What are you reading right now?

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith.

Rose English said:

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

Click to expand...

I read this in high school and absolutely loved it! I am one of the few people that did though. Have you read it before? What do you think?

Satori1977 said:

I read this in high school and absolutely loved it! I am one of the few people that did though. Have you read it before? What do you think?

Click to expand...

I'd never heard of it before, a friend recommended it for an upcoming book club. I did thoroughly enjoy it; it should be a lively discussion. Infuriating end though...

Finished I Capture the Castle - wonderful book, one to hang on to and re-read.

Now it's a choice between Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows. Hmm. Recommendations anyone?

This week I purchased a month's subscription to http://www.sapayne.com/ and am enjoying reading the collection of gay erotic romance novels there.

A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris.

Wow, I did not know that the subject was the heroine's rape and the hunt for her rapist with a lot of self-discovery along the way. Nothing like Sookie stuff. No humor at all. But Charlaine is one of my favorite writers and she's doing an awesome job with it so far, even if it will give me the willies for a long time to come. It's a very old CH novel, from the mid-80's.

AuburnAssassin said:

Charlaine is one of my favorite writers and she's doing an awesome job with it so far, even if it will give me the willies for a long time to come. It's a very old CH novel, from the mid-80's.

Click to expand...

I must try her at some point. I'd be interested to know if you think this would be a good starting point. I tend to prefer dark or deep over humour

Do you like mysteries? As best I can tell, that's always the common thread in her works--mystery and / or suspense. A Secret Rage is no different in that respect. I'd recommend A Secret Rage as a darker intro to CH if you're up with the mystery.

I like Charlaine's command of the English language. She has a wonderful blend of southern patois with an extensive vocabulary. I'm glad my Kindle has a dictionary built in when I read her stuff but it's only a word or two here and there and not too stuffy at all.

Rose English said:

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith.

Click to expand...

I have GOT to read this book. My editor is actually Dodie Smith's great-niece. She (Dodie) also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians (figures that the one I've read is the children's book, but not the other. )

Right now I'm in the middle of Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take and enjoying it. I think the covers in this series are pretty, but they're really looking so much alike and with such similar titles that it's getting hard to tell them apart. I am also reading (on my iPhone) Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, which is a Nebula nominee.

Finished Dark Lover by JR Ward, it was ok. Also finished Bllod Bound by Patricia Briggs (very good) and One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (another excellent one from her, though her mythology is getting a little too complicated to follow at times). Been reading a lot of paranormal romance and UF lately, so I am going to switch gears and read My Sunshine from Catherine Anderson. She is one author of sweeter romance that I actually enjoy.

AuburnAssassin said:

Do you like mysteries? As best I can tell, that's always the common thread in her works--mystery and / or suspense. A Secret Rage is no different in that respect. I'd recommend A Secret Rage as a darker intro to CH if you're up with the mystery.

I like Charlaine's command of the English language. She has a wonderful blend of southern patois with an extensive vocabulary. I'm glad my Kindle has a dictionary built in when I read her stuff but it's only a word or two here and there and not too stuffy at all.

Click to expand...

I'll add this to my TBR list, thanks. I do like suspense/mystery; actually I read any genre as long as the writing grabs me in the first few pages.

san_remo_ave said:

Finished reading Acheron, by Sherrilyn Kenyon (great 1st half; meh 2nd half) and now reading Passion Untamed by Pamela Palmer.

Think I'm getting burned out on UF/paranormal. Will be digging out some historicals shortly.

Click to expand...

I think that's a good idea. Too much of a good thing and all that...

Kasey Mackenzie said:

I have GOT to read this book. My editor is actually Dodie Smith's great-niece. She (Dodie) also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians (figures that the one I've read is the children's book, but not the other. )

Click to expand...

I thought it was beautifully written. Do read it.

Satori1977 said:

Finished Dark Lover by JR Ward, it was ok.

Click to expand...

Somewhere on AW this is listed as a 'must read'. What makes you say it was ok rather than great? Not doubting you, just making conversation

I just finished 'Shannon' by Frank Delaney.

Gorgeous, evocative, romantic, touching, sad, etc. etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Satori1977
Finished Dark Lover by JR Ward, it was ok.

Somewhere on AW this is listed as a 'must read'. What makes you say it was ok rather than great? Not doubting you, just making conversation

I heard the same thing, on here and on another online book group I am a part of (for paranormal romance readers). I heard so many good things about it, so I picked it up at the library. It wasn't horrible, I did enjoy parts of it. But some things just read me the wrong way.

