Posts Tagged "Reviews"

• Recently Read: KISS OF THE DEMON KING by Kresley Cole

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  Over the weekend, I stepped away from my own book long enough to read KISS OF THE DEMON KING. I’ve been waiting for this book for months — it’s the next installment of Kresley Cole’s IMMORTALS AFTER DARK series. She set up this one perfectly; at the end of the previous book, the hero of that book goes to his brother’s house, and it’s clear that some serious craziness is going down in the brother’s life. That craziness is, of course, the fact that the brother (Rydstrom, a demon king) was kidnapped by Sabine, the Queen of Illusions, to father her child, and he eventually turns the tables and gets his revenge.

  This is a romance, so things like kidnapping, pseudo-rape (they both ultimately consent), and revenge are all forgiveable in the end. Kresley Cole helps herself out by making it very clear that Rydstrom and Sabine are fated to be mates for eternity — in her world-building, most immortal types only get one shot at love, and it’s a predestined kind of thing. So, if you’re not willing to forgive your mate for kidnapping you for her pleasure, you’re basically turning your back on ever finding anyone else. Clever, eh?

  Overall, I thought it was good. I liked how ridiculously non-stereotypical Sabine was; she starts off as an ‘evil sorceress’, and this leaves room for her to do and say things that romance’s usual good girls would never consider. I also liked how Rydstrom developed throughout the book, eventually modifying his overly kingly behavior to embrace some of life’s messiness (in the form of sex with a hot sorceress, of course).

  And I was so into this book that I took it with me on the bus when I went out for dinner on Saturday — and actually told my friends that if I got bored with them, I would go back to reading demon romance. If you’re willing to risk social ostracism, that’s a good sign of a book’s appeal. Bottom line: if you’re into paranormals, you should read this book (and the whole series, starting with A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER). If you don’t like paranormals, or are not willing to read anything with light bondage, skip it.

  
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  Posted 3 February 2009, 10:41 pm

• 2008 Reading List Recap

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  2008 was a so-so year for reading. I read 28 books (plus parts of another 5 books that I didn’t finish) — good for a usual year, bad given the fact that I had six months off and should have read much more than this. But here’s what I read, in reverse chronological order:

  VISCIOUS CIRCLE - Mike Carey

  THE BELL AT SEALEY HEAD - Patricia A. McKillip

  THE GRAVEYARD BOOK - Neil Gaiman

  THE LIVES OF THE ENGLISH RAKES - Fergus Linnane

  MR. CAVENDISH, I PRESUME - Julia Quinn

  THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO - Ann Radcliffe (dnf)

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW - Mike Carey

  ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT - Stephen King

  FORTUNE’S FOOL - Mercedes Lackey

  CHALICE - Robin McKinley

  NEW MOON - Stephanie Meyer

  TWILIGHT - Stephanie Meyer

  THE DARKEST PLEASURE - Gena Showalter

  THE DARKEST KISS - Gena Showalter

  THE DARKEST NIGHT - Gena Showalter

  WOMEN & MONEY - Suze Orman

  WHITNEY, MY LOVE - Judith McNaught

  THEN WE CAME TO THE END - Joshua Farris

  HOW THE SCOTS INVENTED THE MODERN WORLD - Arthur Herman (dnf)

  SEX IN GEORGIAN ENGLAND - A.D. Harvey (dnf)

  GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE - Amanda Foreman (dnf)

  NORTHANGER ABBEY - Jane Austen

  NATURAL BORN CHARMER - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK - Kresley Cole

  DARK NEEDS AT NIGHT’S EDGE - Kresley Cole

  WICKED DEEDS ON A WINTER’S NIGHT - Kresley Cole

  NO REST FOR THE WICKED - Kresley Cole

  A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER - Kresley Cole

  TO WED A WICKED PRINCE - Jane Feather (dnf)

  THE ART OF SEDUCTION - Robert Green

  THE LOST DUKE OF WYNDHAM - Julia Quinn

  LAMB - Christopher Moore

  BREATHING ROOM - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  This doesn’t count the rereads that I did of several of my favorites (THE GRAND SOPHY, DEVIL’S CUB, THE MASQUERADERS, and THE UNKNOWN AJAX by Georgette Heyer, SUNSHINE, BEAUTY, THE HERO AND THE CROWN, and THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley, and various others). It also doesn’t count the bits and pieces I read out of a variety of historical research books, or the travel guides that I bought, or some items that ended up languising on my TBR shelf. I bought 47 books from Amazon alone, not counting items that I picked up at Borders or used bookstores, so I did my part to help the publishing industry stay afloat.

