Discussion Post #3 - Eat, Play, Lust by Tawna Fenske

It's Saturday, and that means (hopefully) relaxation and reading! It's my hope you've had a little bit of down time today :). I also really hope that you're all ready to discuss this next novella!

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* This was a quick, steamy read. What did you think about our main characters? Do you feel they were well fleshed out for a novella length story?

* What are your feelings on Cami's reasons for eating healthy foods? Do you think it was a good jumping off point for these characters?

* Steamy scenes: let's talk sex. Yay, or nay on the heat level? 

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MODERATOR THOUGHTS

So, full disclosure, I have a big crush on Entangled books. Their authors are wonderful people, the editors do a wonderful job, and the stories are pretty much always a ton of fun. I might be a little biased because of how many I've read :). That being said, novellas are a tricky terrain for me. They're so short that it's hard to really develop characters. So I wasn't surprised that Cami and Paul were only slightly fleshed out. I did like their backgrounds, especially Paul's chef background, though.

Now as for Cami's reason for not wanting Paul to know her "dark secret", I was a little annoyed. I'll be honest. The story itself is super sweet, and these two definitely have some chemistry. I just couldn't get over the fact that Cami's food issues were such a big deal for her. Still, it did make a nice entrance for Paul's expertise to bring these two together. So I'll forgive it. Maybe I'm just too much a foodie to understand anyone being nervous about food. Ha!

Sex scenes? I'd say these rate right around a 5 on the "HOT ALERT" scale. They were very tame, but also sensual at the same time. It's tough to make sparks fly between two characters without a lot of extra pages, but I think the author definitely achieved that. These two had some major passion, and I give points to that.

Overall rating? I'd say it's a 4 from this reader! Short, sweet, and now I want some tater tots.

Discussion Post - Mile 81 by Stephen King

Hope your weekend is going great so far! If you've read Mile 81 by Stephen King this weekend, it's probably filled with a little bit of creep factor. Are you ready to chat? I hope so!

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Let's have an open discussion about this one, since it's so short. Are you a fan of Stephen King? Are you a fan or horror in general? Share with us what you liked, and didn't like about this book!

Bonus points if you can name on other SK book that you just totally love!

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MODERATOR THOUGHTS:

So, I'm fairly biased when it comes to Stephen King. Sure, there are a few books he's written that I thought totally missed the mark. For the most part though, he shines as one of my all time favorite authors. He's a master at building tension, at creating that horrible unease in the pit of your stomach, and of bringing things to life that you didn't even know you were afraid of. I'm a fan of the horror genre, and SK fits snugly into that box for me.

That being said, a lot of his newer short stories have kind of failed to impress me. While Mile 81 wasn't a bad short story, it was definitely less than what I expected it to be. The bizarre makes a debut in King novels a lot. I'm used to weird, and mainly unexplained, things happening. For me though, this particular event was just too weird for words. That, and I wanted some type of closure. Any type of closure. So, I was a little disappointed.

What are your thoughts?

Discussion Post - Appalachian Serenade by Sarah Loudin Thomas

So, a cold knocked me directly on my butt after work Friday. I was all set to spend my short day off work, and all of Saturday, messing with the blog and getting caught up. Apparently, my immune system had other plans. Ha! Oh, working at a new place.

Bright note, this post is going up now and the next one is all about the member rewards program. So, that's good news. Let's talk Appalachian Serenade.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What time period do you believe that this novella takes place in? Did you have a picture of the events running in your head?

2. How did you feel about the differences between Delilah and most of the other women in town? Was she a character that you enjoyed following?

3. What was one thing that you absolutely loved about this novella? One thing that you could have happily done without?

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MODERATOR THOUGHTS

I feel that, in all fairness, I should let you know that I don't usually pre-read these novellas. I pick them based on recommendations from other readers I know, the reviews on Amazon, and sometimes just because they're free and look interesting :). So if you ever find anything that offends you, or puts you off, please don't feel like you can't say something! You won't hurt my feelings. We all have certain triggers. Now, on to my thoughts on this novella. 

