Books in Progress: What I’m Reading Right Now – March 2018

As far as reading goes, January and February started out a little slow for me and picked up near the end. March is looking more promising from the very beginning. I’ve already finished two books that I carried over from February, and I’m currently reading three that are all really awesome so far. I’m excited to share them with you, so lets jump right in!

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Just Finished:

Hearts Entwined

This was a really fun novella collection that I wrote a review for last week. It has an all-star billing of top historical romance authors and I was already a fan of each of them individually, so it was really fun to see them collaborate. I liked each story a lot, but my favorite was Bound and Determined, by Regina Jennings. There are camels crossing Indian Territory and that’s all I’m going to say, y’all. I think it’s enough.

Emma

Way back in high school I read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and that was the extent of my Austen experience until recently. Last year I read Persuasion and enjoyed it immensely, and I just finished the audio version of Emma last week. I love, love, loved it. I found it so enjoyable to be read to by a genteel sounding English woman, and I felt like it made the story come alive. That version is nowhere to be found on Amazon (the narrator is Wanda McCaddon), so frustrating! But I enjoyed it so much that I have plans for another Austen by the same narrator – more on that in a minute.

In Progress:

The Man He Never Was

So the basic premise of this story is that a man wakes up in a hotel room with nothing but a set of clothes and finds out that he has no memory of the last eight months of his life. The only thing he knows for sure is that the raging temper he had been dealing with before has been replaced by an overwhelming sense of patience and peace. Who took him and what did they do to him to change him so drastically? I’m only three chapters in so I’ll have to get back to you on that, but I’ll tell you I’m for sure hooked on this “modern reimagining of Jekyll and Hyde”.

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women

This one almost sounds boring after that last one, but it’s really not. I’m working my way through a short biography of each of America’s First Ladies, starting with Martha Washington and eventually ending with Michelle Obama. I’m learning a lot of things I didn’t know, including just how many of president’s wives never actually made it to the White House and how precedents for behavior and tradition were set in the early years of the country. This was my March reading challenge choice and it’s proving to be a good one.

The Heart’s Appeal

Set in 1881, the heroine in this story is remarkable for being a female medical student in London. She saves a man’s life and they have some chemistry despite being at odds with each other in their professional lives so we’ll see where that goes, and I think something strange might be going on with his sister. I’ll probably be reviewing this one next week so stayed tuned for that.

Up Next:

Mansfield Park

Since I so thoroughly enjoyed Emma on audio I got on the hold list for Mansfield Park through my local library’s online program. The version I requested is read by the same narrator and so I’m looking forward to an equally enjoyable experience with this one whenever my turn rolls around. Unfortunately I’m currently #8 on 2 copies, so it might be a little while…

Thanks to Modern Mrs. Darcy for hosting a quick lit link up! If you want to see what even more bloggers are reading right now, go check her out.

What are you reading right now?