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I know. I really get tired of back stories. Frankly, I think each book should stand alone on its merit even if the reader has never read an earlier work -- or read them all. That's just me.
I just get tired of the back stories when I've just read the book(s) it came from. It's like "Yeah, I know. I just read that. Get to the point." And then there are times an obscure reference is made to a previous book and I'm thinking "Huh? Where'd that come from?!"
I do agree about them being stand alone though. I like a series that propels me forward naturally, not one that forces me to read the next book.
Given that "Jack and Jill" wasn't (and still isn't) available from the libraries, I'm now reading "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer" by O.J. Simpson. Don't judge me.
Regarding backstory -- ugh. When it's done as an "info dump" in stand alone novels, it shows the lack of storytelling skills in the writer. When backstory is given in a series because a reader may have jumped into the middle of the series, it's even more irritating. Don't annoy your regular readers with backstory for the sake a few that are dumb enough not to start with the first book. If it can be done in a sentence or two, that's fine. But, if it takes half a page, it's annoying. Besides, anyone who jumps into a series in the middle of it would hopefully expect not to know or understand a few things.
I just finished listening to: "Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire," by Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian
Next up on my audio list: "For the Time Being," by Annie Dillard; read by Tavia Gilbert
I ordered from the library based on your review. Always wanted to read Chomsky. I still haven't finished the couple Howard Zinn books I have.
Annie Dillard is also on my "to read" list.
I have the cat one on my TBR list and put The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit) by Lilian Jackson Braun on reserve at my library,and today picked up one of the dog-show themed ones by Laurien Berenson.Hot Dog (A Melanie Travis Mystery)
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit) by Lilian Jackson Braun
I also picked up...Pies and Prejudice (A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery) by Ellery Adams
The Cat Who... series is what got me into cozy mysteries in the first place. Love 'em. Have you ever heard the audio book of one? EXCELLENT! Superbly read!
I read Pies and Prejudice. I did like it but, by the end of the book, I'd had my fill of that series. I love a good culinary cozy but I like them enchantING more than having things enchantED. Witches, vampires and the supernatural aren't my style.
The Cat Who... series is what got me into cozy mysteries in the first place. Love 'em. Have you ever heard the audio book of one? EXCELLENT! Superbly read!
I read Pies and Prejudice. I did like it but, by the end of the book, I'd had my fill of that series. I love a good culinary cozy but I like them enchantING more than having things enchantED. Witches, vampires and the supernatural aren't my style.
No, I haven't heard any of the Cat Who books on audio book.I don't really have the patience to sit still for audio books. I wish I had thought of them back when I was still able to do needle crafts.
Pies and Prejudice will be my first book of that type so not sure how I will like it,but I totally loved "A Skeleton In The Family" and want to read the other two in the series.
i_love_autumn & southwest88: I don't know whether to thank you or just roll belly up and piddle myself like a dog. Running out the door screaming also crossed my mind. You know, I think the thing is that I always have had some sense of this terrible truth but didn't really know on this visceral level. I've been prideful and self-congratulating on my ability to look at the truth of things and it's all been a sham. Worse, now I want to put my head in the sand and stay there 'til the end of time!
No hope of that, really. I'm still only less than half into "America's Deadliest Export" and unlike Chomsky, Blum not only cites his assertions, but provides endnotes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by netwit
I think I would need to read or listen to something a little hopeful like Annie Dillard after that too. But you know, keep in mind that Annie Dillard is also a part of the US.
Ironic that you should mention that, netwit, because there have been a couple of places in the book where she states numbers of people killed by foreign tyrants, and yet she never ONCE mentions OUR sins. We're worse because not only do we perpetrate our offenses directly, but we also support other tyrants to do our dirty work for US.
PS: plain and simple: I loved "The Cat Who...." series and even collected them for a few years, until I realized I am just NOT a collector.
There's nothing like a nice cozy to snuggle up to.
Such reads can definitely overwhelm the reader,and then the only cure is to take a break, by reading something lighter,like "The Cat Who" books.
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