What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed* Showing 4,851-4,900 of 13,523

[[deleted user]]

Cleon wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Conversely it's scary when you overhear stuff like, "I haven't read a book in years..." I guess reading happens in the electronic media too, but one has..."

Gives them street cred in some circles. ;)

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Cleon wrote: "Now see, this is one of the things I can't wrap my mind with. Pride themselves for not reading? I get that not everyone likes reading, but priding themselves for not reading?"

I know!!!! What can I say? There are people who think it's useless or boring entertainment. I think they're people with little or no imagination.

[[deleted user]]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Cleon wrote: "Now see, this is one of the things I can't wrap my mind with. Pride themselves for not reading? I get that not everyone likes reading, but priding themselves for not reading?"

I kn..."

It's tragic. I can't think what it would be like to live your whole life without books.

@Darkm I love the angst, but I couldn't finish A Red Tainted Silence, I don't know what it was. Just couldn't get into it.

[Charming]

Cheryl wrote: "I started A Red-Tainted Silence last night and had to put it down after a few chapters. Way too emo "

Hmm, I have been trying not to use "angst" so much anymore, and I'm thinking "emo" might be one of my replacement words.

[Josh]

I spent a lot of the weekend traveling and catching up on back issues of Publisher's Weekly. That probably doesn't sound all that interesting, although watching the drama of Borders unfold from a historical perspective was fascinating.

But really, reading PW reminds you of the big picture in publishing. We tend to be blinkered because we're working in *such* a small fish pond and it's easy to forget that what happens in niche publishing often does not accurately reflect what's happening in the rest of the publishing world.

But what's really fun is reading the reviews. As in reading the story summaries. Not only does it give you an idea of what's hot and what's not and what's been done a zillion times already, oddly enough just the summaries give you a feeling of enjoying stories. Now how that can be when you only get a snippet of the plot, I don't know, but it's true nonetheless. You read five hundred story summaries and somehow the end result is you feel like you got to read a lot of fiction. Maybe because for each summary, your imagination kicks in and quickly fills in the blanks?

[[deleted user]]

Charming wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I started A Red-Tainted Silence last night and had to put it down after a few chapters. Way too emo "

Hmm, I have been trying not to use "angst" so much anymore, and ..."

They can be used together!! "emo" sort of implies immaturity or maybe superficial enjoyment of drama, while "angst" is more heart rending worry/anguish/whatever. So "emo angsty" gets you all kinds of meaning wrapped up in one package. :D

[Charming]

Kate Mc. wrote: "They can be used together!! "emo" sort of implies immaturity or maybe superficial enjoyment of drama, while "angst" is more heart rending worry/anguish/whatever. So "emo angsty" gets you all kinds of meaning wrapped up in one package. :D "

I am intrigued by this new approach. :-) I will need some more qualifiers, but this may solve the "using angst to mean everything and nothing" problem.

[[deleted user]]

Kate Mc. wrote: "Charming wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I started A Red-Tainted Silence last night and had to put it down after a few chapters. Way too emo "

Hmm, I have been trying not to use "angst" so m..."

Yup! I use emo angsty all the time! That's exactly how I described Bear, Otter and the Kid when I reviewed it. Well I actually said 80's movies emo angst, to be specific :0)

[Yvonne]

Kate Mc. wrote: "Charming wrote: "They can be used together!! "emo" sort of implies immaturity or maybe superficial enjoyment of drama, while "angst" is more heart rending worry/anguish/whatever. So "emo angsty" gets you all kinds of meaning wrapped up in one package. :D "

I think that's a good description. When you have a young teen age character crying & spiraling into depression because he can't find a guy who he's only seen onstage in a play as he does in A Red-Tainted Silence, emo angsty seems to fit.

Obviously, some people like this more than others as the books with this can be quite popular.

[Darkm]

I think my problem is that is a bit far from my perspective so I have troubles connecting with the characters.

I have been told it has two parts though so I have no idea how the next one will be.

[Jordan]

Josh, I think you hit the nail on the head! I read a bunch of m/m summaries the other night and felt very satisfied, even though I hadn't bought the books or read the entire book. It was great! All in choosing which book would boost my Amazon price over $25 so I could get the free shipping. lol, that was fun. Oh yeah, and the one I went with was the second H&M book coming out next month. Perfect choice!

[Traci]

Josh wrote: "I spent a lot of the weekend traveling and catching up on back issues of Publisher's Weekly. That probably doesn't sound all that interesting, although watching the drama of Borders unfold from a h..."

