Monday, May 18, 2009

Yes I have read some good books lately

I originally made a decision not to make specific book recommendations largely because I don't want to portray myself as any kind of authority but one of my family members told me lately that if for nothing else than the sheer number of books I devour in a weeks time I have something to say, specifically, about the books I have read. (disclaimer: I do not have any personal/professional/monetary/etc. ties to any of these authors, their publishing houses, distributors...well you get the idea)
I am, remember, an on-line bookseller but I am not mentioning any of these books in the hopes of selling my used copy:):):) A lot of them are being recycled through my daughters hands and by the time they've finished, believe me, noone would buy these books. For a fun few hours, read any of these books....oops..gotta go, I've got a book calling to me!
  1. A Veiled Deception (Annette Blair). Not a literary masterpiece by any means but it kept my attention throughout and I am hoping that the author decides to make it into a series. Heroine Madeira, a dress designer extraordinaire and vintage clothing designer, returns home for her youngest sister's wedding. Murder, long buried passions, delicious clothing and a fun relationship follow. Why do I like this book? The main character is likeable, the secondary characters are fun, the locale is real and who wouldn't want a closet full of valuable vintage clothing, a loving family and a hot FBI agent at her side. And yes there are a couple of ghosts thrown into the mix.
  2. Stephanie Bond's Body series.....there are 6 of them (five have been published, the 6 is scheduled for June). It took several tries to read the first in the series for some reason. I actually purchased 2 & 3 and skimmed their first pages. Heroine Carlotta Wren and her con man brother initially come across as unlikeable and totally self-serving initally. Get beyond that and enjoy the rest. Warning.....at some point you may find yourself wondering how much **** two people can get themselves into!
  3. Love Mercy by Earlene Fowler. All about coming to terms with what you have and then finding out there are always new options and relationships to explore.
  4. Nearly anything by Barbara Michaels or Elizabeth Peters. Actually they are the same person writing in two different genres. Warning....some of Barbara Michaels' books will require sleeping with the light on for a few nights (Ammie Come Home, the Crying Child)
  5. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books are a hoot...there's a new one coming out in a few weeks
  6. Donna Andrews' Meg Lansglow series. All I can say is wear waterproof mascara....I have never read one of these books without screams and tears of laughter. I not only want to have Meg's life, Ms. Andrews is one of those authors whose talent I lust after!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Books in a series and other offerings of my brain

In reading my posts to date I realized that what I am putting together is not so much a list of good books or a list of reviews of books or really any kind of list or recommendations. I am really thinking through my fingers and the keyboard of my computer about what, for me, makes a book good and what features I look for in a good or great book. Whether this is helpful for anyone else I don't know but I do know that I frequently will put down a book and think 'wow, why can't I put words together like so and so does?' I certainly know all of the words this author used in this book....why can't I do this? I have tried and believe me the results were not print worthy at all.

So here is a list (not all inclusive by any means) of some of my least favorite things to discover in a book. Most of these items refer to fairly well established book series, generally not 'one-offs' or standalone titles. I have abandoned book series that I have invested a lot of time reading for some or all of these reasons. I generally have anywhere from 40 to 100 books to be read scattered on my nightstand, on the floor on my side of the bed, next to my favorite chair, on my desk, in my purse, and a pile on my actual to be read bookshelf so I can be picky about what I choose to read and quickly cull out those books either being returned quickly to the library or going directly to my recycle/sale shelf.
  1. The big tease. By this I refer to authors who design a certain back story for their character/characters and rather than resolving an issue in this back story, continue to walk the reader to the brink in the last chapter, time and time again, only to take a step back (often within the last few lines) and in essence tell the reader "gotcha again, not this time, maybe I'll resolve this in the next book....but who knows, maybe not." This is number one on my list because the book I'm reading now is one of those....Romantic suspense writers are bad at this....will she won't she?
  2. Genre books that all jump on the same thematic bandwagon (I covered this in an earlier post so I won't elaborate.) Just a further thought....Be original.
  3. Authors who fall into the trap of using 10 word descriptions when one or two would do. This is becoming more and more commonplace. Instead of calling a character by their name (and really when you've read 3 or 4 books in a series, the character's name is pretty easy to recall), some authors will seem to shy away from using a name and start describing them.... Mary Jones becomes 'the pretty dark haired librarian'. Or Sally Smith will become 'the vivacious blond candy maker'. We readers know the characters' names, why is it so hard for their creators to use them?
  4. Likewise, there is a segment of writers (and this is as true in stand-alones as in series but it is a major peeve of mine) who have their main character use (over and over and over) expressions such as okaaaaay, or puhleeeeeze, or reeeally. The list goes on and on. For me this doesn't make the character seem real or relevant it makes them seem stupid.
  5. Rewriting history. This is probably most common in a book series that was originally intended to be a one off and due to popularity becomes a series. Authors, please go back and read your first book and don't make your character, originally a red-headed photographers assistant from Keokuk now a sultry brunette from Baton Rouge. Really disrupts the flow!
  6. I am a creature of habit...I like to find a good book series, watch the characters grow and develop within themselves as well as grow with the other characters in the book. I absolutely hate authors who apparently get so bored with their creations that they start killing off major players 6 or 7 books into the storyline or encourage their characters to act in a manner completely foreign to their nature. Now I completely understand that authors conceive and bring forth their characters as a labor of love and completely own their lives but why kill off a deeply loved significant other or some such other nonsense?

