Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Reading The Long Goodbye right now. Am at the 11% mark. Clearly M/M has ruined me for reading, since I keep thinking, "So Marlowe is being very nice to this guy for no obvious reason. When do they start shagging?"Yes, I'm clearly a perv.
Okay, so I think the reason is that he's being nice to him because he's carrying scars - physical and mental - from the war, but I can't keep from thinking of other reasons too. :D
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:-D
Marge wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Lady*M wrote: "I'm reading John Sandford's new Virgil Flowers book - Deadline. So far, it's better than the last one. The recurring secondary characters are so much fun."I was just..."
Hey, Marge. I started with the Lucas Davenport stories and was reluctant to read the Virgil Flowers books, but I did and I haven't been disappointed. I picked up most of mine from the library both print and audible. I hope you enjoy them.
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Anyway, I was just contacted by an author here on GR, (though she doesn't seem to be in our group here) to see if I wanted a free ebook copy of her book in exchange for an honest review. The book isA Call to Arms by Shiriluna Nott. I don't have time for it, but I guess it can't hurt to see if any of you are interested in trying it out. It seems to be epic fantasy/LGBTQ fiction. She says if you like The Last Herald-Mage by Mercedes Lackey, you might like this one. It's 315 pages and self published as her first book, if you care.
I've never been contacted for anything like this. It seems rather odd, since I don't know her, but she found a comment I'd left on some other group about liking Mercedes Lackey, so it's not completely out of the blue, I guess.
Anyway, if you want me to contact her, let me know. Otherwise I'm probably just going to tell her "thanks, but no thanks" due to time constraints.
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Two other new-ish..."
They both sound interesting.
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That's a real flaw in Josh's books ;-): they inspire you to compare them..."
Uh oh. ;-)
Jordan wrote: "One week of vacation and I'm not even half way through the monster book I brought with me! I was trying to be good and work on my novel's plot in the mornings, so less reading got done. Oh well. Li..."It looks like A Call to Arms is available in Kindle Unlimited, so I might give it a try, take advantage of my membership.
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Well, TLG is the Chandler title most cited by scholars as indicating homoerotic undertones, but I don't see it myself. Everyone knows Chandler was in love with his mom.
(Er, kidding about that -- but his beloved wife was much older.)
ttg wrote: "Two other new-ish gay historical mysteries that I added to the TBR pile are The Glass-House Murder and The Dead Past, the former set after WWI, I believe, and the latter just post-WWII. Has anyone read them and had any thoughts? "I had a lot of waiting time in the afternoon, so I decided to have a go at The Dead Past and liked it definitely enough to purchase the second book in the series. I am that weird historian who loves to read historicals (romances, mysteries, everything...), fortunately nobody ever writes about "my" time, so I don't feel obliged to read with an eye for historical correctness, but anyway, this book felt quite accurate and I was in the mood for a low-key story. So thanks to ttg for the recommendation!
Varecia wrote: "ttg wrote: "Two other new-ish gay historical mysteries that I added to the TBR pile are The Glass-House Murder and The Dead Past, the former set after WWI, I believe, and the latter just post-WWII...."Oh good! I'm glad it worked okay. I'll look forward to it.
I'm about 40% through The Arnifour Affair. The story at this point is overall fine, although very low heat for ye romance fans. Go in to this expecting a scattering of quiet references to Sherlock (ahem), I mean Colin and his partner's relationship. It's "out" to the reader, so not just subtext, but this is definitely mystery first, romance third, and probably setting being second. :)
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Well, now I'm at the 65% point in The Glass-House Murder and quite enchanted by the MC that I initially thought was an "affected upper class MC fooling around." It seems that he fools around for good reasons. ; )
I finished the second book of Kate Aaron's Puddledown mysteries, The Coward's Way. A quiet book, concentrating more on the relationship of the MCs than on a "real" mystery. I liked it and will try more from this author - not the vampires, obviously, but maybe a contemporary m/m.
Varecia wrote: "I finished the second book of Kate Aaron's Puddledown mysteries, The Coward's Way. A quiet book, concentrating more on the relationship of the MCs than on a "real" mystery. I liked ..."This sounds good. I added it to my list. I'm reading another ZAM now - The Long Way Home, so a quiet mystery should be just the thing afterwards.
I was just this very minute cleaning out the back chubby in my headboard and found two Margery Allingham books that I had forgotten about and haven't read yet. They are very dusty.
