Might be off topic - reading slump

On 9/25/08 12:33 PM, "Joyce" wrote:

More mediaeval - Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series. The detective is a
C13 monk.

Joyce in RSA.

Great series. Also the Sharon Newman books - set in Spain.

Ellice

"Nyssa" wrote in message
...

Have any of you tried the Dame Frevisse series
of medieval mysteries? The listed author is
Margaret Frazer, but in fact, the first several
of the series were co-authored by our very own
Mary Monica.

There are 17 of them out so far, the first in
the series being "The Novice's Tale." The history
is accurate, except for occasional minor
adjustments for the sake of the flow of the
story.

While I'm de-lurking, I might as well put in
a plug for paperbackswap.com of which I am
a very happy member. I've gotten most of the
Dame Frevisse series via that site along with
many, many other hard to find and OOP books
that I'd been looking for for years. Plenty
of good stuff there to choose from. (If you
want to put in my email address as a referral,
I won't argue, but I'm not begging.

Nyssa, who has more books on hand than the
local library...and a better selection too
At River's End
http://nyssa.cnc.net

A number of my coworkers are reading and raving about Anne Bishop's Black
Jewels trilogy.

Dawne

On 9/25/08 8:42 AM, in article
, "Donna"
wrote:

On Sep 25, 7:08*am, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
What's happening - are my favorite authors just not prolific enough?? Just
too many bad novels out there??? Or am I just in a slump????

Have already read the newest 500 Kingdoms book from Mercedes Lackey. The
latest Meg Winslow from Donna Andrews and the newest Vicky Bliss from
Elizabeth Peters.

I've tried some of the latest "hot" authors/topics. Can't get into the
vampires thing. My favorite romance author seems to have gone stale for
romances, but her new fantasy series is good... Still waiting for the newest
Sharon Shinn at the library. I've picked up some Ben Bova, but, as much as I
liked Mars Life, he's not for steady diet. Hopefully George RR Martin gets
the next book in the Ice and Fire series out before too much longer.

So who/what are you reading and why. *I like mysteries, well done historical
novels, small doses of romance (really decent story lines and well written),
Regency Romps, some fantasy and some science fiction. *In general, chick lit
and "serious novels" leave me cold - I want escapism, not reality.

Cheryl

George has a blog on Livejournal which I read. No set in stone
publishing date yet. We have a neighbor whose license plate is
Wntrfel. LOL

I've been checking a blog on his home page. Love most of his writings.


Cheryl

On 9/25/08 9:03 AM, in article
, "Rick"
wrote:

On Sep 25, 7:08*am, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
What's happening - are my favorite authors just not prolific enough?? Just
too many bad novels out there??? Or am I just in a slump????

Have already read the newest 500 Kingdoms book from Mercedes Lackey. The
latest Meg Winslow from Donna Andrews and the newest Vicky Bliss from
Elizabeth Peters.

I've tried some of the latest "hot" authors/topics. Can't get into the
vampires thing. My favorite romance author seems to have gone stale for
romances, but her new fantasy series is good... Still waiting for the newest
Sharon Shinn at the library. I've picked up some Ben Bova, but, as much as I
liked Mars Life, he's not for steady diet. Hopefully George RR Martin gets
the next book in the Ice and Fire series out before too much longer.

So who/what are you reading and why. *I like mysteries, well done historical
novels, small doses of romance (really decent story lines and well written),
Regency Romps, some fantasy and some science fiction. *In general, chick lit
and "serious novels" leave me cold - I want escapism, not reality.

Cheryl

Have you tried going back to some of the old classics? Some of them
aren't that well written compared to some of the authors of today.
However, for the times they were written, the storylines were quite
interesting.

Regards,


Hi Rick,
There is a time I turn back to the classics - just not right now. I really
want a "fresh voice" right now.

Cheryl

"lucretia borgia" wrote
A number of my coworkers are reading and raving about Anne Bishop's Black
Jewels trilogy.

Dawne

That coworkers is sort of interesting lol

Funny looking word without the hyphen, isn't it????
Dawne, thinking she just might leave the word that way and enjoy the
ambiguity

"lucretia borgia" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:02:33 -0600, "Dawne Peterson"
opined:


"lucretia borgia" wrote
A number of my coworkers are reading and raving about Anne Bishop's
Black
Jewels trilogy.

