Thoughts On Reading

So far this month I've read 28 books, this is NOT including rereads. I was thinking about this the other day when I was on goodreads trying to figure out my books. I know this probably makes me weird, since I don't know very many people who read like I do. Or who can remember the books after they read them like I can do. I'm used to being different. :)

I've been reading since I could. I don't remember a time in my life when books weren't a part of it. Books my mom read to me, my first books that I read on my own, my first romances, everything. I'm so thankful I have a mom who loves books and passed that love on to me.

I think that's why it's so hard for me to narrow down books to favorites. I have so many for different reasons. To Kill a Mockingbird is the first book I remember reading where I loved the movie just as much as the book. Gregory Peck and his smoldering good looks as Atticus Finch. Le sigh.

The Little House books...though I admit to loving the first ones the best. Something about the scrapes Laura got into as a child, remind me too much of myself. :)

The Anne of Green Gables books. Of course, what made me love them even more were the first two movies done on Public Broadcasting. I mean, come on! Awesome acting and so closely following the books as to be eerie.

The Betsy-Tacy books up to Betsy Gets Married. I think the thing I loved about those books is that they start when Betsy turns five and go up until she gets married. The books grow along with the character, which is a very cool concept. I wonder why more books don't do that.

The Nurse Cherry books. Wrtten in the 50's and very dated, but I loved them anyway. :)

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Trixie Belden. Little Women. These are the books I grew up reading.

I got my first real romances when I was 10, but I was reading adult novels at the age of 8. For my age I was extremely mature and was too old for children's books. I wonder at my poor mom trying to keep me supplied with books and not losing her mind.

Seventrees by Janice Young Brooks is a novel I remember reading when I was around the age of 10. 3 generations of women in one book. Horribly depressing in so many ways and yet beautiful. Cinnamon Wharf is the other one. Oh and Crown Sable. Those "epic" 80's novels that span generations and give you a headache due to the angst, but still wonderful books.

Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson is probably one of my all-time favorite books. Based on the true story of Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped by a Comanche tribe and raised by them. It's her romance with the warrior Wanderer and the absolute beauty of her life as the adopted daughter of one of the heads of the tribe. And what it was like when her true family came for her. Talk about a heartbreakingly beautiful book. Trust me when I say it'll change you. I know it did me.

Rebecca Brandewyne, Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey...these are all authors I LOVED when I was a teen, but now as an adult I just can't read them anymore. Though I have to admit that Rebecca Brandewyne did write one book (brainfarting on title) that I really did enjoy. She was a big fan of the mysoginist hero and the doormat heroine. Ugh!

Years by LaVyrle Spencer...still one of my all-time favorite books. Read it for the first time right after it came out (88?) and have reread it at least once a year ever since. Renee won a copy of it and loved it, so I know the book doesn't suck! Yay!

Jane Austen. Especially Pride and Prejudice, but I love them all. They're all so different and they're romances!!!!!!

It's funny, but all through my teens and even into my early twenties I was totally into the bodice-ripper historical romances where the hero's a jerk and the heroine can't think for herself. I inhaled them like they were chocolate. Now? Yeah, not so much. It's amazing what you can stomach when you're 15 and your hormones are going a million miles an hour. It's a totally different story when you're 32 and know better.

Now, at the ripe ol' age of 32, I've got the types of romances I love...and I'm open to new books too. That's one thing about being a reviewer I like. The fact that I get to read so many different types of books. I've had my eyes opened to new authors I never would've read on my own.

At this point in time, my favorites are good historicals (Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase and Lisa Kleypas) and paranormals. Good grief, if I hadn't let a friend talk me into reading those vampire books by Maggie Shayne, I never would've gotten into paranormals. Well, actually, that's not true. I blame boredom my freshman year in high school to getting me into fantasy which led me into paranormals. Those were the days.

Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, David Eddings, Andre Norton...the list goes on and on. Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series is still one of my all-time favorite series because of the fact that the books are so different. She introduced me to a gay hero for pity's sake! And I loved him. I mean, who wouldn't love Vanyel Ashkevron? Tell me, please? :)

Now, it's Nalini Singh, Karen Chance, Patricia Briggs, Meljean Brook...the list goes on and on. And each writer is different.

