Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
ARCHIVE (General Topics)
>
What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Josh wrote: "Felice Picano is (to me) the perfect illustration of someone who can write beautifully, meaningfully, and still tell a story that neither moves nor engages. It's like watching a gifted autistic student connect the dots."As much as I feel 'yikesy' about that, too, I have to say, that is an amazing description, Josh. I know exactly what you mean without even having read the book (and I could use the same phrases about other books I've read).
Brilliant.
mc wrote: "Josh wrote: "Felice Picano is (to me) the perfect illustration of someone who can write beautifully, meaningfully, and still tell a story that neither moves nor engages. It's like watching a gifted..."I know what you mean too, Josh - it's one of the reasons I'm extremely wary of picking up literary fiction these days. I need books with heart.
Josephine, I'm wary of saying this, because I know how many fans she has, but I felt that way reading Joan Didion's Blue Nights. She wrote beautifully, about the most tragic subject imaginable, but I felt so removed from it.I felt bad about not being as emotionally engaged as I felt I should be.
ETA: Here's another group: Scandinavian and Nordic Crime Fiction!
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...
Josh wrote: "Felice Picano is (to me) the perfect illustration of someone who can write beautifully, meaningfully, and still tell a story that neither moves nor engages. It's like watching a gifted autistic student connect the dots."And my reading of this beautifully put opinion was the perfect illustration of how our mind can manage to ignore what's really written on a page.
Because I have heard quite a lot of Felice Picano and because Josh started by saying ''can write beautifully, meaningfully'' the result was that my mind managed to ignore ''neither...nor'' in following sentence and ''autistic'' in the next sentence.
Only when I saw the comments I went back to re-read what Josh had really said. LOL!
Anne wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I finally finshed The Risk Agent by Ridley Pearson. I still miss his Lou Boldt series but this one looks like a good first installment on a new series set in China. It was full of..."Yeah give the Travis McGee series a try. I have considered them are kind of genre setting for Florida crime writers like Carl Hiaasen and James W Hall (I know there are many unmentioned but those are my other favorites.) They are on my mind because I’ve been meaning to re-read them.
I love the quality of description also and Dave Robicheaux as a character is amazing; I just take a break from the series occasionally because the mob plot lines get a bit old. That is petty though because I am pretty sure he could do anything with the plotline in that series and I would read it.
I love the Florida Crazies! I have read Carl Hiaasen, Dave Berry's novels, Laurence Shames, and Randy Wayne White. I've also read Edna Buchanan, but her books don't have that thread of humor in them.I swear anyone who writes for the Miami Herald eventually goes on to write some really good novels as well.
Mod
Becky wrote: "Pender wrote: "I was sure Tigers and Devils was one of his. Imagine my surprise when I started reading and the characters aren't furry animals."LOL!
Jordan, I've had to train myself to not look ..."
RE: NOT JUDGING BOOKS BY, etc. I've been giving myself a talking to as to that lately; and will I ever learn? If I see what I think of as twinks on the cover, I don't want to read the book. Yet, experience tells me that in so much of what I read, the cover means nothing and is usually misleading. SELF! Please stop being influenced by them.
Anne wrote: "Josephine wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Just finished 
and just starting 
."I loved Sno Ho - must read it again sometime soon!
I've been rereading KA Mitchell's Flo..."
Anne, What did you think about Sidecar? (Loved the cover.)
REC ALERT!! I just finished THE LAST OF THE LESSER KINGS BY TLK ARKENBERG. Wowee Zowee! A full-length novel, made me cry for being that moved and involved with the mc's, couldn't put it down. Please try it, you'll like it.
Thanks for the rec! I've downloaded the sample from Amazon, and I'll be checking it out!
mc wrote: "Josephine, I'm wary of saying this, because I know how many fans she has, but I felt that way reading Joan Didion's Blue Nights. She wrote beautifully, about the most tragic subject imaginable, bu..."MC - I haven't read her, but you should never feel bad about feeling differently about a popular book. Just because lots of people are huge fans, doesn't mean a book will work for everyone. I'm not going to name names, but there are plenty of hugely popular m/m books that leave me scratching my head. And I once tried reading a Dan Brown novel but couldn't get past the first page!
Candice wrote: "Anne wrote: "Josephine wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Just finished and just starting ."I loved Sno Ho - must read it again sometime soon!
I've been rereading KA M..."
