See this book here? It’s part of the Idiot’s series, which I’m sure you’re all familiar with.
This particular entry, THE ULTIMATE READING LIST (written by Shelley Mosley, John Charles, Joanne Hamilton-Selway, & Sandra Van Winkle), has lists of book recommendations in lots of different categories. The purpose of the book, as the authors state in their preface, is this:
As librarians, we love to read, and helping readers connect with the right books is one of the things we enjoy most about our jobs. So by putting together this list of old and new favorites, we’ve taken all the hard work out of your task of finding a good book.
There is a whole chapter of romance lists, and — hurrah! — one of these lists is devoted to Regency romance. Two “classic” Regencies come first — Heyer’s The Grand Sophy and Chesney’s Minerva — and then we get the list of seventeen recommended Regencies from the past ten or fifteen years.
When I first saw this list, I scanned it looking to see if I thought they did a good job — e.g. did it have Carla Kelly, Barbara Metzger, etc on the list — and to see if I knew anyone on the list.
So I read along, nodding my head happily — Jo Beverley, Mary Balogh, good… Emma Jensen, Loretta Chase, Metzger, Kelly, Kerstan, Harbaugh, all good… Oh, look! Amanda’s on that list!!!!
I was very happy. Amanda McCabe! Yay! And they picked The Errant Earl — one of my favorites! Of course, I know Amanda deserves to be on the list, but she hasn’t been around as long as, say, Jo Beverley or Mary Balogh, so some folks might not realize it. (Yes, silly people do exist.)
So then I was happy, and went ahead and skimmed the rest of the list. And stopped short.
No, that wasn’t my name, was it? No, I must have misread. My eyes blurred, and I read the second Carla Kelly as a Cara King, didn’t I?
Didn’t I???
Nope. I’m on the list.
I was totally shocked, let me tell you. ONE book out. That’s it. And a book that, coming at the tail end of Signet’s Regency line, didn’t get a lot of notice.
(By that time, Regency didn’t even have its own page of reviews in Romantic Times Magazine — just a little box in one corner of the historical section.)
And you know what else is great? Megan’s on the list too!!!!
YAY, MEGAN!!!
So out of a total of seventeen books, the Riskies have three.
Astounding.
We rock! We’re ULTIMATE!
(And as a fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimate X-Men, and the Ultimate Fantastic Four, I think that’s darn cool.) 🙂
Okay, yes, I can hear some of you grumbling, and you’re right! Elena totally belonged on the list. And Janet. And Diane should have been either there or on the historical list. But still…
We’re ULTIMATE!
And so are all of you. WE ROCK!!!
Cara
Cara King, author of My Lady Gamester, starring the Ultimate Atalanta, who defeats the Malicious Malkham with her Mutant Gaming Powers
CONGRATS, ladies! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Cara wrote:
See this book here? It’s part of the Idiot’s series, which I’m sure you’re all familiar with.
Hmm. Not quite sure how to take that.
Todd-who-may-occasionally-be-a-little-slow-but-who-is-probably-not-a-complete-idiot
More seriously: Wow! I am in awe to be in your virtual presence. Or to be virtually in your presence. I am so impressed! Seventeen books out of hundreds, and three of them are by Riskies. You are a statistical monstrosity!
Wait a minute, though: if this is the ultimate reading list, what happens when you reach the end of it? Do they send a hit-man to your door? Does your head spontaneously explode? Or maybe once you’ve read them all, there is really nothing left to live for?
It’s all making sense now: reading all of these Regencies is indeed a Risky thing to do.
Todd-who-insists-he-is-at-most-a-partial-idiot
Well, of course, you guys ROCK!! I’ve been saying that for ages! In fact, I’ll say it right now YOU ROCK!! And I am going out to get Amanda’s book this weekend and I really can’t wait to say that about you guys too!
Ahem, that was a subtle hint!
Congrats to Amanda, Cara and Megan! Yes we so totally rock!
Yay us! 🙂
I actually have found several titles from thsi book to add to my TBB list, stuff I can’t believe I missed. And yes, Todd, I think that when you finish this book, there is just nothing left to live for. You have read all the Ultimate books. What’s left? 🙂
Oh my congrats!!! And I can say I know, and read, you!!! 🙂
Lois
Big congrats, Amanda, Cara, and Megan! A Risky coup!
Congrats to the Riskies!
What’s more amazing is that of the books chosen from Risk authors, I have READ THEM. (I never seem to have read the book du jour that is being touted on whatever list it out this week.)
Great books. Great Authors. Great coup!
Congrats, Riskies! But no surprises – you’re all on MY ultimate list. And Cara earns extra points for being an Ultimate Marvel fan! 🙂
Lindsey wrote:
And Cara earns extra points for being an Ultimate Marvel fan! 🙂
I’m still waiting for Ultimate Howard the Duck. But that’s probably just me. 🙂
Todd-who-is-trapped-in-a-world-he-never-made