What Are We Currently Reading?

[JustHereForFood]

On 8/10/2022 at 11:56 PM, sugarbaker design said:

Could there really be two writers named Fabian Nicieza?  ;)

No idea. Is that an unusual name? (I'm not from the US.)

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’ve been so busy working late hours and enjoying my parents’ visit that I didn’t even realize that Storm Echo dropped on Monday!

But anal me as a I am, will finish Nora’s Without Trace first, even though it’s my umpteenth re-read!😄😄 Besides, only have a few more chapters to go anywayzzz.

[BlackberryJam]

Just finished Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare. It’s fine. I mean, nothing exceptional, but it’s fine.

*sigh*

I need something more entertaining.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Just finished Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare. It’s fine. I mean, nothing exceptional, but it’s fine.

*sigh*

I need something more entertaining.

Not sure if you’ve ever read Linda Howard, but her Open Season is pretty good. The scene discussing the

 

Condom “Party Pak”

will have you 😂😂😂😂😂

For a really good page turner that will have your emotions run the gamut, there’s Nora Roberts’ The Witness*. 
 

*I blame the editor who didn’t catch the error that John has a son and a daughter; NOT two sons. That’s not a spoiler really.
 

Edited August 12, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Haleth]

Ok, I read the second book of the Wheel of Time series in prep for the upcoming second season of the show.  People keep saying they get better and better, but I'm sorry, it was terrible.  Poorly written characters, unoriginal plot points, ridiculous pacing.  If I even hint about picking up the third book, someone please slap me.  I'm still not convinced they aren't YA.

No offense to anyone who enjoyed the series.

[DearEvette]

12 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I’ve been so busy working late hours and enjoying my parents’ visit that I didn’t even realize that Storm Echo dropped on Monday!

I read Storm Echo last week because I got my hands on a UK release and they came out a week earlier.

I enjoyed it quite a but.  There is a nice bit of continuity and call back to one of my favorite subplots in Allegiance of Honor.  I will say I am biased because this series has built up such good will with me over the years and the world-system she has created is really very interesting and immersive. 

That said, I had to laugh because before I read it, I made a bet with myself that one of the main protags would have what I now call the dreaded 'impending death by biology', i.e. something about the person's physiology (mind or body) is just lurking in the background waiting to kill them and it is the imminent threat to them being happy.  And yup, gold star for me.

This is not a spoiler, long time readers know this is a plot element she uses A LOT in this series.  As a matter of fact with this spin-off series of the original, this element has appeared 6 for 6 in each book.  It is a sword of Damocles that hovers over the happiness of the two main characters.  We know it will come to nothing or will get solved (it is misunderstood and isn't a bug but a feature) or resolved (a miracle cure in the 11th hour) because these are romance novels and in that genre, the 'happy ever after' is the abiding force.  But now with these books I 1) make a bet with myself of it will show up and 2) who will be affected and 3) if I can figure out the cure/solution before hand.

Still -- this was a really good installment and I am enjoying the deeper dive into the Mercant family.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I enjoyed it quite a but. 

That's why I reacted with the laughing emoji! First I thought it would lead to a "but...she did this that I didn't like..." Hee.

But yeah, I already had that though/speculation too, so YAY! for us! 😄

[DearEvette]

54 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

That's why I reacted with the laughing emoji! First I thought it would lead to a "but...she did this that I didn't like..." Hee.

But yeah, I already had that though/speculation too, so YAY! for us! 😄

LOL.  100% a typo.  I meant to say 'I liked it quite a bit.'

[Luckylyn]

Currently reading Abandoned in Death by JD Robb.  The story is compelling but the flashbacks to the past were particularly interesting because we got a clear picture of the motive very early on in the book.  When I finish this one, my next will be  Storm Echo.  I love the Psy-Changling series and particularly enjoy the Merchant Family.

[Spartan Girl]

I just finished Moth by Melody Razak, a novel taking place during the Partition of India and Pakistan, where a girl goes missing on a train from Delhi to Bombay. It is an intense and sometimes brutal story. The things that were done to Hindu and Muslim women were unspeakable.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/12/2022 at 2:06 PM, DearEvette said:

LOL.  100% a typo.  I meant to say 'I liked it quite a bit.'