I haven't started it yet, but will come back to you when I have read it. The cover is lovely, I agree. I believe the book is set in the 80's? It is fascinating for me to read about that era, it seems so long ago now, and it was before AIDS, mobile phones and the Internet, but it was the decade I became an adult, got married (1980) got my first child (1982), got my degree (1983), we bought our first home (1984),got my second child (1986), so it was a very important period for me. And in some ways it isn't that long ago, on the other hand, the whole society has changed so much so reading books from that time always seems like a nostalgic trip about someone else, like I wasn't there at all.
This probably came out very confusing..
mc wrote: "Josephine, I'm wary of saying this, because I know how many fans she has, but I felt that way reading Joan Didion's Blue Nights. She wrote beautifully, about the most tragic subject imaginable, bu..."A Scandinavian group? I approve :D I feel like I should join just on principal since I'm Danish ;)
(I don't actually read the books in question though)
Idamus wrote: "mc wrote: "Josephine, I'm wary of saying this, because I know how many fans she has, but I felt that way reading Joan Didion's Blue Nights. She wrote beautifully, about the most tragic subject ima..."I checked out the Scandinavian and Nordic Group. I have read books of all the Norwegians save one, and a few from all the other countries as well. I also noticed a few mistakes, like a Norwegian and an American (Siri Hustvedt is born in the US, by a Norwegian mother and an American-Norwegian father) author put in the Finnish list. But I will not brag about it ;).
Btw, Siri Hustvedt is very good, definitely recommended.
Since I have read these books in Norwegian mostly, I never really know which one they are when they are mentioned by their English titles.
I agree with Idamus, I approve of the groups, but I am not sure I will join them. Too much fun over here, really :)
Idamus wrote: "A Scandinavian group? I approve :D I feel like I should join just on principal since I'm Danish ;)"There are several - I joined two just to see what's a better fit.
Anne wrote: "I checked out the Scandinavian and Nordic Group. I have read books of all the Norwegians save one, and a few from all the other countries as well. I also noticed a few mistakes, like a Norwegian and an American (Siri Hustvedt is born in the US, by a Norwegian mother and an American-Norwegian father) author put in the Finnish list. But I will not brag about it ;).
Btw, Siri Hustvedt is very good, definitely recommended.
Since I have read these books in Norwegian mostly, I never really know which one they are when they are mentioned by their English titles.
I agree with Idamus, I approve of the groups, but I am not sure I will join them. Too much fun over here, really :)"
I agree on the fun here :-) I just wanted to join to get recommendations. Like all of you, I have relatively limited chat time, and this joint is where I come to first, to see if there's a friend at the bar or having a meal or in the library.
Could you imagine if this was really an enormous clubhouse, and what kind of library it would have!? There are so many great and diverse tastes in books represented among the members.
Anne wrote: "I haven't started it yet, but will come back to you when I have read it. The cover is lovely, I agree. I believe the book is set in the 80's? It is fascinating for me to read about that era, it seems so long ago now, and it was before AIDS"From the rest of your post, I can totally see why you weren't noticing AIDS at the time, but the 80's was definitely not before AIDS. I might have been especially attuned since I was living in L.A. and dating a theatre major, but AIDS was much talked about starting from the early 80's. I remember arguing with my boyfriend's father in 82 or 83 because he took the view that God was expressing his distaste for gays (not the word he used).
It was a nightmare watching it unfold. I am sure that is why I can read books about reformed serial killers but still cringe at unsafe sex.
ETA: I hope that doesn't sound scoldy or anything. The years when my children were babies and toddlers were such blurs I would certainly not want to be held responsible for current affairs at the time. It just got me started thinking about that time.
Charming wrote: "Anne wrote: "I haven't started it yet, but will come back to you when I have read it. The cover is lovely, I agree. I believe the book is set in the 80's? It is fascinating for me to read about tha..."I think we started to read about AIDS in the papers in the beginning of the 80's, so you are right, it was definitely a part of the decade. It seems to me we went into it more innocent than we went out of it. I remember we talked about how we could have fun with sex when we were young in a different way before we learned about AIDS (as long as you were on the Pill and didn't run the risk of unwanted pregnacies). No worries, you did not sound scoldy or anything, it was me who was unprecise. But also, because how busy my life was at that time, it didn't really affect me much, it was something we heard and read about with little impact on our lives.
