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Yvonne wrote: "By the way, Amazon provides free excerpts, in some cases 2 or more chapters long, for almost all their kindle books. If you're not sure of the books up for a vote you should read an excerpt or a sample. It helps."

I rarely read excerpts. I only feel the need to read them when I get no feeling of the book from the blurb at all. I don't like being spoilered, because, to me, excerpts tell me too much, and I kind of like going in blind

Blaine D. wrote: "Yvonne wrote: "By the way, Amazon provides free excerpts, in some cases 2 or more chapters long, for almost all their kindle books. If you're not sure of the books up for a vote you should read an ..."

I know what you mean. Sometimes I like flying blind myself & I try to only skim reviews to avoid spoilers. But if I'm unsure of the author or the book, I'll read an excerpt. I'm checking for writing style, readability as well as for content. A lot of people will read parts of a book in a bookstore before purchasing, so it's a way to do the same thing for an ebook.

And sometimes it can save you. I was going to purchase Why I love Geeks just based on title alone. Then I read an excerpt & it was just filled with so much clunky dialogue & forced humor that reading even that small amount was torturous. You wouldn't know this from all the 5 star reviews on this though. In this case reading a spoiler was worthwhile.

Yvonne wrote: "And sometimes it can save you. I was going to purchase Why I love Geeks just based on title alone. Then I read an excerpt & it was just filled with so much clunky dialogue & forced humor that reading even that small amount was torturous. You wouldn't know this from all the 5 star reviews on this though. In this case reading a spoiler was worthwhile. "

Err ... OOPS!
I did buy it :)
but ... despite what you said about it, and not doubting it could have been better, I really liked the idea of the geeky non-filter rambler :)

When I was at the Rainbow Book Fair I got several cds filled with ebooks. Some are just excerpts and some are the whole book. These I got for free, btw, from the publishers. These are cool, especially because they were free. But what I found annoying is that I have no way of knowing what each story is about, at all. So without even a short blurb, I really am going in blind.

I only got three stories into one disk and the first long novel was pretty badly written so I gave up only a few pages in. Glad it was free!

Blaine D. wrote: but ... despite what you said about it, and not doubting it could have been better, I really liked the idea of the geeky non-filter rambler :)

It's a great concept, just the execution was poor-- at least in the excerpt I read. Not everyone can do humor. I'd love to see someone like L.B. Gregg tackle this topic. The book appears to be selling well at the publisher which I put down to the title which almost sucked me in as well.

So for all you aspiring writers wanting to appeal to the impulse buyer, throw in some buzz words like vampires & geeks & you may just start reeling them in too. [But hopefully back it up with some good writing]

Yvonne wrote: "So for all you aspiring writers wanting to appeal to the impulse buyer, throw in some buzz words like vampires & geeks & you may just start reeling them in too. [But hopefully back it up with some good writing]"

Okay, that statement must have been going around at one time because I kid you not, I read a blurb for a story not too long ago where it had two cowboy vampires meeting and falling in love in a BDSM club. There's no way I could have taken a story like that seriously.

Yvonne wrote: "So for all you aspiring writers wanting to appeal to the impulse buyer, throw in some buzz words like vampires & geeks & you may just start reeling them in too. [But hopefully back it up with some good writing]"

Oh, I love geeks, unfortunately the only novel I wrote with geeks (read: computer whizz) in them is not m/m ... well, the main pairing is not m/m. :)
My MC's best friend is in a steady LAT relationship with a divorced father of two teenage daughters

And strangely enough, as much as I loved Buffy and Angel the series and even wrote a bit of fanfic in those fandoms, I don't read vampire stories, let alone write them ...

I guess I'll have to come up with other buzz words :D

Yvonne wrote: "Blaine D. wrote: but ... despite what you said about it, and not doubting it could have been better, I really liked the idea of the geeky non-filter rambler :) ..."

So, if I write about sparkling cowboy vampire geeks, will that guarantee my book become best sellers? *g*

Cleon wrote: "So, if I write about sparkling cowboy vampire geeks, will that guarantee my book become best sellers? *g* ..."
BDSM! Don't forget the BDSM!

