What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed* Showing 6,051-6,100 of 13,523

[Christopher]

Charming wrote: "That one was awesome. I am perturbed by the follow-ons though - have you read them? I don't want them to ruin the first one for me. "

Yep, I have read them and I agree that they're nowhere near as good.

I got the impression that the author fell in love with the characters so much that he just couldn't stop writing about them.

I have re-read the first story a few times, but have never bothered with attempting the others again.

[Becky]

Charming wrote: "Dude, it's OK to ask for help for stuff other people can do. I would do that for you, for example."

Josh really needs to get the hang of this minion thing soon. Eventually he's going to have a herd of nieces and nephews over 18 and in desperate need of pocket change.

[Kari]

Becky wrote: "Eventually he's going to have a herd of nieces and nephews over 18 and in desperate need of pocket change."

That isn't working out so hot for me. Talked to DD about minioning (for pay!) and yet, here I am, still updating my website. Dammit.

[Josh]

Yeah, I'm beginning to see I have some issues. Like...my wrist feels better for a day and so I start typing again. And oh what a surprise that today I can barely move it.

Anyway, giving a party for my writing group tonight, which ought to keep me busy, so I will sign off now. I'm seriously going to look into that voice software stuff.

[Christopher]

I used to use voice recognition software to dictate letters at work. It's great! It actually 'learns' how to interpret your voice as you correct any errors in the transcription so that after a few weeks you hardly need to make any alterations at all!

[Dev]

I've used Dragon Speak and found it worked pretty well - the longer you use it the better it gets.

[Charming]

Christopher wrote: "I got the impression that the author fell in love with the characters so much that he just couldn't stop writing about them.

I have re-read the first story a few times, but have never bothered with attempting the others again. "

I think I will just stick with the first one, then. Sounds like my instincts were correct.

[[deleted user]]

Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm trying to make the titles I've self-published available to readers who need other formats beyond Nook, Kindle, and PDF. So I've set up an account at Smashwords and I'm beginning to..."

Charming is awesomely kind and helpful! You should definitely take her up on the offer if you could use the help. She rescued me when I was stuck.

[Fehu]

Tamara wrote: "Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm trying to make the titles I've self-published available to readers who need other formats beyond Nook, Kindle, and PDF. So I've set up an account at Smashwords and..."

Will we see something new in the next month from you Tamara?

[[deleted user]]

Fehu wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm trying to make the titles I've self-published available to readers who need other formats beyond Nook, Kindle, and PDF. So I've set up an account at..."

Oh, I was just referring to the short story I published in September.:) Charming basically formatted it for me. If she hadn't, the story would have only been available in PDF (as I borrowed Lulu's pdf converter for that.)
My skills with Word encompass Cut, Paste, and Save. :/ So, without the tech-savvy, I would be lost.
Thank you, Charming.

[Fehu]

Tamara wrote: "Fehu wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm trying to make the titles I've self-published available to readers who need other formats beyond Nook, Kindle, and PDF. So I've set up ..."

Try Calibre, that one is pretty easy to use if you have a PDF. It will convert the file for you in many formats. :)

[[deleted user]]

Fehu wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Fehu wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm trying to make the titles I've self-published available to readers who need other formats beyond Nook, Kindle, and PDF. ..."

Thanks very much, Fehu. I will go look at that right now.

[Charming]

Tamara, you are very welcome. I enjoy that kind of thing.

Calibre is great for converting between formats for your own use, although PDFs tend to end up with some artifacts (page numbers and headers and such).

I use an application called Sigil to get the stories really clean, though. It can put in tables of contents, for example.

[Becky]

I read Winter Warmers today, and it was a sweet little collection. J.L. Merrow's story was particularly good. I like her more with every story I read.

The stories in the collection were fairly short-- a moment in each of these relationships instead of the cementing of a relationship. None of them had Happily Ever After endings, but you're at least hopeful at the end that these couples may go somewhere.

[Anne]

Becky wrote: "I read Winter Warmers today, and it was a sweet little collection. J.L. Merrow's story was particularly good. I like her more with every story I read.

The stories in the collecti..."

oh, even more holiday stories, I must have it!

