Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Alison wrote: "Two books I am Very Excited about have come out this week: Elin Gregory's Midnight Flit (which we have already talked about) and C.B. Lewis' Time Taken. Yay! Lewis..."
I'm going with Midnight Flit. Thanks for the heads uo.
Alison wrote: "Two books I am Very Excited about have come out this week: Elin Gregory's Midnight Flit (which we have already talked about) and C.B. Lewis' Time Taken. Yay! Lewis..."
Oooh, thanks for mentioning Time Taken! I'm happy to get it from Ninestar, or perhaps Smashwords.
One of the few things I will fault DSP for is that they decided to get into the business of reissuing a lot of older books, many from now-defunct publishers. While not a bad idea in itself, they apparently dumped a lot of their then-current authors in the process. Perhaps they did this to help DSP survive, but I have to admit there haven't been many of the reissues which interested me. Having been written a while ago, most of them have way too much sex.
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Think about it... just about every product you buy online, every business you visit, every service you use, requests feedback or a review. When ..."
Yes. Reviewing gives customers a feeling that when a merchant fails to deliver a product or a service, they still have recourse--case in point, trying for two nights to have drinks at the Avalon Grille (although in this case, I'm not satisfied with Yelp, I'm writing the manager--IF I CAN FIND TIME).
Which is why as a voracious online consumer, I highly value legit reviews. Does the vacuum work? Can you get replacement parts? What's the service center like? Will that mascara leave me blind?
Book reviews...are more problematical because unless a book is truly atrocious or a complete rip-off (by which I mean the kind of book-stuffing that can happen in KU) it's going to be subjective. While I love lively book discussions and different opinions about the characters and what was really happening with the plot...the truth is, *nobody's* single opinion on a book is going to decide me on buying or not buying.
And I think it's true for most people.
What's aggravating is how contaminated the reviewing process has become--and this does include books--with competitors reviewing each other badly or people buying fake good reviews. That is all on Amazon though for making reviews such a major part of their mysterious algorithm--and then clumsily trying to control the process (only not really).
Even with legit reviews, you've got to have a lot of reviews in order to get a real consensus of opinion because you do have customers who maybe are already having a bad day and then a bad cup of coffee is the final straw and they write a scathing review--which, without a lot of reviews to balance--can change a businesses overall rating. Meanwhile most customers have a completely different experience--but who bothers to review EVERYTHING WAS FINE AS USUAL? :-D
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I don't mind givin..."
Yes. I agree. I am rarely moved to review--even when I think I really should because I've just received phenomenal service or something was truly delicious. I try to express my pleasure in real time and face to face because, best intentions aside, I just know I'm probably not going to leave a review.
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Well, I can tell you from the writer perspective, a brief but honest and heartfelt reaction to a book is still useful. It all goes toward building that consensus of opinion.
Some of the LEAST useful reviews are the really long-winded, detailed but entirely subjective here's-what-the-author-should-have-dones. Those frequently feel like someone gearing up to write their own book--partly because reviewing the book you wanted versus the book you were reading is very often a stage in the development of a writer. Maybe even a necessary stage.
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Think about it... just about every product you buy online, every business you visit, every service you use, requests feedback or a review. When ..."
Hahaha. Like even the Catalina Meet! :-D Although I guess I'm not asking for reviews so much as what did you think and what could we do better next time.
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Think about it... just about every product you buy online, every business you visit, every service you use, requests feedback or a review. When ..."
It may sound funny, but I've been thinking for a long time that reviewers--especially really good in demand reviewers--are starting to suffer burnout.
Authors are so desperate for reviews that of course there has to be pressure on reviewers. And if there's pressure, that has to take a lot of fun out of the equation.
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Think about it... just about every product you buy online, every business you visit, every service you use, requests feedback or a..."
