reading list, januaray - march 2023

Jenny Bayliss, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. NY: Putnam’s Sons, 2022. The town and gown conflict at a British private school manifest in the persons of former scholarship student Nory, now returning to the school with school friends -- instead of just going home, down the road a bit -- and encountering the gardener's son who had tormented her then, now all grown up and handsome. Tessa Bailey, Love Her or Leave Her. NY: HaperCollins, 2020. I liked this one, in which an estranged couple fight to save the marriage that neither knows how to say is important. Maggie Knox, All I Want for Christmas. NY: Putnam’s Sons, 2022. Country music hopefuls clash on a star-making reality show, creating a sensation that could be good for both Max and Sadie, if they can pull off the fake relationship scheme. But that never works, does it? Maggie Knox, Holiday Swap. NY: Putnam’s Sons, 2021. Twins feel each others’ pain, so the one who stayed home running the family bakery feels it when the reality-show host gets conked on the head and loses her sense of smell. Their switch fools almost everyone, yet does not go as planned. Denise Williams, Fastest Way to Fall. NY: Jove, 2021. Britta is a journalist, assigned to review a fitness app. Wes, the company CEO, is the trainer she’s assigned. Neither knows the other’s role, which complicates the already fraught relationship that inevitably develops. Sonali Dev, Emma Project. NY: HarperCollins, 2022. A take on the Austen classic featuring a full cast of Indian-American royalty being just as annoyingly rich as their British successors, but having the grace to be self-conscious of their privilege. Tessa Bailey, Too Hard to Forget. NH: Forever, 2017. The third leg of Clarkson Road Trip Adventure goes through Cincinnati, where Peggy went to college, for homecoming weekend and an opportunity to eve the score with the fearsome football coach who’d broken her little cheerleader heart. Alison Cochrun, Kiss Her Once for Me. NY: Atria, 2022. A queer love trapezoid based on snow magic; or, a contract marriage runs into lost love. Lots of awkward fun. Tessa Bailey, Too Wild to Tame. NY: Hachette, 2016. Library delivered out of order, but each is sufficiently stand-alone that Clarkson sibling Aaron’s journey to love works whenever encountered. Tessa Bailey, Secretly Yours. NY: HarperCollins, 2023. This must be almost all of ‘em; it’s new this year. When does Bailey sleep? This time, a secret-admirer letter brings together - and comes between - a gardener and her life-long crush. Rachel Pollack, Complete Illustrated Guide to the Tarot. NY: Barnes & Noble, 1999. A big, bright, high-school introduction to the cards and concepts of Tarot, a medieval set of playing cards that has taken new life as a tool for divination. Ian Svenonius, Against the Written Word. Brooklyn: Akashic, 2023. Spoof, satire, ironic polemic... Svenonius presents, not so much a case against writing as a collection of diatribes against various aspects of capitalist culture, with special emphasis on the place and power of rock music. There are valid points to be found -- but perhaps a compromise will satisfy the author, and we can agree not to read THIS book. Tessa Bailey, Window Shopping. NY: Avon, 2022. Stella, just out of prison, stops in front of a Fifth Avenue shop window and offers a critique of it when asked. And is then hired to do better. Can she take advantage of the opportunity? Tessa Bailey, Make Me. NY: HarperCollins, 2015. Russell is desperately in love with Abby, who is likewise crazy about him, but because he can’t get over their different financial circumstances he’s going to lose her.