MJ’s Comments (group member since Dec 23, 2014)

MJ’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

Lol, it's one of those sticky points.

Classics are classics BECAUSE they give us a look at how it WAS. Modern HR's that SAY they are HR... BUT then have the h running around like a hooligan... but in a long dress of course, sometimes drive me mad that they conveniently forget the cultural mores of the time they are writing because it's easier to have a 'modern' character with no thought to consequences of spending a night on the road with an unrelated male. But they tout all the 'mustn't do's' at every other available opportunity to remind you it's really a HR. Grrr!

As for modern, but outdated... I admit it throws me out of the story while I laugh at the 'supa advanced tech that is a Polaroid photo scanned into a CD-ROM for future generations on the u-bute submarine' (Traci Hardings, The Ancient Future ;), but that's just life. I think when I originally read that book YEARS ago, it was already out of date.

To stop kids from reading stories because they aren't 'tech enough' anymore is a bit over the top and quite limiting to them really. Fine, they may not play in cubby houses anymore, but what if one reads it and decides to get off the iPad and build one? OR, decides to get ON the iPad and design an awesome one!

So yeah, the newer outofdate details are jarring, but no reason to avoid IMO. If it's racism, sexism, any-ism or general bad taste or idea that isn't actually part of the story and the experience, then no, I'd avoid it for me and my kids. Reading about sexism is part of life and learning... reading a book PROMOTING sexism is not on.

Nalini Singh 'Guildhunter' & Psy/Changeling series. Both are lots of books in and starting to struggle IMO (but I still have hope they'll come back!), but the 8ish & 15ish bks respectively are great and on my never ending reading list.

Karen Lynch, Relentless

G Cockle, Archangel Down

TL Smith, Black

Bethany Adams, Soulbonded

Donna Augustine, Karma

Amy Green, Alpha Wolf

Kate Sparks, Bound

Jana Aston, Wrong

Charlotte Able, Rivers Recruit

Karen Swart, Hellhound Awakened

KA Tucker, the Casual Enchantment

Darrolyn Anderson, the Athena Effect

Christina Lauren, Sweet Filthy Boy

Others of Edenton by Brandy L Rivers. PRN

I didn't get that far into the series, but there's a real bitch who ends up being a h a few books in.

Hmmm... As in 'Jo says *code word*' and Bob walks away from Jo's life? Or 'Jo says *code word*' and THEY ALL walk away from their lives? Like maybe they all did something that's about to 'blow up in their faces' or somethings gone wrong and they need to run?

It reminds me of something, but the only book I can remember with something similar is where the guys all agree on code word that effectively makes a girl off limits cause the first guy calls dibs.

I'm an ebook hoarder ;). That's the problem with overlooking bad covers and going off the blurb. If the blurb sounds good, I'll get it... But then I have this 'bad cover' sitting on my shelf for ages and no 'quick' way to check the blurb once it's downloaded. So I keep bypassing them. Every now and then I'll shut my eyes, flick the screen around a bit and pick a book!

Thx!

It is def a benefit of ebooks that you always get a good look at the cover first. The library drives me mad that you can't see the covers easy. Not a problem when you're looking for 'that author or that title', but thoroughly inconvenient when you're 'just looking'.

On ebooks I can overcome a bad cover to check out the blurb, but at the library, there's very little incentive to pluck a book off the shelf... Unless I like the colour on the spine ;)

Now that I've mentioned it, I am going to start plucking the occasional book at random to see if the blurb can catch me!

😱 BONES IS BASED ON A BOOK SERIES!?!?!?!

Has anyone read them? Are they any good?

The tv series Bones had that theme shown.

Lol. Good luck. They can be addictive ;)

Def give Nalini Singh a go if you're looking for new series. To be fair tho, I have been complaining about the books in the late couple of years. Tho they are lots of books in and they aren't entirely 'bad' just not what I have come to expect from her. Some people still love them, and I'm still reading them which I don't do once a series has really fallen off the wagon.

