chaliepud Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) I remember Kell posting a review on The Notebook by NIcholas Sparks which looks unashamedly romantic, you may have seen the movie? Edited January 8, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnbirduk Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I can't help it, I have to chime in here . I'm not sure what the Mills & Boon books are but I know what Harlequins are . (YEK) The Harlequins over here are about 120 pages of hogwash . They have a cover with a half nekkid man and lady on it. The man's shirt is always off,and he looks like a french fry that has been dunked in the grease and overcooked and not dried off ( including his hair ...gross) The lady HAS a shirt but it is ripped . They all start with man meets lady, lady hates man, end of book ? They live happily ever after . The main reading audience over here for Harlequins look like this : Grey permed hair with sometimes a tint of purple or pink . Lipstick smeared over top lip and under bottom lip. (Cheaper than BOTOX) Rouge in 2 bright red circles on cheeks . A sweater with a BROACH . Clip on earrings from the 60's . Pearls (fake). A sweater to match all the other items . Carrying : A notebook listing all 8,290 OTHER Harlequins she has read,so she can leaf through it to see if the store has a NEW one that will tell her the same story with the same cover ,for another $4.95 (Which is $5.00 too much ) Sorry to hijack thread, but I love your description, you describe Mills and Boon to a T, my son says they are written by bored housewives for bored housewives lol and yuk is a very apt review lol. Sorry no desrepect intended if you are into Mills and Boon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Dawn No disrespect to me . I might be a housewife,and maybe sometimes I am bored,but no died purple hair ,no lipstick and pearls . And if I get bored enough to join up with that reading material, I hope someone has the courtesy to lock me in a padded room as far away from those books as possible. Your son probably hit the nail on the head. I'd be willing to bet that is who writes that type of book ,and we'll use the term loosley. It has pages with words between a cover . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Could do with a little help picking out a romance. Although a lot of books I have read could be called romances, I want something completely typical, maybe Mills and Boony. What authors should I go for? Romance is the genre I am least looking forward to so I will be doing it in February (the shortest month) and thought about doing a mills and boons (because they are small) whatever I get I will be getting it from the library so I can return it and never see it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopeanha Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I would also suggest Nora Roberts, I've read quite a few of her books and even though they'realmost all the same, they're good. I especially liked Northern Lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I can't help it, I have to chime in here . I'm not sure what the Mills & Boon books are but I know what Harlequins are . (YEK) The Harlequins over here are about 120 pages of hogwash . They have a cover with a half nekkid man and lady on it. The man's shirt is always off,and he looks like a french fry that has been dunked in the grease and overcooked and not dried off ( including his hair ...gross) The lady HAS a shirt but it is ripped . They all start with man meets lady, lady hates man, end of book ? They live happily ever after . The main reading audience over here for Harlequins look like this : Grey permed hair with sometimes a tint of purple or pink . Lipstick smeared over top lip and under bottom lip. (Cheaper than BOTOX) Rouge in 2 bright red circles on cheeks . A sweater with a BROACH . Clip on earrings from the 60's . Pearls (fake). A sweater to match all the other items . Carrying : A notebook listing all 8,290 OTHER Harlequins she has read,so she can leaf through it to see if the store has a NEW one that will tell her the same story with the same cover ,for another $4.95 (Which is $5.00 too much ) :lol: Thanks for that Julie I haven't laughed so much in ages. I've only read a couple of Mills and Boon's but you've described them perfectly. I don't envy you VF .. but then it might be so bad it's good I can't wait for that review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hello there Miss Poppy Yes, I think we are all in for a treat when we read VF's review of a romance . Maybe we oughta BRIBE him with money to read a Boons and Mills . Think he'll take us up on the offer ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I never have to be bribed to read. I read toilet paper if there is a pattern on it and I have nothing else to look at. If a Mills and Boon gives pleasure to the person reading it then that's all it has to do, it has served it's purpose. Not everything can be great literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Not a Mills & Boon but what about One Day by David Nicholls quite a few people have recommended it so I picked up a copy myself even though modern romances aren't usually my sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I never have to be bribed to read. I read toilet paper if there is a pattern on it and I have nothing else to look at. If a Mills and Boon gives pleasure to the person reading it then that's all it has to do, it has served it's purpose. Not everything can be great literature. Hi VF Sorry ,didn't mean to make fun or cause problems. I agree, I'd read about anything too if it came down to it . And I am glad when anybody likes to read,no matter what their taste in books is . