lmb1309Laura
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Other Book Recommendations 2 **NEW THREAD**
Oh ladies, I think I might be a little late to this party but I just read Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. For those arriving later than myself, I highly recommend. It's beautiful & bittersweet & the author is so damn talented in what she's accomplished, it could almost be missed because she's so adept at how she weaves and unfolds the story. Its considered YA, fantasy and romance. I just consider it a really lovely & special book. The author takes ideas we know & have read about quite a few times as plot devices & completely makes them her own & truly unique to her creation. I'm still kind of struggling to grasp just how much Taylor accomplished in this book in the way that she did because she makes it look like cake.Posted 09 Feb 12 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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Oh ladies - just read Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. I highly recommend. It's beautiful & bittersweet & the author is so damn talented in what she's accomplished, it could almost be missed because she's so adept at how she weaves and unfolds the story. Its considered YA, fantasy and romance. I just consider it a really lovely & special book. The author takes ideas we know & have read about quite a few times as plot devices & completely makes them her own & truly unique to her creation. I'm still kind of struggling to grasp just how much Taylor accomplished in this book in the way that she did because she makes it look like cake.
Posted 09 Feb 12 in The Sookie Stackhouse Series Forum (SPOILER RAMPANT SITE *PLEASE READ Forum Rules Before Posting*)
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Posted 08 Feb 12 in Tangler Feedback
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Hunger Games - Soundtrack/Playlist
Oohhhh it's coming out soon! Cool. I really hope Peeta pulls it off.
Posted 03 Feb 12 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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BTW - I saw Shame last night. Seriously, what is with all the hoopla around the sex & how nude he is??
You see his penis as the movie opens when he's walking from room to room & the shot is fairly shadowed so I felt it was more an impression then lest say for example that full frontal nude bit with Carey Mulligan that lasted a good minute or two. I mean you can see he's blessed but I swear, from what I heard I thought he was going to be hanging free the whole movie!
One guy in my office bashed it & told me the movie sucked & it was no better than porn. Er...to each their own porn but ah, no...no it wasn't. There wasn't anything remotely Sasha Grey about it.
Geezus people make a big deal out of nothing.
I thought MF gave a brilliantly nuanced performance & I actually cried. Not huge heavy sobs but there is this one scene (don't want to give it away) in which during it, the whole thing came full circle & I just felt this man's pain. He did it, he had it written all over his face. Everything. The desperation and shame that comes with his addiction & it was very very real. Made me come away looking at sex addiction as a very real problem whereas before, I kind of mocked it. You know those celebs who've been treated? Yeah, I didn't believe them for anything but the narcissists that there are. Not sure if I believe them now but what I do believe is sex addiction is like any other addiction.
Now I understand why he told his parents it was "close to the bone". The man just completely immersed himself in the role. It was him laid out raw. He deserves those awards. The level of commitment & courage I think is so freakin' rare.
Posted 28 Jan 12 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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Eugenie Markham / Dark Swan Series by Richelle Mead (spoilers)
I don't think the kidnapping and rape was ever meant by Mead to be used as a tool for a social statement or a twist on the hero's journey theme -- unless it is to show that when at a crossroads,
Well then I would have to say that Mead's message in this book - whatever it was meant to be, ended up being pretty pointless. Esp. considering the end. She had no real aim it seems & if she did, she botched closing the deal with a shrug or her shoulders & a wink, while insinuating she had a point. Odds are - it ended this way as just another marketing money making gimmick so she could put out a bunch of shorts to make some extra dosh. I'd be very surprised if we don't see a novella or whatever to drag this BS on.
I didn't read it but I skimmed it plus at this point, I think I've got the gist by reading a few thorough reviews plus you add the last book in & all Mead's yo-yoing left her meandering story without a home. What's the point?
I just think she's complacent & lazy. She doesn't really know why fans are upset? That's just ridiculous & willful ignorance IMO.
If this many of her fans are left scratching their heads & this pissed off, it's b'c either Mead thought she was a lot clever than she is or that she just flat out failed herself & her fans. Her vague reaction just perpetuates the hopelessness the series actually is.
Posted 10 Jan 12 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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Random Thoughts#6: Express Yourselves (OFF TOPIC SUFF) NEW THREAD!