I used to be bored by PW as they seemed to love everything. But I've noticed in the last year or so some incredibly snarky reviews - and I'm all for it! Look, don't review only "good" books - tell people what's out there that shouldn't be purchased as well. We rely heavily on such professional reviews for the collection/development of our library system, and it's very helpful when there's one that says "Don't waste what little budget you were given this year on this title". heh heh heh

[Sagajo]

Starting to read Zero Hour today (JCP)... I read it partly as a webseries so I don't know if I'll enjoy re-reading it.

[Kaje]

So far I haven't met a JCP that I didn't like.

[Sagajo]

Kaje wrote: "So far I haven't met a JCP that I didn't like."

When I read it as a webserie I thought it lost steam in the end... people were voting on how the story would evolve and I think it's hard to keep the story arc exciting that way. The immmediate choice is not always the best in the long run kinda thing? I know she edited it before commercial release but I don't know how much so I've been draggin my feet.

[Candice]

Cheryl wrote: "Candice wrote: "Cheryl, I made the silly mistake of buying all three books in the "Infected" series and, then, couldn't make it through the first book. I may look at it again, but the writing just ..."

Amen. Fictionwise, huh? I'll have to explore that.

[Candice]

Calathea wrote: "Candice wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I started reading Andrea Speed's Infected series. There are two stories in the first book and I made sure I finished the first one to give things a fair chance, but ..."

No, I liked the characters, that is the two MC's. There was something very touching about Roan's boyfriend (I'm sorry, I can't remember his name.)

[Candice]

Lauraadriana wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Conversely it's scary when you overhear stuff like, "I haven't read a book in years..." I guess reading happens in the electronic media too, but one has..."

My first grownup read was Jane Eyre. I never got over it.

[Sa]

I am reading ‘When love is undefined’. It is small but insightful book on love.It is available at Amazon.com

[Cheryl]

My first grown-up book was Little Women. I still have the copy I read in fourth grade, as well as a nice hardcover that I got as a gift, and I still read the whole series about once a year.

[Cheryl]

Calathea wrote: "Candice wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I started reading Andrea Speed's Infected series. There are two stories in the first book and I made sure I finished the first one to give things a fair chance, but ..."

Sorry, Calathea, I misread the quoted part of your post and thought you were saying that *I* didn't like the characterizations. Sorry for the long response when you weren't even talking to me! That'll teach me to stay up late talking on the interwebs!

[Cheryl]

Yvonne wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I started A Red-Tainted Silence last night and had to put it down after a few chapters. Way too emo and way too insta-love for me. The writing was very good, I was com..."

Yvonne, I read your review after I started reading the book, and it was one of the things that convinced me it was OK to put this one down, it wasn't going to get any better. Thanks!

Now I'm trying to decide on if I can review something based on just a few chapters.

[Kaje]

Cheryl wrote: "Now I'm trying to decide on if I can review something based on just a few chapters.
..."

I'll review a book I don't finish (a rare thing for me) but I won't put a rating on it and I'd note up front that it was a DNF and why. But I think that's valuable to know, especially if it's not a common thing for you. We all have limited budgets and time and hate to waste either.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Cheryl wrote: "My first grown-up book was Little Women. I still have the copy I read in fourth grade, as well as a nice hardcover that I got as a gift, and I still read the whole series about once a year."

It was one of my first books, but I don't really considered it because I read an abridged (spelling?) version, I read the whole book at a later age, but Laurie was my first crush on a character, lol


I liked A Red-tainted Silence despite all the flaws and I agree with the flaws you all found, I really do, but I felt a strong connection to Brandon both for his personality and what happened to him.


@ Kaje: I don't rate a book I didn't finish either.


I remember a while ago someone - I think it was Becky? - talked about Brier's Bargain. I wish there were an author who could re-visit this theme with more guts.

On one hand I think it was interesting to see a character with a mental disability trying to handle with it - I'm thinking of Brier, obviously. There was a sort of Forrest-Gump-ness that was cute at times. On the other hand the author made him super-gorgeous, and I don't think it was needed to make us love the character or understand why Jackie was in love with him. I think the slowness of the writing was a reflection of Brier's way of grasping what was happening around him, but the author failed to change gear when she told the story in Jackie's point of view.

I think it's a book that was courageous enough to deal with a mentally challenged character, but not enough to renounce to his physical awesomeness and to give a rounder personality to Jackie, his lover, whose feelings were fundamental in my opinion to see how their relationship could work. I think the problem is that it's a spin-off of another series, so as readers we probably missed what was the most important and interesting part in my opinion: how Jackie and Brier fell in love. Fortunately I didn't have the impression that Jackie was taking advantage of Brier, especially because it's clear that Brier has a lot of people looking out for him.

It could be a very good book, but in my opinion the most engaging parts - Brier's hearing with the FBI, Brier talking to Jackie about the abuse he was a victim of, Brier really complaining with Jackie because he felt his lover didn't want to talk to him about difficult things, Brier and Jackie adapting to Jackie's amputation - were glossed over or happened behind the scenes.

