Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I have been finishing the Andrea Speed Infected series, since her latest book is out this week. I love this series. Also, I read Harper Fox's Scrap Metal, and I am about to begin Taft by Ann Patchett. I haven't read anything by her, but I was able to download it from the library, so I thought I would try it.
I'm not. I'm trying to work myself up to figuring out what's wrong with the carpet cleaner so I can finish up the carpet in my living room. Somehow, the internet is SO much more appealing...I can't seem to decide where on the virtually-toppling TBR list I want to alight. And then there's some stuff I'd like to reread...
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Just like Anne said, we are very, very happy for you! Enjoy!!!
(And we'll enjoy it afterwards... *grin*)
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I'm reading Last Line by Harper Fox. I won it on her fb page which makes it all the sweeter :D She does like to take her boys apart in her stories and I'm hoping she's put them back properly in this one because it could still all end in disaster.
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"A lot, but none of them have been published. ;)
Does anybody else ever have days when trying to pick something to read (whether something new off the TBR or something to reread) just feels like more of a chore than actual chores? I'm seriously giving thought to doing my kids' chores rather than have to choose a book to read right now.
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A lot, but none of them have been published. ;)"
:-D
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Yes. I think that's why the first few months of sabbatical were spent largely watching TV. Reading felt like more work. Like it would require more from me. And even books that I was longing to read...I felt like I didn't have the emotional energy for them.
That probably sounds nuts.
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Josh wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Does anybody else ever have days when trying to pick something to read (whether something new off the TBR or something to reread) just feels like more of a chore than actual chores? I..."None at all because I feel the same sometimes. There are times when I can spend whole days watching TV while stringing beads and occasionally check my email or phone for orders, and nothing else.
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I finished Lord of the White Hell - Book One yesterday and I'm looking forward to start with part two tonight.
The book was nearly unputdownabel. I read like a maniac where hearing and other senses shut down and I only live in my head and can't be disturbed by reality. ;)
Calathea wrote: "Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I finished Lord of the White Hell - Book One yesterday and I'm looking forward to start with part two tonight.
The book was nearly unputdow..."
That tends to happen when we read something by Ginn and Josh. ;)
You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading? I am reading La Celestina. A medieval novel entirely in dialogue form. In medieval Spanish... with a prologue that cites another thousand other works and that I must check out before going on to read the actual novel.
*sigh*
See? I should major in Pop Culture instead of Spanish, I could write a thesis about your writing instead. :P
Currently reading Andrea Speed's Infected Series about werecats:
My name is syfy, and I am an addict. I just finished "Dangerous Ground" 1 and 2, saving the rest for when I'm desperate for a fix. Several short stories by Sloan Parker, moved on to PsyCop "Among the Living". (Thank you, loved it!) "Zero at the Bone" is up next, news at 11! LoL!
Hambel wrote: "Syfy wrote: "Thank you Becky! This is exactly why I joined in here. I've gotten cowardly with my book budget. There are plenty of books by my go-to authors in this genre that I have yet to read, b..."
Thanks Hambel, I don't feel quite as much of a stalker now! ;P
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After that? I'm planning on reading
,
, and then I just found out that Kaje Harper's free novel
just came out, so I'm looking forward to some historical US Navy reading. Woot!
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Just don't write, right now, because you feel you have to. You're on sabbatical. Remember that! lol, this is my time to catch up on your back list. Hmmm... what am I doing reading all these other books this week? ... I should fix that!
Syfy wrote: "My name is syfy, and I am an addict. I just finished "Dangerous Ground" 1 and 2, saving the rest for when I'm desperate for a fix. Several short stories by Sloan Parker, moved on to PsyCop "Among t..."Hi, Syfy! :)
Mod
You have definitely come to a right place, Syfy! And enjoy reading Zero at the Bone! I sure did. Did you know that you can find discussion about Zero at the Bone in this site under Book of the Month Club ---> January 2012 Discussion?
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I have been finishing the Andrea Speed Infected series, since her latest book is out this week. I love this series. Also, I read Harper Fox'..."
I bought the first book in that series awhile back, but I have yet to get into it. I keep meaning to. Urg. I really need to stop buying so many books!
