Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
I need to stop going to Goodwill. The *only* thing they ever have that I want here is books. This is my haul:
and
*sigh*
...as well as some random odds and ends for DH, kids, and my mom...who will be horribly jealous of the Budges above (as will my brother. :D)
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I finally started to read A Game of Thrones and it's easy to believe that in good hands it makes a very showy and interesting series. I also found out that they are going to show the series from the start on Finnish TV this spring. So, it might become a new addiction for me too. :)
About A Discovery of Witches: I liked it and thought that it's admirable how well the writer knows the history of literature and science. There were uncountable amount of fascinating details in this book to enjoy... even about wine tasting. :) On the other hand that made the book maybe a little bit longer than it needed to be considering the storyline.
Anyway, it was actually refreshing to read about vampires, witches and demons - it has been a long time for me since I read a paranormal (non m/m) book. And the plot about mysterious, missing manuscript was intriguing enough. However... I wonder if I would have liked it even better if I haven't read the Twilight saga, because I couldn't help comparing them all the way. I felt that this was like a twilight for adults (and still almost without sex). And all the time I also felt bad about making this comparison, because I feel it's not fair to the author - but I just couldn't help it.
Johanna wrote: "There were uncountable amount of fascinating details in this book to enjoy... even about wine tasting. :) On the other hand that made the book maybe a little bit longer than it needed to be considering the storyline."I completely agree. The details were mostly interesting. I was never bored. But they didn't always serve the story. It was a bit like J.K. Rowling in that respect.
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Yes, I think that you are absolutely right about the J.K. Rowling thing. Those where the two series that kept bobbing into my mind while reading A Discovery of Witches - Twilight and Harry Potters.
Jorrie wrote: "Anne wrote: "Just finished the book this evening, the last hundred pages was so heartbreakingly beautiful and intense. What a wonderful book! I am so glad I learned about it and got to read it."I..."
I was very worried for a while, too, and I came to care very much about Ralph in the end.
Johanna wrote: "Anne wrote: "The Game of Thrones started this week on Norwegian TV. I usually don't watch much, but this could become a new addiction :)"I finally started to read A Game of Thrones a..."
You are going to have fun with that series for a long time, many thick books full of action and intrigue :) And very well written in my opinion.
I have never read The Twilight saga and probaby won't do it, for some reason it has never appealed to me. But maybe I should try The Discovery of Witches. Your description somehow reminded me of The Historian. Have you read it? It is good.
I think it was Blaine who recommended Dissolution. I really liked it. Thank you, I want to read the whole series now :D
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I finally started to read A Game of ..."</i>
No, I haven't read [book:The Historian, but I'll add it into my to-read list. :)
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I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I love sharing that book with others.
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Yes. She manages to do the near-impossible. You not only care for "the other man," you care for side characters like Reg.
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What a terrific recommendation!
I have to be honest, as much as I love Kari and respect Aleks, I'm not a fan of corporeal punishment. In fact, it raises my hackles big time. So I don't know that I'm the ideal reader for that series.
I'll take a look though.
Anyone else familiar with this series?
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and [bookcover:The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The..."I have that first book!
Josh wrote: "Anyone else familiar with this series?"Well, a little bit. I've read six or eight chapters of the first in the series, chiefly because it got such glowing reviews. Besides, this discussion thread is about the best source of book recommendations I've found, so I'll give books mentioned here a bit of an extra chance.
It's a little untidy here and there, but overall better done than some commercially published work I've read, at least so far. Characters seem to be allowed to speak for themselves rather be spoken-for by the narrator. I like that. And while there is corporaI punishment involved, there's nothing sadomasochistic about it - a distinction that is often lost in this sub-genre.
That said, it's rather near the outer limits of my comfort zone. I go into books like these with a decidedly guarded attitude, a finger poised over the delete key. Usually I reach an intolerable level of "ick" pretty quickly with S/M, so I suppose that I've gotten a couple hundred pages without having arrived there is saying something.
Josh wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I need to stop going to Goodwill. The *only* thing they ever have that I want here is books. This is my haul: and 
has been reviled and become something of a laughingstock in some circles (and yet, I found Kon-Tiki to be interesting and well-written. But then, taken solely for what it is -- a memoir of a trip taken by a group of men on a home-made raft from Peru to the Easter Islands -- it *is* interesting and unique. It's only in retrospect, and judging it by its intent that it becomes an object of ridicule.)
