About a week into the six-week New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge, I was desperate to read some books just for fun. I devoured a whole bunch of library books and e-books by authors that I already know and love. This all happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to review them all, so I’m going gather some mini-reviews here in one post.

J.D. Robb
I’m completely caught up in this series (well, until the next one comes out in 6 days). In the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I read three of them back to back, numbers 37, 38, and 39 in the series:

• Thankless in Death
• Concealed in Death
• Festive Death

They were all fun with futuristic touches and timeless motivations for murder. My favorite of these three was Concealed in Death because, unusually for Eve Dallas, she had to work with long-dead victims.

Suzanne Brockmann

Free Fall is one of her short e-books placed in the Troubleshooters world. I learned all about HAHO jumping and, let’s just say, I won’t be trying that anytime soon.

Checking her website, it looks like my next Brockmann books will be in the new YA series she’s writing with her daughter. There’s a pre-quel to whet my appetite, Dangerous Destiny. If I like that, Night Sky is the first full-length book in the series.

Carrie Vaughn

The Kitty books have a great sense of humor alongside the werewolf adventure and radio show host career plot-lines. I read three books to catch up in this series — the next one, number 14 in the series, is due out in August.

• Kitty Rocks the House
• Kitty in the Underworld
• Low Midnight

That last one was a rare treat. The point of view character was Cormac instead of Kitty and we finally get an understanding of the odd thing that happened to him in prison so that he is now the willing host of a ghost.

I’m going to put Kitty Rocks the House as my “animal” in the What’s in a Name Challenge. Kitty is the name of the main character, but a kitty is definitely an animal. Plus, Kitty is a werewolf, so it works that way, too.

Sharon Shinn

I’m still working on the backlist of Sharon Shinn. She’s one of my favorite authors when I want a gentle world to sink into. Angel-Seeker was the only one of the Samaria series that I hadn’t read and it was a terrific book for starting the new year in a far-flung land.

Next, I’ll start the Elemental Blessings series with Troubled Waters. Book 2 is available, too, and Book 3 is expected in the fall.

Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger was the author I turned to all of last year when I wanted something fun, so I was primed for the latest book in the Finishing School series, Waistcoats and Weaponry. This book took us on a jaunt, by train through England.

I’ll have to wait until March for Carriger’s next book, but I’m very excited about it. The Parasol Protectorate continues into the next generation with The Custard Protocol series.

What authors do you turn to when you’re desperate for something just for fun?