2007 Year In Review

Hmmmm. I read 43 fewer books this year than last—with more time on my hands this year than in previous, employed years. As with other aspects of my life, I think the worry and stress associated with not working proved more a distraction this past year than the hectic, work-filled days of the years before it. I accomplished so much more with less time back then. LOL

I also hit more than one reading slump this year. First I went on a contemporary binge and, because I’m less familiar with good contemp authors, I quickly ran out of books to feed that binge. Second, I hit a run of not-so-good books that slowed me down a bit. Unusual for me as I’m not all that hard to please.

Looking back, there were very few Wow reads. And even fewer new-to-me authors that excited.

In 2006, I fell in love with paranormals courtesy of Marjorie Liu and Maria V. Snyder. And borderline-despicable heroes thanks to Anne Stuart. And military alphas that truly command via Gennita Low. Oh, and bad-ass adolescents by way of Tara Janzen and J.R. Ward. To feed my historical hunger, I worked my way through the best of Lisa Kleypas and Loretta Chase. And found Lisa Valdez. All standouts.

In 2007, Liu continued to impress with A Dream of Stone and Shadow, Eye of Heaven and Soul Song. I kept going with Stuart’s Ice Blue and another half dozen of her older titles. Gennita Low gave me one of the few Wow reads with Virtually His. Janzen’s On The Loose and Ward’s Lover Revealed were runner-up Wow reads. Snyder and Valdez were no-shows and Kleypas’ Mine Til Midnight is still on my TBR list.

There were also two authors that captured my attention at the very end of 06—Ashley Gardner and Elin Hilderbrand. Their backlists provided some of the best of 07 reading as well.

For all that, 2007 felt very much like a follow-up year to 2006—kind of like I was tidying up after the new finds of 06.

As for the shiny new, I found Nalini Singh, Elizabeth Hoyt and Renee Bernard. Then there was Megan Hart. All additions to my auto-buy list. The highest praise you’ll see here.

The list, in no particular order, goes something like this:

1) Nalini Singh: Slave To Sensation, Visions Of Heat, Caressed By Ice
2) Elizabeth Hoyt: The Raven Prince, The Leopard Prince, The Serpent Prince
3) Renee Bernard: A Lady’s Pleasure, Madame’s Deception
4) Gennita Low: Virtually His
5) Jamie Denton: The Matchmaker
6) Megan Hart: Dirty, Broken
7) JR Ward: Lover Revealed
8) Tara Janzen: On The Loose
9) Ashley Gardner: Captain Lacey Regency Mystery series

Honorable Mentions:

· Lydia Joyce: Whispers Of The Night, Voices Of The Night
· Deborah Smith: Sweet Hush, Crossroads Café
· Jo Goodman: Devilish, A Season To Be Sinful