Nice find, Haldis!I'm still reading The Long Goodbye. I keep highlighting lots of particularly brilliant bits of prose. I smiled when I got to "There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself", thinking of Adrien quoting that.
I'm also going gradually through an annual reread of No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days, by NaNoWriMo creator Chris Baty, in preperation for next month. :D
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I'm still reading The Long Goodbye. I keep highlighting lots of particularly brilliant bits of prose. I smiled when I got to "There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for ..."
Chris has a new updated version of No Plot? that just came out last month. I'm hoping to get it someday. I probably should read it sooner, rather than later though. lol. Our library has it on order, but I could probably buy it faster!
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Oh!
And there is a new Campion coming shortly -- it may already be out. The Allingham estate hired someone to continue the series.
I have such mixed feelings on this increasingly common practice.
Josh wrote: "Haldis wrote: "I was just this very minute cleaning out the back chubby in my headboard and found two Margery Allingham books that I had forgotten about and haven't read yet. They are very dusty."..."
I may be excited. I actually liked the one for Lord Peter Wimsey, "Thrones, Dominations" I think it was called. It's been a few years. Although that was just completing an unfinished manuscript.
Josh wrote: "And there is a new Campion coming shortly -- it may already be out. The Allingham estate hired someone to continue the series.I have such mixed feelings on this increasingly common practice. ."
..."
I don't' have mixed feelings when this happens. I hate it when the estate "finds" items and puts them out post-mortem. I've hated it since they continued some of my favorite science ficiton series in the 70s and 80s after the author's death.
This includes post-mortem publications of JRR Tolkien items. GRRR!
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How fucking dare you?
But yet the reviews have been highly favorable, so I guess it's a nice thing for readers. And the granddaughter needed the cash, so...
So it still horrifies me.
But what matters most: the wishes of the now long dead author or the needs of the author's kith and kin or the needs of the insatiable reading public?
Josh wrote: "I definitely hate it when it is clearly contradictory to the author's wishes: Poirot, for example. How fucking dare you?
But yet the reviews have been highly favorable, so I guess it's a nice t..."
Sometimes it is a good thing that the author's wishes are ignored, otherwise we would not have the novels by Franz Kafka, but in the case of continuing a series that the author did not wish to be continued I agree with you. It should not be done, but obviously if something is going to earn money, sooner or later somebody will do the deed :-(
Jordan wrote: "The book is A Call to Arms by Shiriluna Nott. I don't have time for it, but I guess it can't hurt to see if any of you are Well, I got to about 25% and it's gotten to be rather painful. This book could definitely use a bit more polish and the inexperience of the author is fairly evident. I was actually cringing through some of the dialog. Maybe it gets better, but I don't think I'm going to invest the time, cause I just bought the first book in the Rifter series by Ginn Hale based on the wonderful blog interview.
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I have such mixed feelings on this increasingly common p..."
This is why I burn everything I don't want other people to read. lol. No one will be able to do that to me unless they make shit up. :-P
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Well, I got to about 25% and it's gotten to be rather pai..."
I hate to say this, but based on what I know about the book, I was nervous about reading it because I had a feeling it wouldn't be good. The blurb was very telling... or not telling, IMO. And 300 pages... Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Glad you didn't spend any extra money on it though.
ETA: And The Rifter. If you don't start reading that amazing book RIGHT THIS INSTANT... lol. You'll love The Rifter. :-D
Jordan wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Jordan wrote: "The book is A Call to Arms by Shiriluna Nott. I don't have time for it, but I guess it can't hurt to see if any of you are Well, I got to about 25% and it's gotten t..."
Ok, logging off now to begin The Rifter :-)
Haldis wrote: "I may be excited. I actually liked the one for Lord Peter Wimsey, "Thrones, Dominations" I think it was called. It's been a few years. Although that was just completing an unfinished manuscript"
There was another one after that one as well, also by Jill Patton Walsh. Both of which were fragments of stories. While the stories were good, they were not the same quality as Dorothy L. Sayers stories.
There was another one after that one as well, also by Jill Patton Walsh. Both of which were fragments of stories. While the stories were good, they were not the same quality as Dorothy L. Sayers stories.
Haldis wrote: "Ok, logging off now to begin The Rifter :-)"The Rifter! Bye, Haldis! I don't expect we'll see you for a few days! ;) Once I started, I could not stop and it was all I thought about for a week. Have fun and enjoy! :)
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Well, I got to about 25% and it's gotten to be rather pai..."
