What I'm Currently Reading

Happy Monday!

My last post was a total downer, so let's all take a deep breath and think about escape. We all like reading, right? At least a little, or you wouldn't be here, since reading the Twilight saga is what brought us all together. So I thought I would share a list with you. This list is called: What I'm Currently Reading.

Included here are books and fan fiction stories, all of which I have not finished reading (in the case of some of the fanfics, this is because they haven't finished being written, of course). Therefore, in no particular order, here we go.

Under The Dome by Stephen King
This is about a small New England town that is suddenly and unceremoniously cut off from the rest of the world by virtue of an invisible barrier. There are, of course, nefarious characters in the town and a bunch of shady situations that this sudden isolation brings into stark relief, and it reminds me a lot of his end-of-the-world works (like The Stand, The Langoliers, Cell, etc) in that the characters are on their own. So far (I'm about 2/3 through), it's really good.

Master of the Universe by Snowqueen's Icedragon

Most of you know this fic, of course. It rawks my world. If you've been living under a rock (Jen), this is an Edward & Bella story, wherein Edward has some very specific tastes in the bedroom. Hot lemons, excellent character development, and an intriguing story. A must-read.

The University of Edward Masen by SebastienRobichaud

Another popular one. It starts out with Bella as a student in Professor Edward's graduate seminar, and I would hate to give more away than that. Heavy drama, serious themes, but also lots of fun and goodness and our two favorite characters falling in love. This also has the only Peter I've ever seen in a fan fic, and I love him a little.

One Thousand White Women (The Journals of May Dodd) by Jim Fergus
This was my book club's selection two months ago, and I never finished it. I'm including it here because I have every intention to pick it back up. This is an alternate history fiction, wherein President Grant agrees to a Cheyenne proposal to integrate Native Americans into white society by exchanging 1000 horses for 1000 white brides for the Cheyenne (as they are a matrilineal society, any children resulting from these unions would belong to both Cheyenne and the "white tribe"). The proposal, apparently, really happened, but Grant turned it down in RL. So this book imagines from one woman's perspective what might have happened if he had said no but privately agreed. It is really good so far. That's why I mean to finish it one day.

The Naked Guy Upstairs by AngryBadgerGirl

This is a fun fic - Edward lives upstairs from Bella and the first time she meets him he is bare-ass nekkid. What more do you need to know? There are also fun twitter updates (in the story), and although it's starting to get a little more serious, it's still a ton of fun.

The Misapprehension of Bella Swan by hunterhunting

If you haven't read hunterhunting's Clipped Wings and Inked Armor, what the Hell is wrong with you? you should. However, that one is way heavy and heart-wrenching, and this one is super fun and not heavy at all. Bella's brother, Emmett, is a hockey player with a super famous, hot-as-fuck teammate. All I'm telling you beyond that is that the action is hot, heavy, and happens early. Where the story's at now, it's gotten almost sweet, while still remaining totally hot, which is a very good thing. She updates on Wednesdays. Go forth and read this. Latchkey Wife pimped it last week: here.

*sigh* I have to wait until Wednesday for an update on MoBS...

Edward Wallbanger by feathersmmmm

This is a super fun story. Bella and Edward are neighbors, an she gets to hear a special side of his evening exploits. Not a lot of drama, but a lot of funny, and feathersmmmm recs a TON of other stories in her author's notes. Good, clean fun all around.

Hiding in Plain Sight by limona

In this suspenseful fic, Bella is a very important witness in a case against the Volturi, an organization with similarities to the mafia. Emmett is the agent assigned to protect her, and he gets little assistance from his brother, Edward. This story has lots of suspense and drama, and a great sexual tension. It hasn't updated in forever, though. I hope it continues, it has been left on kind of a cliffie!


Burn and Shine by pulsepoint

Here's another one that needs to update! But, apparently, pulsepoint has had some RL drama, so I don't begrudge her a delay, I am just dying to see how this one turns out. Bella is a good-girl college student, while Edward is a convicted criminal who has served his time and moved to Port Angeles with his partner in crime (literally), Jasper. Emmett and Rose are also in this story, but it's primarily Bella and Edward with a side of Jasper and Alice. This Edward gives Fifty (from MotU) a run for his money as far as fucked-in-the-hEdwards go. But damn if he's not still hot.

