Here’s what I read from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006, organized by category. I added “Paranormal Novels” and “Crafting” as categories this time.
Non-Fiction:
Dry, Augusten Burroughs
I liked this book, though not quite as much as his Running With Scissors. This one seemed too tidy somehow, with a story arc that real life doesn’t usually provide. I completely missed the note at the front (on the page that faces the title, I think it was), which said “certain episodes are imaginative re-creation, and those episodes are not intended to portray actual events”. Reviews I looked at after I read it pointed it out, and sure enough, there it was when I checked; that explains a lot.
Fair Ball, Bob Costas, read by the author (A)
This is basically a book length proposal for how to fix baseball, circa 2000. It made so much sense to me. Sure, now and again my eyes would glaze over a tiny bit because I am not all that well versed in the business of baseball, but overall there were a lot of good ideas and good reasoning in here.
The Future of Ice, Gretel Ehrlich
Here’s another book that I didn’t quite understand. Is it meditation on winter? An autobiography? A warning about global warming? All of the above? I’m not sure. I liked it best when it was personal, when she told stories about winter canoeing and hiking and wildlife. I liked it least when she turned poetic and abstract—then I’d want to stop reading.
The Worst Day of My Life, So Far, M. A. Harper
This novel about a woman caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s felt very honest and made me think. I wasn’t sold on the palmistry aspect, but that was a minor thing.
Under the Duvet, Marian Keyes, read by the author (A)
These slice of life essays were for the most part light and entertaining. The author/reader is Irish, and hearing her was a nice change of pace from the American and English fare I usually listen to. One tiny quibble: in order to not be annoyed, I had to assume that the Irish pronounce “feng shui” differently than the proper American English sound.
To See Every Bird on Earth, Dan Koeppel, read by John McDonough (A)
This is both a window into the world of serious birders and a biography of the author’s father. I considered whether I would like to be a big lister—I like to look at birds, and I like to document things, and I like to travel to new places—but then the book told me that serious birders get up at 3 a.m. every day on their trips and go out looking for birds without even eating breakfast first, so I’m out.
Maximum City, Suketu Mehta
It took me a very long time to get through this book; there was so much detail to absorb. As with other books I’ve read about India, this one made me think that it’s not the country for me.
Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon, Jim Paul
This has been on my “to read” list for a long time. Maybe I let the anticipation build too long, because I was disappointed. I liked the parts about actually building the catapult, and the history interludes weren’t bad either, but there was only one picture of the weapon they built. One, and it wasn’t very large or clear or detailed. There were other pictures taken—the text refers to them—and I wanted to see them. I still don’t have a good image in my head of how the thing worked or what it looked like. I’m also a little uncomfortable about the whole getting a grant from an arts organization to do the project.
A Venetian Affair, Andrea di Robilant, read by Paul Hecht with Lisette Lecat and Jeff Woodman (A)
Because this love affair happened in real life and not a romance novel, things didn’t unfold as I’d hoped. Also, because the story was reconstructed from letters written in the 1700s and not all of the correspondence survived, there were gaps and unanswered questions that vex me. It’s neither compelling romance nor interesting history.
Cross Country, Robert Sullivan
I sought this out because I heard the author interviewed on Whadya Know? and liked what he had to say. This is a long book, but unlike the one I read earlier this year about India, it wasn’t hard to get through at all and I wished there were more of it. It’s a bunch of stuff all put together: travelogues of several different trips, history lessons, autobiography, and random observations. It rambles, yes, but I like that. I like to peek into other people’s heads and it felt like this book let me do that.
A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind (BC)
A lot of this was just so sad—all the kids who don’t make it, don’t get the opportunities, and how hard it is for those who do. I sort of wish I’d read the author’s afterward first, because it sheds light on the conversations recreated in the text, which was something that distracted me a little bit—how did the author know? How much was fictionalized? When I was done, I had to Google to see what had happened to the protagonist; evidently he does a fair bit of motivational speaking now.
Non-Fiction, Crafting:
Stash Envy, Lisa Boyer
A pleasant little collection of quilt-related columns, perfect for reading on the plane when I kept getting interrupted by announcements and the beverage cart and such.
