valarltd: (books)
I didn't read 50 books.

But I did log 26. * are re-reads. No commentary. Of the 26, 17 are by women. The men on the list, reed, Prachett, Daley are authors of long reading (and a couple of personal encounters) and so trusted. Daniel Smith, the only male not on the "long acquaintance" list was a sore disappointment.

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valarltd: (books)
1) On writing. Stephen King

2) The Shunned House. H.P. Lovecraft

3) Love, Hina. manga

4) The Harlequin. Laurell K Hamilton

5) Websites for Dummies

6) A Princess of Mars. Edgar Rice Burroughs

7) Fall of the House of Usher. Edgar Allan Poe

8) Cain's Apples. Bryan L. Lee

9) Arts and Carfts Business startup

10) Alliegance to a Dead Man. Sara M. Harvey

11) Infinity. Elizabeth Donald.

12) Danse Macabre. Laurell K. Hamillton

13) The Gods of Mars. Edgar Rice Burroughs

14) The Warlord of Mars. Edgar Rice Burroughs.
valarltd: (books)
1) On Writing. Stephen King. I don't agree with everything in here. On the other hand, it is excellent writing advice and has earned a place on my shelves.

2) How to start your own business and make money. Robert R. Thompson. Dry but informative. Am doing some homework on a small business.

50 books

Dec. 12th, 2011 01:43 pm
valarltd: (books)
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14) Slipping the Stream. Mike Shade. Sexy cyberpunk. I liked the cyber part, but there was too much sex.

15) Carnival of Souls. Crymsyn Hart. Sorcerer brothers open a carnival to gain souls for their demonic master, but love throws a curveball into their plans. Good.

16) Through the Mirror. Crymsyn Hart. Second of the series. This time, the other brother falls in love. Not bad, but I am not having urgent need to read the third

17) Of Blood and the Moon. Jimmy Gillantine. An ancient monster haunts Memphis. Pretty good, especially for a first novel. Copy edits needed.

18) Wild Passions. S.L. Armstrong, ed. A number of stories of humans and not-quite humans in love. Everything kitsune to sea people to laboratory made anthropomorphics. Variable, as all anthologies, but solid and good.
valarltd: (books)
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13) Kaminishi. Jan Suzukawa. Useless perpetual student is timeslid to Meiji Japan and falls for a Samurai. Upon returning to his own time, he goes to Japan and finds the reincarnation. This one didn't grip me. The characters didn't resonate and the setting didn't get me.
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10) Burnt Offerings. Laurell K Hamilton. This starts Anita's trend of spending the whole book dealing with vampire/shifter politics and angsting, and then wrapping up the mystery in 3 pages. Not bad, though.

11) Micah. LKH. Anita and Micah spend their first weekend alone. She's actually working, which is good, and actively dissecting her relationship so she can escape it, which is annoying. Not bad, but more for completists.

12) Zombiality: A Queer Bent on the Undead. This anth was nominated for the Lambda Award. It's an excellent cross-section of GLBT writing, from zombified drag queens, to lesbian truckers to ordinary folks coping with life, love and brain-eaters as best they know how. Very good.
valarltd: (books)
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8) Appearing Nightly. Cat Grant. Set in the same world as her "First Real Thing" this takes up a ways after it left off. we get the story from the PoV of Mike, aka Diva Michelle, as he helps and falls for the pretty help at the bar. Very good. One of the better contemporaries I've read.

9) Blackfire. Elizabeth Donald. Sara Harvey is back, kicking ass and taking names. And this time IT can talk to her through the dead. This book's side crisis is resolved but the main one still looms for the third in the series. Great for anyone who likes mythical monsters and kick-ass heroines.
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5) All or Nothing. James Buchanan. Nicky and Brendan cope with holiday vacation and Brendan's nine year old. Good story, good men, but the mystery was transparent. Maybe I read too much Sherlock Holmes.

6) Safe-Words. Jodi Payne and Chris Owen. More of Phan and Noah and Tobias. Tobias is much too smug and the boys seem adrift without their jobs. Sexy as all hell, though, and some serious emotional work on Phan's part.

7) Dreams of Steam. Kimberly Richardson, ed. A solid steampunk collection, with all sorts of fun stories. Marred by some poor copy editing in places, but recommended.
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3) Cornfed. Kiernan Kelley. I remember Kiernan taking on the challenge of writing an Amish man in love with a sheik. The result is this delightful piece. Part Witness homage, but all her own, I highly recommend it as a fun, suspenseful and hot read.

