You know what this means...? Time to clean up and get rid of some books! What's going to make the cut?
Showing posts with label Bookshelf Tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bookshelf Tour. Show all posts
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Monday, November 5, 2018
Library 25 Cent Sale ~ Basically Book Upgrades
Everybody loves when his or her library unloads the 25 cent book sale. I managed to make it to mines a weekend or two ago (depends on when this post goes up), and didn’t find much. Yet, for what I did get, I took the opportunity. I upgraded two mass market books, featuring series I enjoy reading, into hardbacks. And another two… well… like any reader, there’s always an “interest” story to tell. But first the hardbacks.
"The devastating fire tore through the horse farm, destroying everything it touched. Picking through the wreckage, Dr. Kay Scarpetta uncovers human remains—the work of an audacious and wily killer who uses fire to mask his brutal murders. And when Scarpetta learns that her old nemesis, Carrie Grethen, has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is somehow involved, the investigation becomes personal. Tragedy strikes close to home. And Scarpetta must match Grethen’s every move with one of her own to douse the inferno of evil that threatens everyone around her..."Yeah. Yeah. Read the book almost ten years ago. Since I found myself in the mood of changing my mass market copies into hardback, this decent copy will do. This is the book where Cornwell made a wild misstep by killing off one of the series main characters. Why? Because she brought his ass back three books later. It was clear she needed him. Either way, it is what it is.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Deserving a Re-Read? Victoria Beckham's Learning to Fly
So while my R. L. Stine Fear Street series won’t find its way out of that tote any time soon, and nor will all those old middle school reads, I kind of think Posh wins the bid for a space on the shelves.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Another Abandoned Series I Haven't Licked
I’m ashamed I’ve collected, but haven’t completed, the In Me trilogy by Kathleen O’Neal Gear. If you’re not familiar with Gear, she and her husband, W. Michael Gear, co-authored fiction and non-fiction books surrounding Native American history. Or, to be specific, the First North Americans. Which is the title of the couple’s most popular and long-running historical fiction series. On occasion the two step out and write books alone, and this is where the In Me trilogy came from Kathleen. It’s a trilogy that has always caught my eye, while shelving them on bookstores. However, it would be years later when I spent a night fighting a tipsy disposition before I actually finished the first book. Yet, I'm sad to say, the following two books hibernated on my shelf thereafter. I simply never made it back. And I say so despite really enjoying the first book. I guess it was a situation of never wanting to spoil a debut's magic.
Nevertheless, the series is about a young High Chieftess name Sora. She’s the head of a Native American tribe called the Black Falcon Nation. Sora, described as extraordinarily beautiful and desirable, was married to a warrior named Flint. Flint was a warrior who would kill men with even the slightest glance toward his wife. So with a possessive and territorial rage uncontrolled, Flint divorces Sora and moves back to his original clan.
Friday, April 22, 2016
7 Mysteries/Series I Own But Haven’t Licked
Let’s get a couple of things out of the way first: the mystery genre is king of the serializing format. Book after book. Release after release. Year after year. We follow the misjudgments, drawbacks, and achievements of whatever leading star protagonist we’ve grown attached to. Attached enough to carry us through book one to book... [insert your number here].
Some series are short-lived, and some are decades long. Some series entries are strong, and some are weak. In many cases, the author runs out of ideas and begins phoning in his or her stories. But a few has consistent, formula-driven quality. Whereas others hit-or-miss after about the fifth or tenth book. Then there’s cases where an author loses some of his or her audience completely. Whether it’s by pulling the trigger on loaded opinions, expressed through characters. Or increasing the vulgarity behind plotted sex and/or crime. Or–the worse offense–implanting shock factor techniques instead of fleshing out a plausible story. You refer whatever occasion you've left an author's work for.
Some series are short-lived, and some are decades long. Some series entries are strong, and some are weak. In many cases, the author runs out of ideas and begins phoning in his or her stories. But a few has consistent, formula-driven quality. Whereas others hit-or-miss after about the fifth or tenth book. Then there’s cases where an author loses some of his or her audience completely. Whether it’s by pulling the trigger on loaded opinions, expressed through characters. Or increasing the vulgarity behind plotted sex and/or crime. Or–the worse offense–implanting shock factor techniques instead of fleshing out a plausible story. You refer whatever occasion you've left an author's work for.
Whether you chose to keep reading a series depends on your level of commitment to author and star. And “commitment” is the operative theme of this post.
Recently–with so many books coming in–I struggled with what to read. (Don’t you hate when you have plenty at your fingertips, yet feel you can’t define your mood enough to find which book will serve?) I scanned my shelves and new-books pile reasoning with myself why this title may work versus this one. I knew one of them needed to quell my reading thirst, especially with a thunderstorm coming into town. Candles, books, the pattering rain and roiling thunder; a cozy reading session in manifested!