Zen and the Art of Knitting, Bernadette Murphy
It took me a long time to get through this little book about knitting and its connections to creativity and meditation and spirituality. I spent some of those minutes studying the line drawings of the different stitch patterns at the start of the chapters and trying—and mostly failing—to see the stitches as described in the instructions. I think it took me so long to read because it was neither a series of essays that I could enjoy one by one (like The Joy of Knitting which I read earlier this year) or a coherent whole that kept me engaged. It felt more like a random series of stories—different knitters the author had talked to about various things and her own reaction to September 11, 2001 and I never quite got a feel for what the overall message was.
The Joy of Knitting, Lisa R. Myers
A pleasant little book of essays about knitting, with short patterns at the end of every chapter.
Knitting Rules!, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
I liked the content of this, but the format bugged me; there are a lot of little boxes of tips interrupting the main text and some of those are white letters on a dull burgundy background, which is hard to read, and others are dull burgundy letters on a dull rose background, ditto.
Sweater Design in Plain English, Maggie Righetti
This wasn’t as accessible as her Knitting in Plain English, probably because a lot of it is patterns—patterns with a lot of instructional material, true, but still patterns, which aren’t exactly engaging reading material. A lot of this was just over my head, I think, but will probably come in handy after I’ve had a bit more knitting experience.
KnitLit, Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf, editors
This book of essays about knitting is best read in small doses, as otherwise the stories start to run together.
KnitLit (too), Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf, editors
Like the first one, this mostly pleasant collection of essays is best nibbled at in short sessions rather than devoured all at once.
Fiction:
Death of a Snob, M. C. Beaton, read by Davina Porter (A)
A short, pleasant car book. I didn’t much care about the person killed, so that was all right. It did end rather abruptly.
The Skeleton in the Closet, M.C. Beaton, read by Donada Peters (A)
A good car book. The mystery and the story were a little too neatly wrapped up to be believed, but that’s okay because the scenario is awesome—a big surprise inheritance. Give me some of that.
The Ice Maiden, Edna Buchanan, read by Anna Fields (A)
This was a real downer. It was liberally sprinkled with references to 9/11, which I hadn’t expected in a book about a cold case that had nothing to do with New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, and/or terrorists, and those kept taking me out of the flow of the story. That wasn’t the worst part, though. The ending was the worst part.
Cold Case Squad, Edna Buchanan, read by Robertson Dean (A)
I didn’t realize until I started listening that this is a sequel to another book I’d read (The Ice Maiden), one I hadn’t liked. I figured I’d give it a chance since I didn’t have another book with me. I didn’t like the way the point of view switched between first- and third-person; some chapters in one, some in the other. Overall it was better than the other one, but there was a point in the last disc when I was cursing the author for what she was doing to one of the main characters. It turned out mostly okay, though, unlike the earlier book, so I feel better about this one. Still, I don’t think I’ll be listening to any more Edna Buchanan on my commute; I don’t need any more angst on my drive than traffic and construction already provide.
JPod, Douglas Coupland (BC)
If not for the book club, I don’t know if I would have finished this. The insertion of random bits of text in the middle of the story annoyed me at first, especially the pages of small, tight text that I wasn’t sure if I needed to read or not, but I could see a purpose for them, mirroring the way random bits of information hit us in the real world. After I’d gotten into it, I came to appreciate these random bits because by skipping them I could get through the book more quickly. Pages and pages of random numbers? Score! I didn’t at all see the purpose of the author inserting himself into the story; that made it hard for me to immerse myself in the fictional world, which I was having a hard enough time with already what with all the strange happenings in the life of a programmer.
Bet Me, Jennifer Crusie
I picked this up at the library because someone told me the author wrote good, funny romances. They were right—I laughed and smiled a lot while reading this.
Tell Me Lies, Jennifer Crusie (BC)
This was darker than Bet Me, and I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. Because I wasn’t laughing and smiling all the time as I read and the pacing seemed fairly slow (though I’ve since read reviews that complain about it being frenetic, so I guess I really wasn’t engaged by this). I had plenty of time to sympathize with the bad husband and ponder why the heroine did such stupid things (yes, she was very stressed and probably not thinking straight, but still—the thing with the gun? too, too dumb). I did appreciate that the hero was a sexy accountant, though—he was a bit too good to be true, but hey, that’s the romance genre for you.
