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Reading, Read, Planning to Read
I've been in a reading funk. So I had decided to listen to some audios to help me out. I listened to The Help the other week. Though I've read the book, listening made it even more real to me. God, I can't wait for that movie :)Now I'm listening to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I've never read it but I've heard so much about it. My best friend has been reading the series and she loves it. So far its boring but I just started book 1. We'll see.
While sitting in the salon I've started Bear Necessities and I like it. I'm almost finished.
I finished reading
. It takes place during the 1920's, and it was nice to read a historical romance that takes place during the flapper era.
I just finished Caveat Emptorwhich is the 4th in a series by Ruth Downie. They are historical fiction and focus on a Roman Medic who works in ancient Britain - when the different tribal groups were occupied by Rome and some were more friendly than others. He is more or less forced into solving mysteries. The books are really well written and have great characters. The other book I just finished is Letting Go. That was a moving book - filled with the tragic repercussions of abuse, the drive to be loved for who you are... and it doesn't shy away from taking on what drives people to... seek love in all the wrong places. Michelle Sutton never shies away from the truth to make a point though. :o)
I haven't had time to write up a full review on either one yet.
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I've seen the original Swedish movie based on this book and I really like Noomi Rapace's interpretation of Lisbeth Salander. I hate the fact that Hollywood is remaking this movie with Rooney Mara in the lead female role as they're sure to make a debacle (like they always do with remakes) of it. I also think its an insult to Rapace who embodies the character in such a powerful way that to suggest someone else will play it better is a big slap in the face. She ought to have received an Oscar for her performance.
Having said that, I am not a fan of these books nor will I be reading them for a number of reasons -- the main one being having lived for many years in Scandinavia I really resent the way in which they go about their gender politics and how men and women are portrayed in their society (and by extension in these books). It's very complex and hard to explain, but I feel strongly enough about it to not want to read the books as a result.
Well explain that one Davina! I want to know what makes you feel so strongly that you can't read the book but you will watch the movie.Honestly, the writer is fantastic but this audio is boring as hell and I'm marking it as a DNF! I can't force myself through this. Maybe I should read it instead of listening to this.
Oh, I want to see the movie.
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I don't oppose seeing the other 2 films in the series, but I'm not in any rush.
If you want to see the movie, I'd recommend seeing the Swedish originals, not the remake.
Davina wrote: "Of late I can't seem to find the pleasure I usually find in reading. I look at my TBR mountain with apathy, not able to muster the motivation to pick up a book. It's really bad. I think I may be su..."I've never had "reader's block" before. I've not wanted to read certain types of books - but I don't know that I've ever stopped reading for more than a couple days. Do you usually read a lot? Maybe it just means you're bored with what you've been reading?
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I think perhaps its due to stress or a mild depression that has caught me unawares. There are a few events in my life that are currently up in air and that has somewhat toppled my balance, my equilibrium. I do hope this total lack of desire to read will past soon for it is a such great escape for me. I'd hate to think I've lost that forever. It is very odd that I've not read even one book since the start of the year. That has never happened before. :(
Well I hope its not lost forever and you get back to reading.
I know you mentioned before that you haven't been feeling like yourself lately. I know the new job situation has been stressful... I hope that whatever it is that has got you off balance resolves itself soon.
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Davina, you know that I understand. It's a lot.
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I'm so happy for you! I've lost my reading mojo and I'm all over the place. I feel lost without it. LMAO. Seriously, its just so hard to stay focused when I got a million of other things going on. But good for you Davina. I need to check out this book that had you hooked all the way through :)
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Be forewarned though, her heroes are notorious rakes who don't change overnight. It's nothing for them to sleep with other women while they fight tooth and nail to stop themselves falling in love with the heroine.
Her books are mainly for those who like "thrill of the chase, taming the bad boy" type stories. So if you enjoy genuine alpha males (not beta males with alpha traits) and lots of S:E:X then you might like her books.
Also another thing you should know before trying her books is that they're very historically detailed, especially the earlier ones, the Russian series and St. John/Duras series. Before becoming a writer, Johnson worked as an art historian and her knowledge and expertise show in her books. Some readers find this tedious, but I personally love it! How many supposedly "historical" romance books actually boast historically correct events and mores of those times? Very few. Johnson is one of the few authors you can trust in this regard, at least when it comes to her books published prior to the 2000s.