While I eventually found a book to read (Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon #4, Firestorm), I gaped at the number of mystery/thriller series I’ve abandoned to the shelves over the years. Some are seven years within their abandonment. And a few of the unreads I’m a little ashamed–given my love of the genre–to admit I've left to collect dust. But where did all these books come from? Who recommended them? How old was I when I bought them? And why did I abandon them in the hopes of retreating to them later, at a more desperate date in the future?
That’s what I want to ask and explore in this post. For those who’ve read any of these books/series, please provide me validity for my issues at hand. Or express how important it is to keep going.
1. Robert B. Parker’s Family Honor
First in Parker’s Sunny Randall private-eye series, Family Honor has all the ingredients of the genre I love. You know, a female detective doing her thing piecing together a murder conspiracy. Yet, the unfortunate draw is I never finished the book. It’s been years since I picked it up, so I can’t pinpoint why I bailed on Sunny’s debut more than halfway through. But I have an idea, stirred by how certain memory imprints emerges after visual cues. See while Parker is one of the kings of this genre, he left me unfulfilled. But why? Parker's the master of dialogue, right? Well, it's his tool to swiftly get his scenes, narrative, and plot points in motion. But maybe it was too much for me, whisking through Family Honor at top speed. So while I can’t really compare the two, Family Honor read like a better written and somber Stephanie Plumb novel. So fast-paced I never anchored to Sunny Randall herself. Still, I’ve held on to the book for another attempt. Though years later at this point.
5. Eleanor Tayler Bland’s Whispers in the Dark
2. Joanne Fluke’s Chocolate Chip Murder
This is an unread debut stuffed inside my shelf for years (I’m thinking 2009). Chocolate Chip Murder is first in Fluke’s Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series. An obvious cozy mystery series themed around sweets and baked goods. Yet, no matter how insanely popular this series is, I’ve yet to crack open my copy of the first book. I have no explanation why, but I think it has a lot to do with its formatting. Silly, I know. But the print is so small and the book is so thick, with the extra short story and recipes. So every time I pick it up I feel like it’s a high fantasy novel-level read, camouflaged as a cozy. Weird, I know. I’m a walking contradiction sometimes. Big book. Little book. Big words. Little words. More details. Less details. It goes on. Or maybe I'm just never in the mood.
3. Greg Iles’ The Quiet Game
Eh. So we know I don’t really sprint for leading male protagonist to serve my crime fiction. On the occasion, maybe. The Quiet Game came into my possession through the influence of a volunteer working my public library’s used bookstore. At first she pushed me a copy of Greg Iles’ book, 24 Hours. You know, as she raved about how amazing it was. Sold by her enthusiasm, I took 24 Hours as she slipped me a copy of The Quiet Game to boot. They were a dollar, so I didn’t really fuss. And, fact is, once I cracked open the copy of 24 Hours, I read it in one sitting. That’s how glued I was. The book was a thrill ride you’d hate to put down. Unfortunately, the same uhmph hasn’t quite caught up with The Quiet Game. I can blame the thickness of the book. I could say those 400+ pages to wallow through with Penn Cage (I’m sure he’s a great protagonist) in lead holds me back. A number of excuses will do. Yet at the end of the day, I’ve held on to my copy all the same. One day. Just one day I’ll get to it. Who knows. Maybe I’ll get hooked and engorge myself on the entire series.
4. Frankie Y. Bailey’s Death’s Favorite Child
I've got an idea why I haven’t read this book after five years. Why? Because it’s not first in the Lizzie Stuart series. I later learned A Dead Man’s Honor is the proper debut of this sleuth’s adventures. Naturally drawn to a series with an African American female lead and writer; Death's Favorite Child is an easy necessary regardless of its position. It just sucks I haven’t went back to correct my mistake by ordering the first book in the series. You know. OCD fully functioning and all.
5. Eleanor Tayler Bland’s Whispers in the Dark
My most pitiful and shameful confession arrives with my stalling Bland’s Marti MacAlister series with book nine. I was on a roll with MacAlister through 2012-2013. Then I got to the ninth book. Here, Bland took my favorite black female cop through the city and into the islands for two different plot lines. One plot focused on MacAlister's profession, the other on a friend’s personal life. There was just something about this book that drought'ed my thirst. Well, my thirst for this specific chapter in the series. So my resounding solution is to forget about this entry and move on to the next. There aren’t enough Marti MacAlisters or Eleanor Taylor Blands out there for either to be forgotten. And I still got five more books in the series to go. Count me in still!
