A Bookish Post - My Big Table of M/M Books Read

[byslantedlight]

I've been meaning to write a post like this for ages, because I wanted somewhere to try and work out what I'm looking for when I read m/m books, and why I like some and find others just meh, despite them having good reviews from many other people.

My caveat is that I'm pretty specific about what I'm looking for in a story, and I'm greedy - I want it all! Characterisation, plot and place all have to work in the right way for me to love a book, and it's not to say that they don't work in other ways that other people will love when they don't work that way for me. And vice-versa - it should be unnecessary to say, but I'll say it anyway - the books I adore might not work for anyone else in the same way. And all of that said... here's:

My Big Table of M/M Books Read.

Title	Author	Review/Notes
The Boy I Love trilogy	Marion Husband	The Boy I love All the Beauty of the Sun Paper Moon
Brothers of the Wild Sea	Harper Fox	I wanted to really like this one
Captain's Surrender	Alex Beecroft	I liked this one
Caught	A.B. Gayle	I quite liked this, although contemporary m/m isn't my thing right now, and I think I also wanted things to be a bit more difficult for the characters - not difficult for them as m/m characters necessarily, but a bit more tension that didn't seem as if it would easily resolve itself.
Charm of Magpies books	K.J. Charles	The Magpie Lord A Case of Spirits A Case of Possession Flight of Magpies Jackdaw
Enlightened trilogy	Joanna Chambers	Provoked Beguiled Englightened
The Gentleman's Keeper	Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon	This one read rather like what I think of as "trite" romance - the insurmountable obstacle turned out to be perfectly sumountable, the heroes were both perfect with perfect flaws, and everything went as expected until the end... I was rather put off by the ease of their ending up with a child together too - it could just as easily have been an m/f story, somehow...
Lord John books	Diana Gabaldon	Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Lord John and the Hand of Devils Lord John and the Private Matter The Scottish Prisoner A Trail of Fire
Love is a Stranger	John Wiltshire	I ended up liking this enough to think about the getting hold of the second book (except for the price, so I haven't yet), even though the heroes were a bit too perfect and there was a bit much angsting and on-again-off-again type stuff. But I did like it....
Mathey and Lynes series	Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold	Death by Silver Death at the Dionysus Club
A Minor Inconvenience	Sarah Granger	Review here - why hasn't this author written more historicals?
The Nobleman and the Spy	Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon	I didn't review this when I read it, but I remember being disappointed and wanting more, somehow... I'll try and re-read a bit to remind myself, and expand this...
Points series	Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett	Point of Hopes Point of Knives Point of Dreams Fair's Point
Restless Spirits	Jordan L. Hawk	I wanted to like this one...
The Song of Achilles	Madeline Miller	Loved this book...
Think of England	K.J. Charles	I didn't adore it, the way I adored Charles' Magpie books, but I liked it alot, enough that I'm looking forward to the paperback so that I can read it again properly... *g*
Widdershins	Jordan L. Hawk	I wanted to like this one...

I've read more m/m books than this of course, and I'll include them as soon as I can. I really need to keep up with my reviews if I'm going to do this though, don't I... and add all the links to my reviews for the ones I've loved too... In the meantime, if anyone has any recs, then please do let me know... *g*