Eat_Read_Knit aims for 75 books in 2024

I totally failed at posting in 2023 (although I did read 86 books) but I'm hoping for better from 2024.

I have *counts on fingers, then crosses them* 6 weeks until everything is submitted for my Masters, so after that I will hopefully go back to reading a variety of stuff (rather than just textbooks and candyfloss) and also hopefully remember to post.

January
1. Change of Heart - Claire Lydon - 3/5
2. The Sea Witch - Rebecca Kenney - 1/5

February
3. Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfield - 4/5

March
4. Promise Me - Jill Mansell - 4/5
5. Two Dances and a Duke - Eloisa James - 2/5
6. Always Remember - Mary Balogh - 3/5

April
7. Rise - Karina Bliss - 3/5
8. Hate Mail - Donna Marchetti - 3/5
9. The Fake Mate – Lana Ferguson - 2/5

May
10. The Catch - Amy Lea - 2/5
11. Love at First Flight – Jo Watson - 4/5
12. Night Shift – Annie Crown - 2/5
13. Seven Years’ Bad Sex – Nicky Wells - 1/5
14. It’s Complicated – Camilla Isley - 3/5
15. The Spare Room – Laura Starkey - 5/5
16. Never Fall For Your Fiancée – Virginia Heath - 3/5
17. Never Rescue A Rogue – Virginia Heath - 3/5
35. Next to You - Hannah Bonam-Young - 3/5 (Numbered out of sequence because I forgot about it, realised I'd missed it in August, am pretty sure it was a May read based on purchase date and gap in other finish dates, and can't be bothered to renumber everything because this list matches the numbering in my IRL notebook and renumbering that would be a chore.)

June
18. Never Wager With a Wallflower – Virginia Heath - 2/5
19. Economics and Property – Danny Myers - 4/5

July
20. Raiders of the Lost Heart - Jo Seguro - 1/5
21. The Wrong Bridesmaid – Lauren Landish - 2/5
22. The Wrong Guy – Lauren Landish - 3/5
23. Never Marry Your Brother’s Best Friend – Lauren Landish - 1/5
24. Fangirl Down – Tessa Bailey - 4/5
25. First Base – Amy Wiegand - 4/5
26. Someone Else’s Honeymoon – Phoebe Macleod - 1/5
27. Rachel Ryan’s Resolutions – Laura Starkey - 4/5

August
28. Right on Cue – Falon Ballard - 3/5
29. Lady Whistledown Strikes Back – Julia Quinn, Karen Hawkins, Suzanne Enoch, Mia Ryan - 3/5
30. The Rom-Commers – Katherine Centre - 2/5
31. Thank You, Next – Kathryn Freeman - 4/5
32. Next of Kin – Hannah Bonam-Young - 4/5
33. Kings of the Wyld – Nicholas Eames - 5/5
34. Out on a Limb - Hannah Bonam-Young - 4/5
36. Set on You - Amy Lea - 2/5
37. When Grumpy Met Sunshine - Charlotte Stein - 5/5
38. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka - 5/5

September
39. Better Left Unsent - Lia Louis - 3/5
40. Here For The Wrong Reasons - Lydia Wang and Annabel Pauslon - 3/5
41. What Does This Button Do? - Bruce Dickinson - 4/5
42. Two Doors Down - Mary Hargreaves - 1/5 DNF
43. Worked Up - Tessa Bailey - 3/5
44. The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams - 5/5
45. Plot Twist - Erin La Rosa - 4/5
46. Always Only You - Chloe Liese - 5/5
47. Open Hearts - Eve Dangerfield - 4.5/5
48. Diddly Squat: 'Til The Cows Come Home - Jeremy Clarkson - 4/5

49. The Au Pair Affair - Tessa Bailey - 3.5/5
50. The Next Best Fling - Gabriella Gomez - 2/5
51. I think I might be Autistic - Cynthia Kim - 5/5
52. The C*ck Down the Block - Amy Award - 4/5
53. Jock Blocked - Pippa Grant - 2/5
54. The Best Laid Plans - Karla Sorensen - 1/5
55. Ultra-Processed People - Chris van Tulleken - 5/5 (re-read)
56. Autism and ADHD in mature women - Chloe Brooks - 3/5
57. The Best of All - Karle Sorensen - 3/5
58. Only and Forever - Chloe Liese - 2.5/5
59. Isn't it Bromantic - Lyssa Kay Adams - 3/5

