The School Year Beckons

Today I am bidding a fond farewell to summer. Chicago has been experiencing unseasonably cool weather, but more to the point, I report back to school tomorrow. The halcyon day of summer are coming to an end. Days of doing nothing but what I want to do: catching up on TV shows, rewatching favorite movies, crocheting and crafting like a mad woman, and staring at the TBR pile... that offers little inspiration.

After returning from New York at the end of July I hit the all-time, worst ever reading slump. This was a relentless creature. It still has it's claws in me. I can't tell you how many DNF books I have floating around my apartment right now. I know they can't all be bad books. It has to be me. I tried historicals. I tried paranormals. I even tried rereading an old favorite. I want to read, but I just can't bring myself to lift another book only to be disappointed. Ugh!!! Needless to say, this malaise has put the brakes on my posts here.

There have been a few gems among the paste. Here are the rare, the few, the books I have enjoyed since the end of June:

Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran- I FINALLY read it, and it was wonderful. So rich and layered. The only other historical romance that I could compare it to is The Spymaster's Lady. The time period and the political situation are not simply the back drop in this book, they are almost another character.

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole- This was my first try at her writing. I did not want to like the hero, Lachlain. In the beginning he had all of the negative traits of an Alpha hero, and none of the good. He was downright mean to Emma. In the end I quite enjoyed the story. I liked the mythology and the inclusion of Valkyries. I have the next book in the series buried in my extra bedroom. I need to dig it out.

7 Day and 7 Nights by Wendy Wax- I had read this one before and still loved it now. It is a contemp with one of my favorite tropes: reunited lovers, although this couple does nothing but butt heads. I definitely recommend you guys dig this one up.

Anything by Nalini Singh. I finished off the rest of her booklist. I heart her. I can't wait for the next book.

Currently, I am reading Lucky Charm by Carly Philips. It is cute so far, but hasn't grabbed me yet. I have the newest Patricia Briggs waiting for me. Yay, Charles and Anna!!! Mostly, though, I have been having fun crocheting. I opened a "store" on ETSY. Go check it out, let me know what you think. My newest obsession is amigurimi. I had seen these little cuties before, but thought they would be too difficult. Not so! It just requires counting. You can't zone out while making them. I have plans to make some for my friends (Christmas gifts? Heck yeah!)

I may even need to make a girlfriend for Mho Pho. What do you think, Katie?

Mmmm. Hello, lovely.

What do you think, ladies? Could he be one of Larissa Ione's men? Perhaps Eidolon pre- s'genisis?

Just thought I would leave you with this image to enjoy before heading off to bed or work.  :)

Gorging myself

Oh... wow. I just gorged myself on Nalini Singh. Seriously. I devoured her entire backlist. Damn those cats are sexy! I can't even get my thought is order to type up a review of any one specific book. Instead, I give you random thoughts about the sries:

- Her heroes are tough, loyal men dedicated to their pack. They are flawed, but not fatally so.

- The heroines are equally strong. These are no shrinking violets, but neither are they ball busters.

- Engaging political atmosphere. Ms. Singh has developed a complex world with all it's troubles and strife.

- Family is at the heart of everything. I love this. These are men who are driven by their connection to and need for family.

- Alpha with a capital A. Somehow, though, they are not jackasses.

- The characters from previous books don't fade away at the conclusion of their book. They play integral roles in subsequent novels.

- The women stand equally among the men. They don't lose their strength once the hero claims them for their own. These women are defined by their own personality and talents, not by the men they are mated to.


I could go on, but I shall leave it at that. Ms. Singh, you are now officially on my list. Auto buy, baby, auto buy!

My inner geek rejoices

I will admit it. I have seen the new Star Treck movie twice already. I want to see it again. I have turned into a complete and utter fangirl. Squeee!!!

I have seen a good number of episodes from the original series, a handful of eps from Voyager (ugh) and Enterprise (way better than most people gave it credit for!) My most favorite of all the incarnations, though, has always been Next Generation. I have disticnt memories from childhood. Me and Dad had our TV night: Next Generation and Quantum Leap. What a perfect pairing! Networks just don't plan that way any more.

