Slightly Underwhelmed

So, I waited eagerly for my copy of the newest Mary Janice Davidson Undead book to arrive in the mail. Yeah, yeah, I could have bought it in the store but without my beautiful discount, I went for the cheapest route. The new one is:



This is the second in a three book arc. I reread the previous one (which came out a year ago) just to refresh my memory and, well, because I simply enjoy these books that much.

Only, I wish I hadn't.

A decent chunk of the beginning of the book is taken up with the main character, Betsy, rambling on about what happened in the past book. Someone died and she feels guilty about it so she's very distracted. While this could be seen as "realistic" thinking, it's annoying that it seems to go on forever. Plus, it felt like she just copied whole sentences from the last book. Now, this may not be the case but I am not going to spend time comparing what is essentially a déjà vu sensation. It doesn't help that another character, Marc, also does a little reiterating just in case we missed it from Betsy. The worst thing is that this all happens after a brief synopsis of "the story thus far."

At any rate, her books may look long at almost 300 pages but a lot of that is eaten up with margins and spacing. I love the series and have recommended it to a lot of people but this one I recommend with a cautious, just give it time. The story does eventually pick back up in pace and the last half of the book gives some good story.

Part of me feels bad to be dissing it because she mentioned in her "acknowledgements" (yes, I actually read those) that last year was hellish with a lot of family stuff (deaths, etc). But the other side feels that if all of it was affecting her work, someone should have helped her more or given her more time or something. That's why we do revisions.

I am looking forward to the next book but I doubt I'll reread this one again before the next one because, frankly, she'll probably just reiterate the whole damn thing again. (sigh) I hope she doesn't. Or, at least, sticks with the "story thus far" section in the beginning. Us Betsy fans don't need all of that inner dialogue stuff about the past. We want some juicy story bits. And newbies who are clueless enough to pick up the latest in a series will be able to catch up just fine with that brief synopsis.

Hmmmm

I'm thinking that I will give this a whirl again. I've done a decent amount of reading in the past few months so I think I should give it a whirl. I like reviewing and stuff so we'll see if I can keep up with it. Let's hope so.

Weddings From Hell

Overall, I liked the short stories in this book. Michael bought the book for me because the stories sounded interesting. I mean, come on, I'm planning a wedding right now. In fact, a waitress who knows me asked if it was appropriate reading material right now. lol

Anyway. . .the first story seemed to be modern gothic. There weren't any big surprises from "Till Death" but Maggie Shayne has some interesting characters. Kira McLellan could suffer from a family curse if she is not careful. An ancestor (who was a witch, natch) basically doomed her female descendants to die by her husband's hands if he ever cheated on her. The who, what, where, when, why, and how are all nicely laid out. And if you like stories of spirited Americans who get sucked into Scottish culture, this story is for you. I have yet to read any of Shayne's novels but I may try her at some point. If You like this, you will like: Katie MacAlister.

Jeaniene Frost's story, "Happily Never After", is a decent little vampire tale. Lots of "people aren't always what they seem" kind of thing going on. The heroine, Isabella, is about the only one who is exactly as she seems. She's a nice feisty Italian-American girl who refuses to be sucked into an antiquated tradition. This book is part of a larger world of the Night Huntress series. Those looked interesting when they came out so I may try them soon. This story only gives a glimpse of one of the main characters from the series but that's ok, it works as a good introduction to her mythology. From the brief glimpse I got here, she's done a good tweak to the mythos. If you like this, you will like: P.N. Elrod

My favorite of the four stories is Terri Garey's "Ghouls Night Out". Maybe I just have a thing for tongue in cheek titles but this is a very well written story. The main character, Nicki Styx, can see dead people. Yeah, I know, it's been done to death (pun intended) lately, right? Probably but I got sucked into her world nonetheless. I think what got me the most is how she handled the missing bridesmaid issue. I mean, if your best friend disappeared right before your wedding and you had to replace her, what would you do? I found the explanations fairly plausible and liked the characters enough to suspend my disbelief for them. I liked them enough to run with it so I think that's why I was drawn in. Or it could also be that the world is set in the south where I now live. Dunno. Like Frost, this story is part of a series. I enjoyed this short story so much that I went and bought the two books that go with it today (well, one I had to order). If you like this, you will like: Charlaine Harris