1. In my head, I first saw this book taking place sometime in the 30's. However, at the mention of Delilah's car and at the mention of her working during war time, I kicked it up into the 50's. My brain wanted so badly to place her in traditional 1950's clothing in the city, because I've never before read a book that takes place in a rural place during this time. I wasn't really able to picture it accurately, but I did enjoy the descriptions of the small town, the bustling people, and of course Delilah's wonderful mode of transportation ;).

2. I loved the fact that Delilah was so independent and spirited. Her ability to stand tall, despite the possible things being gossiped about behind her back, made me smile. The fact that she was so methodical about laying options out in front of her, that she started out trusting her head more than her heart, made her a relatively likable character to me. I could see her struggle between wanting emotional happiness, and wanting children, and I understood it.

3. One thing I loved about this novella was the fact that the female characters weren't under the thumb of their male counterparts. There's more than a few mentions of decorum, but overall these women were rather feisty and wonderful. One thing I could have done without, and you'll see this a lot because of the way I read, were the very large (and often) mentions of "God's will". I chalked it up to the fact that this book takes place in an older time, and so people were very often religious. I couldn't help but tire of the repetitiveness of it after a while though.

Jack & Jill - Discussion Post

Welcome to week three of our novella month! I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been sharing in the conversations over these books! It's been a ton of fun to see where we agree and differ in opinions. Trust me when I say, none of us will ever fault you for not loving a book. We just want your honest opinion! So share it out.

This week's novella was one that I wasn't sure about presenting to you but, as it had a ton of recommendations from fellow bibliophiles, I figured I'd give it a shot. I know it was a darker read than some of you may be used to, so not to worry if you didn't click with it. Let's share our feelings on Jack & Jill.

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Discussion Questions:

* Are you normally a reader of the horror genre, or was this outside your normal reading pattern?

* How do you feel Jack & Jill stacks up against other horror you've read? Do you think it deserves that categorization?

* What did you think of writing style that Kealan Patrick Burke uses? Were the dream sequences an asset or a hindrance to your reading?

* Did you connect to any of the characters or situations?

* Share your thoughts on the ending. Are you a fan, or wish it had been different?

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My Thoughts:

As I said above, many of the people I talk books with on a daily basis utterly loved this novella. They sang its (and KPB's) praises over and over again, which is why I ultimately chose it for our novella month. I'm a little torn on this one, to be honest. There were things that I liked about it, and things that I'm not sure I really clicked with. I'll try to break them down the best I can.

In terms reading horror, I'm a definite fan of the genre. I read everything from zombie books, to slashers, right down to psychological horror. The thing is, this is a ridiculously huge genre that holds an umbrella over many types of books. I'd say KPB's book classifies more in the psychological department. I felt like his aim was to creep us out by wondering if the mother in this story was sane, or if she was going to snap because of her scarred childhood. 

I liked the dream sequences. I think they were the most interesting part of the story line, even if they were a little jarring sometimes. I liked seeing what she thought about when there was no logical part of her trying to push it all away. The problem was, that I didn't really care about her at all. I felt like she wasn't trying very hard to get out of her situation and that, despite how much she obviously loved her children, she really didn't want to fix herself that badly. It made me frustrated. It made me upset. Then the novella was ending, and I was so damn confused. What happened? Did she snap? Did he really do it? *sigh* I guess I'll never know.

I give points to this novella for the writing, for sure. It's haunting, and lyrical at times. I'll also give credit where credit is due, and say that the villain in this story (because all good horror needs a villain) is perfectly evil. It's not just her father that's the bad guy, but all the deep-seeded animosity and terror that he left behind. It makes the mother in this story her own type of villain, trapped in her head for all eternity. So did I like the ending? Not really. Did I like this book? For the most part, yes. I'd be willing to give KPB another shot.

The Turtle Boy (Timmy Quinn Series #1)

The Tent (Novella)

The Witch (A Milestone Story)

The Bridesmaid - Discussion Post

This week's novella was on the lighter side! I thought after diving into the macabre, it was time to get a little smooching and romance in your life. I hope you enjoyed reading The Bridesmaid, and have a lot to say about it. Let's get started.

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Discussion Questions:

* Are you normally a reader of romance, or was this outside of your normal reading pattern?

* What were your first impressions of Kate and Joe, before they met?

* Did you like the serendipitous way that these two happened to meet?

* Were there any events that you were hoping for that didn't happen?

