Thursday, November 06, 2008
BTT: Presents
This week's Booking Through Thursday asks us:
With few exceptions, people don't give me books for presents. Maybe it's the 500+ stack that refuses to shrink, no matter how fast I read, that scares them off. Maybe it's that many of those 500+ come from RABCKs -- Random Acts of BookCrossing Kindness. That's when a fellow BookCrosser decides to look up my address and pop a book in the mail to me, just because. As someone who loves to do this, herself, I love getting RABCKs in return.
There's one book that sticks out immediately. That's The Plucker, an illustrated novel by Brom. Yep, one name. Brom. Awkward at first, it takes on a beauty of its own after a bit, doesn't it? Brom.
So does the man's art.
Anyway, the Tour Manager bought me a copy of The Plucker last year for my birthday. Horrible wife that I am, I haven't read it yet. I'm waiting, you see, for a day where I can curl up with something I can get lost inside, where I can lose all the pressures I've been facing lately, trying to get The Demo Tapes done -- along with everything else that my ambition is dictating.
I think, truth be told, I'd rather have a gorgeous new pen (I prefer rollerballs) or an account at Roberta Weissburg's and time to devote to having her make me a gorgeous new dress coat. Or time to play with the washable suede pants I've recently discovered. Or... Yeah, you get the idea. Time and money for this rock and roll writer's rock and roll wardrobe.
Which, of course, explains why I'm wearing a too-big pair of Levi's and a t-shirt from WPTS-FM, the radio station where I had so damn much fun on Sunday afternoons...
What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”
With few exceptions, people don't give me books for presents. Maybe it's the 500+ stack that refuses to shrink, no matter how fast I read, that scares them off. Maybe it's that many of those 500+ come from RABCKs -- Random Acts of BookCrossing Kindness. That's when a fellow BookCrosser decides to look up my address and pop a book in the mail to me, just because. As someone who loves to do this, herself, I love getting RABCKs in return.
There's one book that sticks out immediately. That's The Plucker, an illustrated novel by Brom. Yep, one name. Brom. Awkward at first, it takes on a beauty of its own after a bit, doesn't it? Brom.
So does the man's art.
Anyway, the Tour Manager bought me a copy of The Plucker last year for my birthday. Horrible wife that I am, I haven't read it yet. I'm waiting, you see, for a day where I can curl up with something I can get lost inside, where I can lose all the pressures I've been facing lately, trying to get The Demo Tapes done -- along with everything else that my ambition is dictating.
I think, truth be told, I'd rather have a gorgeous new pen (I prefer rollerballs) or an account at Roberta Weissburg's and time to devote to having her make me a gorgeous new dress coat. Or time to play with the washable suede pants I've recently discovered. Or... Yeah, you get the idea. Time and money for this rock and roll writer's rock and roll wardrobe.
Which, of course, explains why I'm wearing a too-big pair of Levi's and a t-shirt from WPTS-FM, the radio station where I had so damn much fun on Sunday afternoons...
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, Brom, Roberta Weissburg
Thursday, October 23, 2008
BTT: Coupling
At first glance, this week's Booking Through Thursday is a great question:
“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”
Well, of course my favorite couple is Mitchell and Kerri. That goes without saying. I created them. (And wait until you see the couple I'm working on now!)
But then I began to think a little more deeply about the books I've read lately. Know what?
I can't name any relatively recent couples.
There are a bunch of triangles -- and I like triangles -- roaming around out there. Colleen Gleason's got Max and Sebastian. I haven't read Stephanie Meyer, but it sounds like there's a triangle with Edward and some other dude.
Notice something else? Those are both series I've just named.
There hasn't been a great epic novel in a long time -- epic like Gone with the Wind epic. Those are the novels that let us really get to know a couple, to allow us readers to spend enough time with them that they become alive. So now we need the series novels to make that happen.
Except...
A lot of the series I've been reading -- Kim Harrison comes to mind, as does Rachel Vincent, although I'm not current on either series (and what does that tell you about how frequently books are being pumped out lately?) -- don't have couples in them, per se. They feature women and men and yeah, there's some attraction and chemistry, but the characters don't couple off. Not permanently, and at least not up through the books I have gotten to (so many series...).
Yet then there's Queen Betsy, and Sookie Stackhouse... (Although again, I'm far from being current on either series)
Another exception to this rule that isn't holding up worth a dedication page: Jennifer Estep's Bigtime series. These three novels all feature the classic romance formula: boy and girl meet, boy and girl make the long-term commitment. Boy and girl also return in the other books in the series, albeit in limited roles, so that we readers can revisit old friends. (But not, you'll note, continue to get to know them)
But as for couples like Rhett and Scarlett, I just don't think we're seeing as many of them anymore. Society's changed. Our wants as readers have changed.
Or have they?
“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”
Well, of course my favorite couple is Mitchell and Kerri. That goes without saying. I created them. (And wait until you see the couple I'm working on now!)
But then I began to think a little more deeply about the books I've read lately. Know what?
I can't name any relatively recent couples.
There are a bunch of triangles -- and I like triangles -- roaming around out there. Colleen Gleason's got Max and Sebastian. I haven't read Stephanie Meyer, but it sounds like there's a triangle with Edward and some other dude.
Notice something else? Those are both series I've just named.
There hasn't been a great epic novel in a long time -- epic like Gone with the Wind epic. Those are the novels that let us really get to know a couple, to allow us readers to spend enough time with them that they become alive. So now we need the series novels to make that happen.
Except...
A lot of the series I've been reading -- Kim Harrison comes to mind, as does Rachel Vincent, although I'm not current on either series (and what does that tell you about how frequently books are being pumped out lately?) -- don't have couples in them, per se. They feature women and men and yeah, there's some attraction and chemistry, but the characters don't couple off. Not permanently, and at least not up through the books I have gotten to (so many series...).
Yet then there's Queen Betsy, and Sookie Stackhouse... (Although again, I'm far from being current on either series)
Another exception to this rule that isn't holding up worth a dedication page: Jennifer Estep's Bigtime series. These three novels all feature the classic romance formula: boy and girl meet, boy and girl make the long-term commitment. Boy and girl also return in the other books in the series, albeit in limited roles, so that we readers can revisit old friends. (But not, you'll note, continue to get to know them)
But as for couples like Rhett and Scarlett, I just don't think we're seeing as many of them anymore. Society's changed. Our wants as readers have changed.
Or have they?
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, September 25, 2008
BTT: Well, that was different!
