Cleaned off the coffee table

When I’m done reading a book I intend to review, I leave it on the coffee table. It’s a way of nagging myself. Sometimes the stack starts to get out of hand, as it did recently, so I devoted my weeknights to clearing the table. Last night I wrote my review of The Reapers by John Connolly. I haven’t read any of the other “series” novels, so I wasn’t as intrigued by discovering the backstories of what I learned through my research were actually secondary characters from the previous books. I took the novel at face value with no history, and I liked it quite a lot. Connolly is a mesmerizing writer, and the fact that he can carry off half a novel that has very little forward momentum is a testament to his skills. For all of my recent book reviews, including this one, visit Onyx Reviews.

I recorded Fear Itself last night, but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet. Any good? Anyone? Bueller?

Finished The Blue Hammer last night. Jesus, what a convoluted story. You need a scorecard to figure out who’s alive and who’s dead, who married who and slept with someone else, who their offspring were, etc. A rewarding finale, but there were times when I felt like I was lost in the wilderness. I was glad that Bobby Jo survived, though. I’ll have to track down the next Archer novel chronologically to see if she persists into another book. Archer wasn’t known for long-term relationships and he fell for her hard and fast in this one.

This morning I did another full edit of the story I’ve been working on the past few days. Trimmed 200 words, getting it down to right around 5k. My feelings about the story have changed radically. It was originally written in 2000 and ignored for the better part of a decade, but I think that it’s definitely publishable, and I intend to test that theory starting this weekend.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Cleaned off the coffee table

  1. bill_gauthier says:

    Hey, Bev.

    Last night’s Fear Itself is the only one I’ve seen, and I thought it was horrible. Bad writing, bad acting, terrible ending.

    But that’s just me.

    Take care,
    Bill

  2. scottedelman says:

    I recorded Fear Itself last night, but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet. Any good?

    After the misfires of the first four episodes, I fear that’s not a question which will ever yield “yes” as an answer.

  3. bev_vincent says:

    I thought the first episode was decent. The second one was not. I missed the third.

  4. nick_kaufmann says:

    Aside from your first commenter, I don’t think anyone’s watching Fear Itself anymore.

  5. bev_vincent says:

    A clear indication of how little else there is on TV on the networks during the summer is that it hasn’t been canceled yet. Jericho had more viewers.

  6. bev_vincent says:

    I watched it last night — it was wretched. As bad as the Eric Roberts one. Maybe even worse. It lied to the viewer from the beginning, unrepentantly, all for the purpose of setting up a “twist ending” that was telegraphed from the very beginning by the carefully vague wording of a note. Everyone in the episode acted like they were in on the joke instead of behaving like normal people do. I’m done. No more laser beams wasted on that show.

  7. nick_kaufmann says:

    Welcome to the club! The show is a disappointment, just like Masters of Horror was.

  8. bev_vincent says:

    I never saw MoH, so I wasn’t prepared for the level of ineptitude.

  9. nick_kaufmann says:

    Obviously I don’t think you missed anything. It was exactly the same as Fear Itself, except with an over-reliance on boobs and gore.