I'm writing my own paranormal romance and I'm trying to remember the things I love about paranormals and yet add my own flavor to them. I'm doing something I've never read before and I hope when I'm done and it's sent off to the publisher that they like it. I know I sure do.

Thoughts, Ponderings and Other Things

Dun-dun-dun. LOL! Okay, it's always scary when I get into my pondering mood because I never have any idea what I'm going to talk about. Read on at your own risk. :)

Today I was beyond lazy (i.e. I did NOTHING!). Got up, ate, read a review book, reread Angels' Blood, twittered like mad on my BlackBerry and basically did...nothing. And it felt wonderful.

At the end of AB there is a lovely snippet for Mercy's book. What is it about Nalini's writing where she can initiate an immediate, visceral reaction from me every. Single. Time? I don't get it. But I gotta tell you? That scene between Mercy and Riley? *fans self* It's one of the hottest scenes I've read in a long time.

I know I've talked before about the level of sensuality I like. I'm a big believer in smokin' hot sex, but (and it's a big but) it also depends on the story. If an author has spent time building up a smokin' attraction and then gives us a blip instead of a bang, that's a cheat. If the author is writing a sweet romance and the sex is either off the page or isn't very detailed, I'm okay with that.

There's nothing that bugs me more than when an author cheats their reader. Something that is usually the ulitmate pay off is either tawdry or stupid really, really pushes my buttons. I know that in my writing my hero and heroine have hot chemistry from the get-go, but they also don't jump into bed right away (no matter how much the hero wishes otherwise). However, when they do finally make love, it'll be detailed and steamy and sexy and all the good things wrapped up in a pretty little bow because that is what I want and like in my novels.

I read romances specifcially for the chance to watch others fall in love. Since I myself have never been in love (how sad) I like knowing that others do, even if it is in a book. That being said, I really despise gratuitous sex scenes that are just thrown in to titillate; not to actually have any meaning. I think that's one reason why erotic romance has such a hard time making it into the mainstream. Oh, they're doing well, but I think if the writers focuses more on the building romance and less on the sex itself, there'd be more readers.

Which sounds hypocritical. What is erotic romance other than a romance novel with a lot of sex in it? But you know what? I've read some truly amazing erotic romances in my day. Katie Allen, Kate Steele, just to name a few. I haven't read every book they've written, but they've written books that touched me. Breaking the Silence is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I admit, I didn't care for Raw Footage as much as I'd hoped, but it was still a decent book.

It's when you get stuck with the ones where the author focuses just on the sex and the characters are there because the author needs a penis and a vagina to make the book work. A. It's a waste of MY money and B. It's a waste of my time.

I've been reading romance novels for as long as I can remember. Sure I got into "real" romances when I was 10, but what is the Little House series if not a romance (hello, Almonzo!) or the Betsy/Tacy books when Betsy marries Joe? Or Anne of Green Gables and her love for Gilbert Blythe? All of these books may have been written for children, but as the characters grow, they mature and fall in love. It's the nature of things.

As for writing about love, I may not have ever been in it, but I've witnessed it. My parents have a strong, lovely relationship that I've been surrounded by all my life. Since I KNOW it exists, it's hard for me to settle for anything less (which is why I'm still single at 32). I take my knowledge of my parents, my personal observations and years of reading and use them towards my own writing. It's not easy, especially since I haven't experienced it myself, but I'm an observer of people and it's not that difficult to understand why someone would fall in love with another person.

What seriously bugs me is the romance novel where there's never any good reason for the H/H to actually get together and fall in love. The author tells us they're in love, but never shows us. If I can stress anything to an author, it's that. Make sure you SHOW us why your characters fall in love. Don't TELL us. Give us a reason to want them to get together. Nothing worse than building it up only to throw it away.


And that's about all the rambling, ranting, whatever I've got tonight. *sigh*

Sharon is still here! Go ahead and comment if you're interested in getting her book! Cheers!