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh - I would be curious about your honest opinion of a series I just stumbled across this last weekend.. I just came across this series by accident and I became completely hooked..."Thank you, Josh/John for considering. I have to admit I had not even heard of 'corporeal punishment' as a genre before this series, that's how naive I am. I find that I do not like D/S at all, and this series is definitely not that.. but, after reading the first whole book, I found myself curious because it did not seem to be done as punishment at all, but more as a way for the person ('brat', I guess) feeling like they needed someone (a 'top') to 'help re-focus' them when their world is going crazy.
Sometimes they (the brat) 'ask' for it if they feel they need direct attention, and the swat/paddling shows them they did not have to always be in control or in charge, but that someone else could be for them. In fact, it's only paddling/swats on the bottom, not beating (which I am uncomfortable with, completely).
I do not know that I would read any more books dealing with this genre, but I really enjoyed these authors' world, as well as the 'love' and sense of family they all seemed to be searching for and finding. Like a safe little oasis in a world of 'crazy'. Almost seems to address the 'child' on many of us that did not have the blessing of a loving childhood, for various reasons.
I guess, in a way, this was one more step to broadening my pre-conceived notions and helped me once again decide that human nature has many nuances... One more time where going out of my comfort zone actually paid off and made me think outside my own world. I hope this makes sense. =)
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..."
It makes perfect sense, Mtsnow.
I finished Junction X by Erastes and was shaken to the core by it. Definitely not a HEA romance, but incisive and deeply affecting. A truly brilliant work. (Odd, how I seem to seek out psycho-emotionally jarring fiction yet can't tolerate hardcore BDSM and repeated explicit violence.)
K.Z. wrote: "I finished Junction X by Erastes and was shaken to the core by it. Definitely not a HEA romance, but incisive and deeply affecting. A truly brilliant work. (Odd, how I seem to seek ..."From what I heard, Junction X is brilliant. Erastes is brilliant. But I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. I'm SUCH a wimp when it comes to emotional sad ending.
ETA: I cried watching 8 Below. So yeah... total wimp here.
I poked in to see what KZ had to say about Junction X (saw Cleon's response on my feed).Saw the discussion on Falls Ranch and thought I'd give an opinion from another direction. It is a very well-loved story, but I couldn't stomach it, and I'm a fan of D/s.
I actually didn't find it especially insightful; in fact, I was bothered by how the MC was essentially infantilized (don't think this was intentional). It was also very 'sweet', far too much for my taste...lots of laps and tears and all. Of course, I don't coo at babies, so you can guess that my tolerance for that is low.
It is technically well-written, that's true, and no question that it has lots of fans. Also, to be fair, though I like D/s, I do not like corporeal 'punishment' themes (which may seem contradictory, but an awful lot gets lumped into the four letters of BDSM), so I was not a natural audience.
Anyway.
Errm. That was a rather negative post... Sorry.
I recently read Miracle of the Bellskis and enjoyed it very much. She writes the best crazy families!
Oco wrote: "I poked in to see what KZ had to say about Junction X (saw Cleon's response on my feed).
Saw the discussion on Falls Ranch and thought I'd give an opinion from another direction. It is a very well..."
Humm had my eye on Falls Ranch, might pass. Thanks for heads up.
Saw the discussion on Falls Ranch and thought I'd give an opinion from another direction. It is a very well..."
Humm had my eye on Falls Ranch, might pass. Thanks for heads up.
well, it's a free read, so you can always start it and see what you think. It really is well-loved, so there's something in there that I'm not getting, but that many others are.Added Junction X on the strength of KZ's rec., btw. :) I'm not usually a fan of tear-jerkers, but once in a while, shaking things up is good.
Oco wrote: "I actually didn't find it especially insightful, in fact, I was bothered by how the MC was essentially infantilized (don't think this was intentional). It was also very 'sweet', far too much for my taste...lots of laps and tears and all. Of course, I don't coo at babies, so you can guess that my tolerance for that is low.It is technically well-written, that's true, and no question that it has lots of fans. Also, to be fair, though I like D/s, I do not like corporeal 'punishment' themes (which may seem contradictory, but an awful lot gets lumped into the four letters of BDSM), so I was not a natural audience.
"
Yeah, I feel the same about BDSM story that somehow "infantilize" another person and esp not corporeal punishment in disciplinary sense (not for fun or games). It's a visceral reaction for me. So it's best I stay away from it.