Saying that, I do still love my yearly rereads to prep for the newest release. Even if the series does somehow 'complete die for me', I'll always have at least a dozen or more books that I'll keep on my active list.

You gotta remember that the author/publisher also try to aim to 'their market'. That's why the US (local) v International covers can change.

Not a cover issue, but Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series was one that had issues. The first book was released first as 'Crossstitch' (maybe Europe/Oz?), but the publishers (or whoever) said it wouldn't sell in the US as that, so they changed the title to Outlander for that release. I think I heard DG liked that name better and wanted to change it across the board, but it was too late.

The rule is DON'T... But I really do :/

A perfect example for me is Nalini Singh's two PRN series. I picked up the first of the Guild Hunter series because I liked the cover, and was completely sucked into the whole series. Once I'd finished the available books in that series, I looked for any others and found her Psy/Changeling series... and hated the cover, which made me look squinty at the blurb. It just didn't grab me, so I put it off (for a year or more I think) until I had NOTHING else to read and was DESPERATE for SOMETHING!!! And I LOVED IT!!! Seriously I love that series and couldn't put it down, have reread at each new release and still get happily lost in the world. Turns out the cover I saw was the US edition... I was happily surprise by the sleek International cover when I brought it, and if I had of seen the international cover when I first looked, I would have tried it then. I still curl a lip at the US covers for her new releases ;)

Aside from her, I will def get or skip a book because of the cover. But I'm aware of it, so I try and overlook 'bad covers' and read the blurbs. I'll still find myself putting them on the back burner for a better cover sometimes.

As for the library, I hate looking thru the spines, but am still sometimes caught by a good colour or script or title. I find the most books that are 'outside' my known authors and the like are picked up because they were on a display shelf that showed the cover.

It is a weakness... but it's a mild one. I always accept the slap upside the head that comes from reading a 'bad cover' and realising it's a 'good book'. But to be honest, I can only remember one 'good cover' that turned out to be a 'bad book'.

Just read another of Traci Hardings that is a stand alone. The Immortal Bind. It was pretty good ;)

Traci Harding has The Ancient Future series (9bks?), and another series... Maybe Beings of the Field? First is all about reincarnation, but I can't remember if the BoF is an offshoot with more 'lives' of the characters, or if it's a separate one.

Katharine Kerr has the Deverry series. It follows a group of souls through hundreds of years trying to set things right. It's old tho and can be hard to find.

I'm almost certain that the Lost Girl series was based on a book series. But I was a couple of seasons in before I found out and never got around to the books.

Have a look at 'the Lost Girl' series. I only saw the tv series which I really liked, but that was based on the fae in our world. h was a succubus who had no idea what she was until her powers kicked in, and later she stumbled into the 'fae world' around her and had to figure out how to work it. There's far & werewolves, but don't remember any vamps. There could be, but it's all (at least the tv series) based around the fae courts trying to entice her to a side.

There was one about a chicky going back thru a light beam in the window and being mistaken for her lookalike who happens to be the (unwanted) intended of the laird. Later they figure out that to return, you need every modern item you came they with, and they think the lookalike ended up in modern time... The h is of course I love and staying, so they end up sending the local 'witch-ish' forward for a better life, send a message to the h's family and look for the lookalike. So book two & three I think are forward timers.

I think they are part of Shelley Thackers bride in time series. The h in the one I read had a back issue from previously being shot, and her family owns the lairds castle and could never find out who LR was... The relevant H engraved it although the castle for his beloved wife... turns out it's the h's nickname.

Maybe put a note on the bottom of the pop up to say 'we did it on purpose cause people keep getting shit wrong'... Or perhaps the more PC version of that.

Might make people think harder about what they are listing, rather than just flicking off 'that irritating pop up' and carrying on as per normal...?

Looks like you've duplicated this tread with a different header about a little family...?

If you are on any format other than the app, go to your original post and you should be able to see a bluish (usually), underlined 'edit' option near the header/title. Click on that an you can adjust you header. Then go to the newer post and you should be able to see a similar bluish, underlined 'delete' option.