#the league of gentlewomen witches

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have My Attention: Dangerous Damsels First Lines

India Holton's Dangerous Damsels books were a DELIGHTFUL discovery for me, and she's one of those authors whose writing style I genuinely adore so much that I caught myself reading for the writing. I would read a paragraph, luxuriate in the way this author constructs a sentence, then realize I got to read that paragraph AGAIN because I was so wrapped up in the technical aspects of the writing that I'd missed the plot. I adore the way these books are written, and they had me at hello. So how did these books catch me? Let's look at their first lines.

There was no possibility of walking to the library that day. Morning rain had blanched the air, and Miss Darlington feared that if Cecilia ventured out she would develop a cough and be dead within the week. Therefore Cecilia was at home, sitting with her aunt in a room ten degrees colder than the streets of London, and reading aloud The Song of Hiawatha by "that American rogue, Mr. Longfellow," when the strange gentleman knocked at their door.

-- The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

Charlotte could listen no more in silence. For several minutes now a young man at the teahouse counter had been abusing a waiter with language that pierced her soul. She tried to behave as the other customers and look away--after all, who did not understand the pain of being disappointed in one's hopes for a warm current scone? But finally her patience broke, and she simple had to speak by such means as were within her reach--namely a volume of Dickens she had been reading over tea and sandwiches.

-- The League of Gentlewomen Witches

It was the best of dress shops, it was the worst of dress shops. It sold the most beautiful garments, it sold the ugliest scraps, and Miss Primula Tewkes fell in love and despair as she walked amongst its displays. Her maid, Alice Dearlove, followed like a shadow, black-garbed and silent, arms full of hatboxes. Primula declared herself to be in Heaven, but Alice privately wished the lady would go direct the other way.

-- The Secret Service of Tea and Treason

[hopepunk-priest]

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason is sooooooo funny they're like, these two are our most competent agents and not only do they fail to foil TWO plots, and a betrayal, they also get their cover blown literally immediately AND every single person they come across is like "those two are too horny to be married"

[theflyingcottage]

The ladies of the Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton. Pirate, witch, spy.

[blogmollylane]

Newly acquired:

• I have some questions for you by Rebecca Makkai

• If we were villains by M.L Rio

• The league of gentlewomen witches by India Holton

[penna-nomen]

Book recommendation: The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

Set in Victorian England, the story has:

Witches and magical pirates who compete to steal an artifact.

Forbidden romance between a witch and a pirate.

Copious literary references, especially to the works of Jane Austen.

Romance and comedy of manners.

The feel and humor reminded me of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.

The story was so fun that I've already started reading the sequel - The Secret Service of Tea and Treason. In addition to more literary references, it has fun with spy series. There are references to James Bond, The Man from Uncle, Get Smart, and I'm pretty sure there was a call back to Men in Black.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The League of Gentlewomen Witches | Author: India Holton | Publisher: Berkley Books (2022)

[meeghanreads]

Top 5 new-to-me authors of 2024

Hello friends!! Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday!! This week’s topic is top 5 new-to-me authors of 2024!! I do love doing this post every year. I love seeing how many new authors I pick up books from. It’s so nice to celebrate authors that you’ve found and love. Possibly even made auto-buy. I love adding auto-buy authors to my lists. When they release new books it’s always something good to look forward…

[annafromuni]

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason is a Treat

India Hilton returns with her beloved characters and witty plotting, bringing forth a novel so genius and tantalising that you’ll be just like the agents fawning over Alice and Bixby. The Secret Service of Tea and Treason is a delight to read and a perfect way to spend an afternoon in bed. I appreciate the pining and comical slow-burn aspect of this book. It’s reminiscent of The Wisteria Society…

[bethly126]

Beth Favorite's Books of 2023!

