Wednesday, December 2, 2009

November '09 in Review


November was by far my lowest reading month for the past two and a half years, which doesn't surprise me. For the whole month I was busier than in the past. Then there's the fact that during the first part of the month I was just coming out of a reading slump, and during the second half I became addicted to Supernatural -- which had a significant impact on my available reading time.

In all, here are my stats for the month:

Novels:
  • Tempted by Megan Hart - This one was interesting. It was like women's fiction with a dose of erotica. It was different enough from my usual reading material to help break me out of my slump, so I'm very grateful for that, but I hesitate to give it a grade because I'm not totally sure about my feelings.
  • Breakfast in Bed by Robin Kaye - Click book title to read review.
  • Tie Me Down by Tracy Wolff - Review Forthcoming
  • Captain's Surrender by Alex Beecroft - Click book title to read review.
  • Make Her Pay by Roxanne St. Claire - Review Forthcoming
  • Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield - I loved this book. It's one of the best erotic romances I've read (emphasis on romance), but given that it's M/M, it certainly won't be for everyone. I'm very grateful to one of the posters on the AAR message boards for recommending this one.
  • Under the Covers anthology by Jordan, O'Clare, and Mellor - Review Forthcoming

Novellas:
  • Making Waves by Pepper Espinoza - I really liked this one; solid B-level territory. It's the story of an A-list actor who's very much in the closet, and the openly gay brother of his fiancee.

Short-Stories:
  • This Is What I Want by Megan Hart
  • Four O'Clock by Pepper Espinoza
  • And to Hold... by Pepper Espinoza
  • Playing the Game by Megan Hart
  • All You Can Eat by Megan Hart
  • After Class by Megan Hart
  • Opening the Door by Megan Hart
  • Peanut Butter Kisses by Pepper Espinoza

(You probably noticed the crap-load of stories by Hart and Espinoza. After I read the latest Hart, Newly Fallen, I'm planning on doing mini-reviews by author for all these short-stories.)

Despite the length of this list, only 7 of the titles were full novels, and at least a couple of the short-stories were short enough to be read in 15-20 minutes. Combining the short-stories and the novella would only add another 1-2 novels to the list, which is why this is my lowest month in a very long time.

Despite the low quantity of words, however, it was a very good reading month on an enjoyment scale. Grade-wise, 3 of the titles are in the C-range, 1 of the anthology stories was in the D-range, but everything else was B-range or higher, so that's very good.

How was your November reading month?

4 comments:

Wendy said...

If you haven't downloaded it already, another Megan Hart short story I really liked was Layover.

I've had This Is All I Want for AGES, and still need to read it! Argh!

Newly Fallen is on my December HQ Download list.

Katie Mack said...

I really liked Layover too -- it prompted a major Hart short-story glom. It just didn't make this list because I read it in October.

You might try Playing the Game -- it and Layover are my two favorites of Hart's so far. It's one of her Amber Heat titles.

SusiSunshine said...

I only read Ms. Hart's novels so far. Will check the shorter ons out!
I think it's a nice list you've got there!

Katie Mack said...

Hi Susi - I definitely recommend trying some of Hart's short-stories. I suggest starting with Layover or Playing the Game. Hopefully this weekend I'll get the time to give all of the ones I've read mini-reviews.