Ravings of the Semi-Lucid

I meant to post this days ago, but kept getting distracted, and figured since I'm not blogging on my actual website anymore I might as well put up my reading list for the month over here. I'll link to the reviews I've written where possible, but in case you don't want to go clicking, I'll insert random thoughts about each of these in the list.

( September's reads )

I've finally decided that I really ought to put my book reviews on a wordpress blog, because I like a lot of the wordpress features that are on offer, so today I've been importing my LJ to wordpress. It's an exercise in complete tediousness, because I have to go through each entry and figure out whether it needs to be included or not.

Incidentally, I haven't done any reading at all this week. Which is horrible because the book I am reading was one I should have knocked out very quickly. However, I'm thinking that this book epitomizes a lot of the things that tend to bug me about the paranormal romance genre, so my review might just wait until I am fully switched over to Wordpress since it'll be fairly ranty.

Anyway, off to import more entries.

Sadly, they let me out of my cage, and I have a post over at Sybil's blog as part of their duodecimal holidays, where they asked a bunch of readers and bloggers to come up with various top twelve lists.


Here is mine.

Go forth and enjoy.
In other news, I am a little under halfway through Anne Bishop's Daughter of the Blood. I would absolutely love this book if I'd sat and read it cover to cover without stopping for a break. Sadly, a little perspective makes the book's flaws pretty clear, like that our protagonist hasn't once gotten her own PoV, or how her eventual love interest was borrowed from romance novel central casting. And seriously, what is it with dark fantasy and incest? Someone tell me there is a book classified as dark fantasy that managed to completely leave out creepy women who want to have sex with their brothers/sons/nephews.

For some reason, I have always conflated the Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop with the Nightrunners trilogy by Lyn Fluelling. Both series have been recommended to me, and I need a new series to follow like I need a hole in my head.

So I offer it up as a question to the masses:

Black jewels or Night Runners? Why?

Ahhh, today was my last full day of official classes. I just have a test tomorrow and then finals next week, after which I can commence with my plans (now on hold) to take over the world. (Or at the very least to finish my Winterholyday shopping.)

I am also reading Susan Grant's The Star King. I need to see if Mom has read it, because I am thinking she would love it. The book was starting out hopping along somewhere in the A- to B+ range, but I think I'm going to have to dock points because I think a romance should have fully realized characters, not my mom's wish fulfillment fantasies, and unfortunately, the characters in this book have started going off in that direction.

However, we shall see by the time I'm done. And I might finish the book tomorrow, after I write a two-page paper on "An Inconvenient Truth", which I am hoping to finish downloading sometime tonight.

Also tomorrow = grocery day. I seriously have not had a chance to restock my section of the cabinets in a long-ass time, what with being worried about finishing school projects. But a two-page paper over a movie is small potatoes compared to the monstrosity I cranked out yesterday.

Well, I'm back from my weekend with the Quaker Lesbians and their minions. As always, it was fun, and even though they will never see this, they are the world's most awesome people and I love them like a hippie loves patchouli.

What was not nearly so awesome was my reading this week. I suspect that I need to find something vaguely comfort-read-y, because I know I should love Tiger Eye by Marjorie Liu. Unfortunately, I'm just not getting engaged with the book, which is a shame because, like I said, I ought to love it. I'll keep plugging away at it tomorrow, but if I'm not finished with it then, I may abandon it and cheat on it with some other book. Especially since I'll be getting a new toy as soon as I get to the post office, which means I'll have my very own ebook reader, which further means that shiny objects will have an easier time distracting me.

I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, that one of the things that gets to happen very soon (by which I mean in something like two weeks now, when the semester is over) is that we are going to have Meljean Brook Appreciation Happy Fun Time (TM) on this here LJ. Why are we going to do this? Because I won a contest and received an ARC of her latest book, Demon Night. Not only that, but when I emailed her to ask if I could get the ARC as an ebook (pushy person that I am) she generously said I could) And since I have not read anything she's written since the short story in the Hot Spell anthology, I thought this was a good place to start.
In the meantime, it's back to the salt mines I go. I have a paper to write by Friday so I can go have a fun weekend with a clear conscience, after which we've another week of class followed by final exams, followed by freedom, glorious freedom!

