Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
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Are you enjoying it?
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:-) I'd thought you'd like it.
I'm about 90% done, I took my daughter for a mani-pedi and I was reading it there (Fool's Errand) and I couldn't help laughing out loud. When I got home I realized I had put my bookmark in the wrong place and I missed his dinner at Alex and Ted's house. I'm going to go back and read it tonight. I'm out of practice reading an actual 'book' and not my kindle ;)
Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Still reading my Shalvis series. Up to book 9 now. It's been a long while since I've read any het romance."Are you enjoying it?"
Yes I am. It's a fun change of pace, and she's a good writer. I started this series years ago when the first book came out, so I've been following it a while. I was just in the mood.
I now am reading "Tackling the Tight End" by Tara Lain. I love her characters because she writes such a large variety of men, and often has men with femme characteristics (without stereotyping). As she says, she likes her pretty boys.
After that I may go back to the next Shalvis. I have three more and the series is complete. It's kind of interesting how she did this. There are four series of three related books in the same town. Usually a group of male or female friends in each group who all pair off. And the characters show up from earlier books from time to time.
Josh wrote: "It's interesting because after the kidlings and I saw Star Wars they were discussing canon over dinner--and how disturbed and even angry they were that George Lucas had redone parts of the first films (and oh my God they were funny as they acted out they worst bits :-D)..."Strangely enough, the things Lucas added to the original films did not bother me. I really didn't notice them that much. But then my memory is so spotty... LOL. The only one that really stands out is Han and Jabba the Hut's conversation.
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Nope. This was the first one from him. But now I'm definitely interested in reading more from him. :-)
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Josh wrote: "Not least because you can never view the work with the same objectivity or perspective as a reader. I will never see Adrien and Jake as readers do. Nor any of my characters. It is not possible..."That's interesting. What do you think is the biggest difference between the way you see Adrien and Jake and the way your readers see them?
I always wanted to voice my opinion on Adrien, so why not now. -(just an example) -When he found out that Jake slept with a woman, he is sort of unemotional. What I mean--at least he should be angry or feel betrayed and voice it somehow. But the whole series is written like that. --Stay away from feelings and emotions as much as possible to keep it more a crime story, not a romance? --This is not meant to be a criticism, just an observation. :)
ED wrote: "I always wanted to voice my opinion on Adrien, so why not now. -(just an example) -When he found out that Jake slept with a woman, he is sort of unemotional. What I mean--at least he should be angr..."?? (view spoiler)
I guess I have a totally different relationship with Adrien...
Different interpretation and very fun to discuss - thanks for putting it out there.
Johanna wrote: "KC wrote: "Finished today our BOM Fool's Errand. Loved it!!! Has anyone read anything else by Louis Bayard? For example: Endangered Species?"Nope. This was the first o..."
I would love to read another book by Louis Bayard!
I am reading Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie. It is book one in a murder mystery series set in England. The main character is a priest who gets involved in solving murders. This is a new series for me. It has a kind of dry style of writing with Sidney able to solve the crimes with just a few clues and conversations although he is supposed to be very observant. tThe main character, Sidney, is straight although I think he has gay friends who are closeted and there is little romance in the book, although there is the occasional attraction to different ladies. The series is set in the 1950's and so people are still recovering from World War two and Sidney fought in the war and is still haunted by that. The best thing about the book is that it has about six different stories within the one volume so quite a bargain. I picked this up from NetGalley as an arc and I am enjoying it so far.
ED wrote: "I always wanted to voice my opinion on Adrien, so why not now. -(just an example) -When he found out that Jake slept with a woman, he is sort of unemotional. What I mean--at least he should be angr..."I don't think he is unemotional. I think Trioseven7 puts it well, so I'll just say that Adrien is determined not to let Jake know how much it matters to him, but it definitely does affect him a great deal.