  For 2008, my favorites were:

  Best romance: A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER by Kresley Cole. It was paranormal, but I thought her world-building was outstanding and she’s created enough interesting scenarios for many intertwined books. Book six comes out this week and I’ve already ordered it from Amazon.

  Best research book: THE LIVES OF THE ENGLISH RAKES by Fergus Linnane. The thought of treating syphilis with mercury vapors made me a bit ill, but it provided some great background into the crazy people of aristocratic England.

  Best fantasy: THE BELL AT SEALEY HEAD by Patricia McKillip. I prefer the linguistic stylings of Robin McKinley (and loved CHALICE), but THE BELL AT SEALEY HEAD had a fantastic story, a wicked sorceror, a kind princess, a shy innkeeper and his rich, bookish love interest, and all sorts of other interesting characters. Highly recommend, even if you aren’t usually into fantasy.

  Best fiction: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Mike Carey. Actually, this may be fantasy — but it’s more of a noir detective story, it just happens to have ghosts in it.

  The overall trend seemed to be that I was into paranormal-type books. Other than the research books and a couple of random contemporaries, almost everything I read had vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, or some mishmash of everything.

  For me, I think I have trouble reading historical romances when I’m actively trying to write, which was the state I was in for much of the year. But paranormals provided me with the romantic elements I craved, while avoiding the historical elements that made reading historicals seem like work rather than pleasure.

  What were your favorite books in 2008?

  
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  Posted 18 January 2009, 2:31 pm

• 75 Books Every Woman Should Read - My Picks

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  Continuing with the theme of procrastinating by posting lists, check out this list of “75 Books That Every Woman Should Read” from jezebel.com. It’s in response to an Esquire list of books that every man should read (which, for what it’s worth, includes THE GRAPES OF WRATH because of the “titty” — it’s like the magazine stereotypes itself).

  List, with my comments, is below. I’ve read thirteen — how many have you read?

  • The Lottery (and Other Stories), Shirley Jackson
  • To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
  • The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
  • White Teeth, Zadie Smith - I loved this book - perhaps one of my favorites on this list!
  • The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende - sitting on my to-be-read (TBR) shelf, and has been for half a decade
  • Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion
  • Excellent Women, Barbara Pym
  • The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath - not exactly warm and fuzzy, but a great read
  • Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
  • The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri - I of course felt compelled to read this when I moved to India, but I didn’t like it as much as I apparently should have
  • Beloved, Toni Morrison
  • Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
  • Like Life, Lorrie Moore
  • Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - I would lose my romance card if I hadn’t read this
  • Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë - this book is great, even if it’s a bit strange to fall in love with someone whose insane wife is locked in the attic
  • The Delta of Venus, Anais Nin
  • A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley
  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find (and Other Stories), Flannery O’Connor - I’ve read a couple of stories out of this collection, but I won’t count this as a full read
  • The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx
  • You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down, Alice Walker
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee - amazingly, we actually read this in high school, although I believe we also watched the movie; this was one step up from THE SCARLET LETTER, which we watched rather than read
  • Fear of Flying, Erica Jong
  • Earthly Paradise, Colette
  • Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
  • Property, Valerie Martin
  • Middlemarch, George Eliot - TBR
  • Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid
  • The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir - TBR, sitting on the main TBR shelf; maybe I’ll get to it this year
  • Runaway, Alice Munro
  • The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
  • The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
  • Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë - I’ve read this, but don’t remember liking it as much as I thought I would
  • You Must Remember This, Joyce Carol Oates
  • Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - I loved this book; I also loved LITTLE MEN, which took place after Jo married and started taking in orphaned boys, but it’s a totally different story
  • Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill
  • The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr
  • I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
  • A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith - is it bad that I’ve never read this?
  • And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie - I LOVED this mystery, even if the title was originally something that had to be sanitized several times for a more politically-correct audience
  • Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison
  • The Secret History, Donna Tartt
  • The Little Disturbances of Man, Grace Paley
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
  • The Group, Mary McCarthy
  • Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
  • The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing
  • The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank - I’ve read it and seen her house in Holland
  • Frankenstein, Mary Shelley - yes
  • Against Interpretation, Susan Sontag
  • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
  • The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck - I adored this book, and wrote some college entrance essays on it — even though China was worlds away from my small-town life in Iowa, I’ve always been fascinated by the lure of the land and tales of generational conflict
  • Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
  • Three Junes, Julia Glass
  • A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft
  • Sophie’s Choice, William Styron
  • Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann
  • Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
  • Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell - yes
  • The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. LeGuin
  • The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera - TBR
  • The Face of War, Martha Gellhorn
  • My Antonia, Willa Cather - one of the great books I read as a teenager; it also lead to a fierce argument with my best friend’s mother over the pronunciation of “Antonia”
  • Love In The Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I liked this book, although I’m surprised that it was picked; ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE is perhaps my favorite book of all time
  • The Harsh Voice, Rebecca West
  • Spending, Mary Gordon
  • The Lover, Marguerite Duras
  • The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
  • Tell Me a Riddle, Tillie Olsen
  • Nightwood, Djuna Barnes
  • Three Lives, Gertrude Stein
  • Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
  • I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith - I haven’t read this, but I saw the movie and liked it
  • Possession, A.S. Byatt

