You know when you read a book and it doesn’t make you feel good, it just feels like a chore? Or you’re educating yourself or something “worthy” like that? Well, trust me, COURTESAN is such a book. I can see it being read by the women’s book club where everyone pretends literary ambitions. So an exotic locale — Paris at the turn of the 20th century (I’d do it the French way but I haven’t figured out the extra characters yet) — with the mishmash of clashing cultures, in the land where “anything goes,” COURTESAN is the story of a young girl “trained” by her grandmother and mother to carry on the grand tradition of being a courtesan. Now, when I was younger and a college student, this would have been so romantic — women in charge of their financial and social position. Well, not quite social since “bad girls” only last as long as their protectors are in power. And sad too, since the bad girls still wish they knew their fathers and were accepted everywhere. So instead of a romantic read: revenge by the young wife on the murder of her Jewish husband in Persia, turning to the…

I had to finish up LIE BY MIDNIGHT so I could return it today which rearranged my reading schedule somewhat. Although, to be honest I didn’t have a “formal” schedule in mind. Sure, there were a few “homework” reads hanging around, but nothing really in the “must read now” category. LIE BY MIDNIGHT is the latest Amanda Quick and it is the second (or third) set in Victorian England. It’s a hard cover and probably available at your local warehouse store for a healthy discount. It’s reputed to have the last Master of Vandazia in it, although I’m confused. Is the hero the last master or was it his teacher? I’m glad Quick left the regency period because I’ve developed a strange fascination for the Victorian era, both in mystery and romance. I love Elizabeth Peters’ Peabody books and recently I’ve stumbled upon the Will Thomas mysteries with Cyrus Barker and his apprentice Thomas Llewelyn. Barker is also an “enquiry agent” and a master of “mysterious” eastern martial arts. Both his debut novel, SOME DANGER INVOLVED and his latest, TO KINGDOM COME, took me straight to the heart and contradictions of Victorian London and life. Whether we were exploring a…

A big weekend in Dallas for signings — tonight we have the Naughty Girls of Downtown Press. They’ll be signing at the Waldenbooks in Lewisville at 6pm and we’ll be going out after to talk about them. Yeah, we’ll be chatting about them and I’m already conflicted, but we’ll see. All their books are trade size, so this will either break the book budget or we’ll just smile nice. I heard LETHAL was very good, but I haven’t gotten it to read and the excerpt didn’t really grab me. However, I might take along my reading glasses and give it a look before making the BIG decision. Doing the sour grapes whine because as for most of us, money is tight and at $13 plus per book, book purchase decision is a BIG deal these days. When you spend as much as I do on books and read as fast as I do, getting one book versus two or three means that one book better be darned terrific! Besides, we’re doing dinner after and I’ll need a margarita after dealing with the traffic to get to Lewisville by 6pm! Timing is EVERYTHING. Back to the purchase dilemma — how are…

After my batch of exceedingly bad books over the weekend, I decided to cleanse the reading palate so to speak and take a wander into the death side of reading. Chortle. In other words, I picked up a mystery to read today. I didn’t want too much blood and mayhem, wanted something lighter but not totally fluff, hoped for a bit of romance, would settle for a relationship. Not too stringent requirements I thought, so I pulled out the latest Dead-End Job Mysteries by Elaine Viets. Okay, Okay, I saw it in the Borders on Sunday and bought it. And I’ve got this problem with books lingering unread in my house, so its time was up. The first book in the series SHOP UNTIL YOU DROP was amusing but just enough to establish the Viets name in my brain. Unfortunately, I missed the next two books — never heard when they were available or saw them in the stores — then at the signing on Sunday, the current book in the series JUST MURDERED was at the front tables and I decided to see if the series held up. Little did I know I’d need a change of pace! Helen…

Our tea group did the chick-lit thing yesterday — aren’t we just on the cusp? And what is that you may inquire or not, well, let me tell you. We met in one of the best people watching (and be seen) spots on McKinney Avenue for brunch (just like the best of the best in NYC, Dallas has a lively albeit smallish, action avenue), then we trooped (or trudged) in the heat down a couple of blocks to the Uptown Borders for a booksigning with a chick-lit author, followed by a cooldown, sitdown, gab session in the cafe. That’s the summary, so now to the details… Breadwinners Cafe is located on McKinney Avenue, with a trolley stop in front, and on a 11am Sunday morning was CROWDED with the beautiful Dallasites eating out on the shaded patios, sipping mimosas, peach bellinis, or leafy bloody marys, or hanging out waiting for a table and people-watching. The wait was interesting as we sat on the stone wall, waiting for our entire party to arrive. We saw our famous person of the day — Greg Fields — and his beautiful wife leaving. He looked like he’d had a great brunch. He’s a local…