I realize I was probably expecting a whole different book.

[Cheryl]

I usually give one star to a DNF.

I agree with your assessment of Brier's Bargain. I thought the subject of the book would have some kind on impact on me, but I just read it through and then went on to a new book when done, I didn't even give it a second thought. I thought maybe the hows and whys of Brier and Jackie getting together might have been covered in one of the other books, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The start of their relationship would have been the better story, IMO. To me, it just wasn't believable as written that Jackie would be with Brier, and that Brier would be so handsome and muscular.

[Sagajo]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "On one hand I think it was interesting to see a character with a mental disability trying to handle with it - I'm thinking of Brier, obviously. There was a sort of Forrest-Gump-ness that was cute at times. On the other hand the author made him super-gorgeous, and I don't think it was needed to make us love the character or understand why Jackie was in love with him. I think the slowness of the writing was a reflection of Brier's way of grasping what was happening around him, but the author failed to change gear when she told the story in Jackie's point of view. "

For a story with a mentally challenged MC, you might want to try Amy Lanes new book called Clear Water. I found the main character, Patrick, believable. I think he suffers from ADHD. His parents on the other hand, were strange characters and I don't know if I believe them but they don't play a major role so it was ok.

And ofcourse Patrick was gorgeous too. :P

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Sagajo wrote: "For a story with a mentally challenged MC, you might want to try Amy Lanes new book called Clear Water. I found the main character, Patrick, believable. I think he suffers from ADHD. His parents on the other hand, were strange characters and I don't know if I believe them but they don't play a major role so it was ok.

And ofcourse Patrick was gorgeous too. :P"

Thanks for the rec.

It's good to read about a gorgeous character, but lately I'm starting to de-gorgeous the characters I read, I'd love them a little less picture-perfect. Maybe I shouldn't read romance, lol ;)

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Cheryl wrote: "I thought maybe the hows and whys of Brier and Jackie getting together might have been covered in one of the other books, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The start of their relationship would have been the better story, IMO. To me, it just wasn't believable as written that Jackie would be with Brier, and that Brier would be so handsome and muscular."

Brier is muscular because weight-lifting keeps him focused. Mmmm. When I read this, I thought that someone must have told the author to give a reason for the awesomeness.

The start of Brier and Jackie's relatonship would make the most interesting part because - I feel a little bad for this - if I were in Jackie's shoes, I'd wonder why I am falling for this guy, if I'm really what he needs and if he's really what I need, what could bring us apart, if I was unconsciously taking advantage of him, if this guy's family would accept this relationship. Probably Jackie's side of the story is the hardest to tell? And what about the physical intimacy at the beginning of the relationship? All interesting things to tell, in my opinion.

[Charming]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I think it's a book that was courageous enough to deal with a mentally challenged character, but not enough to renounce to his physical awesomeness and to give a rounder personality to Jackie, his lover, whose feelings were fundamental in my opinion to see how their relationship could work. "

Have you read Muscling Through. Better on both counts I think.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Charming wrote: "Have you read Muscling Through. Better on both counts I think."

I recently added it to my tbr shelf. I'll move it up, thank you!

[Kaje]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "My first grown-up book was Little Women. I still have the copy I read in fourth grade, as well as a nice hardcover that I got as a gift, and I still read the whole series about once ..."

Did you read Cherie Noel's HSD short Kiss and Tell - there was a mentally challenged character in that and I loved it (although it is M/M/M menage).

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Kaje wrote: "Did you read Cherie Noel's HSD short Kiss and Tell - there was a mentally challenged character in that and I loved it (although it is M/M/M menage)."

I haven't yet, thanks for bringing it to my attention :)

[Josh]

Traci wrote: "Josh wrote: "I spent a lot of the weekend traveling and catching up on back issues of Publisher's Weekly. That probably doesn't sound all that interesting, although watching the drama of Borders un..."

Really? That must have been during the couple of years I stopped reading because they're pretty sparse with the starred reviews and the other reviews seem evenly balanced between positives and negatives. I think they're generally pretty even-handed although I do know a small percentage of books get reviewed without being closely read. You can usually tell because there is no critical opinion, it's just a summary.

I do like the fact that they now list the reviewers names.

[[deleted user]]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Charming wrote: "Have you read Muscling Through. Better on both counts I think."

I recently added it to my tbr shelf. I'll move it up, thank you!"

OMG Manu you HAVE to read Muscling Through it is just the most charming book! So so lovely!

Let's see I'm reading the Blue Rein Series which amazingly I had not read yet and which is really good!

[Liade]

Lauraadriana wrote: "OMG Manu you HAVE to read Muscling Through it is just the most charming book! So so lovely!..."