Suhi wrote: "Cleon wrote: "So, if I write about sparkling cowboy vampire geeks, will that guarantee my book become best sellers? *g* ..."
BDSM! Don't forget the BDSM!"

Ok, let me revise:

Sparkling cowboy vampire geek who loves to be spanked by his werewolf Dom cop. :-D

(Now that gives me a mental image of Jake as a werewolf...)

Oh my... trying to un-imagine it

LOL... ROTFL!!! Right, because Jake is such a werewolf! OMG... you certainly do know how to do funny.

Oh, c'mon, Jake is like TOTALLY an Alpha and Adrien is totally an Omega. :D

Pst.... will AU fanfic with Adrien and Jake as werewolves cause Josh to have a heart attack?

Cleon, I actually can almost see that. I mean, I've read some pretty good fanfic about Nick and Greg from CSI as werewolves. This could be interesting. I won't write it, but if someone else does, I'll definitely read it!

Jordan S. wrote: "Oddly enough, the book I'd seconded wasn't on the poll, but I found another one that was that looks really good that I must have missed before, so I'm hoping it gets picked. The others, I'm not so ..."

What!? I'm sorry! I thought I caught them all. What was your choice, Jordan?

Actually I'd like to un-suggest it - I've bought, read and dropped the book half-way :D Though I wouldn't mind ranting about it if it gets selected as a month's read XD
I voted for "Breathe" by Sloan Parker since I've read it recently and no other option grabbed my interest..."

Uh oh. Well, I still plan on reading SS one of these days, so for sure we'll discuss it in some format.

I bought Sloan's book last weekend after someone posted the Fictionwise discount.

JPerceval wrote: "Wahey, for once I logged in at a time to be able to vote for the monthly book!"

HA. I created the poll and forgot to vote!

Emanuela ~Zstyx~ wrote: "I think reading excerpts is the smart thing to do, but I'm reckless and I like blind dates with books :)"

Me too!

Blaine D. wrote: "Yvonne wrote: "By the way, Amazon provides free excerpts, in some cases 2 or more chapters long, for almost all their kindle books. If you're not sure of the books up for a vote you should read an ..."

The problem is, if I read excerpts, I usually don't buy and sometimes I'm just in the mood to buy a book. :-D

Cleon wrote: "Oh, c'mon, Jake is like TOTALLY an Alpha and Adrien is totally an Omega. :D

Pst.... will AU fanfic with Adrien and Jake as werewolves cause Josh to have a heart attack?"

Snickering as I read this...

"Sparkling cowboy vampire geek who loves to be spanked by his werewolf Dom cop. :-D "

There is a special hell reserved for this, you know that, don't you? :)

ns wrote: ""Sparkling cowboy vampire geek who loves to be spanked by his werewolf Dom cop. :-D "

There is a special hell reserved for this, you know that, don't you? :)"

And so there should be!

Josh wrote: "ns wrote: ""Sparkling cowboy vampire geek who loves to be spanked by his werewolf Dom cop. :-D "

There is a special hell reserved for this, you know that, don't you? :)"

And so there should be!"

LOL. Actually, I can totally see you pull that off, Josh.

Josh wrote: "Blaine D. wrote: "Yvonne wrote: "By the way, Amazon provides free excerpts, in some cases 2 or more chapters long, for almost all their kindle books. If you're not sure of the books up for a vote y..."

I usually buy books after I read reviews. My Livejournal friend is an avid reviewer and reader. So far, she hasn't led me astray. Sometimes we differ in taste, but her 4 - 5 stars books are always excellent choices and I usually enjoy her 3 stars books.

Do you know how many times the verdict after reading an excerpt was "Oh! Looks nice!" and I dropped the book after a couple of chapter because it was awful? My "dropped" folder is almost as big as "favorites" :D

Josh it was The Inventor's Companion by Ariel Tachna, but don't worry about it. That was the funny part because I thought I'd read all the blurbs and out of them all that one looked best, but when I rechecked those that went up on the poll, I found another one that looked even slightly better! So I voted for one already.

