My December Reading

These days, it is rare for me to venture forth with new-to-me authors, and this month I did it with two: Kelly Bowen and Sonali Dev, and I loved both their books. Bowen writes historicals and Dev contemporaries. Bowen's story is set in Regency England, whereas Dev's story is set in Mumbai, India. Two very different kinds of stories, but with wonderful writing apiece.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Category: Literary Fiction
Comments: This is such a charming book about Queen Elizabeth II and the subversive power of reading. Alan Bennett is one of England's foremost writers, and while this short novel is a departure from his usual fare of plays, he certainly has the flair for quiet, amusing, and sharply observant tales. One fine morning, out in one of the yards of Buckingham Palace, the Queen found the City of Westminster traveling library. When the startled librarian-driver asks her, "What does Your Majesty like?", the Queen is at a loss since she'd never before taken much interest in reading. Reading to her was a passive activity, and she was a doer. She assiduously devoted herself to all her duties of a monarch. But she borrows a book, nevertheless, and that starts her off on an adventure that has far-reaching consequences for herself, personally, and for her public duties. I loved this book so much! Go forth and read it! My review is here.

Reforming Lord Ragsdale by Carla Kelly
Ravished by Amanda Quick
The Duke's Wager by Edith Layton
Category: Regency and Traditional Regency Romance
Comments: These three stories are hero's journeys where from the depths of despair, it takes them tremendous courage to overcome their circumstances and vulnerabilities to grasp happiness with the heroines of their choice. My brief reviews are here.

The British Knight by Louise Bay
Category: Contemporary Romance
Comments: Thanks to a wonderful friend, I received this book as a gift. She loved it, as did I. However, at the beginning I was doubtful where it was going, primarily because of the heroine's characterization. She, of the summa cum laude degree from MIT, is waitressing instead of pursuing a high-flung career. The story is that her college boyfriend cheated on her intimately and also stole their startup business from her. So what does this bright young lady do? She has short-term sex-only relationships and waits tables. I'm sure I sound like an elitist snob when I say, really? A computer sciences degree from MIT leads to that? But there you have it—I could not buy that someone would throw away that fabulous chance at a good life away.

So now you're thinking, wait a minute, Keira, you said you loved it. And I did. And the reason is that once Violet King moves to London, she changes completely. Leaving her old life behind breathes new life into her priorities and her outlook to her future. Watching this transformation as she starts on a path to realizing her potential was simply wonderful. While this is a romance, most definitely, the heroine's journey is the most rewarding aspect of the story. The romance between a grumpy workaholic barrister and this woke woman is tender, considerate, and confidence-boosting to both. They are so good together and so good for each other. There's hot sexual tension but there's also a kindliness between them, which makes for a sigh-worthy read.

The Lady in Red by Kelly Bowen
Category: Regency Romance
Comments: This was my first Bowen book, and I fell in love from the get-go, and the feeling did not lessen as the story progressed. With one novella, this author has become an auto-buy for me. Lady Charlotte Beaumont is a painter with immense talent who is almost completely self-taught. She's grown up in seclusion, and there was no one to stop her from painting in vivid oils, in a time, when ladies only painted insipid watercolors. Charlotte has arrived at a point in her life where she's determined to carve out her own destiny and to follow her one dream.

So with the help of well-placed people, she becomes Charlie Beaumont, a youthful painter, who is installed as the assistant to the great painter Flynn Rutledge for the monumental task of painting the ceiling of a well-established cathedral. There are no coy hints from the author that the hero really knows that the heroine is a woman. Instead, we have Flynn and Charlie developing a fast friendship, where each becomes the other's champion, each shoring up the others' low esteem, and each showing that they believe in and trust the other. And out of this powerful friendship comes an astonishing love. A book not to be missed.

(I really want Bowen to write a story of King, the mysterious wealthy (gentle?)man, who's a powerful shadowy figure in the story.)

A Distant Heart by Sonali Dev
Category: Contemporary Romance
Comments: This is my first romance story set in India and my first by Dev, and I was charmed—charmed by the writing and charmed by the protagonists. In Rahul's POV: Earlier that morning, Kimi had sent him a test message saying: We need to talk—those four words had never in the history of humankind ever led to anything good. This is a modern-day retelling of Rapunzel, a friends-to-lovers romance, and the setting suits the story very well. There's even a true Bollywood gangster endangering the heroine's life. Can you tell, I loved the story? My review is here.

Nile Crossing by Katy Beebe, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
Category: Children's Picture Book
Comments: Khepri lives in the Egyptian New Kingdom c. 1550-1070 BCE, when the famous pyramids at Giza were already more than a thousand years old. One day in the cold light of dawn, before my Lord Sun, the scarab Khepri, his namesake, starts sailing his barge across the sky, Khepri's father takes Khepri away from all he knows. Silently down the Nile river, redolent with the smells of fish, rope, and mud, the father poles his son across to the great town of Thebes.

Then my father clasps me to himself
and lets me go
and turns and makes his way
down the crowded street,
back to the river and home,
alone.

Khepri is moving into the next phase of his life, leaving his carefree childhood behind to become a scholar and a scribe. As he stands outside the courtyard of his new school listening to the boys inside laughing and reciting their studies, he is hit with nostalgia for the feel of the net and weight of a good catch of fish. It is a touching story that brought tears to my eyes at the thought of this young boy, forging his own destiny, alone. But this is how we all are at the cusp of new beginnings, before we make new connections with strangers.

A World of Cookies for Santa by M.E. Furman, illustrated by Susan Gal
Category: Children's Picture Book
Comments: This is a multicultural, informative book that is utterly festive and delightful! As Santa goes around the world in the dark of the night, he gets to eat yummy goodies in different households across the world. He starts off in Kiritimati, AKA Christmas Island, in the Pacific, which is the first place in the world to welcome Christmas Day. He's welcomed there with sweet, chewy coconut macaroons. From there he heads over to New Zealand and Anzac biscuits.

He travels from there to Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Malwawi, Bethlehem, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Norway, France, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, United States, Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii.

He travels by sleigh, donkey, and foot. He comes down chimneys, through doors, and through windows. Some children leave hay and carrots for his reindeer and other animals who help him. Some children have stockings, and others, shoes. Sometimes, he gets milk, other times, beer and wine. But above all, he is beloved. (The back of the book has recipes of many of the treats.)