I do try to give feedback regarding events, like the Catalina Meet, that I care about and want to succeed. It’s also gratifying when feedback entails a discussion among peers who listen to each other. Because that’s not always the case, like this week when the staff was asked to give feedback on our recent student performance event and fundraiser. I suggested that the program could be shorter. And was promptly shot down by admin, even though the majority of the staff agrees with me, and one colleague even corroborated. :)
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Lewis..."
I need to get back to the C.B. Lewis books. I read most of the first, then got distracted/sidetracked and felt I needed to reread and refresh to do it justice. Sometimes I find it best to wait until all or most of a series is out, then reread or read the whole series. I was doing that with the Seven of Spades books. I reread the first three and finished the fourth before the fifth, A Chip and a Chair, came out last week. Then I got sidetracked by a book Antonella was reading, Listening to the Dead, and stayed up really, really late to finish it (and then had nightmares). More on that later... :)
After that I opened Elin Gregory’s age of sails (with pirates!) book, On a Lee Shore, which kept me up another night past by bedtime. She creates such convincing historicals with complex and engaging MCs. I’m inclined to drift over to Midnight Flit, but will probably finish The Kingsbridge series first...
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really liked how realistically she wrote the police procedure and how both relationships were written realistically too. And that the one relationship is a slow burn where the characters want to rush things, but are consciously not doing that because they know rushing could ruin everything. :-) Tough guys showing their softer side.
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I chose to use these forms because sometimes, especially in my profession, I really like to know what's in a book. I have to recommend books to people all the time and I can't read all of them! I figure this could easily help someone else, without being too spoilery. I hope.
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That's a great idea! I'd like to see your form.
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Here's the General Fiction form.
Title/Author:
Summary:
Series/Standalone:
Genre/sub-genre:
Book Format:
Length:
LGBTQ+ Orientation:
Violence:
Well written/Editor Needed:
Would I Recommend?:
Personal thoughts:
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Title/Author:
Reviewer:
Summary:
Series/Standalone:
Genre/Sub-Genre:
Book Format:
Length:
LGBTQ+ Orientation:
HEA/HFN:
Abuse/Rape:
Violence:
Ratio of Sex/Plot:
Well Written/Editor Needed:
Would I Re-Read?:
Personal Thoughts:
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Title/Author/Artist:
Summary:
Series/Standalone:
Genre/sub-genre:
Book Format:
Length:
LGBTQ+ Orientation:
Violence:
Well written/Editor Needed:
Art/Illustrations:
Would I Recommend?:
Personal thoughts:
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The annoying thing about them for Goodreads, is that if you want them to be bold (I think it looks better with the bold font), you have to put in all the HTML for that. But it's a minor inconvenience to make it look nice. :-)
Anyway, feel free to comment, and make them better, if you have ideas.
These "forms" are good...I haven't been too off the mark. :) I add several ratings to my reviews on level of humor, likable MCs, level of angst and level of sex/heat, with a comment supporting my rating. I also add suggestions of similar books and, when I remember, I recommend the goodreads forum most applicable. I was pretty grateful to an amazon reviewer who mentioned the mm romance forum on goodreads, so I want to pass that forward
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This is me! All those issues about being in a female body, but not feeling female, or wanting to be entirely male, is spot on like someone put me in a book! Wow!
And no, before anyone asks, I have no preferred pronouns. :-)
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Jordan wrote: "I just read a prepub graphic novel memoir in ebook from Netgalley about a gender queer person that is soooo good! Here’s my review, though I may add more thoughts later. https://www.goodreads.com/r..."Great! I also have this one to review. I am glad you enjoyed it. I am really looking forward to reading it.
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That’s both heartwarming and delightful, Jordan!
Am rereading Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory, to then read her sequel, Midnight FlitFinished off the final Seven of Spades book, A Chip and a Chair by Cordelia Kingsbridge. It's a blockbuster finale, with dramatic over the top shootouts and mayhem.
Also read Bone to Pick and its sequel Skin and Bone by T.A. Moore. K9 officer and local Special Agent MCs; mysteries. I thought well written and well paced with good dialogue and interesting MCs each with dark histories gradually exposed.
