Quirky Musings

An appalling and mesmerising train wreck and beautifully tragic.

I Am Not Myself These Days is a raw and powerful glimpse into Josh Kilmer-Purcell's life, rich with humour, vodka and glittered drag queens. Through the eyes of Josh and his drag queen counterpart, Aqua, a story of horrific, cringe-worthy wince-inducing fuck ups is told, laced with even more fucked up humour. And although I did not entirely enjoy Kilmer's prose at times, I could not tear my eyes away, even through the involuntary flinches that came as the story unravelled. But above all that, it was the painfully, beautifully destructive love between the misfits that were Josh, Aqua and Jack that truly enthralled me. The three of them stole my heart and broke it; even as I cradle the shattered, jagged pieces, I know that I will never forget the love that was formed and eternalised in the glittering high rises and square square boxes of New York City.

Rating: I cannot help but flounder in this section. I did not enjoy it-- it gave me little joy-- but it hypnotised me and swept me away and crushed me. So I will leave with a tenuous 3.5 stars, but that rating is as inconsistent as the flickering starlight scattered across the night sky.

Edit: *groan* I slip into purple prose when I'm emotional... Sorry.

I asked my husband, an IT professional with over 10 years of experience, to give me an unbiased look (or as unbiased as he could get) into the latest fuckery from Goodreads Vs. Booklikes. He wrote me the following to post here. Be warned, he's kind of a shitty writer (I love you, Jon!)

The second installment in the series, Strength of the Wolf revisits one of my favourite couples and a dearly remembered world, this time in the perspective of Tim and following his romance. This was a novel I enjoyed a lot, but I confess I'm guilty of constantly comparing it to the first one-- to which I found it didn't quite match up.

The setting of the novel was as intriguing as ever; reading about how the military is attempt to completely integrate werewolves and utilise their skills effectively is fascinating as well as observing all of the pack dynamics from not only Noah, but also Jeremy, a fledgling true alpha still trying to learn the ropes of his position.

Having fond memories of Tim from the first novel, I was excited to find out that he was getting his own novel and love, but I admit it threw me off a little. Previously we saw him as a steady, implacable well of knowledge and calm authority, so I admit reading in his perspective completely disoriented me, especially when he as constantly checking Lucas out in the beginning and describing him and Noah as attractive... Strange, to say the least. I suppose it was a rocky transition from seeing him as a mentor to reading about his .... dangly parts -- doing what dangly parts do.

In regards to Jeremy, our other main character and Tim's love interest, I admit I'm not completely sold on him. I did find him lovely after a while, yet he was still so unfamiliar; I felt as if even at the end of the novel we were never truly able explore his character intimately. Speaking of characters though: revisiting Lucas and Noah and their lovely lovely relationship, especially in the eyes of an outsider, was such a treat. And all of the supporting characters were likeable and interesting.

This leads on to my other point, which was the lacklustre romance. One of the biggest problems in this novel, in my humble opinion, hah, was the lack of interaction. Jeremy is a civilian true alpha, and as McKenna was not only writing in the POV of a Marine but also determined to keep the military side-plot occurring concurrently to the romance, there was a lack of detail between the Tim and Jeremy which left me unsatisfied and dubious of their love. In the previous novel there was balance as both were Marines and romantic development could occur simultaneously to the military plot, however in this case I feel as if there was a missing piece in the cake that I really really really wanted to fucking eat.

This issue, of course, mirrors that of reality, however the issue was unresolved in the novel. They still fell into true-love with little difficulty. I wanted to see interaction and development. I wanted to see them together. Honestly, precious development time was lost because they were fucking like bunnies on Viagra. When they did interact it was pure magic though. Not only that, I think it would've been more productive to ignore the military side because really, there were three plots going on with little expansion: Jeremy becoming true alpha and growing as a character (which was totally skimmed over...), military plot, romance plot.

Anyway, in spite of all my nitpicking and such I did enjoy this novel. Admittedly not as much as the first (still guilty about the constant comparison) but it as lovely and charming and damn was the little threads of plot interesting as hell. I'm hoping with fingers crossed for another book since there was a potential plot material slipped into this novel.

Rating: 3.5 - 3.75 solid read

Stupid plot, stupid excuses for non-con and drama, stupid characters (fuck do I want to kill them all off, except for Caylax) and yet insanely compelling. Probably could give you more intense highs (and lows) than the drugs scattered throughout the book.