The Body Artist, Don DeLillo, read by Laurie Anderson (A)
This is a very short book, yet it took me a very long time to finish it. There’s no linear plot and nothing much seems to happen and Ms. Anderson’s voice is soothing and I found if I listened too long at a stretch I started to feel very sleepy, which is not a good thing when driving. I would have abandoned this except I kept hoping I would somehow start to understand it, and besides it was only 3 discs, surely I could finish three discs. Now that I have, I still have no clear idea what this was about. Grief? Insanity? Dreams? No idea.
How We Are Hungry, Dave Eggers
I picked this up because I liked the look of it—tooled black cover with textured bronze endpapers and an elastic strap emerging from the back cover that I thought was a bookmark but evidently is not because there’s a ribbon bound into the spine that is definitely a bookmark. As for the contents, they’re pretty good, too, with a variety of characters and situations and imagery. Some of the stories made me smile, and some made me think, some made me feel wistful. I liked that there were short sketches mixed in with longer tales; that added to the variety.
Tietam Brown, Mick Foley, read by Daniel Passer (A)
Man, this makes three car books in a row that threw me for a loop as far as their emotional punch. I liked it, but parts of it were very intense and uncomfortable to listen to. It was strange and sweet and cartoony and touching.
With No One As Witness, Elizabeth George, read by Donada Peters (A)
This dark novel about a Scotland Yard investigation targeting a serial killer was good and absorbing, but I really, really could have done without what the back cover copy refers to as “a devastating tragedy within the police ranks”. It just felt like too much sadness, too much pain. I listened for 20 hours up to that point only to get presented with that plot twist? No fair.
Sammy’s Hill, Kristin Gore
I had a little bit of trouble getting past the part where the heroine heads off to work without noticing she’s got a heeled sandal on one foot and a sneaker on the other—who could do that?—but this book got better as it went on and I ended up staying up late one night to finish it because I really wanted to see how things were going to turn out. There are a couple of really funny scenes and a lot of more subtle humor throughout, but it’s also very touching in spots.
The Mammoth Cheese, Sherri Holman, read by Laurel Merlington (A)
I was disappointed that the title cheese doesn’t even get started until about a third through the book. I know, it’s a serious novel and not just a story about cheese, but still. Overall, I found this book rather grim and dreary—most of the characters spend most of the book being sad, frustrated, stressed and/or melancholy. That’s not to say it wasn’t interesting, but it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. Also, this Brilliance Audio did that thing I don’t like where some of the dialog was mechanically enhanced—say, when a preacher was speaking to the congregation—which I find distracting and hokey.
Beyond Belief, Roy Johansen, read by Richard Ferrone (A)
This strayed into Edna Buchanan territory from time to time, with some violence and death that seemed completely unnecessary to the story, but overall I liked it. I wonder if there’s a sequel; there was certainly a good setup for one, though done in a way that this book felt complete on its own.
Dark Matter, Phillip Kerr, read by John Less (A)
Real people (Issaac Newton and his clerk Christopher Ellis) in made up situations. This got off to a slow start and I almost stopped listening, but then I got into the mystery. Newton is a bit like the detective Monk of the 1690s in this (without the OCD ticks)—figuring all sorts of things out from being an acute observer. I think I might have gotten more out of this if I knew more about English history. I know I could have taken it more seriously if I hadn’t thought of candy every time the narrator said “Newgate” in his English accent.
Can You Keep a Secret?, Sophie Kinsella, read by Kate Reading (A)
I did get a couple of good laughs out of this, but I’m not sure that made it worth it to sit through the rest of the book, which was stupid and infuriating and even painful. Part of the problem was my inability to connect with the main character. It helped not one bit that she hit on one of my pet peeves by borrowing her roommate’s clothes without asking, in fact knowing her roommate didn’t want her to have them. The plot twists designed to keep the hero and heroine apart seemed forced. Surely real people wouldn’t act like that—yet this wasn’t a fantasy world, so I couldn’t explain it away on that basis.
My Life on a Plate, India Knight, read by Jill Tanner (A)
I wasn’t sure which way this was going to turn out, so that’s a point in its favor. I was disappointed that some minor characters just disappeared from the book; I would have liked to know what happened to them, too. I didn’t find this nearly as funny as some people seem to have, maybe because I was distracted by asking myself questions like “what is her problem?” and “what’s the attraction?”
Last Lessons of Summer, Margaret Maron, read by Kate Forbes (A)
This mystery had some excellent red herrings in it. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something would happen that made sense but wasn’t the obvious thing. Nice.
