Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Wednesday Reads and Happy Birthday to my Sister

Today is my sister’s birthday. My Dad always said it was easy to remember because she was born on Pearl Harbor Day. Wonder how he remembered mine? Hmmm… Anyway, if you’re reading this, Happy Birthday, Karen!

I decided to change the layout of my Wednesday reads for 2017, but then thought: Why wait? I’m hoping this new layout is easier to read (or at least easier for you to find whatever it is you look for in these).

Here’s what I read the past week:

December 6:
  • Title: “Risking the Vine”
  • Author: Gemma Brocato
  • Genre: Contemporary romance
  • # of Pages: 240
  • Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
  • Blurb from book: Jacqui Bishop’s dating life is dead in the water, but her professional prospects look outstanding. Promised a management position, she embarks on a team building course at a northern California winery. Shocked when her boss promotes a less qualified rival, Jac opts to chuck her job and revive the family farm. Luscious Luke Rossi has been banished to Team Vino to learn how to be the team player his boss wants. Once there, he finds he’d rather play on Jac Bishop’s team. But a labor dispute and boss who only wants a yes-man forces him to leave Jac’s side. As the daytime exercises give way to nighttime passions, Jac learns there’s more to life than a nine-to-five existence. But resigning her job and moving to a farm hundreds of miles from Luke could spell doom for the couple. Their affair will require teamwork of a different kind. For Jac, the looming question is whether her budding relationship with Luke will thrive or die on the vine.
  • My thoughts: I have to start by saying: If you love contemporary romance, there is nothing wrong with this book. It has a nice romance and some sexy parts. But for me it was just…too simple. I’m beginning to realize that I need more (like more danger or conflict or something), even if I know the author (I do) and loved her other work (I did). Ms. Brocato has some paranormal and sci-fi books out there that I would probably enjoy, but right now they’re only available on Amazon (Kindle) and I don’t buy my books there (and not just because I own a Nook).
Sometimes I want to scream at authors for not selling wide. Or not selling in paper, which can be sold wide even if the digital is exclusive to Amazon. Maybe they won’t make a lot of sales, but then again, maybe they will. You just never know in the publishing business. My books are offered wide. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My next few reads will be on my Nook, since I’ll be leaving on vacation soon. I double-checked and have lots of books on there to read. I don’t see them piling up (like I do the paper ones), so I forget what I have digitally. Now I just have to hope my Nook doesn’t fail in the next week or so. I hate depending on electronics, even if they do save luggage space.

So… Are you mostly a paper or plastic (e-book) reader? If plastic, what do you do when you adjust the formatting (font & spacing) on your device and it does NOTHING to the book? It doesn’t happen all the time, so when it does I know it’s an issue with the author’s (or publisher’s) formatting and not with my Nook. And people wonder why I dislike ebooks. Grrr…

Happy Reading!

Stacy

7 comments:

JeffO said...

Nice format!

I think I've read two books on an e-reader. One of them was mine, (a draft manuscript that I was editing), the other was also a draft manuscript written by a friend I beta for. I wasn't fond of the experience, and I hope to do it as little as possible in the future. I spend enough time staring at a computer screen during the day, it's nice to read off of paper.

Maria Zannini said...

I tend to read fiction in ebook and nonfiction in paper since I'll probably refer to it more than once.


I prefer paper, but digital is cheaper.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jeff - I hope print never dies. At least not in my lifetime.

Maria - Digital isn't always cheaper. I noticed some publishers will price digital the same as a paperback.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Happy birthday to your sister!
I am eBook all the way. My iPad is quite full.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Alex - E-readers are tolerable. I read a book on my husband's iPad once and I thought I was gonna go blind. Not a fun experience and reading should be FUN.

Jennette Marie Powell said...

Ebooks for me! I like to read in the dark. I hate when a book doesn't display in my selected font. But most do. I haven't encountered any that don't allow resizing, fortunately. Both issues are caused by formatting.

I'm totally with you on going wide. I want readers to be able to buy where they want. I will admit my latest isn't yet available in print because I just haven't gotten around to it. But I will!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jennette - Sometimes I'm not surprised about the formatting issues when it's with a self-pubbed book, but I'm having issues with a book distributed by a well-known publisher. What a pain!