Steve Writes a Sequel -- Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Stephen King's work.  I grew up with Stephen King,  been reading him since I was 12 or 13.  His writing has impacted my reading choices, my movie choices, my writing voice and my love of pop culture.  I've learned TONS from him - he just jams so damn much stuff into his narrative you can't help but learn something - and certainly not the least of which was the expression "Jesus jumped up Christ in a sidecar".  I have virtually every single one of his books.  They fill a bookcase in my family room; the shelves  groan under the weight of all of those hardcovers.

For each of his books that have scared the ever-loving crap out of me (The Shining, 'Salem's Lot,  Pet Sematary, Bag of Bones) there have been almost the same number  that have moved me to tears (Lisey's Story, Insomnia, The Green Mile), left me feeling "meh" (The Tommyknockers) or been in a genre that, dammit, as much as I try to like it, I just don't (The Dark Tower series).

So I am what Steve refers to as his "Constant Reader", and this is my take on Doctor Sleep.

Initially I was leery about this one when it was billed as a "sequel to The Shining"  (What?!?  King has finally succumbed to the siren call of the series?  And he's sacrificing Danny Torrance to do it?!?!)  After having read it, I would say it isn't so much a sequel as it is a revisit; answering the question of how Danny turned out after that terrible winter at the Overlook.

I was hooked by the third page - when King dropped me right into the mood and tone from The Shining.  My skin crawled and my shoulders tensed, and I was back in the bathroom of Room 217 at the Overlook.  (And we all remember what was lying in that bathtub.)

Danny has turned out much as we would expect from a kid who spent the winter dodging dead folks, hedge animals and a crazed father with a sledgehammer; that is to say, fucked up.  He drinks, like his dad did, and loses jobs, like his dad did.  His shine is almost gone and the drinking keeps it that way.  Doctor Sleep is the story of Dan's redemption.

One thing that you notice when you've been reading King for this long is how much he has changed as a writer since he started.  The other thing you notice is how much you have changed as a reader.  I read a magazine review of this book earlier this week where the reviewer referred to King's treatment of his characters as "tender", and really, there is no better way to phrase it.

King is a freaking master of characterization - to read one of his books is to lose yourself completely in the characters he has created.  Doctor Sleep is no different.  King's handle on his characters is so complete that to finish one of his books leaves the reader bereft; and gives his novels a sense of poignancy that becomes stronger with each book.  This is where (imo) King has changed.  In his earlier novels, although you still had a strong, almost visceral sense of his characters' identities, there was usually an undertone of unease, or fear, or horror, that permeated the book.  Sometimes that tone was enough to make me feel like I couldn't finish the book fast enough.  For me, that sense is what has changed over the years.   His characters might not be any more sympathetic than they were in the 1980s, but he writes them more sympathetically.  (If that makes any sense!)

Oops, I digress.

If King perhaps didn't give Dan the specific type of story I thought I was looking for (a "true" sequel to The Shining, with a return to the Overlook, perhaps, with characters we met in the first book), he gave him the only story he could:  and if I tell you what that is, I'll spoil it.

This was really, really good.  4 stars.


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Review: My morbid side takes over - Aftermath, Inc.

Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have always been a somewhat morbid sort, so you can see why this book appealed to me immensely.

It's an easy read, with tons of gnarly detail and incisive wit.  I laughed out loud a number of times while reading, mostly from passages like this, where the author is referring to the death of a kid on his little league team when he was seven:

"You always remember your first dead body.  The following afternoon at the funeral home, Chucky was a waxen figure arrayed in a coffin of polished mahogany, somehow more elegant in death than he had been in life, at least on the baseball diamond, where his fielding skills left something to be desired.  W.C. Fields used to call death "the Fellow in the Bright Nightgown."  For me, he was always a Little League Shortstop."

Call me cracked, but that paragraph made me burst out laughing.  My husband was appalled.  :)

While this particular book became an essay by the author about the meaning of life and death, it was entertaining in its way and I learned a ton of interesting tidbits that I can use socially (like that Dylan's song, Mr. Tambourine Man, was written after a trip to New Orleans where he watched a number of jazz funerals - the hearse was led by a man tapping a tambourine.  Who knew that song was so morbid?).

Ultimately, though, I finished this quickly and was vaguely disappointed at the end.  I was looking for a deeper look at the business itself and the people who do this for a living.  Other reviews have recommended Mop Men: Inside the World of Crime Scene Cleaners, so perhaps I'll check that book out as well.

If you're looking for a bit of an eyeball at the business, a few disgusting, a few disturbing and a couple of downright disquieting crime scene stories you'll find them here.

3 stars.


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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Doesn't matter if you're mom to a child, step-child, foster child, dog, cat, lizard, hamster, husband, an honorary mom to half the kids who live on your street...hope you all had a great day.

