Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
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This is one of the craziest, funniest, and most imaginative book series I've ever read. And..."
I love those books. :-)
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Josh wrote: "I love those books. :-)":-)
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Sometimes it's just my mood. Sometimes I'm just not in the right frame of mind for a particular story.
Hj wrote: "KC wrote: "..."I'm right now listening to one of lb Gregg's Smithfield stories, Adam and Holden..." ... "I agree with you completely, i really like her writing and not only because of that witty..."
I found Somebody Killed His Editor pretty funny when i read it, but then when i heard the narrator i thought his voice and rendering absolutely perfect, took the humor up a notch.
I'll try LB Gregg's as well (should be good since i don't know the Paul Lynde character)
Johanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli. It was brilliant. I fell in love with this author's writing. I did write a short "review" (just a few thoughts, really) — if..."You've convinced me :-)
(this week i added to my list: Sarah Black, Harper Fox (i read some of her short stories) and now Monopoli. Neat!))
Oh. I've been a writing coach for wayyyy too long, so nothing's sacred for me. If something sucks, I tell even my most admired idolised author-friends. :)But my top authors that can do no wrong are Kirby Crow, Rachel Haimowitz and pretty much all Riptide authors. Huge fan. Always excited when I get to read something from them. :)
Katharina wrote: "I've just rediscovered The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - and all the other Thursday Next novels of his. This is one of the craziest, funniest, and most imaginative book series I've ever read. And..."
I'll try it again. I tried it a few years back, just couldn't get into it, but maybe i'll be more patient this time.
KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli. It was brilliant. I fell in love with this author's writing. I did write a short "review" (just a few though..."You have a lot of good reading to look forward to:).
KC wrote: "I'll try LB Gregg's as well (should be good since i don't know the Paul Lynde character) "I liked her audio books very much (don't know about the Paul Lynde character either;) I started with Mark and Tony (a.k.a. Gobsmacked). It was too funny how Mark clobbered his ex over the head and later getting rid of his stuff... :-)
ETA: Reading this know it seems pretty violent. But it was funny, I swear. ;)
Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Juthi wrote: "I hate that too! I like when both characters are equally flawed, or manage to become equals when their relationship is stable. Are the misunderstandings because she's ..."Too true. The thing is, it's something that i try to avoid in real life, as much as possible, and it's really something that i cannot stand in books. It makes me anxious and it becomes the main thing to get over, instead of being able to enjoy good writing and characterization.
Anne wrote: "KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli. It was brilliant. I fell in love with this author's writing. I did write a short "review" (just a...":-) and i appreciate that, much thanks to this group actually - since i joined i haven't had a moment where the question "what should i read next" came up.
Calathea wrote: "KC wrote: "I'll try LB Gregg's as well (should be good since i don't know the Paul Lynde character) "I liked her audio books very much (don't know about the Paul Lynde character either;) I starte..."
Lol. I remember finding it a bit on the violent side, all being relative, and unexpected things kept happening, which i guess was somehow on the funny side (from afar...); i'm curious about how the audio will compare, i'll probably start with Adam and Holden.
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I hope you'll enjoy it. It's very emotional (at least for me it was) and heartbreaking at times. But beautiful and funny, too.
KC wrote: "Katharina wrote: "I've just rediscovered The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - and all the other Thursday Next novels of his. This is one of the craziest, funniest, and most imaginative book series I..."
I had trouble with The Eyre Affair, too, but found the 2nd & 3rd books MUCH funnier. I'm thinking about revisiting the stories, myself, now.
KC wrote: "Katharina wrote: "I've just rediscovered The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - and all the other Thursday Next novels of his. This is one of the craziest, funniest, and most imaginative book series I..."
It's only getting better, I promise!! The first book was probably the hardest to read, because you're thrown right into the world and it's a bit of a struggle to make sense of everything. When you get the hang of it, though, it's just awesome. The ending of the fourth book topped everything IMO - I just loved it!
Tracy wrote: "KC wrote: "Katharina wrote: "I've just rediscovered The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - and all the other Thursday Next novels of his. This is one of the craziest, funniest, and most imaginative bo..."