Possible spoilers for those that haven't read it:
I didn't like how some of the male characters talked. Kinda gangsta, I guess. It just didn't fit in with them being immortal vamps that had been around for centuries. I didn't like the first sex scene between the two main characters. It seemed forced, and it happened within moments of them meeting. Also, it happened the night the female MC was attacked an almost raped. As a victim of sexual assault myself, I find that very unbelievable. It just seemed wrong that this man (ok vamp, but she doesn't know it at the time) pretty much breaks into her house and she sleeps with him. Huh?? It was never explained either, by magic, or because they were soulmates and their species react this way. I just did not like it. Almost stopped reading then, but it did get better. Third, later on in the story, she meets another one of the vamp warriors, and he about rapes her too. There is talk later about rough sex, him paying for it, etc, but none of that is equivalent to what he started to do without her consent. At the end of the book, excuses are made about him and all is fine with him. I know later in the series he gets his own love story...not sure if I can read that one. Certain acts are not forgivable in my eyes. Lastly, I didn't like the fight scenes. I know it is a romance first, but if it is supposed to be about vampire warriors and you have fighting in it, make it good. One scene was completley glossed over in 1 sentence. The author led up to a fight scene, then wrote "Killing the lessers had taken some time because they were both well experienced, and the other vampire was dead when the fight was over." That was the fight scene. It ended nicely, a little too neatly for me, but it certainly didn't make me want to rush out and read the next one. JMO

Satori,the things you describe may well be offputting for me too. I'm no vampire expert but currently I've a preference for those who are well spoken, well educated, seductive and irresistable rather than rapist. I consider myself forwarned, thanks .

Adding it to my TBR list.

Water for Elephants

Rose English said:

Satori,the things you describe may well be offputting for me too. I'm no vampire expert but currently I've a preference for those who are well spoken, well educated, seductive and irresistable rather than rapist. I consider myself forwarned, thanks .

Adding it to my TBR list.

Click to expand...

I have read a lot of vamp books...ranging from horror and they are the bad guys, and the new trend of paranormal romance where they are the heroes, and this was one of my least favorite. It is a new and different take on vampires, and I appreciated that. But the writing was lacking. As for well-spoken and well-educated, they aren't. The vamps end a lot of sentences with true, for real, and man. Makes them sound like a bunch of teen boys trying to act all tough. Just didn't sit well.

millworth said:

Water for Elephants

Click to expand...

I love this book! One of my top five.

Satori1977 said:

I love this book! One of my top five.

Click to expand...

I have to say...the last two books I've tackled have been amazing...I am loving this one right now and just finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates...brilliant

I am in a very happy reading place

millworth said:

I have to say...the last two books I've tackled have been amazing...I am loving this one right now and just finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates...brilliant

I am in a very happy reading place

Click to expand...

I really enjoyed Revolutionary Road as well. Even though it was written so long ago, I could really relate to the feelings of being trapped and feeling hopeless. I just lent it to my father. It was a pretty emotional book for me.

Satori1977 said:

I really enjoyed Revolutionary Road as well. Even though it was written so long ago, I could really relate to the feelings of being trapped and feeling hopeless. I just lent it to my father. It was a pretty emotional book for me.

Click to expand...

It was extremely emotional for me as well...something about it really grabs you and yes, though written long ago, it is soooooo relevant today and really well written. I am dying to get ahold of some more of his work but can't find anything locally and even on Amazon he's really hard to track down.

Oh well...about to pick back up Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (I was about 50 pages in when I started Water for Elelphants with some friends)

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Started reading My Sunshine by Catherine Anderson (along with a few non-romances). I don't read a lot of sweet, contemporary romances, but I really enjoy hers. I love her style, her voice, and her characters are easy to fall in love with. Plus, she writes about cowboy types, horses and rodeos, which I like. And several of her main characters are veterinarians, which I have never read in a romance before. Since I have worked for vets, it is fun for me to read these books. I had often thought about writing something similar, before I read any of her books.

millworth said:

I have to say...the last two books I've tackled have been amazing...I am loving this one right now and just finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates...brilliant

I am in a very happy reading place

Click to expand...

Nothing better than a happy reading place

I started Interview with the Vampire but I'm having mixed feelings about it. Life is too short to read books because I think I 'should', when there are so many out there which are a divine pleasure to read.

Rose English said:

Nothing better than a happy reading place

I started Interview with the Vampire but I'm having mixed feelings about it. Life is too short to read books because I think I 'should', when there are so many out there which are a divine pleasure to read.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean...I have a bookshelf of stuff I should read, books I've snagged at thrift stores or yard sales that were too "good" to pass up, a lot of classics, etc. I have managed to go back and read some that I didn't get to in college. For example, Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man"...an amazing book, glad I went back to it. Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" is another example. It is one of my all time favorite books.

But now, I am about to start reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude"...got it yesterday for $.25 so I am going to start it because I am so proud of how little I paid for it. Now, tell me that's not a perfect reason to pick one novel over another!