Started this on Saturday night and yep, it's going the way I thought it was.

I really like how this one returns to the story of SkyElm, and really, really, realllllllly happy to see not only 💗🥰💗Lucas,💗🥰💗 but 💗Nathan💗 as well. And of course, Rome and Jules. I love those two! And of course, honorable mention to Valentin's "sneaky like a cat" that is sprinkled throughout thus far.

But I'm very confused about just Ivan

thinks is wrong with him. Jax still fucking with him? the

"spider" or whatever it is? I'm also confused with what the Architect, whoever the fuck she is (I'm betting a former member of the Council), is doing.

As good as the worldbuilding Nalini has done is, I find I much prefer the first few books up until Kaleb's stories. There was much more focus on the relationship of the protagonists/hero/heroine.

[proserpina65]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:42 AM, Haleth said:

Ok, I read the second book of the Wheel of Time series in prep for the upcoming second season of the show.  People keep saying they get better and better, but I'm sorry, it was terrible.  Poorly written characters, unoriginal plot points, ridiculous pacing.  If I even hint about picking up the third book, someone please slap me.  I'm still not convinced they aren't YA.

No offense to anyone who enjoyed the series.

That's how I felt about it.  I actually quit reading about a third of the way through it.  I really didn't feel the need for a sequel to The Eye of the World to begin with, and then The Great Hunt was actively awful.

[DearEvette]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

But I'm very confused about just Ivan

  Reveal spoiler

thinks is wrong with him. Jax still fucking with him? the

"spider" or whatever it is? I'm also confused with what the Architect, whoever the fuck she is (I'm betting a former member of the Council), is doing.

As good as the worldbuilding Nalini has done is, I find I much prefer the first few books up until Kaleb's stories. There was much more focus on the relationship of the protagonists/hero/heroine.

Yeah, I was confused about him too, but I had a suspicion that proved sorta correct.  In the end it comes clear. 

Also you'll kick yourself when you get to the end.  I did because, duh!  This series has a ton of characters throughout the series, it is easy to lose track of one. Her continuity/call backs in her own series is excellent.  Also she teases a new character we might see again --  are they gonna be good or evil?  Who knows.

[GHScorpiosRule]

56 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Yeah, I was confused about him too, but I had a suspicion that proved sorta correct.  In the end it comes clear. 

Also you'll kick yourself when you get to the end.  I did because, duh!  This series has a ton of characters throughout the series, it is easy to lose track of one. Her continuity/call backs in her own series is excellent.  Also she teases a new character we might see again --  are they gonna be good or evil?  Who knows.

Awww man, tell me! It'll bug me and distract me from their story!

I think I know who the new character might be. We'll see if I'm right.

But any time I get me some Lucas, I be a happy reader.

[blackwing]

I read Stan Lee's The Devil's Quintet: The Armageddon Code (yes, that is the complete title haha) by Stan Lee and some other guy.  Obviously it seems to have been an idea by Stan Lee, and actually written by the other guy.  It worked, because I wouldn't have picked it up but was drawn in by the Stan Lee name.

This book is about a group of five soldiers in some kind of elite soldier unit who get sent in on really dangerous missions.  Something goes wrong, and they are all about to die, but then the Devil (yep, the title is literal) shows up and offers to save them and give them superpowers, as long as they are willing to act as his hit squad and take out people deserving damnation.  They get their powers but then realise they don't want to be controlled by the Devil and rebel.  Devil doesn't like this so he seeks to bring about armageddon and the end of the world (I never really figured out what the code was).

Concept is really interesting.  I liked the idea of the super powers, especially that they weren't the usual generic ones like flight/superstrength, fire control, speed, etc.

However, overall, I thought the book was a bit of a slog.  The guy isn't a particularly good writer, the characters are a bit thin, and there's too much military jargon on seemingly every third page.

