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Woke Up in a Strange Place
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Buddy Read - July 2013 - Woke Up In A Strange Place
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Fran, Moderator
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 22, 2013 02:43PM
Our July M/M Buddy Read is Woke Up in a Strange Place. We would love for anyone to join us. Stop by after July 1st and let us know what you thought of it :)
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I'm in! Will need to plan out my challenges first though to work out it's likely positioning within the month ;)
This one sounds really good - I'm looking forward to it! :D
Not sure when I'm getting to this one, but I'm looking forward to it!
Just started it - and gawd! I already have tears in my eyes! ...Have courage. Great courage.
Jane (PS) wrote: "Just started it - and gawd! I already have tears in my eyes! ...Have courage. Great courage."I think I will wait until I don't have visitors or witnesses to start this one after that warning...
Jane (PS) wrote: "Just started it - and gawd! I already have tears in my eyes! ...Have courage. Great courage."Oh geez. Apparently I'm trying to kill myself with angst this month... I've already read 1 tearjerker and currently reading another. And planning on reading Something Like Autumn. I need to stock up on tissues and ice cream.
Jane (PS) wrote: "Just started it - and gawd! I already have tears in my eyes! ...Have courage. Great courage."Uh oh....I am putting this one off for a bit...maybe in a few weeks...
Oh, definitely sounds like I need to wait until AFTER the holiday weekend crowd leaves...don't need to be sitting on the deck bawling with 20 or so witnesses!
It's not tragic but it has some emotional moments - for me anyway. The MC is reliving key events in his life - just hit another one, at about 20% through...It is actually very well written and makes you think.
OMG - this book was wonderful!It is a journey in poetic description of a fantastic (in the strictest terms) afterlife. I loved it. It made me think and appreciate life.
It is quite an uplifting story; to have the beautiful, you have to experience the dark - this book delves into these notions but not in a flowery over-drawn way. Anvin's choice of words during the narrative was masterful; one well-chosen word can replace whole sentences. It definitely had paragraphs of descriptions but it wasn't repetitive - it took you further along the journey.
Normally I dislike flashbacks as a form of explaining a current situation, but in this book I craved them.
Wow - just wow.
(By the way, I think this will become my review ;)
I can't wait to read it now! The way you describe it sounds a little bit like the book I just finished today, Into This River I Drown.
Jane (PS) wrote: "OMG - this book was wonderful!It is a journey in poetic description of a fantastic (in the strictest terms) afterlife. I loved it. It made me think and appreciate life.
It is quite an upliftin..."
Sounds amazing!
Breann wrote: "I can't wait to read it now! The way you describe it sounds a little bit like the book I just finished today, Into This River I Drown."It sounds like a similar theme - but I suspect this book is actually happier... There is a lot of joy in this book, but also some shorter periods of great sadness. It's well balanced IMHO.
Wow, the descriptions are almost dreamlike.
@dreamspinners: #TWEETAWAY For one hour only! Mongrel by @k_z_snow is #free to download. http://t.co/IXgS3EeGeG Get it now!!! #UkMeet2013Just saw this, I think there is about a half hour left.
MountainKat wrote: "@dreamspinners: #TWEETAWAY For one hour only! Mongrel by @k_z_snow is #free to download. http://t.co/IXgS3EeGeG Get it now!!! #UkMeet2013Just saw this, I think there is about a half hour left."
LOL! I just came to post this. :)
I finally got around to this one today - listened to the audio version and made it through the whole thing in one day. I really liked it a lot, the writing was amazing and the story was very different, but it really worked for me. The audio had good points and bad points...lots of mispronunciations, but other than that was well done. Overall I gave it a solid 4 stars, maybe even 4.5, and I will definitely be checking out more by this author.
Glad you enjoyed it Karen and Breann :) It was definitely different to our normal line of books!
It was definitely different. I wish there was more time with Joe & Lou together, I didn't feel like I knew them as a couple and therefore didn't care about them reuniting. I know, I know it's all about the journey here... I must not be deep enough to grasp and appreciate that concept :D
Breann wrote: "It was definitely different. I wish there was more time with Joe & Lou together, I didn't feel like I knew them as a couple and therefore didn't care about them reuniting. I know, I know it's all a..."I actually agree with you, Breann - I would have preferred seeing more of them together and for that reason it doesn't fit my personal criteria for a romance. That being said though, as long as I kept that in mind and didn't go looking for that part of the story, I really enjoyed it...but I still would have felt cheated if we hadn't gotten the HEA!