I do hope you enjoy it. I love that series so much.
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I thought I could tell the parts that were Sayers from the parts that were Walsh, but that's probably my imagination. I agree though the Walsh books were well done -- wonderful research and setting -- they just didn't feel like Sayers to me.
Went on an Astrid Amara buying spree.Bought The Devil Lancer and the The Archer's Heart trilogy. I think I'll read Lancer next.
Finishing up Foundation of Trust by A.M. Arthur.
Susinok wrote: "Went on an Astrid Amara buying spree.Bought The Devil Lancer and the The Archer's Heart trilogy. I think I'll read Lancer next.
Finishing up [book:Foundation of T..."
Ooh, that's a good sort of spree! The Devil Lancer is brilliant and The Archer's Heart is also brilliant. I loved both a whole lot. Enjoy.
Josh wrote: "And there is a new Campion coming shortly -- it may already be out. The Allingham estate hired someone to continue the series.I have such mixed feelings on this increasingly common practice. ..."
After trying a few of these I don't read them any more. Felix Francis for Dick Francis and the Sayers continuations just don't work for me.
I find it insulting to an author (whether she agreed or not) that it can be assumed that someone else can write in the same way she did. When I want to read fan fiction I go to AO3!
Alison wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Ok, logging off now to begin The Rifter :-)"The Rifter! Bye, Haldis! I don't expect we'll see you for a few days! ;) Once I started, I could not stop and it was all I thought about..."
Yes! What Alison said. Enjoy! :-)
I made good on my threat and started The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara this morning. I already love it. The story grabbed me right away with the misery of the voyage at sea. I really love historical fiction anyway, especially in unusual settings and time periods. So this one is a guaranteed win with an added mystery and romance. Set during the Crimean War. I need to look up the location though. Astrid provided a map, but I need to pull back a bit to place it exactly...
Susinok wrote: "I made good on my threat and started The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara this morning. I already love it. The story grabbed me right away with the misery of the voyage at sea. I real..."
That does sound good. I think I'm due for a spree, too.
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Well, I got to about 25% an..."
:-D Squeeee! I'll squee for you. I reread it last January, but I can't wait to reread it again.
I would love to have The Rifter in audio so I can find more time to reread it whenever I have the urge. Because I literally reread the last book and wanted to start all over again at the beginning.
Well I just finished book one of the Rifter and was greeted with the words "to be continued". How long do you give me before I break down and buy book two?
Haldis wrote: "Well I just finished book one of the Rifter and was greeted with the words "to be continued". How long do you give me before I break down and buy book two?"You haven't already? It's been two minutes... ;-)
I am way over my book allotment for the week...but that's really arbitrary, don't you think?
Haldis wrote: "I am way over my book allotment for the week...but that's really arbitrary, don't you think?"Completely and definitely arbitrary i would say ;-)
KC wrote: "Haldis wrote: "I am way over my book allotment for the week...but that's really arbitrary, don't you think?"Completely and definitely arbitrary i would say ;-)"
Since the very definition of arbitrary says I can buy any book I want, when I want. Thanks guys, I'm going for it!
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Better buy the rest of the series while you're at it, I'd say... It's very hard to pause once you've dived into the life in Basawar. :-)
Susinok wrote: "I made good on my threat and started The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara this morning. I already love it. The story grabbed me right away with the misery of the voyage at sea. I real..."
The Devil Lancer is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. It's gorgeous and totally gripping. And, as a bonus, I felt like I learned lots of stuff about the Crimean War. This book is awesome. :)
Alison wrote: "The Devil Lancer is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. It's gorgeous and totally gripping. And, as a bonus, I felt like I learned lots of stuff about the Crimean War. This book is awesome. :) .."One of my most interesting reads about the Crimean War was Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. One entire section is on Florence Nightingale, a nurse in that war.
Susinok wrote: "Alison wrote: "The Devil Lancer is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. It's gorgeous and totally gripping. And, as a bonus, I felt like I learned lots of stuff about the Crimean War. ..."I've heard of that one. I'll check it out. Florence Nightingale is an interesting lady.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I was just thinking about..."
I've been thinking of getting the audiobooks from the library. I've read many of his Lucas Davenport books and was wondering if these were good too. Thanks for the recommendation.