  Given that I used to be a completely avid reader, thirteen is nothing to write home about. But, my avid reading phase stopped sometime in college, and many of these books are too depressing for my current, sadness-avoiding tastes.

  What about you? What do you think is missing? Are there books on the list that shouldn’t be?

  
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  Posted 22 December 2008, 4:02 pm

• All-Time Top 100 Romances - My Picks

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  The final draft of AN INCONVENIENT MARRIAGE is done, so it’s time for me to take a break, look at my piles and piles of unread books, and make progress through them (seeing my friends, cleaning my apartment, and vegging out with some movies would also be nice). Tonight, I happened to stumble across this: the top 100 romances of all time, judged in 2007 by a poll at AAR (”All About Romance”). The poll results change every time they have one, but these are the most recent results.

  I’ve listed the top 100 below with my thoughts — what do you think?

  1. Lord of Scoundrels - Loretta Chase

  I haven’t read this, but it was tops in the previous poll too, so perhaps I should check it out!

  2. Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas
  3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

  Adore, of course, particularly now that I can picture Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy!

  4. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

  This has been recommended to me before, but I’ve never read it

  5. Flowers From The Storm - Laura Kinsale

  I am leery of this — Ms. Kinsale also wrote PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT, which my best friend and I mocked relentlessly for a) the hero named S.T. who had vertigo, b) the wolfhound sidekick named Nemo, and c) just about everything else. But maybe I should give her another try?

  6. Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
  7. Devil In Winter - Lisa Kleypas
  8. Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie
  9. Welcome to Temptation - Jennifer Crusie
  10. The Viscount Who Loved Me - Julia Quinn

  YES. I loved this book, even if the beesting-related forced marriage was a bit much.

  11. Lover Awakened - J.R. Ward
  12. Mr. Impossible - Loretta Chase
  13. The Duke and I - Julia Quinn

  Half-yes — loved the characters, although Simon and Daphne’s approaches to childmaking (or not-childmaking) were, on third or fourth read, completely insane.

  14. It Had To Be You - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  I remember liking it, although it didn’t become a “keeper” for me like some of SEP’s other books

  15. Lord Perfect - Loretta Chase
  16. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton - Julia Quinn

  YES. I love love love Penelope Featherington.

  17. The Bride - Julie Garwood

  DOUBLE YES. One of my favorite medievals of all time!

  18. Mr. Perfect - Linda Howard
  19. Naked In Death - J.D. Robb

  I haven’t tried J.D. Robb’s books, but NAKED IN DEATH is on my to-be-read shelf

  20. A Summer To Remember - Mary Balogh
  21. Nobody’s Baby But Mine - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  This may be my top contemporary book — perhaps because I’m such a nerd, so the idea of a physicist marrying a smart, sexy NFL quarterback is my dream come true

  22. Dream Man - Linda Howard
  23. The Raven Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt
  24. Paradise - Judith McNaught
  25. As You Desire - Connie Brockway
  26. MacKenzie’s Mountain - Linda Howard
  27. Dark Lover - J.R. Ward
  28. The Secret - Julie Garwood

  I’ve read this, but can’t remember it

  29. Son Of The Morning - Linda Howard
  30. Lover Eternal - J.R. Ward
  31. Devil’s Bride - Stephanie Laurens

  YES. Ms. Laurens’ Cynster series got a little repetitive, but when I read this one it was all fresh and lovely, and Devil Cynster is a great hero.

  32. A Knight in Shining Armor - Jude Deveraux
  33. Heaven, Texas - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  Good, but not my favorite SEP

  34. To Have and To Hold - Patricia Gaffney
  35. Almost Heaven - Judith McNaught
  36. Match Me If You Can - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  Eh, not so much

  37. The Shadow and The Star - Laura Kinsale
  38. Cry No More - Linda Howard
  39. A Kingdom of Dreams - Judith McNaught
  40. Over the Edge - Suzanne Brockmann
  41. Sea Swept - Nora Roberts
  42. Ravished - Amanda Quick

  I’m sure I read it, but can’t remember it

  43. Then Came You - Lisa Kleypas
  44. To Die For - Linda Howard
  45. Something Wonderful - Judith McNaught
  46. This Heart of Mine - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  YES. I loved this book; again, the idea of a children’s book writer falling in love with a smart, sexy NFL quarterback (sense a theme?) was lovely. But in this book, the emotions were a bit more heartrending, which I enjoyed tremendously.

