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And of course, thank you guys for buying the new collection! I appreciate it. :-)

I read a good chunk of Nor Iron Bars a Cage while standing in line for the Mumford & Sons concert, then finished it last night, slow to finish because I wanted to savor it. Thanks again to Charlinda for the heads-up on this one. Yes, I might have been even happier with a more tightly edited version, but this is something special. Highly recommended for fantasy readers, and if you're not so much, why not give it a try? A very generous free read.

I read a short by Dale Chase Lonely as God, listed as gay erotica on the Wilde City site. A nicely done Western vignette, so I decided a to try her Wyatt: Doc Holliday's Account of an Intimate Friendship. It's novel length and interesting if you've followed versions of that history. I had a friend with a Wyatt Earp fixation akin to my own with Alexander the Great. OK, I don't mean anything more than that we read anything we could find on each of them. : ) We visited Tombstone together years ago on our way back from Tucson. I can't imagine she'd be very happy with this version. I'm finding it interesting, not erotic. The sex is repetitive and to the point, which is oddly appropriate to the story.

I also started Dream (Aisling 2), in the mood for more fantasy. So Josh's Strange Fortune is keeping me diverted, yet on task while I sort through the shredding due to weeks of neglecting desk organization.

I ordered In Sunshine or in Shadow yesterday. A great summer it is!

For everyone who doesn't know, Caroline and I are going to be reading the poems of Wilfred Owen together over the course of the summer, starting the week after next. Obviously, he was one of the poets we talked about in the CUTYS thread last month. To refresh, he's a WWI soldier & poet. If anyone wants to join us, please feel free. We're just figuring out where to discuss and which book to use as we both have different versions.

I can never remember the poems I read so rereading them will be a treat for me!

Jordan wrote: "For everyone who doesn't know, Caroline and I are going to be reading the poems of Wilfred Owen together over the course of the summer, starting the week after next. Obviously, he was one of the po..."

I just bought the highest-rated Kindle edition of The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. One reviewer mentioned that Owen's preface (unfinished) had been oddly formatted as poetry instead of prose, otherwise the formatting is good and the individual poems are nicely indexed. My preferred format for poetry is paper, but this was immediate and cost .99 (ridiculous price). Please let me know how to join your discussion, if that's OK.

Awesome, Karen!

I've got Jon Stallworthy's edition.

I was thinking we could use the poetry forum here if that's ok with other people. If we're reading all the poems we'd be reading ten a week which would bring us to the end of August. At least according to the edition I have.

Btw, that's awesome that you can get a kindle edition for a dollar. Nice! I got mine in college and just never got rid of it. Thankfully.

I think I might have to read his biography for my summer reading next year. I only skimmed it for that paper I was writing and missed a lot.

Those of you interested in Wilfred Owen: have you looked into Rupert Brooke's poetry? You might want to consider it.

I haven't read any poetry since my Lit O level many moons ago, and Wilfred Owen was on the syllabus then. I think I'll give it a go and try to join in the conversation, lol. Thanks for the heads-up for the kindle version, Karen. It's 77p on Amazon UK and now sitting on my kindle :D

Jordan wrote: "For everyone who doesn't know, Caroline and I are going to be reading the poems of Wilfred Owen together over the course of the summer, starting the week after next..."

That's the thing I love about this group. It's all quiet when you go to bed at night here in Britain and by the following morning you find everyone has been busy discussing poetry. Thanks for the posting the details Jordan. Karen, Hambel you're welcome to join us and KZ too? And anyone else? We're starting on 16th June.
Mods - rather than fill the Read me a poem thread with Wilfred Owen could we have a place for our discussions please?
Does happy dance - this will get me through the wretchedness of June.