Yes I remember AIDS happening in and right after high school. I graduated in 1982. Lately I've been seeing AIDS associated with the late 80s and I'm thinking wha...? Someone had their head in the sand.And I was pretty far removed from the epicenters. I live in Oklahoma and we heard plenty about it.
Ryan White was diagnosed in 1984. His situation brought an awareness of AIDS into a lot of middle American homes.
Just picked it up, an impromptu spur-of-the-moment grabby hands because it's LGBTQ rom zombie fic. I'm not much of a f/f reader, but just had to have it. WOW. If you've been looking for quality zombie fic in the LGBTQ rom sphere, look no further. This world just blew me away. This is what I was looking for in M/M when I said to hell with it and decided to write my m/m zombie story myself. (Altough, I genuninely DID enjoy Piper Vaugn's Zombie Wonderland. I just wanted moar.) I really, truly loved Dead Kitties, though. Highly rec. Love, love, LOVE.
Not that I feel strongly about it or anything. LOL
Before I leave to visit my parents on the west-coast of Norway for a few days I must tell you about one small little book that I read the other day, not m/m but still: It is "Home" by Toni Morrison. Only 150 pages and of course a literary book, but also with a lot of heart. A simple story about a brother and a sister, he a Korean war veteran, and a quiet telling of the indignities visited upon the African-Americans in the 50's and 60's. Told with dignity and warmth and without grand gestures. You have to provide the anger at the unfairness yourself as a reader. Absolutely lovely and the kind of story that lives within me a long time afterwards.
@Josephine; I actually know about another house-boat book, but it isn't m/m so you might not be interested, but just in case: Going Dutch. :)
Anne wrote: "@Josephine; I actually know about another house-boat book, but it isn't m/m so you might not be interested, but just in case: Going Dutch. :)"Thanks for the rec - I might give it a look, although the overall reviews here seem be on the negative side. I've read another brilliant lit fic book set on an English houseboat, written from the perspective of someone with Aboriginal heritage, but can I remember the name or the author? There was a really good Aussie one set on the river too. Some kind of classic, I believe. Same problem with remembering the title, though.
Anne, thanks for the recommendation. I've read a number of Morrison's books, but not that one.
I'd like to read this, when it's released. They are re-releasing Heminway's A Farewell to Arms, but this time including the apparently dozens of alternate endings that Hemingway had written, prior to settling on the one that we all know. They will also be including deleted scenes. (The estate approved this, so there won't be a controversy there.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/boo...
Anne wrote: "Candice wrote: "Anne wrote: "Josephine wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Just finished and just starting ."I loved Sno Ho - must read it again sometime soon!
I've bee..."
No, I know what you mean. It was monumental for me, too. And yet, when you say, "the eighties," I think of a fairly recent time; I sure don't think thirty years.
Mod
Wow. That would be a... perfect library. :) With fluffy sofas and great company. Heaven. :)
Johanna wrote: "Wow. That would be a... perfect library. :) With fluffy sofas and great company."And a coffee bar! :-)
Just finished Bonds of Earth by G.N. Chevalier. Great book, I liked it a lot. The angst was balanced by a strong sense of family. Family being the people who support, regardless of .... The reviews are worth checking out. FYI-there is a kid, but not the MCs', more of a 'niece'.
Mod
It's been awhile since I read this, but I'd also recommend it. Set after WWI, touching on survivor's guilt, and surviving as gay men in the early 20th century. And as I felt after reading Out of the Blue, it left me wondering how/if the MCs would survive what is yet to come.
Mod
how funny! I just started that same story early this afternoon!
I finished Andrea Speed's Infected: Prey, and have to get the rest of the series, but I read the blurbs for the other books and I don't know how I feel about the second MC's tragic death so early on in the series. But we'll see.
After that, which was a lot longer than I'd first thought, I dived into Josh's short stories and novellas. I'm working hard at catching up on all this work I haven't read it. and, oh yeah, there was one JCP Halloween short story in there too. So far, I'm loving them all, but with a sore throat and a bum ankle, I've been plowing through them so fast I can't remember the titles. When I get a chance I'll take them out of my currently reading folder on my Kindle and add them to the read shelf on here.
btw, not having internet for a whole week was really nice! And I don't have nearly as much email to read as I thought I would! Woot!
Mod
I'm currently reading a non m/m book, Dark Fire, Matthew Shardlake #2, historical mystery."
