I read fast, and I can read damn near anywhere. But things have been just stressful enough for long enough that I'm not reading a lot of new-to-me books, I'm hitting comfort reading. And the new-to-me books I am reading? Lurid gothic and occult thriller/romances.

I just got Cherie Priest's Maplecroft from the library -- has anyone read it?

I think I've read 12 or so novels so far this year. That'll probably fall off a bit once I go back to work this Tuesday.

I just got Cherie Priest's Maplecroft from the library -- has anyone read it?

I started it. But I just wasn't into a Lovecraftian mood, so I took it back to the library. The writing in the first few chapters was good, though. It's on my list of things to try again when I'm in the right head space.

I've gotten lots of free or cheap eBooks out of BookBub, but only a few of the new-to-me books really hold my attention. Maybe I'm just in the land of "you get what you pay for," but I've read fanfic better than a lot of the stuff I'm seeing. But I'm learning which descriptors to avoid: "frothy" and "spicy" and, sadly, "rollicking". And any plot description for a mystery that gives equal weight to the female protagonist being as worried about her relationship as she is with the bodies all over the place.

Tep -- I just re-read it for the 3rd time this weekend. I really enjoyed it! It's a fantastic mashup of Lovecraft and alt-history. I think you'll like it.

I have no idea how many books I've read this year so far. Looking at just my Nook, Scribd and Oyster, I count about 145, but I dunno how many physical books I've done, because they're all packed away for the next 2 weeks. meara is visiting KC in a couple of weeks, so we can go out to dinner and just read fast near one another...

I lose track of how many books in a year, but probably four or six in a month. and the virtual "Nation", which I really do like, even if I do wish they had a comics section to take the edge off.

I have three books on my night table right now. One is None of the Above by my friend (and my dad's urologist!) Ilene. The others are The Girl on the Train, which is supposed to be this year's Gone Girl, I guess (it's already really compelling), and Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir, by Beth Kephart, who's also a local here. Oh, and I picked up Anne Lamott's Travelling Mercies at the used bookstore on the way home from work the other night. It's such a dangerous place for a used bookstore to be, if you're me.

I probably read about ten books a month when I'm teaching. More during vacation. I read before bed every night, which is extremely dangerous when I'm reading an especially good book.

I read "The Song of Achilles" yesterday.

Loved Song of Achilles and picked it as one of my Top Ten reads of the last five years. It well deserved the Orange Prize.

Ooh, I have None of the Above on my kindle waiting. I still haven't read Gone Girl...sometimes i enjoy thrillers and sometimes I just want romances or young adult novels with low stakes (not to say all of them have low stakes. But dystopias aside, most are not life-and-death)