I like this week's Booking Through Thursday question. Here it is:
You know what? I can't answer that so easily.
I've got two degrees in English and while I like to laugh and brag about having managed to avoid many of the classics, I've also read things that, at the time, stretched my boundaries.
Moby Dick and the Scarlet Letter. Two classics (and possibly what turned me off the entire genre of classics) that convinced me that I could read the damn things out loud and still not retain much of anything that I read.
In college, it was old texts like Beowulf, which I loved. That opened the door to Grendel, which was brilliant. (No, I have not yet seen the movies.) Those were all good experiences, but did they turn me into raving fangirls?? Nope.
Fast forward to grad school. Experimental writers like David Bowman's Let the Dog Drive (a book still on my shelf). Carole Maso. Kathy Acker. Metafiction. Interesting, but not for me.
And literary writers, too. Anne Panning, who was a classmate. Susan Sontag. E. Annie Proulx. Sadly, like the metafiction and experimental stuff, it didn't do much for me. It's nicely written literature, sure. But not what jazzes me.
And despite how difficult most Latin American literature is, some of it is so achingly beautiful that it makes me cry. One Hundred Years of Solitude. The House of the Spirits.
But some of it? Ick. I may still have a copy of The Aleph on my shelf but that's more because after all I went through to get it, I'm not parting with it so fast.
Now, as an out-of-school writer and mom, I read whatever makes me happy. Right now, it's Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker. And a SciFi by Gregory Benford. I like to read all sorts of different things, not just the same old, same old.
Part of the fun of participating in sites that blog about books, be they blogs by authors or blogs by book lovers, is exposing myself to new stuff. The nice thing about a book you don't like is that you can close it and give it away.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Sorry for the lack of buy links over to Powells.com. The kids got home from school as I was composing this and I need to go hang with them. If any of these titles grab you, head on over to your nearest independent bookstore -- even if it's an online one -- and pick up your own copy.
What was the most unusual (for you) book you ever read? Either because the book itself was completely from out in left field somewhere, or was a genre you never read, or was the only book available on a long flight… whatever? What (not counting school textbooks, though literature read for classes counts) was furthest outside your usual comfort zone/familiar territory?
And, did you like it? Did it stretch your boundaries? Did you shut it with a shudder the instant you were done? Did it make you think? Have nightmares? Kick off a new obsession?
You know what? I can't answer that so easily.
I've got two degrees in English and while I like to laugh and brag about having managed to avoid many of the classics, I've also read things that, at the time, stretched my boundaries.
Moby Dick and the Scarlet Letter. Two classics (and possibly what turned me off the entire genre of classics) that convinced me that I could read the damn things out loud and still not retain much of anything that I read.
In college, it was old texts like Beowulf, which I loved. That opened the door to Grendel, which was brilliant. (No, I have not yet seen the movies.) Those were all good experiences, but did they turn me into raving fangirls?? Nope.
Fast forward to grad school. Experimental writers like David Bowman's Let the Dog Drive (a book still on my shelf). Carole Maso. Kathy Acker. Metafiction. Interesting, but not for me.
And literary writers, too. Anne Panning, who was a classmate. Susan Sontag. E. Annie Proulx. Sadly, like the metafiction and experimental stuff, it didn't do much for me. It's nicely written literature, sure. But not what jazzes me.
And despite how difficult most Latin American literature is, some of it is so achingly beautiful that it makes me cry. One Hundred Years of Solitude. The House of the Spirits.
But some of it? Ick. I may still have a copy of The Aleph on my shelf but that's more because after all I went through to get it, I'm not parting with it so fast.
Now, as an out-of-school writer and mom, I read whatever makes me happy. Right now, it's Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker. And a SciFi by Gregory Benford. I like to read all sorts of different things, not just the same old, same old.
Part of the fun of participating in sites that blog about books, be they blogs by authors or blogs by book lovers, is exposing myself to new stuff. The nice thing about a book you don't like is that you can close it and give it away.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Sorry for the lack of buy links over to Powells.com. The kids got home from school as I was composing this and I need to go hang with them. If any of these titles grab you, head on over to your nearest independent bookstore -- even if it's an online one -- and pick up your own copy.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books, Susan's Book Talk
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Booking Through Thursday: Peer Pressure
Kudos to my friend JM for asking this week's Booking Through Thursday question:
Of course I've felt pressure to read something because everyone else is. Not just the best-sellers, either. Laurell K. Hamilton comes immediately to mind; I had to find out what was going on with this Anita Blake chick.
MaryJanice Davidson (who is an absolute doll) is another. Charlaine Harris. Carrie Vaughn.
The LKH is the only one that disappointed, and then not until the third or fourth Anita book that I read (out of order, but that wasn't my issue with the series).
(yeah, I noticed, too, that they are all paranormals. Shows you what my online peer group is into, huh?)
There have been few best-sellers that haven't disappointed in one way or another. The Kite Runner bothered me with its brutality (and now my book club talked me into reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I absolutely do not want to read because I hear it's even more brutal). Even The Secret Life of Bees let me down; I'd read that plot before. I'm expecting more of the same from The Time-Traveller's Wife (which is near the top of Mt. TBR) and the good old DaVinci Code, which is still buried in the mountain.
Now, as for that last question... as a reviewer, do I feel compelled to follow the trends?
Absolutely not. In fact, I feel compelled to buck the trends and find gems that may have been overlooked. You can read all of my reviews over at Front Street Reviews, including my most recent one, for a book called Black Wolf on Tour.
After all, if everyone is talking about the same ten or twenty books, how is anyone going to hear about the thousands (literally) that are being overshadowed?
As a writer and a reader, it's my quest to bring attention to those oft-overlooked books.
I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.
Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.
Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?
Of course I've felt pressure to read something because everyone else is. Not just the best-sellers, either. Laurell K. Hamilton comes immediately to mind; I had to find out what was going on with this Anita Blake chick.
MaryJanice Davidson (who is an absolute doll) is another. Charlaine Harris. Carrie Vaughn.
The LKH is the only one that disappointed, and then not until the third or fourth Anita book that I read (out of order, but that wasn't my issue with the series).
(yeah, I noticed, too, that they are all paranormals. Shows you what my online peer group is into, huh?)
There have been few best-sellers that haven't disappointed in one way or another. The Kite Runner bothered me with its brutality (and now my book club talked me into reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I absolutely do not want to read because I hear it's even more brutal). Even The Secret Life of Bees let me down; I'd read that plot before. I'm expecting more of the same from The Time-Traveller's Wife (which is near the top of Mt. TBR) and the good old DaVinci Code, which is still buried in the mountain.
