The Reading Obsession

Whatever you're doing, it can wait. Read this immediately. 

I came across this recently and thought it was a very well thought out and very eloquent letter about the recent changes on Goodreads. As I was reading I was applauding what she had to say.

 

 

 

With the way things have been going on that site, I decided to reblog it here so that if it were to be deleted, it wouldn't be lost forever.  

 

From the keyboard of Leah Raeder:

This list is in no way comprehensive, just a collection of blog-posts talking about Authors Behaving Badly. I did not include amazon- or GR-Reviews because a) there are far too many and b) often comments or whole reviews get deleted and in the end everything looks highly confusing and nobody knows what was actually going on. I simply don't have the time to check all these reviews to see what still makes sense for people who haven't been following them from the beginning.

 

• John Asht (German)
• James Austen
• Janet Dailey
• Melissa Douhit
• Robin Wyatt Dunn
• Cassie Edwards
• Eftos Epos (German)
• Victoria Foyt
• Emily Giffin
• Alison Gilmore
• Kendall Grey
• Jac D. Hawkins 1 | 2 | 3
• Lauren Howard/Lauren Pippa: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
• Jacqueline Howett
• Mike Kearby
• Victoria Laurie
• Stephen Leather
• Elle Lothlorien
• Deborah Anne MacGillivray
• Jessica Park

Robert Stanek

Jon Stock

Eve Thomas 1 | 2 | 3

Robert Clarke Young 1 | 2

 

 

Other Blogs/Blogposts of Interest

Behind the STGRB-Files

Stop the STGRB-Bullies

RaceFail 09

 

These are just some cases I know about because I followed discussion about this kind of author-behaviour. I'm sure there's more. If you know of any other links you think belong on this list (or think one of those links is inaccurate) drop a comment.

 

 [Reblogged from the Armchair Librarian]

I'll read the next books in the series, just to see if it gets better.

A certain site thinks they should take a shot every time I say, "What the actual fuck." That's cute, but not the best way to get smashed. I don't say it that often, and that's a lot of time spent sober in between drinks.

 

Here's a better idea:

 

Let's take a shot every time a butthurt SPA says or does something stupid that hurts their career - and then blames it on someone else!

 

Actually, no, that's a terrible idea. You'll get alcohol poisoning before the hour is through.

Find the review and more at http://www.thereadingobsession.blogspot.com

 

Three-point-five stars rounded up to four

 

ARC received from Netgalley. This review is not biased in any way. There was no money, gifts, discounts, or favors exchanged for this review.So, I <i>might</i>&nbsp;like historical romance. Especially the 1400s-1800s.&nbsp;<i>Might</i>. And I <i>might</i>&nbsp;completely love witch books. I blame it on <i>Charmed</i>. Sadly, a lot of witch books are horrible. Sort of like angel books. And I <i>might</i>&nbsp;love European accents. Well, that's a given. <i>Of course</i>&nbsp;accents are amazing. To girls, anyway. After seeing the covers and the publisher, I decided I definitely had to get it. This is a reason I love Netgalley so much. You find all these new books, and if they suck, you didn't have to pay any money for them!

 

Meg Lytton is an apprentice to her aunt, a witch. She struggles in some spells, like any normal student would. Meg is a servant to Elizabeth, who was outcast because of suspicion of threats to her sister, the queen of England. Alejandro de Castillo is a priest in the making from Spain. He and another priest were sent to convert Elizabeth. Now, Meg can only practice her witchcraft in the extremest secrecy, or else she'll be hanged.

The characters of <i>Witchstruck</i>&nbsp;could have been written better. My favorite kind of books are character-driven ones, instead of being plot-driven.

<i>Witchstruck</i>&nbsp;was part of both. If the characters had been more developed, I would have liked it a lot more. Meg was never certain of her mind, which I really didn't like. That being said, I enjoyed the characters. They just didn't completely seem real.

The love story between Alejandro and Meg is gradual in development, right up until the end. I've found this in many books: the romance is completely well paced, until a chapter or two before the end, when the author feels like it is necessary for them to completely love each other forever and ever and ever.

 

There's a lot of telling, rather than showing, which annoyed me a lot. Readers probably won't be as annoyed as I was, though.