6. Patricia Cornwell’s Southern Cross
Cornwell started writing this new third-person series before she took her famed forensic pathologist, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, out of the first person narrative and into third. The changes in POV were experimental you could say. But when that switch reached Scarpetta, it brought a string of books most dedicated readers cringed over. Well, the same cringe can kind of apply for Cornwell’s Andy Brazil series–the original guinea pig of her expanding her writing chops. As show above, Southern Cross is second in the Andy Brazil series. (Somehow I made it through the maze of the first book, Hornet’s Nest.) There’s only so much I say about Southern Cross. Besides how crazy and directionless it felt. For whatever reason, I feel almost obligated to take all three of the Andy Brazil books down. “Down” as in swallow, but not "eject." Nonetheless, I only got a quarter through Southern Cross when I realized it was a going to be a difficult test of my patience. Something about digital fish swimming over a computer monitor's screen froze me out of the game. I haven’t been back since the summer of 2011.
7. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
No explanation needed. Only bask in my shame as I unveil the biggest misstep in my crime fiction reading career. That’s right. The first Temperance Brennan novel has sat unread on my shelf for close to six years now. A hot ass mess indeed. I pick it up year after year, but can never seem to get pass the first chapter. So I set it aside and save it for the following year. It’s pitiful. It’s a shame. You’d think I'd glutton my way through a series revolving around a female forensics anthropologist. But I haven’t. Those are the sad facts.
Well that’s it, guys. My list of shameful owned but unreads mysteries/series is complete. Give a guy a round of applause for admitting some of these faults!
Monday, July 13, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Books I'm Looking Forward To Releasing In 2015
Today I shall share my break-the-wallet-on-release-day books. Or simply put: BOOKS I CAN'T WAIT TO RELEASE THIS YEAR! I just had to share this to keep myself accountable for my reading needs as 2015 unfolds. Yes, yes. I must be ready for each of these titles. So let's go!
1. X is for… [Unannounced] by Sue Grafton
This was a breeze to conjure up. Book number 24 in Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series is due out in August. I scream inside; as we all know I idolize Grafton and her smart-mouthed P. I., Kinsey. The series releases bi-yearly, so it’s right on time after 2013's W is for Wasted hit shelves that September. I just wonder what in the hell could the “X” in this title stand for, besides “Xylophone” or “Xenophile”? And besides the full title, I haven't a clue what this one is about. What's Kinsey's next case? Where's Kinsey going to go next in her trapped-in-the-80s narrative. I kind of like it that way, though. The uncertainty, while having the utmost faith that it's going to be something incredibly sweet and fulfilling because Grafton and her protagonist is just that damn close to me now. I’m waiting desperately for you Mrs. Grafton! And while I don't re-read books, I suddenly want to take this series down again. From start to finish! A to X. One Kinsey Millhone one-liner after another. I bask...
2. Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb
Well, it’s obvious at this point that I've stopped denying my need for J. D. Robb books. Yep. That’s over with. So I wait anxiously for September 8th when book number 41 in Robb’s Eve Dallas In Death series releases. Apparently, Devoted has a sort of Bonnie and Clyde setup. Two committed lovers on a cross-country killing spree. Sign me up for it!
3. The Moon Tells Secrets by Savanna Welles
Yes, yes, yes. Mrs. Welles is another pen name for author Valerie Wilson Wesley. And yes, sometimes I desire a little more out of her writing. Nonetheless, I somewhat enjoyed Welles’ first Gothic thriller, When the Night Whispers. Therefore, I'm willing to follow Wesl–err–Welles into The Moon Tells Secrets. It’s coming out on March 24, and that’s right around the corner. Apparently, The Moon Tells Secrets is about a woman raising her adopted son, a son with the ability to shift into animals. In turn, he’s hunted down by something called “skinwalker." Crazy, right? Well, the thrill to this–for me anyway–is that the cast is Black. I’m always, always there for Black characters featured in stories outside of contemporary fiction. As well as the Black writers who take the dive to tell these unique stories. As far as I'm concerned, Black authors can do crime fiction and paranormal just as well. Needless to say, Tuesday, I'll be at Barnes and Nobles for this one. Support.
4. Disciple of the Wind by Steve Bein
I've waited an entire year for book number 3 in Steve Bein’s Fated Blades series, one of the remaining remnants of urban fantasy series I find worth reading. And I’m less than a month away from its April 7th release. Color me all kinds of happy! I can’t wait to go back to Tokyo with Bein's Detective Sergeant, Mariko Oshiro, and her infamous Inazuma blade. I just adore this series; from its protagonist to the way Bein jumps the reader back and forth through time via stories surrounding ancient Japanese blades. However, I'm hoping Bein offers Mariko a lot more spotlight this go-round. I enjoyed the last book, Year of the Demon, tremendously. Nevertheless, I thought Mariko’s story got diluted by the time hopes to ancient Japan. And believe me when I say that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're into stories that tap into realms like legends, superstitions and Edo period Japanese tales, Bein delivers.