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Also, this reminds me of an episode of CSI that I rewatched the other day. Essentially this guy fell in love with his son's college roommate, but not even his son knew he was gay. It was such a sad episode, but really well done, I have to say.
Jordan wrote: "Just checked out Junction X and it looks fantastic! I don't mind sad endings. I wouldn't want them all the time, no, but I do like them."An uplifting book is great, but I don't mind book-induced sadness. I can always re-work it in my mind ;)
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Also, this reminds me of an episode of CSI that I rewatc..."
Yep. Thanks to K.Z. I added Junction X in my to-read list, too. It sounds really promising! :)
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That sounds very promising! I have it sitting right here on my desk as a matter of fact.
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Well, a little bit. I've read six or eight chapters of the first in the series, chiefly because it got such glowing reviews. Besides, this di..."
Thanks, John. That's helpful.
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..."
Everything comes down to perspective, doesn't it? I feel this especially when watching the nightly news. :-D
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Saw the discussion on Falls Ranch and thought I'd give an opinion from another direction. It is a very well..."
Ah. Thanks, Oco.
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Wow! Well, thank you very kindly for that.
(I first accidentally wrote "thank you very kindle for that." :-P)
Josh wrote: "I have to be honest, as much as I love Kari and respect Aleks, I'm not a fan of corporeal punishment. In fact, it raises my hackles big time. So I don't know that I'm the ideal reader for that series. I'll take a look though.
Anyone else familiar with this series?
"
I read one of the books because of the whole "expand your horizons" thing, but I didn't like it and stopped there. I have a hard time even with BDSM, and spanking for punishment and discipline just squicked me the hell out.
I think my issues with BDSM and discipline are rooted in my feminist leanings. I can't read BDSM with a woman sub at all. It just feels like men controlling and overpowering women and I can't enjoy it. I know intellectually that this isn't what it is about, but emotionally I can't get past that.
M/M BDSM I can sometimes enjoy, but usually it is in spite of the BDSM rather than because of it. And if I get the bossy/controlling vibe it ruins it for me. I have yet to really enjoy a lifestyle (24/7) dom/sub story. Even Duck!, which most people loved, just didn't do it for me.
My favorite BDSM is when the sub has more power in the relationship.
Mind Fuck and Songs You Know By Heart come to mind.
And you all with your "corporeal punishment" crack me up. Is this a typo for corporal punishment or is it intentional?
Jordan wrote: "Of course, I also just downloaded ALL of Josh's back list onto my Kindle... so that'll keep me busy for a llloooonnnnnnnggggg time. Never mind all the print books still sitting on my coffee table. ..."Harass him for Kindlegraphs! :D :D :D
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:-D
Josh wrote: "I have to be honest, as much as I love Kari and respect Aleks, I'm not a fan of corporeal punishment."Dude, do not read IO....EVER.
LMAO
I"m reading
, in paper. From an epedimilogical (I totally slaughtered that spelling) standpoint, very interesting, but my zombies rot at the normal rate of decomposition so a lot of what they're saying about spread simply doesn't apply. (Mine are deaf, blind and dumb inside of 2wks in moderate temps/climates.)
Oco wrote: "...an awful lot gets lumped into the four letters of BDSM..."Ain't that the truth. But also gives you a lot of latitude to play without ever actually leaving kink altogether, which is cool.
Speaking of things we Do Not Get, I'm baffled by the zombie phenomenon. It seems like they are everywhere right now. The attraction is lost on me.
Becky wrote: "Speaking of things we Do Not Get, I'm baffled by the zombie phenomenon. It seems like they are everywhere right now. The attraction is lost on me."Everywhere? I've only seen (recently) one from Piper Vaughn. And KZ's got one in my TBR.
Zombies are just a mechanism of the apocalypse. You can use nuclear war, pandemic, super-volcano eruption, asteriod strike, Michael Crichton-esque technology run awry...pretty much anything to produce your dystopian world. Of course, there's various horror-genre tie-ins with the zombie genre in general, the gloomy hopelessness of it, but...*shrug* I've just been a zombie fan since I was, like, 9. No idea what everyone else is doing or why they're doing it. It's was just the right time for me.
Kari wrote: "Becky wrote: "Speaking of things we Do Not Get, I'm baffled by the zombie phenomenon. It seems like they are everywhere right now. The attraction is lost on me."Everywhere? I've only seen (rece..."