 

This novel had an interesting plot, and I felt that it was well-paced. Some parts could have used more detail, but overall, it was very well written.

 

I'm planing to read the next book, as well as more of the author's works. I'm hoping this series gets better, as it has a lot of potential, but isn't amazing at being well executed.

OMG! Karina Halle, you are a cruel cruel woman to tease me by posting the first chapter of Bold Tricks. Gah! I don't know what to do! I desperately want to read it, but I can't deal with waiting for Bold Tricks to release. I know if I read it, I'll re-read it over and over until I've memorized the first chapter word for every fucking word. 

ETA: Crap! I read it and I need more!!!!

Three-point-Five Stars, Rounded up to FourARC received from Netgalley. This review is not biased in any way. There was no money, gifts, discounts, or favors exchanged for this review.Hey look! There's an YA book where the love story doesn't completely take over the entire plot!I found Heartbeat on Netgalley, and since it's by one of my favorite publishers, I decided to request it. When I got accepted, I started reading it immediately.Emma's mother is brain dead, but pregnant. In fact, she should be dead, but is being kept alive by machines. Her step-father believes that Emma's brother should be born, but Emma believes that he shouldn't.Emma meets a boy named Caleb, who used to be a drug user and car thief. There's a slow development of romance between them, but is rushed towards the end.I didn't like the fact how Emma kept trying to get into fights with her step-father throughout most of the book. It seems like she didn't understand that he was going through grief, too.Heartbeat is a very short book, and it only takes around an hour to read, but it is filled with controversial issues.I'd recommend this for fans of Jodi Picoult and those who want a short and sweet novel.

Find this review and more at http://www.thereadingobsession.blogspot.comARC received from Entangled Publishing. This review is not biased in any way. There was no money, gifts, discounts, or favors exchanged for this review.I should hate this. I should rant and rave about how it's just another angel book, and how it's so predictable, and all things like this. But for some absurd reason, I love it.The sad thing about the summary is how it gives away half the book. It's nothing too hard to guess, once you start reading, but it gives out too much information for a few paragraphs.Lily is a Nephilim, the daughter of a Fallen angel and a mortal. She's part of a society called the Sanctuary, which are a group other Nephilims dedicated to destroying the Fallen and their followers. Ever since she was sixteen, a fallen angel named Julian has been following her. He's saved her life multiple times, but she still doesn't trust him, since according to the Sanctuary, all Fallen are bad.Lily and Julian are two characters that wouldn't be interesting alone, but when they're paired up, they're amazing. They're carefully developed, and they seem "real" to me, and probably to all other readers.Lily is like many other of Armentrout's characters: tough, but at the same time, extremely sweet and kind. A thing I really love about her is that she doesn't immediately trust Julian just because he's pretty. She doesn't want to get herself killed, and she's understandably cautious around him.Julian is a mix of Hunter and an older Daemon. He's extremely protective, possessive, and predatory, like other Urban Fantasy characters, but Jennifer makes him seem real.The world building was extremely realistic, but I can't get rid of the feeling that this is an older version of the Covenant. However, I still loved the detail of the Sanctuary and the normal world.I've stated above how some parts were predictable. However, others weren't. For example, the identity of the antagonist is cleverly hidden until the reveal.There is something that annoyed me, though. Jennifer seems to have an obsession with eyes, especially on the main characters. Lily's eyes are pale green, Daemon's, from the Lux series, are a vibrant green, Aiden's, from the Half-Blood series, are silver, and the list goes on. This probably won't irk other readers, since many of my friends seem to love this aspect of the characters, but it is something that I wouldn't mind toning down.I also would have liked more background to both Lily and Julian. There seems to be so many hidden secrets, and I would have liked it if there was just a little more information.Overall, this novel was amazing, as I would expect from Jennifer Armentrout. I demand the next book immediately. But since that probably won't happen, I have a Mission-Impossible-like plan of breaking into Jennifer's house from the roof and stealing her flashdrive I mean- I'll be anxiously awaiting it for the next year.

Based on the title, I'm going to guess this one's about virgin necrophilia? Am I right?

I hate those author's notes that are like, "This is completely sexy and you're going to love it." I mean, there are honest warnings, and there are annoying warnings. This is one of them.

I like this title. It sounds like a place I'd visit.

I might read this just to mock it.