Can I Surprise You With A Book?

Probably not. Here we are, one week into the New Year and Saturday SFF7 (me) has to be contrary on the assigned topic already. We're supposed to share what book that we  love, that would surprise you because it would seem an odd choice for us to make.

Hey, I believe life is short, too short to read things I'm not naturally drawn to. If someone I respect gives me a good recommendation for a book outside my usual reads, I'll try it but I'm not hesitant to do the Did Not Finish (DNF) pivot and abandon anything fairly quickly that isn't lighting my fire.

I could give you a book or two that I read and enjoyed, to my own surprise, but LOVED? Uh, no. Read once, said "huh, that was good," and moved on. Not a candidate for rereading. Burn Down the Night by M. O'Keefe is a motorcycle club romance and I never read those, but someone recommended it to me. I gave it a try, found myself drawn in by the characters and indeed read the entire book with enjoyment. Once. It's not something I'll ever reread, nor did I go on to buy more in the series. (Sorry!).

I could perhaps mention some of the hard core, gritty military nonfiction that I've read, memoirs of snipers and medical corpsmen and Special Forces guys...but they wouldn't surprise you, if you know the heroes in my scifi romances are Special Forces soldiers of the future. Do I love any of the books and reread them? Not usually. I appreciate the glimpses into what it takes to defend our country and the sacrifices made by good men and women, and their families. Reading true accounts helps me get the tone and atmosphere right in my own novels. But I'm not curling up with those books on a cold rainy night when I want a comfort read with all the feels I'm craving.

It would be easier to tell you about movies that I've watched that wouldn't seem like 'me' but I loved and rewatch periodically. (Hmm, I'd better make sure that isn't a topic of the future before I share any juicy details here.)

Happy Reading!

Literary Infamy

EDITED to make actual sense after I appear to have missed the fact that a cat went keyboard surfing and messed up my post. Many thanks to Jeffe for alerting me!

Have you ever made someone else cry with your reading choices? I have that distinction. It was a holiday party and the idea was to bring your favorite book already wrapped. We then did a blind exchange. All the wrapped books were put under the tree, we drew lots and went around picking books. The gal who got mine opened a copy of Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond - a book I still love for world building. She started to cry. They were not happy tears. To be fair, she's a teacher. Getting a nonfiction book was a little more than she could handle. So yeah. I still feel guilty about that one. Fortunately, someone else wanted the book and offered to trade a historical romance with her. Happy ending.

That's actually my only real brush with literary infamy. My reading tastes are wide ranging and not all that controversial. I'm probably more interesting (or demented) based on the books everyone else likes that I dislike. However. That's another day's navel gaze.

The book(s) that I enjoy that might surprise you are those written by Mr. Chuck Tingle. Oh yes. Space Raptors Butt Invasion. Hugo nominated!

I love Chuck for so many reasons. I mean. What's not to like about a man who so effortlessly and gleefully trolled the ever-living hell out of the Rabid Puppies when they did their damnedest to game the Hugos? So much admiration.

And what's not to love about a mentally ill man finally finding his niche and his joy in writing unlikely homo-erotic and occasionally politically on-point porn shorts?

The stories are fun. They're filled with lovely, unambiguously consenting, enthusiastic sex partners. Perceptions get twisted - in one story a dude falls in love with a handsome building. For several pages of that story, I had to consciously tell my logical brain to shut the hell up - because in my own weird mental world, all inanimate objects have a spirit, which would make them not so inanimate anymore, right? Where do I get off saying it's impossible for a guy to fall in love with a roadside diner and then spend pages having hot sex with it? I like that I have to shove my assumptions about what's possible aside in order to consume the candy this man writes. Besides. There are worse slogans in the world than his: Love is real.

Embracing my Reading Destiny

I have to admit it, when it comes to reading, most of the time, I just want my literary comfort food.  I don't want to be challenged or dazzled by prosaic style.  Give me characters I like and a rollicking yarn and I'm good.

Needless to say, when I sit down to read, more often than not, I reach for Star Trek books.

For real.

Especially because, at a certain point once Trek was off the air, and the only new Trek was the rebooted movies, someone in the literary division just went, "Yeah, do whatever."  So the writers of the books were able to write stories with real momentum, real drive and real consequences.  They've now taken the world of the Trek universe a good decade or more past the last thing we've seen on TV, taking the crews of the Enterprise, DS9 and Voyager into new and unexpected places.

A great example of this: David Mack's Star Trek Destiny.  Here is an epic story that involves three ships crewed by familiar characters as well as original ones, as they deal with a massive Borg invasion the likes of which have never been seen before.  And when it ends, the entire landscape of the Trek universe is changed.  Those changes set the stage for the direction of the novels that follow.  It's massive and ambitious, and if you have fondness for Trek-- especially Next Generation-- you should read it.  

Surprise! A Princess Book I Actually Like!

Darling readers, I received this book for Christmas and I have to say, I love it. Why would anybody be surprised that I love it?  Well, when someone says, "Disney Princesses" my first reaction is "TDTL." When I hear that someone's Tumblr has been turned into a book, I think "Death by Commercialism" and "Recipe for Disappointment."

