100 Books in 2011 [1]
I stole this from everyone and am feeling enthusiastic about it because I just finished my first book today. We'll see how I feel when I have to start another one. :P
Here are the rules:
1. Read 100 books or more in 2011.
2. Keep track of how many I read.
3. First time reads only.
(Also allowed: books that were read to me as a child that I haven't read to myself before, and books I haven't read in over 5 years.)
* = Had it read to me as a child, first time reading it for myself
** = Read it for the first time so long ago that I had forgotten everything in it
4. Recommendations are welcome. (Seriously, please give me some in the comments. I only have 5 that I need to read right now, and am wishing I hadn't read some of my novels on the 2010 half of the break D:)
Read: 1
To Go: 99
Book List
1. Happy Ever After - Nora Roberts
And I'm taking the nod from June to write a small bit about the novels I read, after I read them. So here are my thoughts on Happy Ever After.
I borrowed it from my mother which, if you know of my mother, means that it was a harlequin (which is fine, it doesn't bother me). It was also the fourth, and last, in a series, so keep that in mind.
The book itself was overall a good read. It was light and fluffy and enjoyable - exactly what I expect from chick lit/harlequin. But as I read through the last of four girls to fall into a relationship (this time Parker, the OCD detail-obsessed wedding business runner paired with a buff, closed off yet ~sexually dangerous mechanic named Malcolm), I found myself editing the book while I read.
The dialogue drove me up the wall. It wasn't realistic, and it read like a narration. Most people don't talk like this: "did you get his plates, his make?" (I don't have the page number for citation, sorry.) That type of thing just killed me, because of the comma; in regular dialogue it would be phrased differently - someone would say something along the lines of "did you get his plates [and] his make?" or "did you get his plates, [or at least] his make?" The comma doesn't suffice because it makes the sentence, spoken, sound like either "did you get his-plates-his-make?" or "did you get his plates...[long, awkward pause]...his make?"
I mean, Roberts is a really good author - she has the talent, for sure, and she's definitely an old veteran when it comes to publishing. And I know this is her writing style, which I "shouldn't attempt or wish to change" and blah blah blah, but God, every time I read some unrealistic bullshit dialogue it was like nails on a chalkboard. No one, and I mean no one, says, "You smell like the flower that was just outside my window when I was stationed in Florida. It gets its hooks right in me." (Again, I don't have a citation - sorry.)
Instead of swooning, I snorted.
Not only that, but I find her method for conveying internal dialogue to be particularly grinding. One word of the sentence is separated to "strike you," followed by the 'he thought' or 'she thought,' and then it continues on with the thought. Like so: "It was, she thought, particularly grinding when the author chose to write like this. It, she thought again, was confusing and got on readers' nerves."
If it happened occasionally throughout the novel, I could live with that. But she does it every. Fucking. Time.
There are other ways to convey thought! Ways that are much less goddamn irritating! I mean, half the time I'm rereading for clarity because the sentence just mind-fucked me.
The last thing that drove me nuts was the way that Malcolm, as a character, was overly pushy. His narration states many times that he's trying to keep his hands off Parker and stay the hell back, to respect her wishes in the early stages of their "situation" (his words, not mine), but if that's his idea of giving her space, he's fucked in the head. Maybe it's just the feminist in me, but I don't think pushing yourself on a woman without her consent and rubbing your hands all over her breasts is giving her appropriate space.
I'll give you a minute to digest that, get appropriately pissed off, and move on.
I just felt that there was this undercurrent of sexism and, coming from a woman author, that's pretty goddamn insulting. It wasn't just in the above example; it was in a small jab one of the other girls' fiance's made - "The women are in the kitchen, as they should be. Let's go watch some football." I get that it was probably supposed to be a joke, but forgive me if I don't think it's funny.
Anyway, aside from all my issues with the novel, I did enjoy it (bet that's hard to believe now). The dialogue is witty and snappy, the author displays her knowledge of the business of planning a wedding, and it's really easy to get caught up in. When I wasn't getting outraged, I was having a little laugh because the back-and-forth between characters can be really, really hilarious.
