One of the joys of digital books is that a raft of old favourites are now available for everyone to read. No more struggling and failing to find them in libraries and secondhand bookshops. So, if you’re interested in some of the most memorable books I’ve read, scroll down. I’ve mentioned a few of these before. Please, check prices because not all of these are free/cheap.

Featured Reads in Fantasy & Science Fiction

Dragons and Spaceships is featuring some fabulous fantasy and science fiction novels this month (including my new release, The Ceph Sector). I suggest checking them out. I discovered author Juliann Whicker’s books recently and am now addicted to her intriguing young adult fantasy novels. Link:  https://www.dragonsandspaceships.com/reads/

Cardigans, the Wearing of

I am so happy to be middle-aged! If I wasn’t this old I couldn’t remember life before cellphones. I loathe cellphones. I own one *mutter mutter* but it is mostly banished to a (not dusty, I swear) shelf and left off.

But what got me thinking about my age was my absolute joy the other day when I purchased a wool cardigan. The weight, the warmth of it, the snuggly scratchiness of it. Somehow I’ve always thought of cardigans as the defining symbol of middle-age, and there I was, embracing it. I guess it’s good to be comfortable in your own (beginning to wrinkle) skin 🙂

For years, I’ve worn polar fleece in winter. It’s so easy to wash, dries fast, and the silverfish don’t munch on it. But now that I know how polluting those tiny plastic fibres are, I’ve had to change my ways. So wool it is!

Old Favourites. Don’t Ignore Them!

The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz – for me, James H Schmitz is one of the classic space opera authors. I first encountered his imagination with his Telzey Amberdon series, but The Witches of Karres is even better! The universe is a crazy place with unexpected people.

Most people think of Georgette Heyer as a Regency romance author. They overlook her excellent mystery novels, set in the mid twentieth century when she was writing. Death in the Stocks is thoroughly entertaining.

House of Many Shadows by Barbara Michaels (who also wrote as Elizabeth Peters) is a fine example of the modern gothic romances of the 1960s and 1970s. I have an old paperback copy that you’ll have to pry out of my cold, dead hands.

Speaking of the long-dead, the Emperor Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is thought-provoking and spine-stiffening. Its Stoic philosophy and general counsel makes it a book to re-read. I love it so much that I named one of my heroes after Marcus (Phoenix Blood).

Among the Mills & Boon (Harlequin) novels from decades ago, the novels of Susan Napier have stood up to the test of time really well.

Notwithstanding Harry Potter’s well-deserved success, I think Diana Wynne Jones surpassed JK Rowling as a British children’s fantasy author. Dogsbody was an absolutely enchanting read from my childhood. I don’t dare re-read it now for fear of losing the magic of its memory. I love Diana Wynne Jones’s novels. Year of the Griffin is adorable – and cute to look back at your own memories of college/university.

And who can resist a fire-breathing, shape-shifting unicorn? Playing with Fire by RJ Blain is a truly original paranormal romance.

Do you have any books you think deserve to be more widely read?

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The Ceph Sector won’t be discounted to 99c for much longer, so if you haven’t picked up your copy yet, hurry!

Buy link:   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMRH2ZY/