Romance or erotic novels?

[918177]

If you're like me and had a gut full of the Anita Blake nonsense Laurell K. Hamilton has another series.

I really like the Merry Gentry series she wrote but she's stopped writing them and has no plans
to start again.

 

[AlteredEgo]

This is a screen cap from the phone app associated with my e-reader. Because I never access it via phone, it is outdated. But. Despite not being particularly into either of the two genres mentioned in the OP, I'm not illiterate, and I do read. Currently, I'm reading a series I found in my teens, but which actually started decades before I was born by Evan Hunter, writing under the name Ed McBain. Ed McBain is the entire reason I like crime stories and mysteries so much. If I am not mistaken, his writing pre-dates Hill Street Blues, and is credited with generating interest in realism in police stories. I decided to read the entire series from beginning to end. The writing is painfully old. Social mores change. But the storytelling itself is still as magical as ever. While I know the writing improves over time, it's been really cool seeing my favorite characters being developed from scratch.

This screencap is a snapshot of what my library (hundreds of books) looked like whenever I last had to use my phone to access it. And yes. I did eventually master the double-under using that book. Also, I download children's books to read out loud in public when certain short people need distracting.

 

[693987]

Oh man, jumping ship completely, but thinking of older (ish) books and/or authors

The Harvester by Gene Stratton-Porter
Girl of the Limberlost by the same author
Selectively really enjoy Jules Verne
I've read almost everything by Louisa May Alcott
The Laura series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lots of Charles Dickens
A fair bit of Rudyard Kipling
A fair bit of Mark Twain
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ernest Hemingway
George Orwell
William Sleator
Agatha Christie
L.M. Montgomery

Also lots of Shakespeare, some various philosophers like Plato, the Divine Comedy by Dante, and so on. I was raised to love reading.

 

[LaFemme]

I want to reply because I love reading, but I detest romance of any type. It’s never central to any story I read. I love horror, sci-fi, historical, thrillers, biographies, kid lit, true crime...my absolute favourite book is “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman.

Romance and erotica just bores the ever-loving shit outta me.

 

[693987]

I want to reply because I love reading, but I detest romance of any type. It’s never central to any story I read. I love horror, sci-fi, historical, thrillers, biographies, kid lit, true crime...my absolute favourite book is “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman.

Romance and erotica just bores the ever-loving shit outta me.

I've been reading Gaiman books lately, interspersed with Terry Pratchett Good stuff.

 

[Enid]

Omg @AlteredEgo just reminded me of my Library Thing catalog! I started it years ago, apparently I logged around 400 books and then just gave up. I took 3 screenshots of the first books I entered. So much fun. No judgment. I read a lot of popcorn paperback crime! I should get back into logging. Hmm. I sense a Thanksgiving vacation project.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Omg @AlteredEgo just reminded me of my Library Thing catalog! I started it years ago, apparently I logged around 400 books and then just gave up. I took 3 screenshots of the first books I entered. So much fun. No judgment. I read a lot of popcorn paperback crime! I should get back into logging. Hmm. I sense a Thanksgiving vacation project.

I have a Patterson habit too. I also read Hawking. I have the Dalai Lama's book, but haven't read it.

 

[AlteredEgo]

@Enid , have you ever read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich? I dropped the habit after number 17 because the writing is formulaic and I had enough of the schtick by then, but the first few books are just plain FUN! Stephanie is a hapless Bounty Hunter in New Jersey. She takes the job in her weird cousin's bail bonds business because she's lost her factory job and her husband and is falling behind on rent. Hilarious series, outlandish characters.

 

[Enid]

@Enid , have you ever read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich? I dropped the habit after number 17 because the writing is formulaic and I had enough of the schtick by then, but the first few books are just plain FUN! Stephanie is a hapless Bounty Hunter in New Jersey. She takes the job in her weird cousin's bail bonds business because she's lost her factory job and her husband and is falling behind on rent. Hilarious series, outlandish characters.

Yep! I too loved the first....three, I think it was. Then I read a couple more and my interest petered out.

