Out to Dry
Sitting here amid wet clothes draped all over the house, waiting for my new dryer to be delivered. The old one conked out a couple of days ago, which is a major emergency in a house with five people. How did our grandmothers do it? I guess I could have strung a clothesline outside, but it's spring, and I have allergies and I'm not thrilled with the idea of pollen all over my clothes.
The final Grail King edits were out of here yesterday. Whew. Thank God. Now I can concentrate on Immortals: The Awakening, which is due in October. And at some point there will be edits on my contemp romance, Twenty-Nine and Counting, but since that doesn't have a firm release date yet, I'm not sure when those will arrive.
So what to blog about today? Thought I'd give a list of the books I've been reading lately. I have a pretty eclectic taste, so there should be something for everyone.
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (Pocket 1988 ISBN 0671742515) This book made me so sad that Douglas Adams died such an untimely death. The man had such an underhanded wit it's impossible not to be in awe of his talent. From the back cover: "When a passenger check-in desk at Heathrow Airprot disappears in a ball of flame, the explosion is deemed an act of God. But what god would be hanging around Heathrow trying to catch the 3:37 to
From the old, old, keeper shelf: Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan (Populalr Library, 1939) I happened to spot this gem in my basement while looking for something else, and I had to pull it out and read it. I read it as a teenager, but it had been lying around my parents house for a long time before I found it. It's so old the price was 35 cents! There's not even an ISBN. It's a beautiful little story about an artist and the woman who tries to travel through time to find him. Very unusual. I don't know if you can find it, but if you can, it's worth the effort.
Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare (Dorchester 2005 - ISBN 0843954876) I heard great things about this book so I bought it on Amazon. I loved the Colonial wilderness setting and the psychological authenticity of two wounded souls trying to heal each other.
An Earthly Knight by Janet McNaughton (Harper Torch 2003 - ISBN 0060089946) The title of this book is a line in the medieval Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, and this book is a modern retelling of the tale. I picked this up as part of my research of
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli (Simon Pulse 2000 - ISBN 0689870051) Another retold fairy tale. This book is a twist on the classic Beauty and the Beast tale, although most of the book is the Beast's early life as a man and the circumstances surrounding the curse that causes him to lose his humanity. Quite lyrical, and an interesting window into Persian and Islamic culture, as the Beast is portrayed as a Persian prince.
Anyone But You by Jennifer Cruisie (HQN 1996 - reissue - ISBN 0373771460) What can I say? Any Jenny Crusie book is like a chocolate bar - irresistible. Love those older women/younger man books, too. Can't wait to read Jenny's new book with Bob Mayer, Don't Look Down, but for some reason even though I preordered it on Amazon they put it on backorder. Grumble. I want it now!
Confessions of a Lingerie Addict by Jennifer Ashley (Dorchester 2005 - ISBN0505526360) A fun contemp about a female disc jockey hiding two lingerie personalities - one practical, white and cotton, the other wild, red and silky. I was chuckling all through this one. How can you resist a heroine who is constantly comparing herself to romance heroines and lamenting that book heroines never have to do mundane things like buy toilet paper? A light, quick, witty read.
Moon in the Water by Elizabeth Grayson (Bantam April 2004 - ISBN 0553584243) I must have picked this one up for free at RT last year, because I don't remember buying it. I don't usually read American set historicals (despite the fact that there are two on this list). But I'm a sucker for forced-into-marriage stories and this was a great one. The characters were wonderful and the descriptions of riverboat life on the
Until next Friday...
www.joynash.com
posted by Joy Nash | 4:45 PM
2 Comments:
Geeze, where have I been that I missed you starting a blog?
Just two comments for now, although I added you to my blog links so I'll be sure to drop in regularly now.
When you mentioned Confessions of a Lingerie Addict, it remined me of a conversation I had at work earlier this week with a co-worker and our manager. She mentioned pink camoflauge gear & he asked where you would ever use it. I said Victoria's Secret, which sent him into intense contemplation.
Happy belated Birthday! I'm an April kid too! I'm a taurus, though - b-day's today...managed to get a free slice of pie at Denny's. Later, I'm going to the zoo to see kangaroos. I'm astonishingly easy to please.
Hello Joy,
In telling a friend about Robert Nathan I was prompted to rediscover him, and read some of his that I had not read last time around(about 25 years ago), If you know the movie "The Preacher's Wife" a remake of the film based on his "The Bishop's Wife". He was into magic realism before the term was invented. I also liked Adams' Hitchhiker series and the non-series Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Now I am not a romance reader(my wife is) but I am a sucker for anything about the Grail and Arthur("Mists of Avalon" pops into mind as a do a host of others) so perhaps if I get her a copy and I read it? Hmm, I think she'd see through that. I will keep an eye out for it. And a Celtic saga, eh?
You may have gained a new reader.
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