Exactly my experience - although I really liked the first one too, once I've gotten past the big "what the hell is going on?" at the beginning ;)
By the way, it's just lovely how many people here have read (or at least know of) the Thursday Next series. Almost all people I've told about it in the real (or maybe better: non-virtual) world had never heard of it before. It's really great chatting with so many like-minded people here!! :-D
Zev wrote:Josh wrote: "It is funny how you can look back on things you've read in the past that you thought were fabulous and think: 'why did I read that shit?' while other books you have forgotten can be suddenly rediscovered and treasured...."**like button** So true.
I have just finished the first book in a series I found out about the other day Shadow Unit 1. It is kind of paranormal mysteries, co-written by several interesting authors like Emma Bull, Elisabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, to name not all. Fun, with a varied cast of people of different background, race and sexual orientation. And well written. The problem with starting a new series though, is when shall I find the time to read the rest! So many good books, so little time.Now I am reading Goldenboy. A very good writer, and it is interesting to notice the difference in society''s view on gays from back then. After all, it isn't that long ago, I was an adult in the earliy eighties. At least some things are moving forward, albeit slowly.
The same difficulty regarding series apply here too :). And with the Mahu series, the Strachey series and several others. Oh, the agony of having too many to choose from! On the other hand, it does save me from reading bad books just so I won't find myself completely without anything to read (which is the worst fate of course).
Speaking of Elisabeth Bear, have any of you read Carnival? A lovely science fiction story with some interesting takes on gender roles and sexuality, with a sweet little M/M romance in there as well.
I finished reading Dirty Laundry by Rhys Ford today. Now i'm in the middle of Zero at the Bone.
Johanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli. It was brilliant. I fell in love with this author's writing. I did write a short "review" (just a few thoughts, really) — if..."I think it was I who brought it to your attention? If so, I'm really pleased to have shared Ben Monopoli with you. Go and read The Cranberry Hush now - I think it's even better than The Painting of Porcupine City.
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Yes, it was definitely you and I thank you for it, Hj! :-) Finding a new, brilliant author is always such a joy! Can't wait to read The Cranberry Hush.
Johanna wrote: "Yes, it was definitely you and I thank you for it, Hj! :-) Finding a new, brilliant author is always such a joy! Can't wait to read The Cranberry Hush. ..."You're very welcome.
Katharina wrote: "By the way, it's just lovely how many people here have read (or at least know of) the Thursday Next series. Almost all people I've told about it in the real (or maybe better: non-virtual) world had..."I keep being amazed by this; it feels great to come here and find, if not someone reading what i'm reading right now, then at least a few people who've read that before or plan to in the future - an almost non-occurrence non-virtually :-)
Anne wrote: "I have just finished the first book in a series I found out about the other day Shadow Unit 1. It is kind of paranormal mysteries, co-written by several interesting authors like Emma Bull, Elisabet..."Definitely better overall to have too many good series to look fw to :-)
I didn't really get into the Mahu series, i read the first two and that was enough for me, but with the Strachey ones i can't get enough! :-) I got the 5th one, but it will have to wait for a bit, unless i get a sudden craving which is what happened with the 4th.
I added to my list Carnival which sounds interesting.
KC wrote: "it feels great to come here and find, if not someone reading what i'm reading right now, then at least a few people who've read that before or plan to in the future - an almost non-occurrence non-virtually :-)"Exactly!!
Charlinda wrote: "I finished reading Dirty Laundry by Rhys Ford today. Now i'm in the middle of Zero at the Bone."Dirty Laundry is next on my list!
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Now I'm taking a break from contemporary. It's sorely needed after the week I've had. I'm now reading Irregulars. Finally!
I've set myself some reading goals so I read the books I bought before this year first. Gotta get them done and out of the way. I still need to do that for my ebooks. Will have to create a list or something. Print books are so much easier to put in different piles with a post it note on them. Lol.
My plan was actually to get some work done this weekend, cook something nice, pore over my bank account to see whether or not I can make it to the UK meet in July, BUT then I made an awful mistake. I started the Rifter series (finally!!). And now, I'm starved and thirsty and my work material is still all packed up, and I CAN'T STOP READING. This is so incredible and addictive and... what the hell am I doing wasting time here anyway? I need to READ!!! (Maybe this is what substance addiction feels like? Must... read... have to... get the next book... now... NOW... N O W!!!!)
