For the past few days, I've tried to slog my way through the Circle of 7 trilogy. That's it. I've had it. I give up. I just have better things to do with my time! This is too bad because I've read nearly all the older stuff that Roberts has on the market and loved most of it. She should give up the paranormal stuff...her style of writing just doesn't lend itself to the paranormal.
Here's the gist: back in the 1600s a demon and guardian duked it out. They ended up in a centuries-long tie. In the meantime, the guardian had 'gifted' his descendants with special powers while the demon had impregnated a local girl, so that his line would continue. Present day: 3 descendants of both get together to fight and overcome the demon for all time.
yadda...yadda...yadda.
That's what I feel this book is about.
"Oh no! I imagined I saw a snarly old dog! It looked at me!"
"Is it imagined or is it real?" This said by the manly man. "Shoot it/stab it/grind it with your heel to see."
"Let's go here to talk and rehash events and our deepest secrets. But don't touch me because I'm not yet sure if I want you now...although, I am sure that I'm attracted to you. " Says one of the females (pick one...they all say it)
"Let's move from here and go to here to talk and rehash events and how to deal with the deepest darkest secrets...I do so enjoy baring my soul and I always talk ad nauseum about how I feel." Says the manly man (again...pick one...they all say it)
And I didn't even get to Gage's book, which at least will have a back story of a guy who had some real hardship.
Yadda, yadda...all they do is talk and move from one venue to another. I hate books where I just feel like the characters move from one place to another and yak the whole time!
Nora Roberts is like...the most prolific romance author of our time with over 300 novels in print. She was the 1st author inducted into the Romance Writer hall of fame. She writes the wildly popular J.D. Robb ...In Death Eve Dallas mystery series. Surely she can do better than this!
The books I liked the most: Any of the older free standing novels put out by Jove in the 90s: True Lies, Public Secrets, Brazen Virtue, Sacred Sins, Hot Ice (I loved that one the most!) Honest Illusions... any of those. Some of her series that I loved: The O'Hurleys, Dream, Born, the MacGregors. Pick any one of those books and I've probably read it more than 5 times! I just loved Without a Trace (the last O'Hurley novel) Now there's a man! Able to leap tall buildings, faster than speeding bullets, sexy and able to whip up a music composition and make women weep with his ability to play the flute! I want him!
Books I haven't been able to slog my way through: The Garden trilogy, the Irish trilogy, The Pride of Shane Mackade. Interesting factoid about the Shane book...it's one of the 4 Mackade series put out by Silhouette. All have Nora Robert's name in large letters above the title. (No mistaking that, eh?) I enjoyed the first 3....Rafe, Devin, Jared...but had a tough time getting to the end of Shane. Flipping through to the publication page to check on copyright date, I noticed it's not copyright by Nora Roberts! What's up with that, huh? Did she know it was so bad that she copyright it in a different name? One of her pseudonyms: Sarah Hardesty or Jill March? Or did someone ghost it because she was too busy to write it? Someone without Nora's talent? Well...actually, I don't have a copy of the book here to check on the name but at that time I though it was a little underhanded. Maybe Silhouette reasoned that Nora thought up the concept so took a novel by a different author and slipped it in there with Nora's name on it. For whatever reason, the novel just didn't have the same flavor as the other 3.
Just thought of another series that I loved: the Night series. For some reason, I always think of this series when I think of the J.D. Robb books. I believe it to be the genesis of the Death series. The family name is O'Rourke! What other clue does one need?! Night Shadow is wonderful and just a toe into the paranormal side.
So....how many people have already scarfed up a new copy of Promises in Death? It was released Tuesday.....the continuing adventures of Eve Dallas, her husband Roarke and her sidekick Peabody....
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
U is for Undertow is coming out when???!!!!
OK...finished with the Sue Graton Kinsey Millhone series to date. Wow...she just keeps getting better and better! The first few didn't have enough character relationship development but the last few certainly did! I loved how she split the 2 parallel stories in S is for Silence so that the reader knew what went on during the July 4th weekend of '52 even though Grafton never gave away the mystery.
Anyhoo...I can't believe I now have to wait until DECEMBER of 2009 for the next installment! Haven't her other novels all been released in the summer?
Thoughts on 'X':
X is for Xylophone -- a mystery about how a woman in her 50s became deaf with a xylophone being played 12" from her ear...oh wait...that would be V is for Vibraphone....hmmm
X is for X-ray -- a mystery about deliberate overradiation for some reasons of vengeance or greed. Then Grafton can again show her misconception of the levels of the nursing profession (I have to admit, that irked me. There's a LOT of nurses out there, I'm sure that it can't be too hard for Grafton to find one to do a little basic research)
For the record, there are LPNs and LVNs -- they are both the same level, both licensed. They are used interchangeably. One is Licensed Practical Nurse, one is Licensed Vocational Nurse.
