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So what are reading for December. I am still trying to convert a few of you over to vampires and werewolves. I am finishe up a great paranormal book Firewalker by Allyson James. Next up I need to finish Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory I only got a few pages into before the vampires called me. I will continue my offer from the November thread
I think I need to help conver some of you over to the dark side. I have some wonderful vampire smut to offer up. This one is one of the best paranormal romances, very addictive series. Free to whoever wants it, the catch is you have to report back about it:) Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Bk 1) :: Alice Last Edited on: 12/1/10 7:29 AM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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I'm reading City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin. My friend said it was really good. We shall see.... CR |
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I am in Victorian mystery mode, and I just finished book four of Will Thomas Barker and Llewellyn series, I love these books and can't wait for the fifth. Today I am going to read yet another Victorian mystery A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch, I am saving all the H/F for the challenge to begin. |
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I am reading Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander as its been offered up in the HF swap. Innocent Traitor will have to be renewed. |
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In the very early stages of the door stopper sized small print North and South by John Jakes. |
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I know what you are talking about, Cathy...I got a copy of Instance of the Fingerpost yesterday...MMPB door-stopper with teeny tiny print. |
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Wonderful vampire smut...red wine...chocolate..... The pull of the dark side is growing stronger and stronger...the light is dimming...my resistance weakening...nooooooooooo..... |
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Wonderful vampire smut...red wine...chocolate..... The pull of the dark side is growing stronger and stronger...the light is dimming...my resistance weakening...nooooooooooo..... Buh-bye Deb. (Heh, heh....)
I'm about 50 pages from the end of "Bel Canto", which I am reading for tomorrow night's book discussion group meeting. I really like this book. It's not HF, it's set in an unnamed South American country. A party at the Vice President's home is interrupted by a band of revolutionaries, who storm the house, expecting to kidnap the President. (El Presidento* could not attend; sadly, the party conflicted with his favorite soap opera). So now the small band of revolutionaries are stuck with a mixed bag of international guests, the VP, and a famous opera singer. Patchett writes beautifully, and does a nice job of bringing the reader into the experience. But now...I'm worried, not for the hostages, but for the revolutionaries! We'll see what happens. I"m trying to save all HF for the new year too. It's hard! I keep staring at my Challenge box, anticipating...
*Wild guess here; I took French, not Spanish. Last Edited on: 12/1/10 9:54 AM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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I finished Harlot Queen by Hilda Lewis. I'll give it a 3, but on the high end of a 3. I found the overall portrayal of the characters and events solid, but it didn't really draw me in. The writing was ok, but not great and needed a good edit. (Not to reduce word count, but to clean up mistakes. Missing words, even a missing line, I think, in one place.). And I didn't care for the end. Playing with the history was fair enough--the note explained her reasons. But it wasn't well done, IMO. Felt contrived and too "tie it all up in a pretty bow". |
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I liked Bel Canto - our Book Club did too.
I am working on Sense and Sensibility, I had to set it aside for my book club book, The Girls from Ames. Why oh why are good books hit with bad editing? |
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I got a copy of Instance of the Fingerpost yesterday I loved this mystery. I have 2 copies - one I lend out and one I don't. I finished Harlot Queen by Hilda Lewis. I'm glad to see a review. I've been wondering about this author, but I haven't been motivated to out and buy her. Now, I'll probably check her out at the library. Some day. Thanks, Sharla! |
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I read Bel Canto years ago and liked the peek into the relationships between kidnappers and the hostages. |
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Ah, Bel Canto is a wonderful read. My oldest daughter introduced it to me as she introduced so many books to me. For years, she has given me a box of books for my birthday or Christmas. Since I joined PBS and gr she doesn't know what to get for me. Finished Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. It's a fine read and so different from many of the other HF books I've read. Since my copy is unpostable and no one requested it I will post in book bazaar's unpostables tomorrow. All my HF challenges are complete so I will work on the PBS classic and fantasy challenges. Had a couple of WLs come - The Whiskey Rebels and The Wishing Trees (thanks Valli for this one) as well as Elizabeth Berg's A Year of Pleasures. Should be a fun month and it's exciting to see what other books you all are reading. Have been on a light reading binge - a cozy mystery, The Sign of the Unicorn (only 129 pages), a YA mystery by Mabel Esther Allan, and just because I want to read it - Elizabeth Berg's A Year of Pleasures, Beowulf's Children (for the fantasy challenge) and Un Lun Dun (a YA fantasy). Began The Sunbird by Wilbur Smith (great author) for the fantasy challenge when I realized it would fit a category