Guess what I got for Christmas….
When I posted that m/m fiction was one of my best discoveries for 2008, I added some comments about one of the first m/m romances I had read (Rough Canvas by Joey W. Hill) and how it is now a fave of mine. Thea asked me if I would recommend it as a novel to try out this genre and, as much as I loved it, I replied I didn’t think I would (m/m and BDSM together might be a bit full on for a first timer… hmmm, sounds like I’m giving out sexual advice lol), but would have a think and come up with some recommendations for m/m (fiction) virgins.
First, a warning: If you are offended by homosexuality for whatever reason you shouldn’t try this type of fiction because (obviously) you will not like it. If you are open-minded, curious and a fan of romance fiction – as I was/am -, I would definitely suggest you try reading m/m romance. If you are still a bit hesitant, read this post by Wave. It gives some insight into why readers have come to like this genre so much.
Second, the books below are straight m/m (ie no girl involved with two guys in a ménage) so it’s sink or swim for newbies.
Third, it’s romance; of course there are sex scenes… enjoy!
Fourth, these are all stories I have taken great pleasure in and have re-read a number of times. I have provided links to reviews (nope, still too lazy to do these myself) for anyone interested in reading what others thought.
Now, without further ado, here are a four recommendations for m/m first timers~
Caught Running by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux (contemporary): A great story about a geek and a jock, who now teach and coach at their old high school, dealing with their preconceptions about each other, discovering the people behind the ‘facade’ and falling in love. Reviewed by Sarah here.
Without Reservations by J L Langley (contemporary paranormal): Another of the first m/ms I read, which explores the building of a relationship within the context of different kinds of prejudice and with a little bit of danger thrown in! Reviewed by Wave here.
No Going Home by T A Chase (contemporary western): There are a number of stories in this genre about prejudice against homosexuality. This one I particularly liked because the courage and strength of the characters are beautifully portrayed. Reviews here.
True of Heart (The Draegan Lords Book 1) by M L Rhodes (fantasy): This one is for the fantasy fans, who have a soft spot for dragons as well as soul mates finding each other against the odds. *sigh* Reviewed by Wave here.
Most of the book title links go to the All Romance eBook website. You can buy them directly from the publishers, but I thought I’d link to a one-stop shop which also happens to give you a discount whenever you buy 10 books. Tis the season for giving after all. *grin* Another great ebook store is Fictionwise; they do discounts too!
If you do end up trying out m/m romance by reading any of the above feel free to drop me a line to either abuse me for (a) recommending crap or (b) giving you another outlet to spend your hard-earned $$.
Coming up with these books was a lot harder than I thought so I’m interested to know, if you read m/m, what would you recommend to a virgin of this genre?
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
As everyone seems to be doing ‘best of 2008s’, I thought I’d join in on the fun and list mine as well. Of course, if you hadn’t already guessed, I love me a list so it takes very little to prompt me to make one. (It’s an OCD thing.)
This is one of the first m/m romances I ever read and became a ‘keeper’.
One of my fave m/m covers for 2008. Artist Anne Cain is super cool.
and last, but DEFINITELY not least,
Why; because I’m still avoiding reviews like the plague.
Last weekend my Mumma and I braved the hordes of Christmas shoppers and squeeing teenagers to see the Twilight movie. Much annoyance was avoided by paying out the dosh to sit up in the back section with the luxurious couches, hot food and, most importantly, alcohol.
So, besides being thoroughly entertained by an intellectual debate over the difference between twilight, dusk and dawn that I overheard, what did I think of the movie? Hmmmm…
Maybe I should start by saying that I LOVE Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. I thought the next two – New Moon and Eclipse – were good, but Breaking Dawn… maybe it was just me, but, on top of everything else, who didn’t see the Jacob’s mate thing coming a mile away?
Anyway, the first book is my favourite and I have re-read it a number of times, which meant my expectations were pretty high for the big screen adaptation. So, what did I think?
I was, and still am, conflicted. Overall I thought it was good, yet some of the acting didn’t do a thing for me; hence my ‘it was good and crap at the same time’ opinion, which has nothing to do with me being a Libran – this time.
Besides the Ken and Barbie Cullens, what didn’t I like about the acting? My Mumma – damn English teacher making me analyse stuff when I finished high school a gazillion years ago – made me think about what it was specifically I didn’t like and I finally worked in and around my disappointment to decide it was the portrayal of Bella.
*’Yes, but what about Bella?’ sayeth the English teacher.*
Simply put, I didn’t believe that Movie Bella was Book Bella.
Although I still can’t put my finger on it exactly, I think (for me) Movie Bella was too, well, young and more like a teenager whereas Book Bella is this very mature, almost strangely serene person. The times Movie Bella worked for me were generally when Movie Edward was in the scene and the fascination and anticipation vibes between the two came across very well indeed.
I must admit that I haven’t read any reviews of the movie by book fans. Maybe I should go and see what others thought? Or maybe I can just be really lazy – hey, it’s early Monday morning and I need more coffee – and see if anyone leaves a comment telling me what they thought? Sounds like a better plan to me.
In all serious though, I think we probably all have at one time or another been guilty of making generalisations and judgments about people, their actions and beliefs. I know I have certainly done it. I also think a lot of us, me included, are inclined to define ourselves by what we are not. Unfortunately – and this is something I hope I don’t do – some people take this to the extreme of complacently dismissing others ‘outside’ their own rather neatly defined circle.
Stereotyping in this way never ceases to amaze and annoy me. It has always struck me that it is both arrogant and naive at the same time. Arrogant because it assumes that the lofty position from which the person is making these repudiations is the most legitimate; and, naive because such generalisations do not acknowledge in realistic terms the complexity of the world in which we live and the people who live in it.