Okay ladies, I've set up a topic for Poetry Discussion: Wilfred Owen in the Book of the Month Club folder. Take it away. :-)

Just finished Brat Farrar. Thank you for the recommendation! What a wonderful read! I kept highlighting throughout. (view spoiler)[ Dunno if this is actually a spoiler, but even general things would ruin the experience, i think. While Miss Pym left me chilled (as in slightly shocked) and melancholy, this one did have the effect of some cheering up, you were right Hj. Comparing briefly, I thought Brat Farrar had more humor in it, more insightful characters, the general build-up of the story is quite different too, and the reader is somehow much more involved. At some point i was wondering which direction she's gonna take Brat, and Simon (i was right! :)). I did like the reluctant HEA. (hide spoiler)]

KC wrote: "Just finished Brat Farrar. Thank you for the recommendation! What a wonderful read! I kept highlighting throughout. [spoilers removed]"

I'm so pleased you liked it! It's one of my all-time favourite books. I love re-reading it, and it's great to share the pleasure.

How about The Franchise Affair next??

ETA Just thinking about TFA made me remember how much I liked it, and I've just bought the audiobook!

Hj wrote: "KC wrote: "Just finished Brat Farrar. Thank you for the recommendation! What a wonderful read! I kept highlighting throughout. [spoilers removed]"

I'm so pleased you liked it! It's one of my all-..."

I'm glad! makes me happy when people enjoy the books i do, and to be able to share thoughts about them. Brat Farrar's become one of my favorites now too! I'd like to get the print version soon, so i can add little notes and browse and re-read.

Enjoy the audio! :)

The Franchise Affair is the 3rd in that series, shouldn't i start with Man in the Queue, or it doesn't matter?

KC wrote: "The Franchise Affair is the 3rd in that series, shouldn't i start with Man in the Queue, or it doesn't matter? ..."

Inspector Grant makes only a small appearance in this one, to the extent that when I recommended it I thought it was one of the stand-alones. I was aiming to get you completely hooked on Tey before getting you started on the series! Man in the Queue is excellent too, so by all means read that first. (I love Inspector Grant!)

Hj wrote: "(I love Inspector Grant!)
..."

Now days we would know so much more about Grant. That's one evolution in the mystery novel that I love. Not that I need to see Grant's personal and professional life forefront in every novel, but a little more of the personal touch wouldn't have come amiss.

I just finished a fun read Widdershinsand starting on the second Threshold's. Would love to recommend to anyone who's into paranormal, mystery, and good writing. Thanks to this one, I have some new words to add to my vocabulary. Fundament?????

OkayKim wrote: "I just finished a fun read Widdershins and starting on the second Threshold's. Would love to recommend to anyone who's into paranormal, mystery, and good writing. Thanks to this one, I have some new..."

Thanks for these mentions! I very much enjoyed Widdershins and didn't know the second book was out. I just bought it. Seems I have a paranormal, fantasy focus this summer so far. Just finished reading/listening to Strange Fortune. It kept me up late. :-)

I'm still listening to Strange Fortune. It was great to listen to in the car. I was bummed there wasn't any traffic, I made it home too soon!!!!!!

I read Kaje Haper's new book, Sole Support. I liked it, but you need to know the MC's mom has late stage dementia. The story follows the MC as he struggles to deal responsibly and compassionately with his mom.

The story has enjoyable main and side characters. One of the main characters is a major geek.
Geek lovers will get lots of enjoyment from this one. 8)

Hj wrote: "Jordan - this is a mystery which I enjoyed very much:
Brushback by Jamie Scofield. It was also published in 2009, and although it's described as no 1 in a series I've never been able to find a sequel. I keep looking! "

LOL. I hated that one. Felt the PI was too stupid to live. Different tastes ...

Hj wrote: "KC wrote: "The Franchise Affair is the 3rd in that series, shouldn't i start with Man in the Queue, or it doesn't matter? ..."

Inspector Grant makes only a small appearance in this one, to the ext..."

Mission accomplished, i should say ;-) i'm already hooked, and Tey has such a short backlist anyway..., so i'll start with the 1st one.

As an alternate, i'm reading Stevenson's Chain of Fools now.

OkayKim wrote: "I just finished a fun read Widdershinsand starting on the second Threshold's. Would love to recommend to anyone who's into paranormal, mystery, and good writing. Thanks to this one, I have some new..."

Good to hear. I have that book but have not read it yet. Fundament's a fun word, isn't it?

Guess what!? I got my today!!

