  Flights of Angels, and In the Country of Shadows. Brander is working on the next book in the series.

“From the time I was born, I’ve been surrounded by people who had to be strong everyday just to survive. They had to be hard in mind an’ in heart to get from one year to the next. An’ ye’ve seen my back, I’ve known hatred, come to understand it well an’ promised myself I’d never be vulnerable to it again. But I’d no idea that love could make ye ten times more open to destruction. I’ve had men beat me until I was certain there was only a minute or two left between me an’ the grave an’ yet the fists an’ the knives never hurt the way it does when I think of losin’ ye.”

6. Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson- In 1682, Catriona (Cat) Campbell first meets Alasdair (Dair)  Og MacDonald. They’re little more than children at the time and even though they know they’re supposed to be enemies, they like each other. As they get older that turns into something more. By 1691, King William offers the Highland clans a pardon for their part in the Jacobite Rebellion, as long as they take an oath of allegiance. The Chieftain of the MacDonald takes the oath. Later, when a regiment of soldiers led by the Campbell clan arrives at the MacDonald  household, Highland hospitality demands that they offer them a place to stay. They believe it’s safe, since both clans took the same pledge.  But the Campbells were under orders from Captain Campbell, to slaughter the MacDonalds,  supposedly to show what happens to those who only took the oath under duress. What followed, became known as the brutal Massacre of Glencoe. The longstanding feud between the two clans threatens to tear Cat and Dair apart as they become pawns in the fight. There are times when it feels a bit like a Scottish Romeo and Juliet plotwise but it’s actually very rooted in real history. Alasdair Og MacDonald was a real person, and he did marry a Campbell (though her name was Mary, not Cat).  It’s good for readers who want a well researched historical romance in Scotland with very little bodice ripping!

Such plain, simple words, and so eloquent a declaration. In that moment he shared all the pain, all the insecurities of an awkward lass made to believe she was worthless to any man but a feckless father who preferred whisky and wagers to pride in himself and his daughter.

7. A Knight in Shining Armour by Jude Devereaux- Dougless Montgomery had been on vacation in England with her boyfriend, when he ditched her in a churchyard with no money, no car, and no passport. She sits down near the grave of Nicholas Stafford, an earl who died in 1564, to have a good cry. When the earl himself shows up Dougless is shocked to say the least! He says that he’s been falsely accused of treason, and he wants to clear his name. Dougless agrees to help. As he falls in love with Dougless, Nicholas realizes he doesn’t want to leave her and go back to his own time. But when he’s pulled back into his own time anyway, Dougless heads back to the 16th century to find him. I’m not usually a “romance” genre reader but I do make exceptions. This was highly recommended and I enjoyed it. Another book by Deveraux that Outlander fans may like is Remembrance.

My soul will find yours.

8.  Green Darkness by Anya Seton– I think many Outlander fans would like most of Seton’s work. It’s well researched historical fiction with a strong focus on human relationships. I would also recommend Devil Water, which deals with a Jacobite rebellion about 30 years prior to Culloden.  This one is a bit different from Seton’s other work though because there’s a supernatural element. In the 1960’s, Richard brings his new wife, Celia to his ancestral lands. Almost immediately the couple begins to act differently. Richard begins to be cruel and Celia has strange fits and visions. It’s a Hindu guru who eventually figures out what’s wrong with the couple. As things begin to get dangerous, it’s obvious that Richard and Celia need to resolve something that happened in their previous lives in order to be happy in this one. Celia goes back to her past life in Tudor England, where she was a young woman in a forbidden love affair with a monk.  Only by resolving this couple’s tragic end can Celia and Richard find peace in their 20th century lives.

“As there were no real answers in her life. She was in abeyance. Stuck in a pattern of waiting for a future she could not guess.”

9. The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley– Once again I think Outlander fans would enjoy a lot of Kearsley’s books. I also recommend Mariana, The Firebird, The Shadowy Horses, and A Desperate Fortune. I chose this one for the list because it’s features time travel in a more prominent way than some of the others. Eva Ward returns to Cornwall following the death of her sister Katrina. It’s the place that Eva remembers being Katrina being happiest, and where she wants to spread Katrina’s ashes. She renews some friendships, but the Cornwall house just isn’t the same without her sister. When she slips into 1715, and then back to her own time, she worries for her sanity. Eventually her trips to the past get longer. But no matter how long she stays in 1715, no time passes in the 21st century. She returns to the same moment she left.  Eva bonds with Daniel, the 1715 owner of the house where she’s staying, and Daniel’s friend Fergal. Daniel is a widower, a smuggler and a Jacobite. As she falls in love with Daniel, Eva begins to question where, and when she belongs. But even if she chooses to stay with Daniel, how is she supposed to handle her knowledge of the future? And how does she avoid getting pulled back to her own time?

“Whatever time we have,” he said, “it will be time enough.”

10. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (Kingsbridge trilogy)- In the 12th century, Prior Phillip of Kingsbridge decides to build a cathedral. He hires Tom Builder to accomplish the task, which eventually falls into the hands of Tom’s stepson, Jack.  Meanwhile, Aliena, the daughter of the Earl of Shiring promises her dying father that she’ll see her brother, Richard, installed in his rightful position as Earl. But she and Richard are soon cast out of their own when their castle is seized. They end up in Kingsbridge, where Jack falls in love with Aliena. But pursuing a future with Jack might mean abandoning her promise to her father.  The “sequel” World Without End takes place about 200 years later. The cathedral is still in the process of being built, though the characters and events of the first book have become the realm of legend. The third, A Column of Fire, will be released in September. It takes place in Kingsbridge Cathedral in 1558. Just a note, Outlander fans may also enjoy Follett’s A Place Called Freedom, which is a love story that begins in Scotland in the 1760’s and eventually moves to the American colonies.

She looked at his young face, so full of concern and tenderness; and she remembered why she had run away from everyone else and sought solitude here. She yearned to kiss him, and she saw the answering longing in his eyes. Every fiber of her body told her to throw herself into his arms, but she knew what she had to do. She wanted to say, I love you like a thunderstorm, like a lion, like a helpless rage; but instead she said: “I think I’m going to marry Alfred.”

Honorable Mention

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children series) I was hesitant to include this series in the list, because while the first book (Clan of the Cave Bear) was great, and the second, The Valley of Horses was very good, and the third, The Mammoth Hunters was pretty decent, the second half of the series showed a steady decline in quality. The Plains of Passage (book 4) was alright, but a bit redundant. The fifth, The Shelters of Stone was fairly dull and the sixth, The Land of Painted Caves, was hard to finish. So I would suggest that Outlander fans read the first four books which brings the characters to a decent leaving off place. Then ignore the last two books.