Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club discussion

In an effort to clean up the boards a little bit so the threads are current and not so dauntingly huge for new people to sift through, the old "Chit Chat" thread has been archived here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

So, in JenD's original opening words for this thread..."here is where it is okay to just chew the fat, shoot the breeze, (quick someone, think of another catchphrase for water-cooler type convos!)." What's on your mind that you want to chat about?

I'm having this mental dilemma. Maybe you guys can talk it out with me. I really like supporting the library (and saving myself some money), but I feel a little disloyal to the authors I'm reading sometimes for not actually buying their books. If I don't buy their books, they may not be able to write any more books for me to read and enjoy, right? So where's the balance there?

I'm trying to give myself some criteria. Like if I read the first few from the library and there are still books in the series in print or in ebook, then after that first few I'll switch to purchasing instead of borrowing. Or something. What do you guys do?

If I bought everything I read I would be flat broke in no time. I use the library primarily. I buy used books on the theory that people who buy new books will buy more new books when they can get something back for the ones they choose to let go. Also this is a good way to support my local book shop; I can buy something almost every time I go in and not feel ripped off if I don't like it. I buy ebooks when they're ridiculously cheap, primarily to support the authors as I almost never use my e-reader. I buy new books when it's something I love and will read over and over and over again. Lately my new-book purchases have been Neil Gaiman's latest, a signed copy of The Night Circus that I found at my LBS, and a couple of books on writing which I had been renewing over and over and decided I should just own. I probably could have gotten them used via Amazon but I chose to support my LBS instead; the only books I've bought on Amazon lately have been out of print and unavailable by other means.

The writers I read, LRK for example, are effusive in their support of libraries, so I don't feel the least bit disloyal in using them. Plus my library will buy 40+ copies of a book if it gets a lot of requests, so supporting my library supports the author too.

I tend to buy new books and library old books just because of ease of access. If I could actually get hold of new books that I want to read from the library in a reasonable amount of time, I'd probably borrow more new books from the library. But my library is really small and only buys like three of four copies of a book at most, so sometimes there's a pretty atrocious wait line.

I'm having one of those weeks (or maybe months) where there's just way too much going on; both fun and tedious. I think I might have to sleep through August to prep for vacation in September.

I went to a trampoline place last weekend for a friends birthday. She was turning 29 and we thought the throwback to younger fun was a great plan. But man, trampolining for 30+ minutes is tiring! I have no idea how all the kids surrounding us were doing 2+ hour stints with acrobatics thrown in. Ironically, the activity selection kind of just made me feel old =P

What are you all up to this summer?

I'm looking for a free day when I can read Ocean at the End of the Lane all in one go. Next weekend has potential; otherwise, October. :)

A friend of mine wanted to do trampolines for her birthday and then promptly injured her ankle. We are old. (Not turning 29! :D )

Okay, I am back. Been gone quite a while but I need input. Life moved on. Had to read something new, watch something new. Still enamored of Flavia De Luce and Sherlock but hey, need more grist for the mill. Currently obsessing (well, just a little) over Endeavor, the BBC series and seriously contemplating the reading of the "Morse" detective series. Anyone have any comments on the series? I am hoping it's not extremely bloody/violent and if Endeavor is any indication, I can take up to that level. Please, someone let me know what you think of them. I got an ipod, a new one, by the way for all of you who listened to my piteous tales of woe concerning audio books and devices.

Erin wrote: "I'm having one of those weeks (or maybe months) where there's just way too much going on; both fun and tedious....

What are you all up to this summer? "

Well, I'm having foot surgery next week - talk about tedious! I'm planning on using some of my foot-elevated-in-bed time to (FINALLY!) organize my photos from Australia and to read visually a few things I've wanted to get to that are unavailable on audio.

JenD -

I absolutely adore the new "Endeavour", prequel to "Morse". I find that the scripts and production values are excellent and true to the original Colin Dexter characters. I've purchased all the seasons from iTunes, so that I can watch them over and over.

I've read almost all of the Colin Dexter books, have watched almost all of "Morse" on DVD. I was limited in what I had access to because I got them from the library.

But now I have purchased all of "Lewis" and "Endeavour" from iTunes and spend many happy hours looking and listening for all of the glorious details of plot, music, accents, and Oxfordshire.

Like "Call the Midwife" these series are some of the best TV out there, IMHO. :)

Well, that's wonderful. As I said, I am "obsessing" over Endeavor. I read that the theme music at the very beginning is "Morse" in Morse code. How's that for a fiddly little detail. And a little nifty secret: my dh put this massive tv in our family room and I stand in from of it to see all the details in certain scenes. The people are pretty much life-size at some points. I wonder, have you seen the last scene from "Fugue?" They are on the roof of a college building? It's amazing in hd.
Jen

Lenore wrote: "Erin wrote: "I'm having one of those weeks (or maybe months) where there's just way too much going on; both fun and tedious....