5. Last First Snow by Max Gladstone
Gladstone and Bein go hand-in-hand with me now, as both authors are my ports into the urban fantasy genre. Anyway, Last First Snow is book number 4 in Gladstone’s Craft Sequence series. It'll be out in July. I don’t have too much information on the story; quite honestly, the big brute man on the cover has me worried. Nonetheless, as more details come about, I’m sure my excitement for this book will rise until I rush through the bookstore to grab it with little hesitation.
6. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
God Help the Child releases April 21. Now here’s the thing: I love Toni Morrison. I really do. However, as I mentioned before, I love her work pre-90s. Afterward, I found it difficult to get through her material. It almost feels like all the accolades and whatnot that Beloved garnered had shifted something in her writing. And while I managed through a few of her works then forward, it’s books like A Mercy that just makes me scratch my head in wonder. I never managed to finish that book, but hold on to it for the next attempt. I just never quite understood who and where that book took a claim to. And apparently I’m not the only one. Nonetheless, I do have hopes for God Help the Child. So much so that maybe I can go back and read Morrison’s Home, her 2012 release. I suppose I'm hoping God Help the Child get me back on track with her. It looks promising.
7. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
All right, despite a few problems, I did enjoy the first book in Harris’ new series, Midnight Crossroad. I enjoyed the dust town and small-town cast of unique characters, and do intend to return to it all this May in Day Shift. I'm excited to see what these crazy-ass people (among other things) do next. Unfortunately, as Amazon is my only source at the immediate moment, I don’t have much information on what Day Shift is about. However, I'm still excited. As I said before, Harris is just ruthless with her characters. You never know what they'll do in her books. She surprises me time and time again, and I like that.
8. Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen
Gerritsen just announced her October release on her blog, and it’s called Playing with Fire. In the same vein as her book, The Bone Garden, Playing with Fire jumps back and forth through time. It’s the story about a violinist, and how her 3-year-old daughter turns violent at the sound of a particularly piece the violinist plays. It's a piece of music she traces back to 1940’s Venice. So no, this is not a Rizzoli and Isle entry. Which is okay with me because its sounds just as Gerritsen and just as nuts.
9. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
I almost forgot this one! Somebody beat me in the head because I don't understand how this one slipped me. Well, I'm sure many more 2015 releases have already slipped around me. Nonetheless, on to China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan. China Rich Girlfriend is the sequel to Kwan's breakout debut, Crazy Rich Asians. I thoroughly enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians when I finally got my hands on it the winter before last. Evidently, China Rich Girlfriend picks up on Chinese-Singaporean, Nicholas Young (heir to a magnificent fortune), and his relationship with ABC (American Born Chinese) girlfriend Rachel Chu. After all of the gossiping, family coups, and destructive intentions to break the two apart, it appears the two are continuing forth with their wedding. This, of course, only invites more drama. Needless to say, I can't wait to get my hands on it in June. For anyone who indulges in the melodrama that makes up Asian soaps, this is the author to get into!
Okay. Off the top of my head, that’s it for now. I got a few fence-riders I’ll like to mention next.
10. Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
This is book number 23 in Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta forensic thriller series. After last year’s awfulness of Flesh and Blood, I'm not sure (that’s a lie because Depraved Heart will be sought) how this one will go. I think I just want to hear myself say lie to myself, but I am worried about whether this book is going to be as awful as Flesh and Blood. Will I have to abandon it, just as I did Flesh and Blood? Well, we'll see in November when this book releases.
11. One Night by Eric Jerome Dickey
I used to be totally in love with this guy. Then he didn't release a book for an entire year, came back, and broke my heart. The book that threw me over was An Accidental Affair (2012); this torrent story about some guy finding his girlfriend (or was it his wife?) was having an affair. So what does he do, run out and sleep with just about every woman who takes an interest in him. I didn't make it through that book before I, to be perfectly honest, returned it. The following year I bought Decadence. This featured the return of Dickey's sex-crazed protagonist Nia Simon Bijou. Needless to say, I never even cracked it. I gave the book to my mom, as I just didn't care to read about Nia and her orgies again. I think those two books just weren't written for me, or maybe I just grew tired of this sudden slip of sex over plot. However, last year’s A Wanted Woman looked promising, but by then I was already too hurt to try. I just didn’t feel like another erotic action thriller. Which is odd because it’s a book about a hit-woman, and y‘all know I love books featuring women with guns. Nonetheless, the idea is that I'll go back to A Wanted Woman before I return to what seems like classic Dickey in One Night. Who knows? Here's to One Night's April 21th release.
12. The Drafter by Kim Harrison
The Drafter is first in Kim Harrison’s new series, and seeing I've somewhat abandoned her Rachel Morgan series, I don't see The Drafter happening. Nonetheless, it’s on my radar. How’s that for September possibilities?