Congratulations Dallas, what a perfect way to start the holidays & New year.
A very Merry Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, whatever you celebrate... & especially, a very Healthy & Happy New Year to come. Be safe!
Posted 24 Dec 11 in The Sookie Stackhouse Series Forum (SPOILER RAMPANT SITE *PLEASE READ Forum Rules Before Posting*)
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2011 Reading - New to Me in 2011 Top 10
In no particular order, new to me that I solidly enjoyed out of the few I read over the course of 2011 -
- The Passion & The Promise by Donna Boyd. The 1st was better b'c it had a better narrative flow but I still enjoyed the second.
- The last Kate Daniels
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- Archangels Blade by Nalini Singh
- Neon Graveyard - Vicki Pettersson
- Vampire Instinct - Joey Hill
- Mistress of Redemption - Joey Hill. Cheesy title & not technically PNR but I considered it more fantasy than anything else although technically in her romantica series. It's about a soul in purgatory through redemption (or not) either will be reborn on earth via the ashes or hell or be reborn via heaven w/their previous life experience in tact to take with them when reborn. It was a really clever twist on the Devil & God (not enemies but lovers), reincarnation & the soul. I thought was super clever & it was fairly trippy. I was really into the world building & overall concept. Not for everyone though.
There were a few others I read but re-reads of books that are faves of mine.
Posted 21 Dec 11 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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2011 Releases : Your Happy Surprises & Unexpected Disappointments
Well I am way short of my 75 book reading challenge for the year & majority of books I read weren't released in 2011, but I guess the happiest surprise out of the ones I read that was Divergent by Veronica Roth & Neon Graveyard by Vicki Pettersson.
- Divergent because it exceeded my expectation by not meeting the hype that was all set around it.
There was so much marketing hoopla comparing it to the Hunger Games and saying it was better. However, I was able to enjoy it as it's own individual story without letting all that external hype get in the way & influence my involvement in the book. This was probably a 2011 release book I enjoyed most.
- The other would be Neon Graveyard. Majority of the times finale's of any series, books, TV, movies are a bust. The audience is usually left feeling majorly disappointed.
However, I thought Vicki Pettersson did a really fine job with this end & really completed the completed the characters journey enough to leave me solidly happy & satisfied. I had a lot of faith in VP writing chops however, the books grew increasingly complicated in scope & technicality I wasn't sure how it was going to end. Even while reading it, there were a few times I couldn't follow the action in the scene b'c it was so imaginative & too involved so that's when I really questioned how I was going to make it to the end with the author's vision in tact. It ended up really working for me & came away with a lot respect for the series & author's intent.
Two more to mentions that I was truly ambivalent about reading but ending up enjoying (1 more than the other) were the latest Guild Hunter, Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh & Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead.
Both were what I consider enjoyable beach reads.
- Archangel's Blade I thought it was a hellauva lot better than the last book which was a major disappointment. This ended up being surprisingly engaging for me & wasn't expecting that.
- As far as Succubus, I expected Mead to completely botch this & for it to be awful but it turned out to be good enough for me to see it through & enjoy it for what it was which was a pleasant surprise for me that I was able to do that. It didn't have as much heart as the others, had it's obvious flaws & didn't turn out the way I ideally wanted..I think it could've been a much stronger series by the end if she took bigger risks. With that said though, the arc & ending wasn't a surprise to anyone & Mead stayed true to her intent in regards to the vision of the story so I just went into it knowing the outcome so I could try to enjoy the finale. Which I did.
Some of the ones I had high hopes for but ended up being clunkers for me were:
- The latest Night Huntress, One Grave at A Time. I found it extremely boring & completely off the larger story arc I thought Frost was building with the last 2 books.
- Black Wings by Christina Henry. Another one which was pretty hyped. I found the MC really juvenile & her reactions illogical given the context of her environment. I felt the author had her contradict herself constantly.
- Late Eclipse by Seanan Maguire. I had heard this is where the big twist happened & changed the book. But I figured the trajectory out pretty early on after PMing Natoma & having her confirm some of my thoughts. So I decided there was no point of continuing due to the fact I thought Toby was a pretty poor PI & already saw through the author's mechanics.
Posted 11 Dec 11 in Paranormal Fiction - Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh, My.
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