Book Blind Dates (ie, shamelessly stolen idea)

kaitie · Feb 14, 2012

I was just reading Bookend's blog, and she had the coolest idea! Essentially the person who posts next will give a title and author, and I'll then have to read that book. Then the next person will give a book they love, and the second person will read that one, and so on.

Also, let's keep this genre relevant, MTS titles only. If y'all are anything like me I'm always trying to find good books that will help me understand the genre better, so I thought this would be a fun, cool way to try out new books that we might normally not pick up. So let's give it a try: Give me a book to read!

heyjude · Feb 14, 2012

I love this idea!

How about A Simple Plan by Scott Smith?

MarkEsq · Feb 15, 2012

I'm in.

The Polish Officer by Alan Furst.

Dave Hardy · Feb 15, 2012

Cool idea. I think I'd like this Alan Furst novel.

How about The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, by Cornell Woolrich.

kaitie · Feb 15, 2012

I'll go for a somewhat popular one, but hopefully one you haven't read and say Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. It's probably the best thriller I've read and I loved the levels of depth with every character and the relationships between them.

BrumBall · Feb 15, 2012

Does this mean you are going to read two books kaitie?!

The Confession, John Grisham.

MarkEsq · Feb 15, 2012

Okay, so I think according to the rules the Woolrich book is mine... should we be reporting back in on what we think of our assigned books? Here or somewhere else?!

Dave Hardy · Feb 15, 2012

MarkEsq said:
Okay, so I think according to the rules the Woolrich book is mine... should we be reporting back in on what we think of our assigned books? Here or somewhere else?!

Good point. I guess I've got Red Dragon.

I think it'd be cool to give a rundown.

heyjude · Mar 20, 2012

As I understand the rules, this is how it breaks down (kaitie, correct me if I'm wrong):

Kaitie has A Simple Plan.

Heyjude has The Polish Officer (which I finally just now ordered).

Mark has The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.

Dave Hardy has Red Dragon.

Kaitie has The Confession. (Get reading, kaitie!)

Is anyone reading theirs yet?

kaitie · Mar 20, 2012

I JUST finished the book I was reading when we did this (yes, I'm slow) and I have to read the Hunger Games by Thursday, but as soon as I'm done with that (if I get a hold of it by then), I'll start on mine next.

heyjude · Apr 9, 2012

Uncle. I tried with The Polish Officer. I really did. Mark, you and I have similar tastes in many, many things, but this wasn't one of them. History isn't my thing and the prose was a bit dense and dated for me. I just couldn't do it.

How's everyone else coming? Dave Hardy, are you still with us?

Anyone want to try assigning me something else?

MarkEsq · Apr 9, 2012

I recently finished mine. C. Woolrich, Night has a Thousand Eyes. Dense, great writing, not my normal cup of tea, but I'm glad I read it. Definitely.

HJ, sorry you didn't like the Furst, but that's okay, I still love you. Funnily enough, I had to toss the Tami Hoag book. Found the characters so cliched, it read more like a romance than a mystery. I figured the victim hacked herself to death to escape the bronzed polo players and the handsome, rugged cops.

heyjude · Apr 9, 2012

We're even then.

kaitie · Apr 9, 2012

I'm sort of expecting to fall into the same boat because I have a Grisham novel, and he's the only writer I've never been able to read all the way through. I usually get bored after 100 pages. :tongue

That being said, I haven't tried in years, so I'm also looking forward to this. I used to also think Law and Order was boring and now I can watch it over and over, so I might have changed my mind on Grisham, too.

kaitie · Jun 10, 2012

I haven't checked in here in ages, but I finally got copies of the books and started reading A Simple Plan. I feel like I've seen the movie before once upon a time, but it was ages ago and I don't remember much. I'm loving the book, though. His writing style is great, and it's got a lovely sense of foreboding going on. I just picked up a second book by the same author as a matter of fact.

lorna_w · Jun 10, 2012

hey, this is a neat idea. I wanna play; can we resurrect it?

heyjude · Jun 10, 2012

Yes! Do you want to give me a book or shall I give you one?

I'm too lazy to scroll up to see the rules.

How about Robopocalypse?

kaitie · Jun 10, 2012

We can totally resurrect this. And the rules are that the person below makes the suggestion for the person above.

Does Jude want a new one? Because if so, I'm making you read Storm Front by Jim Butcher.

lorna_w · Jun 10, 2012

I've read Robopocalypse (which I have the hardest time spelling!)...but organize us, Kaitie! (Actually, I read all the Alex Award winners and all the Edgar nominees this year. I might read too much. lol.)

heyjude · Jun 10, 2012

<---is excited. I'll grab it as soon as I finish what I'm reading now!

Lorna, how about The Dispatcher by Ryan David Jahn?

lorna_w · Jun 10, 2012

wonderful, I never heard of it even!

Okay, kaitie, The Dispatcher by Ryan David Jahn is mine. Ordering from amazon as we speak.

heyjude · Jun 25, 2012

Okay, I read Storm Front by Jim Butcher. My thoughts:

-Had I known it was paranormal, I'd have passed. That's definitely not my genre. Having said that, it was incredibly well-written. He certainly knows how to world-build. I never felt lost or out of place.

-The character seemed a little bit wimpy for a wizard. :tongue

He spent a lot of the book getting beat up and terrified.

-Everything about the writing was a study in how to. Not just the world-building, but the unique turns of phrase, the active verbs, the characterization, all of it.

-There was one jarring, hatefully dismissive reference to Christianity that took me right out of the book. It didn't fit, and immediately made me think author, not character. That sinks the author for me.

Fascinating read, though.

How's everyone else doing?

Book Blind Dates (ie, shamelessly stolen idea)

With great power comes

Making my own sunshine

Clever title pending.

Don't let your deal go down,

With great power comes

Keep Right On

Clever title pending.

Don't let your deal go down,

Making my own sunshine

With great power comes

Making my own sunshine

Clever title pending.

Making my own sunshine

With great power comes

With great power comes

Confused Alien

Making my own sunshine

With great power comes

Confused Alien

Making my own sunshine

Confused Alien

Making my own sunshine