[Becky]

I know, I'm really digging the holiday stories right now, too. I haven't read Icecapade yet, so that's on my list for this week. (Maybe when I finish this sock for my brother.) And then on Christmas Eve I plan to read The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur Bearing Critters.

[Josh]

I finally finished The Rifter.

Really, really enjoyed it.

I want to read it in print so I can check maps and thumb through the glossary and flip back to all the good parts.

I want this book in print!

[Antonella]

Josh wrote: "I want this book in print!"

Me too! It was wonderful.

It's already sure they will publish it on paper, they just don't know yet how many books it will be.

[Jordan]

Still reading The Last Herald Mage, but I'm in the last book of the trilogy and finally ordered myself a copy to keep yesterday. I wish I could just take this library book home and never return it. I already feel like it's mine! lol. Super fantastic book for sure!

I'll finish this one before xmas, then I've got to think of something to take with me on my three day vacation next weekend, and I just don't know what to pick yet. There are so many options...

[Ayesh]

Wow CONGRATS Josh...for being the most Favorite M/M Author 2011 :D U totally deserved it
Here's the link to the result if any1 wants it :D
http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/201...

[Josh]

Bella wrote: "Wow CONGRATS Josh...for being the most Favorite M/M Author 2011 :D U totally deserved it
Here's the link to the result if any1 wants it :D
http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/201......"

That was just crazy flattering!

[Kari]

Josh wrote: "That was just crazy flattering!"

Congrats! :D

[Nicole]

I just read Barging In by Josephine Myles. I decided that I wanted to be her editor and force her to write-in the transitional scenes her other editor didn't. The writing had the capacity to have an almost literary impact, except that the transitions weren't linked up so it was just an entertaining contemporary about an interesting culture--one that would translate well well and easily into space opera IMHO--British narrowboats.

I liked the characters in Barging In a lot and really enjoyed the book. I hardly ever make it to the end of ANY book and I actually read that one twice.

[Becky]

Nicole wrote: "I just read Barging In by Josephine Myles. I decided that I wanted to be her editor and force her to write-in the transitional scenes her other editor didn't. The writing had the ca..."

I like Josephine Myles quite a bit. Her story in Winter Warmers was a standout, and she has a second narrowboat story-- Boats in the Night. I haven't read Boats in the Night yet, but it's definitely on my list.

A nice thing about both Boats and her Winter Warmers stories is that they are multicultural. You just don't see a lot of stories with non-white protags in m/m. Non-human are thick on the ground, non-white, not so much.

Nicole- I'm all for the space opera thing. If you can talk her into that I'd be much obliged!

[Nicole]

Becky wrote: "Nicole- I'm all for the space opera thing. If you can talk her into that I'd be much obliged! "

Heh. My new year's resolution is to stop talking people into doing things. But you can see how this narrowboat thing could be a perfect adaptation--already understands life on boats/spaceships.

[K.Z.]

I started The Charioteer, and already I feel horribly provincial. I keep tripping over all the period British words and turns of phrase, which makes for a rather murky, herky-jerk reading experience. (What just happened? How'd we get from there to here? Where are we? What's going on?) I'm hoping I'll get into the swing of it if I just press on.

Anyway, have another Poppy Z. Brite (now Ricky Martin) book coming -- The Value of X -- which I know I'll devour with gleeful ease. :)

[Becky]

A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print. I was just poking around on Amazon and discovered that it's available for Kindle now. It's a part of the Kindle lending library for Prime members, so if you have that you can read it for free. For the rest of the rabble, it's $2.99. I've already downloaded the sample, and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

[Anne]

K.Z. wrote: "I started The Charioteer, and already I feel horribly provincial. I keep tripping over all the period British words and turns of phrase, which makes for a rather murky, herky-jerk read..."

Thanks for the tip on that one, I have just finished her three books about G-man and Ricky and their restaurant in New Orleans and enjoyed them very much, so this looks like great fun. Another book added to the pile :)

[Anne]

Becky wrote: "A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print. I was just p..."

And another, I enjoyed Second You Sin a lot,this has to be good too. I wonder how I shall have time to decorate the tree and make Christmas dinner for my kids with all that lovely reading material waiting to be devoured, in addition to all the others alread purchased and awaiting of course..