ED wrote: "I always wanted to voice my opinion on Adrien, so why not now. -(just an example) -When he found out that Jake slept with a woman, he is sort of unemotional. What I mean--at least he should be angr..."I agree that Adrien is remarkably (and annoyingly) restrained when he calls and Jake is in bed with a woman, but you can feel his anguish when he hangs up on Jake. Later, he refuses to discuss it when Jake asks why he did that (ADT). Adrien believes that he has no right to protest because Jake has been explicit that he has nothing to offer him in terms of any kind of commitment, but that doesn't mean that he can control his own feelings on the subject. I think that tension from his struggle for self-control, his self-denial, and his dismissal of the depth of Jake's love for him, are the driving themes in the series. That's why to me, the crime stories are secondary.
Ije the Devourer of Books wrote: "I am reading Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie. It is book one in a murder mystery series set in England. The main character is a priest who ge..."Have you seen the PBS series Grantchester? Just wondering how it compares to the books.
Has anyone else read Leta Blake's Will & Patrick Wake Up Married? I thought it was fun and there are 3 out already and more to come.
Haldis wrote: "Ije the Devourer of Books wrote: "I am reading Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie. It is book one in a murder mystery series set in England. The..."I haven't seen it. I might buy the dvd if I like the books.
Clary wrote: "Has anyone else read Leta Blake's Will & Patrick Wake Up Married? I thought it was fun and there are 3 out already and more to come."Yes! I love them! They're fun with substance. I didn't really expect much when i started the first one - just fun fluff, but i was pleasantly surprised - good writing, plotting, characterization, and so much fun too except when they do the heart-squeezing thingy. Can't wait for the rest!
I couldn't take a break during Billy's Bones even though it was gone long into the night and I had to go to work the morning after.
KC wrote: "Yes! I love the..."Exactly the same for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the painful anguish. (Not sure that came out right!)
How about Harper Fox's new book, Cold Fusion?I don't usually wax lyrical about books other than Josh's, but this one is the exception for me. I was simply blown away by it. I don't know if I can even bear to re-read it because my emotional response was so strong.
Clary wrote: "Has anyone else read Leta Blake's Will & Patrick Wake Up Married? I thought it was fun and there are 3 out already and more to come."Yes! Really enjoying them so far. :-)
I read Tamara Allen's new book, The Road to Silver Plume, over the weekend and it was lovely. It's a road trip story that's all about counterfeiting in 1890s America and it's so engaging. I really enjoyed it. The romance is subtle and slow-building in that lovely Tamara Allen way and the story is exciting and really interesting. The historical setting is amazingly well done, of course. I notice on the GR listing it says it's book one, so I certainly hope there's more to come.
The other day I finished a really cool fantasy--A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. It's not a romance (yet? it's first in a series), but it's a wonderfully imaginative historical fantasy where everyone has gorgeous clothes. I'm a sucker for books full of awesome clothes which also have super cool magic systems. I really enjoyed it.
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Meanwhile, I have several of the books recently mentioned here, waiting in the wings while making impulsive/random selections from other Fall 2015 purchases. I read Marie Sexton's Winter Oranges this weekend, a holiday story that is even more so a time travel (or outside of time) story. It built up enough suspense to leave the possibilities for an HEA up in the air until almost the end.
I'm reading Rhys Ford's Fish Stick Fridays now. I have this love/hate thing with Rhys's writing. It's such a lush style, with metaphorical/poetical descriptions, humor and raunchiness, abundant cussing, over-the-top violence, and lots of collateral damage. She also works in obscure words (like "bokeh") that make me very grateful for the dictionary tap option on e-readers. Anyway, I'm just past the 25% point and enjoying this one so far.
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I'm always working to clear the physical books from my coffee table. One of these days I need to work on the ebooks I bought years ago but haven't had time to read yet.
So many books. So little time!
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Exactly the same for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the painful anguish. (Not sure that came out right!)"
LOL. I want to adopt your phrase pleasantly surprised by the painful anguish! :-)
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Thank you for the recommendation!
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I don't usually wax lyrical about books other than Josh's, but this one is the exception for me. I was simply blown a..."