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I'll be starting Midnight Flit this evening. I read Eleventh Hour twice, so hopefully I'll remember enough. :)
WMD, thanks for the update on the T.A. Moore books. I read Bone to Pick awhile back; I'm picking up its sequel now. Here are my notes on Book 1, no spoilers, but maybe opinionated enough for anyone who's reading it for the first time to skip to avoid preconceptions. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men looks interesting.See also: The deadly truth about a world built for men – from stab vests to car crashes
Crash-test dummies based on the ‘average’ male are just one example of design that forgets about women – and puts lives at risk
Or this 5 minutes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6vAo...
Reading The Fever King by Victoria Lee. Picked it up on Prime first reads. It's YA, alternate history. So far enjoying it.Also started Bone to Pick by T.A. Moore and really enjoying it. I'll probably pick up book two, so looking forward to y'alls reviews.
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Those are great, Jordan. Those are useful from the perspective of both reader and author.
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Serendipitously, this article was featured today in the science digest I subscribe to: https://earthsky.org/space/meti-works...
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Here's my review, if anyone cares. I did compare her a bit to Ginn Hale! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now I'm reading a book called One Korean Woman which one of my writing class students wrote that's a story about her mother's life. Her son designed the book and they had 100 copies printed for friends and family. It's beautiful! I made her sign the copy she gave me and she was so flustered. "No one's ever had me sign anything before!" :-) Now she's writing her story, which is also pretty amazing.
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Both the original and the mash-up do a very good job at portraying a twenty-something Oxford graduate, who's more than a bit full of himself, and enjoys playing at amateur detective. Austen's mash-up takes the unintentional (?) homoeroticism of Hilton's story and makes it blatant. I have the feeling that Austen's view of his characters is more one of knowing humor (looking back to the past and understanding its absurdities). Hilton's is darker, hedging towards noir.
I bought a copy of Hilton's book for comparison, and referred to it in much the way I referred to The Mummy when reading Josh's mash-up, The Curse of the Blue Scarab. I enjoy this kind of insight into the writer's creative mind. :)
(Lost Horizon was one of those films I remember watching at the drive-in from the backseat of my parents' car. I suppose they thought my sister and I would fall asleep, but the closing scene of that film imprinted on my child-mind and stayed there.)
Karen wrote: "Today I read Jim Austen's Murder at Oakschott Hall with is a m/m romance mash-up of Was It Murder? by James Hilton. Hilton is the author of [book:Lost Horizon|3909229..."I got this yesterday. Sounded good. I didn't realize it was a mash-up, but looks like i'd prefer it at the moment - the lighter version, that is. I'll keep the original version in mind, though, so thank you for pointing out some of the differences.
I'm in the middle of several books at the moment, can't seem to settle properly on one.- Caimh McDonnell's Disaster Inc - this one is my go-to when nothing else works.
- Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - love it, but i need to take breaks from it because it's subtly very intense; at the same time, it's quite funny too. Thank you, Johanna, for the rec. :-)
- TA Moore's Skin and Bone - second book in the series. I gave the first one 5 stars when i read it a while back, and now when the second came out, I realized i couldn't remember it at all, which was a bit disconcerting. So i reread the first one, and yes, loved it just as much, but now the second one...i find it difficult to get into. Having phrases repeating and characters' names mixed up isn't helping either, but i'm curious about the mystery, so i'll persevere.
- KJ Charles' Any Old Diamonds - has all the right elements, but somehow...well...it's probably me, lol. Still, there's potential and i'm only halfway through.
- Lily Morton's Risk Taker - good, but angsty! so i'm enjoying it with breaks.
And then at the top of my TBR list:
- CB Lewis's Time Taken - sf, mm
- Grant Atherton's Dead Feint (book 2) - gay mystery
- Amy Rose Capeta's The Brilliant Death - fantasy, lgbtq
- Jim Austen's Murder at Oakschott Hall - the m/m mystery mash-up Karen mentioned
- Johnny Shaw's The Upper Hand - should be suspense with a sense of humor.