Link of interest: http://www.juxtaposefantasy.net/ Scroll down further and there are stories in AU that'll dampen cravings. Though book 4 and onward aren't published, there are books posted on there that seem to be of later novels as well.

I probably won't continue until another book is published (book 3 is already published).

Rating: 2.5 stars

Fearless Leader seems to be an intriguing mix of various elements from different series I've read (and not read). It's a fast paced novel and truly lives up to that, because boy did it go by fast. I don't think I've read 207 pages quicker than I did this (which does make me doubt that figure). 

In starting the novel, I admit I crinkled my nose slightly. The writing was mediocre and stilted and difficult to look past, especially since  I hadn't been given a chance to immerse myself into the story (and ignore the writing). The opening scene, a nightmare (which I'm sure sure have been incredibly gripping), left my eyes rolling and me sagging in the chair. Thankfully, for both you and me, the book picked up, especially in the last quarter of book.

The main characters Black and Starr were both fucked in the head and (not to be crude or anything) but in the body as well. Literally. It's curious because I find myself stumbling upon this fucked-over-by-life-and-still-gonna-be-snarky character more often now. I saw it in ICoS, in Shattered Glass and probably a few other titles that have slipped my mind. Calyx strongly resembled Sin at times. Interesting. Anyway, just to give a broad, overarching view of the characters: most of them were fucking jackasses. The only one I've consistently liked is Calyx, and even he needs a punch in the gut sometimes. Several times. Regularly. I'm not even going to talk about Black. I've already read the the sequel (one after other; read: addictive) and so things are blurring. But goddamn, the author just needs to stop piling on fucked-up-mystery after mystery and angsty past tidbits on him. Stop.

The plot was so-so but I definitely think this will pick up in the next few books. Something I find extremely distasteful is how much dub-con and non-con and everything of the ilk is thrown around. Now, like all others *snort*, I do enjoy the occasional dub-con or non-con or such, but I do dislike it when it's just littered everywhere, even if it is essential to the plot and characters. Sometimes, I think certain scenes and developments really aren't necessary, especially since it seems more forced than anything. Oh god, I should not have used the word 'forced'. Pun unintended.

Anyway.

Although I'm not exactly singing praises and skipping down the street in joy I will say this: Juxtapose City is addictive. It's hot, it's fast, and you can't help but be swept in by the gush of fuckery and jackasses and inane plots and depravity of it all. 

Rating: a wishy washy 3 stars. Not more, but maybe less.

By default, visitors to your Shelf page will initially see your books sorted by the date they were added, with the most recently added books first.  Want to change the initial sort order for your shelf page, for instance to show your most recently read books first?  Here's how:

1. Navigate to your template customization page (Settings -> Blog -> Customize).

2. Edit the template html for your Blog page, and add the following to the end of the element, right above the tag:

3. Save your changes.

4. Return to the template customization page, and scroll to the bottom of the settings pane.  You should see two new settings, 'Shelf Sort By' and 'Shelf Sort Order'.  Choose the sort order options your prefer, for instance 'Date Read' and 'Descending' and save the settings.

5. Edit the template html for your Blog page, locate the following:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



and edit it to read:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



6. Save your changes.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for your Timeline, Followings/Followers and Page pages.

8. Edit the template html for your Shelf page, locate the following:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



and edit it to read:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



9. Save your changes.

And you're done!  Visitors to your shelf page will see your books initially sorted in the order you've chosen.  If you want to change the order, you can now do so via the 'Shelf Sort By' and 'Shelf Sort Order' settings on your template customization page.

Does this sound familiar?

Irate authors upset over critical reviews call

reviewers at home, send harassing emails,

threaten legal actions, and put  a bounty

on exposing a critic's identity

It sure does, and it is nothing new. In 2001 Maria Russo wrote the following article, and it is a frightening reminder of how so little has changed. If anything, due to social media, the landscape is far worse. Reviewers are no longer just from major publications, and authors are no longer just from the big publishing houses.

But one thing is for certain, 'authors behaving badly' is nothing new.  And yes, we are now seeing a wave of 'reviewers behaving badly' as well, most often to defend themselves against these attacks. The internet offers today's critic a voice that reviewers in the past didn't have: social media.