Now, as for that last question... as a reviewer, do I feel compelled to follow the trends?
Absolutely not. In fact, I feel compelled to buck the trends and find gems that may have been overlooked. You can read all of my reviews over at Front Street Reviews, including my most recent one, for a book called Black Wolf on Tour.
After all, if everyone is talking about the same ten or twenty books, how is anyone going to hear about the thousands (literally) that are being overshadowed?
As a writer and a reader, it's my quest to bring attention to those oft-overlooked books.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Booking Through Thursday: Other Worlds
Oh, how can I NOT answer this week's Booking Through Thursday? It's perfect for me!
Ready?
Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live?
Or where you certainly would NOT want to live?
What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life?
C'mon... you know the answer to this. I'd live in Riverview, USA, of course! I think I'd be Kerri, only I'm not as cool as she is, so maybe we'll have to create a character like her best friend or someone else who's equally inside the world of ShapeShifter -- and everyone else, like Boomer and Pam, who aren't exactly part of ShapeShifter's world, and Lyric, who is part, but in a different sort of way. (How's THAT for a run-on?)
Come to think of it, part of the privilege of being the creator is that I DO fit into the worlds of all these characters (and the others I haven't mentioned yet today, like Springer). They are diverse people who do things that don't always revolve around the band, and I can't imagine any one person being involved with all the characters I have created (many of whom I have yet to share with you guys. Oh, September can't come fast enough!).
Which means that if I were a character, I'd want me to write about myself. Which sort of hints at a memoir, but I generally hate to read those, so maybe we should approach this from the incestual viewpoint of metafiction. I'm not sure.
This last concept has made my brain hurt. I think I'm glad I'm real.
Not a regular? Check out the links; they will take you to bio pages of all these characters I've mentioned. At the bottom of those pages, if you're so inclined, you can click on links that'll take you back here to the blog, and you can read the fiction I've created for all these people. Have fun!
Ready?
Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live?
Or where you certainly would NOT want to live?
What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life?
C'mon... you know the answer to this. I'd live in Riverview, USA, of course! I think I'd be Kerri, only I'm not as cool as she is, so maybe we'll have to create a character like her best friend or someone else who's equally inside the world of ShapeShifter -- and everyone else, like Boomer and Pam, who aren't exactly part of ShapeShifter's world, and Lyric, who is part, but in a different sort of way. (How's THAT for a run-on?)
Come to think of it, part of the privilege of being the creator is that I DO fit into the worlds of all these characters (and the others I haven't mentioned yet today, like Springer). They are diverse people who do things that don't always revolve around the band, and I can't imagine any one person being involved with all the characters I have created (many of whom I have yet to share with you guys. Oh, September can't come fast enough!).
Which means that if I were a character, I'd want me to write about myself. Which sort of hints at a memoir, but I generally hate to read those, so maybe we should approach this from the incestual viewpoint of metafiction. I'm not sure.
This last concept has made my brain hurt. I think I'm glad I'm real.
Not a regular? Check out the links; they will take you to bio pages of all these characters I've mentioned. At the bottom of those pages, if you're so inclined, you can click on links that'll take you back here to the blog, and you can read the fiction I've created for all these people. Have fun!
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Booking Through Thursday: Holiday
Because a long holiday weekend should make for a good stretch of reading time, this week's BTT is simple: What are you reading?
Well.
On my nightstand, I have a copy of Carole Nelson Douglas' Dancing with Werewolves. This is totally going to be the next book I rave about. LOVING it.
Downstairs (yes, that's how I divvy up my reading 'cause if I don't, a book is never on the right floor when I need it and yes, I'm too lazy to fix that numerous times a day, or when in my PJs for the night), I just started the Preston/Child creation Brimstone.
I need to put it down and read Kabbalah: A Love Story for my book club, which meets on Wednesday, though. Who, me? Putting it off to the last minute? Nah.
If you're not a BTTer, go on and tell me: what are YOU reading right now?
Well.
On my nightstand, I have a copy of Carole Nelson Douglas' Dancing with Werewolves. This is totally going to be the next book I rave about. LOVING it.
Downstairs (yes, that's how I divvy up my reading 'cause if I don't, a book is never on the right floor when I need it and yes, I'm too lazy to fix that numerous times a day, or when in my PJs for the night), I just started the Preston/Child creation Brimstone.
I need to put it down and read Kabbalah: A Love Story for my book club, which meets on Wednesday, though. Who, me? Putting it off to the last minute? Nah.
If you're not a BTTer, go on and tell me: what are YOU reading right now?
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, June 19, 2008
BTT: Flavor
Booking Through Thursday has regained its stride, I'd say.
Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?
I think any of you groupies around here will know my answer: it's all about character. If you asked me to describe that eternal classic Flowers in the Attic, I'd tell you about the evil grandmother, the panty-waist mom, the curious kids who were a bit too smart for their own good. Maybe I'd mention the air that hung over the whole book, dark, dank, and malodorously ugly. But I'd definitely talk about each character's personality.
Same for just about any other book I read. Heck, I just finished The Rapture of Canaan and found myself thinking more about the character of Ninah and what a catalyst for change she is, versus her grandfather, around whom the society revolves. Really, the story's about a community in flux, but not to me. It's about how Ninah puts them there.
Now, to get a bit more personal...
If you're not a groupie but just dropping by to visit, you should know that I'm a writer, and that one of the things that keep my regulars coming back to read the fiction that I post here is ... yes, you guessed it. The emotional investment that all of these guys (and myself, of course!) have developed to my character, Trevor Wolff.
Here on the blog, I love to write about moments, outtakes I call them because they aren't long enough to be a short story and they aren't as fully contained as a good flash fiction ought to be. I pick these moments from the years leading up to Trevor's Song, my novel awaiting publication, from the time around when the book is set, and I've even done one or two others that are set after the time period of the book.
Everyone comes back, time and again, week after week, to see what Trevor's up to this time. Even if my readers can't relate directly to Trevor, they key into him in very astute ways. They see that his gruffness is just a cover, that he's smarter than he pretends to be, and that he's a hell of a people person -- in his own way. And when he and Mitchell start playing off each other, it's better than George and Gracie or Lucy and Ricardo. (However, that sort of implies that the boys are gay, which they're not. In fact, in the book, they find themselves in a bit of a love triangle, with a redhead at the center of it. Sort of.)