October
60. The Orc from the Office - Kate Prior - 4/5
61. At First Spite - Olivia Dade - 5/5
62. The Gargoyle from General Management - Kate Prior - 3/5
63. The Half Orc's Maiden Bride - Ruby Dixon - 3/5
64. Ice Planet Barbarians - Ruby Dixon - 3/5
65. Barbarian Alien - Ruby Dixon -3/5
66. Stranded (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 1) - Heather Fox - 2/5
67. The Wiener Across the Way - Amy Award - 3/5
68. Dad Bod - Silla Webb/Kayden Layne - 0.5/5 DNF (at about 20%)
69. The Weight of It All - N R Walker - 5/5

70. Barbarian Lover - Ruby Dixon (2.5/5)
71. Barbarian Mine - Ruby Dixon (2/5)
72. Barbarian's Prize - Ruby Dixon (3/5)
73. Barbarian's Mate - Ruby Dixon (4/5)
74. Barbarian's Touch - Ruby Dixon (4/5)
75. Saved (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 2) - Heather Fox (3/5)
76. Scorched (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 3) - Heather Fox (4/5)
77. Seduced (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 4) - Heather Fox (3/5)
78. Silenced (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 5) - Heather Fox (4/5)
79. Seized (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 6 - Heather Fox (4/5)
80. Changed (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 7) - Heather Fox (5/5)

Welcome back!

Happy reading in 2024, Catherine, and good luck with your masters!

So, first up is Change of Heart by Claire Lydon, which is a lesbian romance based around a fake dating trope. There was a lot about this that I enjoyed, but I didn't like the way the main characters handled the Big Plot Twist. I get that it was a huge thing and they were blindsided by it, but the reactions didn't feel (a) good or (b) consistent with how the characters were the rest of the time. It also seemed like the Big Terrible Thing that was tearing a family apart, was far too easily resolved when they actually did deal with it (if it was that easily resolved, why did it take so long for them to do something?). Those things didn't ruin the book, but they dropped it from about a 4.5 to about a 3 for me.

>3 drneutron:
>4 FAMeulstee:

Thank you :)

2. The Sea Witch - Rebecca Kenney

I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the plot, dual first person POV isn't really my thing, and it turns out mermaid smut is definitely not my thing either.

But if you like revenge melodrama, dual first person POV, and mermaid smut in your romance novels, it's probably excellent for you.

1/5

3. Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfield

Not actually a romantic comedy. Not exactly. Although it's also not not one.

I have ambiguous feelings about the characters, but I very much appreciated the way they unpacked themselves and their relationship.

Although it will be a long time before reading a book where the pandemic features so heavily isn't weird any more.

4/5

4. Promise Me - Jill Mansell

Pretty standard chick lit but Jill Mansell always does that well, and this is a good one.

4.5/5.

(And with any luck, that may have got me out of my complete failure to read - and especially finish - any books.)

>1 Eat_Read_Knit: Good Luck!!!!

I’ve recently submitted my PhD, so I understand the stress and the endless amount of textbooks and journal articles.

You’ve got this 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

>10 KB23: Thanks :) I found out that I passed, so now I am just waiting to find out about graduation. I hope your PhD submission went well!

So, since April I have read a lot of forgettable fluff, a couple of good romcom/chicklit books, and a couple of other books. Highlights are:

11. Love at First Flight - Jo Watson
A neurodiverse female lead in a very solid and enjoyable romcom. She's an air traffic controller, he's a pilot, they fake a romance for mutual benefit. Good cast of supporting characters, plot is engaging. By a South African author and set in South Africa, which made an enjoyable change from the steady diet of US and UK based romance/romcom/chicklit I have otherwise been reading. 4/5.

15. The Spare Room - Laura Starkey
Another very strong chick lit/romcom. She gets dumped and can't pay the rent alone, he needs a temporary place to stay while his place is refurbed. Excellent, well-rounded lead and supporting characters, and a well-paced plot. 5/5.