4) Mongrel. KZ Snow. In a steampunk world where not-quite-human people are branded with their ratio of human blood, the leader of the Mongrels discovers a fiendish plot and true love, at the same time. This was terrific. Great worldbuilding, great characters. A vampire named Clancy Marrowbones. Where else you gonna find THAT? If you like steampunk, this is it for you.
valarltd: (books)
1) Cherry on Top. M. Rode, ed. A pretty good anthology about first times. I was gifted a copy by [livejournal.com profile] bg_thomas. The stories ranged from cute to intense, memorable to utter pablum. I liked the early look at Dr. Fell, Kiernan Kelly turned in a terrific one with her tale of first love rediscovered. (But Kiernan is almost always the standout in a TQ anthology) Ben's offering was a story of a young man discovering his own and his best friend's sexuality. It was cute.

2) Dr. Doolittle's Circus. Hugh Lofting. Dr. Doolittle and his family take the pushmipullyu on the road to make money. On the way, helps a seal escape, helps end fox hunting in a district and generally reforms the whole outfit. Long and very victorian lit.
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48)  Tarot for Dummies. Amber Jayanti. Useful guide for beginning and intermediate readers.

49) A-Viking. Kiernan Kelly. A viking warrior is dumped in modern Florida. Wackiness ensues.

50) The great God Pan. Arthur Machen. Early horror novella, and primary influence on Lovecraft. alas, it is showing its age, and has been done and redone until this piece is predictable. You know the feeling, like Tolkien is a complete Shannara rip-off. 8)
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45) Orgy of Souls. Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus. Samson must collect 20 souls to save his dying brother's life. Beautiful, haunting, gruesome, sexy, intense and amazing. These guys are terrific.

46) Just One Bite, Vol 1. Sexy paranormal tales abound in this 100 page collection. A shy vampire. A genie. Magic that gives treasure beyond words.  All here. All good.

47) Like An Iron Fist. ARC proof of erotic dystopia. This will be out in the spring, and is awesome.
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41)Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns. Pauline Kiernan. This was filthy and fun. I'm not sure I see all the dirty jokes she does, but it makes the Bard much more entertaining.

42) Monster. A Lee Martinez. Monster Dionysius works for animal control, crypto-biological department. He has a succubus girlfriend and has just gotten tangled up with a girl he doesn't like at all. This was a fun little novel, light reading, that lampshaded most of the conventional romantic comedy tropes.
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38) Little Brother. Cory Doctrow. Brightest kid on the block gets nabbed by Homeland security after a bombing and decides to get even. Interesting if implausible.

39) Saving Melanie. Elizabeth Donald. Nifty SF tale of terraformers who dream planets into being.  Go get it for 2.50!

40) Portrait of a Serial Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed. Patricia Cornwall. Detailed, elaborate procedural in tracking down Jack the ripper, including use of mitochondrial DNA. She believes it's Walter Sickert, the artist.
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35) Cerulean Sins. Laurel K. Hamilton. I know, I know. I swore off after Narcissus, but I got stuck at the library and decided to try it. Anita is back, in excellent form, raising zombies, dealing with vamp politics and solving murders. Still a lot of sex. Good one.
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33)Dead Until Dark. Charlaine Harris. I picked this up because I enjyed True Blood. Harris' writing style does not engage me. She is just uninteresting in terms of voice.

34) Blue Ruin 1: Some Kind of Stranger. Katrina Strauss. Nice little BDSM novel about a top who takes in a rescue.
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31) Undead and Unreturnable. Queen Betsy, vampiric shoe fiend, and her half-sister, the Devil's Daughter, track down a serial killer. Funny, but the gag is getting old.

32) Blue Moon. Yes, I'm reading Anita all out of order. This one was horrificly gruesome and pretty awesome. She finally does Richard (at long last). The villains and assorted henchgoons are terrific.
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29) Lunatic Cafe. Laurell K Hamilton. Someone is killing lycanthropes and Anita has to find out who. Can I just say how much I love Richard Zeeman, her werewolf boyfriend? Any man who cooks for me, unasked, while wearing a Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies apron is a keeper.

30) The Jungle Book. Rudyard Kipling. It's been too many years.
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24) Soultaker. Bryan Smith. Lamia has chosen this little town to harvest, and she's hungry after 100 years. Sexy, deranged and complete grossout.
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4) Deviation IV-Bondage. Jodi Payne and Chris Owen. Last in the series. Short on bondage, long on relationship. Very good.

5) Alfred Hitchcock's Witches' Brew. A collection of 11 stories about magic and witches and the fae. All excellent quality and included Robert Bloch's "That Hell-Bound Train."

6) Eastern Standard Tribe. Cory Doctrow. I liked the world building but at heart this is just a cyberpunk edisonade. Smartest-kid-in-the-room is sitting on the roof of the asylum and tells us the tale of how he ended up there. An enjoyable read but doesn't hold up under contemplation.

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