Other than continuing with #ReadingValdemar and finding books starring fat women who don’t diet or date their way to happiness, my reading plans have continued to ride off the rails. After learning that my library was weeding out books I’d added a couple of years ago to my TBR on Goodreads, I realized the library is not a warehouse, and I need to move it if I want to avoid purchasing books or requesting them through ILL.
Title: Owlknight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon
Genre: fantasy series
Key Descriptors: cultural diversity, mystery, love, magic, family, cooperation
Why I’m Reading It: this is the last title that is part of #ReadingValdemar in 2019! It will conclude the OWL MAGE trilogy.
Title: White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux
Genre: holiday fiction
Key Descriptors: murder, Christmas party gift exchange, similar to the film Clue
Why I’m Reading It: Anne @ I’ve Read This recommended the book a few days ago, and she and I have similar tastes. Plus, gotta have some stabbity reading for the holidays!
Title: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
Genre: biography
Key Descriptors: women’s history, private life, tumultuous relationships, award-winning biography
Why I’m Reading It: I’ve gotten on a Shirley Jackson kick and have recently listened to Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons. This is a library book.
Title: Misadventures of a Curvy Girl by Sierra Simone
Genre: fat romance fiction
Key Descriptors: road trip, sexy men in Kansas, body acceptance, photography
Why I’m Reading It: you know I love reading about front-and-center fat women. I’m hoping for a sexy read, because those are always fun. This is also a library book and part of the “misadventures” collection.
Title: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Genre: women’s fiction
Key Descriptors: writing, poverty, love, England
Why I’m Reading It: I can’t remember which blogger recommended this to me, but I see Karissa and Laila have read it. The description about a teenage girl writing the comic yet sad lives of her family. This is a library book.
Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Genre: contemporary adult romance fat fiction
Key Descriptors: chronic illness, geek, bucket list
Why I’m Reading It: a new work celebrating fat women, and I want to show my support. This book also has loads of potential for diverse characters. Yet another library book!
Title: Dead Men’s Trousers by Irvine Welsh
Genre: drug culture, series
Key Descriptors: success, boredom, organ harvesting, friendship
Why I’m Reading It: this is the last book in the Trainspotting series (also called the Mark Renton series). Apparently, one of the four main characters — Spud, Sick Boy, Begbie, or Rents — will die. But which one? Everyone has a hard time choosing because the characters are equally awful and relatable.
Anything on my list that’s caught your interest or is on your own TBR? Let me know in the comments.
Grab the Lapels 
I Capture The Castle is an absolute classic and also a perfect read for Christmas – I hope you enjoy it!
This has definitely captured my interest: ‘murder, Christmas party gift exchange, similar to the film Clue’. It sounds like someone has killed someone else over Secret Santa, which would be a great set-up for a murder mystery…
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Oh, I’m so glad you enjoyed Smith’s novel! That makes me even more excited.
And yes, Anne’s review of White Elephant sold me instantly. I hope it’s just as dramatic and fun as she made it sound. I got the library book right away.
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I read I Capture the Castle a few years ago. It wasn’t bad!
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Oh, good! That makes two if you in the comments who enjoyed Smith’s book. I feel like I’m about to join an I Capture the Castle Club 🙂
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I wish I had more time, I might have tried to keep up with your Irvine Welsh reading. Which reminds me, I have Crime & Punishment ready to read, though maybe February earliest, and in Audible format, which will involve me in listening to my phone over the truck radio – I’d better ask my grandkids for help. I love your Fat Fiction quest. Your reviews are always fun. I purchase so few ebooks, but I really should follow some of your recommendations (especially as you’ve checked out mine, eg. Heavenly Delights) and then pass them on to my daughters (who are quite averagely sized! I wouldn’t want them to think I was commenting).
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Welsh’s last book is quite long, and if you haven’t got an ear for Scottish dialect, an audiobook version might be useless to you. My plan with Crime and Punishment is to list and read along so I can see the words and hear how they are pronounced.
Thanks for your compliment about the fat fiction quest. I’m doing it for a very particular purpose, but I think sharing books about fat women with any size person is perfectly fine. In fact, normalizing the fact that fat people exist and don’t deserve scorn or humiliation is part of the reason for recommending these books.
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Yay! I really enjoyed I Capture the Castle. I’d like to reread it someday. This looks like a fun list!
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Thanks, Laila! I’m getting some good encouragement on this TBR, which is making me pumped. I can’t remember who originally recommended Smith’s novel to me, but it was definitely a blogger.
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Ooh, it looks you have a good month ahead! I’m definitely looking forward to your thoughts on the Shirley Jackson biography, and also Get a Life, Chloe Brown which has been on my radar. And stabbity holiday reading sounds excellent, I hope you have a good time with White Elephant!
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Let’s just say that so far, Get a Life, Chloe Brown has been SURPRISING.
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I did not love I Capture the Castle so I hope you get along better with it than I did. I’ll look forward to your review!
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A lot of people seem to love it, and I see that there is a movie, which I may check out when I’m done. The movie tie-in cover leads me to believe this is a romance, but the description sounds more like a coming-of-age story.
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It is. I think if I’d read it as a teenager I probably would have liked it a lot more.
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Okay, I got 37 pages in and decided to DNF. I’ll write about it more in my Sunday Lowdown.
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I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
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Ooh – I Capture the Castle! I remember loving that book when I read it way back when. Although now I can’t remember anything about it!
I really like the covers for White Elephant and Dead Men’s Trousers. I love the dripping blood off the red bow, and those skeletons looks like they’re having a lot of fun!
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I started I Capture the Castle, got 37 pages in, and, uh, decided to DNF. *blushes* I’ll talk about it more in my Sunday Lowdown.
I’m excited to get to Dead Men’s Trousers because one of the four main Trainspotting guys — Begbie, Rents, Sick Boy, or Spud — is supposed to DIE.
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Ooh – can’t wait to read why you DNF’d it! I may have to dig my copy out 🙂
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Somewhere around page 30 my eyes started to go funny. I basically shared all my thoughts here; I didn’t plan to write a review, as 37 pages out of 400-ish isn’t a lot. I wasn’t offended or anything like that, which is typically why I review a book I DNF.
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