I'm happy to say, this book proved me wrong. All hail Jason Porath and his Rejected Princesses. Disney-esq illustrations of women who make history hella interesting--and not just Western European women. Each bio is kept short--the long ones are five pages--just enough to whet the appetite and send me off in search of more info.  Not every bio is rated G, in fact, most are far from it. There are ratings for each bio: Maturity, Sex, Violence, Abuse, etc.

Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics

Blending the iconoclastic feminism of The Notorious RBG and the confident irreverence of Go the F**ck to Sleep, a brazen and empowering illustrated collection that celebrates inspirational badass women throughout history, based on the popular Tumblr blog.

Well-behaved women seldom make history. Good thing these women are far from well behaved . . .

Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place.

An entertaining mix of biography, imagery, and humor written in a fresh, young, and riotous voice, this thoroughly researched exploration salutes these awesome women drawn from both historical and fantastical realms, including real life, literature, mythology, and folklore. Each profile features an eye-catching image of both heroic and villainous women in command from across history and around the world, from a princess-cum-pirate in fifth century Denmark, to a rebel preacher in 1630s Boston, to a bloodthirsty Hungarian countess, and a former prostitute who commanded a fleet of more than 70,000 men on China’s seas.

BUY IT NOW: Amazon   |   B&N   |  BAM!   |   IndieBound

The Help

So the idea is to point out a book I love that you might not expect.

Fair enough. For me, that's THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett.



"Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town..."

Let's be fair here, it's not my normal wheelhouse. But I also believe in reading outside of my comfort zone. I want to expand my horizons as a reader, the better to be prepared as a writer. What I liked about THE HELP was almost everything. it's a beautifully handled story about racial tensions and growing up in the south in the 60's. It is to my knowledge completely fictional, but a lot of the feel of the era is there.  What we often take for granted these days when it comes to any form of equality didn't exist in that era.  instead we had the sort of common racism that would send most civilized people into a tailspin.

But what we also have in THE HELP is a truly well handles story of how a few people get together and try to make a difference in a small town community. Call it a social experiment, call it a news article that explodes into a book (fictionally speaking) but at the end of he day what you get our of the story is utterly human. Most of the characters are layered and have depth, something that is lacking far too often in fiction.

One complaint: The entire book is told in epistolary fashion, as a series of letters written by the characters and put together by the main character. One chapter is removed from this format. one single chapter is told in third person. I can understand why, but at the same time, it wasn't completely necessary.  In most cases would call it a cheat. I can't say what scene because, well, it's very significant and I don't want to ruin the book, but I guarantee if you've seen the movie or read the book, you'll know it.


Overall, a powerful story told very well indeed. It's a New York Times bestseller and it deserves to be in my honest opinion.

Oh, and Happy Yew Year!

Does It Surprise You that I love TWILIGHT?

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to 2017! May the year bring us opportunities to make ourselves and the world a better place.

Our topic to kick off the new year is The Book People Might Be Surprised To Learn You Love & Why.

I mulled this for some time - because "love" is a strong word. But the books I truly love come as no surprise to anyone.

Thus, I'm picking Twilight.

I've written defenses of this book on a few occasions, so it might not come as a surprise to longtime readers. But I had a conversation with one of my readers recently where she was shocked that I liked this book and series. I wouldn't necessarily say I love this book - though I did when I first read it - but I've kept the series on my shelves and I reference it in teaching.

The book bowled me over when it came out - and a bookseller friend handed it to me. I read it before all the hype, which helped with my expectations. I think it's an amazing example of what can be achieved with building amazing sexual tension in an entirely chaste relationship. More than that - and this is what I explained to my reader friend - this book lit up a huge number of readers. I know so many adults who said this was the first book they'd read since graduating from school. Any number of my favorite book bloggers, the most wonderful and supportive of people, started out as Twilight fans and moved on to read more books in the genre. (For example, Jen Twimon and What's Beyond Forks.)

When books become hugely popular like this one (and series) did, often there's a phenomenon of criticism. Praise begins to feel fatuous - after all, everyone has already gushed - and it's satisfying in some odd way to point out how it's not all THAT wonderful. Look, a flaw!!

But my point is that this book enchanted me. I bet I bought easily five more copies in those early days and gave them to friends, who also loved it. We read the series and discussed it. I had friends whose kids went to midnight release parties to get the next book which - believe me - had simply NEVER happened before that. One friend's 12-year-old son asked her to lie to his friends when they called, answering the phone and telling them he was doing chores, so he could read the new release undisturbed - and without being mocked. That's a powerful story.

So yes, I love Twilight. I love it with the nostalgic affection of how much it initially seized my heart and imagination and sucked me in, as only the best stories do. And I love what it did for reading and for the fantasy and paranormal genre overall.

A Toast for the New Year

I certainly wish everyone well in the New Year! and I'll share this saying from ancient Egypt:

May the gods stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk!

New Year Blessing

Your slightly pagan-ish New Year Blessing

(admittedly very northern hemisphere biased which is a pity)

Hail the growing light. Turn your face from the depths of the dark and carry the new borne light within you into the world which cries out for it. As the sun returns in the northern sky, may your hopes and dreams grow in the burgeoning light. May you know prosperity. May you know well-being. May you know joy. May you know peace. Blessed may each of you be.