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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Tuesday Blog
Sorry, guys, I've been running around for days until way past my bedtime and actually having to use work hours for work. I did read a book; I just didn't have time to review it. Will review it at the next available opportunity.
What are you reading this week? Everyone getting enough sleep?
What are you reading this week? Everyone getting enough sleep?
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17 comments:
I haven't been reading much. I've been living in renovation hell. :)
It's okay, though. Totally understand. HOpe you're well, Cap'n.
I'm reading 2 books that aren't out yet. Heh. But I'm supposed to be writing one so pretend I didn't mention that.
I'm well, Marn, and the family's well--just lots of running around. (Visitation last night--Dad knew him well and I wanted him to be able to go if he wanted.) Hopefully work will be caught up...eventually. It's a dream I have. More like a fantasy really.
Terr, I never get when authors say, "I'm not supposed to be reading, I'm on deadline" because the fact is you're ALWAYS on deadline, but you need to read in order to keep fresh, recharged, and inspired. That's one of the first rules--if you want to write, read, read, read.
I'm definitely reading more this year than last year. And reading Eloisa's soon-to-be-released ONCE UPON A TOWER is definitely inspiring on the writing front. I know I say it every time, but I really don't know how she does it. This book is exquisite.
Good luck on the work front, Hellie! Hope you get caught up or as close as you can. :)
I've been reading like crazy. Finished Carla Kelly's HER HESITANT HEART set in post civil war Fort Laramie. Very good. If that's your thing I would highly recommend it.
I've also been on a Janice Kay Johnson glom recently. Finding a lot of gems in her backlist. I know you and Janga recommended A HOMETOWN BOY, Ter. I wanted to try out something a little less controversial by her first to see if I liked her voice. I LOVE HER! I haven't read a book yet that I haven't liked. Very excited to have discovered a new-to-me author.
Now I'm in the middle of BAREFOOT IN THE SUN by Roxanne St. Claire. I'm liking it. It's got a lot of elements I like - it's a series, tight knit female friendships, cute sensitive guy trying to be a good father, precocious kid, and the description of the resort they all reside in makes me want to pack my bags tonight and head out.
I keep hearing good things about Roxanne's series. I need to check that out. And so glad you like Janice Kay Johnson. I actually haven't read anything else by her, but I plan to. That Carla Kelly sounds like a nice change in Historical. That's a time period you just can't find in Romance these days.
You really have to try some more JKJ, Ter. I just read WHOSE BABY? It was a story about 2 little girls switched at birth and then the mother of one finding out about it almost 3 years later. She's divorced now and the father of the other little girl is widowed. So, you see where this is going, right?! It sounded kind of hokey but it was actually a really good story. The characters were well drawn and believable, even the two little girls. It was fascinating how she worked the heredity vs. environment theory. I really liked it.
I guess you could call the Carla Kelly one a western. It's a good book, but it's more character driven than action driven. I just love CK's characters. They seem so adult. LOL I know that sounds funny, but it's true. They talk and communicate and deal with difficult situations reasonably. There is very rarely the cliche plot-holes (as I like to call them). You know... where something bizarre or out of character happens just to increase the drama or tension. It's just usually two wounded souls finding each other and slowly falling in love.
And you sold me. NOT that Janga hasn't been trying to get us all to read Carla Kelly for years. If only I didn't have so many other books waiting to be read. I think my kindle might be up to 50 now. Sigh.
I'm starting to think JKJ doesn't write a book unless she finds a plot that is almost impossible to make work. Wow. I'll check that out.
Reading...Kiss of Steel, a steampunk, vampire, romance. It's, uh, okay. The hero sort of bores me, and I'm skimming the sex. When the non-romantic plot takes over, I pay attention, but the love story is doing nothin' for me.
Also reading A Trouble of Fools, by Linda Barnes, a mystery, and just started The Hum and Shiver by Alex Bledsoe, an urban/contemporary fantasy, I think.
And...doing the critique read thing on a novel.
If I don't read, I don't write, so...always reading.
Get enough sleep?
NO!
I just finished Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. Or at least what is available of it on a fanfic site. It's up to 87 chapters and I finished them last night, around 2 in the morning.
Imagine Harry raised by loving parents, Petunia married a professor. Harry is taught the scientific method and has a firm grasp of it. And reads scifi and fantasy by the truckload.
Incredibly addictive, and I'm not subscribed to it.
I mean I just subscribed to it...
"I just finished Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality."
Interesting. I'll have to check it out.
Oh. God. Pat. I'm sorry. We'll miss you!
Carla Kelly is superb. She is unequaled at taking characters who are ordinary and revealing how extraordinary their lives are. She is also wonderful at creating honorable heroes who don't make a lot of noise about their courage and integrity but just live out those ideals day to day.
Janice Kay Johnson can make a good story out of anything. She tackles subjects other writers avoid. One of my favorites is Christmas Presents and Past that covers the history of a long marriage from courtship days through the early years, the death of a child, divorce, and reunion. It is a three-hanky read, but ultimately it is optimistic and romantic. But she can also take the most popular tropes and make them her own. I recently bought a digital copy and reread First Comes Baby, a friends-to-lovers story in which the heroine is a rape victim terrified of physical and emotional intimacy five years after her attack. I can't count how many friends-to-lovers stories I've read where the heroine wants a baby and the friend volunteers to be the father. But JKJ's treatment is unique. She is a much undervalued writer IMO--partly because she writes categories and partly because she seems to do no marketing. I don't think she has an online presence at all.
Just in case any of you have extra time and are looking for a new author to try (LOL), I'm reading and loving the first book in a new series by Juliana Gray. How to Tame your Duke. It will be available on June 4.
"Just in case any of you have extra time and are looking for a new author to try..."
I love you, Janga. You're so funny. LOL! Now stop torturing me! All these books sound so dang good.
I recently bought a digital copy and reread First Comes Baby, a friends-to-lovers story in which the heroine is a rape victim terrified of physical and emotional intimacy five years after her attack.
That's the other one I read that really impressed me, Janga. I've always been drawn to stories about abused/victimized heroines. Some of them are very cliched and the heroines are cardboard cutouts of what you think a victimized woman should be. Every once in a while an author hits it right on the head and does a fabulous job of not only getting the heroine right but the man who loves her spot on, too. JKJ did a fabulous job of showing how much Caleb truly and unconditionally loved Laurel. And again made me believe in the HEA!
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