Kate will say that every book I read is like the first time. I am constantly purchasing books I already own because I don't remember the plot or the main characters names. So my choice may be rather skewed.
I have to say, that I agree with Kate in that many of my current "favorite" authors have developed writing styles that improve with time (exception: Jude Deveraux - what's up with her lately? And have I already asked that?)
So, for the book I would like to experience "a-new" all over again, I have to harken back a long time to a favorite read, re-read, re-re-read. M.M. Kaye's Shadow of The Moon. The intensity of the history detailed in the Indian uprising and the intelligence of the hero (whose name, I DO remember, is Alex) make it more than just a romance novel. And the end of the book still clutches my heart.
The book is no longer in print and the copy I own was borrowed from my local amazing library and subsequently lost, so I paid for my negligence. I have since found it and it assumes a place of honor on the bookshelf in my living room.
I'd lend you my copy to read, but it's kind of a treasure!
22 July 2009
21 July 2009
Discussion Time!
Over at the better, smarter, funnier website, they have incited a discussion about Books You Would Like to Rediscover. You know, the ones that were so good you wish there could be some sort of strategic, Sydney-Bristow-like precision memory erasing so that you could pick it up and be thrilled, amused, heart-broken, and overheated all over again, in the way only a first-reading can accomplish.
So that got me thinking, what would my first choice for that be? To be sure, every Kresley Cole EVER with the exception of maybe two. I still remember the first time I picked up her first books. I have no idea what made me do it (Amazon rec, author quote on the book...?), but I knew by the time I had finished Captain of All Pleasures (no snickering!) that I had discovered a new "favorite author." A lot of writers take a while to hit their stride (Hi, Linda Howard and Sandra Brown. What's going on?), but once they get there, they nail it (pun... yep, pun intended). Kresley Cole had it down on the first go, which speaks volumes about the quality of her work since and in the future.
Oh look, I've digressed! ALL of that aside, when I talk about a book I wish I could un-remember for the joy of reading it *again for the first time*, Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood is the only correct answer.
As a heroine, Jade rocks my world, what with all the lying and the stealing and the incredible ability to fool anyone she has ever come across, with the sole exception of the Marquess of Cainewood (or so he would really, really like to think). The story progesses merrily along, and you think you know "the answer" because everyone in the whole book is so sure of it themselves-- Jade's brother Nathan is the notorious Pirate Pagan who killed Caine's brother (although there is definitely A Misunderstanding there) and Caine has to decide how he's going to keep Jade even after he kills her brother.
And then Uncle Harry shows up.
Look, I'm not going to get into the glorious 100+ page sequence in which Nathan strolls into Cainewood to find Caine threatening his sister, in which Sterns hides the silver under the bed, in which Harry carries Caine's stepmother out of the house with the sure knowledge that "Caine would want me to have her!" but it needs to be said that nothing can make me smile harder, laugh louder, or jump up and down in my seat quite like Guardian Angel. And that's after at least 10 readings.
I remember distinctly the moment that scene reached its pivotal moment... because a neighbor came over to insist that I come swimming. I went to the pool, but never got in. There was no way I was putting that book down.
So Wendy... you're up ;)
So that got me thinking, what would my first choice for that be? To be sure, every Kresley Cole EVER with the exception of maybe two. I still remember the first time I picked up her first books. I have no idea what made me do it (Amazon rec, author quote on the book...?), but I knew by the time I had finished Captain of All Pleasures (no snickering!) that I had discovered a new "favorite author." A lot of writers take a while to hit their stride (Hi, Linda Howard and Sandra Brown. What's going on?), but once they get there, they nail it (pun... yep, pun intended). Kresley Cole had it down on the first go, which speaks volumes about the quality of her work since and in the future.
Oh look, I've digressed! ALL of that aside, when I talk about a book I wish I could un-remember for the joy of reading it *again for the first time*, Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood is the only correct answer.
As a heroine, Jade rocks my world, what with all the lying and the stealing and the incredible ability to fool anyone she has ever come across, with the sole exception of the Marquess of Cainewood (or so he would really, really like to think). The story progesses merrily along, and you think you know "the answer" because everyone in the whole book is so sure of it themselves-- Jade's brother Nathan is the notorious Pirate Pagan who killed Caine's brother (although there is definitely A Misunderstanding there) and Caine has to decide how he's going to keep Jade even after he kills her brother.
And then Uncle Harry shows up.
Look, I'm not going to get into the glorious 100+ page sequence in which Nathan strolls into Cainewood to find Caine threatening his sister, in which Sterns hides the silver under the bed, in which Harry carries Caine's stepmother out of the house with the sure knowledge that "Caine would want me to have her!" but it needs to be said that nothing can make me smile harder, laugh louder, or jump up and down in my seat quite like Guardian Angel. And that's after at least 10 readings.
I remember distinctly the moment that scene reached its pivotal moment... because a neighbor came over to insist that I come swimming. I went to the pool, but never got in. There was no way I was putting that book down.
So Wendy... you're up ;)
2 July 2009
Gently finding my way back
Okay, so there appears to be some time in my days that wasn't available to me as recently as a week ago. I will take advantage of it. I'm in "Comfort Food" mode and reading Jude Deveraux's Sweet Liar. I need to remark on the fact that in the past few years I have given up on her books. I just can't seem to understand what or why she's writing. But I digress. Sweet Liar takes us back to her wonderful Taggerts and Montgomerys. As I have not finished the book (this time around) yet, I can only remark on my observations so far. It still holds up! Sam and Michael still appeal, and the story has meat. The heroine, Samantha, starts off wishy washy enough, but soon Michael (did I mention he's a Taggert?) brings out some very charming qualities and I am delighted by her spree in the bookstore - because who wouldn't like to be told that whatever books they could pick out in x number of minutes would be theirs to keep? The whole concept of the reenactment of a massacre is a bit overdone, but it gets us more familiar with other characters (who will eventually get their own books) and sets up the end of the story nicely. I'll let you know when I finish, and maybe I'll have time to read something a little meatier next time.
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