Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wednesday Reads

Well…my daughter has finally finished reading “The King” (by JR Ward) and it’s sitting in the house tormenting me. Must get my edits done first. And then I’m going to a writers retreat on Friday, so I doubt I’ll want to be in the middle of it for that. Guess I’ll just have to be tormented for a while. Argh!! Anyway, here’s what I read during the week:

Apr 20: “Second Avenue, Second Hand,” an anthology put together by Wendy Tyler Ryan. Blurb from Goodreads: There is a shop on the corner of Second Avenue and Main. It is a shop filled with things. It is a shop filled with this and that, bits and pieces, odds and sods. You know the kind I mean. Ask anyone how long it’s been there and they’ll say, it seems like forever. Yes, the exterior needs some tender loving care and most of the lights in the old sign were burnt out long ago, but still they come. Some come with hopes of finding the perfect treasure to place upon their mantel. Others come to rid themselves of things unwanted. But this is no ordinary shop, and for those who are compelled to cross its threshold, well... I fear they may never be the same. So come. Come if you dare. Open the door, wipe your feet on the mat, and have a look around. The proprietor, Mr. Blank, is looking forward to meeting you. Just ask anyone how long he’s been there and they’ll say, it seems like forever…  This anthology has a mix of genres. Sweet romance to horror to just plain bizarre. Can't tell from the titles which is which, either. But I enjoyed reading them all (even the bizarre--although the romance was my favorite. Duh!). All stories revolve around the same second hand store (and proprietor), so it has that theme going for it. If you're looking for some interesting short stories to read, can't go too wrong here. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.

Apr 21: “Jingle Bell Rock” by Rie Warren, a sexy, hot, m/m romantic short. Blurb from Goodreads: A bashful bouncer, a Cajun rock boy, and a Christmas Eve kiss that changes everything… Brian “Beef” Carroway thinks he’s gay. No, he knows he is. He’s gruff, buff, and overcompensating for his big size and soft heart. Brian’s the badass bouncer at Mosh rock club where Cajun singer Jack Cotille moonlights for the month of December. With a voice like sin, Jack is walking, talking, sexy temptation in the flesh. He’s also fly-by-night, possibly homeless, and chancing everything on a wing and a prayer. Just about the only thing Brian is sure of is traveling man Jack belts out dirty rock lyrics while promising the kind of pornographic sex he’s only fantasized about. He’s definitely gay for Jack. One Christmas Eve kiss leads to a night of heaven, a morning of hell. The holiday week leaves Brian aching for more than his wanderer singer can give as the New Year’s Eve countdown begins. Wow! I’m not a fan of first person, and definitely not when it’s borderline erotica, but somehow I had no problem with it in this short story/novella. I did have a problem with it being a pdf on my e-reader, but I’ll blame that on my e-reader. Besides the issue with that, I enjoyed the story very much and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.
 
I’m currently reading another group of shorts that was given to me on pdfs (which I’m really, really hating). My husband has been kind enough to “format” it to epub, but that didn’t really work all that well. Do you have problems reading pdfs on e-readers? Maybe next time I should just print them out. What do you think?

Happy reading!

Stacy

 

6 comments:

Sandra Cox said...

Hey Sister. grin.
I've got a kindle and haven't had any problems yet (knock on wood) with the PDFs.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Sandra - PDFs were never meant to be read on a device. They were meant to be printed. I wish people would stop using them for e-books, but my ranting probably won't stop that! :)

Michael Seese said...

I do so much work on PCs that I'm completely comfortable reading PDFs on them. I can't speak for eReaders.

BTW, the movie I referenced in my Castle review -- Good bye, Lenin -- is really funny.

The Happy Whisk said...

I don't know, I thought I read or heard somewhere that the Nook is not a good reader of PDFs. I can't recall for sure.

We had our Nook updated today at Barnes. It was getting glitchy.

Have a great time at the retreat.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Michael - But how do you keep your place when you're reading a pdf on your computer? Plus, if I'm on my computer, I should be working (haha!). I mostly read now when I can't work. Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE my work! :)

Ivy - That may be true, but I'm not going to buy another reader to find out. :)

The Happy Whisk said...

There is something out there that is good for PDFs but by gosh, I cannot recall what one. This was awhile back when I read it on another blog. They found one that worked.

Either way, printing it out is nice too.