As a reader and as a writer, it's all about character. The literary agent I'm still in discussions with has described Trevor's Song as a character study.
That ... umm, characterization ... of my work flatters me beyond words.
If you click on Trevor or Mitchell's names, you'll be taken to a page on my main website that gives you a quick character sketch. At the bottom of each page are links back here to the blog, direct links to different outtakes and Thursday Thirteen lists and other fun I've had with these two pretend men. Or you can go to the Free Downloads section of the site and do a tiny bit of reading in chronological order. Your choice, but I do invite you to poke around and become a groupie, too!
Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?
I think any of you groupies around here will know my answer: it's all about character. If you asked me to describe that eternal classic Flowers in the Attic, I'd tell you about the evil grandmother, the panty-waist mom, the curious kids who were a bit too smart for their own good. Maybe I'd mention the air that hung over the whole book, dark, dank, and malodorously ugly. But I'd definitely talk about each character's personality.
Same for just about any other book I read. Heck, I just finished The Rapture of Canaan and found myself thinking more about the character of Ninah and what a catalyst for change she is, versus her grandfather, around whom the society revolves. Really, the story's about a community in flux, but not to me. It's about how Ninah puts them there.
Now, to get a bit more personal...
If you're not a groupie but just dropping by to visit, you should know that I'm a writer, and that one of the things that keep my regulars coming back to read the fiction that I post here is ... yes, you guessed it. The emotional investment that all of these guys (and myself, of course!) have developed to my character, Trevor Wolff.
Here on the blog, I love to write about moments, outtakes I call them because they aren't long enough to be a short story and they aren't as fully contained as a good flash fiction ought to be. I pick these moments from the years leading up to Trevor's Song, my novel awaiting publication, from the time around when the book is set, and I've even done one or two others that are set after the time period of the book.
Everyone comes back, time and again, week after week, to see what Trevor's up to this time. Even if my readers can't relate directly to Trevor, they key into him in very astute ways. They see that his gruffness is just a cover, that he's smarter than he pretends to be, and that he's a hell of a people person -- in his own way. And when he and Mitchell start playing off each other, it's better than George and Gracie or Lucy and Ricardo. (However, that sort of implies that the boys are gay, which they're not. In fact, in the book, they find themselves in a bit of a love triangle, with a redhead at the center of it. Sort of.)
As a reader and as a writer, it's all about character. The literary agent I'm still in discussions with has described Trevor's Song as a character study.
That ... umm, characterization ... of my work flatters me beyond words.
If you click on Trevor or Mitchell's names, you'll be taken to a page on my main website that gives you a quick character sketch. At the bottom of each page are links back here to the blog, direct links to different outtakes and Thursday Thirteen lists and other fun I've had with these two pretend men. Or you can go to the Free Downloads section of the site and do a tiny bit of reading in chronological order. Your choice, but I do invite you to poke around and become a groupie, too!
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, Trevor
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BTT: Clubbing
Gotta love this week's Booking Through Thursday:
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?
Nope, never been a book club member. Sorry. I OWN my book club.
No, I didn't buy them. I don't run roughshod over them. They just like me so much that the job of leader is mine until I don't want it any more. We've been together for almost eight years now. I love my group.
As to the reading experience, we all try harder to finish something we don't like. There was one that the whole group hated. They won't let me live down the fact that they managed to finish it and I couldn't. Believe me, I tried. It just wasn't meant to be.
Our most recent book was so poorly written that it made me gag. I've got another whole post about that, so stay tuned. One of the women described it as "Susan versus everyone else" and while I can't say that's not entirely true, it's not entirely false, either. I doubt I would have finished it if it weren't a book club choice, but the story was ... well-intentioned. The bones of it were there, and that part was ... okay. It was supposed to be about a woman, the title character. Instead, it was the story of her husband and his struggle to be a good husband. Okay, fine. I can deal. Just call it something else, will you? Of course, that ruins the theme of the series...
And yes, I'll shut up and smile when we read the third in this particular series. Hopefully, the author has taken more time and gotten the writing up to where it was in the first book. We'll see...
One note that the BTT question didn't address: Yes, I feel terrible when something I brought to the group is a total dog. But when I suggest something like Disobedience or A Day of Small Beginnings or A Thread of Grace (okay, a non-member suggested that one and I pushed for it), it's that much sweeter.
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?
Nope, never been a book club member. Sorry. I OWN my book club.
No, I didn't buy them. I don't run roughshod over them. They just like me so much that the job of leader is mine until I don't want it any more. We've been together for almost eight years now. I love my group.
As to the reading experience, we all try harder to finish something we don't like. There was one that the whole group hated. They won't let me live down the fact that they managed to finish it and I couldn't. Believe me, I tried. It just wasn't meant to be.
Our most recent book was so poorly written that it made me gag. I've got another whole post about that, so stay tuned. One of the women described it as "Susan versus everyone else" and while I can't say that's not entirely true, it's not entirely false, either. I doubt I would have finished it if it weren't a book club choice, but the story was ... well-intentioned. The bones of it were there, and that part was ... okay. It was supposed to be about a woman, the title character. Instead, it was the story of her husband and his struggle to be a good husband. Okay, fine. I can deal. Just call it something else, will you? Of course, that ruins the theme of the series...
And yes, I'll shut up and smile when we read the third in this particular series. Hopefully, the author has taken more time and gotten the writing up to where it was in the first book. We'll see...
One note that the BTT question didn't address: Yes, I feel terrible when something I brought to the group is a total dog. But when I suggest something like Disobedience or A Day of Small Beginnings or A Thread of Grace (okay, a non-member suggested that one and I pushed for it), it's that much sweeter.
Labels: A Day of Small Beginnings, A Thread of Grace, Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, June 05, 2008
BTT: Trends
After a few weeks off with nothing to say about the question, Booking Through Thursday and I are back together.
Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?
Of course they've changed. I've changed.
Beyond that simple answer, though, is a bigger one: the Internet and, more specifically, online book trading and BookCrossing.
I've always had a hard time finding people who read the same stuff I do. Pittsburgh just scored very low on the scale of people who aren't sheep (or lemmings, take your pick), and so often, the people around me who read tend to pick up the latest Oprah book, or the latest Mary Higgins Clark or John Grisham... you get the point. The best sellers.