  47. The Serpent Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt
  48. Suddenly You - Lisa Kleypas
  49. The Proposition - Judith Ivory
  50. Honors Splendor - Julie Garwood

  I read this and remember liking it.

  51. Saving Grace - Julie Garwood
  52. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

  Yes, although not as much of a “yes” as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

  53. When He Was Wicked - Julia Quinn

  Yes, although it didn’t encourage me to read it again and again like ROMANCING MR. BRIDGERTON

  54. Persuasion - Jane Austen
  55. All Through The Night - Connie Brockway
  56. It Happened One Autumn - Lisa Kleypas
  57. Born In Fire - Nora Roberts

  I think I liked this one, but preferred BORN IN ICE

  58. Thunder and Roses - Mary Jo Putney
  59. Kiss An Angel - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  Eh - I wasn’t a big fan of this one

  60. Out Of Control - Suzanne Brockmann
  61. After The Night - Linda Howard
  62. Lady Sophia’s Lover - Lisa Kleypas
  63. The Secret Pearl - Mary Balogh
  64. Once and Always - Judith McNaught
  65. More Than A Mistress - Mary Balogh
  66. Untie My Heart - Judith Ivory
  67. See Jane Score - Rachel Gibson
  68. The Rake - Mary Jo Putney
  69. Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon
  70. Perfect - Judith McNaught
  71. Whitney, My Love - Judith McNaught

  Read this summer on the recommendation of a friend — they sure don’t write them like they used to. The super-alpha older hero and the young girl has gone out of fashion, which is probably a good thing, but I like reading throwbacks sometimes.

  72. The Duke - Gaelen Foley
  73. One Perfect Rose - Mary Jo Putney
  74. Shattered Rainbows - Mary Jo Putney
  75. The Windflower - Laura London
  76. Dream A Little Dream - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  I liked this one, but it was almost too heartrending — a widow and a widower (who also lost his child) are just a bit too heavy for your average contemporary romance.

  77. Frederica - Georgette Heyer

  I love Georgette Heyer, and this was a good one

  78. Passion - Lisa Valdez
  79. Voyager - Diana Gabaldon
  80. The Lady’s Tutor - Robin Schone
  81. Morning Glory - Lavryle Spencer
  82. Worth Any Price - Lisa Kleypas
  83. Winter Garden - Adele Ashworth
  84. My Dearest Enemy - Connie Brockway
  85. Where Dreams Begin - Lisa Kleypas
  86. Devil’s Cub - Georgette Heyer

  DOUBLE YES. Love the hero, love the heroine, love the setting (England + pre-Revolution France), love the hero’s family (particularly his father, the duke of Avon, and his mother Leonie, who both starred in THESE OLD SHADES). If only Heyer had written sex scenes

  87. Gone Too Far - Suzanne Brockmann
  88. Anyone But You - Jennifer Crusie
  89. For My Lady’s Heart - Laura Kinsale
  90. Rising Tides - Nora Roberts
  91. Lover Revealed - J. R. Ward
  92. Open Season - Linda Howard
  93. Born In Ice - Nora Roberts

  I loved this one - innkeeper of a small Irish bed and breakfast falls in love with the brooding writer who stays with her for the winter. Great stuff.

  94. Ransom - Julie Garwood

  Yes!

  95. Venetia - Georgette Heyer

  Yes!

  96. Miss Wonderful - Loretta Chase
  97. Ain’t She Sweet - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  YES. I adored this book, and think this might be SEP at her peak. Some of the scenes are visceral and difficult to read, since they are flashbacks to rather awful high school experiences, but she does a great job with making the hero and heroine both flawed and incredibly lovable. Must read.

  98. The Notorious Rake - Mary Balogh
  99. The Prize - Julie Garwood
  100. Slave To Sensation - Nalini Singh

  Clearly the top 100 doesn’t have everyone’s favorites. For me, the biggest miss is Johanna Lindsay — where is GENTLE ROGUE? Where are the other Mallory books, the Viking books, and the only Westerns that I ever liked? The other big miss for me is Catherine Coulter — perhaps not because the books had real quality, but the Sherbrooke books and her absolutely hilariously ridiculous medievals will always have a fond place in my heart.

  What are your favorites? Who do you think is missing? Do any of these surprise you?

  
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  Posted 28 November 2008, 10:18 pm