Tuesday, June 16, 2015

KAK's Current Reads & TBR

First Confession: I haven't read nearly as many books as I'd hoped this year. "Lama Lama Red Pajama" read over and over and over and over doesn't actually count.  Or does it?

Hmmm...

Anyway, what am I reading right now?

I've 50 pages left of our own James Moore's SEVEN FORGES. I'm totally #TeamSwech btw, so I'm very happy she's earned the cover of the third book in this series.

THE COMPLETE FIRST EDITION of THE ORIGINAL FOLK & FAIRY TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM -- My excitement for this book is boundless. Why? These are the stories as first transcribed by the brothers Grimm, before they (Wilhelm in particular) heavily edited the tales to align with their Christian mores. Comparing the stories I grew up with versus these original tellings is amazing, edifying, and heartbreaking.

I've just started Gail Z. Martin's THE SUMMONER: Book 1 of the Chronicles of the Necromancer. I haven't read enough to have an opinion of it yet. The good news is: I'm past the third chapter and I want to keep reading it. That is HUGE for me.

Second Confession: I am a complete bitch as a reader. Certain styles of storytelling are like Emergency Broadcast Signals urging me to flee, and flee I do...leaving the book in a donation bin. Let's just say the Goodwill guy recognizes me.
TBR Shelves: The Least Traumatizing

Now, my TBR pile. ~cringe~ The stuff on my kindle and the stuff on bookshelves. I've taken a photo of only one of the TBR bookshelves. Admittedly, the top shelf there contains some of my resource books which have been read and concept notebooks. There are quite a few books I've started but haven't finished -- I don't hate the style; I simply haven't been compelled to resume reading. I've everything from hysterical romances to erotica; from urban fantasies to epic and grimdark fantasies. Historical fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and a seemingly endless supply of classics bestowed unto me by both my grandmothers are in another room. My kindle (and cloud) functions as the holder of the Available Only in eBook stories of friends and as the Great Audition Hall for series I think I might like. If it turns out I like them, I'll buy the paperback. Yes. I'm one of those readers who loves the whisper of the turning page and the ink on my thumbs.

So, by year's end I want to have put a big dent in those piles. Of course, by year's end, I need to have finished the two books I'm writing as well.

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9 comments:

  1. Jeffe KennedyJune 16, 2015 at 12:04 PM

    I'm a consistent non-finisher too. I have a policy that I can bail after the first 25%, but lately I'm often cutting bait before that. Or, oddly, as I've been reading widely in Fantasy Romance, a couple of times now around 75%. I suspect this is a symptom of the conflict resolution in the outer arc happening too soon. Both times the external conflict felt weak/easily resolved and the rest of the plot hinged on the romance, with obstacles that felt too easily overcome. Instructive for me.

    But I digress...

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    1. K.A. KrantzJune 16, 2015 at 5:08 PM

      Oh, the story finishes long before the book does? That's an interesting conundrum. You're 75% through, you've made it that far...and no, no you just can't go on because the plot is done and sex can't sustain the story.

      If that happened to you as the writer, you'd seed and feed another plot arc. Easy enough fix. But as the reader...I'd be highly annoyed. I'd likely feel that the story was a novella that was "beefed up" in order to be marketed as novel--aka a waste of time for author and audience.

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    2. Veronica ScottJune 16, 2015 at 8:37 PM

      Ooh, that's very interesting...I hadn't thought about that happening!

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    3. Jeffe KennedyJune 16, 2015 at 8:38 PM

      I know what you mean about the "beefed-up" novella and these don't feel like that. Hmm... Instead the romantic arc feels cliche. There's no real reason the h & h can't be together. And the solutions to the external conflicts are obvi. At least to me.

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  2. B.E. SandersonJune 17, 2015 at 7:19 AM

    Ooo, The Brothers Grimm book sounds interesting. Yeah, I'm off-track on my reading goals this year. The writing goals are getting in the way, and I haven't found the balance yet. I don't have a TBR shelf - just TBR books interspersed throughout my shelves. They're organized by genre, so when I feel the urge for mystery or SF or whatever, I can walk over to that shelf and see what I haven't read yet that I might enjoy. Same with the Kindle.

    Good luck denting those TBR piles.

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    1. Jeffe KennedyJune 17, 2015 at 10:20 AM

      Wow, B.E. - if I put my unreads in with the reads, they'd vanish forever! I'm impressed with your memory!

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    2. K.A. KrantzJune 17, 2015 at 9:21 PM

      Thanks, B.E. I'm going need all kinds of luck! And I highly recommend the Grimm book.

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  3. Linda RobertsonJune 17, 2015 at 5:24 PM

    Yay for Seven Forges. Swech is quite the badass.

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    1. K.A. KrantzJune 17, 2015 at 9:22 PM

      I had to laugh that you had the 3rd book on your list! Great minds...

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