The 400 page barrier

22. The Stolen Bride, Brenda Joyce

I loved this book until I hated it. It was 550 pages long; and while i have nothing against long books, I think it takes a very talented person to carry of a plotline that runs that long. With only two main characters. Who are stuck in a house for a long amount of time. I found the perfect novel is about 400 pages long. Shorter than that you don't feel like the relationship is developed enough. 150 pages longer, you feel like you want to shoot both the characters and yourself. Which is not how you should feel when you are finishing a novel. Clearly.

It just dragged on so long for the last part. And it was really miserable. Like the characters were in a really miserable position; it was very much a no-win situation. And the guy was being such a wimp. Soooo EMO. If he lived now he would be outfitted in skinny jeans and thick hipster glasses. I hate dramatic guys (other than P.C. because i absolutely love/adore him -- he's fantastic). Even at the end of the book she's like this was a hard character to write because it's a divergence from her strong "alpha" males. And I'm not saying you have to have an alpha male in ever romance novel -- i even really like him for the first 400 pages -- but when he just becomes annoying -- you need to do more cutting. The scary thing is in her acknowledgements in the begining was to her editor who "cut like mad." EEK. can't imagine it going longer.

Also the epilogue was horrendous. I don't feel like romance novels need epilogues -- spoiler alert here -- they all pretty much end up living happily ever after even if it took them a while to get there. So when you stick on an epilogue it's kind of superfluous. This one was beyond unnecessary -- it was cheesy. Horrendously so.

Anyway if she had just edited herself (although this book was copy edited nicely -- it feels like someone familiar with AP was her editor) down just a bit, it would have been a really good book. Unfortunately I just wanted to get through it. Which is never good.

Like I said, I'm all for long books. I think it's weird when people are intimidated by page numbers, or impressed with someone who finishes a 1,000 page novel. I am not. But again like I said it takes a certain skill set to be able to carry a plot for that many pages. Very, very few people can do it succesfully -- at least in my experience.

anyway I have soooo many books to read!! I'm excited. Mamacita brought janet evanovich's fifteenth (YAY, thanks mutti!) and the next book in this series (de warrenne -- it's one of two of the series that i've actually read before and the only reread for the next like month i think.) I got three Celeste Bradly's at B&N because I used to read her, then I just kind of stopped. Nothing to do with her, but her new one's were taking a while to come out so I just kind of forgot about her. So hopefully those are good. Then i have a suzanne brockmann little guy that I picked up at target along with HER NEW ONE which I am soooo ridiculously stoked about (for those of you who don't know she is MY FAVORITE WRITER EVER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD i love her books so much and she's son wonderful and when i grow up I want to be just like her ;p -- but more on that when i read her new ones.) and i have a julia quinn coming -- i haven't read that one either; it's the one before What Happens in London. Oh and I have another de warrenne i ordered from amazon. Hopefully it won't be 550 pages long lol. So, exciting! yay.

In addition to that psych and monk are starting! whoot. Plus, believe it or not, I actually have a social life/do other things than read ... so hopefully those will last me through some of august at least. :)

til next time, happy readings :)

finished!

21. Deadly Kisses, Brenda Joyce.

Yay, I finally finished the Francesca Cahill series. And it was so wonderfully good! :) Everything built so nicely; the characters, the overarching plotlines and of course -- of course -- the relationships. She even ended it sort of like life -- messy. There were relationships that weren't wrapped up nicely and questions unanswered. But it was lovely. And no form of entertainment can ever make you feel the same as the end of a novel. So wonderful. All the Francesca/Calder scenes -- oh made my heart sigh.

Oh and there's a Facebook group called "Disney has given me unrealistic expectations about love." Gahh swap romance novels for disney and you've got me in a nutshell lol.

tee hee.

Agreed! lol

20. People are unappealing, Sara Barron.

Another instance of branching out, non fictionally at least. I think that’s the way I’m going to do it. Because I was walking through good ole B&N and none of those paperbacks (you know the ones that aren’t quite normal paperbacks, nor are they hardbacks – they’re some where in between allowing publishers to charge you not $8 but $14-$15) looked even mildly appealing. They’re all the same – some middle-aged woman whose “perfect life” falls apart around her – and after she hits what my dad calls the MOS (aka moment of shit) she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and rebuilds her even better life – usually there’s a kind (yet dangerously sexy) handyman thrown in there as well. Or it’s about a young professional trying to figure out her life – and please I’m living that. Anyhoooo – While I’m going to make an effort to read more non-fiction, I’m going to stay away from those $14 paperbacks as I call them.

So the book. It was funny. It made me laugh out loud, which (I know in real life is about as easy as a $2 whore) is hard book-form. Janet Evanovich makes me laugh out loud. And that’s about it – other than an occasional chuckle peppered throughout other novels.