So for those who continually say "I have never seen an author attack a reviewer!", wake-up and read for yourself.  And for those who believe critic's can be silenced by these egregious tactics, guess again.

................................................................................................................

By Maria Russa March, 2001

No author enjoys getting a bad review, and it’s probably especially irritating to read a slam of your book in Publisher’s Weekly, the book industry’s trade journal, because P.W. reviews are unsigned, so you can’t even conjure an image of your adversary. Last week, Jaime Clark, a first-time novelist who was reviewed negatively in P.W., decided to take matters into his own hands: In an e-mail sent to a list of literary editors, Clark offered to pay $1,000 to anyone who would tell him the name of the reviewer. “You need not reveal your identity to collect this bounty,” he assured his potential Judas, “but you must be able to substantiate your information.”

>> Read the full article

I don't think I'm cut out for Sci-fi.

Alpha Trine was a somewhat fun but mediocre read for me-- one that would be better appreciated by someone else, I believe. Lexi Ander has crafted an intricate and intriguing vision of the world in the far away future (I can't really say 'alternate-world' since, well, who knows, we may be traipsing across the galaxy as one of the most hated species in the universe sometime in the future...). There is a multitude of alien races introduced to us, complete with sufficiently mind-boggling descriptions, and some very interesting threads of connection are drawn between some races through the history of the universe we are told. As much as I appreciated the complex world and its history, I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. The writing wasn't captivating and my poor mind could barely comprehend all of the Sci-fi esque machinery descriptions, explanations about the pact and visualise these bizarre aliens.

But anyway, something that really bugged me was Alpha. I just-- GAH it frustrates me because even now I'm not sure how to imagine him, let alone in a bloody ménage. Having sex. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Alpha is a moving puddle of goo. Someone please correct me. I believe I'm very open about love, and should love come your way in the form of some extraterrestrial being, I can wholeheartedly encourage you to go for it. But it's-- it's difficult to fathom.

Summary of thoughts before I blab more about Alpha:

- the romance was slightly flat and uninspiring 
- the plot and history could sometimes be confusing (aka, I don't understand Sci-fi one bit)
- the family love was so beautiful *wipes tear*
- didn't enjoy writing
- I love kitties. Dargon was kinda a kitty. *squeal*

Overall this novel wasn't for me, but it was still enjoyable at times. I may or may not move on to the next book. I'm curious what will happen but I didn't enjoy this book enough to have a burning need to continue.

My first review here, will be posted soon, yay! Okay maybe it's not so exciting.

But anyway, a story of my stupidity first:

I'm not very tech savvy, and I do have my moments where intelligence is some far away ideal. One of these moments was in regards to the 'sync to Goodreads' option. I was so damn excited to find that there was such an option, and immediately bounced off to activate it with eager anticipation.

Upon doing that I thought, "Hey, I've got a review to write.. Why not try it now?" (cue goofy, excited grin). And so I set off to write one. On Goodreads.

I'm sure you can see where I went wrong. 

Review posted, I hopped onto Booklikes only to find, in my utter despair, that my review didn't sync.

It took a long time to figure that dilemma out. *hands head in shame* Looking back now, I realise that there is absolutely no logic in allowing reviews written on Goodreads to sync onto Booklikes like some tacky hand-me-downs. *strokes screen* I'm sorry Booklikes.

Enjoy a bit book humor everyone

I went to the book store earlier to buy a 'Where's Wally' book. When I got there, I couldn't find the book anywhere. Well played Wally, well played.

...................................................

A blog post, in response to some of this recent book reviewer ruckus.

It’s Batch Edit time on BookLikes Shelves.

Use batch edit to make the same edits to many books at the same time. Now you can update reading status, change shelves and remove from your Shelf multiple books at one go.

The entrance to new admin view of your book collection is on admin Shelf page (click upper navigation bar). Once you press Table view, you’ll be moved to your table-organized book collection where you can select several books or all of them and move them to particular shelves, add review, date or change reading status in two seconds. You can also use multi remove option. 

To keep your books organized you can create thematic shelves and keep a single book on many shelves. This helps in organizing your book collection, especially when it’s big and diverse. You can also add missing book covers to green books which lack images as well as add books manually when you don’t find them is a book search box.

This is so full of awesome, go ahead and read!