Once I began finding online book communities -- and am now building one of my own -- I'm finding myself exposed to so many genres, authors, books, and all the rest that it's mind-boggling. I mean, hey. The wishlist I maintain here at home has over 1400 books on it, and I've got a good thousand more to enter from my pre-online days. (mostly of the higher-brow variety, which is one reason I'm not super hard on the trail of those books)
It's refreshing to be involved with more than the literary set I was surrounded by during my grad school years. I like commercial fiction and have never made apologies about it. It's what I write.
And with the book trading sites and with the friends I've made with whom I pass books back and forth, I'm finding that I'm more open to new ideas, plots, genres, what have you.
Well, so long as it's fiction. Fiction has always been my true love; it's just the way I'm wired.
Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?
Of course they've changed. I've changed.
Beyond that simple answer, though, is a bigger one: the Internet and, more specifically, online book trading and BookCrossing.
I've always had a hard time finding people who read the same stuff I do. Pittsburgh just scored very low on the scale of people who aren't sheep (or lemmings, take your pick), and so often, the people around me who read tend to pick up the latest Oprah book, or the latest Mary Higgins Clark or John Grisham... you get the point. The best sellers.
Once I began finding online book communities -- and am now building one of my own -- I'm finding myself exposed to so many genres, authors, books, and all the rest that it's mind-boggling. I mean, hey. The wishlist I maintain here at home has over 1400 books on it, and I've got a good thousand more to enter from my pre-online days. (mostly of the higher-brow variety, which is one reason I'm not super hard on the trail of those books)
It's refreshing to be involved with more than the literary set I was surrounded by during my grad school years. I like commercial fiction and have never made apologies about it. It's what I write.
And with the book trading sites and with the friends I've made with whom I pass books back and forth, I'm finding that I'm more open to new ideas, plots, genres, what have you.
Well, so long as it's fiction. Fiction has always been my true love; it's just the way I'm wired.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, May 08, 2008
BTT: Manual Labor
Wow. This week's Booking Through Thursday is a stroll down memory lane...
Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?
Yeah, I've got them. They are leftover from my days as an MFA student and from my years as a freelance copyeditor. I looked for one of them a few weeks ago, but other than that, it's been years since I opened any of them or did more than run my eyes over where they sit on my shelves.
Like my ice hockey gear, the pots I threw during ceramics classes and various other things around the house -- the bottle of motor oil that was a promotional gift when Ministry was singing how Jesus Built My Hotrod -- these are now relics of a past life.
Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?
Yeah, I've got them. They are leftover from my days as an MFA student and from my years as a freelance copyeditor. I looked for one of them a few weeks ago, but other than that, it's been years since I opened any of them or did more than run my eyes over where they sit on my shelves.
Like my ice hockey gear, the pots I threw during ceramics classes and various other things around the house -- the bottle of motor oil that was a promotional gift when Ministry was singing how Jesus Built My Hotrod -- these are now relics of a past life.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, May 01, 2008
BTT: Mayday
Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….
Okay, so first off, I've always got a Publisher's Weekly or two stuffed beside the Tour Manager's seat in my car.
Secondly, I'm going to be like Karen and pretend that we can't do the obvious and hit up the bookstore in the airport. I mean, hello? This is West of Mars where I live, people. There are a bunch of bookstores in the airport and as much as it pains me to pay full retail when I've got (literally) hundreds of books on my TBR pile, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
So. PW is now boring. There are no bookstores. What do I do?
Well, I start talking to people, of course. People with books. Because if I can channel some Trevor magic the right way, I'll be able to convince them to cough up their book so I can read it. Yes, even if it means promising to mail the book back -- along with a few goodies from the aforementioned TBR mountain range.
Now, say that doesn't work. My local Martian airport has free WiFi, so what do I do now? You guessed it! Hijack someone else's computer! Now, this doesn't mean I grab their 'puter and put it on my lap and start surfing. Oh, no. We must be much more subtle about this and show them what a big, wide world of Book Bloggers it is. To do this, we take advantage of Dewey's first Weekly Geeks and show my poor victim five cool book blogs. Try these on for size: Chris at Bookarama. That's the Book. Book and Other Games. This Book is for You (who has the first online review of the new Jhumpa Lahiri I've seen yet). And Free Listens.
And Dudes, that's only FIVE great blogs to check out. Why, given half a chance, I could convince a total stranger that the best way to pass time in an airport is to surf book blogs!
But... let's come back down to Earth now and face up to the fact that I'm really not bold enough to try either of these Trevorish techniques.
Rather, I'd bemoan the fact that I don't have a Sony eReader and so I'd sit and ... write new outtakes in my head. Which probably makes all you groupies a lot happier than if I really did the above scenarios. But it's fun to think about! (and on the off chance you're not a groupie and don't get why you'd be happy to hear about outtakes, please come back more often and see for yourself the fun you're missing!).
By the way, if you came here via a direct link, be sure to check out the great giveaway I'm doing!
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….
Okay, so first off, I've always got a Publisher's Weekly or two stuffed beside the Tour Manager's seat in my car.
Secondly, I'm going to be like Karen and pretend that we can't do the obvious and hit up the bookstore in the airport. I mean, hello? This is West of Mars where I live, people. There are a bunch of bookstores in the airport and as much as it pains me to pay full retail when I've got (literally) hundreds of books on my TBR pile, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
So. PW is now boring. There are no bookstores. What do I do?
Well, I start talking to people, of course. People with books. Because if I can channel some Trevor magic the right way, I'll be able to convince them to cough up their book so I can read it. Yes, even if it means promising to mail the book back -- along with a few goodies from the aforementioned TBR mountain range.
Now, say that doesn't work. My local Martian airport has free WiFi, so what do I do now? You guessed it! Hijack someone else's computer! Now, this doesn't mean I grab their 'puter and put it on my lap and start surfing. Oh, no. We must be much more subtle about this and show them what a big, wide world of Book Bloggers it is. To do this, we take advantage of Dewey's first Weekly Geeks and show my poor victim five cool book blogs. Try these on for size: Chris at Bookarama. That's the Book. Book and Other Games. This Book is for You (who has the first online review of the new Jhumpa Lahiri I've seen yet). And Free Listens.
And Dudes, that's only FIVE great blogs to check out. Why, given half a chance, I could convince a total stranger that the best way to pass time in an airport is to surf book blogs!
But... let's come back down to Earth now and face up to the fact that I'm really not bold enough to try either of these Trevorish techniques.
