Wednesday reads. (Yes, I know it's Saturday!)

What I’ve just finished reading:
Arthur: Prince of the Roses by Alison Weir - an odd little short. I’m glad it was free. Again, it’s not convincing me to fork out the amount of money being charged for some of the other “e-shorts” that accompany the Six Tudor Queens series.

Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis - squeeeee! I have been looking forward to this one for ages. It was one of those books that when advance reviews began to drop these past few weeks I was ridiculously jealous that people had already read it. It’s another delightful installment of the Harwood Spellbook (there’d better be more, Stephanie!) and as I suspected, chock full of angst (but a happy ending!) And also too short. But delightful and I loved it and I gave it five stars.

What I’m reading now:
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Let me just quote to you what I said last week:

While I’m not sure I’m in the mood for high literature … [I] think it’s important that I read it, and I keep reminding myself that the Evaristo I’ve read, The Emperor’s Babe, was utterly fabulous and not heavy at all.

This book is also utterly fabulous and not heavy at all. I’m reminded exactly how much I adored the authorial voice in The Emperor’s Babe because it’s back here, too. And yet in this book Evaristo has twelve different characters - and the four I’ve read so far have each been quite distinct. Also it’s queer as hell and loud and in your face. So glad that I decided that I really needed to read this. (Also, dear God she seems to have teachers down pat!)

Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir - as I said to someone on Instagram this week, I’m enjoying this one. It’s a slightly different interpretation of Anne from the standard one, but it seems fairly well founded, nevertheless. Much more nuanced, and I like nuance. Only really reading this one in moments where I need something to read but don't have the Evaristo with me.

What I’ll read next As I’m getting through the Evaristo quicker than I thought I might, there should be plenty of time left in Black History Month for more of what I was planning. Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss will probably be next - that or the Penny Mickelbury - and I’m really going to try to stick to Black authors for the rest of the month. (No additional Alison Weir books until March, and Burgis was an exception for an f/f new release.)

Wednesday reads (on a Thursday) - 30/1/2020

What I’ve just finished reading:
The Husband Hunters by Anne de Courcy - this was one of the long overdue library books that I was trying to finish. It was really good, and in combination with a remark about the Gilded Age in a recent Doctor Who episode has made me really want to read more about this era. (Maybe I’ll finally finish the Anna Godberson books…)

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by Alison Weir. First in the Six Tudor Queens series, four of which have already been published. Howard is due out in May. You may recall that in my “what I’ll read next” last week I mentioned that we were going to see Six: the Musical and I expected that it would get me back into reading this book. I was right :-) While it didn’t send me into paroxysms of anything (joy or rage) it was a perfectly good book, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

What I’m reading now:
Arthur: Prince of the Roses by Alison Weir. She’s published a bunch of e-only short stories to go along with the main books in the Six Tudor Queens series. Some of them seem a little high priced for short stories, so I may not read them all, but Arthur was free, and the next, The Blackened Heart is .99c, so those two I’ll read.

Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir. Yes, I’ve already started the next one.

What I’ll read next:
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo has arrived for me from the library. While I’m not sure I’m in the mood for high literature (this is last year’s Booker Prize winner) I also think it’s important that I read it, and I keep reminding myself that the Evaristo I’ve read, The Emperor’s Babe, was utterly fabulous and not heavy at all.

Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis is due out on Monday and I can’t wait. The other three books in the Harwood Spellbook series - Snowspelled, Thornbound, and Spellswept have been absolutely delightful, and Moontangled is f/f, to boot! (Angsty f/f, I suspect, but still, f/f.)

Oh, and there’s an Elle Spencer contemporary f/f romance, Casting Lacey, that I keep dipping in and out of. It’s on my iPad rather than my phone, so I don’t have it with me for easy reading at random moments.