And I wish they had never made that awful movie based on the book series. Ugh.

I love the idea of a strong funny tough smart female solvin some crimes, though. And I love me some escapin into worlds full of eccentric characters.

Have you tried Tess Gerritsen's books based on the Rizzoli & Isles tv show? Excuse me, have that backwards, show is based off books. Several of them are very dark and chilling....reminds me of strong female crime stories mixed with a little Stephen King vibe.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Yep! I too loved the first....three, I think it was. Then I read a couple more and my interest petered out.

And I wish they had never made that awful movie based on the book series. Ugh.

I love the idea of a strong funny tough smart female solvin some crimes, though. And I love me some escapin into worlds full of eccentric characters.

Have you tried Tess Gerritsen's books based on the Rizzoli & Isles tv show? Excuse me, have that backwards, show is based off books. Several of them are very dark and chilling....reminds me of strong female crime stories mixed with a little Stephen King vibe.

I have not. I couldn't get into that show, but once I'm done with McBain I'll give the books a try. I should have let Stephanie Plum go loooooong before I did. LOL. She was just so funny. And that Latin guy was just so intriguing. But I'm way past done with that. Still, she made me laugh out loud in the subway many, many times.

 

[286798]

+1 on the Stephanie Plum books being hysterical and then just oh-so-predictable. I loved Janet Evanovich's way of describing physical comedy/clumsiness in words. My favorite was when she fell off the fire escape and landed in dog doo. "It's in my haaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrr!" At times, I laughed until I cried....... and then I got bored.

I've been looking for a new author. Have burned through all my favorites that haven't gotten tired/predictable (Larsson, James, Cussler). Will check out some of the other suggestions. Thanks y'all!

 

[AlteredEgo]

+1 on the Stephanie Plum books being hysterical and then just oh-so-predictable. I loved Janet Evanovich's way of describing physical comedy/clumsiness in words. My favorite was when she fell off the fire escape and landed in dog doo. "It's in my haaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrr!" At times, I laughed until I cried....... and then I got bored.

I've been looking for a new author. Have burned through all my favorites that haven't gotten tired/predictable (Larsson, James, Cussler). Will check out some of the other suggestions. Thanks y'all!

My favorite was any scene with the grandmother!

 

[deleted924715]

Forgot all about the Stephanie Plum books! I seem to remember them being laugh-out-loud funny too

 

[deleted924715]

I am loving the Court of Thorns and Roses books. I'm using that kindle function where you can flip between reading the book and listening to it so I'm having a bit of a binge

Some of the ladies here seem to have similar taste in books, so I'd highly recommend. I'm surrounded by men IRL and they're just not interested, so I'm recommending here

 

[918177]

I still love Anne McCaffrey books.

The Dragon series, The Singing Ship and the Freedom Series.

The lady didn't write a book I didn't like.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I wanted general vaguely historical fiction about cave people not just fucking for a goddess for the former.

Piers Anthony. Isle of Woman and Isle of man. I never did finish them but they're excellent. I need to put them on my Kindle so that I will finish them.

 

[deleted924715]

If you're like me and had a gut full of the Anita Blake nonsense Laurell K. Hamilton has another series.

I really like the Merry Gentry series she wrote but she's stopped writing them and has no plans
to start again.

The Anita Blake books have been playing on my mind a lot since this thread. I may go back and read the first few again - they started out soooo good, the world building was fantastic. Well, apart from the clothes, they made me cringe.

 

[Enid]

The Anita Blake books have been playing on my mind a lot since this thread. I may go back and read the first few again - they started out soooo good, the world building was fantastic. Well, apart from the clothes, they made me cringe.

I also want to back and read the first few. I loved them in the beginning

 

[deleted924715]

I also want to back and read the first few. I loved them in the beginning

We should start a book club!

 

[918177]

We should start a book club in the fuckwits thread......maybe start sharing recipes....
Dunno.....Sharing recipes in a troll thread is ALWAYS a trigger.
Are book reviews the new trigger?

Interdasting, non?