13. Dead Ice by Laurell K Hamilton
My ultimate guilty pleasure. The series that I love to hate. And hate more than I love, yet find myself bewitched after Hamilton waved her wand over readers from book 1-9. I’m locked into Anita Blake and her story. Even as I want to throw up at the ridiculousness of it along the way. Here's to gathering my pail in June.
Why do I want to read Nora Roberts’ Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy? Is it the covers? I don’t know, but for some reason, I really want to read these books. Help me, Jesus.
1. X is for… [Unannounced] by Sue Grafton
This was a breeze to conjure up. Book number 24 in Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series is due out in August. I scream inside; as we all know I idolize Grafton and her smart-mouthed P. I., Kinsey. The series releases bi-yearly, so it’s right on time after 2013's W is for Wasted hit shelves that September. I just wonder what in the hell could the “X” in this title stand for, besides “Xylophone” or “Xenophile”? And besides the full title, I haven't a clue what this one is about. What's Kinsey's next case? Where's Kinsey going to go next in her trapped-in-the-80s narrative. I kind of like it that way, though. The uncertainty, while having the utmost faith that it's going to be something incredibly sweet and fulfilling because Grafton and her protagonist is just that damn close to me now. I’m waiting desperately for you Mrs. Grafton! And while I don't re-read books, I suddenly want to take this series down again. From start to finish! A to X. One Kinsey Millhone one-liner after another. I bask...
2. Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb
Well, it’s obvious at this point that I've stopped denying my need for J. D. Robb books. Yep. That’s over with. So I wait anxiously for September 8th when book number 41 in Robb’s Eve Dallas In Death series releases. Apparently, Devoted has a sort of Bonnie and Clyde setup. Two committed lovers on a cross-country killing spree. Sign me up for it!
3. The Moon Tells Secrets by Savanna Welles
Yes, yes, yes. Mrs. Welles is another pen name for author Valerie Wilson Wesley. And yes, sometimes I desire a little more out of her writing. Nonetheless, I somewhat enjoyed Welles’ first Gothic thriller, When the Night Whispers. Therefore, I'm willing to follow Wesl–err–Welles into The Moon Tells Secrets. It’s coming out on March 24, and that’s right around the corner. Apparently, The Moon Tells Secrets is about a woman raising her adopted son, a son with the ability to shift into animals. In turn, he’s hunted down by something called “skinwalker." Crazy, right? Well, the thrill to this–for me anyway–is that the cast is Black. I’m always, always there for Black characters featured in stories outside of contemporary fiction. As well as the Black writers who take the dive to tell these unique stories. As far as I'm concerned, Black authors can do crime fiction and paranormal just as well. Needless to say, Tuesday, I'll be at Barnes and Nobles for this one. Support.
4. Disciple of the Wind by Steve Bein
I've waited an entire year for book number 3 in Steve Bein’s Fated Blades series, one of the remaining remnants of urban fantasy series I find worth reading. And I’m less than a month away from its April 7th release. Color me all kinds of happy! I can’t wait to go back to Tokyo with Bein's Detective Sergeant, Mariko Oshiro, and her infamous Inazuma blade. I just adore this series; from its protagonist to the way Bein jumps the reader back and forth through time via stories surrounding ancient Japanese blades. However, I'm hoping Bein offers Mariko a lot more spotlight this go-round. I enjoyed the last book, Year of the Demon, tremendously. Nevertheless, I thought Mariko’s story got diluted by the time hopes to ancient Japan. And believe me when I say that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're into stories that tap into realms like legends, superstitions and Edo period Japanese tales, Bein delivers.
5. Last First Snow by Max Gladstone
Gladstone and Bein go hand-in-hand with me now, as both authors are my ports into the urban fantasy genre. Anyway, Last First Snow is book number 4 in Gladstone’s Craft Sequence series. It'll be out in July. I don’t have too much information on the story; quite honestly, the big brute man on the cover has me worried. Nonetheless, as more details come about, I’m sure my excitement for this book will rise until I rush through the bookstore to grab it with little hesitation.
6. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
God Help the Child releases April 21. Now here’s the thing: I love Toni Morrison. I really do. However, as I mentioned before, I love her work pre-90s. Afterward, I found it difficult to get through her material. It almost feels like all the accolades and whatnot that Beloved garnered had shifted something in her writing. And while I managed through a few of her works then forward, it’s books like A Mercy that just makes me scratch my head in wonder. I never managed to finish that book, but hold on to it for the next attempt. I just never quite understood who and where that book took a claim to. And apparently I’m not the only one. Nonetheless, I do have hopes for God Help the Child. So much so that maybe I can go back and read Morrison’s Home, her 2012 release. I suppose I'm hoping God Help the Child get me back on track with her. It looks promising.
7. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
All right, despite a few problems, I did enjoy the first book in Harris’ new series, Midnight Crossroad. I enjoyed the dust town and small-town cast of unique characters, and do intend to return to it all this May in Day Shift. I'm excited to see what these crazy-ass people (among other things) do next. Unfortunately, as Amazon is my only source at the immediate moment, I don’t have much information on what Day Shift is about. However, I'm still excited. As I said before, Harris is just ruthless with her characters. You never know what they'll do in her books. She surprises me time and time again, and I like that.
8. Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen
Gerritsen just announced her October release on her blog, and it’s called Playing with Fire. In the same vein as her book, The Bone Garden, Playing with Fire jumps back and forth through time. It’s the story about a violinist, and how her 3-year-old daughter turns violent at the sound of a particularly piece the violinist plays. It's a piece of music she traces back to 1940’s Venice. So no, this is not a Rizzoli and Isle entry. Which is okay with me because its sounds just as Gerritsen and just as nuts.
9. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
I almost forgot this one! Somebody beat me in the head because I don't understand how this one slipped me. Well, I'm sure many more 2015 releases have already slipped around me. Nonetheless, on to China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan. China Rich Girlfriend is the sequel to Kwan's breakout debut, Crazy Rich Asians. I thoroughly enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians when I finally got my hands on it the winter before last. Evidently, China Rich Girlfriend picks up on Chinese-Singaporean, Nicholas Young (heir to a magnificent fortune), and his relationship with ABC (American Born Chinese) girlfriend Rachel Chu. After all of the gossiping, family coups, and destructive intentions to break the two apart, it appears the two are continuing forth with their wedding. This, of course, only invites more drama. Needless to say, I can't wait to get my hands on it in June. For anyone who indulges in the melodrama that makes up Asian soaps, this is the author to get into!
Okay. Off the top of my head, that’s it for now. I got a few fence-riders I’ll like to mention next.
10. Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
This is book number 23 in Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta forensic thriller series. After last year’s awfulness of Flesh and Blood, I'm not sure (that’s a lie because Depraved Heart will be sought) how this one will go. I think I just want to hear myself say lie to myself, but I am worried about whether this book is going to be as awful as Flesh and Blood. Will I have to abandon it, just as I did Flesh and Blood? Well, we'll see in November when this book releases.
11. One Night by Eric Jerome Dickey
I used to be totally in love with this guy. Then he didn't release a book for an entire year, came back, and broke my heart. The book that threw me over was An Accidental Affair (2012); this torrent story about some guy finding his girlfriend (or was it his wife?) was having an affair. So what does he do, run out and sleep with just about every woman who takes an interest in him. I didn't make it through that book before I, to be perfectly honest, returned it. The following year I bought Decadence. This featured the return of Dickey's sex-crazed protagonist Nia Simon Bijou. Needless to say, I never even cracked it. I gave the book to my mom, as I just didn't care to read about Nia and her orgies again. I think those two books just weren't written for me, or maybe I just grew tired of this sudden slip of sex over plot. However, last year’s A Wanted Woman looked promising, but by then I was already too hurt to try. I just didn’t feel like another erotic action thriller. Which is odd because it’s a book about a hit-woman, and y‘all know I love books featuring women with guns. Nonetheless, the idea is that I'll go back to A Wanted Woman before I return to what seems like classic Dickey in One Night. Who knows? Here's to One Night's April 21th release.
Drum, But No Drum
12. The Drafter by Kim Harrison
The Drafter is first in Kim Harrison’s new series, and seeing I've somewhat abandoned her Rachel Morgan series, I don't see The Drafter happening. Nonetheless, it’s on my radar. How’s that for September possibilities?
13. Dead Ice by Laurell K Hamilton
My ultimate guilty pleasure. The series that I love to hate. And hate more than I love, yet find myself bewitched after Hamilton waved her wand over readers from book 1-9. I’m locked into Anita Blake and her story. Even as I want to throw up at the ridiculousness of it along the way. Here's to gathering my pail in June.
Off Subject, But Not
Why do I want to read Nora Roberts’ Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy? Is it the covers? I don’t know, but for some reason, I really want to read these books. Help me, Jesus.
So what new releases are you guys looking for this year?