I do wonder when people pit their like against someone else’s like whether they realise they are perpetuating the concept of there being a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ position. I must admit I am always amused when such people have to later scramble to cover their arses after the hypocritical nature of their comments is pointed out to them.
Given my personality, it is probably no surprise the exclusiveness of stereotypes is an aspect which particularly riles me. That is, the implication if you like one thing you can only like that one thing to the detriment of all other things.
The latter is the main point of this ramble and is an issue that came to mind after the discussion about urban fantasy, paranormal romance, etc, which first appeared in an article by Lilith Saintcrow at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist followed by some thought provoking responses at The Book Smugglers and at Babbling about Books & More to name a few.
I don’t understand why or how reading and enjoying one sub-genre means you appear to be restricted to only liking that type of fiction. I find it annoying and insulting when someone tells me who or what I am because I like or agree with something.
To me, this dismissive type of argument also smacks of elitism, especially when you consider we are living in a world where literacy is an issue and audio visual media dominates. So quite frankly, and this is the bottom line for me, who gives a fuck what people are reading as long as they are and they’re enjoying it!
On the other hand, my balancing act could be put down to a case of multi-genre personalities brought on by schizofictionia.
Either that or it’s because I’m Libran.
*Don’t fence me in*
(subtitle: Kris demonstrates how blogger can be a useful tool for procrastination)
Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors of all time.
The extent to which I adore his work is proven by the fact that I never wait for the paperback editions of his books (I’m patience personified for all other authors I read/keep). I always, always buy him in hard cover; cost is not an issue for me when it comes to the great TP.
For those of you, who are not familiar with his Discworld series here is a snippet written by him which I appropriated from his website:
Welcome to the Discworld. It started out as a parody of all the fantasy that was around in the big boom of the early ’80s, then turned into a satire on just about everything, and even I don’t know what it is now. I do know that in that time there’s been at least four people promoted as “new Terry Pratchetts” so for all I know I may not even still be me.
You may have already guessed my most-loved Christmas-type story is one written by TP entitled Hogfather.
The blurb:
It’s the night before Hogswatch. And it’s too quiet.
There’s snow, there’re robins, there’re trees covered with decorations, but there’s a notable lack of the big fat man who delivers the toys…
He’s gone.
Susan the governess has got to find him before morning, otherwise the sun won’t rise. And unfortunately her only helpers are a raven with an eyeball fixation, the Death of Rats and an oh god of hangovers.
Worse still, someone is coming down the chimney. This time he’s carrying a sack instead of a scythe, but there’s something regrettably familiar…
HO. HO. HO.
It’s true what they say.
‘You’d better watch out…’
TP is an extraordinarily clever writer and this book is a very enjoyable parody of Santa Claus and other tales.
It was adapted to television in 2006, but I’ve yet to see it so don’t know if it was good or bad… hee, hee… get it?? Well, I thought it was funny.
Anyway, here is an image from that show, which just happens to be a great visual of one of my fave Discworld characters:
Death as Santa… you gotta love the imagination of someone who comes up with that.
PS – Wow, I say ‘you gotta love’ a lot, don’t I? See this is why I don’t aspire to be a writer cos coming up with words is just way too hard. Maybe I can change my blog name to ‘you gotta love’ and use it as a snazzy catch phrase… hmmmm *ponders*…
I’m feeling (only slightly) guilty for the unscheduled rant I inflicted on everyone yesterday so I thought I would attempt to make it up to you all.
I also figure there are some of you out there who may be feeling a bit blue; whether it be from family stuff to do with the holidays, economy crisis stuff to do with not being able to buy all the books you want (go here for some links to free reads) or work stuff to do with people and their stupid questions, and are in need of a serious cheering up.
If any of the above applies, this recommended read is for you:
I have all of the books in SL’s Magnus Pack and Pride series and, when I’m in the mood for something that will (still) make me laugh, I have a tendency to re-read one of her books.
Her stories can be read stand alone, but because I’m completely anal I CANNOT in all honesty find it in me to suggest jumping in part way through a series… sorry, it’s just plain WRONG!
So, if the above intrigued you, my recommendation is you hit Samhain Publishing next to see if you like the blurb and excerpt from the first book in the Magnus Pack series, Pack Challenge.
My fave so far is The Beast In Him , which is the second book in the Pride series. (This series is published by Kensington Brava.)
You gotta love a heroine, who is not only the Alpha of her own pack and a total geek, but leads her hero around by his cute, snarly nose.
If this doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, don’t buy it because you probably won’t like it. If it’s right up your alley, I guarantee – not in a money back kind of way though – it will have you in stiches!
… *snort* as if there is anything regular about the random stuff on this blog, but I seriously need to have a quick rant and no family members are available at the minute so that means the invisible masses cop it.
Yes, I’m a researcher and, yes, I specialise in historical research. This does not mean that I can pull so-called historical facts and links out of my arse.
I swear to God some of the questions I get asked to investigate are so friggin off the planet (not to mention the project itself) I might as well be researching the question ‘what is Goofy?’ Un-fucking-believable!
Deep breaths, Kris, deep breaths…
Ok, thanks for listening, I’m done. Back to work.
It’s Christmastime in Boston, and this year the silver bells will be wedding bells as FBI agent Jules Cassidy ties the knot with the man of his dreams, Hollywood heartthrob Robin Chadwick.
 | Kayla on tasting ‘a note in the… |
 | Marcus Roche on maybe it’s me, but… |
 | ouaqquwcgk on my confession |
 | dkmhwgijnw on random awesomeness |
 | Kris on maybe it’s me, but… |
Kris + Books = Good. *Sometimes*. 
