Of Swords and Parasols

What are you currently reading

A Wonderlandiful World, the new Ever After High book, though I haven't read enough of it to know much more than that it's about the Wonderland characters. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun which I don't find quite as delightful as the anime based on it (which I really should post on) but still really like.

What did you recently finish reading?

Death at Wentwater Court and The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn. First two books in a long running series about an upper class young woman in 1920s England who works as a writer for "Town and Country" rather than be reliant on her brother and his family for money. There's nothing wrong with them (well, there are some classist comments that are accurate for the period, though I'm not sure about the narrative's stance on it) but they didn't grab me the way I expected. There are well over a dozen (maybe even over 20?) books in the series, and I'm sure I'll read more eventually, but I'm not in a rush to right now. 

Murder at Hatfield House by Amanda Carmack. Mystery set in the final months of Elizabeth Tudor's imprisonment at Hatfield House. The main character, Kate, is the daughter of Elizabeth's musician who is sometimes employed by Elizabeth for light spying on the residents and visitors. The plot revolves around an investigator of Mary's being attacked in route to Hatfield House, and believing that someone in Elizabeth's household is responsible. It's a solid book, though Elizabeth is portrayed as too good and virtuous for my taste. I mean, not that she was portrayed as saintly, but she's almost Totally Innocent of Scheming (Probably), and doesn't have enough rough edges. Though I'll certainly take this over the Jealous Harpy portrayals. The author's bio states that Carmack has written romance novels under another pseudonym, though it doesn't say what it was. This is pretty obvious at times, though not in a bad way. There's just a way that clothing and setting tends to be described in historical romances that you don't see a lot of outside the genre, and it stands out when you encounter it elsewhere.

Mind Over Murder and A Sinister Sense by Allison Kingsley. First two books in a series about a pair of cousins who run an occult bookstore, and whose family has a history of psychic powers. Stephanie, the owner, has a husband and three kids, loves sticking her nose in mysteries, and is very, very envious that her cousin got the family psychic powers, and she didn't. Clara is the cousin who did inherit the psychic powers, really really wishes she hadn't, is a bit more cautious about sticking her nose in things, and recently returned home after A Bad Romantic Experience. I enjoyed them, but not as much as I'd expected to.

Mayhem at the Orient Express, A Tale of Two Biddies and The Legend of Sleepy Harlow by Kylie Logan. My favorite of the mysteries I've read recently, and not because the series is titled THE LEAGUE OF LITERARY LADIES. Bea (local B&B owner with a secret past identity and Dark Secrets), Chandra (local hippy and psychic with a lot of ex-husbands, one of whom gets regular booty calls) and Kate (very by-the-books owner of the local winery. She and Chandra are Enemies, and totally not Secretly Best Friends Forever And Ever.) keep going before the local judge for a variety of property squabbles. Eventually, he gets fed up and sentences them to form a book club so that they'll be forced to talk to each other about other things. Unfortunately, said other things are sometimes all the dead bodies that somehow tend to pile up in these small towns. The first book is modeled after Murder at the Orient Express, and involves the owner of the local Chinese fast food place dying right before everyone in town ends up stranded at Bea's B&B just as a snowstorm hits. These are my favorites of the mysteries I've been reading lately.

I haven't done a whole lot of reading (for me) the last month or so, but I think I posted separately on anything else I read since I last did this.

What do you think you'll read next?

The rest of what i'm reading now. I have romance novels, some mysteries, and some One Piece checked out from the library.

It's been very light on reading here, lately. I've bounced off a few things in addition to what's here, but couldn't tell you what now.

What are you currently reading

Manna From Hades by Carola Dunn. First in a mystery series about a retired world-traveller who now works in a thrift shop in Cornwall. I haven't read enough yet to have a real opinion of it.


What did you recently finish reading?

A night Like This by Julia Quinn. Pretty standard Quinn fluff, which is what I was in the mood for. though I feel compelled to mention that according to the blurb, the 11-year-old who won the debate with the mathematician over the existence of unicorns in The Sum of All Kisses, thought she was a unicorn in this book. This is not true. She just wants to play a unicorn in her sister's play about Henry VIII. I feel a touch betrayed.

Youn In-Wan and Yang Kyung-Il: Shin Angyo Onshi Vol 1-5. A Japanese-Korean collaboration manhwa loosely based on the legend of Chun Hyang, in which Myong Rong dies very early on, and Chun Hyang becomes the bodyguard of a would-be-amoral angyo onshi named Munsu, who has a dark and angsty past and lots of secrets and is connected to the downfall of the government. I read the first couple volumes a few years ago and liked it, but didn't get very far due to only being able to read scanslations on a computer screen at the time. I still like it now, but am much more aware of how Chun Hyang has gotten far less development so far than Munsu (or Bang Ja, for that matter) and how incredibly scantily clad the women are. (Chun Hyang literally runs around wearing nothing but a few leather scraps and a giant cape.) It's very interesting and entertaining anyway, and I'll read more later, but I need a break for a bit.

A Bride's Story Vol 5. As charming and full of scenery pr0n as every other volume. I am greatly amused that, as soon as the plotline about the twins' weddings was concluded, there was a chapter that was almost literally nothing but gorgeous spreads of Amir's daily life. It was almost like "hey, in case you forgot who the main character is supposed to be..."

What do you think you'll read next?

The rest of the Dunn book and the other two books in the series, if I like it, and probably manga.