When she gets it right, this woman is like a literary goddess to me! :)
Wow...you sold me on her books. I'm looking them up now:)
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Of the three I recommended read Wicked first. It best represents the essence of Johnson's style.
If after you've read those and if you enjoy them, try Sinful and Forbidden as well.
These are all series books and I'm not giving you them in order, but you don't have to read them in order. But if you're fanatic about such things you can check the order here on GR and read accordingly.
Don't wait too long to read them though. I want to hear what you think!
I'm currently reading Larissa Ione's Pleasure Unbound, Demonica Book 1. It's still early days. My first impression is that the heroine is too young for my taste (only 24 -- I don't have anything against 24 yr olds, no LOL but when I know these 2 people are going to spend the rest of their lives together forever from this point forward I prefer the heroine to be closer to 30 and the hero to be in his mid to late 30s ... this is because I'm more inclined to believe their union is likely to last HEA). Another first impression is that I'm not so sure about demons. Hmm. Anyway, it hasn't lost me yet so I'm going stick with it until it does, if it does.
Next up will be Jeanine Frost's From Cradle to the Grave. I'm excited to read this. Have heard good things about this series. Anyone here read it? What did you think?
LOL! I won't wait too long, Davina. I've actually been reading. Work is so stressful that its the only thing to keep me sane (well this week at least).I have all of Larissa Ione's Demonica books but I haven't read any of them.
Now that you have mentioned age, that makes me think about whether that plays into what we think of a book. For me, I don't care as long as I know they will get a HEA. But honestly, I read Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkes (sp?) this week and its a Young Adult book. I was soooo reluctant to read this b/c I'm not into teenage love books. I mean in high school, I wasn't thinking about love. LOL. I was actually surprised at how much I liked it and it was an easy mindless read.
I also read Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. I really enjoyed the book and I immediately read Until You. I skipped Whitney, My Love b/c I know it's kind of controversial and I didn't need anything to mess up my mojo.
Now I'm reading Call Me Irresistible by Susan E. Phillips. She is hit or miss with me.
Davina, are you sure you got the right title. Is this the Bones and Cat series? I love them. I'm reading This side of the Grave next :)
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I've read all the Judith McNaught books you mentioned. I can't remember much about any of them. In fact I can't remember anything. I know though Judith McNaught is not really my kind of author, but for some reason I still have a number of her books on my TBR pile.
I have several books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips on my pile, but I haven't gotten around to reading any of them. She seems to be hit and miss for many people.
I think I have the right title, but I could be wrong. Anyhow,I really hope I like this because I've not heard one bad comment about the series. I'd hate to be the first!!! :)
I should state that Frost's books are different. To me, that's why I liked them a lot. But they started to slip a bit. I'm hoping this 5th one is good. I shall let you know.
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Different in the voice. Her style is a bit different than I'm use to and also its 1st person. But it might not be different to you.
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One thing I can say right off the bat is that I didn't know how similar to the TV show, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, it was!
I know I'm probably one in a million, but I did not like that show AND I couldn't stand that guy, Spike!!! I thought he was an idiot and nothing more than a beating stick for Buffy. Ok, you all may go ahead and shoot me now! LOL
But seriously I'm NOT thrilled that the hero in these books are described as the spitting imagine of him. That could potentially kill the series for me. UGH.
Tell me, in what category, if any, do these books fall? Is it PNR or more UF like the Sookie Stackhouse books?
Haha! I hated the TV show Buffy so I can't compare it to that b/c after a few episodes I knew it wasn't for me. At some point it leaned towards UF to me.
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It wasn't like I simply hated them because they were popular. I watched several episodes of both and I just couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. Dumb story lines, mediocre acting, a total lack of hot male leads (with the exception of Angel, he wasn't bad), all I could think was just MEH!!!
But anyway, I digress.
So UF, huh. Does that mean all the romance between a Cat and Bones gets totally pushed back to the side? That would be disappointing....
By the way, I also hate the name Bones. Why couldn't the author think of something more original to call the guy???
See we differ on Friends. I actually like that show. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a hardcore fan but if I caught an episode of it, I would watch it and be ok. Sometimes the storyline was weak and I didn't get the humor but it was okay. No there is romance between Bones and Cat but there is a lot of other stuff too. Sometimes I get it the humor and sometimes I don't.
I finally finished Call Me Irresistible and I really enjoyed it. At first it was slow and I really didn't see much of a change with Meg or Ted but eventually SEP was able to chip away and show a bit of character development. I notice that she has a theme of bad girl or broke down glam girl runs to small town and meets everyone's hero in her books. This is the 2nd book of hers with that theme. I have a few more in my TBR pile so we'll see.
