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Blue Book #2 for the month! I really liked this book but I stayed up to finish it and now I'm way tired - and flying tomorrow - so this is just a placeholder. Conveniently, Book #2 in this trilogy (All Souls) came out today, so I hope to have it in my grubby li'l paws (or on my e-reader) within the week. I'll be back, but I'd like to point out that even the most anglicized American likely doesn't call needles "sharps." Given that the author is an American, I was surprised by that. Is there somewhere in this country where folks say "sharps" instead of needles? :D

Rooks wrote: "I'd like to point out that even the most anglicized American likely doesn't call needles "sharps." Given that the author is an American, I was surprised by that. Is there somewhere in this country where folks say "sharps" instead of needles? "

We definitely don't use it up here by D.C. Never even heard of it! ;)

Diana got one of her degrees in England and the first part of the book is set in England. It is probably a common term in Europe.

I read this book last month and it was good. It was a long book and was really slow in places. I will read the second book because now I am invested in the story and want to know what happens next. I felt a little disappointed in it and cannot really identify exactly what bugged me about it.

Caren ~ the misfit geek wrote: "Diana got one of her degrees in England and the first part of the book is set in England. It is probably a common term in Europe."

It is, actually - my point was that I've met Americans with degrees from England - hell, even Oxford - who got anglicized enough to say "flat" and "lift," which one can understand because those are rather common, sort of everyday words, but never went so far as to refer to needles as "sharps." It's a weird word to adopt, unless one deals with needles a lot (which Diana doesn't).

Beyond that, I also ended the book less enthused than I felt about 1/3 of the way through. I've started to pick apart that vague sense of . . . yes, disappointment's a good word, so I'll steal from ya, but I'm waiting to write a review until I think I have a concise and explicable handle on why that is. If you put your finger on it, I'd be keen to hear your perspective.

Amara wrote: "We definitely don't use it up here by D.C. Never even heard of it! ;) "

Right?! I have lived in just about every region of the country, and there are no sharps. Well, I think I maybe have heard the occasional person call scissors "sharps," but not needles! I dunno, I just found it distracting - it pulls me out of a story when the author does something with a character that strikes me as weird or illogical.

Yeah, things like lift for elevator, chips for fries, biscuit for cookie; that's all stuff you don't hear a lot unless you have British friends or are a fan of British entertainment, but I think most people at least know the British term exists (and some might even prefer to use it for various reasons). But sharps for needles? Unless you spend a lot of time at a British hospital, I think that's probably going to baffle most Americans, so a character randomly using it would definitely pull me out of the narrative flow, like you said.

Rooks wrote: "Blue Book #2 for the month! I really liked this book but I stayed up to finish it and now I'm way tired - and flying tomorrow - so this is just a placeholder. Conveniently, Book #2 in this trilog..."

A medical doctor or someone in a healthcare related field would say "sharps" as a name for needles. As a healthcare interior designer we talk about "sharps containers" which are mounted on the wall in exam rooms and are where clinicians put used needles. They would poke through trash bags - yuk!

Lori wrote: "A medical doctor or someone in a healthcare related field would say "sharps" as a name for needles. "

Oh see, I had no idea! (But our main character isn't a doctor, except in that "of philosophy" way; she's a historian.) Good to know, regardless. :)

Rooks - Did you ever post a review on this? I have seen a couple reviews posted by people who got pre-releases of the second book and they are mixed. Are you going to read it?

I read this book earlier in the year and loved it. Despite all the talk in this topic about the term "sharps" I actually can't remember it sticking out when I read the book. I enjoyed the world that Harkness created and I'm definately curious to read more about it.

Rooks wrote: "Blue Book #2 for the month! I really liked this book but I stayed up to finish it and now I'm way tired - and flying tomorrow - so this is just a placeholder. Conveniently, Book #2 in this trilog..."

I worked in a psychiatric hospital where there were "sharps precautions" for certain patients, they were not allowed to have anything remotely sharp that can be used for self-harm or a weapon.

I just ordered the 2nd book today - can't wait 'till it arrives! I think the reason the first third of the book was more interesting than the rest was because it was the first stage of their relationship. After that they got so comfortable together (like him talking about her menstrual cycle) and I think that made it less exciting.

There won't be any copies available at my two libraries for a while, so this one will stay on the "need to get" shelf for a bit longer.

Kim - When I worked in a costume shop we would joke about staying away from sharps too - it just wasn't a term for hypodermic needles, or whatevs. No matter - I think we have garnered a critical mass of expertise between you and Lori to assert that Americans *do* say sharps in really specific contexts, though I'm still not certain it explains why *this American* says it in this book. :)

Caren - Not yet, but I figured out what annoyed me, and why it got worse as the book progressed! Once I write a review, I'll post it.

Rachel/Vikki - Yeah, I'm still going to read the next books, without question, I'm just still trying to decide what to rate it. A three or a four . . . three or four . . . yarg! I was positive a third of the way in that it was gonna be a four star kind of book, but I don't think, in this instance, that it was familiarity that bred contempt; I've come to believe that it was a characterization problem. I dunno, I think it's gonna be a gametime decision after I type out my feelings.

I'm a bit behind with my reading and only just started with the first book. Now I'll be scouring it for the word, "sharps". :)