What are you all up to this summer? "

Well, I'm having foot surgery..."

Hope all goes well with the surgery, Lenore. Sounds like a perfect time for reading.

Thanks, Sabrina!

Finally got around to watching the first two Phryne Fisher episodes. What a great book series adaptation! Even with the differences in book vs TV, I think they captured the spirit of the books.

Sabrina wrote: "Finally got around to watching the first two Phryne Fisher episodes. What a great book series adaptation! Even with the differences in book vs TV, I think they captured the spirit of the books."

Totally agree! It was one of my favorite finds last year. I'm wondering if they are going to get around to doing more episodes. Will have to go look that up!

Erin wrote: Totally agree! It was one of my favorite finds last year. I'm wondering if they are going to get around to doing more episodes. Will have to go look that up!


I sure hope they do, Erin. I think there is something like 18 books? So looks like there is a bit more to go for the series. They really found a wonderful actress for the part. Just perfect.

Sabrina wrote: I sure hope they do, Erin. I think there is something like 18 books? So looks like there is a bit more to go for the series. They really found a wonderful actress for the part. Just perfect. "

The actress is significantly older than the character, but she plays Phryne perfectly *nods*

I was just explaining to my husband about how she's younger in book (he likes the show too).

I was glad they didn't get a young 20 year old as I think it would be difficult to find a young woman with such easy confidence, grace, and sexual maturity.

Absolutely agree about the Phryne Fisher TV series, different from book but the spirit is there. Of course I really enjoy the books.

Irrelevant shameless promotion!! My daughter's upcoming book now on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... !!

Lenore wrote: "Irrelevant shameless promotion!! My daughter's upcoming book now on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... !!"

Congratulations to your daughter, Lenore! What a great looking book.

I recently read The Devil's Grin by Annelie Weneberg. The timeline is around WW1 in London. The main character is a woman who, posing as a man, becomes a doctor of Bacteriology. She is a forensic bacteriologist who is helping the police investigate a "bacterial weapon". She reluctantly accepts help from Sherlock Holmes. The author implies there is a "relationship"between the two detectives that will develop in further sequels. As a MLS I was intrigued by the science but, I wanted Russell to appear and claw her eyes out!

This sounds very interesting. I just found a Kindle version for 99 cents on Amazon. Can't wait to start it.

Richard wrote: "I recently read The Devil's Grin by Annelie Weneberg. The timeline is around WW1 in London. The main character is a woman who, posing as a man, becomes a doctor of Bacteriology. She is a forensic b..."

I really liked The Devil's Grin, Richard. Although Mary Russell will always be my favorite, I never get tired of reading all the different takes on Sherlock Holmes. And Anna/Anton Kroneberg is such an intriguing character.

I ended up entering a writing contest that the author put on and won! Through the process we became friends, and Annelie is super cool. You might be surprised where she took the sequel, 'The Fall', which was just released (and contains teaser chapters at the end for my upcoming book).

Sabrina wrote: "Richard wrote: "I recently read The Devil's Grin by Annelie Weneberg. The timeline is around WW1 in London. The main character is a woman who, posing as a man, becomes a doctor of Bacteriology. She..."

Sabrina, I will check out the sequel now that you have enlightened me! I liked the scene in which she holds the dying woman knowing she is probably going to contract the cholera. I have never isolated Vibrio cholerae in my career but, then I haven't worked in Bacti in 20 years. I am going to research the probability of a scientist being able to produce pure cultures of cholera during that time period.

Richard wrote: Sabrina, I will check out the sequel now that you have enlightened me! I liked the scene in which she holds the dying woman knowing she is probably going to contract the cholera. I have never isolated Vibrio cholerae in my career but, then I haven't worked in Bacti in 20 years. I am going to research the probability of a scientist being able to produce pure cultures of cholera during that time period.

No problem, Richard. Hope you enjoy The Fall! It took a completely different direction then what I expected. During the day, the author is a scientist who writes for science papers, so I would be surprised if those aspects weren't well researched and true to the time period.

Sabrina wrote: "Richard wrote: Sabrina, I will check out the sequel now that you have enlightened me! I liked the scene in which she holds the dying woman knowing she is probably going to contract the cholera. I h..."

Wow, a scientist who writes mysteries! Now I will have to read The Fall. Thank you for the recommendation. Even with modern equipment and new culture media Bacteriology is still a labor intensive endeavor. I can appreciate the struggle in that time period to isolate a particular bacteria. The most exotic disease I have encountered was leprosy. I saw this in a 16 year old boy while I was setting up a blood bank in a missionary hospital in the Amazon jungle of Brazil.