[Christopher]

I've just finished 'Dry Bones' by Lucius Parhelion. A touching (and super hot) cowboy story set in the 1890s. This one made me cry a little.

The thing I love most about Parhelion's work is that even though he or she (the author is a complete mystery) writes genre fiction the prose is very literary. Every time you re-read one of the books you pick up something else from it.

[Calathea]

Becky wrote: "A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print. I was just p..."

Becky, you're my hero! I've been hunting for that one like forever. Even found a retailer who had a copy for a reasonable price and then he wouldn't deliver out of the U.K.
Yeah, for ebooks! I'm off to buy...

[Blaine]

Calathea wrote: "Becky wrote: "A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print...."

Calathea ... bookdepository has it!! I just found out this morning

and put it on my wishlist

I'm kind of bummed it's only available in Kindle format :( *sigh*

[Jordan]

First You FAll was REALLY good! I didn't know the second one was out already. Sweetness! I'll have to see about getting myself a copy.

[Cleon Lee]

I finished Suffer the Little Children yesterday by Tracy Rowan. It is really really REALLY good! Even though the subject is tough (child prostitution), but the story is not too dark or sad to handle. The writing style is charming, the characters are very loveable, & their romance is very sweet.

Oh yes, it is the ONLy romance where the parents know & fully support their son's choice of partner, despite the era.

The book really deserves to win Rainbow Award.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Christopher wrote: "I've just finished 'Dry Bones' by Lucius Parhelion. A touching (and super hot) cowboy story set in the 1890s. This one made me cry a little.

The thing I love most about Parhelion's work is that ev..."

I bumped this author my to-be-read list, I am very intrigued

[John]

K.Z. wrote: "I started The Charioteer, I keep tripping over all the period British words and turns of phrase, which makes for a rather murky, herky-jerk reading experience. (What just happened? How'd we get from there to here? Where are we? What's going on?)..."

The first time through is a little challenging, but when I figured out that *Laruie* hasn't got a clue, either, the style makes more sense. So the reader has to puzzle out what's really going on right along with the MC. On the other hand, it's a book that really reads well a second, third or fourth time. I discover something I missed in there every time I go back to it.

[John]

So, has anyone read Marion Husband? What'd ya think? I just finished The Boy I Love and Paper Moon. Good historical romance set just a after WW1 and WW2 respectively. Very atmospheric, rather nice prose and, well, a bit amazing. There were more than a few spots where I thought, "man, if only I could do that with words". I think the pair together is better than either separately.

[Cheryl]

Becky wrote: "A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print. I was just p..."

Wow, Becky! Thanks so much for letting us know about that. I bought it today with the intention of saving it for later, you know, after I read all the other books I haven't had time to read lately, and just thought I'd flip through the first few pages before moving on to other things. Well, I've read about 70% of the book so far and I'm loving it. What a fun read, even if it is a bit too silly at times. My only problem with it is that I want Kevin to get together with anyone except for Tony. I skimmed the blurb for the next one and I didn't see mention of Tony, so I'm actually hoping they broke up somewhere between the two books.

[Anne]

Cheryl wrote: "Becky wrote: "A while back the topic of the Kevin Connor Mysteries by Scott Sherman came up. The first book in the series, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, was out of print...."

I guess you have to read the second book to find out about Tony :)

[Antonella]

Cheryl wrote: "What a fun read, even if it is a bit too silly at times."

I have it on paper and I had started it, but my first impression was exactly that it was trying too hard to be funny, that's why I stopped reading it after some 30 pages. I plan to finish it sooner or later.

[Cheryl]

It certainly does try too hard in many places to be funny, but for me, I was able to overlook a lot and just go with it as a fun read. I think it won me over in the first few pages just by having a main character who was 5'3". I finished it last night and I have to say that the ending is absolutely ridiculous, I still wasn't getting the relationship between Kevin and Tony, and the most believable part of the story was (view spoiler)[ Kevin holding down his end of a phone sex conversation while choosing an ice cream flavor in a corner deli. (hide spoiler)] Still, it was a fun ride getting there.

[Jordan]

Just got the nonfic book Gay Bar: The Fabulous, True Story of a Daring Woman and Her Boys in the 1950s from Amazon last night and it looks fantabulous! A straight woman owned a safe gay bar in the 1950's and this is her memoirs about it. I can't wait to dig in.