Irritable Grizzly Adams by caligula42

I started reading this one after Twitarded recommended it a few months ago... I think it was JJ? Anyway, it takes place several years after Edward left in New Moon. Bella is a strong woman, but she's only put parts of her life back together to be able to function. A chance meeting with Edward changes everything. This one has my favorite obscure reference: she named one of the characters "Niedermeyer," in a nod to Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, which is a very funny movie. I mentioned it in a comment and she told me that was the inspiration, so it's not just a coincidence - bing!

The Canvas by Twiholic

This one is written by our very own Jelena! Oh. My. GOD. is it ever hawt. Girl can write! Bella works in an art gallery and Edward is an artist. I refuse to give away more than that. Go read it - the very first chapter contains one of the hottest lemons I've ever read. And it's only 10 chapters so far, so you can easily catch up and read along with the rest of us! Yay, Jelena!

What up, ladies? Just checking to see if The Canvas updated... love me some Jelly...

Never Sleep in a Strange Man's Bed by WndrngY

OK, two words: Southern Edward. Ungh. If you're a Jasper fan, you'll like this one. Jasper and Edward are both South Carolina boys, and that is an idea I can definitely wrap my legs head around. Alice brings her good friend Bella on a visit to her boyfriend, Jasper's, house, and Bella ends up sleeping in his brother's room. But then brother comes home... it's delicious. It needs to update soon or I will go mental.

Stranger Than Fiction by MasenVixen

Imagine if Edward never came back in New Moon, and Bella grew up to become the author of a world-wide phenomenon of a book that happens to mirror Twilight, having been based on her own memories. What happens when Edward finds out? This is another slow-to-update one, but it's at a really key point and I'm sticking with it. I love Bella in this fic - she's strong and she's not going to take any more shit from Edward. She knows what she wants, most of the time.

Wonderwall by tuleangel

I should probably give up on this one, but I love it and I love the idea. It hasn't updated since November.
Anyway, it's another if-Edward-never-came-back fic, only in this one, Bella has married Jacob. Lo and behold, one day, Jacob imprints. What happens next? I can't honestly recommend it, since I don't know if it will ever continue, and it's totally left on two (TWO!!) cliffhangers, but I hope it does. Tuleangel, hear me!! It's well-written and intriguing.

Seducing Ms Swan by DQRC

Yet another if-Edward-never-returned New Moon AU fic. (I must like that concept.) In this one, Bella has moved on as best she can, and become an English teacher (which seems about right). One day, she gets a new student: Edward Cullen. How will they react? What will happen? This one's behind on updates about a month (all of these being so slow to update is probably why I'm reading so many at once), but I have hope it will continue any day.

Against The Odds: When Lies Told Bite Back by madeleinejade

Another New Moon AU, in this one, Edward doesn't have a chance to not come back. Laurent turns Bella in the meadow. I really like Bella in this one - she doesn't just let Edward off the hook as easily as in the books. Of course, she's got other baggage to deal with, but still. It just had this great twist, too, and I love me some twists!

Renfield and Chiclets by katinki

This is a hardcore fic. There is blood play, so I'll just tell you right now not to read it if you don't think you'll like that. Edward is kind of a wallflower nerd, and Bella is his hot boss. It was originally a one-shot, and thank goodness it has expanded. It's really different than the others here, but I like it a lot. I'm intrigued...

Breakfast at Tiffany's by profmom72 and hmonster4

This one also used to be a one-shot, but it is MUCH FLUFFIER than R&C (above) and (so far) no blood play. It is super sweet and romantic and kind of silly and I love it. This is the one I was reading earlier today, in fact. It makes me giddy and gives me butterflies. I love it! It's only loosely based on the original story (BaT), and everyone's human, and (so far) Carlisle's a DICK. We don't know why yet, but I'm not caught up with the whole story yet, either.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

The Stephanie Plum novels are just easy, fun reads. This is the latest of the between-the-numbers books, and I'm reading it instead of starting new fan fics (I have too many going, as you can see).

And finally, FINALLY, my next book club book is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
Apparently, this is YA fiction. I'm not sure if the fellow book-club member who chose this knows that or not. I haven't actually started reading it yet, but I need to before May 1 (because I hate showing up not having read the book). I've liked some of Alexie's other work (The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, The Business of Fancydancing, and Reservation Blues are the ones I've read - I took an American Indian lit class in college), so I have hopes to like this one. I'll let you know.

Aaaaaaand now it's almost Tuesday.
Happy reading! What are you currently halfway into?