Besides, I recently read a book about the invention of the typewriter, that was horribly boring. I read it half way and gave up, so I'm not sure how well books about inventions are going to go over right now anyway. lol.

Jordan S. wrote: "Josh it was The Inventor's Companion by Ariel Tachna, but don't worry about it. That was the funny part because I thought I'd read all the blurbs and out of them all that one looked best, but when ..."

I don't know how I missed it because I was even looking for it on Fictionwise based on your rec. Moving too fast, I guess.

lol, eh, it happens. No worries. Put it up for the month after next then.

LAST DAY TO VOTE FOR NEXT MONTH'S READ, PEOPLE!

Josh, I know it's too soon, but may I recommend books for June's book of the month?

I'd like to recommend: .

Blurb: Tetsuya, a young male courtesan, is living a life of relative safety until an unknown samurai called Jin arrives on his doorstep, bringing passion and death. Awakened to the strange paths of destiny, Tetsuya chooses to leave the only place he has ever known to follow a samurai who is on a quest for vengeance. Their heels dogged at every turn by paid assassins, Tetsuya and Jin learn to trust each other as they discover hidden truths which may get them killed before their love has a chance to redeem them both.

The book current Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ rating is 4,5 and on Reviews by Jesse, the rating is 4 or 5, I think.

Cleon wrote: "Josh, I know it's too soon, but may I recommend books for June's book of the month?

I'd like to recommend: .

Blurb:..."

It certainly sounds intriguing -- and different from anything we've read or plan to read so far. So let's consider it thrown out there and see if we can get a couple of people to second it.

We don't have to worry one way or the other until the first week of May -- that's when we'll officially start throwing the June noms out. But we won't lose track of this one.

Thanks, Josh! :)

Cleon, I would definitely second that one!

Thanks, Jordan!

I'm back and second !

We're so far ahead now, I wonder when we'll discuss April's book of the month.

Yvonne wrote: "We're so far ahead now, I wonder when we'll discuss April's book of the month."

According to Josh's last post on the April Read thread, the discussion should begin tomorrow Saturday April 23rd.

Josh, I'm sure your mind hasn't been on this, but if you still want to have a June Read we should probably be nominating and voting soon. Right?

Good thinking Susan!

I'll see what I have at home and nominate something later on.

Jordan S. wrote: "Good thinking Susan!

I'll see what I have at home and nominate something later on."

I want to wait for Josh to set up the June Read thread and set the dates for nominating and voting before I do anything. Things have been so chaotic for him recently that I want to be sure he feels the June read is still doable from his point of view.

Good thinking. Well, I need to look and see what's on my shelf at this point anyway. And that'll be awhile since I'm not home at the moment.

Susan wrote: "Jordan S. wrote: "Good thinking Susan!

I'll see what I have at home and nominate something later on."

I want to wait for Josh to set up the June Read thread and set the dates for nominating ..."

I'm having fun with the reading so far. I might get too pressed for time later on, but so far, so good. I admit I'm not offering much in the way of brilliant insights in my discussion comments, but that wasn't the idea anyway.

So we're fine for June. I've set the thread up and we can start suggesting possible titles whenever you're ready. We vote the last week of the month, right?

Josh wrote: "We vote the last week of the month, right?"

Correct. If you set up the June poll on Sunday May 22nd, we can have the final week to vote and finish it on May 27th. Is that OK with you?

That ought to work!

Is it time to start taking nominations for July? :D

Merith wrote: "Is it time to start taking nominations for July? :D"

We talked about several books that should be nominated a while back. If only I could remember what they were!

I am new, are there any rules for suggesting a book?

How about by F.K. Wallace.

Self-published, historical romance set in Nazi Germany and beyond. It was recently well reviewed at Jessewave () The review left me intrigued enough to put it on the to-read list.

Have we discussed June's book and I missed it somehow? I feel like I read it a long time ago.

Yvonne wrote: "Have we discussed June's book and I missed it somehow? I feel like I read it a long time ago."

It would be this weekend, Yvonne, but I'm going to miss the first part of the discussion.