What We’ve Been Reading in 2017

Hi friends! I always like to know what people have been reading, and more importantly, what they recommend. While this isn’t exactly that … (those posts come in reviews and later), this list and our grades should give you some sort of indication. This time, you’ll get a comprehensive lists from me, a general list from Babs, and Karen’s highlights.
 
I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these books and what you thought of them! [I’m also as usual it seems like treading through quicksand, so we’ll see how we go with links.]
 
I also want to note, Babs put me to shame with her organization. While I then also separated my books out by month, I can’t speak to accuracy of timing. Especially since you know, I was loopy for most of it.
 
As a refresher, this is the basic ALBTALBS “Grading Scale.”
A = OMFG BEST BOOK EVER – LOVED IT. LOVED IT AND IT MADE ME LOVE EVERYTHING.
B = Really great book. You should read it.
C = Good book. Average, enjoyable read.
D = It was good, but there were some problems, or the reader had [significant] issues with certain aspects.
F = this was not a good book. I am angry I read it.
DNF = Did Not Finish (Either the book was truly that terrible, or I wasn’t in the mood, or whatever else. I just didn’t finish.)



From Babs’: (Some of) What I’ve Been Reading

January 2017
Oria’s Gambit and The Tides of Bara (Sorcerous Moons, #2 and #3) by Jeffe Kennedy Grade B
The Pages of the Mind (The Uncharted Realms, #1) by Jeffe Kennedy Grade A (one of my favorite reads so far this year)
Miniatures by John Scalzi Grade B-
Us (Him, #2) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy Grade B+

February 2017
Good Boy (WAGs, #1) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy Grade B+
Pretty Face (London Celebrities, #2) by Lucy Parker Grade B
*The Gauguin Connection (Genevieve Lenard, #1) by Estelle Ryan Grade B (I devoured books 2-4 and will keep reading the series. Highly recommend for mystery fans looking for an atypical lead.) *(It’s also currently free on kindle!)

March 2017
Etched in Bone (The Others, #5) by Anne Bishop Grade A (Awesome end to the series. I can’t wait for the next set of books from this universe.)
The Handsmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Grade B (My first time reading this book. It’s haunting.)

April 2017
A Natural History of Dragons (Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan Grade B
The Hot Shot (Game On, #4) by Kristen Callihan Grade B+
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik Grade B

May 2017
The Unyielding (Call of Crows, #3) by Shelly Laurenston Grade B+
*Dissident (Bellator Saga, #1) by Cecilia London Grade B (I glommed the first 5 books of this series and am on the last book. Hot romance set against a political thriller. Some of the political stuff gets a little too real.) *This is also a kindle freebie
Cold Reign (Jane Yellowrock, #11) by Faith Hunter Grade B+
Bite Me (Pride, #9) by Shelly Laurenston Grade B

June 2017
Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity, #1) by Nalini Singh Grade B+
White Hot (Hidden Legacy, #2) by Ilona Andrews Grade A-
Spider’s Bite (Elemental Assassins, #1) by Jennifer Estep Grade B+
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem Grade A- (I read this for a feminist book club I’m in and I keep going back to look at my highlighted passages and notes and add referenced books and authors to my to-read list.)

Karen’s Highlights:
This year has been an interesting year for books for me, I’ve read quite a varied bag, and not a lot of it has been strictly romance, although romance has featured in my favourites (i can’t just give it up you know !)

The best book I’ve read this year was A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab, which is the last book in the Shades of Magic of series, in fact the whole series has been the best thing I,ve read. It’s complicated, set in a series of alternate London’s, involves magical travel, dark magic, pirates and at the core of the books is a relationship between two brothers who are connected on almost every level. Epic in length these books held my attention on every level and feature the best female protagonist I’ve read in a long while in Lila Bard.

I adored Madly by Ruthie Knox, which turned expectations and roles in their heads, and again had a strong and credible woman as a central character, this was my favourite romance read of the year so far.

Foxes by Suki Fleet put me through the emotional wringer, a love story of two boys who live on the streets of London, it’s full of hope and positivity, despite being highly emotional, as all Suki Fleeks books are.

And finally, Peter Darling, a continuation of the Peter pan story, that is simply lovely. In this Peter returns to Neverland, where things have changed since he was last there, and he faces up to issues with the Lost boys and Hook. While there is a dreamy fairytale quality to some of the story, but it also deals with how Peter transitions from Wendy in the early 20th century, and why Neverland is so necessary to him. The cover of this book is also gorgeous!

All in all 2017 has been good on the book front, looking forward to more great reads in the next six months!

Limecello’s List:
I’m hoooorrrible at “bookkeeping” so the months could be totally off/definitely the early months on Goodreads are not accurate. I’d also like the caveat that anything starting in March was post surgery so … perhaps had I been “normal” all the ratings would’ve been higher. Goodreads also explains for some what I thought about each book and why. Goodreads is also bad though, because if I re-read a book it doesn’t show natively in the 2017 list, so I may have missed some. N.B. Sometimes I read books on recommendations, and it didn’t fit my expectation or what I was looking for, and the grade might reflect that. Or, I ADORED it and it was exactly what I wanted.