Rather, I'd bemoan the fact that I don't have a Sony eReader and so I'd sit and ... write new outtakes in my head. Which probably makes all you groupies a lot happier than if I really did the above scenarios. But it's fun to think about! (and on the off chance you're not a groupie and don't get why you'd be happy to hear about outtakes, please come back more often and see for yourself the fun you're missing!).
By the way, if you came here via a direct link, be sure to check out the great giveaway I'm doing!
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, April 24, 2008
BTT: Springing
I'm not sure I get this week's Booking Through Thursday:
Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?
Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?
I just brought home another 30 or so books from the RT Convention, not to mention all the free excerpts (a marketing tool I HIGHLY recommend!).
At this point, I've got so much to be read that I'm trying frantically to not drown in all the books. You can see a concerted effort on my part below, or here, if you have to click to it.
I don't get what the change of seasons has to do with what we read. I'd better check out what you guys all have to say. As for gardening books, I thought you were supposed to read those in the winter, as you draw up your plans?
I also have lots to give away in the upcoming weeks/months. Stay tuned for those!
Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?
Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?
I just brought home another 30 or so books from the RT Convention, not to mention all the free excerpts (a marketing tool I HIGHLY recommend!).
At this point, I've got so much to be read that I'm trying frantically to not drown in all the books. You can see a concerted effort on my part below, or here, if you have to click to it.
I don't get what the change of seasons has to do with what we read. I'd better check out what you guys all have to say. As for gardening books, I thought you were supposed to read those in the winter, as you draw up your plans?
I also have lots to give away in the upcoming weeks/months. Stay tuned for those!
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, April 03, 2008
BTT: Lit-Ra-Chur
OMG, I'm howling. This week's Booking Through Thursday is just perfect. I may sound a bit like Trevor here, but go figure. Maybe there's more of him in me than I'm usually willing to own up to.
* When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
* Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?
Okay, I've gotta come clean here, although You Who Know Me Well already know this.
When I hear the word literature, I gag. Seriously.
I have not one, but two degrees in English. I've managed to avoid reading most of what we'd call literature -- Hemingway, Virgina Woolf... all that stuff. When I read Moby Dick in eleventh grade, the teacher called my mom and claimed that I wasn't reading it. I was failing every quiz, the teacher said. My mom didn't understand it; I was sitting right there beside her, reading as she talked.
I read that entire novel and didn't retain a damn word of it. In the eyes, out the ... who knows what. But those words sure didn't compute.
And now, in this day of highbrow stuff that wins awards, I've learned. Life of Pi? Forget it. History of Love? My book club read it; I quit on page 20. Not good when you're the discussion leader... but really.
Now, I do like Shakespeare's comedies. I loved reading Gulliver's Travels as part of my satire class in undergrad. So there are exceptions to the gagging.
And yeah, you can argue that Neuromancer and Ender's Game and The Handmaid's Tale are all classics. Interview with the Vampire. Bright Lights, Big City.
But those aren't books that take themselves so pretentiously.
And for me, that's it. I want a book I can sink into. If it makes me think, that's a bonus. But save me the highbrow attitudes, the pathetic old men, the philosophy vaguely designed as fiction.
You can say I lately read -- and loved -- some literature in the guise of A Day of Small Beginnings and A Thread of Grace. Okay, I'll buy that. Those WERE good books and I'll rave about them any day. It comes down to this:
I may not want action, but I want characters I can love, not loathe. I want to fall in love with a book and the people in it and the situations they find themselves in. I don't want to meditate; that's what the elliptical at the gym is for.
Commercial fiction all the way, baby. I read it and dammit, I'm proud to write it, too.
* When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
* Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?
Okay, I've gotta come clean here, although You Who Know Me Well already know this.
When I hear the word literature, I gag. Seriously.
I have not one, but two degrees in English. I've managed to avoid reading most of what we'd call literature -- Hemingway, Virgina Woolf... all that stuff. When I read Moby Dick in eleventh grade, the teacher called my mom and claimed that I wasn't reading it. I was failing every quiz, the teacher said. My mom didn't understand it; I was sitting right there beside her, reading as she talked.
I read that entire novel and didn't retain a damn word of it. In the eyes, out the ... who knows what. But those words sure didn't compute.
And now, in this day of highbrow stuff that wins awards, I've learned. Life of Pi? Forget it. History of Love? My book club read it; I quit on page 20. Not good when you're the discussion leader... but really.
Now, I do like Shakespeare's comedies. I loved reading Gulliver's Travels as part of my satire class in undergrad. So there are exceptions to the gagging.
And yeah, you can argue that Neuromancer and Ender's Game and The Handmaid's Tale are all classics. Interview with the Vampire. Bright Lights, Big City.
But those aren't books that take themselves so pretentiously.
And for me, that's it. I want a book I can sink into. If it makes me think, that's a bonus. But save me the highbrow attitudes, the pathetic old men, the philosophy vaguely designed as fiction.
You can say I lately read -- and loved -- some literature in the guise of A Day of Small Beginnings and A Thread of Grace. Okay, I'll buy that. Those WERE good books and I'll rave about them any day. It comes down to this:
I may not want action, but I want characters I can love, not loathe. I want to fall in love with a book and the people in it and the situations they find themselves in. I don't want to meditate; that's what the elliptical at the gym is for.
Commercial fiction all the way, baby. I read it and dammit, I'm proud to write it, too.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, March 27, 2008
BTT: Cover Up
At first, this week's Booking Through Thursday made me think it was too close in topic to the one called Format, from back in February. Which wasn't that long ago.
Here's this week's question: While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?
The Format question was all about what we'd want in our library. This week's question is all about what we like to read.
My answer is pretty much the same, in terms of trade paper versus mass market:
1. The new mass market size sucks.
2. I like trade paper best of all three formats.
3. More e-books should be available in print.
4. The new mass market size STILL sucks.
As for font... like I care. Don't print in wing dings, okay? Make it legible. I'm happy.
Illustrations? Well, okay. The Tour Manager bought me an illustrated novel for my birthday (you confused Thirteeners didn't read carefully enough!). The draw there is the artist, not the fact that it's a novel.
Now, clearly, a graphic novel needs to have appealing artwork. Incredible, even. *coughJoannSfarcough* But a novel? A fiction novel? *snicker at the idea of "fiction novel" being a novel concept and not redundant as hell*
Puh-leeze.
That leaves cover art. I don't think I've ever picked up a book because of its art. I might have when I was younger. I'm a lot more jaded now, sad to say.
