Jennefer’s Comments (group member since Mar 12, 2010)

Jennefer’s comments from the Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous group.

Jeanine ♥ Cheshire Catt ♠ wrote: "...Wow - that one sounds really interesting! I'm curious to see what you think of it ..."

I have had it on my TBR for a while but it has been calling to me lately :) I hope it is as good as I have heard!

I never saw the mini-series but I also have The Thorn Birds on my TBR... I'll read it one of these days :)

I am in too... I was going back and forth on what to read but I think I have decided!


Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

This one is not a BR but I have been wanting to read it for a while and it fits so I am going to giving it a try!

Plot:
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good....and the ensuing rac...more The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good....and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission....and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair....and beyond.

Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart, a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.

Well gosh, I was thinking I might sit this month out but you all are so excited about it I might have to read it with the group after all!

Thanks Jeanine :) My thoughts exactly!

I would like to make this group as comfortable as possible for all members and encourage participation, but there is nothing wrong with lurking at all! That is just fine :)

In August we are going to kick off a second group read! Instead on picking a specific title to read as a group each participant will be able to pick any title they like that fits a specific theme or setting (i.e. love triangle, marriage of convenience, harem, medieval etc). Then we can all discuss how this theme is handled by different authors (or even in different genres if you like!)

This month: Sold into Slavery!
This is a common plot devise in the good old bodice ripper! This can be anything from the African American slave trade in the old south to a young English lady kidnapped and sold into a harem, male or female, but this usually seems to happen to women in these novels. Warning: I realize this is a touchy subject for some readers. If this is a theme you find offensive you are in no way obligated to participate in this discussion. This is meant to be a lighthearted and fun discussion! Any casualness regarding fictional slavery in this thread should not be misinterpreted as casualness regarding its real life counterpart.

To participate: Just pick any book you feel fits the theme from any genre and post that you would like to participate and what you have chose to read! I suspect we will find mostly BR historical romances but if you have a more recently published HR or even a PNR you feel fits the theme feel free to read and discuss that! As you read or when you are done drop by here to discus how the theme played into your book! The theme can play a major or minor role in the book you choose to read. It's up to you!

Discussion questions: In the book you read, did the theme play a large or small roll in the overall book? Was the subject handled thoughtfully and seriously or as a lighthearted plot devise? How did the impacted character handle the enforced slavery? Did this effect how other character viewed the character sold into slavery? Did you find the situation believable? Was the theme a necessary part of the book or do you think it could have done without?

Alphaville wrote: "I won't be participating in this discussion because I don't have it and don't think I'd like it. Years ago on an authors message board, there was a monthly discussion with this book and most didn't..."

I think Woodiwiss is a love her or hate her kind of author. But it seems like those who love her, this is one of their faves, at least it seems that way to me. I have heard lot's of people rave about this book, and lot's of people read it and leave scratching their head as to what the big deal is about.

I don't know if I will get to this one this month but I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of this!

Well it's probably about time we read a Woodiwiss in this group!!! :) I know this is listed as many romance lovers all time favorite read so I am looking forward to reading it! Hope it delivers!

Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen Woodiwiss 1979

Average GoodRead rating: 4.04
GoodReads description: Disguised as a boy, lovely Alaina MacGaren flees the Yankee troops ravaging her virginia plantation. When the young orphan is accosted by a group of soldiers, Yankee surgeon Cole Latimer rescues the "lad"--never guessing that love for the rebel beauty will set duty against desire, ultimately testing his loyalties, his trust and his honor.
Availability: This is currently in print and avalable new, also avalable in Kindle format (yay!). Check out Amazon and AbeBooks.


Discussions: What did you think of the authors style/voice? Do you find the author too long winded or did you enjoy her leisurely story telling style? What did you think of the setting/atmosphere of the story? How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes? What was your favorite scene? At what point in the book did you decide if you liked it or not? What helped make this decision? If you could change something about the book would you? If so what/how?


Please be considerate of others and use 'spoiler spaces' when revealing key plot elements.

Welcome to the group Amanda, Lorraine and Janice!!! Glad to have you all! I have been out of town for the last week so please forgive my late welcome :)

Amanda and Janice, you might want to check out the list of BR's I have found so far available for Kindle here!

Hi Amanda! I have a kindle as well and am always on the lookout for a BR I can read in that format! You might want to check out the list I started of some that I have found so far here!

This is great information for me and has me thinking! Just so you all know what I am thinking about possibly working on for our group....

Thinking about adding a second monthly read. I was thinking the second group read would be not necessarily a specific book but maybe a featured author sort of thing or read a book by theme or setting. Group members could pick any book they like that applies and we could all discuss the authors style and differences between books or variations of the theme, that sort of thing.

I think the 'swap it with me' is going well and I want to keep that up, but I do think it would be fun to add a 'pick it for me' as well. So look for that in August!

I think the big thing I want to try to work on is encouraging participation! I only received 19 responses to this survey and that right there tells me something. I know not everyone is going to want to participate and some just like to lurk, no problem. But I do want this group to be as welcoming to participation as possible! I think maybe some 'games' and more 'getting to know you' type threads might help with that. I also think I will work on a 'frequently asked questions' type thread for questions about the genre and also about GoodReads in general (how do I post pictures?) and hopefully that would help encourage participation as well.