I'm at 52% in this one. The beginning was almost too painfully anguishing :-) but I do love Harper's lyrical, poetic, beautiful writing so much. In fact, once again I'm blown away with her wonderful description of weather, landscape, characters... everything. I don't know if it makes any sense, but her words have such vivid, tangible, material feel to them. Like a blanket you can wrap around you.
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Such an ambitious plan! :-D
Johanna wrote: "KC wrote: "I decided to brave Billy's Bones and i'm glad i did; so far anyway; i'm about halfway through."Thank you for the recommendation!"
It's really good; finished it yesterday. I did skip one scene toward the end, but you can see it coming and avoid reading it if it's too much.
Clary wrote: "How about Harper Fox's new book, Cold Fusion?I don't usually wax lyrical about books other than Josh's, but this one is the exception for me. I was simply blown a..."
It's just wonderful, isn't it? Lyrical, heart-wrenching, exciting, quite unlike anything else. I can't recommend it enough.
Karen wrote: "I'm trying to create a "collection" (Kindle terminology) of the e-books I own but haven't read yet. It's something of a time-wasting/OCD activity, and unless I've added the book to my GR lists I us..."I have the same type of relationship with her books. I think she writes very good stories with interesting characters, but her writing is very uneven and sometimes I have problems "decoding" her sentences and lose the thread in the narration somehow.
Not m/m, but I have enjoyed three books by Rose Lerner, in the Lively St. Lemingston series. Historical romance set in this little town, each book is about a new couple but we get glimpses of the others from the other books. Unlike many other who writes from the same epoch, she doesn't only write about the aristocracy, so I feel I learn things about other parts of society, too.
I finally finished Pent Up last night. I had put it down for awhile (I tend to do that a lot), but I'm sooo glad I finished it. Absolutely fantastic! I love Damon Suede - he sure never writes the same book twice ;)
I just finished the second book in the series, Psycop, and I'm really liking her writing and the fact I love paranormal books.
I've started the third book. I took a chance on reading this series, I was unfamiliar with the author at the time, but now I'm happy I did.
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I am actually eager to see those original movies again. It's been so long.
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Well, first and foremost--I can't view them as independent of the creative process.
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That's interesting. I don't think of him as unemotional though. I think of him as holding in emotion, controlling emotion, fighting to stay rational and controlled in the face of a tidal wave.
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Nope. This..."
He's very good. This is his only real effort at romance, and it's not exactly how we think of romance. It's his lightest and most charming book.
The book he is best known for is Mr. Timothy.
http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Timothy-Loui...
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I'm always working to clear the physical..."
I have an unread collection on my kindle, an unread collection of PDFs on my computer, and an unread collection of audio. AND an unread collection of vintage print. So the collections keep growing. And my time keeps shrinking.
This will not end well. :-)
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I don't usually wax lyrical about books other than Josh's, but this one is the exception for me. I was simply blown a..."
Her work is simply gorgeous.
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I'm so glad to see there's a new book out by her.
Darlene wrote: " I just finished the second book in the series, Psycop, and I'm really liking her writing and the fact I love paranormal books. I've start..."I love this series. It's one of my favourites.
I read Tackling The Tight End over the weekend and it left me traumatized. Dennis's parents were so CREEPY and so really evil (a pair of cons, but seriously twisted). It really affected my enjoyment of the book. It was a real departure for Tara Lain and I was taken by surprise.I'm back to Jill Shalvis, finishing up the last three in her Blue Harbor series with It's in His Kiss.
Darlene wrote: " I just finished the second book in the series, Psycop, and I'm really liking her writing and the fact I love paranormal books. I've start..."Just started this series myself. Getting ready to read book three.
Loving it so far. :-)
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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It's interesting because after the kidlings and I saw Star Wars they were discussing canon over dinner--and how disturbed and even angry they were that George Lucas had redone parts of the first films (and oh my God they were funny as they acted out they worst bits :-D) And of course Lucas has not helped the situation by bitching (although he did apologize) for what has been done with the franchise since.
It was a good reminder to me of how very seriously we all take our stories.
Also the idea that once something is canon, even the author cannot undo it. Not for everyone. Not completely.