Saturday, May 10, 2014
A Few Favorite Kings
So Stephen King is releasing two new books this year; Mr. Mercedes arrives June 3rd and Revival releases November 11th. As one moderately dedicated readers (I say this for good reason considering the intensively of his readership), I'm excited to have my yearly reads stretched by two new King novels. Especially after the fun of last September‘s Doctor Sleep, a book I followed immediately after my complete reading of King‘s classic, The Shining. One day, after I manage to read all of King’s 60+ stories, I’ll be able to fully construct what appeals to me about his books just as effortlessly as his thorough readers. Until then, there’s a jumble of thoughts clouding my head as I type this. At least that’s what I tell myself. Nonetheless, I delved into King at the unappreciative age of 12/13 when my aunt lent my copies of The Green Mile and Rose Madder. So I started young--like many of his readers--but ultimately didn't hold tight to his stories until my early twenties. Actually, it was Lisey’s Story that anchored me deep into King.
Before I go on I have to stress that this list isn't in any rank or order. Nor can I press on the details that make up each book. Also, some of the classics I haven't read or choose to skip because they're always mentioned in King listings.
Lisey's Story
I think Lisey’s Story is a great start because I’ve always liked King’s female protagonist over his men. That’s kind of a general endorsement of mine, as there’s always been something special about literary women defying circumstances. Especially those circumstances known to plague men protagonist. Nevertheless, Lisey’s Story served much of what I love regarding King’s female protagonists. Lisey is intelligent, resourceful, brave, and human. And while she is nowhere near weak in the beginning of the novel, she organically blossoms into her true strength and out of that sort of wife-nizing (yes, I make up words here) shadow she held underneath her late husband Scott and his success as a troubled, bestselling writing. With all that said, you can tell how incredibly personal this novel is to King and his relationship with his wife--especially considering it’s a love story Stephen King style. Still, I wouldn’t doubt that she [Tabitha King] wouldn’t hesitating to chase King’s demons off in a terrifying place such as Boo’ya Moon.
Salem's Lot
I love old, old horror films. I grew up watching scary movies with my mom, which developed my specific love of 80's slashers. Seriously, Friday the 13th movies used to babysit me. Anyway, while the original Night of the Living dead done untold things to my childish imagination, I would have to say that one of my favorite horror movies above even that was Horror Express. Not too many people talk about that film, but it terrified the shit out of me as a kid. Yet, I indulged in it every time I popped the cassette in. Bleeding that film with films like 1977’s The Sentinel, and there’s no other way to express the creepy horror I received from reading Salem’s Lot. It’s a combination of straight up horror, subtle horror, blood and guts, and that mystic religiously-themed (or occult-themed) psychological horror. Then there was the vampire, Barlow, himself that King illustrated so beautifully that I was almost positive that nobody was going to make it out of that book alive. Which I should add that I actually lost a tear when Susan and Father Callahan fell to Barlow. Salem’s Lot had all the flavor I grew up loving about horror films. And it is probably one of the few King books that I could say actually kind of scared me.
Cell
For some reason Stephen King’s Cell gets a lot of good and bad reviews. Mostly bad I believe. Something about his version of playing into zombie apocalyptic horror didn’t seem to move some readers. I didn't care because I loved the book to pieces, mainly because it did a great job of conveying suspense and mystery. And of course horror when you factor in "The Raggedy Man" and his plague of industrial science-twisted techno zombies. Second to that is King’s cast of characters carrying the story. While they were all capable and witty when it came to their survival, they glowed even more as doomed, cynical survivors. That leads me to the most memorable character of the book... Alice. Every once in awhile you come across a book where you’ll absolutely never forget a certain character and his or her exploits during the story. For me, that character would be Alice. Some may disagree, but I regard her as the true hero in Cell. King gave her the spirit to be so.
Gerald's Game
If I ever make a comprehensive list of my favorite Stephen King books from Carrie to 60-something-plus Revival, the often underappreciated Gerald’s Game would easily land in my top three favorites. Yes. You heard me. Gerald’s Game. A book revolving around a single bedroom setting. A narrow cast consisting of a dead body, a dog and a difficult woman handcuffed to a bed. This was one of those early 90s books like Misery, yet it’s linked directly with Dolores Claiborne in which they both share the themes of abuse. Nevertheless, this particular period seems to me where King sucked out many of his monsters from the past and placed them inside of his characters. And tackling that on top of conceivable situations only heightened the intensity in those books. Gerald’s Game was a good display of that intensity, as Jessie Burlingame, handcuffed to a bed, went to the rawest of human desperation to break out of her helpless situation. That’s not to say that she didn’t have any motivation by a lurking presence known as "The Space Cowboy". On so many different levels can I express how I found Gerald’s Game to be troubling, uncomfortable, and creepy.
Before I go on I have to stress that this list isn't in any rank or order. Nor can I press on the details that make up each book. Also, some of the classics I haven't read or choose to skip because they're always mentioned in King listings.
