Sunday, January 22, 2012

Holy Moley!

Argh. It's been 11 days since I posted anything.  Here's what happened. I started reading this book called Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto.  I really wanted to like it because it was published by a local publishing company.  Obviously, that didn't happen.  It was a struggle for me to get a third of the way through before I gave up.  I was very bored by the story and as far as I could tell, it wasn't ever going to get to the point.  I did not get rid of the book, it's back on my shelf waiting for the time in my life when I might be patient enough to get through it and find its message. 

I haven't been reading much the last few days since I've been obsessing over the return of Downton Abbey.  I absolutely LOVE this show! 

I did start a new book.  I am not very far into it but, Holy Moley!! It's impressive so far.  The book is The Time in Between by Maria Dueñas.  Please leave comments if you've read this book or are reading it.  I'd love to discuss it.  I'm less than 50 pages in but it is very good.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Tiger's Wife & some smut I'm not proud to fess up to

It's been a while since my last post, but I assure you I have been reading.  I finished The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht a few days ago. I feel odd comparing a female writer to Hemingway, since he was such a misogynistic bastard (but I digress), but if you add grace and more subtlety to one of his war stories you might get an inkling as to the feel of this tale.  Ultimately, it's much more than just a war story, as all war stories are.  Like any good writer worth her salt, Obreht doesn't let you see the full beauty of the puzzle until close to its completion.  Thanks to this, it did take me until almost the end before I decided I loved this book.  As with all my other reviews, I'm not going to get into plot details.  It's not worth reading the book if you have too much information beforehand.  But feel free to discuss you opinions in the comments section.  I'm always open for dialogue.  I will give you my favorite quote though: 

"My name, your name, her name. In the end, all you want is someone to long for you when it comes time to put you in the ground."

Okay.  I've also been reading some other stuff.  I few Christmases ago, my sister bought me a box set of the first six books in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward.  They've been sitting on my shelf since. When I was younger, my mom used to call this genre of book "bodice rippers."  Ever since I heard that term I've vowed I would never get sucked into reading them.  I hang my head in shame....but I do have a wicked grin on my face.  I'm sorry but these books are just plain fun.  I plan on holing up on my days off and reading the last three in the set I have yet to get to.  It's funny how women authors always turn vampire stories into sex books.  I'm not complaining though.  They're very entertaining.

I really need to get some non-fiction in my diet.  I will work on it soon.