Wed Reading Meme

Eh...read a rather amusing book rant on smartbitches - it's a romance novel that, well, you'd have to read the rant.

Here's a snippet:

This book falls smack in the middle between "don't describe sex" and "describe sex accurately," so it's all purple prose and vague explosions. I pity anyone who tried to learn about sex from this book.

"A stream of molten silver slid down her veins to her ripe velvet core, and she levered upwards to meet it." (p. 146)

Okay then. I can't even tell for sure whether that's a sex scene or she's shooting heroin.

Hee. Just...Heee Heee.

Anyhow..

1. What I Just Finished Reading

A "new adult" (that's the genre and yes, there is actually a genre entitled "new adult" now - it's about twenty year olds who fuck up mess up in the romance department and have insanely dysfunctional families, hence the messing up, because of course if you don't have a dysfunctional family - this would never happen) romance novel. It's about an aspiring female rock musician who finds out that her famous rock star brother (who raised her and rescued her from a violent uncle (actually step-father)) is in reality her father while her aunt was in reality her mother, who he was having an affair with at the ripe old age of 16 (he was 16, the heroine's mother was in her 30s). The mother's husband (step-father) molested/raped the 8 year old heroine (we don't see it - told in flashback) and almost killed her (how she survived two knife wounds and a bullet is beyond me), but her mother wasn't so lucky. He decided to do this when he figured out her mother was leaving him for her father - with whom she'd continued having her affair after giving birth to the daughter. As much as I hate to say this? This plot arc is actually typical of this particular genre. The hero or heroine has been sexually abused. The parents are screw-ups. And forgiveness is a big issue.

This book underlined my issues with the "new adult" contemporary romance genre. Granted it had the typical typographical and grammatical errors that you find in Amazon e-books. Which I tend to hand-wave now, mainly because - editors don't come cheaply. And even with a good editor - if you are revising it yourself, which of course you are, you will miss stuff. Why do you think I refuse to self-publish my book? (Although to be fair, as I've ranted here before and will most likely due again, the professional publishing houses aren't exactly doing much better in this regard, particularly in this genre.)

Anyhow - my issue with new adult romance novels is basically this: ( Read more... )

2.What I'm Reading Now?

Eh, three books.

Back to reading the Margret Atwood - "Blind Assassin" at night. Sort of palate cleanser for the last two books I read. Iron Duke (mixed feelings about, but uneven and clunky) and well the aforementioned new adult novel.

Still meandering through "Playbuilding as Qualitative Analysis"

And now, reading Skin Game by Jim Butcher which is good, but I'm not far enough into it to really comment. But the writing so far is superior to the last two novels I read, albeit, oddly, not quite as compelling or as funny as Illona Andrews Magic Series. I actually liked the Kate Daniels novels better. Couldn't be more surprised. Knock me over with a feather, why don't you? I think the reason is that Illona Andrews is a bit more innovative in her world-building and use of established tropes, she also veers away from Judeo/Christian mythos, and plays around more with the obscure Russian and Babylonian mythos. (Angels and Demons tend to bore me as metaphors in fantasy novels. They've been over done.)

3. What I'm reading next?

I'm playing with Euphoria by Lily King - although it may be too literary for my current mood.

Here's the description:

For years, English anthropologist Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field studying the Kiona tribe of Papua New Guinea. Haunted by the memory of his brother’s public suicide, and increasingly infuriated with and isolated by his research, Bankson is on the verge of killing himself when a chance meeting with colleagues, the controversial and consummate Nell Stone and her wry Australian husband Fen, pulls him back from the brink. Nell and Fen have just finished their studies of the bloodthirsty Mumbanyo and, in spite of Nell’s ill health, the couple is ravenous for another new discovery. Together with Bankson they set out to uncover the Tam, a local tribe with an almost mythic existence. As the trio settle with the tribe in their paradisiacal surroundings, inspiration flows and mutual affections swell. In the midst of this new, unchartered territory, Nell, Bankson, and Fen must learn not only to adapt to their invigorating present, but to also confront their complicated and haunted pasts.

Set between two World Wars, and based on the adventures of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is a luminous and remarkable story of the power of possibility, imagination, and memory, from accomplished author Lily King.

Or State of Wonder by Anne Patchett

Which is also about anthropologists in the wild. Although...this is more Patchett's take on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

I'm in a mood to read about anthropologists - mainly to convince myself that I was smart in not becoming one. Although, I was more intrigued by cultural anthropology, as opposed to biological or ethnological.

And, definitely Magic Breaks by Illona Andrews - which releases in late July