for the 2011 fantasy challenge better so at this late date I substituted Too Long a Sacrifice by Mildred Downey Broxon which features a couple that lived in the 6th century Ireland and is transported to 20th century Ireland. This one is quite interesting. A Year of Pleasures was a warm, comforting read. It brought to the surface the memories of the most important man in my life for many years - my father. The book is not about losing a parent but a spouse yet the process is similar. I found myself recalling wonderful incidents and experiences that lay deep in my heart. I cried as I read the story - not for the book, not for myself but for what I had lost. Yet, I had not lost as much as I thought. His smile, his laughter, his sparkling eyes, his brusque manner and and his quick rambling step will remain in my heart forever. Thank you Elizabeth Berg! Flash by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.: Excellent read with lots of science fiction technological emphases. The hero, Jonat, is an ethical, honest man trying to survive in an arena of money-grabbing and power hungry people, organizations and companies. Several attempts have been made on his life - one of which almost succeeded. Shortly after this attempt his sister and brother-in-law are killed. Jonat discovers there is a deep conspiracy. People are threatened. People disappear. People are killed. Can Jonat survive and serve as a parent model for his niece, Charis, and nephew, Alan? More HF later!!!!! Last Edited on: 12/27/10 8:17 PM ET - Total times edited: 7 |
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I am reading Chelsea Cains, Heartsick it's a murder mystery. I haven't read one in a while and since I can't read hf till Jan., I will read everything else on my tbr! eta: I know I'm going to sound nuts but I'm actually reading Sweetheart...tho I did read Heartsick a while back... Last Edited on: 12/1/10 10:13 PM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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I loved A Year of Pleasures REK. |
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Finished The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick last night. It was my first Arthurian book so I really don't have anything to compare it to but I really liked it! The characters were great and she really made the 5th century come alive. I'm eager to continue on with Arthur's story in the last two books in the trilogy as well as read some other takes on the legend. I have the Mary Stewart trilogy and Mists of Avalon and hopefully will have some time next year to read those and compare. Now I'm reading Kate Morton's newest The Distant Hours. |
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Aubree, one tip about Arthurian books (at least for me) is to spread them out with other periods in between. Read one right after the other and you can get the *been there, done that* feeling. Mary Stewart's are good, and I also enjoyed Nancy MacKenzie's Queen of Camelot (yeah, it's romancy but so what!) and Joan Wolf's Road to Avalon. |
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Another tip on the Arthurs, if I may. I only got into them in the past year or so, but I learned not to intermix series. Once you start one author, finish him or her within a reasonable time--soon enough that you will remember the prior books in the series. Otherwise, you will become confused as to which plot points and interpretations of the characters are in which series. I am in the middle of three different series, including Hollick's, and when I finally get back to them I'm going to have to page through some of the earlier books in each series to refresh my memory. It's all muddled. Genie, Hilda Lewis is a good one for the library. I have some of her books on WL, and I'll happily pay a credit for them if and when they come up, but not much more than that. Last Edited on: 12/2/10 10:42 AM ET - Total times edited: 2 |
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I'm almost finished The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherford---very engaging. The 'almost' part is because I had to put it down to read The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne. TPBC is 'cute' and 'sweet' and a lovely Christmas tale but otherwise reading bubble gum. It's for my IRL PBS book gorup and I"m the discussion leader Monday evening, so I had to do my homework...but am quite eager to get back to the Emerald Isle this weekend.... |
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I am currently reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Made in the USA by Billie Letts. Enjoying both immensely! |
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I have a couple of Billie Letts books on my TBR. Maybe I will get to one of them this year! |
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Sharla, I read I Jacqueline and Wife of the Bastard by Lewis, I never really cared to read anything else by her, It has been so long ago now but I remember thinking I wished I hadn't spent the money on her books. I think they were some of the first ones I traded here. |
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I finished Phillippa Gregory's Red Queen. Generally she tells a good story. I just thought this book was boring. It may be that Margaret's life was not that interesting to start with, but the book did not hold my interest. Oh well can't read all good ones. Alice |
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Alice, when you're using the first person POV of someone who spent much of her life out in the country praying on her knees really doesn't have much potential beyond for exciting reading |
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Cathy that is a good point. I was half way through it and I ddin't know how Gregory could make this book better with Margaret as the main character. I am guessing she is setting this up to write about Elizabether of York and Henry VII otherwise I don't know why should write this book. Alice |
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