So that's all on Happy Ever After. The next book I'll be starting, to give you a little ~spoiler, is The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou.
- Kelsey
Here are the rules:
1. Read 100 books or more in 2011.
2. Keep track of how many I read.
3. First time reads only.
(Also allowed: books that were read to me as a child that I haven't read to myself before, and books I haven't read in over 5 years.)
* = Had it read to me as a child, first time reading it for myself
** = Read it for the first time so long ago that I had forgotten everything in it
4. Recommendations are welcome. (Seriously, please give me some in the comments. I only have 5 that I need to read right now, and am wishing I hadn't read some of my novels on the 2010 half of the break D:)
Read: 1
To Go: 99
Book List
1. Happy Ever After - Nora Roberts
And I'm taking the nod from June to write a small bit about the novels I read, after I read them. So here are my thoughts on Happy Ever After.
I borrowed it from my mother which, if you know of my mother, means that it was a harlequin (which is fine, it doesn't bother me). It was also the fourth, and last, in a series, so keep that in mind.
The book itself was overall a good read. It was light and fluffy and enjoyable - exactly what I expect from chick lit/harlequin. But as I read through the last of four girls to fall into a relationship (this time Parker, the OCD detail-obsessed wedding business runner paired with a buff, closed off yet ~sexually dangerous mechanic named Malcolm), I found myself editing the book while I read.
The dialogue drove me up the wall. It wasn't realistic, and it read like a narration. Most people don't talk like this: "did you get his plates, his make?" (I don't have the page number for citation, sorry.) That type of thing just killed me, because of the comma; in regular dialogue it would be phrased differently - someone would say something along the lines of "did you get his plates [and] his make?" or "did you get his plates, [or at least] his make?" The comma doesn't suffice because it makes the sentence, spoken, sound like either "did you get his-plates-his-make?" or "did you get his plates...[long, awkward pause]...his make?"
I mean, Roberts is a really good author - she has the talent, for sure, and she's definitely an old veteran when it comes to publishing. And I know this is her writing style, which I "shouldn't attempt or wish to change" and blah blah blah, but God, every time I read some unrealistic bullshit dialogue it was like nails on a chalkboard. No one, and I mean no one, says, "You smell like the flower that was just outside my window when I was stationed in Florida. It gets its hooks right in me." (Again, I don't have a citation - sorry.)
Instead of swooning, I snorted.
Not only that, but I find her method for conveying internal dialogue to be particularly grinding. One word of the sentence is separated to "strike you," followed by the 'he thought' or 'she thought,' and then it continues on with the thought. Like so: "It was, she thought, particularly grinding when the author chose to write like this. It, she thought again, was confusing and got on readers' nerves."
If it happened occasionally throughout the novel, I could live with that. But she does it every. Fucking. Time.
There are other ways to convey thought! Ways that are much less goddamn irritating! I mean, half the time I'm rereading for clarity because the sentence just mind-fucked me.
The last thing that drove me nuts was the way that Malcolm, as a character, was overly pushy. His narration states many times that he's trying to keep his hands off Parker and stay the hell back, to respect her wishes in the early stages of their "situation" (his words, not mine), but if that's his idea of giving her space, he's fucked in the head. Maybe it's just the feminist in me, but I don't think pushing yourself on a woman without her consent and rubbing your hands all over her breasts is giving her appropriate space.
I'll give you a minute to digest that, get appropriately pissed off, and move on.
I just felt that there was this undercurrent of sexism and, coming from a woman author, that's pretty goddamn insulting. It wasn't just in the above example; it was in a small jab one of the other girls' fiance's made - "The women are in the kitchen, as they should be. Let's go watch some football." I get that it was probably supposed to be a joke, but forgive me if I don't think it's funny.
Anyway, aside from all my issues with the novel, I did enjoy it (bet that's hard to believe now). The dialogue is witty and snappy, the author displays her knowledge of the business of planning a wedding, and it's really easy to get caught up in. When I wasn't getting outraged, I was having a little laugh because the back-and-forth between characters can be really, really hilarious.
So that's all on Happy Ever After. The next book I'll be starting, to give you a little ~spoiler, is The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou.
- Kelsey