Still reading The Last Herald-Magebut last night my own personal copy arrived, so I returned the library book I'd been holding onto. Surprisingly enough, I expected my used copy to show some wear, but it's in great shape! lol, much better than the well loved library book. But still. I'm in the third book of the trilogy and should finish it over the weekend, if I don't manage to finish it today. Thing is, it's a HUGE book to take on vacation for only six chapters. lol. Still don't want to leave home without it. LOVING it.

[Johanna]

Unfortunately I'm running out of Josh Lanyon paperbacks on my vacation. :( So I visited a bookstore in Phuket - and found no m/m books - but a couple of thick books in English nevertheless: A Discovery of Witches and A Game of Thrones. I'm sure that at least some of you have read those... so my question is: Which one do you recommend? 'Cause that'll be the one I'll start with. :)

[Anne]

Johanna wrote: "Unfortunately I'm running out of Josh Lanyon paperbacks on my vacation. :( So I visited a bookstore in Phuket - and found no m/m books - but a couple of thick books in English nevertheless: ..."</i>

I have read The Game of Thrones, but be warned, it is a series of six books or something and still not finished. It is dark fantasy, with a lot of interesting characters and plenty of intrigue and high politics, I enjoyed them very much. But they are addictive. It is a TV series as well, it started this year, I haven't seen it but those that have, tell me it is good too. Is all well in Thailand?

I have been on the phone today with my family on the west coast, there was a big storm tonight and a big tree in my parents' garden has fallen. My mother was very upset. Nothing quite so exciting in Oslo ;), just a small fire at the neighbours, plenty of noise, smoke and blue lights in the night. Who said something about a peaceful holiday?

At least my Murakami novel is good and it is nice to have the kids at home :)[book:1Q84

[Johanna]

Anne wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Unfortunately I'm running out of Josh Lanyon paperbacks on my vacation. :( So I visited a bookstore in Phuket - and found no m/m books - but a couple of thick books in English neve..."

Hi Anne and thanks for the info on A Game of Thrones!

I bet they are having the same big storm now in Finland too, because part of the country is almost shut down: the trains are not moving, authorities have adviced people to stay home, etc.

Thailand is sunny, friendly and beautiful. Today is a sad day, though, because it's exactly seven years since 2004 tsunami. It pretty much wiped out Khao Lak (where we are staying) among so many other places. Right now it's evening (9 p.m.) and we are off for a walk on the beach.

[Becky]

I got an advance copy of A Discovery of Witches through Goodreads last year this time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At times it reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen. A little more highbrow than your typical Urban Fantasy novel. Both the main characters were Doctors at Cambridge, and they really *were* Doctors at Cambridge, if you know what I mean. They were just throw-away, window dressing jobs. Book two is due out this summer, and I plan to grab a copy if the Kindle price isn't completely obscene.

[Charming]

Christopher wrote: "I've just finished 'Dry Bones' by Lucius Parhelion. A touching (and super hot) cowboy story set in the 1890s. This one made me cry a little.

The thing I love most about Parhelion's work is that ev..."

Please get to work on your bookshelves, because you have excellent taste and I want to see what else you like. And it's all about me, so . . .

[Antonella]

I didn't comment on Christopher's post because I've been gushing some other time about Lucius Parhelion, but in fact it's ok to gush on a good author ;-).

Highly recommended: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...

[[deleted user]]

Thanks to you guys gushing about the series, I'm on Book 7 of Ginn Hale's Rifter series. Holy Awesome, Batman!! These are fantastic!

While I liked Wicked Gentlemen, it was kind of dark for me, so I wasn't sure about this series. But I am SO glad I gave it a shot :)

[Kim]

I would like some recommendations of books that straddle the line between m/m romance/genre fiction and literary fiction. I just finished The Line of Beauty. I skimmed some of the Amazon reviews before downloading it and saw a couple of readers criticizing the explicit gay sex. But to my amusement (chagrin?) it seemed pretty low key compared to what I've been reading lately. However, that novel is closer to what I like to read in general. I can't take a steady diet of romance, though, nor of crime/detective/mystery. I like novels that take into account current events or politics of the day, whatever the time period. What's out there for me?