[blackwing]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:42 AM, Haleth said:

Ok, I read the second book of the Wheel of Time series in prep for the upcoming second season of the show.  People keep saying they get better and better, but I'm sorry, it was terrible.  Poorly written characters, unoriginal plot points, ridiculous pacing.  If I even hint about picking up the third book, someone please slap me.  I'm still not convinced they aren't YA.

No offense to anyone who enjoyed the series.

Years ago when there were only three books, I bought all three at once, because at the time, I had thought this was going to be next big epic fantasy series similar to "The Lord of the Rings" (this was some years before "A Song of Ice and Fire").  I read "Eye of the World" and was so incredibly bored and disappointed.  Never bothered reading the other two.  They have sat on the shelf collecting dust for all these years.  I watched the series on Amazon Prime and have thought about trying again.  Still debating, my issue is there is so much to read and so little time!  And I don't really want to start on a 15 (?) book series of massive tomes.

[blackwing]

"The Sword in the Stone" is probably my favourite Disney movie, so I have long wanted to read The Once and Future King by T.H. White.  Just finished it and the sequel The Book of Merlyn.  Overall, I really enjoyed it, although I was more hoping for a simple telling of the stories.  I've read that the book is considered a political allegory.  So there was long discussion that involved political theory, and what constitutes Might, and how Might doesn't always mean Right, etc.

The book is told in four parts.  "The Sword in the Stone" is the story from the Disney version, how a young squire named Wart met Merlin and then pulled the sword and became King Arthur. 

The second book "The Witch in the Wind" tells the tale of the Orkney clan, which includes the sisters Morgause and Morgan Le Fay.  Morgause is the half-sister of Arthur, he had no idea, and their union produced Mordred.  Morgause's other children include Gawain and Agravain.

The third book "The Ill-Made Knight" focuses on Lancelot and Guinevere.

And the final book "The Candle in the Wind" is about how Mordred and Agravaine's hatred of Arthur and Lancelot brings about the end of Camelot.

"The Book of Merlyn" is a sequel that is set just before the events of the end of "The Candle in the Wind" and involves Merlin talking to an old Arthur and resuming some teaching and training.

I am glad I read this book, but I feel like fully 1/3 of it is filler.  There were entire passages that added absolutely nothing to the main plot.  Extraneous characters like King Pellinore and Sir Palomides and others that left me scratching my head and wondering when I was going to get back to significant events.

[JustHereForFood]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

"The Sword in the Stone" is probably my favourite Disney movie, so I have long wanted to read The Once and Future King by T.H. White.  Just finished it and the sequel The Book of Merlyn.  Overall, I really enjoyed it, although I was more hoping for a simple telling of the stories.  I've read that the book is considered a political allegory.  So there was long discussion that involved political theory, and what constitutes Might, and how Might doesn't always mean Right, etc.

I've had this book for years now, in an edition that includes all 5 books. I first read just the first one in a separate edition, then when I got the complete one, I reread it and read the second book. I loved it so much that I decided to keep the rest and read it later in the same fashion, to savor it.

[Mindthinkr]

I just finished two books this week. One was The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers. It was light reading. The second was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It was very descriptive and gave depth to a period of time (early WWII). 

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:25 PM, DearEvette said:

Also you'll kick yourself when you get to the end.  I did because, duh! 

Finished this in the early AM and HOLY FUCKING SHIT, BATMAN! I knew it had to be one of them, @DearEvette so I was right about that, but I am SO GLAD that

 

Shoshanna isn't Ivan's grandma. But I'm also peeved that her brain is still alive. I think her daughter could be like Kaleb, in terms of how she's described as perfectly cold.

But, who knows?

Too bad Ace was asleep.

Edited August 24, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Haleth]

I read Darling Girl (Liz Michalski) this week.  It has a great premise but ultimately failed because the main character is so annoying.  The plot is that Holly Darling is the granddaughter of Wendy (of Peter Pan fame) and is living in NYC following the death of her husband and son in a car crash.  One day her comatose daughter in England disappears and she is convinced the girl was kidnapped by Peter Pan.  There are lots of references to the book and characters that suggest that Neverland is bleeding into our world.  It could have been great, but Holly is pretty unsympathetic.  She makes the wrong choices every.single.time and does not learn from them. 

