I’m pretty much a failure…

So I started this auspicious goal of reading only new authors for the month of May. It kind of, sort of, mostly worked out that way. The problem is that I didn’t read much in May. I got super busy with life, my nieces, running, training for a triathlon (because one kind of pain just isn’t enough), looking for a house and just … well… life in general. I also read several books by familiar authors but didn’t want to post those reviews (I cheated, I know). So while I read 5 new author books and have more on tap what I’ll probably do is try to expand this goal to the end of the year.

That way I can mix in new authors with old, still getting my fix while searching for new authors.
This also lets me be slightly more lazy with my reading. I have no time to watch TV and I usually read my m/m books at work in 10 min blocks. So work needs to slow down.

Why can’t I just live a life of leisure? I need to win the lottery.

So I’ll begin the week with a picture of the water park we went to on Saturday to celebrate my niece’s 2nd birthday, the adorable River Tam.

 

The water lines sprung a leak and it took about an hr to fix it. This was their idea in the meantime.

Preaching to the choir…

Flawed vs TSTL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m alive! It was dicey for a minute..

So as the title suggests…I’m alive! I wasn’t sure how my first half marathon run would go. I was pretty sure I’d come out in one piece but yanno with 15,000 other runners, mostly women btw, that’s highly questionable.

I’m happy to say I survived! I’m beyond pleased with my time. My garmin watch had a lot of trouble keeping a GPS signal so I didn’t really know how fast I was running. I just figured if I didn’t know I should probably be running faster. In the end I shattered both the goal I had when training and the secret unspoken one that you really, really want but don’t want to tell anyone because you figure it’s impossible. I managed to impress both my brother and sister in law, who do triathlons, which is amazing. They are such motivation to me so now I have even more inspiration.

And of course the sweet Tiffany’s bling at the end for finishing.

I know most people don’t care about running (believe me, I know! My family and friends are sick of it) so I’m sorry for interrupting the reviews and such with this. Back to our regularly scheduled program of books and reviews. Thanks for listening to my babble.

Trying something new…let’s hope it doesn’t end in tears

My recent post about author burn out got me thinking. I want to shake up my m/m reading a bit.

My current reading rotation involves reading 4 books of different genres at any given time. Surprisingly this isn’t confusing or frustrating since they are all very different genres and books that I read at different times. I used to never do this but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s been working out.

Is too much familiarity a good thing?

I’ve been reading the m/m genre for several years now and like any genre it has it’s ups and downs. I tend to be more author and subgenre specific, and picky you could say, so I don’t bounce around as I once did. This has led to the happy side benefit of not reading as many horrid books as I perhaps once did, but it also tends to give me a feeling of sameness. The problem is really two-fold.

New member of the zoo…

So it’s been a while since I did an update. Life is really quite good but busy lately.

I’ve finally found my groove with reading and reviewing – reviewing less, reading more outside of m/m – and though I wish I reviewed more, I’m only reviewing those books where the review practically writes itself in my head as I’m reading. I’ve struggled a bit with m/m as it seems all the books feel the same. There’s less of a surprise element and more of “haven’t I already read this” that comes to mind. There’s something to be said about staying within a comfortable genre and that includes the tropes that make such things popular (more on this topic later).. but suffice it to say, I’m still chugging away with the genre.

The sequel game…how soon?

Sequels are a tough bag, no question. Readers tend to equally love and hate them, constantly comparing the sequel to the original. It’s unavoidable. I do have multiple thoughts about sequels not living up to the originals but that’s not the post I want to do today. Maybe another day…

For today I want to talk about the length of time between the first book and any sequels.

In a perfect world as soon as you finish one book you’ll have the next instantly to read, and so on until you want a break.
However as it usually happens the author has to, yanno, actually write the second book or third or fourth or whatever. Sadly that doesn’t happen instantaneously even if all parties would probably like that.

So what is an acceptable time between books?

I see a year or thereabouts frequently and that’s pretty standard. However, what about books that take two, three, four, or even five years between sequels.

I’ve read four books in the past month that have had years (three+) between the first and second books. This sends me into a quandary. As much as I may have loved the first book, after three years or more, I can guarantee I remember little to nothing about that book and am ambivalent about continuing on in the series.

This doesn’t even get into when sequels pick off where the original book ends with no added details. Readers are expected to have read the first book, recently, and recall all those important details easily.

But truly, just going by the time between books alone – if it’s over a year it stretches my recall ability too much to likely continue. I may anyway but I know I won’t love it as much as I could have otherwise.

Anyone agree?
What’s your deal breaker on time between books?

What I’m craving…

I’ve been slowly – ever so slowly – getting back into reading and reviewing. Well I should say I’ve always been reading but the genres seem to be all over the place. I’m reading a ton of non-fiction biographies, a bunch of running guides (Oh yea because I needed another time sink, soul sucking hobby), dog guides (because yes the dog CONTINUES to eat the house and every remote in sight. I won’t get into her dirty clothes fetish), and even back to the dreaded m/f romance.

The thing is whenever I’m in a rut or lost in my reading I always default to urban fantasy. It’s my tried and true first love of all genres, along with post-apocalyptic delight. I’m currently reading Justin Cronin’s The Twelve. Well actually I listen to it during long runs because I figure the longer I run the more chance I have of finishing the audiobook in about a year.

But I’m seriously, seriously craving some meaty urban fantasy. I’d LOVE if it were m/m but finding one is about as likely as winning the lottery. There’s the odd story here and there but for most part, all I’m seeing are re-releases and nothing much. If I’m missing something, by all means please point it out and I’ll get it within minutes. Yes, I want it that badly.

I’m even sinking so low that I accept mediocre urban fantasy with cliched female leads that always have 2-3 guys vying for her as she ignores them all because she’s “just one of the guys.” I could probably write one of these books they’re so formulaic and bland. But I want that urban fantasy world building, that excitement of a new world from someone’s imagination. All new rules to learn and magic and futuristic possibilities.

Why is that m/m is almost entirely contemporary or historic romance?
Why aren’t there more science fiction, urban fantasy, fantasy in general books?

I miss these genres so much and it means that I only go for m/m when I want basic romance and that makes me sad.

How much sex is too much?