It’s that time of the year! Where we look back at all of the books we read this year and pick our favorites. These are my favorite books of 2023. They are in no particular order but in order that I read them. The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton – The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, The League of Gentlewoman Witches and The Secret Service of Tea and Treason were such a fun trilogy…

[overflowingshelf]

Review: The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

I didn't think I could love India Holton's writing even more than I already did, but she knocked it out of the park with book 2 in the Dangerous Damsels series! See why in my review:

The League of Gentlewomen Witches India Holton Publisher: Berkley Books Publication Date: March 15, 2022 Series or Standalone:Dangerous Damsels #2 Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph Rating: MY REVIEW CW: Child abuse; emotional abuse; violence; fire I absolutely adored the unique writing style of India Holton in The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels and could not…

[mercerislandbooks]

Thoughts On Summer Reading

As someone who's on social media—specifically the book part of Instagram—a fair amount, I hear a lot about how different people read. Some read the next book they plan to read, have five more books lined up after that, and for the most part they'll get them read in that order. Others read whatever strikes their fancy whenever it strikes their fancy. I am a mood reader at heart, but one who wedges in that library book that she's had checked out for months which she DID really want to read at the time so now she better stop in the middle of her other six current reads to rush through it in time to return it tomorrow... which is exactly what I'm going to resume doing once I finish this blog post. So maybe I'm a mood reader with "obligatory books" hanging over her head. 

Part of being a mood reader is the fluctuation of what I want to read each season. For the fall, witchy books like The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Spells for Forgetting, Wild Is the Witch, and The League of Gentlewomen Witches. In the winter it was mostly science fiction by Becky Chambers. But the most talked about season in the reading community has to be summer. Summer reads, beach reads, vacation reads. Light books that you fall into and out of like a summer fling. This fits the traditional idea of summer reads that we all know and love, but the genres included in summer reading lists have expanded over the past few years. We at Island Books put together a shelf full of summer books for every reader, surrounded by sticky notes with suns and right next to our Staff Picks shelf.

Last summer, all I read was romance. Intense feelings crammed into a book I could read in a day. The happy ending, the guarantee of peace and satisfaction. I picked up several fantasy books and put them down again immediately—any effort to learn about a made-up world felt like too much. This summer, rather than a specific genre, I've been catching up on my backlog. I finished the Anne of Green Gables series for the first time and found it delightful. I listened to The City of Brass and all of its sequels while traveling. I read the first two books of The Borrowers, finished the Seafire trilogy, and sped through books two and three of The Thursday Murder Club. I finally pulled out my two-year-old copy of Red, White & Royal Blue and devoured it in twenty-four hours (just in time for the release of the movie on August 11).  Although it's a completely different path than I took last summer, it's been so fun to discover these books for the first time and then discuss them with everyone who already loves them. I look forward to seeing where my mood reading takes me next summer.

Things that make a good summer read (one list does not fit all):

Not too heavy (physically); needs to be light enough to bring on vacation

Not too heavy (content-wise); needs to be light enough to read on a beach

Characters that draw you in

A plot that grips you

Romance

Intense action

...And the list goes on and on.

Bonus points for reading a book that's set on a beach...on a beach. The perfect summer read is so varied from person to person that the most important criteria is to pick up a book that interests you. I look forward to hearing about what you loved as we talk books over the counter.

—Becca

[checkoutmybookshelf]

In vain Charlotte struggled, but it would not do. Her efforts to swim out of the lake were repressed by the weight of her coat. She came toward Alex in an agitated manner, kicking legs that, booted as they were, did more to drag her down than keep her swimming. "You must allow me to help you," he insisted ardently, and at last secured her agreement--and her person, which he pulled ashore.

-- The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

[lakecountylibrary]

any recommendations for light/silly fantasy for someone who's read most of them? favourites are: finding home by hari conner, so this is ever after, emily wilde, the ruthless lady's guide to wizardry, legends and lattes, terry pratchett. also liked the very secrety society of irregular witches, the league of gentlewomen witches, tress of the emerald sea, some other f t lukens books, swordheart, fangs by sarah anderson. so anything with those vibes that are not one of those. I do want to read half a soul and psalm for the wild-built but I can't get them currently through my library.

Wow you were not kidding when you said you had read most of them! Many we would typically recommend are already in your list, but we DO have some more for you that hopefully you haven't read!