Friday, May 15, 2009

Great book/ok movie; so-so book/great movie

I did something this morning I have never done before in my life.....as you probably know Angels and Demons premiered at midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. While I didn't feel like staying up till after three in the morning for the premiere I did want to see the movie and didn't particularly want to fight the Friday night 'date night' crowd or sit in a theatre filled with teenagers trying to act cool. So I bought advance tickets for my oldest daughter, youngest son and myself. All three of us had read DaVinci Code (didn't everybody?) and we all saw the movie the weekend it premiered. We were also all in agreement that it was a great book and an okay movie...not bad not great but a movie that contained the kernel of a great movie but some how it missed. Whether the movie's ultimate disappointment was due to including too much of Dan Brown's book, careless editing, poor casting or a combination of these problems and just plain too much advance hype, the movie (in our opinions) suffered greatly in comparison with the original book. Personally I think it had something to do with Tom Hank's terrible haircut!

Angels and Demons however is a completely different story. I made a valiant effort to read the book, picking it up and putting it down at least half a dozen times and never finished it. My oldest daughter (probably the last in the family to actually read DaVinci) devoured Angels and designed a count-down calendar on her computer to the movie release date. So the three of us set our alarms, got to the theatre about 9:30a.m., DID NOT buy popcorn (we smuggled McDonald's biscuits and sodas in with us) and endured about 50 minutes of pre-movie advertisements and previews. Although I nearly fell asleep a couple of times, once the movie began I was literally on the edge of my seat. I don't know what the difference was....maybe Ron Howard (I always loved Opie), Brian Glazer and Tom Hanks actually took the time to sit in a screening room and analyze their errors in DaVinci, frame by frame...maybe because I hadn't read the book and had no frame of reference, maybe watching a movie at 10:30 in the morning is better than watching one at nearly midnite (when I saw DaVinci). I don't know but they certainly got this one right. From my daughter's comments, a lot of Dan Brown's transitional and descriptive pages were excluded...there was very little back story....Angels starts with a splash and doesn't stop for nearly three hours. I was exhausted by the time the lights came on and can't wait to go back for a second viewing.

I know a lot of people are going to complain that Robert Langdon solved the puzzles too easily or there were too many places where the viewer is asked to suspend reality or they don't like the leading lady (a lovely actress in my opinion) or there is too much religion or....on and on. But don't all movies and a lot of books ask us to suspend reality? If you are looking for a way to entertain yourself for 3 hours, consider Angels and Demons. It is well worth the price of a ticket, and even more worth the price of a ticket if you can, like we did get into the early bird special for $6/ticket.

And since my blog is about books, good books and what makes a book good, ask yourself how a great read can be an okay book but an okay book can be a great movie? Happy reading, happy viewing.