19. Economics and Property - Danny Myers
Very solid introduction to the topic, but now somewhat dated. I basically read as CPD for work, and it's written as a university textbook for trainee surveyors and similar professionals. 4/5 in 2024; would have been a 5/5 until about 2018-20.

27. Rachel Ryan's Resolutions - Laura Starkey
Solid chick lit. Excellent character development. It looked like it was going to be a love triangle, which I hate, but actually it's pretty obvious who the bad guy is and a fair bit of the tension comes from when she's going to work this out. 4/5.

33. Kings of the Wyld - Nicholas Eames
A band of adventurers come out retirement to rescue one of the member's daughter's, now a grown-up adventurer herself and trapped in a besieged city on the other side of many kinds of deadly peril. A gloriously silly fantasy rollercoaster of adventure. I loved the characters, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole tale. 5/5.

38. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka

I have the audiobook from Audible, and a paperback copy.

A beautifully lyrical novel set in the Sri Lankan civil war (specifically 1990). Maali Almeida, war photographer, dies and has 7 days to discover who killed him and what became of his negatives.

I rarely enjoy Booker prize winners, I think because I find them too slow and lacking in plot. The fact that I loved this book and the fact that this book had a plot is not, I suspect, a coincidence. While the book is slow paced, it always keeps moving. It's like a calm, majestic river, and even where there are eddies it always keeps flowing onwards.

I mostly listened to the audiobook, narrated by Shivantha Wijesinha. The narration is spectacularly good: very atmospheric, and really brings out the lyrical quality of the writing.

Absolutely 100% recommend.

And some more highlights. Ignoring the forgettable fluff, we are left with two strongly performing non-fiction books:

41. What Does This Button Do? - Bruce Dickinson - 4/5
An exceptionally well written autobiography from the Iron Maiden frontman that goes light on the sex and drugs and heavy on the rock and roll. It also spends a lot of time on Dickinson's other passions - fencing and flying - as well as Dickinson's wartime concert in Sarajevo and his battle with cancer.

For me, it falls short of being a 5* read because I felt the conscious decision to omit discussion of wives and children - which Dickinson explains in the afterword and which I fully accept is a legit editorial choice as well as it being the author's prerogative to decide which bits of his life to share - made it feel a little unbalanced and incomplete. But this was a fairly minor thing - and I absolutely do accept that other stuff would have had to come out to put those things in and keep it a sensible length, and it would have been a shame to lose anything that was in there. It's still a very high 4/5, and highly recommended.

48. Diddly Squat: 'Til The Cows Come Home - Jeremy Clarkson - 4/5
The second instalment of Clarkson's memoir(ish) of farming life, accompanying the TV series. It is basically the series in written form, and the writing is very ... Clarksonish. As you would expect. Recommended for people who like Jeremy Clarkson. Or who want to read about farming and can tolerate Jeremy Clarkson.

And also a couple of romance novels that scored maximum marks from me:

44. The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams - 5/5
A man whose marriage is in severe trouble is encouraged by his friends to use a romance novel to get an idea of what he can do to fix it. This is really strong on character development, both of the male lead and his wife, and is recommended for fans of second-chance romances.

46. Always Only You - Chloe Liese - 5/5
A professional hockey player and his team's social media manager start a romance after years of considering each other off limits. This has very strong, well written characters, and plausible tension/conflict which feels very genuine to the characters. There are quite a lot of supporting characters, but the book never feels crowded. Major themes are neurodiversity (one lead and one supporting character), disability (one lead) and family and team dynamics.

And another update, with:

51. I Think I Might Be Autistic - Cynthia Kim

I would not go so far as to say I think I might be autistic. But I have started to suspect there is a non-zero chance I may possibly be some flavour of neurodivergent, or at least have some neurodivergent traits at a sub-clinical level, and I want to learn more. This was useful information on how to investigate further, practical steps to take, and gave me some useful stuff to think about. Further reading on this subject and ADHD is likely to follow.

So, I may have accidentally become a bit obsessed with sci-fi romances.