So, to celebrate the fact that I had some money in my fictionwise account, I went and bought me some books. Namely Prince of Death by December Quinn and As the Lady Wishes by Ms. Quinn and Anna J. Evans, as well as Sentry's Touch by Vivien Dean. Which took care of my extra fictionwise money. Unfortunately, given the rate at which I read, I'm not sure when I'll ever get to these, and I'm very sad because as semester ends, my reading time is going to drop off drastically.

In other book news, there's a review of the latest Nora Roberts book up at The Good, the Bad and the Unread. Apparently, Ms. Roberts is trying her hand at paranormal romance with actual horror elements. I want. Oh, yesss! I must have the preciouss!

Also, now that I've started keeping up with blogs outside of LJ, I realize how convenient it is to have an RSS aggregator. I love my little widget. It sits there in my system tray and beeps at me when there's a new post. I forsee much gleeful stopping whatever I'm doing throughout the next week when I hear that little beep. Easily entertained? Me? Hardly! Whatever would give you such a notion!

One of the major disadvantages to my making a commuting CD is that my moods change a lot from when I started compiling my CD to when I've read everything. And now I'm on the last book in my CD, which happens to be JR Ward's Lover Revealed.

I'd have read it anyway, since I definitely like having something to read on my commute, but I'm just not all that interested in the last two installments of that series. And so today I have officially given myself permission not to start it. It's not like the ebook I have is going anywhere, and I can always come back to the series when I'm in the mood for the kind of wstory Ward can tell.

Plus, I really do like the process of making a new commuting CD. It makes me narrow down the endless list of books I have To Be Read, and it builds up the anticipation.

Do I know what's going on the CD yet? Actually, no, I don't. I have a looooooong, ginormous list, and have posted recently about books I want to read. But the making up of my mind is a difficult process.

First of all, my guest review for Dear Author has been posted. Go forth and read it.

Second of all, NPR did a story this morning about great science fiction and fantasy books. Sadly, I've not read any of the books they mentioned, although I have a copy of The Forever War TBR one of these days.

I can't sleep (clowns will eat me), so I thought I'd write up a list of anticipated reads. Probably, some or even all of these will fail to make it onto my next commuting CD either because I'll have changed my mind about what I want to read or I'll get distracted by something shiny, but here they are anyway.

• Midnight Sun by Rene Lyons - The author apparently compares herself to JR Ward, that diva of delicious romance crack. It always concerns me when people do that, but hey, it was a good marketing ploy because I'm interested in reading about former members of the Knights Templar who are now (get ready for a shock) vampires. Have I mentioned that I am over vampires? I am trying to break up with the genre of vampire romances, because we're just not all that compatible, but, like Heath Ledger (or was it Jake Gyllenhall) I can't seem to quit them! Anyway, these books do not feature guys with stupid names, although the heroes do have romance novel names (Sebastian, Constantine, Rafael). And except for the fact that I am so over the name Sebastian in romance novels, that's definitely a point in the book's favor. The downside? The heroine was described in a review I read as feisty. Argh!
  
  
• Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day - I was in a role playing game with someone who loved these books so much that the game had its own little version of Atlantis. I figured I'd enjoy reading this book to see how much the game owner cribbed. And the idea of the protectors of humanity not being vampires appeals to me. Because vampires? I am so over them!
  
  
• Blood Rites by Janrae Frank - I really don't know if I'll like this one. But it has received favorable comparisons to my beloved A Song of Ice and Fire. And she said nice things about Mark's book, so hopefully there'll be something here. Unfortunately, guess what race of undead critters with fangs and a taste for plasma are prominent here? That... would be the race I am so over. Pathetic? Yes. That's what I am.
  
  
• Alien Taste by Wen Spencer - OK, so the main character was raised by wolves and then adopted by lesbians and now he fights crime? I am so there. Please to be bringing it on! To my knowledge, there are no vampires in this book, a fact for which I am intensely grateful.
  