Dawne

That coworkers is sort of interesting lol

Funny looking word without the hyphen, isn't it????
Dawne, thinking she just might leave the word that way and enjoy the
ambiguity

I wondered if you were deliberately choosing to leave the - out lol


I've never spelled coworker with a hyphen and spell check seems to think
it's right that way. Maybe it's a British/American thing???

Lucille

On 9/25/08 9:50 AM, in article
, "lewmew"
wrote:

I I¹m not a science fiction or romance reader, really like mysteries,
suspense and a good ³novel.² Here¹s some mystery series I¹ve enjoyed
in the past and are probably not on the best seller list:

Earl Emerson - his Thomas Black series - I like those a lot more than
his firefighter stories.
I'll look for that

The early J.A. Jance series about J.P. Beaumont, particularly back in
the bad old days when he drank too much - Joanna Brady is not nearly
as interesting IMNSHO

Funny and I've like Brady better

The Kat books by Karen Kijewski

Have you read Mark Haddon¹s The Curious Incident of the Yellow Dog in
the Night? Very well done.
Yes, it was good

Our local ³One Read² this year is The Whistling Season². Better than
some choices - good look at life in Montana - and have to love a
heroine who can¹t cook!

And I know he¹s way overexposed, but some of the more recent Stephen
King is interesting in looking at human relationships - Lisey¹s Story
was really good and I¹m reading Duma Key - you can tell the latter was
really influenced by his own brush with death. Don¹t bother with Cell
though.
Just don't care for him

C

Cheryl Isaak wrote:
What's happening - are my favorite authors just not prolific enough?? Just
too many bad novels out there??? Or am I just in a slump????

Have already read the newest 500 Kingdoms book from Mercedes Lackey. The
latest Meg Winslow from Donna Andrews and the newest Vicky Bliss from
Elizabeth Peters.

I've tried some of the latest "hot" authors/topics. Can't get into the
vampires thing. My favorite romance author seems to have gone stale for
romances, but her new fantasy series is good... Still waiting for the newest
Sharon Shinn at the library. I've picked up some Ben Bova, but, as much as I
liked Mars Life, he's not for steady diet. Hopefully George RR Martin gets
the next book in the Ice and Fire series out before too much longer.


So who/what are you reading and why. I like mysteries, well done historical
novels, small doses of romance (really decent story lines and well written),
Regency Romps, some fantasy and some science fiction. In general, chick lit
and "serious novels" leave me cold - I want escapism, not reality.

Cheryl



There's a new Philippa Gregory just out, "The Other Queen."

Advance praise for Dennis Lehane's new one, a historic novel set in
Russia, has been good. The title is "The Given Day." The only other one
of his I've read is "Mystic River" (not a historic novel), but I really
liked it. (I'm waiting for my library copy; it's on reserve.)

There's also a new Cornelia Funke just out. Have you read the "Inkheart"
series? It's the third in the series, titled "Inkdeath." YA fantasy, and
good. Maybe a read-along with your daughter.

Another YA fantasy series I've *SO* enjoyed is Brandon Mull's
"Fablehaven" series. Great fun!

Heads up on a new P.D. James coming out soon...put it on reserve at your
library NOW! Also a new Mary Monica coming out on December 2: "Thai die."

Sue

--
Susan Hartman/Dirty Linen
The Magazine of Folk and World Music
www.dirtylinen.com

ellice wrote:

I read almost anything - but not much on really light romances. On the
SF/Fantasy front, I love anything by Stephen Brust. Droll, clever and
funny.

Woohoo! Another fan! Love him.

I also like the Robert Asprin series of M.Y.T.H. - ligheter than
Brust, but funny and droll. For serious - Guy Gavriel Kay - beautiful
writer.

I like him, and really enjoyed reading Ysabel not that long
ago.

Best wishes,
Ericka

ellice wrote:
On 9/25/08 11:02 AM, "Ericka" wrote:

Currently reading Patricia McKillip's new one, The
Bell at Sealy Head. She's always a good read (in my opinion).

She was one of my very favorites, years ago. But, I kind of lost interest
with some of her stuff. LMK how this goes.

I've really been enjoying it (about 1/3 of the way
through at this point). I didn't love the Cygnet books as
much, and I have thought that lately her books haven't
grabbed me at page one, but if I give them a couple of
chapters I'm well and truly hooked. And then I'm lost
when the book is over and I'm not ready for it to be over!
Unless she does something really weird and out of character,
I think I'm really going to love this one. You can borrow
when I'm done, if you like.

Best wishes,
Ericka