First, the highlights that are something else:

55. Ultra-Processed People - Chris van Tulleken - 5/5
Re-read. I was aware that my diet was getting worse and lots of ultra-processed rubbish was edging out the healthier food again, so I decided on a re-read to remind myself why I was trying to eat much less ultra-processed food. I had forgotten how detailed, well-referenced and informative this was, and I was glad I decided to re-read it. It has absolutely reminded me of the importance of cooking stuff from scratch, and I am doing better at eating healthier food again.

61. At First Spite - Olivia Dade - 5/5
Contemporary romance.
Athena's fiancé calls off the wedding, and she has no choice but to move into the house she bought him as a wedding present. Which is 10 feet wide and attached to her her ex's house (the plan was to knock through and join the two together). And, even worse, it's across a narrow alley from her ex's brother's house. The brother who was instrumental in persuading the ex to end the engagement.
What I loved about this was the combination of character development with both leads learning a lot about themselves, even as they also learned a lot about each other.
Content warning for depression (main character, on the page).

69. The Weight of It All - N R Walker - 5/5
Contemporary romance (M/M)
Another one that I adored for the character development.
Henry's boyfriend breaks off their 8-year relationship, saying that Henry's become too fat and boring. In an attempt to win his ex back, Henry joins a gym, and soon becomes good friends with his trainer Reed. Reed also has his own history and issues with people making superficial judgements based on appearance, but aside from that the two guys just really gel well together personality-wise. I was absolutely cheering for these two guys as they worked out that there was a lot more than friendship going on. The main characters and their friends are all just lovely people, and I loved spending time withs them all.

60. The Orc from the Office - Kate Prior - 4/5
Fantasy romance/rom com
I enjoyed this a lot, and it really made me laugh. I was at a loss on how to describe it to capture the vibe of the book, so I'm going to fall back on the book description:
"Mate-bonding with a co-worker is against company policy... accidentally or not.
Janice knows better than anyone that entanglements with co-workers are risky business.
But when Janice accidentally breaks a co-workers nose, she finds herself unexpectedly mated to an orc, and under Monster Resources’ scrutiny.
Khent from the IT Department is quiet and nerdy, despite the tusks. His emails are overly wordy. He won’t stop apologizing even though she’s the one who broke his glasses.
Clearly, fate got this one wrong.
All Janice has to do is stay away from Khent until the bond dissipates. Easy enough, right? Except…
…Her company laptop chooses this week to need the orc from the IT Department, repeatedly.
…She accidentally clicks on orc porn at work and has to take remedial phishing training with Khent.
…Their bond will keep pulling them back together until it is completed."

And them onto the sci-fi romances. I blame the Kindle Unlimited free trial I currently have running. I saw the Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon recommended and decided to try them, and thought the first couple were were pretty entertaining. And then, I saw the Mates for the Raskarrans series by Heather Fox recommended for people who enjoyed Ice Planet Barbarians. Both series involve groups of human women who are (for slightly different reasons) stranded on an alien planet, and who end up pairing up with the aliens who live there.

I really liked the first couple of Ice Planet books and then downloaded a load more - but then felt the series became very repetitive and didn't really go anywhere for a while - although books 6 and 7 were picking back up again. I have the next couple borrowed on Kindle Unlimited and will read them, but I am undecided about carrying on with the rest of the series.

64. Ice Planet Barbarians - Ruby Dixon (3/5)
65. Barbarian Alien - Ruby Dixon (3/5)
70. Barbarian Lover - Ruby Dixon (2.5/5)
71. Barbarian Mine - Ruby Dixon (2/5)
72. Barbarian's Prize - Ruby Dixon (3/5)
73. Barbarian's Mate - Ruby Dixon (4/5)
74. Barbarian's Touch - Ruby Dixon (4/5)

Mates for the Raskarrans, by contrast, I wasn't so sure about after the first book: book 1 absolutely felt like a jungle-based, slower-paced version of Ice Planet Barbarians. I'd downloaded books 1-6 in an omnibus, so decided after a bit of a break to try the next one, and found I liked it a bit more so I continued. I felt the series got a lot stronger as it progressed, and that there was a lot more substance to this series than the other one. I think the female leads have a lot more substance and back story than in the Ice Planet series (helped by the fact that in this series they come from a dystopian earth, which is actually an important plot point) and there is a very strong overarching story emerging. I absolutely inhaled this series - I read the next six of them in six days - and will shortly be starting number 8, which is the more recently published. I will absolutely be keeping up with this series as and when more books come out.