January
Taken By a Vampire by Joey W. Hill Grade C+
Lust Dazed by Charlotte Stein Grade C+
Out of Bounds by Lauren Blakely Grade C
Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein Grade C-
+The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata Grade B+
+Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin by Mariana Zapata Grade B+
Egomaniac by Vi Keeland Grade B+

February
+Make Me by Beth Kery Grade A-
Wolves’ Triad by Lauren Dane Grade C
Good Boy by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy Grade C+
My Scandalous Duke by Theresa Romain Grade C
Never Better by Charlotte Stein Grade C-
Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas Grade A
+The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas Grade A
The Hot One by Lauren Blakely Grade C-

March
+Under Locke by Mariana Zapata (twice) Grade B+
Satisfaction by Lexi Blake Grade Grade C+
The Devil in Disguise by Cynthia Eden Grade C+
+Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James Grade C+ on this re-read
Into the Fire by Jeaniene Frost Grade C

April
Indecent … Proposal by Jane O‘Reilly Grade D+
The VIP Doubles Down by Nancy Herkness Grade B+
+Unlocked by Courtney Milan Grade A
+Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas Grade B+
Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen Grade B-
+Made For You by Lauren Layne Grade A-

May
Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne Grade A-
Behind the Curtain by Beth Kery Grade B-
Silver Silence by Nalini Singh Grade B-
Joy Ride by Lauren Blakely Grade C
+The Tale of Birle nee On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt Grade A
Endings and Beginnings by K.C. Wells & Parker Williams Grade C+
Shacking Up by Helena Hunting Grade C+
Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh Grade C+
Driven to Distraction by Olivia Dade Grade B-
All You Need by Lorelei James Grade B-
Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon Grade C
Pretty Face by Lucy Parker Grade B+
Down & Dirty by Tracy Wolff Grade C

June
+Shocking the Senator by Leanne Banks Grade A
The Knocked Up Plan by Lauren Blakely Grade B-
The Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy Grade B-
The Twelve Kingdoms: The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy Grade C+
The Edge of the Blade by Jeffe Kennedy Grade C+
Radiance by Grace Draven Grade B+
Eidolon by Grace Draven Grade B-
Make Me by Charlotte Stein Grade C
Master of Crows by Grace Draven Grade B+
The Brush of Black Wings by Grace Draven Grade B
Entreat Me by Grace Draven Grade C+
The Lightning’s God Wife by Grace Draven Grade D+
The Light Within: A Winter’s Tale by Grace Draven Grade C+
Lover of Thorns and Holy Gods by Grace Draven Grade C+
The Undying King by Grace Draven Grade C
All the Stars Look Down by Elizabeth Hunter and Grace Draven Grade C
Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson Grade C
Lady of the Light and Shadows by C.L. Wilson Grade D+
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C++
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Assassin Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Power Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Ice Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Not Safe for Work by Charlotte Stein Grade C-
Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C+
Night Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C
Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder Grade C-
Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan Grade B-

 

The “+” for me indicates the book was a re-read.

So! What have you been reading? Have you read any of the books we mentioned? Thoughts? Any recommendations for us? Or >.> questions? :X All comments welcome! 😀

13 thoughts on “What We’ve Been Reading in 2017

  1. Audrey Gilliam

    Well I’ve been reading Katee Robert’s “Come Undone” Series. The first two book were awesome and I went through them back to back in two days. That last book she just drop the ball. It’s not as good as the first two were. I thought the last was going be better than the first two but was disappointed so I give the series a C rating.

    Reply
    1. Limecello

      Hi Audrey!

      Oh I remember the “Come Undone” series – although I’m trying to figure out if I read book 2 or not … I want to say yes but the description isn’t ringing any bells. (Although that doesn’t mean much.) I’m pretty sure I haven’t read book 3, so thanks for that. (Have you read the “fourth”? It’s a novella that had first been in anthology…) I don’t care for the “enemies to lovers” – because IMO authors too often oversell the hate, and at least for me personally if I hate someone I don’t want to have ANYTHING to do with him – definitely not have sex with him. *shudders*

      Have you read Katee’s “gangster” books? 🙂

      Reply
      1. Audrey Gilliam

        I just start book one and I haven’t read the novella yet either. I feel like I’m spilling but I’m get back on track.

        Reply
            1. Limecello

              Hm… I’d thought I’d read the book, but since it appears to have been published in 2011 maybe not? (I want to say the last Day historical I read was published even earlier …) or if I read it, I didn’t remember it well. :X My favorite historical by her was The Stranger I Married. 🙂

              Reply
    1. Limecello

      Oh Denise which were your favorite Mallery books that you read? I haven’t read any of hers in ages, and should once I go back to contemporary … (thanks!)

      Reply
      1. dholcomb1

        I read the Secrets of the Tulip Sisters which was more WF/Chicklit than romance, but it had some steam. One which will be a Hallmark movie, Marry Me at Christmas; it also had a bonus Christmas novella in it, A Kiss in the Snow. Because they’re Christmas, they don’t have a lot of heat. I liked Marry Me at Christmas.

        Reply
        1. Limecello

          Ah, thanks. I’d kinda felt Mallery’s books were more WF than romance – for the ones I’d read … and that was a while ago. :X

          As a side note, I get that some Christmas stories have less heat but I don’t think it’s a “thing” that they “have” to have less heat. I also like reading Christmas stories in the summer XD

          Reply
          1. dholcomb1

            Several authors have explained when the publishers put out a special hardback edition at Christmas, they don’t typically have heat because the books are used as gifts. Susan Mallery and Sabrina Jeffries have both stated this when I was on their teams. They’re not the only ones to hae mentioned it. Obviously, there are books out there with a Christmas theme which have heat.

            Reply

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