On Reading
I just finished two books, Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fourth of July by James Patterson. I really enjoyed Black Rose. It's the second in her latest trilogy and is the romance of an "older woman" (47. LOL!). She dealt well with the issues that come up when extended families merge and how protective children are of their parents. Nora always does families well, so this isn't a suprise. Nora's trilogies are about all of Nora I do these days. I used to read JD Robb, but Nora writes too fast for me, so I had to pick one piece of the Nora pie and stick with it. I pick the trilogies, which are to me, the most romanciest, which is why I read Nora.
In non-romance reading, 4th of July was pretty good, too. It's a standard by-the-book serial killer(s) thriller, and I pegged the murderers pretty early on. Not too many characters, it wasn't difficult. The motivation for the killings was a surprise, and a unique justification for murder. But OK. This is part of James Patterson's Ladies Murder Club mystery and it's written entirely in female POV. Mr. Patterson has a female co-author on the cover as well, and it is done well. I don't like these characters as well as Alex Cross, though. I know Alex Cross, (even before Morgan Freeman played him in the movies), and he's very down to earth. It seems like a lot of thrillers involve people who are six degrees of separation from humanity, possibly because I can't relate to someone who is involved in life and death struggles rather than getting the kids off to school with their lunches packed.
There's been a WHOLE LOT of buzz about The Historian, and I'm toying with the idea of reading it. It's 700 pages, and I STILL HAVE A BOOK TO FINISH (nearly done with the edits, though). It's a Dracula story, which dwells on the horror side of vampires, rather than the seductive, do-me side of vampires, and I have to say I like the horror side of vampires better (Angel or Spike never really did it for me as much as Xander, although Spike got the best lines of the series).
I wrote the Sunday issue of Romancing The Blog this week, however, you don't have to read it unless you're sappy -- like me :)
In non-romance reading, 4th of July was pretty good, too. It's a standard by-the-book serial killer(s) thriller, and I pegged the murderers pretty early on. Not too many characters, it wasn't difficult. The motivation for the killings was a surprise, and a unique justification for murder. But OK. This is part of James Patterson's Ladies Murder Club mystery and it's written entirely in female POV. Mr. Patterson has a female co-author on the cover as well, and it is done well. I don't like these characters as well as Alex Cross, though. I know Alex Cross, (even before Morgan Freeman played him in the movies), and he's very down to earth. It seems like a lot of thrillers involve people who are six degrees of separation from humanity, possibly because I can't relate to someone who is involved in life and death struggles rather than getting the kids off to school with their lunches packed.
There's been a WHOLE LOT of buzz about The Historian, and I'm toying with the idea of reading it. It's 700 pages, and I STILL HAVE A BOOK TO FINISH (nearly done with the edits, though). It's a Dracula story, which dwells on the horror side of vampires, rather than the seductive, do-me side of vampires, and I have to say I like the horror side of vampires better (Angel or Spike never really did it for me as much as Xander, although Spike got the best lines of the series).
I wrote the Sunday issue of Romancing The Blog this week, however, you don't have to read it unless you're sappy -- like me :)
posted by Kathleen at 1:48 PM
3 Comments:
Oh, Kathleen. Here I was thinking we were kindred spirits and now I read that you're choosing Xander over *gasp* Angel and Spike. Say it ain't so! ;-)
I'll comfort myself with the fact that you're obviously enough of a Buffy fan to have an opinion either way...
I have a very writerly reason for choosing Xander. Angel and Spike's character were controlled by external means (curse and medical implant), rather than by internal choice. Xander got the best male character arc in the series (wimpy, cowardly man to strong secondary hero who holds his own against the vamps with no physical super-strengths at all). He came the farthest on his own perseverance, which will always catch my eye :).
That said, I'll repeat, they did give Spike the best lines and he was a better character than Angel. My favorite:
Opening scene to Angel, Spike perched on a highrise rooftop, smoking cig, watching the alley below where Angel is talking to a young woman in distress. Spike's commentary as the scene unfolds:
Spike: "How can I thank you, you mysterious black-clad-hunk-of-a-night-thing?"
"No need little lady. Your tears of gratitude are enough for me. You see, I was once a bad-ass vampire. But love, and a pesky curse, defanged me. And now, I'm just a *big* fluffy puppy with bad teeth. No! Not the hair! Never the hair."
"But there must be some way I can show my appreciation."
"No, helping those in need's my job. And working up a load of sexual tension and prancing away like a magnificent poof is truly thanks enough."
"I understand. I have a nephew who's gay, so..."
"Say no more. Evil's still afoot. And I'm almost out of that Nancy-boy hair gel I like so much. Quickly! To the Angel-mobile! Away!"
That quote is sooo Spike!
Now that I think about it, I'm sure I read somewhere that Xander was supposed to be Joss Whedon's alter ego and that the original plan was for Buffy to end up with him. (Maybe if this happened, Spike might have retained a bit of dignity in the last 2 seasons...)
Perchance does this reveal a preference for beta heros on your part? :-)
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