My love of Next Generation probably explains my glee at receiving this result:

Your results:
You are Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi 70% Uhura 65% Chekov 50% Beverly Crusher 50% James T. Kirk (Captain) 45% Geordi LaForge 45% Will Riker 45% Mr. Scott 35% Jean-Luc Picard 35% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 35% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 25% Spock 22% Data 20% Worf 15% Mr. Sulu 10%

You are a caring and loving individual. You understand people's emotions and you are able to comfort and counsel them.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

Pet peeves, what are yours?

My lovely ginger friend, Jen, recently posted about incorrectly used Spanish language phrases. Let's just say they really bother her. This got me thinking. What bugs me when I read? Well, most of my big pet peeves are not ones that you would find in a published novel (not unless the author was allowed to write unchecked by an editor.) Which words and phrases get under my skin and make me cringe?

"should of" - Just because we are lazy here in America and butcher the pronunciation does not mean the word "have" has suddenly morphed into "of."

"orientated" - It's oriented. Just... ugh.


What about you? Which words, phrases, or misspellings make you want to pull out your hair?

Refractory period

No no, I'm not talking about the one a man needs after he has been... intimate.  I am talking about a literary one.

Sometimes when I finish reading a book I am energized, ready to jump into the next book.  This is especially the case if it is part of a series or a new-to-me author.  This past weekend I read Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh.  So fabulous!  I immediately pulled Slave to Sensation out of my TBR pile.  I've got about a third of the book left.  I'm loving her heroes and the worlds she has built.  I know I will be picking up the next book in the Psy-changeling series as soon as I finish.  No down time. No recovery period.  No refractory period.

Other times I finish a book and need a break.  It could be because I have glutted myself on a particular genre.  I could be completely stressed by RL stuff.  Perhaps I read an author's entire backlist and just need to reset the brain.  Occasionally, I read a book that is so good, so complex, that I need time to process it.  I need a few days to savor the story, characters, and imagery.  Unfortunately, there are the times when you read a book so bad that you just can't bring yourself to pick up another book. (Usually, though, a good book will cleanse away the foul taste of bad writing.)

Recovery time.  A literary refractory period.  Do you have one? When do you need a break?

Tropes, why they work... or don't

In every genre there are those plot devices or character achetypes that always seem to aboud.  These tropes can shape the genre or shape the stereotypes that non-readers hold about the genre. This can be good and bad.  Obvisouly, if the trope weren't successful it would not continue to pop up over and over again. 

For us romance readers, these recurring elements (Alpha heroes, mistaken identity, fake engagements, plucky virgin heroines) are often what keep us reading.  Who doesn't love to read about a brooding Alpha hero with a mysterious secret who is unable to control the strong emotions he feels for the fiesty "on the shelf" (28 y/o) spinster?  We love it, but we know the genre chock full of tropes.  Secret baby? Character with fatal illness that can be cured by the supernatural love interest? Unrequited love? Friends to lovers?  Enemies to lovers? 

Good authors know how to take these standard elements and present them in a fresh way, or can twist them about, turning it on it's head.  They give us the tropes with a twist.  These are the authors who make us excited to read more.  It is unfortunate, though, that for every author who does this, there are coutless other who continue down the same old worn paths.  The rut in the road made by all the previous authors must be pretty damn deep.

Recently I read a fantasy novel from a series where the whole point is to twist around the expected tropes.  While the writing was average, the story kept me going.  (The same way amazing writing can keep you reading an overdone plotline.) Mercedes Lackey has created the 700 Kingdoms, where The Tradition helps shape the ways of it's people.  There are those people who will fulfill the Cinderella tradition, there are the siblings lost in the woods tradition, good benvolent ruler and evil advisor traditions.  The Tradition pushes people along their destined path.  However, Ms. Lackey's characters defy tradition or turn it upside down.  The Cinderella characters's prince is a toddler? No problem, she becomes a Fairy Godmother.  In One Good Knight, she combines numerous fairy tale traditions, dicing and slipcing them as she went along, to create an interesting storyline.  The adventure and how the characters overcame the obstacles set in their way by enemies and The Tradition kept me turing pages.  While there was a bit of a romance, it is important to romance readers to remember this is a Fantasy novel.  The romance player 3rd or 4th fiddle to everything else.  As I said, not the best writing I have read by the author, but a fun twist on those tropes we all know so well.

What books or authors have taken the expected and turned them into the unexpected?  Who has managed to write a story using a tired plot line, but through spectacular writing turned it into a page turner?