Monday, May 11, 2009

Books at the library and books at the post office

  • What do the library and the post office have to do with books and with each other? Okay the library is obvious but the post office? I am an on-line book-seller and bookswapper so I spend a lot of time either at the post office mailing books or buying stamps. Today I had to visit the post office to find out how badly the new postage rates are going to affect my little on-line business. I had two books to mail (normally it would cost $4.46 for the two; today it cost $4.76, an increase of 15 cents/book. Most of my on-line inventory consists of gently read paperback books I recycle and after postage and other costs I net about 50 cents/book. The increase in postage (if I leave my pricing structure alone) lowers my profit to 35 cents/book. After several hours of back and forth I decided to reprice my inventory, adding the 15 cents to the price of each of my books which in turn will no doubt lower my overall sales as the average on-line used bookshopper is looking for the cheapest price not the best quality (which I provide). The other impact on my business will take a while longer to see. I will be reviewing my entire inventory and undoubtedly will have to switch the lower third to half of my for-sale inventory to swap inventory lowering my overall bottom line.
  • Today's library experience was totally positive. I had books on reserve ready for quick pick up. The books were ready and noone was ahead of me in line. And one of my favorite librarians was working. Our local library system is rated as one of the best in the United States and I confess that I don't utilize the library resources as much as I could. Rather than browse the stacks and maybe find an undiscovered gem I take the lazy woman's way out and just request new titles (nearly always mysteries of course). So I 'haunt' the online services (Stopyourekillingme.com, cluelass.com, amazon.com) and the various author tracker services for the latest from my favorite authors. Occasionally I find a new author to try and these finds are exciting for a reader like me. I also hear once in a while from different authors announcing new books or upcoming book tours.
  • Not a lot today about actual reading...but for you who are looking for book suggestions I do recommend that you can use some of these online sights for new reading ideas. And if you, like me, are trying to minimize your book buying budget, get your lists together and find out whether your local library system has an online reserve/request system. It is possible to set up your book wish list and reserve everything you want without even changing out of your pajamas!
Gotta go find a new book to read.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day (read a good book for, with or to your Mom today)

My wishes go out to everyone, everywhere who is a Mom by birth, adoption, or circumstances....maybe you are an aunt, an uncle, a best friend, a sister or a grandparent who has taken on the role of Mom to a child. I think a lot about the role of Mom-dom these days as my oldest son is getting married in two weeks. I rejoice in his happiness and wish only the best for my son and his lady love but mourn a bit the loss of my role as the most important woman in his world....but I am happy to share that title with his fiancee, as long as once in a while he turns back the clock for a few minutes and I can selfishly be, once again, the only one! My mom, unfortunately, requires skilled nursing care round the clock and has been in a nursing facility for the last few years. We nearly lost her in January and while we can no longer share a day at the Mall or in idle gossip, I do wish her a Happy Mother's Day and thank her for her patience, love, and understanding.

On to the topic of books.....I'm reading my 4th serial killer book of the weekend and remember how I talked earlier about trends in the cozy mystery genre? (this ties in to Mother's Day as well) The last 2 books have been about an apparently non-regulated industry--fertility clinics....maybe this is in response to the furor about Octo-Mom and maybe just coincidence. The first book was about a tycoon's desperate search for any children of his college sperm donation....he needs a liver lobe donation. Trust me when I say that being one of his 'donor offspring' quickly became a quick ticket to the morgue. The book I'm now halfway through is a missing persons whodunit surrounding a young girl's search to find her unknown donor father...roughly a third of the way into the book the female 'donor offspring' are starting to disappear for yet unknown reasons. Both are good books and thoroughly enjoyable.

Yes I had a great Mother's Day. My four offspring took me to lunch, my soon to be married son provided a beautiful bouquet, my youngest son and his puppy painted me one of their Jackson Pollack type of canvases, my oldest daughter made me a scrapbook and my youngest daughter just brought in 2 boxes of chocolate....

Go read a good book and give your Mom a kiss!





Saturday, May 9, 2009

Serial Killers and other Monsters

I just can't decide why I enjoy certain books....I am particularly fond of mysteries (just ask my long suffering children who have grown up tripping over stacks of books, endured endless hours in the library, the bookstores, watching me search online for the latest and greatest). But even I, mystery fiend that I am, have certain requirements. Despite the fact that I have an advanced degree in History with a dual concentration in American Colonial and British History, I absolutely hate loathe and despise British mysteries. Say all you will about the wonders of Agatha Christie...Ms. Marple and Mr. Poirot bore me to point of lunacy. Sherlock Holmes? Never. I thought maybe it was just the time period ...nope I hate current British mysteries, I hate historical British mysteries....the one glaring exception to this is the astonishingly hilarious world created by Elizabeth Peters and Radcliffe and Amelia Peabody/Emerson. Maybe because they don't actually live in England except during Egypt's off season for archeological digs??