I also liked the idea of the quarterly challenge (check out this quarters challenge here) so I am going to work on some more ideas for that going forward!

I kinda like the idea of doing a monthly 'where are they now' type of thing for favorite BR authors. Maybe that could be working into a featured author monthly read... not sure on that one yet



The survey is still open for responses! I would love all the info and ideas I can get! Take the survey here!


Please feel free to post here with any thoughts and ideas you might have!

Well I can't figure out how to share the survey results w/out upgrading (and paying) for a 'pro' account with survey monkey so I will try to just summarize for you all.

Thank you so much to all of you who participated! It gave me a good idea of what is working and what I would like to try to improve.

1. How do you feel about the following group discussions/activities?
Looks like our biggest draw is the monthly book discussion and the book chit chat folder! The 'challenges/reading goals' folder got the most 'I could take it or leave it' responses. None of the categories got more than 1 "waist of time if you ask me' responses.

2. How often do you check in with the group?
11 answered Daily!, 4 answered couple time a week, 3 answered once a week, 1 answered once a month
Some comments regarding: When you do check in, why? What draws you to the group? What would bring you to check in/participate more often?
"New books. If other members talk about new books they are reading, I want to know and check them out myself."
"I like this group. I don't always read the books, but it's interesting to chat with other readers, and talk romance books. I guess I'm spread kind of thin, because I'm in a lot of groups, so I'm not sure what would make me participate more."
"This is my favorite group. Part of that reason is that there isn't so much going on that you are just overwhelmed. But lately is has just been the opposite. Not much at all going on."


3. Please rate your comfort level in the group (scale of 1-5)
Looks like everyone who responded to this survey feels very comfortable to participate in existing discussion with an average of 4.36.
To create a new discussion thread or buddy read was a bit lower at 3.75

4. Any suggestions for changes to the group? (group read nominations format, length of time group read poll is listed etc...) Some of the comments received:
"Maybe we should do like you did with this months poll and also read the book that came in second. The second place book could maybe even be the read for the second half of the month."
"I think you are doing a great job and you manage to keep the group active and interesting. Lots of other GR groups fall by the way side with no activity so this one is pretty cool."
"I like how it's been evolving naturally as members most interested/active in the genre are getting others to join in. Enthusiasm's infectious, I hope. I know I've been doing my best. :)"

5. Any suggestions for additions to the group? (new event, new discussion folder etc...) Some of the comments received:
"Even though I suck at challenges and abandon them have way through most of the time - it would be kind of cool to have maybe a quarterly BR group challenge."
"Is there a thread where people can post a book they read that others might like...maybe give a synopsis and reasons why it should be read?"

6. Is there something that other groups you participate in provide that this one does not? How does this group measure up? Some of the comments received:
"Your group is the one I mostly hang out in. :)"
"a section for a certain author/s discuss their books only? discuss older authors..where are they now section?"
"We do a pick it for me challenge on the Male Male Romance group, where members sign up and are then paired up and then ou pick a book for your partner to read for that month. Plus I LOVE the swap so we can continue that, lol. I love the group as it is this is the only suggestion I have."

Some of the comments:
"I really love this group. I have found out about book I would have otherwise never heard of. I love the bookshelf, I can skim through the books, see what types of themes are in them,read member reviews and make pretty good choices on what books would be a hit with me.The members are funny, nice and helpfull.It's a fun group."
"This seems to be a friendly group with a passion for romances and I like being part of this group. I read other genres and I feel that other groups sometimes excessively intellectualized things and come off sounding a bit snooty about literature, which drives me away. The discussion here is not only intellectual but fun!"

Ooooo, thank you so much girls! These all look great! Can't wait to try them out!

Sure Acornn, I can do that :) I will put the results together and post sometime this weekend.

Welcome LuvGirl!!! I'm so glad you found us! :)

Yz the Whyz wrote: "Love the concept. Great challenge idea, Jennefer. : )"


Nothing compared to the great challenges you do in your group Yz! You are the Challenge Queen!!! :)

I just happened to be hanging around :) Have fun!

Hi Gaijinmama! Welcome to the fun! :)

You are more than welcome to use any books you like! No need to stick to any specific genre!

I am ready to start my list I think.... I might not get to all of these but I like making lists :)

Runs:
Borderland 1975
Wicked Loving Lies 1976
This Other Eden 1977
The Kadin 1978 finished 07/02
Wifey 1979
Lady Vixen 1980 finished 08/01
An Indecent Obsession 1981
The Jasmine Veil 1982 finished 09/20
Whispers on the Nile 1983
Stormfire 1984
Ride the Savage Sea 1985
Loving Julia 1986
Hearts Aflame 1987
Silver Angel 1988


Books
Judgment in Death by JD Robb finished 07/17
Betrayal in Death by JD Robb finished 08/16
Seduction in Death by JD Robb finished 08/23
Reunion in Death by JD Robb finished 09/14
Purity in Death by JD Robb finished 09/23
Portrait in Death by JD Robb

Ok this is a big list for me!!! but I might try to sneak in another book with another BR author, or maybe a few Avon books, we will see :)

I sucked at my run... oh well :) I got a book!!!

Feel free to post as you go Tammy! :)