Now off to Bones and Cat...
I read This Side of the Grave and it was ok. I liked it but I got tired of the story. I think when an author has a popular series, they need to learn when to let it go. This is time for the series to have a book to wrap it all up.
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I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with the series after the second book for several reasons. I loved Cat at the beginning of the first book, but not so much toward the end. In the second book she kinda morphed into this really loud, foul-mouthed, gin-sucking bitch. Why??? I don't have a probs with a heroine who drinks and curses (heck, I drink and curse!!!), but this new Cat just rubbed me the wrong way. Second, I hate, hate, hate love triangles. This business with Tate, then Gregor ... nah, not interested. So I quit.
Haha I really have problems with the triangles too. Tate works my nerves. I believe in my review for the 3rd book I had mentioned that he pissed me off so bad that he is not redeemable under any circumstance. Part of the blame is Cat though b/c she doesn't say anything.
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I hate when there is a lot of non-verbal dialogue inside and nothing flying out of the mouth.
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Samantha wrote: "I notice that she has a theme of bad girl or broke down glam girl runs to small town and meets everyone's hero in her books. This is the 2nd book of hers with that theme. I have a few more in my TBR pile so we'll see."Samantha, I love SEP and this is her favorite theme in practically ALL her books. She really breaks her heroines down to rock bottom in the beginning and slowly builds them back up. It makes for a satisfying story but sometimes it can be hit or miss sometimes. She made it incredibly funny in
It Had to Be You, Fancy Pants or Natural Born Charmer but it was actually kinda painful in Ain't She Sweet? or Breathing Room.
Even so, I love, love her stuff.
Thanks Tina! I'll keep up with her. I have a few books.I read Ain't She Sweet? and it was torture. I hated it! It was painful to get through. Mainly because I felt the characters were very juvenile. It all seem so silly to me.
I read Breathing Room and enjoyed it a bit better.
I've read a book called Catfish Alley by Lynne Bryant a little while ago and it was actually good. At first, I will admit, that I thought the book was going to be a rip off of The Help but it was a different book with a different voice.
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Davina wrote: "I've been hearing a lot about The Bronze Horseman lately. How is it, Michelle? It is romantic, in the way The Time Traveler's Wife was romantic? Or is romance not the focus. Just curious."Well, I haven't read The Time Traveler's Wife, but romance is definitely the focus in The Bronze Horseman. Granted, my edition is almost 900 pages, and I'm only on pg 130, but I'm having difficulty putting down.
Regarding The Time Traveler's Wife? Is it a tear jerker?
I would like to read both books. Sounds interesting.
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You're a brave woman, Michelle, to embark upon reading a 900 page book. I couldn't do it. Long books take too much time to read (I haven't read one since I had my kids because I just don't have the time to dedicate). I'd rather listen to them (provided the narrator is any good).
So I'm on a reading kick lately and I'm loving it. LOL. Anyway, I just finished listening to the audio of Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. Samuel L. Jackson does a good job as the narrator. It is so hilarious.I've started Room by Emma Donoghue and I'm not sure about this one. It's a bit confusing and I'm assuming that it's due to the fact that I'm still in the beginning part. I wonder what's the author reason for using a child's voice as the narrative? At times Jack sounds like a child who suffers from some sort of mental disability and at times he doesn't. I don't know. I have to continue to see what's going on but if something doesn't happen soon, I'm tossing this to the side.
Samantha wrote: "So I'm on a reading kick lately and I'm loving it. LOL. Anyway, I just finished listening to the audio of Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. Samuel L. Jackson does a good job as the narrator. I..."I was thinking of getting a copy of Room by Emma Donoghue. I'll grab a copy the next time I'm out. I'd like to know what you think of it when you're done. Do you write reviews here on goodreads for the books that you've read?
Michelle, I do write reviews up here but I didn't do that for Room. I finished it today and it was a good read. The first half of the book was like a mix bag for me. It lagged but there was something that kept me going. The 2nd half of the book interest me more but there was things that did bother me at times (I don't want to spoil it for you). The biggest negative for me was the narrative of a five year old. Jack at times understood and used complex words for a five year old but also had poor sentence structuring. He talked about inanimate objects as though they were living breathing things. It was weird because he was exposed to the TV and his mother clearly spoke correctly. Let me know what you think when you read it.
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