  
• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - I've read some of Lynch's blog posts when they've been pointed out to me, and he seems really cool. Plus, the premise, that of a group of petty thieves called the Gentlemen Bastards, who set out to terrorize the nobility. Sure, I could get behind that. And I'm hoping with a setup like that, the story won't quite be so dark. And hopefully, Locke doesn't have a preference for Type O. Because I am, yes, totally over the vampires.
  
  
  
• Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu - My mom told me years ago I should read this book. Of course, my mom also reads and enjoys romance novels even I consider trashy, so we'll have to take that with a grain of salt. Thankfully, Rosario, my reading twin liked her books, so my mom's taste might not be that bad. (I should note here that I read and was amused by a Bertrice Small story, and Ms. Small is, like, the grandmother of trashy romance.) I also don't know if there are vampires in this book, but if there are? I am so over them.
  
  
• Behind Closed Doors by Shannon McKenna - A discussion on a book discussion list I'm on got me interested enough to try this book. Again, Rosario liked it, but Sybil doesn't think I will, and Sybil and I have yet to agree on a book, so I should really read it for myself and find out. Thankfully, this is a contemporary story, so no bloodsucking will occur. I hope.
  
  
• The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt - This is the first in a trilogy which got a lot of buzz in the romance blogosphere. I'm hoping that if I read it, my desire to read historicals might return. And yay, the third book in a row where nobody drinks teh blood.
  
  
• Be Mine Tonight by Kathryn Smith - Yeah, more vampires, which for those of you not paying attention I am so over... really... but this is a historical paranormal, which just sounds like a neato idea if done well. Plus, they featured her over on Sybil's blog recently, which got me intrigued.
  
  
• I can't remember the names, but Vickie Taylor has written some paranormal romances about gargoyles. Which strikes me as unusual enough that I am intrigued. Because I don't think gargoyles suck blood and talk in bad Russian accents. At least, I hope not.
  
  
• Also, I've been meaning to read Melanie Jackson. Most of the reviews of her books have leaned on the meh side of things, but she seems like an author I could enjoy. I might give myself a break and try to find a book of hers that doesn't feature Count Dracula wannabes.

And there you have it. My hotly anticipated new reads. Of course, the next time I make a commuting CD, I might also fill it with the last JR Ward, the next In Death, the next Miles Vorkosigan, the Jacqueline Carey I have yet to finish, the next Dresden Files book, and something else not featured here.

It's the time of month where I use my text-to-speech conversion program to convert a new batch of books into MP3 to burn onto a new commuting CD.

I know mostly what's going on the CD, but I thought it might be fun to open the comment section. Consider this a general book recommendations thread. What should I be reading? Why?

Conversely, have you read anything really horrible lately?

Inquiring minds want to know!

And I'm not screening comments for this post, so hopefully the LJ spam bots will not take advantage of the fact, so go wild!

So, thanks to a discussion with my mom the other day and a post on Smart Bitches today, I have discovered a book I am pretty sure I will hate.. It features vampires and is set in my favorite historical time period (by which, obviously, I mean, not) the Regency.


It could surprise me and be the best book of the year, but I am cynical so I have my doubts. At any rate, I am off to see if I can find an ebook, and then I will be adding the book to my next commuting CD. Because I cannot resist the question "Is it really that bad?"
ETA: Aww, darn! Not an ebook. I guess I'll actually have to settle for reading books I will, y'know, like. Oh, the sacrifice!

According to my Social Problems teacher (who would, presumably, not lie about such things) the notion of people marrying for love didn't become common until about 1850.

So now every time I read a Regency set romance novel in which the heroine tosses her head and proclaims, "No, I won't marry you, you notorious rake! I'll only ever marry for love!" I will no longer be able to ignore that fact.