Anyway Barron is amusing. She’s very caustic, judgmental and self-deprecating. It’s just a series of essays about her life. She’s hasn’t even had an extraordinary one – she grew up in suburbia, the daughter of a hypochondriac (OMG – there was a line about how the mother thought every eye twitch was the onset of AIDS and all I could do was relate to how many times Dana Leigh has said something of the same no matter how implausible it might sounds) and a musical-loving effeminate dictionary-definitions writer. She makes her way through h.s. painfully – starting with a incident that involved a stage, a leotard, a first period (*ahem menstrual cycle) and an audience full of peers and their families. She moves to NYC to become an actor but mostly works in Banana Republic (apart from a very brief – read: 5 minutes – stint at Coyote Ugly) and Olive Garden. That’s the book. But she makes it interesting and it was a quick read.

Another nice thing was that there were moments of intense relatability to her (sorry, not the best grammar). She was vulgar (which any one who knows me, knows I am not a fan of) but she said things in a way that I was like – hahah yesss. Exactly.

The funny thing is that she would hateeee me. Various examples throughout the book: I hate this girl ... because she says “sweet” meaning great ... uses lol liberally ... utters “bounce” and “peace” as ways of leaving, etc. I mean, have you ever talked to me? Ever? Lol. (haha)

Anyway I liked it. It was funny and a quick read. And now I’m going to finish the Deadly series once and for all (the library called today to tell me it came in :) yay!!!)

... not so long i guess

19. Deadly Illusions, Brenda Joyce

oh love, love, love it! but again, it needed a better editor ... they kept calling the Channing family the Chandler family. It was kind of weird, because that seems like an easy mistake to catch ... or like how was it even written in the first place? also they changed the age of one of Bragg's foster children. weird.

anyway, that is all.

'til next time, happy readings :)

oh three straight days of reading

18. Deadly Caress, Brenda Joyce
17. Deadly Desire, Brenda Joyce
16. Deadly Affairs, Brenda Joyce

Sigh. I just read for pretty much three straight days. (well one of those i went to work at some point.) And then last night I had a dream about Francesca Cahill, and thought I'd better slow down. lol. but it's like reading one book that you just really want to finish, but when you finish it, the saga isn't over. She's very good at getting at the page-turner thing. One of my criticisms however is Deadly Desire needed a better editor. There were like a couple instances where the wrong name was used ("You think he killed Calder?" Calder asked.) or a name spelled two different ways. (Neil walked into the kitchen ... Neal grabbed the knife.) that was slightly annoying. Other than that hmm, I like Francesca better with each book ... possible because she finally got over Bragg and has moved on to Calder (*sigh* loveee Calder) Also I love how many secondary characters she has (very ala Suzanne Brockmann, the best most wonderful writer ever) that don't just add layers to the main characters, but have depth and flaws and intricate story lines of their own.

Anywayyy Kat is visiting tomorrow! :))) so it may take a couple more days to finish the last two (one of which I don't have at the moment, *grumble*) Also mutti apparently has the 15th evanovich book and if they visit next week she's bringing it!!! (YAY)

'til next time, happy readings :)

Calder!

15. Deadly pleasure, Brenda Joyce

YAY Calder shows up. I love him. He's wonderful as a character. Bragg is just too perfect and nice. Calder is a tiny bit of an asshole/ really good at heart of course :) he's my kind of (fictional) man.

See francesca falls in love with bragg, but whoops turns out bragg's married. Enter Calder Hart. Man of mystery. lol. and bragg's half brother. He's briefly (and not really) suspected of his father's death. anywayyy

Francesca is much more likeable in this one, though her pride still annoys me. And all the characters continuously say how nice she is ... and I'm kind of like, common courtesy people. But I guess turn of the century ... I don't know.

also i have yet to figure out any meaning behind the titles. it's kind of weird.

But all in all very enjoyable, loving that Calder is in the picture, and all ready have a good deal read for the next book :)

Til next time, happy readings

branching out baybay

14. The Unlikely Disciple: A sinner's semester at America's holiest university, Kevin Roose

So, on one break (I don't eat dinner during breaks, so I'm kind of left with nothing to do if I'm not reading a book at the time -- though sometimes my friend Kelly brings in a magazine for me to read ... anyway I digress) I was looking to leave the building but just driving to the nearest convenience store for a diet dr. pepper only occupied abou 6 of my 30 mins of break (that I am forced to take) Anyway I decided to head over to the B&N ... while perusing the new release fiction section I stumbled upon this book.

