For the End of Year Book Ask game, would you answer #4, 5, 11 & 17?
#4 Did I discover any new authors that I love this year? Yes! I started reading Tracie Peterson's books this year and love them. She's been around a long time, I just have never read anything by her. The library has several shelves of her novels, so this discovery will keep me busy for awhile!
#5 What genre did I read the most of? Aside from the obvious - romance - looking at my list, I read more historical fiction than anything else. That's kind of interesting because that was my favorite genre from like age ten when I got my American Girl doll until the end of college. Then I got away from historical fiction and started leaning towards fantasy and YA dystopian lit. Now I'm burned out on the fantasy/dystopian and am back full circle into historical fiction again! I think the pandemic has made me yearn for simpler times. And has definitely turned me OFF of dystopian lit!
#11 What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read? Relating back to #4, I started Tracie Peterson's Land of the Lone Stars series which came out in 2012. It's set in a time period you don't see that often - immediately after the end of the American Civil War. It really captures the tensions that were still there in the post war years and how precarious peace was (and how it didn't bring equality to African Americans even though slavery ended). In the midst of all that are amazing romances, in the first two books between southern women and union soldiers.
#17 Did any books surprise you with how good they were? Yes! My sister recommended Nancy Werlin's Impossible, which is a story of a modern day teenage girl under an ancient fairy curse. The curse involves the girl, Lucy, being raped in a supernatural way and getting pregnant. For that premise, I wasn't sure I would like it at all. However, it blew me away! (I should have known, my sister has never steered me wrong!) The rape is actually handled extremely well - much better than it usually is in fiction. It wasn't just a plot device to get her pregnant, and continued to have repercussions throughout the story. Mostly, though, the love story took me by surprise. It was epic, sweeping kind of stuff. Just SO good. I was really impressed by how the story felt so realistic yet also fantastical at the same time, if that makes any sense. I think it was the only fantasy I read this year. I also almost picked this for #11 because it came out in 2008.
Thanks for these questions @snowbellewells !