Anyway I just wandered off the point...something I am prone to do. Requirements for a good mystery.
  • No English mysteries (except Amelia and her brood)
  • No historical mysteries (I made one exception to this rule, got totally involved in the series and it abruptly ended...so I guess that shows me)
  • No true crime...I can't stand the thought of anyone actually eviscerating someone else which makes me wonder why I like serial killer books?
  • I used to prefer female leads, but once I discovered Elvis Cole and Harry Bosch, Alex Delaware, Jesse Stone....well you get the picture....I relaxed this rule
  • Cozy mysteries used to fill my nightstand but I am rapidly growing annoyed with the cozy genre authors. They seem to be trend driven (lately all of the new cozy series have a craft theme) Not that I have any objection to crafters...When I'm not immersed in a stack of books I scrapbook, crochet, bead and alter books just like any other middle aged, middle American mom. I guess my big complaint with the cozy genre is that a lot of them go something like this. Somebody is killed in the heroine's general vicinity (usually someone the woman never met, doesn't know and has very little reason to really care about). The police come and interview the heroine (usually a very good-looking policeman). For some reason the intrepid heroine doesn't think the policeman is either a) very smart despite their overwhelming good looks or b) our heroine is just plain bored and decides to investigate the murder of a total stranger to the detriment of her business, her safety and in the face of the disapproval of some of her circle of friends. But then there is always her little band of Baker Street Irregular wannabes who egg her on and then Ms. Heroine starts running around asking annoying questions of everyone she meets until she stumbles upon the villain (usually involving the reader in some sort of unbelievable moment of peril until she is rescued by the above mentioned good looking policeman and either goes happily home with him if this is a single book or if intended as a seres, the heroine goes home with him promising not to ever get involved again in a crime (until the next total stranger gets murdered in front of her) or throws a snappy come-back at Mr. Policeman and fully intends to never see him again (until the next total stranger is murdered in front of her)
  • I like a book with a sense of humor and an author who can combine real sounding dialogue, a sound plot and characters the reader would like to meet in real life.
  • A bit of romance is okay....I have actually strayed into the romantic suspense section of the local bookstore more than one time. I just stay away from the bodice rippers.
  • I realized a long time ago that there also has to be some sort of visual impact about the book cover/jacket. I am absolutely certain that I have passed up books that were terrific because I didn't like the primary color of the cover or hated the artwork in some way.
  • This brings me, finally, to the topic of this post. Serial Killers and other Monsters. I have discovered a love within my reader's soul for books combining gorgeous female FBI profilers or tomboy cops butting heads with and investigating serial killers alongside dashingly handsome (and of course renegade) Private Investigators (most of whom used to be FBI or Secret Service). One of the main characters is usually filthy rich and has all of these fascinating toys to play with (their own jet, a fantabulous computer set up capable of tracking the tiniest movement of the tiniest of little ants) Are these books as formula driven as the cozies? Of course they are....but give me a nasty evil horrifying depraved serial killer (with a catchy media name) over a cozy killer anyday. I am so glad that reading lists aren't a matter of public record....I'd be in big trouble:):):):):)
My point is that reading choices are as individual as snowflakes.....I have always tried to instill a love of reading in my children....always telling them I don't care WHAT you read as long as you read something. Of course now that they're grown and can drive themselves to the bookstore, maybe I need to amend that statement slightly to read anything as long as it's legal and you wouldn't be too embarassed for Mom to see it as well.

This has turned into more of a treatise than a post. I need to go check the shelves and find a new renegade FBI agent/female investigator duo to read about. And I have some scrapbooks to finish--with a nod to the cozy genre.

If you're more into running than reading, check out theseshoesweremadeforrunning.blogspot.com and follow our journey to the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in April.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

First thoughts and a thank you to my Mom

I have been a reader of, lover of, collector of, and admirer of books, good books, since I learned to read my first word which just happened to be "look". I remember the pure joy with which I shared my new found education with my mother. She happened to be standing in our kitchen getting ready to prepare what most certainly was one of the many delicious meals that our family ate. What does this have to do with reading? Probably not a lot but in hindsight I realize that part of my abiding love for reading grew from Mom's response. She was a busy lady...my younger sister was a colicky baby with a lot of health problems and I am certain that Mom had better things to do on that rainy afternoon in a late fall day in Wisconsin than to stop, put aside everything else and concentrate on one wildly excited and highly educated little girl. But she did put aside everything else and give my announcement of "Mommy I can read, Mommy I can read....look, look, look" her full and undivided attention. This moment was important to me so it was important to her. To this day, the act of reading is somehow connected to the love of my mother and her pride in me and all of my accomplishments....it didn't matter to her if I learned one word that day or a thousand. So in this my first ever blog, I want to say Thank You Mom for shutting the refrigerator, turning off the oven, tuning out the colicky baby, not answering the phone and giving me your love. "Mommy, I can read." In other posts I will ponder on the question of what makes a good book, why certain authors can assemble words in a fashion that puts a reader to sleep and other authors can use the same words and create a world within their work that invites readers in, enthralls them, and makes them reluctant to leave when it is time to turn the light off and go to bed.