It's as beautiful as it looks in the small cover pic! And Josh, I love, love, LOVE that you've added a few lines as forewords in the beginning of each short story. What a great idea! It's LOVELY to read how that particular story came to you and what where the things you wanted to capture in it, the idea behind it. THANK YOU!!!

(See, when I run out of the new, praising words in my English vocabulary, it doesn't matter. I'll just start using block letters for the old ones. *grin*)

Johanna wrote: "Guess what!? I got my today!!..."

LOL Johanna.

Following on from our discussions of CUTYS I came across this favourites list
and have duly added it as it seemed to fit the bill of being a 'classy book' and definitely deseves a vote or two.

Johanna wrote: "Guess what!? I got my today!!

It's as beautiful as it looks in the small cover pic! And Josh, I love, love, LOVE that you've added a few lines as fore..."

Lol, enjoy the lovely new book! :-) Very happy to hear about the added bits about each story!

Johanna wrote: "I love, love, LOVE that you've added a few lines as forewords in the beginning of each short story. What a great idea! It's LOVELY to read how that particular story came to you and what where the things you wanted to capture in it, the idea behind it. THANK YOU!!!"

Shit! And I wanted to save some money, considering that I have already everything, in part also on paper...

Yay!! Received my copy of Brothers of the Wild North Seaby Harper Fox!

Reggie wrote: "Yay!! Received my copy of Brothers of the Wild North Seaby Harper Fox!
"

This seems to be a great day, don't you think?!

Caroline wrote: "Following on from our discussions of CUTYS I came across this favourites list
and have duly added it as it seemed to fit the bill of being a 'classy book' and definitely deseves a vote or two."

Thank you for the link, Caroline. I gave my vote. :-) I was surprised that The Hours and The Color Purple were on that list, too. Didn't even remember they had LGBTQ characters and themes in them...

Antonella wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I love, love, LOVE that you've added a few lines as forewords in the beginning of each short story. What a great idea! It's LOVELY to read how that particular story came to you and ..."

LOL. Just push the Buy-now-with-1-click button, Antonella. Do eeeet.

Reggie wrote: "Yay!! Received my copy of Brothers of the Wild North Seaby Harper Fox!
"

I bought it only half an hour ago. Why am I here again and not reading?! Need to turn off the WiFi. ;-)

Calathea wrote: "Reggie wrote: "Yay!! Received my copy of Brothers of the Wild North Seaby Harper Fox!
"

I bought it only half an hour ago. Why am I here again ..."

:-)

Reggie wrote: "Yay!! Received my copy of Brothers of the Wild North Seaby Harper Fox!
"

Received it - and read it!! It's wonderful. Absolutely loved it. I can't wait until everyone's read it so we can talk about it without spoiling it. It's had lots of excellent reviews, some of which I read today after I finished it - beware! All the ones I read gave away far too much of the story.

Got my copy too! :-) lovely day today! but need to finish Archer's Heart first (almost done), then Brothers of the Wild North Sea it is!

Hj wrote: "Received it - and read it!! It's wonderful."

That must be a new record!

In fact I've got the message from Samhain telling me it was available this morning at 6.45 (not that I was awake then). I could have read it as well, if I hadn't had to work, and to go to an event int the evening.

Now I'm back. I'm going to start and I told myself I have to set a time for stopping, because I don't want to finish it in one go, especially if this means not to sleep...

Antonella wrote: "Now I'm back. I'm going to start and I told myself I have to set a time for stopping, because I don't want to finish it in one go, especially if this means not to sleep... ..."

I'm willing to bet that you read far into the night, later than you intended - that's if you didn't stay awake to finish it! I had to devour it in one go, and fortunately had a free day yesterday so I was able to indulge.

Hj wrote: "I'm willing to bet that you read far into the night, later than you intended"

Of that I was sure in advance ;-).

As usual I was cheating with myself, saying at first: ''You cold read till xx o' clock'', then deciding I could go on a bit more. In the end I read till 3 o' clock...

And now work! I can read again late in the evening. But it is also a good thing, because I can savour it more.

My new Kindle paperwhite is arrriving today, so tonight I shall christen it by downloading Brothers of the Wild North Sea. I am really looking forward to that book.

