NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

MY SECRET READING STASH

MY SECRET READING STASH

Pssst! I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

Are you ready? It's a big one.

Writers—are also—readers!

Long before we put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, we read. And read. And read. At some point along the way, I'm sure most of us said . . . It can't be that hard, I think I'll write a book. (Or we read a book that didn't end the way we felt it should and decided we could do it better!)

No, this blog post isn't about writing. Today it's all about reading.

I've been trying to do more reading recently. For one thing, it stimulates the creative process. Plus there are just so many doggone good books out there right now; it's like a smorgasbord of reader goodness. Nirvana of the written word.

So I thought I'd tell you, my special Plotting Princesses blog aficionados what I've been reading recently.

GHOST STORY by JIM BUTCHER. I've read every single book in the Dresden Files series, including the anthologies. The stories center about a wizard in Chicago who helps solve crimes. They are urban fantasy at its best and these stories just keep getting better and better. If you haven't tried reading about Harry Dresden yet, I highly recommend this series.

MAGICAL LOVER by KARILYN BENTLEY. This is a terrific story by a wonderfully talented writer (she guest blogged here at Plotting Princesses just last month). The story is about a dragon shifter and the world-building and romance in this fantasy is wonderfully lyrical and was a joy to read.

TEMPT ME IF YOU CAN by JANET CHAPMAN. I love all Janet Chapman's Highlander time travel books so I thought I'd give this one a try. This is a contemporary romance by this well-known author, the second in a trilogy (although I didn’t realize that at the time). The story centers about a man who gets an anonymous letter informing him he has a teenage son he never knew about. He tracks down the woman who raised him and all sorts of complications ensue. Delightful and filled with just the right amount of laughter and tears. I went back and got the first in the series to read, too.

CANYONS IN THE NIGHT by JAYNE CASTLE. This was book three of the Looking Glass Trilogy and it didn't disappoint. Set on the fictional planet of Harmony (which if you’re a fan of Jayne Castle you are all too familiar with) this takes us in a new direction which I hope she continues for future books. The paranormal and romantic aspects of this book were all you would except of a Jayne Castle book.

SWEET AS SIN by INEZ KELLEY. This is a contemporary romance by a fellow Carina Press author. I picked this one up because it was getting rave reviews and I'd read other stuff by Inez and had enjoyed them. Definitely have a box of tissues handy when you read this one. My heart broke for the characters as painful secrets from the hero's past come back to haunt him in this wonderful story. Definitely a book you won't be able to put down easily.

These are just a few of the books I've been reading recently. So tell me, what have YOU been reading?

NOTE: Please do not be mean or post negative or hurtful reviews here. This site/blog is not intended for reviews. I just want to know what you've read recently that you liked. (I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting authors I may not have heard about and I'm sure my fellow blog followers want to know, too.)

12 comments:

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

Hi, Kathy! I have to say if it wouldn't be for reading, I wouldn't be writing.

Lovely post.

Wynter said...

Thanks for the scoop on some books I hadn't heard of (with the exception of Sweet as Sin). I'm discovering some new to me genres through my book group. Currently reading a biography and loving it - Some Girls, My Life in a Harem by Lauren Jillian.

Kathy Ivan said...

Okay, I'm busted. This blog was first used on my Plotting Princesses blogspot, but I felt that the NYUS would also like to tell everybody about what they are reading, give us some good recommendations. I'm always on the lookout for new authors and new books. So come on, everybody, spill. Tell me what you're currently reading.

Toni Anderson said...

Weird that now I'm writing I read a lot less fiction than I want to. I have a three foot pile of research books at my feet. I recently finished ENDLEES NIGHT by our own Maureen A. Miller and really enjoyed it. I also read WITH NO REMORSE by Cindy Gerard. I love her books too :)

Rita said...

Me 2 Vicki. I’m writing because I read.
The last couple of months have been very difficult to squeeze in reading time. My kindle is bulging. My new author lists have been neglected and I’ve stuck to my favorites. I’ve gone back to listening and even then the time has been limited so I’ve increased the speed to get through them faster. I make an effort to get books outside the genre I write. They give me a different perspective. Amazon says they have more than 750,000 books. How the heck am I supposed to get to all of those?

Shirley Wells said...

I've recently read ENDLESS NIGHT by our own Miss Maureen and JB's THE FIRST VICTIM. Awesome books!

I've been struggling to find time to read lately and I have so many books on the iPad tempting me. Next up for me is FLESH HOUSE by Stuart MacBride. Love his writing.

Marcelle Dubé said...

I love finding out what other writers are reading. I'm reading Louise Penny's latest, A Trick of the Light, and Cathy Pegau's Rulebreaker. There are simply not enough hours in the day.

Kathy Ivan said...

I am loving getting all the recommendations for new books. Word of mouth is the best way to hear about books that others think are wonderful.

Keep 'em coming. While I can't afford to buy any more books, that's never stopped me from loading up my Kindle anyway. LOL

Elise Warner said...

Right now I'm reading Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill. Just finished Presumed Dead by Shirley Wells, a bio--Wendy and the Lost Boys by Julie Salamon, Marcelle Dube's The Shoeless Kid,and TBR J Washowski's In Plain View, and A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler. So much to read,so little time.

Maureen A. Miller said...

Oh, I'm so excited...I saw my name here!!

It is my mission to read every one of the "Usual Suspects" :)

I've read many authors here. Wynter Daniels, Shirley Wells, Toni (Boom Boom) Anderson. Marcelle Dube, Angela Henry, Wendy Soliman, JB Lynn, Caridad Pineiro...and for me, the joy of reading these authors is that I'm reading a genre I adore. I am frustrated because I want to read every NYUS book...NOW. :)

Wendy Soliman said...

Shirley Well's wonderful Dead Silent. All of Marie Force's excellent 'Consequences' series from Carina Press, Dead Heat from Richard Castle - well, you get the picture.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Right now I'm reading "The Good Daughter" since that's what my book club is reading, but I'm itching to get back to my TBR pile of historical romance, romantic suspense and contemporaries. Those are my favorite genres.

And, as a writer, I use reading as a reward... work for 20 minutes straight, then read a few pages. Rinse, repeat. ;)

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