I loved it, too, highly recommended.

Did you read the Dear Author review?

[[deleted user]]

Liade wrote: "Lauraadriana wrote: "OMG Manu you HAVE to read Muscling Through it is just the most charming book! So so lovely!..."

I loved it, too, highly recommended.

Did you read the Dear Author review?"

Hey thanks for the link! Great review and SUCH a great story!

[Candice]

I finished the first Albright and Romano book today and started the second.

**(BTW, this is my first LB Gregg read on account of I got Gregg mixed up w/a porn writer of English boys school books--really awful--and so stayed away. Until Josh wrote of her here in Goodreads and I said, "Oh." And bought some.)**

Anyway, "Catch me..." was terrific, so I jumped straight to the next. I just had to remark upon the car dealership story that opens "Trust Me if You Dare." I was in a roomful of people I work with. They're joking and bitching and whatever, and I'm reading this scene and laughing my ass off.

[Josh]

Candice wrote: "I finished the first Albright and Romano book today and started the second.

**(BTW, this is my first LB Gregg read on account of I got Gregg mixed up w/a porn writer of English boys school book..."

Yes. Her work is very funny. Smart and funny.

[Sagajo]

Oh I love LB Gregg. Hope she has something new coming soon!

[Kari]

Anybody reading L.B. Gregg (no relation...LOL) simply cannot miss her Men of Smithfield Park series. Cover Me and Gobsmacked, especially, are repeat reads for me. WONDERFUL.

[Sagajo]

Kari wrote: "Anybody reading L.B. Gregg (no relation...LOL) simply cannot miss her Men of Smithfield Park series. Cover Me and Gobsmacked, especially, are repeat reads for me. WONDERFUL."

I should re-read those, been a while. I know I read all except the policemans story because I thought he was such an asshole to the young guy that worked for the man that couldn't go out of his house.

[Kari]

Sagajo wrote: "Kari wrote: "Anybody reading L.B. Gregg (no relation...LOL) simply cannot miss her Men of Smithfield Park series. Cover Me and Gobsmacked, especially, are repeat reads for me. WONDERFUL."

I should..."

Oh, you should give it a chance. You really should. I've never been disappointed by LB Gregg. Her books, even the one I thought might be outside my ken (the agoraphobic hero), are just stellar.

[Charming]

I am reading Unnatural Selection.

I have borrowed Clear Water because Amy Lane is usually too angsty/depressing* for me (so I may want to bail out), but I am told that this one is less so.


* I'm trying to use subcategories of angst

[[deleted user]]

Finally started Have the first six installments in the Kindle...I'll report back on how I do with these :O)

[Josh]

Kyle wrote: "The Jigsaw Man"

Oh yes? What's that about?

[Josh]

I got carried away on Amazon last night and downloaded a slew of Georgette Heyer (at a great low price) and then I saw they had a lot of the old Patricia Wentworth novels at $9.99. Which is not exactly a fabulous bargain, but seeing them in print (well, ebook) again after all this time was so exciting I bought four of them.

So now I am officially BROKE.

Still reading through Publisher's Weekly, but I'm just about caught up.

Has anyone read the Artemis Fowl series? Do you think I'd like that?

[mc]

Josh, I just (Thursday) downloaded the first one from the library onto my e-reader. I'll report back, if you're interested.

[Tracy]

I've read *most* of the Artemis Fowl series, and I really liked it. Artemis is a smart kid; I kind of liked the moral ambiguity he suffers from (well, not really suffers; it doesn't seem to bother him that much...). It bodes fair for some interesting conversations with my kids when they read them.

[[deleted user]]

Josh wrote: "I got carried away on Amazon last night and downloaded a slew of Georgette Heyer (at a great low price) and then I saw they had a lot of the old Patricia Wentworth novels at $9.99. Which is not exa..."

Hummm I was just talking to someone about the Artemis Fowl Series, and he was raving about how awesome the books are. I'm still on the fence though.

I lost my mind on Amazon last night, and got all shortlisted books for the Booker...So my book buying purse is a wee bit low at the moment. Maybe next month :O)

[Becky]

I'm supposed to be reading The Stand for a book club. What I'm actually reading is The Book of Bright Ideas. It's not turning out like I thought it would, but I still sense disaster on the horizon.

I've been trying to read up some of the m/f stuff that's been sitting in my TBR to clear the decks for doing the Gang Bang challenge the last quarter of the year. I'm slowly crossing them off my list, but lately I seem to be rewarding my self for reading one m/f by reading a half dozen m/m. It's certainly slowing things down. There are a couple seasonal m/f stories that I still plan to read in October and December, but other than that it's going to be all about the guys come October 1.