My standards for chick lit are pretty low. Even so, if you’re looking for something light and frothy, do not pick up Carole Matthew’s More to Life Than This. It was beyond tedious.
Speaking of which, I’ve lost all patience with Charlie Bone and flung down Charlie Bone and the Hidden King 15 pages in. Nothing ever seems to happen. They never make any progress. They never even seem to get older. Hmmphh.
And given the amount of children’s fantasy I’ve been reading lately, I finally overcame my prejudice and perused the fantasy section for grown-ups at the library. I came home with Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch: Volume 1. In the thank you treatise in the front, right before fulsome praise for his editors, and right after being eternally grateful that he could make a living as a writer, he says, “Thanks also to our talented assistant, Dena Chavez, who keeps Deborah and I as close to sane …” Snap! went the covers. I just couldn’t do it.
Finally (at least for now, and based on what’s in front of me), there’s Diana Gabaldon’s A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I remember a woman I worked with a long time ago loved this series — and I am sure I would be entertained by it too had I been reading them in sequence. It just felt like too much work to catch up on what was going on. I found myself spending more time wondering about the time traveling bit, and what time zone (???) the kids lived in, and all that.
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Zia, you HAVE to read those Gabaldon books in order; otherwise they just doesn’t make any sense. And really, it’s only the first three books that are any good. After that, it’s just a question of how long she can drag out the series to make as much money as possible. Quit reading this one and go get the first one from the library: Outlander. I really enjoyed that one (though there is a certain amount of suspension of disbelief necessary).
I didn’t even know she kept going with the series. It did all get old at about book 3 or 4… But, I have to say that I dreamed about a huge, red-haired heathen with a Scottish accent for months… That was worth it!
I want one! I want one! A huge, red-haired heathen with a Scottish accent, that is. But ya know, once the hero has an 18-year old kid, the appeal somehow goes away …