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shadowkat1. Amazon Kindle and why the printed book is here to stay....I've come to the conclusion that the Amazon Kindle works better for online content such as fanfic, and reviews, and word files converted to plain text - then for books per se. I may be wrong about this. We shall see. After twenty minutes with amazon.com kindle support - I finally got Black Magic Sanction delivered to my kindle. The mix-up was due to a computer error - apparently there was an error in the date - the one I bought was due to be delivered to my kindle in 2029. (yeah right). Computers are infallible and frustrating creations. The other problem I'm having - is amazon's computers have decided to create two accounts for me - one for my kindle and one for everyone else. They don't recognize each other and refuse to be combined. And I have two different last names. And now two passwords. Ugga Bugga. I told the customer service rep that I could basically get any content on my kindle but Amazon, which sort of foiled the purpose of the thing. He laughed. Now that I have it - I sort of miss the hard-cover, with the pretty cover and
the page numbers. Amazon does not have page numbers - just percentage...to tell you how far you are. Also you can't skip ahead as easily. No flipping to the end to see what happens. Dang it.
The book is the newest Kim Harrison novel about Rachel Morgan - a kickass witch who has teamed up with a kickass female living vampire to run a private investigation firm. She's tough, savvy, and vulnerable. It's a female noir mystery paranormal series with a female heroine.
2. Struck out in regards to Changes by Jim Butcher - which I'd also ordered from Amazon for my kindle but Amazon and Penguine are sniping over prices. (Amazon was selling the thing for $9 while Penguine had priced it at $25. This is a side-effect of the price-guageing war going on between Amazon and Walmart - which Stephen King recently reported on in EW. In which hard cover best-sellers are being sold at $8-9 or more than 75% off market price. Note - publishers make their money off best-sellers. They need that money to buy and sell lesser known works. Can't say I blame Penguine for being pissed. But I really hope they pulled the books from Wallmart - because fair is fair.) Anyhow - I went to Target to hunt it down after work today, but to no avail. It's not there. I gave up. Waste of trip. Will have to buy at Barnes & Noble after church and small group on Sunday.
It's pathetic - I know. But I only look forward to and enjoy two published books each year - Rachel Morgan and Harry Dresden. Unlike most of these types of books - the characters push the plot, are engaging, and the story gets better with each novel, as well as more complex. (I wish I could say the same of Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell - who got repetitive and paint by numbers by the fifth or sixth novel. Some writers get better as they go, others get lazy and sit on their laurels. The ones who get lazy and sit on their laurels, often achieved success too quickly and got big-headed or they just got lazy. I have no patience for lazy professional writers.
3. Off to watch Lost. Although have remarkably low expectations. The last few episodes have been lacklustre at best. But - it does feature Desmond - which means we might get an explanation of the Sideways verse finally. Lost seems to be more interested in chasing its own tale lately then actually providing answers. Considering there's only 6 episodes left, I wish they'd get on with it, and stop revisiting things I already know. Show me what I don't know.
4. Before I do watch Lost...quick question for those still reading or who have recently given up on the Buffy Comics: Do you think the Buffy Comics jumped the shark? And if so, why or if not, why not??? I'm actually more interested in the why not's, to be honest. Because it really looks like the comics jumped the shark in Retreat and kept on going...to me. Sure I can see the themes and big picture stuff as easily as the next person, but I don't care about that stuff.And to be honest? Do you guys care about it? Does anyone outside of the writer? Actually that's an interesting question in of itself - do you care more about the characters and story, or do you care about the message/theme? And what will make you stop reading - a message that you find offensive/enrages you or something regarding the characters that feels OCC or doesn't work or that they aren't the characters you like or you start to despise them? OR are you like me and it is a bit of both - but really, the characters...if the characters don't work, if they no longer work for you or fit how you perceive them...do you stop reading or watching? What signifies "jump the shark" in your opinion? What does that term mean for you? And does it apply to the Buffy comics??
[ETA: this is one of those situations in which the comments are far more interesting than the actual post. And the majority of the comments interestingly enough all agree on one thing - the posters dislike the term 'jump the shark' or don't believe it applies, regardless of whether or not they got fed up with the comics..]
the page numbers. Amazon does not have page numbers - just percentage...to tell you how far you are. Also you can't skip ahead as easily. No flipping to the end to see what happens. Dang it.
The book is the newest Kim Harrison novel about Rachel Morgan - a kickass witch who has teamed up with a kickass female living vampire to run a private investigation firm. She's tough, savvy, and vulnerable. It's a female noir mystery paranormal series with a female heroine.
2. Struck out in regards to Changes by Jim Butcher - which I'd also ordered from Amazon for my kindle but Amazon and Penguine are sniping over prices. (Amazon was selling the thing for $9 while Penguine had priced it at $25. This is a side-effect of the price-guageing war going on between Amazon and Walmart - which Stephen King recently reported on in EW. In which hard cover best-sellers are being sold at $8-9 or more than 75% off market price. Note - publishers make their money off best-sellers. They need that money to buy and sell lesser known works. Can't say I blame Penguine for being pissed. But I really hope they pulled the books from Wallmart - because fair is fair.) Anyhow - I went to Target to hunt it down after work today, but to no avail. It's not there. I gave up. Waste of trip. Will have to buy at Barnes & Noble after church and small group on Sunday.