Birds of America, Lorrie Moore
The more I read, the bleaker and sadder the stories seemed to get. I did get one good laugh out of it and several interesting turns of phrase to feed my brain, but I won’t be sad to turn it back into the library.
Death Goes on Retreat, Sister Carol Anne O’Marie, read by Marguerite Gavin (A)
This was okay, but I thought there were too many suspects and too little believable explanation when the murderer was revealed—the groundwork hadn’t been laid for that resolution.
Widow’s Walk, Robert B. Parker, read by Joe Mantegna (A)
Now this was a good car book, in that it did not make me cry and did not make me want to throw the discs out the window. I was a tiny bit disappointed that the first murder was not really resolved—we find out at the end who did it (or had it done, it’s not clear) but not how, and I’d really like to know.
Family Honor, Robert B. Parker, read by Andrea Thompson (A)
This is the first book in the Sunny Randall series—it wasn’t until I was a bit into this that I realized I’d listened to a later book in the series some time ago and not liked it, even judging by the standards of fluffy fiction. This one was better than that one, but still stretched believability a bit too far for me. Yeah, it sure helps when you’re a detective and have strong connections to both the cops and organized crime—and have a friend who’s a karate black belt and willing to come with you and beat up on other people’s bodyguards. Very convenient.
The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
This has been on my “to be read” list for ages. I’m not sure I’m going to read the other two in the trilogy, as I found this one pretty grim. Children being kidnapped and tortured—not so cheery. Maybe the other two books provide redemption? Though now that I’ve read the reviews from readers who say it’s anti-religion, I feel like I have a moral obligation to keep reading.
Courting Trouble, Lisa Scottoline, read by Barbara Rosenblatt (A)
If you like stereotypes, stupidity, and tedium, you should read this. Otherwise, stay far away. I wish I had. I can’t quite explain why I kept listening; I guess I just couldn’t believe it wouldn’t get better at some point. It didn’t. I neither cared about nor understood the main character. The plot was filled with people doing things that made no sense whatsoever; sometimes the motivations for these actions would be explained, but the explanations made no sense either. A child is born with a cleft lip and doesn’t get surgery until she’s 10 years old? In modern America? I don’t buy it. My brother got his surgery when he was an infant, and we weren’t well off by any means.
New Orleans Mourning, Julie Smith, read by Cristine McMurdo-Wallis (A)
Mr. Karen and I listened to this on our road trip; when we got to New Orleans, it was fun to see things there that had been mentioned in the book, and after we left the city it was fun to hear about the characters being in some of the same places. My theory about who did it turned out to be true but there were a lot of twists and turns to get to that point.
Sucker Bet, James Swain, read by Paul Boehmer (A)
This was pretty good. I especially liked that some older characters got big, active roles. (And it was refreshing to have older characters actually show their age, unlike, say, vampires.) There are two earlier books with the same main character; I plan to look for them at the library.
Only Dad, Alan Titchmarsh, read by the author (A)
I spent the first part of this book wishing something would happen, and then something did, and it was horrible, and then I wished it had stayed pleasant and mundane. Not that there shouldn’t be books about horrible things, of course, but I didn’t quite expect this one to go where it did. I don’t like my commute books to make me cry, and now this is two in a row.
Fiction, Paranormal:
Dead and Loving It, MaryJanice Davidson
For the most part, this was a fun read. No, these aren’t tightly plotted short stories, and yes, there is a fair bit of rough sex. Based on the Undead books, I wasn’t surprised. I haven’t read any of MJD’s other werewolf stuff, so I’m not sure where the ones in this book fit in, but I didn’t feel like I needed that background to enjoy them. I was a bit put off by the vampire in the second story; he didn’t seem to be of the same world as Queen Betsy. Betsy herself shows up in the last story—I would have liked Undead and Unpopular a lot better if this material had been held and incorporated into that book.
Undead and Unappreciated, MaryJanice Davidson
Undead and Unemployed, MaryJanice Davidson
Undead and Unwed, MaryJanice Davidson
Also recommended on that message board, I liked these better than Bitten & Smitten. The heroine can be rather annoying and even infuriating at times, and the vampire rules are again somewhat different, but they were fast, fun reads. I liked the third (Unappreciated) book best, followed by the first (Unwed).
