'Tis the Reading Season

This year I decided to be my own Secret Santa and buy some new books to read this month. I set myself a limit of three, and to get some variety I shopped for a favorite author, an author I haven't read in a while, and a new-to-me author.



Mary Balogh is of course the favorite author, and I've been waiting since February for her third Westcott novel, Someone to Wed. The fallout from a bigamous earl's death continues in this installment, which features his heir, Alexander Westcott. I've liked this character since the series began, and I have no doubt this will be a wonderful addition to the series.

I've read Dean Koontz's novels on and off for years; I've been off the author since Innocence depressed me a bit too much back in 2013. The Silent Corner is the first book in a new series featuring a female protagonist, and the cover copy got me curious. I liked the first page. No doubt it will all end up being a government conspiracy, but these days, what doesn't?

Caroline ~ Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller is the new-to me author's novel. The book was authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, and evidently tells some of Laura Ingalls Wilder's pioneering childhood stories from her mother's POV. I had some reservations right off the bat -- the Little House books are one of the reasons I became a writer, aka sacred ground -- so I did read the first four pages before I bought it. While it's not written in the voice or style of the Little House books, and the way Caroline Ingalls is portrayed doesn't match my mental image of her, I decided to quit nit-picking and give it a shot.

What are you reading this season? Let us know in comments.

LT Secret Santa

Library Thing is holding their annual SantaThing, a secret Santa book-giving event for LT members, and here are some of the details:

"HOW IT WORKS

You pay into the SantaThing system (choose from $15–$50). You play Santa to a LibraryThing member we pick for you, by selecting books for them. Another Santa does the same for you, in secret. LibraryThing does the ordering, and you get the joy of giving AND receiving books!

Sign up once or thrice, for yourself or someone else. If you sign up for someone without a LibraryThing account, make sure to mention what kinds of books they like, so their Santa can choose wisely.

Even if you don’t want to be a Santa, you can help by suggesting books for others.

IMPORTANT DATES

Sign-ups close MONDAY, December 7th at 5pm Eastern. By Tuesday morning, we’ll notify you via profile comment who your Santee is, and you can start picking books.

Picking closes FRIDAY, December 11th at 5pm Eastern. As soon as the picking ends, the ordering begins, and we’ll get all the books out to you as soon as we can."

It's wonderful fun, and I'm participating again this year, so who knows - if you join in maybe I'll be your Secret Santa. For more information on what to do and how it works, check out the LT blog post here.

The Holiday TBR

Mom and I made a pilgrimage to the nearest brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble on Wednesday, where I filled not one but two tote bags with a lovely assortment of books. Since I've already griped about what I buy and won't buy, I thought it would be interesting to look through my bags and see how I did with my actual purchases.

Paperbacks:

Four Harlequin Presents. All were holiday-themed, and all are written by authors who are new to me. I haven't been reading HPs since they've acquired so many new authors, and I'd like to see what they're writing.

Larissa Ione's Immortal Rider. I buy everything she writes except her grocery list, so grabbed four copies, which was all the store had left. Larissa sells out quick.

Within the Flames by Marjorie M. Liu. I also buy everything Marjorie writes, and weirdly there were also only four copies left of this one, which are now all mine. When I get more from an incoming order I placed with BAM I might be nice and share them.

Highlander for the Holidays by Janet Chapman. There's an adorable dog on the cover, he doesn't seem to be warning me off and besides, I hate being predictable. Cross your fingers for me.

Fern Michaels' Christmas at Timberwoods. It's a holiday-themed romance set in a mall. I've never read a mall romance. How does one write a mall romance, anyway? Don't know, so I had to buy it.

Shiloh Walker's If You Hear Her. I think this is a story Shiloh and I discussed a while back when it was in its earliest incarnation, and I'm very interested to see what she ended up doing with the premise and the protagonist.

Holiday in Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller. Semi-random pick. I've heard she's a decent writer. I haven't read a cowboy romance in a while.

Trade Paperbacks:

Seal of my Dreams Anthology. I don't know why I assumed this would be available only in e-book format, but I did. It was a nice surprise to see it in print. This was the only anthology I bought, but my blogpals Alison Kent, Jo Leigh and Stephanie Tyler have stories in it, and so does Barbara Samuel, so that means at least four of the stories will be well-written and interesting. Looks like the cover model is wearing a yarmulke, so maybe it's a holiday read, too. Ha.

Anne Perry's Christmas Vigil. I used to read her quite a bit before I got burned out on historicals. Don't see many duologies by one author these days. I'd call this a semi-semi-random holiday pick. I liked the cover art, too. Very Christmasy.

Hardcovers:

The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts. I never see authors named Sheila, and from the jacket copy it sounds like a cat is the protag. Until Sofie Kelly gets off her lazy butt and writes me another magical cat book, I'll just have to console myself with this.

Victoria Alexander's His Mistress by Christmas. Random holiday pick.

Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers. Classy author + elegant writing = worth the investment for hardcover. And a story about international art heists, suicidal nuns and the Feds in Maine? This is so a book for me. Unique cover art, too.

What I love most about going to the brick-and-mortars and browsing the shelves are the surprises, like finding Seal of My Dreams in print, and Carla's latest (I simply can't keep up with all the new releases; sometimes I don't know about them unless I see them at the bookstore.)

I'm also excited to try out the random picks because I have very good luck with that method; I started reading Linda Howard, Patricia Briggs and Rob Thurman just by picking up their books at random. Taking that chance doesn't always pay off, but sometimes you discover these great hidden jewel-type authors.

So there you have it. I also bought two tote bags, one to replace one of my favorites that I gave away, and this large, sturdy blue and white snowflake tote which I'll probably be giving away or using for a holiday gift. I know I kind of stacked the TBR in my favor, but I feel I also bought enough random picks that the mix will be interesting (Poor Janet Chapman, she's really the one in the hot seat. If this a lousy story I swear I'm done forever with dog-on-the-cover romances.)