However, if I pick up a book with ugly cover art, or something I maybe don't want my not-jaded kids to see, I do wish for something to cover up that cover art. Like one of those quilted book covers that, ordinarily, I'm just too cool for.
Here's this week's question: While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?
The Format question was all about what we'd want in our library. This week's question is all about what we like to read.
My answer is pretty much the same, in terms of trade paper versus mass market:
1. The new mass market size sucks.
2. I like trade paper best of all three formats.
3. More e-books should be available in print.
4. The new mass market size STILL sucks.
As for font... like I care. Don't print in wing dings, okay? Make it legible. I'm happy.
Illustrations? Well, okay. The Tour Manager bought me an illustrated novel for my birthday (you confused Thirteeners didn't read carefully enough!). The draw there is the artist, not the fact that it's a novel.
Now, clearly, a graphic novel needs to have appealing artwork. Incredible, even. *coughJoannSfarcough* But a novel? A fiction novel? *snicker at the idea of "fiction novel" being a novel concept and not redundant as hell*
Puh-leeze.
That leaves cover art. I don't think I've ever picked up a book because of its art. I might have when I was younger. I'm a lot more jaded now, sad to say.
However, if I pick up a book with ugly cover art, or something I maybe don't want my not-jaded kids to see, I do wish for something to cover up that cover art. Like one of those quilted book covers that, ordinarily, I'm just too cool for.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, March 20, 2008
BTT: The End
You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?
Well, I usually close the book first...
And from there, it depends. If it's before bed, I'll put the book on my desk and deal with it the next day. If it's not, I'll journal it at BookCrossing and then decide what to do with it: send it as a gift to a BookCrosser who has it on their wish list, give it to Mom or a friend, or register it at the book trading sites I use.
So that's the mechanical, ending-the-book stuff.
As for picking up the next one, that also depends. If it was an extraordinary read, I won't want to read anything for a bit. That means hours or until the next day, at the most. If not, I peruse my list of what's been here the longest, pick something that sounds different from what I just finished, and am off and running again.
Because, you know, I have WAY too many books here, waiting to be read. I'll never get caught up and onto some of the stuff you guys blog about if I don't keep on reading.
Well, I usually close the book first...
And from there, it depends. If it's before bed, I'll put the book on my desk and deal with it the next day. If it's not, I'll journal it at BookCrossing and then decide what to do with it: send it as a gift to a BookCrosser who has it on their wish list, give it to Mom or a friend, or register it at the book trading sites I use.
So that's the mechanical, ending-the-book stuff.
As for picking up the next one, that also depends. If it was an extraordinary read, I won't want to read anything for a bit. That means hours or until the next day, at the most. If not, I peruse my list of what's been here the longest, pick something that sounds different from what I just finished, and am off and running again.
Because, you know, I have WAY too many books here, waiting to be read. I'll never get caught up and onto some of the stuff you guys blog about if I don't keep on reading.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, March 13, 2008
BTT: Playing Editor
Come on... how can I resist??
This week's Booking Through Thursday question:
How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________.
First blank: Insert Trevor's Song.
Second blank: you can read it yourself.
Now, to edit the question and put it together:
Trevor's Song IS a much better book WHEN you can read it yourself.
Trevor himself didn't need to prompt me with this one. In fact, he's giving me a satisfied nod right now. I'd better get him an ash tray before he ruins my carpet, though...
Psst! Stay tuned for a special something for you guys. As soon as we get the wonky code to behave, I've got a present to share.
This week's Booking Through Thursday question:
How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________.
First blank: Insert Trevor's Song.
Second blank: you can read it yourself.
Now, to edit the question and put it together:
Trevor's Song IS a much better book WHEN you can read it yourself.
Trevor himself didn't need to prompt me with this one. In fact, he's giving me a satisfied nod right now. I'd better get him an ash tray before he ruins my carpet, though...
Psst! Stay tuned for a special something for you guys. As soon as we get the wonky code to behave, I've got a present to share.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, March 06, 2008
BTT: Hero?
Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?
So asks this week's Booking Through Thursday.
And you know what? I don't relate to the men in fiction the way I relate to the women. Maybe it's because I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
There are lots of great men out there in fiction, too. Marcia Muller's Hy Ripinski comes to mind. Lestat did great things to my teenage mind, but Brad Pitt topped that in the movie. (I know! Have you ever heard me say such a thing before?)
Good men are made greater by the women around them. I swear it. Go on. Name some great fictional men and look for their women. Jamie Fraser? He's got Claire. Mr. Darcy? He's got what's-her-name (Hey, I have yet to read Austen). Max and Sebastien have Victoria. Huck Finn? Becky Thatcher.
My latest review, St. Barts Breakdown has two: the memory of Ginny for Mick Sever and Danny Murtz's personal assistant, Nancy. Murtz is a heck of a great male character; you should enter the contest if there's still time and you haven't done so yet.
Even my own Mitchell Voss has the unstoppable Kerri. And Trevor? He's got a horde of women, many of whom are reading this very post and possibly blushing...
Maybe Beowulf doesn't have a good woman around. Then again, I don't think Beowulf showered. That might have something to do with it.
So asks this week's Booking Through Thursday.
And you know what? I don't relate to the men in fiction the way I relate to the women. Maybe it's because I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
There are lots of great men out there in fiction, too. Marcia Muller's Hy Ripinski comes to mind. Lestat did great things to my teenage mind, but Brad Pitt topped that in the movie. (I know! Have you ever heard me say such a thing before?)
Good men are made greater by the women around them. I swear it. Go on. Name some great fictional men and look for their women. Jamie Fraser? He's got Claire. Mr. Darcy? He's got what's-her-name (Hey, I have yet to read Austen). Max and Sebastien have Victoria. Huck Finn? Becky Thatcher.
My latest review, St. Barts Breakdown has two: the memory of Ginny for Mick Sever and Danny Murtz's personal assistant, Nancy. Murtz is a heck of a great male character; you should enter the contest if there's still time and you haven't done so yet.
Even my own Mitchell Voss has the unstoppable Kerri. And Trevor? He's got a horde of women, many of whom are reading this very post and possibly blushing...
Maybe Beowulf doesn't have a good woman around. Then again, I don't think Beowulf showered. That might have something to do with it.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books, St. Barts Breakdown
Thursday, February 28, 2008
BTT: Heroine
Okay, folks. Quick grammar lesson here: When there's an E at the end of the word, we ain't talking street drugs. Okay?