Spoiler

Plus in the end she is completely ineffectual and relies on other people to save her family, while she waits helplessly at home.

Pretty disappointing.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 8/16/2022 at 8:57 PM, Mindthinkr said:

I just finished two books this week. One was The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers. It was light reading. The second was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It was very descriptive and gave depth to a period of time (early WWII). 

The author of Tobacco Wives is coming to our local library next week, but now I don't think I want to read the book.  It just doesn't sound that great. 

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

The author of Tobacco Wives is coming to our local library next week, but now I don't think I want to read the book.  It just doesn't sound that great. 

Most of the ladies in my mahjong group liked it. It’s basically about a young seamstress/tailor who custom makes dresses for the ladies married to tobacco executives. She also tailors dresses for the lesser wives of the company. It’s about how they also seem so pretty and proper on the outside and yet their lives are filled with many of the issues that “regular” people deal with. How they hide behind the frocks they are wearing. It wasn’t bad. It was a fast read. If the author did a continuance or sequel I’d read it too. Please let me know if you change your mind and do go. I’d be interested in what she has to say. 

[Luckylyn]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:25 PM, DearEvette said:

Yeah, I was confused about him too, but I had a suspicion that proved sorta correct.  In the end it comes clear. 

Also you'll kick yourself when you get to the end.  I did because, duh!  This series has a ton of characters throughout the series, it is easy to lose track of one. Her continuity/call backs in her own series is excellent.  Also she teases a new character we might see again --  are they gonna be good or evil?  Who knows.

I just finished it and didn’t see the reveal coming because 

Spoiler

It’s been a while since The Scott family were prominent in the story.  I am very curious about Shoshana’s daughter but disappointed Shoshana’s mind survived.

I had a different theory for Ivan and had an mistaken idea about who his father would turn out to be.

Spoiler

I was thinking he might be related to the Duncans.

 The world of the Psy/Changling/Human Trinity has become so large.  I really love this series.

[DearEvette]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I just finished it and didn’t see the reveal coming because 

  Reveal spoiler

It’s been a while since The Scott family were prominent in the story.  I am very curious about Shoshana’s daughter but disappointed Shoshana’s mind survived.

I The world of the Psy/Changling/Human Trinity has become so large.  I really love this series.

I was having a DM convo with @GHScorpiosRule and mentioned that as I as reading really late in the book, I became convinced it had to be someone we already knew.  So I did a mental recap of who it could possibly be and came up with two possible names.  One of which was less likely because,well, Kaleb is involved and he's not sloppy.  And the other, well you are right about why you didn't see the reveal.  But as I said, the author is great about continuity in this series, she is deliberate about details and powerful people don't just disappear (well they do, but you know what I mean).

And agreed, this series just rocks.  Even the lesser installments are still good.  I just love her imagination in how she built her world.

[babyhouseman]

6 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Most of the ladies in my mahjong group liked it. It’s basically about a young seamstress/tailor who custom makes dresses for the ladies married to tobacco executives. She also tailors dresses for the lesser wives of the company. It’s about how they also seem so pretty and proper on the outside and yet their lives are filled with many of the issues that “regular” people deal with. How they hide behind the frocks they are wearing. It wasn’t bad. It was a fast read. If the author did a continuance or sequel I’d read it too. Please let me know if you change your mind and do go. I’d be interested in what she has to say. 

I read it because I have family in North Carolina who have worked in the tobacco fields. It showed how the rich people in tobacco lived. It also showed that a small town can be dependent on tobacco. They still grow it in NC but not as much. It's mainly for foreign markets now. 

[Spartan Girl]

I’m only a few pages into I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy. If you’re one of the people preemptively judging her for the title, DON’T. I assure you that it’s very much deserved.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:51 AM, BlackberryJam said:

Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza. I really enjoyed this one. Pregnant Jewish mother of four who gave up a career as a profiler and a disgraced Asian reporter, investigating a gas station murder in small town New Jersey. Funny and smart. 

