thecoffeehouse | JUNE reads

I was on vacation for a bit, so I actually got a LOT of reading done while I was away.

Books I liked:
Behind the Beautiful Forevers - a true story from one of India's slums.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - what it says on the tin. Has anyone seen the movie yet?
Nineteen Minutes - I was surprised that I liked this story about a high school shooting as much as I did.

Books I didn't like:
Stardoc #3 - I'm abandoning this series. I can't stand the main character. An example of what I dislike about her is that she winds up marrying her rapist. Yeah... just no.
The Hell You Say - part of a M/M series, which I've continued reading anyway because I can't help myself. The 3rd book was kind of awful though.

I read a few other serial mysteries and finished the 3rd Hunger Games book (finally). Wow, it's been a busy month!

My bookclub is reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this month. Other than that, I don't know what's up next.

Oh, Stardoc. God, yes. I don't think I made it past the first one. Although to be honest, I can't remember now what about it annoyed me so much.

I liked My Sister's Keeper...maybe I should look up Nineteen Minutes.

The premise was so good and there really was some awesome potential in that world building, I really wanted to like it. Sadly, the characterization is horrid.

Jodi Piccoult has an easy writing style that I enjoy reading. Heartfelt and her characters don't seem cliched

A friend of mine teaches 19 Minutes. She has her reservations about it, but she says it works because the students relate and they really want to talk about it.

I started on the Quadrail Series series by Timothy Zahn, and it's been fun--science fiction with a nice splash of spy/mystery. After all of the near-future science fiction I've been seeing lately, it's nice to read something set in the far future with all-out worldbuilding.

What else? A little Stephen King, a little Maureen Jennings. I think I might rotate in some classic literature soon. Maybe Faulkner...I don't know yet. Maybe we should do a genre-themed "books you think everyone should read" thing?

Timothy Zahn wrote some Star Wars books, didn't he? I feel like I need some GOOD scifi after that Stardoc mess, I might go check him out.

Maybe we should do a genre-themed "books you think everyone should read" thing?
That sounds fun! I have a few ideas for that list. :) Do you want to do that as a separate post or do you just want me to include it in next month's book post? Either way works.

*brainstorms other coffeehouse activities*

I think he did, yeah.

This series is worth reading, although I found the fourth one (which I accidentally started with) better than the first one (which I'm reading now). The Vorkosigan series is worth reading too, if you're looking for science fiction. Or, you know, I can come up with others. I can always come up with others.

I think maybe we should do a separate rec post. Or do you want to do it next month? I don't care too much either way.

I haven't actually finished anything this month, but I've started a few.

77 Shadow Street by Dean Koonz - Oh, Dean Koontz, I wish I knew how to quit you... Again. I've been plowing through this all month and haven't gotten even half-way through it, and I'm *this* close of just giving up. The next time I feel the urge to read some Koontz, I think I'll just reread one of his old novels that I know I'll enjoy.

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey - I'm about 50 pages into this and really loving it. As far as urban fantasy goes, it's grittier and better written than Dresden Files, thought not quite as entertaining - and the Hellblazer-connection is very obvious.

I love Dean Koontz, even though I wish I didn't. A few of his books do seem to fall flat, but others just suck you in. I have't read '77 Shadow Street', but I just downloaded 'What the Night Knows' - have you read that one?

Oh - Dresden Files! - I read the first 4 or 5 of them and enjoyed them.

I've been reading Koontz for almost twenty years, so I can't quit him even though it's been a while since I've really liked one of his books (I think the second Frankenstein book was the last one). When he's good, he's *good*, but when he's bad, he's abysmal. I haven't read What the Night Knows - I've made the decision not to buy his books anymore, I only read them when I spot them at the library - and looking at the blurb at Wikipedia, it looks like an interesting one. But then again, so did the one that I'm trying to read right now...

I'm reading Dresden Files as the books come out on paperback, so I'm I'm book behind right now. I think I read the first four books in one weekend when I first discovered them, and though the last few have been slightly disappointing (and the series is getting a bit repetitive), the new Dresden File is still my second most anticipated book every year after the latest Pratchett.

I decided I needed to read The Dresden Files when I saw Jim Butcher on a "horror" writers panel at ComicCon, and he said the thing that got him into the genre was Dean Koontz.

I found the Dresden Files got better later on. Karin Murphy is one of my all-time favourite female characters. It's kind of epic, though--I think he has about twenty books planned in total.

Hmm...I've never read any Koontz. If I were going to try him, which book would you recommend? I'm guessing not this one...

I think the Moonlight Bay series is probably the best example of Koontz at his best - it's got all his trademark elements from pop-culture-savvy characters to super-intelligent pets and disturbing horror imagery, but it lacks the overt right-wing politics of his later books.

Phantoms was the first one I read, and still one of my favourites, but I think it suffers the same problem that most of Koontz's books (even his best ones) suffer in that it would be a much better book if he'd left the last 50 or so pages out...

Thanks! The Moonlight Bay series looks interesting; I'll add it to my list of books to read.

I'd rec his stuff from the early 90's. Dragon Tears, Cold Fire, Intensity, etc.

I really need to reread his 90's stuff. I remember liking them a lot more than his later (or earlier) books, but it's been over 15 years since I've read most of them.

My thoughts are that he was still polishing his writing style before that time (his early, early stuff reminds me of Stephen King, whom I very much dislike), and after that time period, he's kind of just been re-arranging and spitting out the same story ideas.

