Monday, February 20, 2012

Books of 2012

Just the ones I've finished so far:

Fiction:
Book 1: Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead
Book 2:  Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt
Book 3:  Drink Deep by Chloe Neil
Book 4:  Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Book 5:  Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie
Book 5:  One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Book 6:  Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins
Book 7:  She Went All the Way by Meg Cabot
Book 8: Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
Book 9: Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

NonFiction:
Book 10: Lynchpin by Seth Godin
Book 11: The Dip by Seth Godin


I must say, I found Seth Godin's books utterly irrelevant to my life. His assumption is that everyone wants to climb as high in the corporate ladder as possible and presumably make as much money as possible.  He is rather glib about dispensing the advice to quit and move on.  Clearly, the guy has no one in his life who is financially dependent upon him.  And the fact that he tries to spin his past business failures as expertise is pretty much revolting.  I have to wonder how many lives of others who were along for his enchanted ride in goofyland were financially or emotionally ruined.  He seems pretty self involved and clueless, frankly.  Plus, I went to his website and he wears stupid glasses.

If you are looking for good business reads, I recommend Jason Seiden ("My Life is Profersonal") who discusses the mingling of professional and personal without devolving into some idiotic mommy war.   His blog is great.

I also recommend a thoughtful read of The No Asshole Rule.

Grimm Legacy was a very fun read.  My son got it at the book fair a couple of weeks ago and it was my favorite type of book as a youngster, combining a certain autonomy from adults (see also, The Secret Garden and The Boxcar Children) and magical stuff (see Harry Potter, The Crystal Cave, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,  and the first 7 or 8 Xanth books). 

The Succubus series conclusion was satisfying.  I was glad to see it was not going to drag on ad infinitum.  

The Night Huntress books by Jeaniene Frost started off slow-- the heroine is immature and rather stupid in the first book.  I am sorry to say that  she has a certain dynamic with her mother, where she craves her mother's approval which her mother is pretty clearly withholding intentionally, ugh.  Hate that.  Grow a pair, girl.  Also, gentle readers will want to skip the next part because it's about Ess Eee Ex.  These books have A LOT of it, and it is graphic.  I have heard it said that in Urban Paranormal that Anal is the New Oral and umm, I guess it is in this series.  So if you are not into that sort of thing, I've warned you.

Now that I am caught up on the Chicagoland Vampires series, I have to wait till August for the next installment.  Like a NORMAL PERSON.  It's so nice to start a series a few books in, but sooner or later, I get caught up to the author.  The end of the previous book was very WTF and this book ALSO was very WTF at the end.  The vamps of Cadogan House spend Drink Deep under observation by the big council of whatever.  I found the vibe in the house very much like what it was like at work under the previous regime.  And that's all I have to say about THAT online.

The Maiden Lane Series by Hoyt starts well, falters in book 2 in my opinion, but then gives us one of my favorite romance tropes-- Pirate With A Heart of Gold.  (Other favorites:  Girls Dressed As Boys Making Hero Wonder if He Has Caught The Dreadful Affliction of Ancient Greece, Heroes or Heroines Who Are Secretly Authors/Artists/In Trade, Treasure Hunts, Ghost Stories)

The 3 Contemporary Romances I read were by pretty much my 3 fave contemporary romance authors.  Cruisie, Higgins and Cabot are all very funny and write a sweet romance. There is really not enough humor in Romance as a genre. Unlike life, where Romance and Humor are often hand in hand. 

Impending reading topics for non fiction will focus on Agile and Lean methodology for software development.  Don't be jealous!
















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