So glad you enjoyed Kimo! I was going to bring Mahu Fire with me, but as it's in print, I didn't end up having room in my suitcase for it, so he didn't come with sadly. But I'll get back to him soon enough, I'm sure.
Mod
and see, I totally enjoyed The Lure. Guess that just goes to show that not everyone finds the same things in a book.
Thank you to who recommended Thinking, Fast and Slow! I got it as an audiobook and am now at about 60%. It's amazing how much it explains about human behaviour in decision making and it's well written, easy to understand and still not superficial.
Mod
From the City Lights Bookstore I bought Book of Haikus by Jack Kerouac. Very nice indeed. :) Since we've been driving the Pacific Coast Highway 1 from San Francisco towards Los Angeles for two days now, I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery and the abundant wildlife. So I'll share this sunny haiku by Jack Kerouac with you:
Barefoot by the sea,
stopping to scratch one ankle
With one toe
Calathea wrote: "Thank you to who recommended Thinking, Fast and Slow! I got it as an audiobook and am now at about 60%. It's amazing how much it explains about human behaviour in decision making and it's well writ..."It is great, isn't it? Hard work reading at least for a non-native English speaker, but so interesting.
Johanna wrote: "I bought some really nice books from San Francisco. From Books Inc. I found Poem in Your Pocket: 200 Poems to Read and Carry which has a fun idea of selecting a poem you like, tearing it out (gulp!..."Thank you for the lovely haiku and have fun on Highway 1. We made that trip 10-11 years ago, it is still living in my memory as one of the greatest road trips I have made. That is why I love travelling and will rather use my money on travels than on buying things, they give pleasure at least in three dimensions, first the anticipation and planning, then the trip itself and last and long lasting, the memories :)
Anne wrote: "That is why I love travelling and will rather use my money on travels than on buying things, they give pleasure at least in three dimensions, first the anticipation and planning, then the trip itself and last and long lasting, the memories :)"YES!
Johanna wrote: "Barefoot by the sea,
stopping to scratch one ankle
With one toe"
That's a gorgeous way to start the day. Thank you.
Mod
Next up? I've got to get back to my Summer Reading list for the kids, so it looks like A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog by Dean Koontz will be up next, along with a YA novel I'm critiquing for a friend.
But oh! the number of awesome stuff I have to read that I wish I could get through in a single day, and yet still have the time to savor... like drinking wine, I suppose. but my wine happens to be words on a page. Yep. That's it. That's totally it. lol.
I just finished Red White Black and Blue which I believe won the Lambda award for gay crime mysteries this year? A rather chilling but presumably correct view into the American political system in addition to the mystery itself. I didn't realise it was no 12 in a series though, but it wasn't really a problem, it worked well enough by itself.
Does anyone know anything about the Scotty Bradley series by Greg Herren? The first two don't appear to be available digitally at all. Paper books are bad business for me right now. Is it worth jumping to the third book in the series (I really, really hate joining a series in progress) or should I wait until the first two are someday, hopefully released as ebooks?
I *think* he's pretty approachable, so maybe just email him or leave a comment on his LJ/blog?
Interesting. I hadn't thought about asking the author. Which sounds dumb, but I know they don't generally have much say in which formats the publishers choose to produce. I'll shoot him a message and see what he says.
Becky - I know there's at least one author who was dismayed that their books aren't available in e-formats and I have received actual finalized word and PDF files from authors happy to ensure I could read their book. Some authors are amazing like that. In my case, that can make me a life-long fan. So it's always worth getting in touch direct.
I never thought about it that way-- although I've certainly run into some wonderful, generous authors as well. (One of them gave me a nifty tote bag that's sitting right next to me, holding my knitting, as I type this.) My thought process was more along the lines of "I don't want to be one more person in the in box hassling him about something he has no control over." And collectively there's not much you could ask around here that someone doesn't know something about.Also, it's 5:30am, and I haven't been to bed yet. This one might be the biggest factor. :P
It's the "tone argument", people can go either "oy, you bastward, I can't read your books on my Obscure Tablet from The Solomon Islands with Proprietary Format Nobody Has Every Heard Of, so fix that, pronto!" or just asking nicely if the books are in e-format or whether a conversion is planned at all. :)5:30? Wow. Go to bed!
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
LOL! Thanks for reccing it, but I wrote that one - just doing my bit for books set on houseboats ;D"
This only proves how spot on Anne's recommendations are! LOL.