I've never read the Dresden series because I couldn't get into the first book. How far do I have to read before they get better?
I get confused. I remember everything. I remember too much, and... some of it's made up, and... some of it can't be quantified, and... there's secrets.
River ,'Safe'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Pix - May 03, 2013 3:10:13 pm PDT #20733 of 28370
The status is NOT quo.
-t - May 03, 2013 3:18:17 pm PDT #20734 of 28370
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I am Pix. I did watch the the show and liked it, but the first book didn't grab me. If they get better I will probably revisit.
erin_obscure - May 03, 2013 3:41:29 pm PDT #20735 of 28370
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
I was caught by the second book (Fool Moon) and am still devouring them. According to wikipedia the first book was a writing assignment that he thought would prove how awful that genre book would be...so I'm less surprised that none of us seem to enjoy it. (SA promised me I would love them so I slogged through the first one. She was correct.)
eta: "Despite initial resistance, he wrote the first book that semester, closely following the instructions of his teacher, author Deborah Chester.[1]
When I finally got tired of arguing with her and decided to write a novel as if I was some kind of formulaic, genre writing drone, just to prove to her how awful it would be, I wrote the first book of the Dresden Files.
— Jim Butcher in "A Conversation With Jim Butcher", 2004[5]
sj - May 03, 2013 3:52:58 pm PDT #20736 of 28370
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
I love The Dresden Files books, but I'm not totally caught up on them. I feel like I would like to listen to the audio books just to remind me of who the minor players are before I continue with the series and also because of James Marsters.
Matt the Bruins fan - May 03, 2013 10:37:04 pm PDT #20737 of 28370
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I tried to read one of the later books after finding I liked the series, and got maybe 50 pages into it before admitting it just wasn't working for me.
Sue - May 05, 2013 2:12:55 am PDT #20738 of 28370
hip deep in pie
In the last two weeks, I have read all four of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad books and totally loved them. The first two I read on two consecutive days. Such great characters and stories, and very well written.
Her latest, Broken Harbour, started out as the one I thought I was going to have to slog through, but I hit the halfway point yesterday and didn't stop after that. I think it had one of the better endings of her books.
I both love the way that she moves on to new characters, and am dying to know what happens with the older characters. I guess that I am wanting more is a good sign? I read that her next novel will star the young detective Stephen Moran, who helped out Frank in The Hidden Place, breaking the pattern that the main character of her next novel is from a secondary character in her most recent novel.
I'm at the point where I want something to read, but I'm not ready to leave that world, so I am feeling a little bereft.
Sue - May 05, 2013 2:12:57 am PDT #20739 of 28370
hip deep in pie
I am a double posting machine lately.
DavidS - May 05, 2013 8:27:53 am PDT #20740 of 28370
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I'm at the point where I want something to read, but I'm not ready to leave that world, so I am feeling a little bereft.
Have you read all the Gillian Flynn books?
Thanks for the endorsement of Tara French; I've been curious about her books.
le nubian - May 05, 2013 8:41:56 am PDT #20741 of 28370
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
I agree. I might start that one next.
Sue - May 05, 2013 11:29:48 am PDT #20742 of 28370
hip deep in pie
Have you read all the Gillian Flynn books?
I started Girl Gone in December. I got about 1/3 of the way through and realized I didn't care at all about what happened to those characters.
I seem to start way more books than I finish lately.