It's pathetic - I know. But I only look forward to and enjoy two published books each year - Rachel Morgan and Harry Dresden. Unlike most of these types of books - the characters push the plot, are engaging, and the story gets better with each novel, as well as more complex. (I wish I could say the same of Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell - who got repetitive and paint by numbers by the fifth or sixth novel. Some writers get better as they go, others get lazy and sit on their laurels. The ones who get lazy and sit on their laurels, often achieved success too quickly and got big-headed or they just got lazy. I have no patience for lazy professional writers.
3. Off to watch Lost. Although have remarkably low expectations. The last few episodes have been lacklustre at best. But - it does feature Desmond - which means we might get an explanation of the Sideways verse finally. Lost seems to be more interested in chasing its own tale lately then actually providing answers. Considering there's only 6 episodes left, I wish they'd get on with it, and stop revisiting things I already know. Show me what I don't know.
4. Before I do watch Lost...quick question for those still reading or who have recently given up on the Buffy Comics: Do you think the Buffy Comics jumped the shark? And if so, why or if not, why not??? I'm actually more interested in the why not's, to be honest. Because it really looks like the comics jumped the shark in Retreat and kept on going...to me. Sure I can see the themes and big picture stuff as easily as the next person, but I don't care about that stuff.And to be honest? Do you guys care about it? Does anyone outside of the writer? Actually that's an interesting question in of itself - do you care more about the characters and story, or do you care about the message/theme? And what will make you stop reading - a message that you find offensive/enrages you or something regarding the characters that feels OCC or doesn't work or that they aren't the characters you like or you start to despise them? OR are you like me and it is a bit of both - but really, the characters...if the characters don't work, if they no longer work for you or fit how you perceive them...do you stop reading or watching? What signifies "jump the shark" in your opinion? What does that term mean for you? And does it apply to the Buffy comics??
[ETA: this is one of those situations in which the comments are far more interesting than the actual post. And the majority of the comments interestingly enough all agree on one thing - the posters dislike the term 'jump the shark' or don't believe it applies, regardless of whether or not they got fed up with the comics..]
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 01:48 am (UTC)2. I have to confess that I just ordered Butcher's latest Dresden novel from Amazon (for $9.99), I want it waiting for me when I get back to Fairfield, IA... and there are no bookstores in Fairfield that will be carrying it (there is just one used bookstore, and one 'new wave'/spiritual bookstore... neither carry any popular new books, oh yeah... and there is a third: a Christian bookstore! They won't carry it either). I would have happily paid more for it; I can't wait to read it.
3. Well you know that I don't think BtVS S8 has 'jumped the shark': I think that Joss is jerking the fans around and will pay off all this nonsense eventually.
The term 'jump the shark' (as I'm sure you know) comes from Happy Days when the show was so desperate for new ideas that they literally had the Fonz jump his motorcycle over a huge tub containing a shark. To me the term means that the show and it's writers/creator is so completely out of ideas that they are abandoning whatever reality the show originally had and are now stretching reality to come up with obviously lame plot ideas. I felt that Seinfeld had also clearly jumped the shark when Kramer hit a golf ball into a whale's blow hole and later George saved it by pulling the golf ball out to impress his girlfriend.
Obviously it is harder for Buffy to jump the shark since we had all kinds of silly monsters and plot devises right from the start, but there has always been a 'truth' to the characters... I don't think that having Buffy react thoughtlessly/impulsively/whatever by shagging Angel is out of character for her (pretty much the only person she ever slept with un-impulsively was Riley Finn, spontaneous surprise sex is common place for her IMO).
I'll be waiting (a long long time, obviously) to get to the end to decide whether or not Joss is out of ideas and hopelessly ruining everything BtVS ever stood for.... I'm betting he isn't and hasn't just because he has a story arc in mind, and no one was forcing him to write this comics. I'm assuming I'll enjoy the story arc (I've always liked all the other story arcs).
no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 06:20 pm (UTC)That said, I'm hoping that Joss can somehow redeem all the seeming shark-jumping going on in the S8 comics, in the end. I recall thinking there was a potential shark-jump coming when I saw the promos for the "Angel" episode "Smile Time" (an Angel puppet? Really?!), and Joss pulled that off without getting more than a few of his toes wet.
I live in hope (and denial -- lots and lots of denial!).
no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 10:08 pm (UTC)And I have to protest, I didn't think that 'Smile Time' resulted in any wet toes.... That is a classic success IMO! Even the 'loan shark' in 'Tabula Rasa' wasn't a case of jumping the shark!
I have confidence in Joss, I don't feel that he has let me down before....
no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 10:15 pm (UTC)And I confess, I do have an "Angel Smile Time Puppet" (mint in box -- but only because I never dust and don't want it to get dingy) sitting on top of my bookshelves at home!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 10:52 pm (UTC)I really really wanted a 'vampire' Angel puppet.... but I would have taken it out of it's box, I never can resist.
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Date: 2010-04-08 02:25 am (UTC)On the Kindle? I got it - because I just don't have any more room for any more books. I'm overloaded. And can't get rid of them. I love books, but space is becoming an issue. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 02:34 am (UTC)I loved
I've had to (over the last 4 decades or so) get rid of accumulated books many times, and it is always painful. I did donate my beloved Louisa May Alcott books (inscribed to me for my 11th & 12th birthdays) to a library which still has them on the shelves! But too often I find myself re-acquiring books I gave up.... Books are a problem, luckily I have a lot of friends who enjoy getting the books I love to read! lol