BIG SPOILER ALERT on GHOST SHADOW.
Well, you never know what you're going to like and what you're not going to like. That's abundantly clear when sifting through the books on my iPod and kindle. The beauty of the kindle, as noted again and again, is that Amazon does offer books for free. You can try authors, usually not good, for free and then they hope that you'll purchase more.
Audible is a great service. I've had it for at least 5 years and I love it. I love having audio books when driving, riding my bike, and doing housework (really if anything can make housework better...) My difficulty is that, since I have a subscription I will purchase books that I may or may not like. Sometimes it's a little like roulette (Russian style.) Sometimes it's the narrator--authors, by the way, should NEVER narrate their own books. Sometimes it's the story. And sometimes it's both.
I've learned to listen to samples so that I don't get the narrator from hell any longer. The stories are a bit more difficult to predict. I j ust finished Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham. Now Graham is known for trite romances, at lea st that's how I know her. She has had a few (and far between) mysteries. And so I spent my monthly credit on Ghost Shadow.
Ghost Shadow was not the worst book that I ever read/listened to. There are books that I have just given up on. This had a basic plot where the heroine is gorgeous, brilliant, and incredible business woman, and the friendliest little chikadee in Key West. She sees ghosts. She never mentions this to anyone because her brother warned her, when she was 6, that people would think that she was crazy. We hear this story at least 3 times in the course of the story. So, of course, she never mentioned it again and just went on with her life. OK. It sounds a little incredible to me. If she can see ghosts can't someone else? Anyone else? PUHLEEZE.
The killer killed 10 years prior to our current story and completely and ineffectually tried to frame the trampy dead girl's ex-fiancee. Well, now, the ex-fiancee has returned and he and our heroine fall in love (lust, have sex--but we're supposed to believe love.) So the killer decides he has to kill the heroine. But first, a couple of practices this time.
Oh, and the MacGuffin is that, initially our heroine, our karaoke business woman, wants to purchase the hero's family's museum where the ex-fiance had been posed after her murder.
The entire plot is so contrived that the mystery is why bother with the faux attempt at original prose.
REALLY SUPER SPOILER ALERT
Why did they start with a focus on reopening the museum?
Why really did the killer kill the extra people?
Frankly, why would a killer really try to murdera bunch of people to frame a guy just because the guy's great great great great great grandfather made certain that the killer's great great great great grandfather was hanged for a crime that he committed? Seriously, this was our denoument!
THIS was why this guy randomly decides to kill. And why choose that ONE guy out of all the huge number of family that our hero purportedly has. Why not kill our hero directly.
And you'd think that the chief of police could provide a better frame.
Oh yeah.
Despite the flaws, I listened to the entire book. And as I've said before, it's probably better than anything that I could write.
Happy Reading!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Book & Baking Blog Entry 19
Wow, I should really tell a little bit more about my recent baking experiences, but other than some cookies for a bake sale the pastries have been few and far between. I think I'm putting on weight. Gosh, I really love cookies.
So, it's back to books.
As I like to go on about, ad nauseum, the kindle has some great benefits including free books. The free books do tend to be either "you get what you pay for" or "beyond copyright" books. I wrote about A Woman Named Smith. This was a classic, Gothic novel. It was fun and seemed a bit out of the ordinary for the genre.
This week I read a modern mystery that was free (hmmmm....or was it 0.99?) Divorced, Desperate and Dating is truly a book that I got what I paid for. I did manage to read the entire book, which puts it above a number of other books that I have received from Amazon.
The plot of the book was pretty basic: Wildly successful woman has thing for cop that she kissed once and he (normally a promiscuous jerk) is of course really in love with her. Someone is trying to kill her and comedy ensues. Only, I don't think it's supposed to be comedy. And it's not comedy in any sense that Christie Craig (the author) intended.
At least it was entertaining and I didn't feel that I had to delete it or to have a hot shower to wipe the smut off of me.
Criticism 1: I would say that referring to a penis as a Jimmy Dean is, at best, sophomoric and at worst, crude and kind of gross. Especially when following it up with a meat grinder comment. There were a lot of junior high moments comparable to this one.
Criticism 2: The sex scenes were more gross than erotic as well. In fairness, I do not like to read sex scenes. I think that if I want to know about the gymnastics that happen in ANYONE else's bedroom, real or fiction, I'll pick up some soft-core porn magazine and really focus on it. I don't need to know all of the body fluids swapped by our main characters.
Criticism 3: In a mystery, once it's solved please head for the exit. Do not dally amongst more sex, counting condoms, and crappy emotional scenes that the heroine has alone and/or with her "best" friends.
While not horrific, I don't think that I'd pay for this one. You can get better sex and better mysteries elsewhere.
In fairness, Craig writes better than I do, and she's a published author. There are worse books.
Happy Reading!
So, it's back to books.
