WWW Wednesday – September 24, 2014

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

• What are you currently reading?

Sorcerer’s Feud, by Katharine Kerr. Thoroughly enjoyable tale set in San Francisco with magic, runes, shape changers, and a fascinating twist on vampirism.

Memoirs of a British Agent, by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart. Absorbing, sometimes painfully period, look at the experiences of a young diplomat who ended up in Russia during the last days of the Empire and the early days of the Revolution.

Published in 1933, so some of his predictions and judgments make one wince, but for a vivid look at remarkable personalities and events of the time, it’s a grabber.

Writing Horses, by Judith Tarr. My writing partner and I have a horse birth scene in our current project, so I got out this book to refresh myself on the nitty gritty about mares and foals. Now I’m rereading the entire thing, because it’s just that good. Indispensable for any writer who has horses appear in her work, and no convenient real beasties to hand.

The Royal Stuarts, by Allan Massie. The approach of the recent vote got me rereading Scottish history at points where it collided the most with English history, before the union of 1707. Phew, rereading the Edwards’ treatment of Scotland [ Dan Jones, The Plantagenets, a terrific read] really had me appreciating the peaceful prospect of a vote by citizens of Scotland, meanwhile, there is this solid overview of the Stuarts, including the ones you rarely hear about, to balance the biographies of their more well known English counterparts.

• What did you recently finish reading?

Spiral Path, by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel.

I read this in draft. I don’t know that it is the best introduction to new readers, but fans of Allie, the heroine of Night Calls and Kindred Rites, will be delighted to see Allie back after a hiatus of a few years. Allie leaves home to go to magic school for the first time, and her friendship with handsome young Shaw shows signs of a closer attachment.

This book might be considered transitional, as it sets Allie up in school, with new friends and new responsibilities. There is more time spent on magic, hinting at connections with the nascent government of the young United States in this alternate world. It’s sure to leave Allie’s faithful fans anticipating the next book.

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: a Tudor Tragedy, by Leanda de Lisle. Terrific, if sometimes grim, look at what can only be called the time of queens. Very young queens. English politics at high levels were always deadly, but during this period there was a plethora of girls and young woman connected to the crown, who were moved about on the political chessboard, as every single one of them lost fathers, brothers, spouses, uncles to the axe, and many of the youth died of illness. Then there was Lady Jane Grey, whose life de Lisle discovered by going back to original sources was not at all like later hagiographies painted her. (Longer review here)

It’s Raining Men, by Milly Johnson. Clever, tightly plotted romance filled with delightful characters, and only 1.99 at Kindle! (More here)

• What do you think you’ll read next?

I have a toppling TBR pile . . .

What about you? What are you reading, have you been reading, wanting to read next?