I got taken out for brunch, had a nap, then got to visit with a girlfriend I hadn't seen in 10 years.  I can't think of a better way to spend a warm, sunny Sunday in May.

Enjoy, everyone!

Review: Wallbanger (or, For God's Sake, This is twific too???)

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Someone HAS to start telling me when I'm reading fanfic.  Especially Twilight fanfic.

A friend recommended this to me (waves), I checked out the sample from Amazon, it looked like fun, so I read it.  And then found out it was P2P fanfic.  I've said it before with other books, and I'll say it again - I feel like Eric Cartman:



So, without talking about the fanfiction angle, let me just say this about the book:

It was funny.  Laugh out loud funny in parts, trying-too-hard to be funny in others.
It had great bicker/banter.  She called him "Wallbanger", he called her "Cockblocker".
It had great tension.  For the first 1/2 of the book.  Then it just dragged on too long, IMHO.
It had some great sex in it.  'Nuff said about that.
It seemed like a pretty true portrayal of late 20-somethings.  Or, at least how I remember late 20-somethings being.  On an episode of Friends.

Overall I'd have to say I liked it.  It was a fun read, even if it dragged on a little long, with a of other things that that brought my rating down.  A Guest Reviewer at Dear Author reviewed this book the other day.  She says things way better than I can, so here's the link to it (and if you read the comments there's an interesting discussion starting about fanfiction):

http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/ov...



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I can't stop buying shoes

I feel like Gollum. "Yesssssssss, my pretties, my precious....."


Ordering 3 pair at one time is perfectly acceptable, NAY, dare I say REQUIRED behaviour when our winter has lasted now for 7 months with no signs of going away.

If I order open-toed shoes and sandals spring MUST come, right?

A tattooed, pierced, goateed hunk of hotness...

Leave Me Breathless by Cherrie Lynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My secret thing (or not so secret, depending who you talk to) is that I've always loved bad boys.  On tv, in movies, in books, in my head...my only stipulation has always been that they're never as bad as they LOOK like they are.

Lately the best place to find men like this is in contemporary romance/erotica.  You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a tattooed, pierced, goateed hunk of hotness with a gravelly voice and an ability to screw you absolutely senseless.

So without further ado, let's meet Seth, or "Ghost", as his friends call him.  He's a tattoo artist, musician in a death metal band, covered in ink and carrying a whole bunch of baggage.  The requisite gravelly voice and supernatural sexxing ability is there (in SPADES, I might add) and with a restored '69 GTO and very interesting piercing I would like to have Ghost all to myself.

Macy, his love interest, is almost the perfect foil for him.  Yin to his yang, so to speak.  I don't think they would ever be able to go to a concert together, but hey, my husband doesn't like Depeche Mode and I still married him.

The writing is good, the sex is steamy and the H/h are realistic - not much more a girl can ask for when looking for an entertaining way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

I usually read historical romances where an HEA is the standard.  It takes a bit of getting used to when switching to something closer to erotica  - the endings are more of a "Happy For Now".  This is the first book I've read by this author and based on this one I'm going to go snag her backlist.  This title is the third of a series, it seems.  Another bonus - a series entry that reads like a stand alone!

Thanks to my friend Catherine for a truly great recommendation -- we really should read these kinds of books more often!  ;D


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Now, we watch Otis laughing all the way to the bank

I saw this news with the rest of the world a couple of days ago, and still don't know quite what to make of it all.  Well, besides thinking that this is an example of a perfectly executed business plan.  Way to go, Otis.

I guess I have two different viewpoints - as a reader (who happens to own a Kindle), and a Goodreads member (who posts reviews containing images, the f-word and lots of potty language).

As a Kindle-owning, voracious reader who uses Goodreads to shelve my books and track my reading, I think this might be a good move.  Accessing GR from my Kindle? FABULOUS! And a feature I've been wanting since I started reading e-books.  Being able to cross-use the two websites from the same place, rather than clicking between them on my laptop, can only be more convenient.

And if the acquisition gives Goodreads the $$ to ramp up their servers and beef up their staff so that we don't see that little bitch in the rocking chair nearly as often as now, good!  

As a Goodreads member, however, I am MUCH less enthusiastic.  

I can put up with Amazon trying to sell me shit on GR, if I have to.  I guess if GR's algorithms were so awesome that Amazon bought the company so they could use them, what do I care?  Same with the 'big deal' book recommendation thingamajig they introduced last year.  I don't use it, but I can see how others would.  Being "spammed" with recommendations for shitty Amazon-only books is hardly different than the self-published authors that have started spamming my inbox on GR with requests to review their books.

(And what the FUCK is up with that, I want to know.  Who is telling these wannabe authors that the best way to use Goodreads is to PISS OFF people they don't know?  They should be told that to buckshot email your book to tons of people based on their reviewer ratings on GR is a good way to guarantee some BAD publicity.)

