wrathofkublakhan

the Pern Series by Anne McCaffrey -- I've been following this series for 30 years.

Romancing the Stone!

Fun thread! The TV show Sex in the City could be held up as an example of what chic-lit could be; I could only manage to watch a few episodes (hated it) the men were cardboard-two-dimensional-flat. I remember wondering at the time if it was a sort of backlash to men objectifying bimbos for years in the media. So, anyways, IF chic-lit is the flashy pastel covers like Janet Evanovich then I love this type of writing. It's fun and frothy and entirely disposable. It's not the coincidence that makes it work but rather the circumstance. One worthy in this thread mentioned lack of character development over the arc of the series, our hero never learns anything for the experiences. I would look fondly over at Miss Jane Marple and see that she really didn't change over a series of books because her character arrived fully developed. Like sit-coms on television, the fun is putting familiar characters in different scenarios; so, we see Marple or Holmes or Nero Wolfe or any cast on a sit-com dealing with circumstance (it's Christmas at the 4077). It's a different style of writing because it's not about any rite of passage but rather the foibles of society, the outer not the inner.

Good beginning of a list, I hope to see it build.

The Time Traveler's Wife was brilliant and stunning.

I found it to be a very nice and welcoming forum!

When in doubt -- judge a book by it's cover! Browse the bookshop and find something that looks interesting. And.....good luck.

Thomas Carew. 1595?

When I was a little boy it was a Big Deal to go to the used book store. Getting ten books was a whole lot of fun and I could take some risky chances. Today when I visit a used book store, I marvel at finding old titles that I read years ago; books I'd never see in a new book store and often buy them to re-enjoy them all over again. The leap back to what was popular years ago is appealing to me.

It's tidal for me. It's pretty neap that I can read huge chunks of books in the summertime and even on weekends. And then it's high tide I went and did my job and I'm drowning in work and have to actually teach or write or study (reading homework articles is not reading, lol). The other odd bit is that sometimes I find a book so tasty I don't want to finish the adventure. This stops me from paddling and I just float inside a book for weeks, reading a little bit at a time.

I'm probably wrong, but it seems to me that they publish in six month cycles. So, if you are waiting for the paperback version - that can seem a long ways away. But, the next in the series might be an entire year later! Augh! I should stick to the dead authors. I prefer paperbacks because I'm a snacky, munchy, sippy kinda guy. I like to read and have a bowl of chips or a (small) plate of cookies and a drink. I read everywhere I go but when I settle in, I like to think I'm indulging myself just a wee bit. I do buy hardbacks on occasion but they are heavy and require my knees to be up - this makes the reading a little more intimate (does this make sense?) but on the whole ... paperbacks for ease-of-use.