I had a few students back in my college instructor days who struggled with that. Sort of like breath/breathe.
Now, to the question at hand, compliments of Booking Through Thursday:
Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)
The first one who came to mind was, of course, my own Kerri Voss. Follow the link in her name back to her character sketch page. At the bottom of the page, you'll see links to outtakes in which she's appeared. Check her out. Kerri's cool.
Maybe, if you ask nicely, I'll write more outtakes featuring her.
As for what's already in fiction, my immediate answer was Lessa. Yes, that's right. From the Dragonriders of Pern series. She's got many of the same qualities that Kerri's got and is darn cool. I was always sorry we didn't see more of her. She seemed to always be overshadowed by the men in those books.
Other great women... wow, there are a lot of them, and we can generally thank the mystery writers for them. Alex Cooper. Sharon McCone. I think mystery and Science Fiction/Fantasy brought us great heroines before general fiction did.
Althea. Oh, yeah. I really dug her and was sorry that trilogy ended. Not to mention I was very sorry when the scene shifted and she wasn't in it.
And, of course, no list would be complete without Scarlett O'Hara. Gotta love Scarlett.
Notice anything about all these women? Yup, they all face problems, some on a daily basis and some not. But they all find ways to be strong, to overcome, and to win in the end.
I know. You're shocked I don't do the victim thing.
I had a few students back in my college instructor days who struggled with that. Sort of like breath/breathe.
Now, to the question at hand, compliments of Booking Through Thursday:
Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)
The first one who came to mind was, of course, my own Kerri Voss. Follow the link in her name back to her character sketch page. At the bottom of the page, you'll see links to outtakes in which she's appeared. Check her out. Kerri's cool.
Maybe, if you ask nicely, I'll write more outtakes featuring her.
As for what's already in fiction, my immediate answer was Lessa. Yes, that's right. From the Dragonriders of Pern series. She's got many of the same qualities that Kerri's got and is darn cool. I was always sorry we didn't see more of her. She seemed to always be overshadowed by the men in those books.
Other great women... wow, there are a lot of them, and we can generally thank the mystery writers for them. Alex Cooper. Sharon McCone. I think mystery and Science Fiction/Fantasy brought us great heroines before general fiction did.
Althea. Oh, yeah. I really dug her and was sorry that trilogy ended. Not to mention I was very sorry when the scene shifted and she wasn't in it.
And, of course, no list would be complete without Scarlett O'Hara. Gotta love Scarlett.
Notice anything about all these women? Yup, they all face problems, some on a daily basis and some not. But they all find ways to be strong, to overcome, and to win in the end.
I know. You're shocked I don't do the victim thing.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday
Thursday, February 21, 2008
BTT: Format
Once again, I spent a good chunk of my Thursday (especially since I'm locked out of the Thursday Thirteen hub by some DNS problems) pondering today's Booking Through Thursday.
All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?
In my library, huh?
Honestly, I don't care.
No, not true. To put in my library, I want hardbacks. They look good, although the lack of standardized sizing makes them hard to pile books on top of.
Now, to expand on the question and take it beyond its borders, to read, I like trade-sized paperbacks. I just like them. I like the size, I like the way they fit in my hand, I like that they aren't too heavy like hardbacks can be, I like that they stay open in my lap. I especially like that they aren't the goofy new mass market size that costs a few bucks more for a few inches taller. Bite the bullet; put them in trade size, people!
And finally... many authors dream of being published in hardback. For them, it's a prize to be won. But to be honest, I buy very few hardbacks. I don't like to spend that much money on a new hardback. Not when I can have more books for the same amount. Heck, I went to a book signing about a year ago and spent $50 and came home with ... two books. TWO.
Me, I want to be published in Trade Paperback. Given my choice -- and let's face it, unless I self-publish, I won't have a choice -- I'll pick that size.
But ultimately, what format doesn't matter. What matters is the experience I have reading it. A great book is a great book and ... yeah, I gotta say it. Size doesn't matter.
All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?
In my library, huh?
Honestly, I don't care.
No, not true. To put in my library, I want hardbacks. They look good, although the lack of standardized sizing makes them hard to pile books on top of.
Now, to expand on the question and take it beyond its borders, to read, I like trade-sized paperbacks. I just like them. I like the size, I like the way they fit in my hand, I like that they aren't too heavy like hardbacks can be, I like that they stay open in my lap. I especially like that they aren't the goofy new mass market size that costs a few bucks more for a few inches taller. Bite the bullet; put them in trade size, people!
And finally... many authors dream of being published in hardback. For them, it's a prize to be won. But to be honest, I buy very few hardbacks. I don't like to spend that much money on a new hardback. Not when I can have more books for the same amount. Heck, I went to a book signing about a year ago and spent $50 and came home with ... two books. TWO.
Me, I want to be published in Trade Paperback. Given my choice -- and let's face it, unless I self-publish, I won't have a choice -- I'll pick that size.
But ultimately, what format doesn't matter. What matters is the experience I have reading it. A great book is a great book and ... yeah, I gotta say it. Size doesn't matter.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Booking Through Thursday: After the Honeymoon
Whoa. I don't like saying not nice things about books or authors here. I want you all to think I'm not this perpetually grumpy woman, you know. (I really am. Ask my kids!)
Here's the BTT question:
Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?
Yes, of course. And there are some authors who have multiple series, but I'll only read one of them. Janet Evanovich. Sharyn McCrumb. Anne McCaffrey (and now Todd, too.)
But on a happier note, I think that falling out of love with an author is a good thing. It means that there's now room on your TBR for new authors and new discoveries.
Yes, that gives you a bit of a fickle air, but given the sheer number of books published these days, I prefer to think of it as an opportunity gained.
Come back over the weekend, so I can rave about one of those opportunities that have been gained. Boy, did I finish a doozy of a read! A real shayna maidel, to borrow the Yiddish phrase.
Here's the BTT question:
Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?
Yes, of course. And there are some authors who have multiple series, but I'll only read one of them. Janet Evanovich. Sharyn McCrumb. Anne McCaffrey (and now Todd, too.)
But on a happier note, I think that falling out of love with an author is a good thing. It means that there's now room on your TBR for new authors and new discoveries.
Yes, that gives you a bit of a fickle air, but given the sheer number of books published these days, I prefer to think of it as an opportunity gained.
Come back over the weekend, so I can rave about one of those opportunities that have been gained. Boy, did I finish a doozy of a read! A real shayna maidel, to borrow the Yiddish phrase.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books