Undead and Unreturnable, MaryJanice Davidson
Book Four in the Undead series. A really quick read—fun and fluffy, with no complicated plot to slow things down. I am very glad that Betsy has stopped lisping when her teeth come out. I hope that sign of vampire maturity means she’ll grow up in other ways before too long. I also hope that the ghost Cathie goes away soon. I am confused about if Eric and Betsy just drink from each other, how that satisfies their thirst—seems like you’d need fresh blood in the system once in while at least—but there’s probably some special queen thing going on.
Undead and Unpopular, MaryJanice Davidson
This fifth book in the Betsy, queen of the vampires, series is the weakest yet. It’s a fast read and has a few fun moments, but nothing much happens and there are loose ends and random incidents galore. It’s more like a collection of soap opera episodes than a novel. Betsy was lisping again and being dense, and I wish she’d just grow up already. She doesn’t seem to have learned much at all in the year since she died; why is she not studying how to be a better vampire? She’s not even attentive to little non-vamp things, like the difference between knitting and crochet. It annoyed me in the last book when she confused the two; I’d hoped she’d have at least learned that tiny thing by now, especially since her best friend knits (or maybe crochets—it’s first person narration so because Betsy doesn’t know, I don’t know). Worst of all, there aren’t even any hot love scenes to distract me from how maddening Betsy is.
Dark Prince, Christine Feehan
This is the first book in the Carpathians series, which kept popping up in my Internet searches for more vampire novel recommendations. I was rather confused at first by the way the Carpathians drink blood and have a lot of other abilities (including turning into mist or one of a whole menagerie of animals) that seem rather vampiric yet they are not vampires—vampires are something else, something evil, and also something a Carpathian can turn into (after which the non-turned Carpathians hunt and kill them). These Carp-vamps are the most Dracula-like characters I’ve run into—living in modern times but still very old world and angsty and dramatic (some of them even wear capes). Fortunately, the tragedy and darkness are punctuated at frequent intervals by love scenes, though I did get a bit tired of the words “silk” and “slumberous”.
Dark Desire, Christine Feehan
This is the second in the Carpathians series. I didn’t like it as well as the first. The timeline confused me; I wasn’t prepared for a 25-year gap between books, and had no idea when this seond book was taking place relative to the short story that came with the first book (at least it came with the copy I have). Now that I’ve studied the reading order on the author’s website, it appears that the short story is from much later in the series, so that explains why there was no mention in this book of something that happened in the story even though the two events were related. Also, there’s a very creepy (in a bad way) sequence involving a fetus that really put me off. (Sorry if that was too much of a spoiler.)
Cravings, Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, and Rebecca York
I thought about skipping Laurell K. Hamilton’s contribution to this anthology after I found out it’s an Anita Blake tale from far later in the timeline than I’m at with her (evidently it’s the first few chapters of book 12 and I’ve only just finished book 2), but I went ahead, figuring I was already spoiled for the series in general so what would a few specifics really hurt. Now that I’ve read it, I really understand the people who recommend stopping with book 10 or so. Anita is a mess in this story—she isn’t a good master, she isn’t a good slut, she isn’t a good anything near as I can see—and I don’t want to go there with her, but the first person narration gives me little choice. Also, this novel excerpt doesn’t work as a stand alone story, what with the non-ending. By contrast, the MaryJanice Davidson novella was really enjoyable. It’s set after Undead and Unwed and has the same sense of fun as that book did. The other two stories are not my usual taste in paranormals (i.e. they’re vampire-free) but I liked them, especially the one by Eileen Wilks with the nude mystery man.
Bite, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, and Vickie Taylor
Another paranormal anthology. LKH: Eh. Anita is not as off putting in this one as she is in the other anthology, but that’s not really a feat. CH:I liked this, but wish this Sookie interlude could have just been incorporated in the last book instead of being a separate story in a separate book. MJD: This was my favorite of the collection. It’s got Betsy and Eric in it, but they’re not the main characters of the story so I didn’t feel like I was reading what should have been an Undead book. AK: Interesting take on the Knights of the Round Table and the author creates a fictional world that I liked thinking about even if I couldn’t quite accept it. VT: These vampires don’t have fangs but they’re plenty dark. All the typos kept taking me out of the story; at least I hope they were typos, because if the author really meant to say a character had a “tinkering” laugh I’m completely lost.
Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton
This is the first book in the Anita Blake, vampire hunter, series, which keeps coming up on people’s lists when I’m looking for vampire novel recommendations. I’ve heard the books start sliding into porn later on, but this one was not at all like that, just a kiss or two and that in the service of work. My exposure to the Buffy tv series is limited, but this book felt the most similar to that of all the vampire novels I’ve read so far. I was hesitant to try this series, because I like my vampires sympathetic, and if the heroine is killing them, how nice can they be, but I liked this enough that I’ll probably read more of them. Anita is interesting and, other than her insistence that women can’t find anything in their purses, not annoying.
The Laughing Corpse, Laurell K. Hamilton
This is the second in the Anita Blake series and was almost too gory for me to finish. There were lots of body parts and blood and not enough of vampire Jean Claude (this is really a zombie/voodoo book). I did like the ending; it didn’t go for the easy way out.
Dead as a Doornail, Charlaine Harris, read by Johanna Parker (A)
My first vampire mystery. I enjoyed it. I do wonder if this one spoiled an earlier one in the series—past events were referred to that sound interesting, but now I know how they turn out. I had a couple quibbles with the plot, perhaps due to my not understanding the world in which the action takes place. I bought the supernatural creatures, no problem, but thought Sookie could have availed herself of some vampire blood on certain occasions and it wasn’t even mentioned (despite a point being made of its effects earlier on).
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
Book one in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I enjoyed it greatly, even though I knew a lot about how the story was going to go (thanks to listening to book five first because that’s what the library had). There were a couple of what appeared to me to be logical errors in the plot—a vampire out before it usually gets dark in the summertime, for instance—but maybe if I read it again I’ll pick up on the explanations that make these things make sense.
Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris
Book two in the series. I raced through this one, and it held a few more surprises for me than the first one, as it hadn’t been referred to in the fifth book quite as much.
Club Dead, Charlaine Harris
I think I might cry when I run out of new books in this series, I like them so well (even though I was spoiled for major plot points by not starting at the beginning).
Dead to the World, Charlaine Harris
So yeah, I didn’t do so well with saving the last unread Sookie Stackhouse that I had on hand. I really couldn’t—I knew this was the one where she and Eric … but I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris
Finally got my hands on the library copy of this latest Sookie Stackhouse book and finished it in less than 24 hours (even though for about 12 of those I was either sleeping or not at home). Obviously, I liked it, but it wasn’t quite as satisfying as the early books. It seemed a bit darker, and there are so many regular characters now that it’s hard to get enough time with any of them, especially the vampires.
Dead Witch Walking, Kim Harrison
Though this is mostly about the witch, there are vampires (of course not exactly the same sort that inhabit other books). There are hints of attraction but nothing that goes anywhere. There is some humor, including a situation involving a leprechaun early on that had me almost in tears I was laughing so hard, but most of it is of the black variety, which makes sense given that the main character is in danger much of the time. The plot really seems to set up the characters for a sequel.
A Girl’s Guide to Vampires, Katie MacAlister
I put this down after the introductory chapters which focused entirely on the annoying heroine and her almost as annoying friend. There was too much setup and foreshadowing for my taste. I only picked it back up again because I’d run out of other vampire books. The main problem with this vampire novel is a lack of vampires. There’s much talk about them—though not anything particularly informative, as the title might lead one to expect—and several men who might be one do show up eventually, but most of them turn out not to be vampires and the one that does is given rather short shrift. I was distracted throughout by wondering what the hero saw in the heroine—maybe if the book hadn’t been told in the first person from the heroine’s point of view I would have had a better shot at that. I’ve heard that this is somewhat of a spoof of a series I haven’t read yet (Feehan’s Carpathians, one of which is in my to be read pile), so maybe I’ll appreciate more later. I’ve also heard that the next vampire book by this author is better, but I’m not sure I’m ready to risk another heroine like this one.
Single White Vampire, Lynsay Sands
The emphasis is on romance in this paranormal romance. There are vampires—with yet another set of vampire rules for me to ponder—but the main plot is pure romance novel. There were several scenes that felt forced; I could have done without the codpiece episode and the psychic readings, in particular. I also think the hero could have been a bit smarter about his blood supply, but if he had been then we wouldn’t have the scene in the stall in the men’s room, so I guess that’s a fair trade.