My grandmother was one such nurse, her educational background was from a hospital-based program (now defunct) and she graduated in her late 40s.
RNs with AD -- that's an RN who graduated from a 2 year community college. Generally, it takes longer to get this degree because of the waiting list to get into the program. They take the standard licensing test that all the other RNs do. My mother is one such nurse. She graduated sometime around the age of 46.
Then there are the 3 year RNs with a diploma. That's what I have. My background is a hospital-based program (now defunct) taking the same licensing test that other RNs take.
Then the 4 year BSN programs. This is a Bachelor of SCIENCE in NURSING. I've never heard of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Nursing. And one would never say that they have an RN on top of a BA in Nursing. For someone who graduated from a 4 year program, a BSN is sufficient, a BSN RN is redundant. There might be a few who first graduated from a 3 year program and then did the RN to BSN program who would say that they are an RN BSN. But that's not the norm.
Sorry...it just bugs me...that Grafton thinks there is a BA in Nursing and that somehow an RN is on top of that. That misconception was in an earlier novel...T is for Trespass had a character who is an LVN going into a Master's program. Well...maybe if it was an accelerated Master's program.
haha...I won't even bore you with the CERNs, the APRNs and the Master's. Then there are those who have a doctorate in Nursing, which would make that person a Dr. Nurse.
Enough on that. I did enjoy the series and kept waiting to check out the names of new characters. Jonah Robb (what a wuss!) cute name....do you know what famous author has the pseudonym J.D. Robb? Or how about Carl Dietz? What not-as-famous author has the pseudonym Dietz? hint: She's a mystery writer. In one of the early books, a character was introduced as Stackhouse. Hmmm...what famous series has a protagonist named Sookie Stackhouse?
For something really deep and insightful, try reading:
http://www.crimetime.co.uk/features/susanrowland.html
and for a really, really fabulous blog on books, try bookbinge
Anyhoo...I can't believe I now have to wait until DECEMBER of 2009 for the next installment! Haven't her other novels all been released in the summer?
Thoughts on 'X':
X is for Xylophone -- a mystery about how a woman in her 50s became deaf with a xylophone being played 12" from her ear...oh wait...that would be V is for Vibraphone....hmmm
X is for X-ray -- a mystery about deliberate overradiation for some reasons of vengeance or greed. Then Grafton can again show her misconception of the levels of the nursing profession (I have to admit, that irked me. There's a LOT of nurses out there, I'm sure that it can't be too hard for Grafton to find one to do a little basic research)
For the record, there are LPNs and LVNs -- they are both the same level, both licensed. They are used interchangeably. One is Licensed Practical Nurse, one is Licensed Vocational Nurse.
My grandmother was one such nurse, her educational background was from a hospital-based program (now defunct) and she graduated in her late 40s.
RNs with AD -- that's an RN who graduated from a 2 year community college. Generally, it takes longer to get this degree because of the waiting list to get into the program. They take the standard licensing test that all the other RNs do. My mother is one such nurse. She graduated sometime around the age of 46.
Then there are the 3 year RNs with a diploma. That's what I have. My background is a hospital-based program (now defunct) taking the same licensing test that other RNs take.
Then the 4 year BSN programs. This is a Bachelor of SCIENCE in NURSING. I've never heard of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Nursing. And one would never say that they have an RN on top of a BA in Nursing. For someone who graduated from a 4 year program, a BSN is sufficient, a BSN RN is redundant. There might be a few who first graduated from a 3 year program and then did the RN to BSN program who would say that they are an RN BSN. But that's not the norm.
Sorry...it just bugs me...that Grafton thinks there is a BA in Nursing and that somehow an RN is on top of that. That misconception was in an earlier novel...T is for Trespass had a character who is an LVN going into a Master's program. Well...maybe if it was an accelerated Master's program.
haha...I won't even bore you with the CERNs, the APRNs and the Master's. Then there are those who have a doctorate in Nursing, which would make that person a Dr. Nurse.
Enough on that. I did enjoy the series and kept waiting to check out the names of new characters. Jonah Robb (what a wuss!) cute name....do you know what famous author has the pseudonym J.D. Robb? Or how about Carl Dietz? What not-as-famous author has the pseudonym Dietz? hint: She's a mystery writer. In one of the early books, a character was introduced as Stackhouse. Hmmm...what famous series has a protagonist named Sookie Stackhouse?
For something really deep and insightful, try reading:
http://www.crimetime.co.uk/features/susanrowland.html
and for a really, really fabulous blog on books, try bookbinge
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