I sat down this evening to write this post and found myself wandering off into an entirely different article. That one’s not finished yet, but I’m back here for my occasional report of what I’ve been reading. This morning I made the mistake of opening the Kindle App on my computer, and found myself staring at the vast array of books that I have downloaded, most of which I have not yet had time to read. I’m not sure of the experience is discouraging, embarrassing, or just overwhelming. (It doesn’t stop me from downloading more books, of course. A few days ago I went on a minor binge and downloaded Blind Fury by Gwen Hernandez, Withholding Evidence by Rachel Grant, and Writing Your Novel From the Middle by James Scott Bell.)
For the last few months I’ve only been working three or occasionally four days a week, and friends have asked if I’ve been catching up on my reading. Alas, so far the answer appears to be No. I haven’t been writing as much as I’d like, either. I have, however, been getting a lot more sleep.
But I’ve managed a few books so far this year, and I’m reading three more as I write this (possibly having three books going at once isn’t the best habit, but I seem to be stuck with it.
Grave Danger is an excellent romantic suspense novel by Rachel Grant. I particularly enjoy Rachel’s books because, like me, she has a background in contract archeology. (We even went to the same school, Florida State University, although I was there mumble mumble decades earlier.) In Grave Danger, archeologist Libby Maitland has landed a great contract in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. She can deal with the usual problems of the business, keeping the crew at work and the clients happy, but she’s got serious trouble this time: a burial where there shouldn’t be a burial, and a stalker no one else, especially not Police Chief Mark Colby, believes in. Libby’s been stalked before, but is this the same man, or has she become entangled in something far bigger than a simple excavation project? Grave Danger kept me turning the pages (or rather pressing the button on my Kindle) in search of the answers.
Bride of the Rat God, by Barbara Hambly, was as enjoyable this time around on my Kindle as it was when I first read it in 
paperback twenty years ago (something I didn’t remember when I snagged it from the Kindle Daily Deal offerings recently). It does eventually live up to its rather lurid title, with a cursed necklace, a Chinese wizard, and a powerful demon, but it is also a fascinating picture of Hollywood in the 1920s, when movies were silent, parties were noisy, and Chinatown was a mystery. Not to mention the three gallant Pekingese dogs who help fight the demon. Bride of the Rat God is full of eccentric but believable movie folk, silent movie production, and thoroughly spooky suspense. There’s even a romance.
I even got around to updating the software on my Kindle this morning. Good thing those files don’t weigh anything. The App on my computer says I have 214 items on my Kindle. That’s kind of scary.
researching an article on alternate history at the time, and Ramona Wheeler’s Three Princes, a tale of 19th century intrigue in a world ruled by the Egyptian Empire sounded like just the sort of book I love. As long as I was there, with a gift card in my wallet, I also bought Gossamer Wing, a steampunk romance by Delphine Dryden, which I’d seen on another blog I follow (
rack. It isn’t new (the hard cover edition was released last year), just new in trade paperback, and the cover grabbed me, as did a quick look at the back blurb and the preface. Then I wandered back through the science fiction racks and made two (possibly contradictory) decisions. I bought a paper copy of Hugh Howey’s Wool, which I already have on my Kindle but would prefer to read on paper (the book is highly recommended by my friend Colleen Thompson), and I rejected an older paperback copy of an alternate history novel because the print was small and cramped and I know I can get it in digital format and increase the type size.
to reading The Curl Up and Dye, and I have a companion novella, Color Me Bad, waiting on my Kindle.
Kay Hudson 