Thank you! (Sorry; apparently I'm way behind on comments.)

DEAN KOONTZ

I haven't read any new ones for a while (I need to figure out where the hell I put the first 2 Frankenstein books so I can re-read them & read the last 2).

Reading one of his new novels is often like reading one of his old novels. XD

A word of warning about the Frankenstein books: I really liked the first two, but thought the third one was nothing but a thinly-veiled diatribe about the evils of socialism. I was so disappointed by it that I never read the fourth one.

Yeah, "preachy" is the word I would use to describe most of his books from the past decade or so. With dogs literally being angels in a couple of them. XD

It's a good thing I enjoy his prose so much!

Let's see...

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs - It's the first in the Mercy Thompson series, which had been suggested to me by several people. I liked it? Not enough to run out and buy every book in the series but enough that I'll definitely try the 2nd book at some point.

The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I by L.J Smith - This is the first 1 1/2 of a trilogy because the publisher decided to split the three novels into two books. I don't know why...I liked the show enough to see how different the books were. I enjoyed this but I don't know how much I would've had I not already been invested thanks to the series. I'll definitely get the 2nd 1 1/2 part at some point.

I think there was another book I started but didn't finish? Yet I can't recall which book it was so apparently, it was not memorable :)

Ha, co-incidentally we watched the first episode of Secret Circle last night. Pilot episodes are always a bit, hmm, different to the rest I guess. How's the rest of the season hold up?

If you hated the pilot, chances are you won't like the rest of the season. I do think it gets stronger and all of the actors seem much more comfortable in their roles by the end of the season, but it's not a huge change from the pilot.

Also, in case you didn't know, the show was canceled so there won't be a second season and apparently, outside of Australia, no DVD release :(

I've read the first 2 or 3 Mercy Thompson books, they are enjoyable enough but I agree - not OMGMUSTREADNOW. There are a few tired themes between the characters I can see being set up. *sigh*
I'm apparently grumpy about all female characters lately -- none seem to live up to what I'm looking for. Sad.

Have you read anything by C. E. Murphy? I like her Walker Papers Series

I'm fairly easy when it comes to female characters but I also don't read a lot? Like, two or three books a month is pretty average for me, though there's a lot of fic thrown in there, as well :)

I have not but I shall add her name to my ever-growing list of writers to check out :)

Oh, man. The Secret Circle (& L.J. Smith's other books) = MY JR HIGH YEARS.

I read The Devil's Mixtape by Mary Borsellino and absolutely adored it. I've gone and tracked down everything else she's written now and loaded as much of it as I can lay hands on onto my Kindle. :D

It's about the interconnected lives of three groups of people living in different times. It's about redemption and existence, forgiveness and coping. As I said, I really loved it. :]

I've never even heard of that author - it sounds interesting though!

I've been reading not-very-fun stuff to prep for classes for the fall, but I did squeeze in two books for leisure.

My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier which took me a while to get into, but once I did, it had me hooked. I love du Maurier's stuff in general and this did not disappoint (Rule Britannia, however, did.)

And Dream of Perpetual Motion Okay on this one I am publicly admitting failure. It's a lush, dense book, sort of like Dickensian detail married to a retelling of the Tempest, with a side order of magical realism and a steampunk setting. There are passages that are breathtaking, but I'm about halfway through right now and honestly, I still can't bring myself to care about any of the characters. Not even to dislike one. They're all just...blah. And scanning this post, there's much more fun stuff out there for me to read!

I saw 'Dream of Perpetual Motion' at the bookstore around the holidays and added it to my list because it sounded fascinating. It sucks that you're not drawn to any of the characters - that really makes or breaks a book for me.

I recently finished reading Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth. It's book one of The President's Vampire series (which is also the title of Book 2) and I really liked it. The vampire lore is really good and the treatment of the supernatural was interesting.

I also finished Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. It's been awhile since I've read a NR book but picked this one up because it was about smokejumpers. It captured my interest with both the plot and romance aspects and had the good ol' NR twist at the end!

I also read Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It's Young Adult but I wasn't reminded constantly that I was reading a YA book. It's a retelling of Cinderella (and other fairy tales) that has androids galore. Personally, I can't wait for the next book to come out! It's one that I've loaned out to friends and it keeps coming back to me with an "Oh wow!" comment attached to it.

Androids, you say?

Yes! And moon people (lunars) and what I'm assuming is going to be a werewolf faction in continuing books.

Cinderella/Andriods?? nice.

I haven't read a Nora Roberts book in years, but I admit they had a certain plot that you always expected and usually weren't disappointed in. I think I read Smokejumpers.

My friend recommended Lisa Kleypas' Wallflowers series to me as historical romances that don't suck, so I finished those 4, and have moved on to the Hathaways series, which are kind of a continuation of the Wallflowers.

I re-read The Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede while I dog-sat for a few hours. And then I started in on Mairelon the Magician, but didn't finish.

historical romances that don't suck
Since you're read 4 of them, can I assume your friend was right?

Well. XD

The prose is well-written, but they have a lot of the same grabby-guy privilege stuff (because she totally wants to be macked on even if she SAYS no), with a bonus of some exotification/othering of a couple of the male gypsy love interests.

I'm currently reading "the Shack", something a friend lent to me. Its a Christian book, but supposed to be pretty good.

Books lent by friends are awesome

JUNE reads

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