In other book-related news, I've started Lover Awakened by JR Ward. God damn this woman is my romance novel crack.
( That being said, a few spoilertastic thoughts )

I can't sleep, so I reorganized the tags on my recent book review posts. Sadly, I gave up before I was even a third of the way done, because I got lazy. But I will persevere if only to enable people to find my snarky C- reviews.

And yes, since I read for my own enjoyment, it takes a lot of incentive for me to actually finish a bad book. Like, it's an anthology so surely there's at least one story that doesn't suck, right?

Stolen from jmc_bookrelated.

These are the top one-hundred-six books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s
users. Bold those you've read. Italicize those you started but couldn't, didn't or
haven't finished. Strike through those you despise. Put an asterisk next to those
you've read more than once. Underline those in the TBR pile.
( Here we go )

So what we learn from this? Man, is Shannon going to have fun when she takes manditory lit classes later on in her college career.

I know a book is an A read when I actually am not only tempted to go back to my live journal before I'm finished reading it and write down my thoughts, such as they are.

Right now I am reading The Elvenbane by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton. The last Norton book I read was probably a B read. I don't remember it being impressive, although I liked the protagonist well enough, and was only mildly irritated by the writing style. And Lackey, of course, was a favorite author of my teens. I know that when she is good, she is amazing, and when she's bad, at least for me, she's still quite readable. ( The Black Gryphon and Arrows of the queen survived well on rereads, and I still remember passages from When the Bough Breaks .

Anyway, The Elvenbane. It has great characters, wonderful world buildiong, and a plot that has kept me engaged. There are definitely some elements I've read before, especially from Lackey, but they're treated differently here. Some of the pretty simplistic morals in Valdemar are absent. There are good elves, complacent half-elves, and evil humans. And then there are the dragons, who are every bit as complex and individual as everyone else.

From the synopses of the rest of the series, I kind of suspect that the rest of the series won't be entirely to my taste, although I will of course read them.

...was some damn good reading. Well-plotted, suspenseful, and a lot of fun, with some great characters. But then, I have come to expect that from Lois McMaster Bujold.

Now I'm off to go do something else while I'm enjoying the effects of having read a really, really good book.

I've been trying to space out my readings of the Vorkosigan series, because I know myself and know that even I become cynical and irritated if I read too many books by the same author in close proximity. (Long time readers of this blog are no doubt gasping in astonishment. Cynical? Me? About books? Parish the thought!

Anyway, the Vorkosigan books haven't let me down, and they keep getting better and better. At the moment I am less than halfway through Brothers in Arms , which I will probably finish this weekend despite my best efforts to savor it. I love vulnerable, slightly angsty Miles, wondering if he's really going crazy. And I love his relationship with Elli Quinn. Actually, I just love Miles and his thoughts on women, period.

And speaking of the women in Miles's life, man, do I ever lurve me some Elli Quinn. I love that she is in love with the person she thinks Miles is rather than who he actually is. I also like that she just... randomly fires off rocket launchers when they're necessary. And all of the moments where I laughed out loud so far in the book have been from lines of Elli's. Of course, the part of me that is silly and repressed really wants to know if she will ever find someone as extremely cool as she is with whom to spend her life.

Heh, Elli Quinn, imo, is a good example of a strong female character. She's kick-ass, snarky, and also very feminine and sexy. I totes want to be her when I grow up.

Doubtless, I will have more to say the more I read, so I'll just stop here.

So I'm riding home from school today with the crotchetty old bus driver I like, as opposed to the bitch who confuses me by stopping before I expect her to, and we have the following conversation.

Him: ""So... What's that thing you're listening to? Is that a GPS thing?"

Me: "No. It's a CD player."
Him: "Hmmm, really?" *Launches into a story about some other blind woman he used to take places.

I am still trying to puzzle out how you get GPS unit out of CD player. But at least I found his befuddlement charming rather than irritating.

Also, in the Amazon reviews for the book I'm reading, I keep reading that people think the author handles her villains particularly well, and that they present a real threat to the protagonists. Mostly I agreed up until the point where one of the villains started maniacally laughing.
Which was yet another moment when I wished I weren't riding a bus and had something to physically throw at a wall.