Oh, and real quick: You may have already done this, but if you haven't - check and see if your library has a purchase request or interlibrary loan service. Many libraries do, and often people don't know about it. They might be able to get you Half a Soul and Psalm for the Wild-Built if they know you're looking for them!

Now on to the recs:

Rachel says:

I have not read it yet, but I have heard great things about A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell. And as a kid, I loved Bunnicula by James & Deborah Howe.

Abby says:

Try A Spell for Heartsickness by Alistair Reeves. The MC is a manic witch with a snarky corvid familiar, and they have to navigate setting up shop in a remote village that's harboring secrets and surrounded by some creepy woods.

Since you like FT Lukens I think you'd like this too.

Robin says:

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan - it's portal fantasy and the main character is incredibly genre aware. And sarcastic about it. The author is on tumblr and it shows (in a good way!)

Since you like T. Kingfisher, if you haven't continued on with Paladin's Grace yet it's very much in the vein of Swordheart so give that a look. You could also try A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking which is a bit different to the World of the White Rat books but still great!

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede was a formative read for me. Princess Cimorene is determined to avoid marriage so she arranges to get herself carried off by a dragon. It's a delight. Start with Dealing with Dragons.

--

Hopefully there are a few there you haven't read yet and that you'll like! You can also check out our fantasy tag for all the fantasy recs we've made here over the years, light-hearted and otherwise!

[suseagull5914]

25 Books for 2025

Was tagged a day or so ago by @zwiazdziarka and just tagged by @14carrotghoul - thank you! I'm always up for talking about books!

1. Circe- Madeline Miller (it counts, I'm only a few pages into it)

2. Artemis - Andy Weir

3. Ayesha at Last- Uzma Jalaluddin

4. One More Day- Emma Heatherington

5. Not the Witch You Wed- April Asher

6. Not Your Ex's Hexes- April Asher

7. The League of Gentlewomen Witches- India Holton

8. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- Sangu Mandanna

9. Red Queen- Victoria Aveyard

10. We Could be So Good- Cat Sebastian

11. Love & Other Disasters- Anita Kelly

12. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love- Lex Croucher

13. The Borrow a Boyfriend Club- Page Powars

14. The Diablo's Curse- Gabe Cole Novoa

15. Most Ardently- Gabe Cole Novoa

16. Divine Rivals- Rebecca Ross

17. Her Radiant Curse- Elizabeth Lim

18. Legends and Lattes- Travis Baldree

19. The Ten Thousand Doors of January- Alix E. Harrow

20. The Once and Future Witches- Alix E. Harrow

21. Dune - Frank Herbert

22. The Holiday Trap- Roan Parrish

23. Cleat Cute- Meryl Wilsner

24. Book Lovers- Emily Henry

25. Here We Go Again- Alison Cochrun

Tagging @myheartalivewrites @tailsbeth-writes and @badbitchbeauchamp @thighzp plus an open tag, I want more book friends!

[endless-stream-of-word-soup]

12 months 12 books ~ MASTERLIST

People of tumblr 12 book reviews are hurtling your way! As a result of me realising that I do not read nearly as much as I should I made damn well sure that I finished at least one book each month of 2024. As the year comes to a close I now have 12 scrumptious little reviews to write. The books I destroy will be as follows:

Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels - India Holton

Gild - Raven Kennedy

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

Twisted Games - Ana Huang

City of Nightmares - Rebecca Schaeffer

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Renegades - Marissa Meyer

The League of Gentlewomen Witches - India Holton

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett

Twelfth Knight - Alexene Faroll Follmuth

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Do you see a lil something you particularly want to read?? Comment and I shall tag you.

[meeghanreads]

WWW Wednesday — 28 August 2024

Hello friends!! Welcome to this week’s WWW Wednesday — 28 August 2024!!  WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words, where you answer the three following questions: What did you recently finish? What are you currently reading? And, what do you think you’ll read next? Let’s see what I have been reading… (All images will link to Goodreads if you click on them.…