Nope, my main concern is the community on Goodreads.  I've made some tremendous friendships there, and at times we talk about everything BUT books.  And I'm worried about the reviewing.  There are no filters, no censors  on GR.  You can be witty, serious, funny, profane, doesn't matter.  It is your space to give your opinion about a book you read (or didn't read, according to how you use your space).  And then you get to talk about the book in the comments section.

Lots of folks review in different places.  I mostly write reviews on GR, and in the past year have done some reviewing over at InD'Tale Magazine.  I don't review on Amazon.  The biggest reason I don't is because, well, it's MEAN there.  Seriously.  There are some fucked-up folks on the threads, and I find the politicking, sock-puppetry and posturing absolutely bizarre.  It all seems to be about ratings, selling stuff and a popularity contest.  Not to mention the fact that so many of the reviews are a complete crock'o'crap.  Five stars my ass.  

That was what I liked about Goodreads.  It was for READERS.  For people to talk about books, not for people to sell us books.

That all started to change last summer, when GR seemed to do a 180 turn and started pitching to authors.  Come to GR, they said.  It's a great place to get tons of new readers!  Then all hell broke loose.  Authors spamming, horrible scraps between readers, reviewers and authors, blech.  New rules for reviews, rules for authors, it was a mess.  And not handled especially well by the PTB, either.

In retrospect, maybe we should have seen the events of this week coming, but holy shit, who knew it would be AMAZON that Otis would sell us out to??

My biggest worry about the sale to Amazon is that Goodreads will become just that - Amazon.  That our reviews will be censored, edited, blocked, voted down, hidden and/or deleted.  That the impartiality of the site will be lost.  (I started to say "independence" there but had to change it.  Otis gave that away when he signed the deal.) That the sense of community that makes Goodreads such a great place will be lost.  And the wonderful people that I have met, the ones I "talk" to almost daily, who share with me a love of books and reading that I haven't found anywhere else, will scatter to different websites and blogs all over the internet.

And then what will we do?

In the meantime, I'm buying in to the paranoia running rampant in the Goodreads feedback group and exporting all of my reviews.  I've been meaning to do it anyway, this just gives me an excuse to figure out how to do it.  And then, of course, I can post them here.  :)

Me and Adam Levine (+ 20,000 other screaming fans)

Did I mention that I was at Maroon 5 in Calgary last week?  :)

Review: Heaven Forbids by Karen Ranney

Heaven Forbids, Karen Ranney
1998 Zebra



Adultery.

A sticky wicket in a romance novel, to be sure.  There are readers who won't touch this subject with a barge pole, while to others it doesn't matter in the slightest.  Somewhere in the middle are those who will read it, but insist that it be treated with some sensitivity.   The author then treads a fine line - how sympathetic to portray the H/h?  How UNsympathetic to cast the (wronged) spouse?  Any HEA is never truly that - no one escapes unscathed when this happens. Heaven Forbids is an love story of epic proportion, the type that makes you hear swelling soundtracks and picture that beach scene in "From Here to Eternity".  It is full of desperation and longing, heartbreak and healing.  As a matter of fact, it is fairly old-skool in terms of the writing and the scope of the story.

Kathryn and Hugh virtually fall in love at first sight, when neither of them knows the other's identity.  Of course, the compelling stranger Kathryn cannot forget is none other than her niece's betrothed.  Kathryn is sent as a companion for Sarah as she travels to live with her new husband.  She knows from the outset that she cannot have Hugh.  He is equally as aware of Kathryn; and even more cognizant of his duty to his wife and his clan.

The expression "they fought their feelings" is trite, but that is exactly what they do.  They try desperately to keep their relationship as that between the Laird and his wife's companion, but they cannot.  They are drawn to each other as moth to flame.  It is dark, it is painful, and it is desperate.

There is no villain in this triangle, no shrewish wife or scheming mistress.  Sarah is basically a non-entity (much as happens in real life, I'm afraid).  She simply doesn't factor into the equation, other than for the fact that she holds the position of Hugh's Lady.  The H/h are not bad people.  They do not commence their affair in a trivial way, nor do they seek excuse for their actions.   They are anguished by their choice but in the end the pain they suffer by not being together is greater than the pain they would cause by acting on their feelings.

For those looking for a traditional villain in their romance there is one here (other than the folks in the love triangle).  Set in Scotland around the time of the Jacobite rebellion, there is also war, madness and tragedy, just to round things out.  Nothing gratuitous, everything has its place in the narrative and it all falls together just as it should.

As I said at the outset, when you write a story where the lovers are also adulterous, the HEA can't be full of sunshine and flowers.  It needs to be realistic and not insult the reader.  The best ones are bittersweet, as happiness gained at another's expense should never be treated lightly.

A super-angsty, old-skoolish read with a noble Hero and a strong heroine.  If you can handle the adultery,  Heaven Forbids is more than worth the time to read.  Ms. Ranney has done a superb job.

4.5 stars

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