Josh wrote: "Tracy wrote: "That probably sounds nuts."Actually, that's *exactly* it. And I can't even get into TV because I just don't enjoy watching TV except for maybe a couple of shows & even those, I mostly only watch b/c the DH will watch them with me. He can't exactly do that from Afghanistan, so... they're languishing on the DVR until I can get up the energy to get all caught up.
Oh, well. With any luck I can get the house spring-cleaned, but I kinda lack the motivation for even that right now. *sigh*
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I have been finishing the Andrea Speed Infected series, since her latest book is out this week. I love this series. Also,..."
Your struggling with the tons of books to read sounds familiar! LOL. I also have had this other weird problem lately: Since I have been reading SO MANY Josh's and JCP's books during last few months, I feel I have to force myself to read some other authors too, at least occasionally. And... this sounds silly... it is not as easy as it sounds. For example last night when I started reading Anything for You, I suddenly found myself browsing through AE books instead. How did that happen?!
I'm trying to read the oldest books in my to-be-read pile. There was a reason why I haven't picked them up yet apparently. Or I'm in a bad mood :)
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Uh-oh. :(
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:-D
The first step is admitting you have a problem. That way we all feel comfortable with you.
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..."
I prescribe a long lunch out with friends.
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Yes! And the writing has been very sporadic. I'm enjoying it when I'm doing it but it also feels good to close the file and go days without looking at again or even thinking about it.
Josh wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Oh, well. With any luck I can get the house spring-cleaned, but I kinda lack the motivation for even that right now. *sigh* ..."
I prescribe a long lunch out with friends."
Um. I have to make friends now? I don't really have anybody I would call a friend yet. Or anymore, or something. Hazard of the military lifestyle. Working on it, but I'm not good at the whole real-life interacting with new people thing. (Also, OMG. My parents -- especially my dad -- are SAINTS. Me plus my 8YO & 6YO + 6th/7th/8th grade band concert = headache from hell. On plus side -- or not -- I introduced the 8YO to the dictionary on my Reader. He was enthralled. I find that amusing, although it lacks, to me, the charm of letting the dictionary open by chance & learning whatever interesting words are on that page.)
Mod
I'm having a very emotional time with these books. Some context — I've been reading an absurd amount (5+ books a week for the past few months), but slowed down this past weekend when we had 7 house guests (ages 18-93) celebrating our younger daughter's college graduation. Our older daughter flew in from Washington state for the weekend, and although neither of them have been living with us for the past few years, I still feel most "normal" when we're all here together. So there's that, and our aging mothers, and I'm reading Boystown, which is set in a time I lived through.
I think Thornton is doing something remarkable, at least where I think this is heading. The set-up is a skewed version of the hard-boiled detective, with Nick having the same sexual success as James Bond, but with the guys of course. This makes me smile, along with Nick's sardonic humor, and the gradual uncovering of his vulnerabilities. But I'm also anxious, because what started out as nostalgic and funny is more serious than that.
I've lived mostly all my life here in New Mexico, except for most of an amazing year of 1977 in NYC. If I were male I would have been going to the bathhouses with my roommate. I envied his freedom. In the years following I became monogamous, married, and a mother. By the time my daughters were school-age, my dear friend had died, along with too many other beautiful young men I knew. Because their choices were made with slightly different timing than my own? So some part of this is survivor's guilt.
I like reading that makes my think, and high quality m/m does that, but this reinforces why m/m romance is my drug of choice. No matter how fragile the happy ending, at least there is one. A lot of us need that these days.
Tracy wrote: "I can't seem to decide where on the virtually-toppling TBR list I want to alight."I get like that. So many options that I can't decide what to read next. I've found that reading challenges really help me pick something. Sometimes I need a book that suits my mood, but sometimes I just need a book, you know?
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I just finished Cornelia Grey's Tea Demon and Knight's Scott Sapphire and the Emerald Orchid. both of them were awesome, Tea Demon could have been longer thouugh.
I'm still reading Wild Talents. It seems a little odd to still be trucking through this story, until I remember that it's 485 pages long. So, you know, two to three times the length of most of what I've been reading lately.Still enjoying it. Some things seem to be telegraphed well in advance, but then every once in a while something comes out of left field and really surprises me.