Please help me with Suburban Dicks, folks who have read it.  I liked it a bit, but I thought it would have benefited from some editing.  This could make for a good series (another is out) or TV show.  BUT . . . questions abound.

Why was Andrea's husband in legal trouble?  We should have had more info.  Why did she stay with him?  And have another child on the way?  All of this made little sense for this characater.  Why did she become pregnant by him in college?  She could have figured out how to prevent that.  Why did she mention being a con artist about 3/4 of the way through the book?  Was she raised as a con artist? 

[BlackberryJam]

I got all of that when I read it, let me see if I can remember. Her husband had been a financial adviser who'd embezzled people's money.  She'd thought repeatedly throughout the book about her rough upbringing including being taught how to pick locks and scam people.  As far as getting pregnant, accidents happen. She chose not to terminate. 

 As to why she stayed with him? That's a good question.  It sounds as though prior to her husband getting caught, they lived in they lived in a giant mansion with a very wealthy comfortable life. People enjoy that. Being a single parent with 4 kids is not as enjoyable.

 At the point we see her, she has been dealing with all of that in the past plus she's in the middle of another pregnancy, her mental state is going to be angrier at home, angrier at her husband and less interested in her current children based upon her personality. That doesn't mean the way she feels now is the way she felt all the time.

She's a character in the midst of change.

Edited August 19, 2022 by BlackberryJam

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:54 PM, Luckylyn said:

I just finished it and didn’t see the reveal coming because 

  Reveal spoiler

It’s been a while since The Scott family were prominent in the story.  I am very curious about Shoshanna’s daughter but disappointed Shoshanna’s mind survived.

I had a different theory for Ivan and had an mistaken idea about who his father would turn out to be.

  Reveal spoiler

I was thinking he might be related to the Duncans.

 The world of the Psy/Changling/Human Trinity has become so large.  I really love this series.

I’m in the same boat about the status of  The Architect/Scarab Queen.

On 8/18/2022 at 4:24 PM, DearEvette said:

I was having a DM convo with @GHScorpiosRule and mentioned that as I as reading really late in the book, I became convinced it had to be someone we already knew.  So I did a mental recap of who it could possibly be and came up with two possible names.  One of which was less likely because,well, Kaleb is involved and he's not sloppy.  And the other, well you are right about why you didn't see the reveal.  But as I said, the author is great about continuity in this series, she is deliberate about details and powerful people don't just disappear (well they do, but you know what I mean).

And agreed, this series just rocks.  Even the lesser installments are still good.  I just love her imagination in how she built her world.

Agree about Kaleb, which is why Immediately dismissed

 

Tatiana, as I remembered Kaleb saying he “visited” her every so often; if only to render first-aid so she could continue to suffer and not just die. It HAD to be Shoshanna because she was the only female left who was part of the original Council we met in Slave to Sensation.

And @DearEvette is right that Nalini wouldn’t set it up as someone we didn’t know. The crumbs were there.

I was hoping we’d learn why Norah chose the name Mercant, though. For a second, I thought Ivan’s father was going to be

 

Dev’s father, since he’s in a facility. But ruled him out as soon as we learned he worked there.

As someone of South Asian descent, I loved the mentions of tablas*, which are used in most weddings/part of music and lenghas, which have become the more popular outfits.

But I’m ready for another changeling story. Like maybe one of Zach’s sisters or Kit. I think Nalini teased how Kit would/maybe get his own story?

And I want Tammy to have more cubs, if only to see how Rome and Jules react and love their new baby/cub sisters or brothers.

But yes, add me to the chorus of LOVING this series!

Edited August 24, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Luckylyn]

I’ve been hoping Kit would get a book for the longest time.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Luckylyn

[Grrarrggh]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I’m only a few pages into I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy. If you’re one of the people preemptively judging her for the title, DON’T. I assure you that it’s very much deserved.

Just read an article about her in the Washington Post and she (and the book) sound interesting. Make sure to tell us if it's worth a read when you're done.