KC, you have such treats ahead of you! I read CB Lewis' Time Taken a few days ago and it is a knockout! It's completely riveting and I was glued to it for two days straight. I haven't written a review yet, but it's absolutely 5-stars fantastic. I'm sad this series isn't more widely read. Maybe most people just aren't into queer time travel books like I am? If you're into queer time travel books, check out this series, for it is amazing and one of my favourites.
Amy Rose Capetta's The Brilliant Death is very cool and super queer. I really liked it. It's a fantasy that revels in taking apart the gender binary, which I personally think is really rad. I wrote a review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Lol. I don't think I ever thought of that as a subgenre...queer time travel books. They weren't officially NOT on my list....
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You're welcome, dear. It took me, too, some time to listen to it as audio, so I know exactly what you mean.
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I assume it's a temporary situation, but still, a bit frustrating. I miss the feeling of diving into a good story and not popping up for air and reality immediately after a few moments. I wish my brain would let me let go. You know?
Johanna wrote: "I love reading about everyone's reading experiences and recommendations! So many wonderful, alluring books listed here recently. I only wish I had more time to read! Last few months life has been s..."Yes I know that feeling. Hopefully you will eventually be able to find some time and quiet space to read. Reading keeps me sane and I really dislike those times when life becomes so busy or so stressful that you cant read.
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Here's my review, if anyone cares. I did compare her a bit to Ginn Hale! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Aww. That's such a nice thing to have done, Jordan!
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I find that if I'm seriously stressed, I can't read. Which is really unfortunate because reading used to be my refuge. But I think that's one of the downsides of writing. I can't read the way I once did. I can't really ever completely lose myself in a story. I think the last time was Ginn Hale's Rifter series.
Which isn't to say that I don't still love reading! I do.
But when I'm really stressed, I now need television or movies to distract me.
It's weird.
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That's quite funny. I thought of doing a mashup of Was it Murder too!
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It helps that I don’t have a dinner partner to talk to while I eat, so my books are my revolving partners. I’m starting with Atomic Habits, Reading one chapter a night, because this is not the kind of book you can easily binge.... well, you could, it’s such an easy read, but I want to take it in small bites over time to internalize it. Anyway, after this one, I’ll just read whatever is my current read at the time.
Finished KJ Charles’s Any Old Diamonds, and decided that overall it was awesome! I liked the first half okay, which in retrospect was due to my not being in the right mood for it, but the second half was soooo good!
Johanna wrote: "And my to-do list is too long to let me relax with a book.I assume it's a temporary situation, but still, a bit frustrating. "
I hope it will get better soon.
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That's quite funny. I thought of doing a mashup of Was it Murder too!
I love that it occurred to you. The book kind of begs a m/m mash-up. :)
N.R. Walker just came out with a new book with asexual mcs, Upside Down.I'm only a quarter of the way through it, but enjoying it so far.
Always on the lookout for ace representation.
Karen wrote: "This week I read T.J. Klune’s The Bones Beneath My Skin. I have a “history” with T.J.’s books. I read Bear, Otter, and the Kid early on in my m/m reading, and was ch..."His books are mostly hit or miss for me. Mostly miss. I did enjoy How to Be a Normal Person.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
Books mentioned in this topic
Subtle Bodies (other topics)Husband Material (other topics)
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night (other topics)
A Shattered Silver Crown (other topics)
A Shattered Silver Crown (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jordan Castillo Price (other topics)Alexis Hall (other topics)
Katherine Fabian (other topics)
Iona Datt Sharma (other topics)
Cynthia Zhang (other topics)
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Lewis' book is the third in an excellent time travel queer romance series. I absolutely loved the first two in the series. To make things complicated, the first two books are published by Dreamspinner (who apparently did not want to continue the series--boo!), while the third is fresh out from Ninestar. I appreciate the author persevering on the series, because it's really great.
Anyway...a dilemma! Which one to read next?!