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"I have just finished Magic Mansion which I enjoyed immensely, but I am saving my comments for the June discussion :). Also I have finished Dead Reckoning. I started this series so feel like I "have" to finish it, and it is still enjoyable but perhaps not so much as the first books. It seems Harris is getting a little weary. I also read Kaje Harper's entry in the love is always write event, which was very good and emotional.
Yes, and last weekend I enjoyed a lovely little Norwegian book. I don't believe it has been translated, but the book won the Norwegian critics' award for 2012 as well as the Nordic Council's Literary Award 2012(basically a "contest" between all the Nordic countries). The title in itself is very beautiful, translated to "Days in the history of silence".
Josh wrote: "I do think a lot of it had to do with accepting that it might take a lot longer than I was thinking. That came from listening to you and so many others.I think letting go and accepting that it mi..."
It makes sense to me. It is very scary to feel one loses a part of oneself that is important, but maybe the idea that it isn't lost for ever, just temporarily displaced ;), makes it easier too accept. And that acceptance is probably an important step on the way as well.
Stephanie wrote: "Currently reading Andrea Speed's Infected Series about werecats: 
"I love that series :)
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That is well said. And thank you for sharing you thoughts.
Karen wrote: "I'm reading Marshall Thornton's Boystown series. I've read Little Boy Lost, Boystown, Boystown 2, and just started Boystown 3. (I guess I started participating in this group after your Boystown dis..."I LOVED this series. Got my bff hooked on it too.
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:-D :-D :-D
Too bad none of us live closer.
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..."
I agree. I'm someone who requires at least a hopeful ending. Otherwise, if I just wanted a Lesson Learned Too Late, I'd be reading Greek Tragedy.
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..."
What a lovely title.
It's amazing how much Scandanavian fiction is now being translated into English. Especially crime fiction.
Josh wrote: "Anne wrote: "Yes, and last weekend I enjoyed a lovely little Norwegian book. I don't believe it has been translated, but the book won the Norwegian critics' award for 2012 as well as the Nordic Cou..."We are a blooded-minded lot I guess. There are some exellent Scandinavian crime authors out there, so it is nice that they get a wider audience. However, the one Norwegian book I always end up recommending if someone asks - and in this case without anybody asking :) is not a crime novel, but one that in my opinion describes the Norwegian mind and nature (which is much linked together)is Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. It is beautiful in Norwegian, and I have heard that the translation is good too. Not crime, not m/m, not romance, but well worth reading, IMHO.
Enough with the commercials ;)
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I thought that was a wonderful commercial. If I had the energy for the research involved, I would be trying to write Scandanavian crime fiction -- and that would be book I would certainly read.
So here it is, all you aspiring m/m breakout bestsellers. Why not shoot for a Scandanavian m/m mystery?
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Thanks, Anne, for the recommendation. I added Out Stealing Horses into my TBR list right away. :) You might like Finnish author Sofi Oksanen and her book Puhdistus (the English title is Purge). I bet they have translated it into Norwegian, too. The story is about the lives and fates of three generations of Estonian women from 1930's to 1990's (pre- and post-Soviet occupation). It's a book that has a very distinctive voice and the story is so powerful that it sticks to you for a long time afterwards. Very emotional, very good, but not a light read. And not m/m. :)
Josh wrote: "You guys are quiet. What ARE you reading?"Just started the Turbulence series from JCP. Both she and you are automatic buys for me. ;D
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Just started the Turbulence series from JCP. Both she and you are automatic buys for me. ;D"
JCP is going through some kind of creative renaissance. She's got all this wonderful work pouring out.
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Maybe Kit could find out about his long lost Scandinavian kin in book #3. He sure has some Scandinavian qualities in him... ;)
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Maybe Kit could find out about his long lost Scandinavian kin in book #3. He ..."
:-D Does he? Like what?
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I liked both books, I still don't know how to rate the second, probably 4 stars. Sometimes I think there should be a double rating system: one for my enjoyment of the book, one for the rest (editing and so on...).