As I like to go on about, ad nauseum, the kindle has some great benefits including free books. The free books do tend to be either "you get what you pay for" or "beyond copyright" books. I wrote about A Woman Named Smith. This was a classic, Gothic novel. It was fun and seemed a bit out of the ordinary for the genre.
This week I read a modern mystery that was free (hmmmm....or was it 0.99?) Divorced, Desperate and Dating is truly a book that I got what I paid for. I did manage to read the entire book, which puts it above a number of other books that I have received from Amazon.
The plot of the book was pretty basic: Wildly successful woman has thing for cop that she kissed once and he (normally a promiscuous jerk) is of course really in love with her. Someone is trying to kill her and comedy ensues. Only, I don't think it's supposed to be comedy. And it's not comedy in any sense that Christie Craig (the author) intended.
At least it was entertaining and I didn't feel that I had to delete it or to have a hot shower to wipe the smut off of me.
Criticism 1: I would say that referring to a penis as a Jimmy Dean is, at best, sophomoric and at worst, crude and kind of gross. Especially when following it up with a meat grinder comment. There were a lot of junior high moments comparable to this one.
Criticism 2: The sex scenes were more gross than erotic as well. In fairness, I do not like to read sex scenes. I think that if I want to know about the gymnastics that happen in ANYONE else's bedroom, real or fiction, I'll pick up some soft-core porn magazine and really focus on it. I don't need to know all of the body fluids swapped by our main characters.
Criticism 3: In a mystery, once it's solved please head for the exit. Do not dally amongst more sex, counting condoms, and crappy emotional scenes that the heroine has alone and/or with her "best" friends.
While not horrific, I don't think that I'd pay for this one. You can get better sex and better mysteries elsewhere.
In fairness, Craig writes better than I do, and she's a published author. There are worse books.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Book & Baking Blog Entry 18
So, the school year has begun. This works out OK, because it means that I still have a job and can afford to buy baking materials and buy reading materials. HURRAY!!!!
I read an interesting novel, A Woman Named Smith, by Marie Conway Oemler. It was free on my kindle. I LOVE my kindle as you all know. And free was good. I've had a number of free books that stank. Really, imagine that. Some things should not even be given away.
A Woman Named Smith was indeed about a woman named Smith. Because it's a kindle book the publication date was given as 2006 as does the hardcover edition. I will have to find the original publication date because this is no modern mystery/romance novel.
This is a novel for fans of the true Gothic. Heroines fighting the supernatural and the more native evils on earth. The mystery is not really pursued as a plot point, but merely floats in the background enjoying being brought up by our heroine, her best friend, and their bizarre southern entourage. So it's a lot of fun when the mystery's solution is handed over at the end, all tied up in a neat package.
The romance portion of this novel is also part of the background. As courting goes, it's definitely 19th century and enjoyable for it's unintentional hilarity. I enjoyed the author's belief that she was telegraphing one romance while surprising us with an entirely different couple! Perhaps in it's day it was a surprise ending, however, with 21st century sensibilities I think that most could figure this one out.
Having made fun of this novel a bit, I have to say that I really did enjoy it. Mostly FOR the reasons above. I have since looked up the original publication date (1919.) The book has charm as do the characters. The women are remarkably modern and the cast of southern characters rings true to those who have spent time in the south.
Good reading to all. Maybe I'll tell you about my friend's cake made with pudding...or I could cover more cookies. I'm baking up a storm this week. Happy reading and enjoy your pastries.
I read an interesting novel, A Woman Named Smith, by Marie Conway Oemler. It was free on my kindle. I LOVE my kindle as you all know. And free was good. I've had a number of free books that stank. Really, imagine that. Some things should not even be given away.
A Woman Named Smith was indeed about a woman named Smith. Because it's a kindle book the publication date was given as 2006 as does the hardcover edition. I will have to find the original publication date because this is no modern mystery/romance novel.
This is a novel for fans of the true Gothic. Heroines fighting the supernatural and the more native evils on earth. The mystery is not really pursued as a plot point, but merely floats in the background enjoying being brought up by our heroine, her best friend, and their bizarre southern entourage. So it's a lot of fun when the mystery's solution is handed over at the end, all tied up in a neat package.
The romance portion of this novel is also part of the background. As courting goes, it's definitely 19th century and enjoyable for it's unintentional hilarity. I enjoyed the author's belief that she was telegraphing one romance while surprising us with an entirely different couple! Perhaps in it's day it was a surprise ending, however, with 21st century sensibilities I think that most could figure this one out.
Having made fun of this novel a bit, I have to say that I really did enjoy it. Mostly FOR the reasons above. I have since looked up the original publication date (1919.) The book has charm as do the characters. The women are remarkably modern and the cast of southern characters rings true to those who have spent time in the south.
Good reading to all. Maybe I'll tell you about my friend's cake made with pudding...or I could cover more cookies. I'm baking up a storm this week. Happy reading and enjoy your pastries.
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