Richard wrote: I can appreciate the struggle in that time period to isolate a particular bacteria. The most exotic disease I have encountered was leprosy. I saw this in a 16 year old boy while I was setting up a blood bank in a missionary hospital in the Amazon jungle of Brazil.

How interesting, Richard. Let me know what you find out on the subject. Totally off topic (and not entirely sure if it's true) but I recently learned that armadillos often carry leprosy. So yeah, don't eat armadillo roadkill...

Sabrina wrote: "Richard wrote: I can appreciate the struggle in that time period to isolate a particular bacteria. The most exotic disease I have encountered was leprosy. I saw this in a 16 year old boy while I wa..."

Sabrina, you are correct about the armadillos. I consulted an ancient tome of laboratory medicine (10th edition of Todd & Sanford) researching the answer to my cholera question. Not only is it possible but, there tucked between those dusty pages (cough, cough) were the instructions on the manufacturing of vaccines from pure cultures! They never mentioned that in lab school.

Very cool, Richard. Both that you took the time to confirm and found vaccine instructions in the old textbook. I don't think the vaccine for cholera had been discovered yet? The sequel to The Devil's Grin touches on germ warfare.

Lenore wrote: "Irrelevant shameless promotion!! My daughter's upcoming book now on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... !!"

Lenore, I had looked at this book before and was interested in it. Now it's definitely on my to-read list. Also, her first book sounds fascinating. You must be proud of such a talented daughter.

Kathy B. wrote: "...You must be proud of such a talented daughter."

You bet! Thanks very much!

farmwifetwo wrote: "Just an FYI.

"A Three Pines Mystery" is on tonight at 8pm EST on CBC television. It is a 2hr made for tv movie of the Louise Penny books.

http://www.cbc.ca/revenuegroup/cbc-tv......"

Thanks for the reminder, Sherri! I was able to watch it on the CBC player using Tunnelbear.

Did anyone catch it? I thought it was well done, and liked the the changes they made to the end scene. It's always odd seeing a favorite book turned into a movie. The characters are never how you envisioned them. I thought the actor who played Gamanche was great. But not sure why they made Mirna a skinny black woman and decided to slim down Oliver. He seems to be missing 100 pounds or so. Clara and Ruth weren't frumpy enough and Madame Gamanche was nothing like her description IMO.

farmwifetwo wrote: I didn't see it... but then again, my job in this house is only to know where the remote is, not to actually be allowed to use it... and no... not joking.

Aww, that is too bad, Sherri. Everyone should get some remote time if they want it in a family. :(

The TV adaptation was definitely enjoyable. I think 99% of the time TV/Movie adaptations don't live up to books, so like you indicated, it's pretty much expected. There are some wonderful exceptions though.

Shameless plug: If anyone interested is in New York City on Thursday, October 17th, my daughter will be reading and answering questions about her book, Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens?: Teaching Lessons from the Bronx, at 6 pm at the Columbia University book store on 115th and Broadway on the Upper West Side.

Sabrina wrote: "Thanks for the reminder, Sherri! I was able to watch it on the CBC player using Tunnelbear. "

Tunnelbear works on Canadian TV now??? Awesome! I was trying to get it to work to watch Lost Girl last year and ended up just buying the episodes on iTunes because it wasn't working =P

I'll maybe check this out. Perhaps I'll like it better in a different media format.

Erin wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "Thanks for the reminder, Sherri! I was able to watch it on the CBC player using Tunnelbear. "

Tunnelbear works on Canadian TV now??? Awesome! I was trying to get it to work to wa..."

Yes, it works for Canada, Erin! I'm crossing my fingers that Australia will be supported soon. I'm drooling over the pictures of Phryne Fisher Season 2.

farmwifetwo wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... - suggestions section.

Due to the current hoopla on goodreads... aka catering to the self-pub crowd and their inability to take critisism ..."

Booklikes reminds me of Tumblr, but for books. Transferring all your books over to Booklikes is a big job, Sherri.

I thought that Amazon/Goodreads was cracking down on some of the more dubious reviews? I think someone called it The Great Amazon Review Purge, where they got rid of a bunch of five star reviews that didn't ring true, or something like that. I did hear that Goodreads was deleting shelves, but I thought it was shelves with offensive/derogatory names. That seems odd that they would delete shelves without good reason.

Sabrina wrote: "farmwifetwo wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... - suggestions section.

Due to the current hoopla on goodreads... aka catering to the self-pub crowd and their inabilit..."

I heard about the deleting shelves with offensive/derogatory names (which I was totally fine with, personally; some of those shelf names were really screwed up and mean). Hadn't heard about the review purge. Well, I heard that people were freaking that it might happen (Amazon deleting bad reviews mostly), but not that it actually did. Goodreads staff have been emphasizing that they will not be deleting reviews unless there is something derogatory or inappropriate about them.