Last but not least is Kathryn Smith's "The Wedding Knight". It's set in London, 1879, so it's the only one not modern day. Interesting pairing with the other three but I guess the editor was going more with the wedding theme than anything else. This tale is similar to Frost's in that the lead male is a vampire. But that's about it for similarity because Smith sticks with some of the standard vampire mythos. I did like her attaching it to the Masonic Order though. It's been done with other secret organizations but I thought the glimpse of it with that was intriguing. Overall, though, this was a typical supernatural period piece. Not gothic, more like Jane Austen with fangs. I like the style but I don't know if I'll try any of the larger works. I guess it depends upon my mood and desire for something period (which can happen). If you like this, you'll like Teresa Medeiros

Refresh Time!

What say we fire this puppy back up? I know, like I need one more thing to do right now. But really, I've noticed that we get a steady stream of "hits" a week and I think we should have some fun with sharing our readings. I'm actually getting to read some stuff (albeit slowly at times) so. . .what the hey.

So, shall we pounce on sharing our warped minds with another set of folks? lol Hugs.

Laura Stamps

For those who didn't see the comments section:

Hi, Lynn!! Had a great time at lunch this week and thanks for the invite to the Google group. You probably don't know this, but I belong to about 10 Google groups, 40 Yahoo groups, 15 forums, and visit another 40 blogs every day, all mostly for Pagans and/or book addicts (that would be me!). I also belong to Goodreads (check out my Author Page if you belong and send me a Friend invite...my name at Goodreads is Laura Stamps).

So I was thrilled to see you not only have a book-lovers blog but also a Google group. This is going to be lots of fun!!

Okay, a little about me for your blog...35 of my novels and poetry books have been published by various publishers over the last 19 years. Currently, I write a series of magickal urban fantasy novels called "The Witchery Series." I just changed publishers this summer, so all the novels in this series will be republished by the new publisher, Trytium Publishing. The first novel from Trytium will be coming out this fall (October-ish). It is called "The Witches of Dixie: Book One of the Witchery Series." I'll have more news about this book on my website in the following months. In the meantime feel free to visit (http://www.KittyfeatherPress.blogspot.com). My cat and gardening poetry books are also on that site (published by Kittyfeather Press and Artemesia Publishing) as well as my series of poetry art prints (published by Haddad's Fine Arts, Inc.).

Now, what do I like to read? Dark urban fantasy novels (Jim Butcher, Lilith Santcrow, Charlaine Harris, etc.). Right now I am working through Tanya Huff's "Blood Books" series and absolutely loving it! I carry my very fat and very organized TBR list with me in my purse, so I'll have it handy if I should end up at a bookstore. And I am always looking for new authors to add to it in the dark urban fantasy genre. :)

Happy reading and many magickal blessings!

Welcome!

Welcome to my newest blog.

I got to thinking (a dangerous thing, I know) and I realized that I should talk more about the books I read, hear about, etc. After all, my life is immersed in books. Just look at my house, bookcases everywhere. Look at my two jobs. . .teacher and bookseller. I mean, come on, might as well write about the stuff. But I don't want these particular ponderings to get lost in the main blog's world. That's for my internal stuff.

Plus, I would like a way to connect with other readers and writers. Create a community, if you will, where we can all just drop an idea into the hat and watch it spit out. Might as well use technology to our advantage. And by ideas, I'm not saying we need to give away our projects to the public at large. No, I mean experiences with books and stuff.

Besides, I figure that this could be a good way for me to find new authors that I can both enjoy and sell at the store alongside those I already do (you know who you are). lol

So, be in touch and let's get this party started!