I don't have love letters, I've never met a duke and I'm sure as heck no courtesan. So why the post title? I'm going to publish my Feb romance reading list - and I don't care what you think. Of romance or my choices :)
I 'came out' as a romance reader late 2008 and, even then, only because I took over Danielle's newsletter when she went on leave. With much misgiving (her leaving and my taking it over). What did I know about romance? I don't even believe in it for myself. With some trepidation I did some research (i.e. asked Google) and ended up at GoodReads hunting around for a group of people I could relate to. Found the Romance Readers Reading Challenges group and have never looked back. Now, as a matter of course, I'm quite blatant about the fact that I read romance (on the train, on the bus, at my desk, online, in hardcopy, on the lawn, in my house, at your house). Now, a year and a half later, I enjoy editing the newsletters and I enjoy romance novels in all their gloriousness. The good, the bad and the butt-ugly. If my library romance newsletters are any good it's thanks to the people and topics in this forum! So there.
2010 January monthly challenge - each month you're given 10 categories that will allow you to pick 10 books to read:
1. Book starts with "F" - A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens OR Forbidden by Suzanne Brockmann
2. Birthday book - To the Limit by Cindy Gerard (book 2 in the Bodyguards series) from LibraryLass
3. Geography: Indiana - Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare
4. Favourites pick - Menagerie Manor by Gerald Durrell (he is my idol)
5. Valentine's Day - Sometimes When We Kiss by Linda Goodnight OR Kiss and Tell by Diney Delancey
6. Black History Month - tbc
7. Romance genre: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance as edited by Trisha Telep
8. President's Day - Savannah: Or a Gift For Mr. Lincoln by John Jakes OR Home in Time for Christmas by Heather Graham
9. International Friendship Month - Intercourse by Robert Olen Butler as recommended by my friend Phillippa (subversive library staff member and book babe extraordinaire)
10. Reader's Choice - tbc
Read the month challenge : February - take the letters of the month, and find a book where author surname starts with this letter or a book title that starts with the given letter:
F - A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens
E - Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange OR The Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens
B - Bare Necessities by Marie Donovan
R - The Rake's Wicked Proposal by Carole Mortimer OR Runaway Miss by Mary Nichols
U - Undressed by Heather Macallister
A - At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh
R - A Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens OR Rational Romance by Melinda Hammond
Y - Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
February pick it for me challenge - randomly assigned giver/givee pairings where random books are chosen and suggested (pairs view each other's bookshelves for ideas):
Fantastic recommendations by BJ Rose - 8 in all and I have to narrow it down to 1 from:
* Julie Garwood: The Prize
* Saving Grace
* Linda Howard: The Touch Of Fire
* Son of the Morning
* The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
* Sharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
* The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
* The Sunday Philosophy Club
God defend New Zealand - 1 NZ book a month:
February: All Black's Kitchen Gardens by Tim Jones – nonfiction
That's my list for this month. Eep o_O