[Spartan Girl]

11 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Just read an article about her in the Washington Post and she (and the book) sound interesting. Make sure to tell us if it's worth a read when you're done.

It definitely is. It was hard to get through, but at the same time I couldn’t put it down. She’s lucky that she’s still alive. By the time you get to the end where she happens to see Dwayne Johnson at a gathering, yet doesn’t actually try to say hi to him because she’s too busy enjoying a chocolate chip cookie—which shows how far she’s come on her eating disorder, you’re so happy for her.

You go, Jeannette. Savor the hell out of that cookie. 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

[Wiendish Fitch]

I just finished reading Daisy Jones and the Six. It was fairly enjoyable (I did like how it was written like an oral history), but the ending irritated me.

Spoiler

Think a combination of Lavinia Swire's storyline from Downton Abbey and the infamous series finale of How I Met Your Mother.

[truthaboutluv]

I'm currently reading Catherine House and overall, I'm enjoying it well enough. It's a fairly quick and easy read. There's one thing I'm not enjoying however, and wanted to comment on,  because I feel like it's been this growing trend for the last few years. Particularly in the mystery/thriller genre. 

It's the "constantly in a fog of drugs, alcohol, self-hating" protagonists. Unreliable narrators are fine, and understandably fairly common in that genre, since twists usually revolve around an unreliable narrator. But unreliable narrator doesn't have to so often mean narrator who's perpetually buzzed and strung out. 

It's just not as interesting as a lot of authors seem to think it is. I really get little enjoyment from reading about a character that's constantly in a state of being blitzed out, constantly in a self-hating spiral, etc. And again, I may be more tolerant if, as noted above, it hadn't become as common as it is. 

Edited August 20, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/18/2022 at 4:24 PM, DearEvette said:

And agreed, this series just rocks.  Even the lesser installments are still good.  I just love her imagination in how she built her world.

Just quoting this part again just because. I just finished Slave to Sensation and it's funny how I missed this on the first three or four or sixth re-reads!

When Lucas first becomes Alpha at such a young age, there's a line how it happened because Lachlan, who was Alpha at the time, suddenly died. Then, toward the end of the book, from Lucas' point of view, he says he became Alpha after Lachlan stepped down! 😛

And now I'm on Visions now, because I don't want to cheat myself. Because, HEY! Introduction of Kaleb.

[Razzberry]

I'm reading the 2nd novel about old Hollywood called The Trouble With Scarlett.  The casting of Gone With The Wind is only a part of the book, which revolves around the infamous real-life hotel The Garden of Alla on Sunset Blvd.   Residents included Tallulah Bankhead, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Harpo Marx, Robert Benchley, et al along with our fictional 3 main characters.   Other recurring characters are Joan Crawford, Louis B. Mayer, Ramon Navarro,  Errol Flynn, director George Cukor, and dozens of others.

It's no Gone With The Wind, but it's fun and light summer reading, and the author seems to know where all the bodies are buried.  His website has a ton of pictures, a map of Old Hollywood that features all the mentioned hangouts, and a free download of the first two books.

https://martinturnbull.com/

[grommit2]

Ok...Just picked up a David Ignatius book, "The Paladin".
Ignatius is a Washington Post editor and columnist.  Also appears as a commentator on MS-NBC.  Plus he has written several "spy vs spy" novels.  Any thoughts on whether his novels are good reads?

[Luckylyn]

I just finished The Hunger Games .  I have been wanting to read it for a while but waited so the movies weren’t as fresh on my mind.  I found the book even more compelling than the movie.  There were moments when I did visualize characters as the movie ones but for some like Peeta I was better able to get an understanding of him in the book. He’s a tricky character who Katniss can’t figure out until the end. He’s capable of great kindness but can also be manipulative.  He’s much more interesting in the book. I think the Katniss of the book had more nuance as well.  I looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, Luckylyn said:

I found the book even more compelling than the movie.

Isn't that almost always the case?

[SusieQ]

On 8/19/2022 at 6:44 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

Please help me with Suburban Dicks, folks who have read it.  I liked it a bit, but I thought it would have benefited from some editing.  This could make for a good series (another is out) or TV show.  BUT . . . questions abound.