Not just in m/m, in culture in general. I mean, the CW doesn't have a teen soap about them yet, so I know they aren't totally played out. But they do seem to be showing up a lot lately.
Totally type-o, *lol* I stared at the word for a bit, thinking that corporeal was bodies and all, and then said, 'fuck it'. Promise I wouldn't do that for a story to be published. :DI DO like D/s, but actually ID'd with pretty much all of what you wrote, btw (discipline, feminism, bossy vibes). I stick to m/m D/s because I can't lose the baggage of m/f -- even women doms, it feels like an overcompensation of RL societal issues, and that kills the mood for me. With m/m, one can start at an equal baseline and examine the kink/power dynamics without all the baggage. A big old pretend game, frankly.
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Charming wrote: "And you all with your "corporeal punishment" crack me up. Is this a typo for corporal punishment or is it intentional?"Both ;D
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/corp...
cor·po·re·al/kôrˈpôrēəl/Adjective: 1.Of or relating to a person's body, esp. as opposed to their spirit.
or
www.thefreedictionary.com/corporal -
cor·po·ral 1 (kôr p r- l, kôr pr l). adj. Of or relating to the body
I'm used to the second one as meaning a grade in the military, since I was one in the U.S. Marines ;D
Josh wrote: "No? Instead of watching your romantic partner fall apart emotionally, you can watch him fall -- literally -- to pieces. :-P"And then the pieces will come after you...dragging a paddle. Heh.
Lou wrote: "Well, there is that zombie show on TV, but I don't think zombies are more ON these days than usual. They've been steady staple of horror for a long while. It's vampires that are all over the place."Yeah, Walking Dead's pretty cool. Getting kind of soap opera-y, though. =(
Becky, YES, zombies are "in", you aren't imagining it. Saw a zombie calendar in B&N while shopping this Xmas. *lol*And the above comment I thought I'd written directly below Charming's post. Sorry, looking sadly out of place now.
Becky wrote: "Speaking of things we Do Not Get, I'm baffled by the zombie phenomenon. It seems like they are everywhere right now. The attraction is lost on me."My boys have been into this zombie game with their friends for years. It's- how would you defend yourself in-case of zombie attack? They keep trying to get me to read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. "Apparently", it's very well written. With all this discussion of Zombies, I may give in....
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:-D
Funny you should mention that....
Reggie wrote: "Becky wrote: "Speaking of things we Do Not Get, I'm baffled by the zombie phenomenon. It seems like they are everywhere right now. The attraction is lost on me."My boys have been into this zo..."
World War Z is what I call the thinking man's zombie fic. Very well done, IMO. Highly rec if you want to explore who it might play out on a global scale. (Zombie fic is usually very localized.)
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
Books mentioned in this topic
Chained Melody (other topics)The Far Pavilions (other topics)
Death in Kashmir (other topics)
The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (other topics)
Mistress of the Art of Death (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
M.M. Kaye (other topics)Elspeth Huxley (other topics)
Lauren Willig (other topics)
Charlie Cochet (other topics)
Damon Suede (other topics)
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http://fallschanceranch.blogspot.com/...
Book Four 'Silver Bullet' is still ongoing (595 pages, last count). I consider this series intelligent, using quite a bit of psychology, getting down to the foundation of those of us that may be perfectionist, or why we may be wired as we are, and what control elements we each use to get us through our day.
The main character is an extremely gifted, London-schooled British CEO, being sent to this ranch in Wyoming to be 'fixed' after a nervous breakdown. There is a 'Kiwi' (New Zealander)who has a PhD in Psychology, a Native American who connects with nature silently, but deeply, and a housekeeper who loves his 'aga', and is able to bring them all a sense of comfort and home, as well.
There is no graphic intimacy at all, almost like a young adult series, and this is the first time I've been introduced to a 'polyamorous/corporeal punishment' environment. Didn't quite know what to make of it, until I started getting further into the stories. Each of the characters have an element to add to the relationship, and the way the love is relayed in the stories, well, it just creates such a warm, fuzzy feeling. My goodness.. I LOVED this series.
There is also history, mystery, ghosts and crime-solving, but mostly it feels like it goes to the heart of what makes people the way they are. Anyway, I thought it was worth the read, and if after you read the first book, you think you'll be interested in the rest, I suggest you submit to join the yahoo group sooner than later, as I was chomping at the bit by the time they finally approved my membership so I could continue reading.. This is what I spent my New Year's weekend reading..that's how hooked I was =)