Lisey's Story
I think Lisey’s Story is a great start because I’ve always liked King’s female protagonist over his men. That’s kind of a general endorsement of mine, as there’s always been something special about literary women defying circumstances. Especially those circumstances known to plague men protagonist. Nevertheless, Lisey’s Story served much of what I love regarding King’s female protagonists. Lisey is intelligent, resourceful, brave, and human. And while she is nowhere near weak in the beginning of the novel, she organically blossoms into her true strength and out of that sort of wife-nizing (yes, I make up words here) shadow she held underneath her late husband Scott and his success as a troubled, bestselling writing. With all that said, you can tell how incredibly personal this novel is to King and his relationship with his wife--especially considering it’s a love story Stephen King style. Still, I wouldn’t doubt that she [Tabitha King] wouldn’t hesitating to chase King’s demons off in a terrifying place such as Boo’ya Moon.
Salem's Lot
I love old, old horror films. I grew up watching scary movies with my mom, which developed my specific love of 80's slashers. Seriously, Friday the 13th movies used to babysit me. Anyway, while the original Night of the Living dead done untold things to my childish imagination, I would have to say that one of my favorite horror movies above even that was Horror Express. Not too many people talk about that film, but it terrified the shit out of me as a kid. Yet, I indulged in it every time I popped the cassette in. Bleeding that film with films like 1977’s The Sentinel, and there’s no other way to express the creepy horror I received from reading Salem’s Lot. It’s a combination of straight up horror, subtle horror, blood and guts, and that mystic religiously-themed (or occult-themed) psychological horror. Then there was the vampire, Barlow, himself that King illustrated so beautifully that I was almost positive that nobody was going to make it out of that book alive. Which I should add that I actually lost a tear when Susan and Father Callahan fell to Barlow. Salem’s Lot had all the flavor I grew up loving about horror films. And it is probably one of the few King books that I could say actually kind of scared me.
Cell
For some reason Stephen King’s Cell gets a lot of good and bad reviews. Mostly bad I believe. Something about his version of playing into zombie apocalyptic horror didn’t seem to move some readers. I didn't care because I loved the book to pieces, mainly because it did a great job of conveying suspense and mystery. And of course horror when you factor in "The Raggedy Man" and his plague of industrial science-twisted techno zombies. Second to that is King’s cast of characters carrying the story. While they were all capable and witty when it came to their survival, they glowed even more as doomed, cynical survivors. That leads me to the most memorable character of the book... Alice. Every once in awhile you come across a book where you’ll absolutely never forget a certain character and his or her exploits during the story. For me, that character would be Alice. Some may disagree, but I regard her as the true hero in Cell. King gave her the spirit to be so.
Gerald's Game
If I ever make a comprehensive list of my favorite Stephen King books from Carrie to 60-something-plus Revival, the often underappreciated Gerald’s Game would easily land in my top three favorites. Yes. You heard me. Gerald’s Game. A book revolving around a single bedroom setting. A narrow cast consisting of a dead body, a dog and a difficult woman handcuffed to a bed. This was one of those early 90s books like Misery, yet it’s linked directly with Dolores Claiborne in which they both share the themes of abuse. Nevertheless, this particular period seems to me where King sucked out many of his monsters from the past and placed them inside of his characters. And tackling that on top of conceivable situations only heightened the intensity in those books. Gerald’s Game was a good display of that intensity, as Jessie Burlingame, handcuffed to a bed, went to the rawest of human desperation to break out of her helpless situation. That’s not to say that she didn’t have any motivation by a lurking presence known as "The Space Cowboy". On so many different levels can I express how I found Gerald’s Game to be troubling, uncomfortable, and creepy.
On Writing
As much as I wanted to share how I felt about the Jockey in Duma Keys and how that book seems to bounce back to Bag of Bones, I’m not. I made this list and will stick to my initial idea to add On Writing. It is one of my favorite King books after all. Besides, what better book to mention that encompasses where all the previous books listed have come from? On Writing is part memoir part writing course--according to how you approach it. I certainly took it from both standpoints considering I wanted to get near King’s inspirational story as well as his craft. The book is really that intimate. My favorite quote from the books states:
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.”
That’s all I got for today, folks. I just wanted to share five King books that I really enjoyed while it’s on the top of my mind. We're less than a month away before Mr. Mercedes releases and hopefully I can swallow it and throw my thoughts together in a blog post dedicated to the book--as well as Revival later this year. I got this good mind to re-read some of my older King books (Gerald’s Game is suddenly looking really good) and post “final thoughts” on each. In the meantime share your top five favorite Stephen King books or your favorite King book as a whole. I’m interested in learning what and why a certain book appeals to different King readers.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Book Shelf #1
They say a person's library of books reflect the person. In all of my confusion and assorted beliefs, that may be true. Nonetheless, I share with you my recent video touring one of my bookshelves. I chose the smallest one first, a subconscious realization that it takes work to steady a camera and squat down to film. Anyway, here is the results split in a two part video. Enjoy!
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