Love Bites, Lynsay Sands
A light and fun vampire romance, perfect for reading on a holiday weekend. It’s set before the events of Single White Vampire (except for the epilogue, which overlaps SWV), but I didn’t feel like I was spoiled for this having read that one first (they were published in non-chronological order). I liked this one better than SWV; there were a couple of plot points I felt could have been elaborated on but better that than dragging stuff out too long the way a couple of things were in SWV.
A Quick Bite, Lynsay Sands
I really wish these Argeneau vampire romances had been written/published in the same order as they fit into the timeline. The events in this one take place before Love Bites. I didn’t like it as well as the other two, even judged by the standards of light romance. This seemed more contrived and cringe-worthy, with an overdose of family interference, embarrassing situations, and stupidity about blood supply. Maybe I just lack the patience to deal with baby vampires (the heroine is only 200 years old and surrounded by a passel of cousins that age or younger).
A Bite to Remember, Lynsay Sands
This Argeneau vampire romance had a mystery element to it as well. There was one scene that was a near copy of one in the first book, which was a little disappointing, but on the plus side I don’t remember any long drawn out forced comedic interludes, unlike the first book. I do wish this one had been hotter, like the first book.
Tall, Dark & Hungry, Lynsay Sands
Hmm, what happened to my resolution to read about vampires only every other book? Oh, I know—the interminable book about India happened. Anyway, this is another in the Argeneau series. I almost didn’t read this; I grabbed a later one off my to be read pile and it refers to the events in this book, and they didn’t sound familiar, so I checked this log and found I hadn’t read this one—I’d bought it but accidentally put it away in a box. As with the earlier ones in the series, this is a light vampire romance. This one seemed more ponderous than the first two; the formula shows a bit too much at times—the forced “comedic” situations, the big misunderstanding, the heroine fleeing—but I still found it enjoyable enough to finish.
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire, Kerrelyn Sparks
This vampire romance made me smile when I started reading it. I was enjoying it a little less by the end, when the unlikely coincidences had started to pile up, I was sick of the hero saying “God’s blood!” whenever he was upset, and major issues were left unresolved (for a sequel, perhaps).
Bitten & Smitten, Michelle Rowan
Who knew I had such a craving for vampire romance? Not me. I got this based on a recommendation on a message board. The rules for vampires in this world are somewhat different than in Sookie’s world, which was a little confusing. It was enjoyable enough for fairly tame romantic fluff.
Dark Lover, J. R. Ward
I liked this a lot. It’s yet another vampire romance, true, but one with some real depth to it. The author has obviously spent much time thinking through the vampire world she’s created and included a glossary at the front to introduce some of the terms, which I found quite helpful. Several things struck me as less than ideal: the way the Black Dagger Brotherhood seems a bit like a group of WWE wrestlers—big men in leather strutting and posturing, the names straight off of a bad baby names list—like Rhage, Tohrment, Phury (and, oddly, Darius). But I soon got past those quibbles and just enjoyed the suspenseful plot and the hot sex. Though it was overall fairly dark (compared to the vampire fare I’ve been reading, that is—I’m sure there’s much, much darker stuff to be had), there were some touches of humor that worked well (like a Mary Sue joke that I hope was intentional because it indicates the author is very clever and will be able to keep me well entertained in future books).
Lover Eternal, J. R. Ward
This is the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and I ate it right up. I especially appreciated that the heroine isn’t a perfect physical specimen. I continue to have little interest in the bad guys and race through the sections about them to see what the vampires are going to do next. There’s a very neat connection with the first book—it took me a while to realize what was going on but when I did I thought it was just the coolest thing (of course I may be completely wrong, but the point is it got me thinking, which means it’s more than just another vampire novel)—and the groundwork for the third is clearly laid out here. It’s going to be a long wait until September for the next installment.
Lover Awakened, J. R. Ward
This is the darkest of the series so far, which is not surprising given which brother gets the spotlight this time. I liked it, but not as much first two. It’s hard to enjoy sex scenes when one partner has such a traumatic past in that area, for one thing. The emotional healing that takes place seemed too fast to be believable (I know, “believable” and vampires probably don’t belong together). The epilogue doesn’t answer some questions about the intervening time; maybe these will be covered in a future book via flashback but I hate waiting. The heroine, Bella, does have several really good scenes where she’s smart and strong.
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