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You won't be able to stop before you've read them all. That's exactly what happened to me. So, don't fight it — it's no use. ;-)
By the way, if you buy the UK Meet tickets in April, the price is still cheaper. The early bird discount stops at the end of this month.
Johanna wrote: "Katharina wrote: "My plan was actually to get some work done this weekend, cook something nice, pore over my bank account to see whether or not I can make it to the UK meet in July, BUT then I made..."That's why I wanted to decide this weekend... Well. Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow ;)
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Exactly. This is why not all of our favorite books from childhood and our teens stand the test of time. And it's why some books that seemed so...wow! in college, seem a bit trite later on. And why some books that we can't get into early on, seem brilliant later in our lives.
And then sometimes it's just...I can't handle reading about one more lost child or one more cozy mystery. Whereas a month from now, I might feel differently.
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..."
:-D
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I liked her audio books very much (don't know about the Paul Lynde character ..."
I love humor that is genuinely surprising.
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That's the beauty of a book club!
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last night. Enjoyable.
I have a big pot of chili in the crockpot, and hubby has just cleaned out the winter detritus out of the garage and is making a recycle run into town.Things are quite productive here at the house today and it's only 10 am. I'm still in my tacky orange housedress, and I'm about to take a reading break, but later it's time to sort out the dining room table.
Does everybody's dining room table catch junk mail? Ours is piled with it.
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Things are quite productive here at the house..."
We have a basket by the door, but neither of us use it. The SO dumps everything on the sideboard in the dining room (ARGH) and I sort everything as it comes in, so...I should probably use that basket for veggies.
Josh wrote: "We have a basket by the door, but neither of us use it. The SO dumps everything on the sideboard in the dining room (ARGH) and I sort everything as it comes in, so...I should probably use that basket for veggies. ..."LOL ok I'm glad I'm not alone in my junk mail frustration. But then if I sorted and trashed it every day then the pile wouldn't grow. At least he stops by the mailbox every day and gets it before coming up the (long) driveway.
Josh wrote: "Katharina wrote: "By the way, it's just lovely how many people here have read (or at least know of) the Thursday Next series. Almost all people I've told about it in the real (or maybe better: non-..."I've never been in one of those before, so it's an awesome (and new) experience for me :-)
Usually when I talk to other people about books, it's me talking (for way too long...) and the others pretending to be interested and changing topics whenever I stop long enough for someone to get a word in. It's just good that I'm totally oblivious to their pain when I'm in raving mode, otherwise I'd've probably imploded from all the undirected enthusiasm I'd've had to hold in all the time :-D
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Oh yeah. Say goodbye to the weekend. But what a great weekend it will be!
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:-D
Lou wrote: "Katharina wrote: "Katharina | 527 comments My plan was actually to get some work done this weekend, cook something nice, pore over my bank account to see whether or not I can make it to the UK meet..."I start to notice that ;-D
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "We have a basket by the door, but neither of us use it. The SO dumps everything on the sideboard in the dining room (ARGH) and I sort everything as it comes in, so...I should probably ..."We've started to post huge tags on our mailboxes saying we don't want advertisements of any kind. It really works! Now the only things flying around are probably important letters we don't feel like opening up. I haven't given up on the "if I don't read the bill it doesn't exist" approach yet.
Johanna wrote: "You won't be able to stop before you've read them all. That's exactly what happened to me. So, don't fight it — it's no use. ;-)"
It didn't happen to me only because I couldn't. I had to wait for the next installment...
Lou wrote: "I just bought Boystown 5: Murder Book, but I want to finish the short story I'm working on before reading anything."I have books 1-4. I MUST read them. Soon!
Johanna wrote: "KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli. It was brilliant. I fell in love with this author's writing. I did write a short "review" (just a..."I'm looking forward to it! :)
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Oh ..."
I find that storyline irritating BUT I must admit it's pretty true to life. So many problems and failed relationships simply come down to poor communication skills. Or, more particularly, the inability, unwillingness to listen.