* We're all adults, so let's talk romance. Sex scenes in your reading: yay, or nay?

* Share your thoughts on the ending. Do you love a good Happily Ever After?

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My Thoughts:

Up until about a year ago, I was completely anti-romance novels. Just the thought of reading about perfect meetings, random sexy times and happily ever afters made me want to run away screaming. I honestly couldn't even tell you why! It's just the truth. Then, I decided to suck it up and give a romance novel a chance. I figured, worse case scenario, I could always stop reading whenever I wanted. I was hooked. Caught up in the adorable nature of the book. Damnit. I still don't read them all that often, but, I do read them much more than before. It's a nice escape!

My first impressions of both Kate, and Joe, were pretty much the same. They seemed like perfectly normal people with perfectly normal problems. I knew that they'd meet, I knew that it'd be perfectly normal yet adorable, and it was! That's the thing about romance. You can see it coming. It's the characters that keep you reading on. So I was pretty happy overall with Kate and Joe's little romantic fling. A novella is too short for them to have too much tension, so I let that fact slide.

Talking romance, I'm all about spicy bedroom scenes! Yes, I admit it. I'm that girl who loves reading about bodice ripping, sexy times. So sue me. This book was actually pretty tame compared to some that I read. So their lovemaking didn't phase me one bit. In truth? I may have been a slight bit disappointed on that front ;). LOL. I mean, Joe sounded so yummy! As for the ending, I thought it was spot on. Was it totally believable that he'd give up his new job for a girl he just met? Maybe not. Does it fit perfectly with this romantic short? It absolutely does. So, again, I'll let it slide. Plus I'm a sucker for a HEA in romance books.

(Contemporary Romance) Homecoming Ranch (Pine River #1)

(Historical Romance) The Last Debutante (Secrets of Hadley Green)

 (Contemporary Romance) All I Need Is You (An Over the Edge Novel)

The Wanderer in Unknown Realms - Discussion Post

Just to refresh your memory, this week we dove into The Wanderer in Unknown Realms by John Connolly. This was our first novella of the month, and one that came highly recommended by the Amazon community as a dark, sinister read.

I'm excited to see what you all thought about John Connolly's novella. So let's get started.

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Discussion Questions:

*Let's start with the basics. Is The Wanderer in Unknown Realms outside of your normal reads?

*Is this your first novella?

*What did you think of John Connolly's writing style? Did it hold your attention, or make this a tough read?

*Give us your first impressions of Soter as a character. Do you believe that he was well written?

* Did you feel that this story ended well, or were you wishing for more story?

*Share out anything else you want to chat about!

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Jessica's Thoughts:

Let me first say that I'm a long time fan of John Connolly, so I may have been a bit biased in recommending this book :). This is the first novella I've read of his, but his stories are always dark, and a bit odd, so I'm used to the way he writes. I'll admit that this particular story did take me a little bit of time to fall into. The writing style reminded me a lot of reading my beloved Poe stories, and I just had to switch tracks a bit after reading a lot of YA lately. Once I was able to make the switch, I fell in love with the atmosphere that this book all but oozes off the page.

I thought Soter was an interesting enough character, what with his background in the military. The fact that he was a veteran made his reactions to otherwise extremely creepy occurrences a little more palatable. I suppose if you've seen men die in horrific battle, it's probably not too much of a jump to take a man made of shadows head on, eh? Although, trust and believe that if creepy backward walking children were anywhere near me? I'd be running full tilt as far away as possible. I never felt fully attached to Soter, but I did like him as a protagonist.

The one thing that disappointed me, was the ending. I felt like it was apt, considering the fact that this is a novella, but I really wanted more! Especially once things picked up. I wish I knew what happened to Maudling. I desperately want to know what's going to happen to the world, and I feel like it was just a little to easy to end it where it did. Still, I've come to find that novellas tend to do that sometimes. I guess it's leave them wanting more?

Here are three more books by John Connolly to check out, if you liked this one! Since I've read him before, these are three of my favorites, from different grade levels of reading. Enjoy!

(Middle Grade Fiction) The Gates: A Samuel Johnson Tale

(Young Adult Fiction) The Book of Lost Things

(Adult Fiction) Every Dead Thing (Charlie Parker #1)