I agree with the overall lack of actual romance, but to me it was romance within the word's original meaning. I loved the emotion written into the story.We just missed some body-slammin' for a while ;)
Jane (PS) wrote: "We just missed some body-slammin' for a w..."No sex?! Ah, damn....
=P
Jane (PS) wrote: "I agree with the overall lack of actual romance, but to me it was romance within the word's original meaning. I loved the emotion written into the story.We just missed some body-slammin' for a w..."
See? I must be too shallow to appreciate this :P
Jane (PS) wrote: "I agree with the overall lack of actual romance, but to me it was romance within the word's original meaning. I loved the emotion written into the story.We just missed some body-slammin' for a w..."
Oh, I agree there was romance in the story, just not in the way I think of for a romance novel - the fact that the MCs really had very little actual interaction throughout the book until right near the end is something that usually bothers me, but it worked for me in this case...not what I look for in a romance novel, but still a very good, emotional story that I enjoyed.
I really did like Arvin's descriptions of the afterlife. How people traveled through their life experiences to gain a better understanding of what and why they went through certain things in life, that there's a bigger picture.
LOL Kat and Breann... *sitting here, gazing soulfully into the distance, seeking my nirvana*...Nah - I'm shallow as well; but I still loved this book :) Like Karen, I wouldn't normally seek this type of story out, but yes - it worked for me and probably made me think a little... *gasp* And let me tell you, my brain HURT for a little while afterwards ;)
Can we start giving noms for next month? :)
Breann wrote: "Can we start giving noms for next month? :)"I only just started this one! ~sigh~ I'll finish it by Tuesday, maybe even tomorrow though.
And it is that time of the month though - this is my last planned book for the month!
Sounds good - everyone post their nominations....Breann, since your selection was chosen this month, how about you use random.org to select our August read?
Fran wrote: "Breann, since your selection was chosen this month, how about you use random.org to select our August read?"Oh yay! I don't know why, but this makes me really excited :D
I don't know if I will get to this month's pick but I will start the ball rolling for August....I nominate Good Bones
Karen and I were chatting and the one she came up with - that I'm going to steal - is City Mouse. I love to get current and wrap up series, even if there are only two books!Sorry Karen, but I'm sure you can come up with another one! =)
Fran wrote: "I don't know if I will get to this month's pick but I will start the ball rolling for August...."You still have 8 days! You can do it :)
MountainKat wrote: "Karen and I were chatting and the one she came up with - that I'm going to steal - is City Mouse. I love to get current and wrap up series, even if there are only two books!Sorry Karen, but I'm ..."
Oh, well, I guess that's the way it goes...I'll just say the same as I did last month then - Little Squirrels Can Climb Tall Trees. :D
I really want to read City Mouse!
Fran wrote: "I really want to read City Mouse!"I'd like to get to it before I forget everything about the first one! Which for me was probably last week, maybe last month!!
All of those sound good!I wasn't going to nominate one since mine was picked last month, but I don't think we'll get enough noms without it :D
In my (insane) attempt to read as many GRL authors before October as I can, I'm going to nominate
I got this as a DSP freebie, but I didn't see it on anyone else's shelves :/ Did you all pick it up?
I missed Chaser when it was free. Even though your book was chosen you should definitely put in another nomination!
I missed it too, but I have no problem buying more books. I think that shows too!
I missed Chaser when it was originally free, but then picked it up when it was a bonus for buying Raining Men.
Oops, looks like I need to update my shelves because I found it in calibre. Thank goodness for the PIFM because it forces me to update my shelves regularly!
I don't mind either. If it's lendable I can always borrow it in the lending group I'm in.
MountainKat wrote: "Oops, looks like I need to update my shelves because I found it in calibre. Thank goodness for the PIFM because it forces me to update my shelves regularly!"Me too, although somehow I missed getting this one on my shelves last month...not sure how that happened, but it's there now!
Fran wrote: "I don't mind either. If it's lendable I can always borrow it in the lending group I'm in."It is lendable Fran - unfortunately I got it directly from DS or I'd loan it to you! :D
So far we have...
I think we went for 6 nominations last month. Right?
I finally finished this one! I think I may be even shallower than Breann! =P It was a nice enough story, but I never connected with it. I didn't care about the characters, what they did or why they did it. I listened to that audio and thought it was well done. Maybe if I was in a different mood...
MountainKat wrote: "I finally finished this one! I think I may be even shallower than Breann! =P It was a nice enough story, but I never connected with it. I didn't care about the characters, what they did or wh..."
I had the exact same reaction. Just never connected at all.
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
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