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Hi VF Sorry ,didn't mean to make fun or cause problems. I agree, I'd read about anything too if it came down to it . And I am glad when anybody likes to read,no matter what their taste in books is . Yeah I just thought of all those old ladies slaving over their hot pens and notepads and felt guilty taking the mickey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyzenthlay Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) I laughed, Julie. And that's despite having read a couple of those books! I was about thirteen at the time, beginning to discover my sexuality and all that.. I remember my friend and I found her Mum's stash of books hidden in a box under her bed. What I really think though, is that they're escapism at its best. Nothing could be further removed from the life of the target audience than those stories. At least the ones I read, which were all medieval damsel-in-distress, angry knight with a soft heart, evil person who wants to marry her love triangle type things. Edited January 9, 2012 by Hyzenthlay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Happy reading for 2012, Vodkafan! I really look forward to your opinion on these two books, which I have on my TBR pile... Autobiography of Malcom X Battle Royale And these two, which I've read and loved... Shadow Of The WindCoraline Do you really want to go to such extremes with the romance genre? I think the suggestion of Nicholas Sparks is a good one, and I think Nora Ephron has written some romance novels too (I only know her for writing the screenplays for such movies as When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Oh my I went to a charity shop today looking for a bit of wooden (has to be wood, preferably beat up and old like me..) furniture to fit a specific space in my flat... on the bookshelves without even looking I found 2 Margaret Atwoods and a Nora Roberts plus a good DVD (Boyz n The Hood) . I had to run out the shop quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) The Odin Mission by James Holland. This was my "War" category book for the Genre Challenge. Somebody recommended and reviewed it back in 2011. it caught my attention because although fiction the background is the events of Norway 1940, which really happened , and which I have read a lot about. Some of the characters are real people., as are some of the army units mentioned, while others are not. And Holland has stretched the truth a bit in places, for instance although there were French Chasseurs Alpins in Norway they were nowhere near the action along the Gudbrandsdalen. , being much further North at Namsos and Narvik. He also gets the names of some of the equipment and weapons wrong. However , that's enough of me being an anorak. The story itself is quite exciting, a brilliant chase across the mountains by a few desperate men . Veteran Sergeant Jack Tanner has given his word to a dying Norwegian officer to get an important civilian scientist to safety , either that or kill him to prevent him falling into the hands of the Germans. His men are untrained and scared recruits, he does not know the country, the scientist is elderly and he has to deal with an arrogant French officer who makes bad decisions and is a pain in the bum. Oh and they are cut off behind enemy lines and being chased by some elite German mountain troops who know all about the scientist and to cap it all Tanner has ran out of cigarettes. I did not like the main character in the first few pages because he seemed to do nothing but moan, but he grew on me later. The author concentrates on the action and tells us very little about Tanner's background, I am sure that is deliberate and more will be revealed in subsequent books. I did like the way he made Tanner a man of his time rather than just plonking a modern character in WWII . He is out of colonial India and is awed by the modern developments in tanks and fighter aircraft. We found out more about Corporal Sykes and his pre-war "career". The author has obviously done his homework about the actual campaign . I was really impressed when he got to the description of Tretten. I have seen maps of Tretten, I know the position of the bridge in the centre of town and I could even pinpoint the bend in the river south of the town where Tanner's men crossed over to the West bank . I have never, ever been able to visualize like that in a book before. I enjoyed the book, although I probably won't read any of the rest of the series because I am only interested in Norway.. Edited January 10, 2012 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Oh my I went to a charity shop today looking for a bit of wooden (has to be wood, preferably beat up and old like me..) furniture to fit a specific space in my flat... on the bookshelves without even looking I found 2 Margaret Atwoods and a Nora Roberts plus a good DVD (Boyz n The Hood) . I had to run out the shop quick. Haha. Which Atwoods did you find? Did you end up finding the furniture you wanted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Haha. Which Atwoods did you find? Did you end up finding the furniture you wanted? Hi Kylie, forget the Atwoods, check this out! I went back today and they had some more furniture in. I bought these two real wood slim bookshelves. They fit in a rebate in the wall. I originally wanted a single piece of furniture to fill this space, but these were too good quality to pass up and they will do the job. I can fit 80 DVDs in one and approximately 80 paperbacks in the other, depending on thickness, although I have nowhere near that many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Very nice, what a great find. Will you be going back & buying more books to fill them with ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Very nice, what a great find. Will you be going back & buying more books to fill them with ? Not with that express purpose. They will fill up gradually. I do sometimes have to buy the second hand paperbacks of books for the Reading Circle because I can't get them on Kindle. I also have half a locker full of paperbacks at work. I will bring those home tonight. The DVDs are another matter. I already have 80, 50 of those I have accrued second hand in the last 6 months. Time to have a sell off again I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 The Odin Mission by James Holland. This was my "War" category book for the Genre Challenge. Somebody recommended and reviewed it back in 2011. it caught my attention because although fiction the background is the events of Norway 1940, which really happened , and which I have read a lot about. Some of the characters are real people., as are some of the army units mentioned, while others are not. And Holland has stretched the truth a bit in places, for instance although there were French Chasseurs Alpins in Norway they were nowhere near the action along the Gudbrandsdalen. , being much further North at Namsos and Narvik. He also gets the names of some of the equipment and weapons wrong. However , that's enough of me being an anorak. The story itself is quite exciting, a brilliant chase across the mountains by a few desperate men . Veteran Sergeant Jack Tanner has given his word to a dying Norwegian officer to get an important civilian scientist to safety , either that or kill him to prevent him falling into the hands of the Germans. His men are untrained and scared recruits, he does not know the country, the scientist is elderly and he has to deal with an arrogant French officer who makes bad decisions and is a pain in the bum. Oh and they are cut off behind enemy lines and being chased by some elite German mountain troops who know all about the scientist and to cap it all Tanner has ran out of cigarettes. I did not like the main character in the first few pages because he seemed to do nothing but moan, but he grew on me later. The author concentrates on the action and tells us very little about Tanner's background, I am sure that is deliberate and more will be revealed in subsequent books. I did like the way he made Tanner a man of his time rather than just plonking a modern character in WWII . He is out of colonial India and is awed by the modern developments in tanks and fighter aircraft. We found out more about Corporal Sykes and his pre-war "career". The author has obviously done his homework about the actual campaign . I was really impressed when he got to the description of Tretten. I have seen maps of Tretten, I know the position of the bridge in the centre of town and I could even pinpoint the bend in the river south of the town where Tanner's men crossed over to the West bank . I have never, ever been able to visualize like that in a book before. I enjoyed the book, although I probably won't read any of the rest of the series because I am only interested in Norway.. I read this last year, as part of the Transworld book group challenge. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how much in author went into detail. I did do a little bit of research afterwards and I'm sure the author is actually a historian, so that could be why I enjoyed it so much. Glad you enjoyed it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 I think it was your review that made me read it Laura. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 I finished my first Stephanie Plum novel today. I am reading them in order. This was a very fun quick read. I intend to switch between these and the Amelia Peabody Victorian novels as fillers for when I am not doing a Genre Challenge or Reading Circle book, at least one a month. So about two years reading in that series alone. If I get bored with them another series I can bring in is the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Reading Coraline now. I believe 72 books is an achievable target for me this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I finished my first Stephanie Plum novel today. I discovered Stephanie Plum last year and am trying to pace myself. Its nice to know of something light to have between heavier reads. I like your new bookshelves they would look good either side of a comfy reading armchair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Could do with a little help picking out a romance. Although a lot of books I have read could be called romances, I want something completely typical, maybe Mills and Boony. What authors should I go for? Having read the Mills & Boon correspondence (!) can I suggest, Vodkafan that you consider romantic suspense as a genre? The best and most celebrated author in this genre is Mary Stewart whose books in the '60s & '70s influenced a whole generation of writers (including me.) She's just been reissued in pastel "park your brain at the door" covers that bely the intelligence of her writing. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=I%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AMary+Stewart&keywords=Mary+Stewart&ie=UTF8&qid=1326289283&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B000AP6YNC Mary Stewart (still alive and in her 90s) wrote superbly and hated to be throught of as a romance writer. She thought she had more in common with John Buchan - outdoor adventures with a heroine-in-jeopardy. Her books score for dialogue, exciting plots and exotic locations. (Well, they were considered exotic in the 60s - Crete, Corfu, Skye, Austria, Lebanon.) She writes wonderfully about these foreign locations and you can really soak up the atmosphere as you read. She also writes very well about children and animals. Both often feature in her stories. (If you're an animal lover read THIS ROUGH MAGIC.) There's always a love story, always a happy ending, but her heroes are real men, with failings. Sometimes they aren't even tall, dark or handsome. My favourite Mary Stewarts are THE MOONSPINNERS, THE GABRIEL HOUNDS and NINE COACHES WAITING (which is a sort of '60s JANE EYRE.) I read them all as a teenager and I've re-read lots of them in middle-age. They still hold up well if you accept they are period pieces. But Stewart is classic mainstream romance (even though she'd not thank me for saying so!) The Mills & Boon type of romance is known in the trade as "category romance" and has its own genre rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hi Linda Thanks for that info. I will certainly look all those titles up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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