66. Stranded (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 1) - Heather Fox - (2/5)
75. Saved (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 2) - Heather Fox (3/5)
76. Scorched (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 3) - Heather Fox (4/5)
77. Seduced (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 4) - Heather Fox (3/5)
78. Silenced (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 5) - Heather Fox (4/5)
79. Seized (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 6) - Heather Fox (4/5)
80. Changed (Mates for the Raskarrans Book 7) - Heather Fox (5/5)

Congratulations on surpassing 75!

Congrats!

>17 elorin: Thanks Robyn

>18 drneutron: Thanks Jim

So, I have been reading a lot and my count for the year is now up to 121.

Everything I have read since the previous list falls somewhere within the romance category, although there has been a mix of serious and angsty, fluffy romcom, contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi and probably some other subgenres. And combinations thereof.

I'm not going to list the whole lot, but I'm going to flag up these three for special mention:
107. Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert
109.Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Talia Hibbert
110. Act Your Age, Eve Brown - Talia Hibbert

What really made this trilogy stand out for me was the depth and complexity of the characters, the nuanced portrayal of their relationships (not just romantic relationships: also between siblings, friends, and the main (adult) characters and their parents) and the incredibly strong character development.

There are some serious issues explored across the three books, including disability/chronic illness (Chloe's book), mental health (Dani's book), living with undiagnosed neurodiversity (Eve's book), and the aftereffects of abusive relationships (Chloe's book).

Still reading, count for the year is now 144.

With one exception, everything has been romance. A mix of sci-fi, fantasy, historical and contemporary subgenres, but all romance. Ranging from 1 star and the deployment of a "WTF did I just read!?" tag in my library, to 5 stars and promptly ordering a paperback of the thing I just read on Kindle Unlimited for future re-reading.

I'm going to highlight The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun again - this was a re-read of one of 2022's books, and I loved it just as much the second time. An apparently awkward (there's more to it) bachelor on a reality dating show fails to connect much with any of the female contestants - and instead falls for his (male) producer. Possibly highly implausible in terms of television production - I have no idea how these things work - but the discussion of mental health, asexuality, and discovery of sexual identity is excellent and I just honestly find the whole thing wonderfully real and warm and human, and I love the characters so much regardless of whether or not the setup is remotely reasonable.

The exception to the romance theme was (ironically) How to Date Buildings by Trevor Yorke. Which is about how to work out how old (British) buildings are, not about how to start a relationship with a warehouse or an office block.

Happy New Thread, Ellen! And congrats on reading 75+!

I share your interest in autism. The differences in the ways of experiencing the world, and the difficulties navigating a world full of different assumptions, really grabs me. The best I’ve read so far is Neurotribes by Steve Silberman, which I found refreshingly open-minded and even-handed.

Debbi and I were discussing Tessa Bailey. Debbi’s done with her, having not liked the last two she read, one of which was The Au Pair Affair. I liked that one more than she did. I also thought she’d previously written a couple of much better ones. What do you think of Tessa Bailey’s books?

My next up is The Gift of Asher Lev, Chaim Potok’s follow-up to the most excellent My Name is Asher Lev.

Now up to 178 for the year, still mostly romance.

One exception worth noting:

167. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman
A fantasy/sci-fi LitRPG. When the world collapses and only those beings outside survive, Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut are among the few to make into a dungeon to try to win survival. Carl and Princess Donut battle monsters (and, reluctantly, the occasional fellow crawler who prefers attempted murder to co-operation) in an attempt to make it through. And the surprise of Carl (but not Princess Donut, who understands her adoring public) they also become popular among the intergalactic audience - because of course the apocalypse is being televised.

I enjoyed this a lot - but the humour is very dark and won't be for everyone.

>23 jnwelch: I find Tessa Bailey hugely variable. I quite liked The Au Pair Affair, but I thought Fangirl Down was better and I also liked Secretly Yours and Unfortunately Yours too; those last 3 were 4* reads for me. On the other hand, I DNF'd Need Me, and I thought Fix Her Up and Too Hot to Handle were 1* reads at best.

>24 Eat_Read_Knit: this sounds fun!