The North Sea is my home waters so to speak, so I am really excited as to how she will describe the landscape. Her sense of place are always so wonderful and lyrical.

I started reading The Cranberry Hush yesterday morning after finishing Kestrel's Chance, As Meat Loves Salt and Strange Fortune which all were very, very good. After The Cranberry Hush I plan on reading Brothers of the Wild North Sea.

I did post some thoughts about our traveling book As Meat Loves Salt on the Traveling books of our group topic, but I'll post something here, too.

Reading As Meat Loves Salt took me a lot longer that I would have thought. It's not by any means an easy read. I needed a couple of longer breaks while reading it � to gather my strength, I think. Don't get me wrong, though... I really liked it. I thought that the writing was excellent and the story is heart-wrenching and dark, and very powerfully told. The main character, Jacob, is extremely troubled. I haven't read anything from Maria McCann before, so it was also nice to find a new-to-me author whose writing I enjoyed. I can recommend it � but not as a light beach read. :-)

I don't want to say much about The Cranberry Hush yet, because I've read only 48% of it, but I wanted to say one thing... or more like to ponder over something, really. Do you guys have a certain feeling while reading books from a certain author? A feeling you connect his/her books with? This is my second book from Ben Monopoli and (to me) his books seem to have a strong, sweet, nostalgic and melancholy feel to them. And it really, really works for me. His writing is also very smart and funny and fresh somehow... you guys probably guessed that I like the book so far. :-)

Anne wrote: "My new Kindle paperwhite is arrriving today, so tonight I shall christen it by downloading Brothers of the Wild North Sea. I am really looking forward to that book.

The North Sea is my home water..."

Aww. That's such an appropriate book to christen your new paperwhite with! :-)

I was so happy yesterday when I got home from work. Amazon pk waiting for me. 3 books from Josh: In Sunshine Or In Shadow, Armed And Dangerous Novellas Volume 1 and Novellas Collected Volume 1.

Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)

Anna wrote: "Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)"

Anna, it is not in e-book format, only in paper. So if you want it you have to order the "real" book :). I just did!

Anna wrote: "Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)"

Anna, this is a new paperback collection of Josh's short stories, some that have been only available in ebook format before, and one new story. Maybe Josh has plans to also make it available as an ebook in the future? Buying options are listed, along with details on his website:

Anne wrote: Anna, it is not in e-book format, on..."

Oh. I guess, I misunderstood a little. Thank you. :)

Karen wrote: "Anna wrote: "Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)"

Anna, this is a new paperback collec..."

Thank you. I hope, he does plan that. Because I'm really in the closet about reading m/m - so I don't keep any paperbacks at all. :(

Anna wrote: "Karen wrote: "Anna wrote: "Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)"

Anna, this is a new pa..."

Anna, all but one of the stories is available as an ebook. This was just a little something for those of my readers who still prefer print.

Just adding to the chorus here and recommending Kaje Harper's free LHNB novel Nor Iron Bars a Cage. Very enjoyable fantasy read! Totally loved it, especially the MC's developing relationship.

Also just finished Kim Fielding's free LHNB story Treasure. Very fun fantasy adventure read. (With pirates!) Great story.

Josh wrote: "Anna wrote: "Karen wrote: "Anna wrote: "Guys, where do you get this In Sunshine or in Shadow ebook?
I can't find it for my Kindle, but I'm in Russia. Will it ever be available here? :)"

Anna, thi..."

"All but one" are the magic words. :) I enjoy you work too much not to have all of it. :) And I really would like to look at rewritten The French Have a Word for It...

I'm very proud to announce that I managed to stretch over 4 nights. Not because it is not gripping and wonderful (it is): I was out every evening, so I could start reading only late at night, and I also exercised some self-control. Now I've still got 15% of it to read.

Antonella wrote: "I'm very proud to announce that I managed to stretch over 4 nights. Not because it is not gripping and wonderful (it is): I was out every evening..."

:)
i'm hoping to find some quiet time this weekend and enjoy this book; there are books i never want to hurry and i just want to make them not end too fast, and this would be one of those, i'm sure.