Why was Andrea's husband in legal trouble?  We should have had more info.  Why did she stay with him?  And have another child on the way?  All of this made little sense for this characater.  Why did she become pregnant by him in college?  She could have figured out how to prevent that.  Why did she mention being a con artist about 3/4 of the way through the book?  Was she raised as a con artist? 

I'm guessing the author did it on purpose, looking to whet our appetite for a sequel. Will she stay married? What exactly did her husband do and why didn't she catch him if she's so much smarter than him? Does she solve another murder? What happens to Kenny? A look back on her work to catch Morana, etc.

I'd probably read a sequel since I mostly liked the book.

[GaT]

I'm currently reading The Dragon Finds Forever by Kristen Painter, book # 7 in the Nocturne Falls series. I don't really like it, I don't really like any of them, but I don't really like this one more than I don't really like the others. The only reason I'm reading these books is because so many of the books I've been waiting for have had their release dates delayed. I keep buying these because they're part of a series & to fill in time until books I want (thankfully, two were delivered today), get released, but I'm not big on romance novels & the plot seems kind of the same, just with different characters. It's a slog.

[EtheltoTillie]

5 minutes ago, SusieQ said:

I'm guessing the author did it on purpose, looking to whet our appetite for a sequel. Will she stay married? What exactly did her husband do and why didn't she catch him if she's so much smarter than him? Does she solve another murder? What happens to Kenny? A look back on her work to catch Morana, etc.

I'd probably read a sequel since I mostly liked the book.

I think this makes sense.  I would try a sequel too.  But only when I can get it from the library, as I did for the first one. 

[SusieQ]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I think this makes sense.  I would try a sequel too.  But only when I can get it from the library, as I did for the first one. 

Oh, yeah. Library book all the way way😊😊

[Luckylyn]

6 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Isn't that almost always the case?

Sometimes a movie does a fantastic job with the adaptation like “The Princess Bride”.  Changes were made but it worked brilliantly.

[sugarbaker design]

2 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:

Sometimes a movie does a fantastic job with the adaptation like “The Princess Bride”.  Changes were made but it worked brilliantly.

I agree!  Gone Girl was a better movie.

[DearEvette]

Oooh, today was a good release date for me. 

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins ( I mean, a hist rom novel featuring a black female grifter!)

Into the Broken Lands by Tanya Huff

I struggled between which one to do first, Ruby Fever or  Soul Taken (those were my two most anticipated).  I am going with Ruby Fever, it is a conclusion and is supposed to finally answer some questions that have been lingering over the series and I just love the Baylor family so hard!

[GaT]

6 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

I struggled between which one to do first, Ruby Fever or  Soul Taken (those were my two most anticipated).  I am going with Ruby Fever, it is a conclusion and is supposed to finally answer some questions that have been lingering over the series and I just love the Baylor family so hard!

The 2 books I got today too, I'll be reading Ruby Fever next too, but I really they continue on with the series for 3 more books.

[DearEvette]

I hope they do too.  The rumor is they do have plans for a trilogy featuring Arabella.  But... they are not yet contracted with Avon books for them.  Not sure what the rights are like with the series/characters... if they don't contract if they can go indie/self pub like they do with the Inkeeper and Kinsmen series. 

On their website the only books they have listed as upcoming with a firm date is a a new Inkeeper book (the one they are offering free serialized on their site at the moment) and this one. 

[Ohiopirate02]

9 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Oooh, today was a good release date for me. 

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins ( I mean, a hist rom novel featuring a black female grifter!)

Into the Broken Lands by Tanya Huff

I struggled between which one to do first, Ruby Fever or  Soul Taken (those were my two most anticipated).  I am going with Ruby Fever, it is a conclusion and is supposed to finally answer some questions that have been lingering over the series and I just love the Baylor family so hard!

There's also Sarah Maclean's latest Heartbreaker.  I am trying to race through the two other books I'm currently reading in order to get to that one and Ms. Bevs.  I hate it when work gets in the way of my reading.