Because if I’m not driving and the road isn’t too rough, I can READ!!!! Yup, we did a family road trip to Canton, to the huge flea markets there and in 90plus heat with tremendous humidity — oh, please let it rain — and not a breeze to be felt! Nothing particular to buy, but trying to hit it one time before the HEAT of summer. At least it wasn’t crowded, everyone else stayed home in the coolness. Had two books with me, well, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to read too much — an ARC of a NY Times bestseller-to-be and the new QuickBooks manual. Guess which one was more interesting? They were both filled with confusion, backtracking and obstruction, but at least I’ll get something out of the QB and it allows me to have a decent conversation with others. The ARC on the other hand, was painful to read and I’ll have to temper my opinion until it comes out this summer. ::sigh:: The author is obviously trying a new style of writing and geez was it painful! It showed all the plot holes, lack of research (or quality research) and a fundamental lack…

You know, sometimes you just don’t have a subtitle for a day’s topic and today my problem is I haven’t anything really exciting to share. Memorial Day weekend was spent with the family — I went to a funeral during the rain on Saturday, very appropriate weather I guess. It wasn’t bad because I never met the woman and it seems odd to meet at a funeral, but, it was important to go, so we went. Enough said, although I’ve never heard so much Willie Nelson before. So my reading for this part of the day consisted of finding the funeral home, reading the mapquest instructions and road signs. We did make it safely and in time for the event and didn’t get lost leaving. Two big pluses in my book. Then we traveled through a heavy North Texas down pour from Arlington to Richardson to meet the kiddos at the VW dealer. G wants a car by the end of summer, so she needed some impetus to save the money. Very interesting shopping for a car in a torrential rainstorm. I did get to read the marketing brochures for Jettas and Passats so didn’t totally waste my time. Another…

Or, why I sometimes like historical fiction more than anything else… I’m babysitting a script so I thought I’d take the time to ponder on yesterday’s reading since today my reading time was limited to menus and map directions. Had lunch with my friend and co-worker M today and as usual, we discussed our reading. She’s stuck on a book verging on chick-lit (not her favorite by any stretch of the imagination) and I was extolling the historical I stayed up MUCH too late to finish — EARTHLY JOYS by Philippa Gregory. Sometimes you just feel like reading a certain type of book, and the Tudor series by Philippa Gregory being reissued by Touchstone traces the stories of characters in Tudor England. Not necessarily the main well-known actors but fictionalizations to tell much more than the surface story. EARTHLY JOYS begins the story of the Tradescants, gardeners to the royals and their advisors. Also, by the by, the founders of one of the first museums as we know them (open to the general public, or anyone who could pay a small fee) today. Isn’t history interesting? Except for the “rape” or “whatever you want to call it,” I really enjoyed…

Our family made a trip to the cinema and saw Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, one of DC’s favorite books. Even though we were the only ones laughing, a fun time was had by all. So much, the dialogue is still being quoted. Marvin the paranoid android: “Life? Don’t talk to me about life!” Mouse 1: “Rubbish, we don’t want to be happy, we want to be famous!” If you have a chance, and the lines for the Star Wars are too long, check it out at your local theatre. Definitely a DVD purchase when it’s released. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Well, two good paranormal books down, I also read two historicals…MR. IMPOSSIBLE by Loretta Chase and THE CHASE by Cheryl Sawyer. (Enough “chase” in that sentence?). Loretta Chase has been a favorite historical romance author of mine for years — way too many to admit here. One of my very favorite historical romances is LORD OF SCOUNDRELS and I wish I could say that MR. IMPOSSIBLE was up there with the best of the best. But it’s probably not possible to hit homers every time. So, let’s start with the title. Good grief, who came up with that one? It is just not a good historical title and along with MISS WONDERFUL, Chase’s book from 2004 and the beginning of this series, the titles just don’t do it for me as a harbinger of a great historical book. Probably, just me, but once you get past the unfortunately modern sounding title (it just sounds like fluff to me) you’ll find a delightful book set in 1821 Egypt. Ah, an exotic land, filled with poverty and newly uncovered mysteries and treasures, fought over by warring Europeans and local tribesman. What a setting for a romance! Like Susan Squires’ THE COMPANION you…