I thought I saw you on BookLikes, farmwifetwo. I set up my account there a couple of weeks ago. It's a nice site, I agree, but the lack of groups makes it more static than GoodReads. Not an entirely negative feature, given the current controversy. I am cplesley there, too, if anyone else joins.

The staff has deleted some reviews that were mostly about authors' behavior, as well as shelves that focused on authors' behavior. They also changed the Terms of Service and announced the change in the GoodReads Feedback group but not to the site as a whole. If you check that group, you can find out all you want to know (and probably more than you ever wanted to).

Erin wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "farmwifetwo wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... - suggestions section.

Due to the current hoopla on goodreads... aka catering to the self-pub crowd an..."

I'm not 100% certain about the review purge, but someone mentioned it on a thread, saying that some of her reviews for her book had been deleted, even though they were authentic reviews. It made her sad. I'm not really sure how they could tell the difference.

And yeah, some of those shelves that they deleted had really terrible names. I'm glad they cracked down on it. Bullying type stuff shouldn't be tolerated.

farmwifetwo wrote: "http://www.salon.com/2013/10/23/how_a...

A very good article on what has happened. It doesn't go into depth but they are right... I had ove..."

Interesting link, Sherri. Internet drama always makes me laugh. It reminds me of middle-school, but with adults.

This quote from the article about sums up my feelings: Many of the disillusioned reviewers feel burned and cautious about investing their efforts and content in a newer site like Booklikes, which may eventually face the same dilemma.

It looks like Booklikes has an option to import shelves from Goodreads too. That is kind of cool.

BookLikes is worth checking out. I imagine—but have no way to know, since I joined GR only last year—that it resembles Goodreads in the early days. And it is making great strides, although the concern that it will be scooped up if it becomes successful is justified.

The Salon article was very balanced and informative, so thank you for that link.

Just for the record, I was not involved in the flame war and in general think that was not the best way to handle a real problem posed by authors who seemed to feel entitled to five-star reviews. What bothers me is the way that Goodreads handled the problem, including the staff's willingness to abandon its previously stated policy with inadequate warning and no site-wide announcement. That, not the staff's decision to intervene, explains why I have reassessed how much, and in what ways, I want to provide information on this site.

I'm really just rolling my eyes at this whole mess. Yeah, the Goodreads mods reacted poorly, but I think it has less to do with Amazon and more to do with the fact that Goodreads has gotten big enough to be in journals like Salon. They got really bad press from that whole "reviewers are bullying me" article instigated by that one bad author and jumped in reaction. Not the best thing to do, maybe, but I can't say I was surprised.

I'm not even really sure what they could have done differently because it was such a lose-lose for the GR staff. One way it's "GR sits by while bullying takes place on it's site with inappropriate and offensive comments and shelf names," the other it's "GR censors users."

Reading about the escalations of those users supposedly fighting against GR censorship (And can their actions seen as anything other than poking the bear to get it riled? And then using the bear's aggravated swat back as proof that it's rabid and out of control?), I can't help thinking I'll be a lot happier when they all move to Booklikes and take their drama with them.

I don't have time to read all the posts, so I had no idea that this was happening. I don't think people should bully anyone. However, they should be required to make polite comments even if they are critical. I feel criticism can help a writer improve provided it's done respectfully.

I'm going to insert a shameless book plug here, with permission of course!

I just released my first novel A Thread in the Tangle. It's available through Amazon and Smashwords.com (other stores will follow soon).

Some of you might be familiar with my stories over at Letters_of_Mary Yahoo group and others might have read my short story Clash of the Books, which won LRK's National Library Week Writing Contest. But this is my very first novel, with my very own characters. And while 'A Thread in the Tangle' is in the fantasy genre, this book wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Letters_of_Mary community and LRK fans who helped to nurture an aspiring writer.

So if you should read my first novel, I hope you enjoy it.

Sabrina wrote: "I'm going to insert a shameless book plug here, with permission of course!

I just released my first novel A Thread in the Tangle. It's available through Amazon and Smashwords.com (other stores wi..."

CONGRATULATIONS!

It's in my kindle, Sabrina, waiting in the TBR queue! So excited!

Thank you! I'm very excited, but mostly terrified.

Just posted on another Goodreads group I visit:
PBS is showing a 2 hour special on Tuesday, December 17th - How Sherlock Changed the World. Sorry, I'm not sure how to post website links...

Funny bit of news that I thought I absolutely must share with my VBC friends. While at Bouchercon this year, I was stopped by an author who said he was also a journalist and was doing a brief article for United Airlines in-flight magazine on Bouchercon and he wanted to ask me some questions because I was "not really the usual demographic" for the con (by which he meant I was under 50, I think, since the Albany Bcon was weighted pretty heavily in that direction).

Anyway, long story short, I got an email this week confirming my details and the article should be out in the February edition of the mag. Neat, huh?!