Now I don't know if anyone outside of Terry Casey and possibly my fam realize how fascinated I am by religion. I'm not a religious person -- for reasons that don't belong in this book blog -- but I am utterly intrigued by people who are. So this title immediately piqued my interest, of course. I was a step away from buying it, but decided to see if the library had it instead (YAY libraries, btw)

Now, I'm smack dab in the beginning of my B. Joyce addiction at the moment -- but that requires an explanation. I ordered a couple of the books in the series (including the second one) off amazon about a week ago (I'm begining to despair in them ever arriving :/) and although I have other ones, they are later and I don't feel like going out of order. So, I thought, this is perfect. I'll read a non-fiction book and it won't jar me from my current desire to read B.Joyce (usually when I force myself to read books other than the ones I'm craving it doesn't end well) and I'll get to indulge in my thirst for learning about religion.

This is taking a while to get to the actual book ... lol ... anywayyyy; I am definitely recommending this book. The writing is kind of spotty at times -- he's only 19 years old while writing it, and you can tell ... but being able to get an inside glimpse to lives of Liberty University students (Jerry Falwell's Bible Boot camp) overcomes any other faults it may have. I won't go in to details, just in case, but it's an interesting cultural ride to take with him. For example Liberty students aren't allowed to hug each other for more than three seconds. They learn in their science classes that the world is 6,00 years old. On Friday nights they have Bible study groups instead of frat parties. But these are the obvious stereotypes (I mean they usually exist of a reason ...) but there is also a "evangelical feminist" who went to Liberty to study how more conservative evangelicals lived, the rebel who watches r-rated movies and who says "hell" out of the context of heaven or ... and the girl who is labeled a campus slut because she slept with her boyfriend. There's the wonderful, joyous, happy dorm-neighbor who loves Jesus and God with all his heart and just wishes everyone else would do the same. But there's the intensely, psychotically homophobic who wants to bash homosexuals over the head with baseball bats.

Roose takes you on a journey, the same way he was. You get lulled into thinking of the behavior is normal, of empathizing with and liking these evangelicals. And then they call each other faggot or say the rest of their "unsaved" family is going to hell, and it's jarring.

He continually says that he approves and enjoys the behavior of LU students, but not the content, and you get pulled in to feel the same too.

One particularly striking moment in the book came when he was talking to a secular friend who was feeling nervous about traveling abroad ... he said "I'll pray for you." It was sort of nice, but completely crazy at the same time ... I don't know how I would react if someone told me that. But he meant it with the best intentions.

I wouldn't go as far to say as this book blew down any of preconceived notions, or opened my eyes to much; but it really is an interesting experience to read about. His journey is compelling.

til next time, happy reading :)

oh brenda, oh francesca

13. Deadly Love, Brenda Joyce
(though for some reason the first book is written as "B.D. Joyce"

I have this weird love/hate thing with this series, the Deadly series (yes I decided to read it, I think it has something to do with visiting New York.)

This series is set around the turn of the century in New York City ... where reformers, socialites and tenements abound. Francesca Cahill is a Fifth Avenue princess who gets drawn into the world of the police force when her next door neighbor's child is kidnapped. She traipses around the city (which is very cool, because I just visited a lot of the places she goes) searching for clues, encountering the seedy underbelly of "kids" (children pickpockets) and prostitutes, and trying to maintain a facade of normalcy for the sake of her overprotective family. After they solve the crime, she realizes that she wants to become a "crime-solver extraordinaire" Thus begins the series

So, that brings me to my love/hate. I almost never read a novel where I don't like the main character ... why would I? Butttt, I don't really like Francesca -- she thinks she's clever, and she's not extraordinarily so ... she's arrogant, she doesn't really understand people, but thinks she does; she comes up with possible scenarious and obsesses over them but they don't really make sense ... that being said I still blazed through it ... I hadn't read this one before, for some unknown reason; probably I didn't want to go back and start over
I do love these novels, the writing is pretty good -- except she has this bad habit of word choice repetition blah -- anyway I've purchased the next couple on amazon (gah, which ticks me off because i technically all ready own them) hopefully they come soon!

'til next time, happy readings : )

soooo it's been a while ...

12. What Happens in London, Julia Quinn

Julia is a little bit more cutesy than I normally lean toward, but I still like her. She writes things in parentheses, for example ... it’s very bouncy writing. But I have read at least 80 percent of her novels (I think she has around 20?) She’s not my favorite author, but she is an enjoyable read.

I liked the heroine in this one, but she didn’t like to read (well other than the newspaper – which I can’t really argue with I suppose) but she doesn’t like novels! (gasp!)

Oh well, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and realized I don’t care about expanding my reading repertoire ... I love romances. And just FYI; I don’t read Harlequin or any such nonsense, I don’t love the ones that give romances a bad reputation – the books I choose are well-written, clever, engaging novels, with developed characters and quick plots. I probably know more about the early 19th century in England than a good percentage of people; and they give me pleasure – which is what reading is all about :)

also I started Evanovich's #11, but not so much and I don't know why ... I got like thirty pages in, and just wasn't feeling it, which is why it's been a while ... I didn't want to abandon it, but it wasn't really pulling me along either ... still can't wait for her new one though! whoo

til next time, happy readings :)