Aloha,
Today is Alex's Genre Favorite's Blogfest, which I perchieve, perchance as a great way to kick off a Monday.
You can join, or find more details by clicking the Blue link.
While this makes me appear to be one boring, Neanderthal-knuckle-scraping
dude who lives in a mental Man Cave, I did once (!) have a romance-reading bone in my
body... see below... (although I lost the desire to simply read about romance upon entering pub eatery.)
 |
| Stephen King (Credit: Shane Leonard) |
Though some may scorn the commercial fiction works of authors such as Tom Clancy, Stephen King and John Grisham, it’s their books I (have) turn(ed) to when I want to escape to my imagination, whether aboard a U.S. Navy ship, under a drain in Derry or inside a Mississippi courtroom.
(Why anyone would want to escape to
a raucous courtroom, a sinking submarine or clown around in a Maine drain is
another tale...)
For crime thrillers, I love Dennis Lehane and his ongoing
series with those wonderfully flawed characters Patrick Kenzie and Angela
Gennaro.
Now, when it comes to guilty pleasures, I love, love, love memoirs.
Are we still on the guilty stuff?
We are?
I’m a voracious reader, so if there’s no book
around, I’ve been known to read the ingredients on the shampoo and conditioner
bottles and the toothpaste tubes (did you know how little fluoride is actually in a tub of adult
toothpaste… less than three percent... it’s shocking :)
In that vein, one genre I used
to read, (there was few other choices growing
up in Ireland,) was my mom’s bodice-ripping romances, which led to me reading a
*lot* of Catherine Cookson, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Jackie Collins. |
| Jackie Collins (L) and Ann Margaret |
Those ladies certainly knew how to
spin a tale and totally helped me ask many awkward “What does 'thrust' and 'moaned deeply' mean?” questions while at the kitchen table.
PS: Thanks, Alex for making me write about bodice-ripping and
Catherine Cookson in one sentence…
Where do I go to surrender my
ManCard?
57 comments:
Hey Mark....
Word up, Dude!!!
Dude...
What?
You soooo missed the point of this Blogfest...
I did???
You. Did.
Oh.
People are going to cringe when they read about you and the bodice-ripping...
Oh... Oh no!!!
:)
I think Catherine Cookson is definitely a "mum" thing! My mum loves her too. Or she used to - she likes Josephine Cox now instead lol. :D
I'd forgotten all about Jackie Collins and BTB - those were the eighties ;-)
I've never read any of those books but I want some of that bodice-ripping action so will have to check them out! :)
No worries, I stopped reading after SK. I didn't need to read anymore. You're the man, keep your card. :P
I did not cringe at bodice ripping. And I think you did a good job sounding manly with enjoying the courtroom dramas and sinking submarines. :)
You just put your own spin on it, that's all.
I'll email instructions for the surrender of the man-card.
Thanks for participating in my blogfest!
bodice ripping - well its a different spin :)
ha ha! coming out of the romance closet takes guts, you can eep your card =)
Man-up... card must be turned into the proper authorities. What the hell!
Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
Howlin' Wolf Records: On-Line Magazine
Bodice ripping and Stephen King, yeah, you got it!
I like your post. And - as long as you're the one doing the bodice ripping - you can keep your man card. :P
I've read some works of Stephen King, Tom Clancy (the 3-inch one, lol) and John Grisham. And... I read shampoo and toothpaste labels, too :)
I need to check out more Clancy navy books as I'm writing a major naval battle between the US and China.
And you can keep the Man Card. For now.
Hey dude,
We are ALL STRETCHING the "Man card" today! SO, what's wrong for a dude to have a little sensitivity AND have a guilty pleasure?
WE are HUMAN after all... LOL.
Bodice ripping and unknown facts about fluoride in one post. Not only that, but in typing fluoride, I realized it was a weird u before o word and I never would have done that had you not commented. See, I learned stuff. Success!
I too put romance in my guilty pleasure section...
I do love a good political thriller. Or a nice courtroom drama.
You are incredibly well read, sir. I'll have to try my hand at a thriller sometime. :)
Thrillers are my absolute favorites, though I prefer the psych kind myself. Legal thrillers are next. Love John Grisham. I must say, the whole bodice-ripping thing surprises me, but I have to admit, I read many of those when I was a very young woman.
Who would dare to scorn the great writing of Stephen King? The man is a legend. I know I certainly wouldn't. I would hate to have his mind though...dude thinks of some scary stuff. Too many voices in the head for my taste.
When you gotta read, you gotta read I guess... :-)
Love, love, love Stephen King and I sometimes read the cereal box.
Stephen King is definitely on my top list!!
New follower....http://demitrialunetta.blogspot.com
*shakes head*
I am CRACKING UP. (Of course!) I SO want to meet your mom and ask her kitchen table stories! ;)
Hi Mark .. great post - we all go that route .. mine were Angelique stories and Georgette Heyer ..
Cheers Hilary
I almost spewed my drink envisioning little Mark caught up in the lusty confusion of your Mom's romance tales. ;)
And here I was thinking I was the only person who reads the back of shampoo and bath gel bottles.
I gotta admit I grew past bodice rippers quite a while back. :)
Sometimes you do make me cringe but only because I'm the same way.
Oh... cringe.
We love you no matter what bodice is ripping.
Never read Collins and such but I did get hooked on Dallas and Dynasty in the 80s and still enjoy that melodrama. LOL And I LOVE me a good Grisham novel!
Stephen King is certainly many people's favourite. I've gotta read his Dark Tower series.
Allison (Geek Banter)
Memoir's eh? Interesting. I haven't really read any so I guess I don't know what I'm missing out on :)
Well, I have to confess that unless there are actual bodices being ripped, I tend to stay away from it...
But I think the inclusion of King, Grisham, and Clancy allows you to keep your man card, my friend!
Fun post!
Interesting list! Stephen King is one of the writers I most admire.
Okay. So, I've been hopping around on this blog hop, looking at everyone's answers. You win for my favorite list yet. The awkward conversation at the table cinched it for me. That comment alone was enough to make me follow your blog. haha
And Stephen King is amazing. I've seen him mentioned a bunch of times today.
I remember running out of books considered proper reading and picking up my mom's romances. Awkward when both parents are giving one "the look" and one is left wondering "what did I say?"
I love memoirs too! I especially like the film adaptations! :)
Stephen King is brilliant. :)
I would NEVER make fun of you for loving John Grisham or Stephen King. Two of my all-time faves!
Love the bodice ripping, nothing to be ashamed of there. Or the SK - IT is my favorite book of all time, I think. :D
Love Stephen King! Nothing wrong with some bodice ripping. :)
I do watch a lot of crime shows on t.v., though I ran out of the theater during Psycho and never made it through Children of the Corn either, I'm afraid. I'm more of an adventure type myself, limit the gruesome details... that sort of thing...
Hahahahahaha I think it's great that you shared your guilty pleasure with us. :-D
I used to read those lovely ladies books as well. They all do tell a great tale! Judith Kranz was my favorite, oh and don't forget Danielle Steel ;)
Siv Maria's blog, Been there, done that...
There is a special kind of Man-Card for a stay-at-home dad, you know, involving lifetime induction I believe.
In any case, I think you're good with Tom Clancy, SK, and John Grisham, not to mention the U.S. Navy ship. :)
You crack me up as usual!
Did not take you for a memoir man. :)
You get to upgrade to the gold man card. Real men can carry a pink purse...if they're man enough!
Haha! That's why clean romance is where it's at! Avoid awkward dinner time questions. ;)
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Hey Mark. I think we should hang out , and not because I want more friends who live in Hawaii,LOL. I love thrillers in all genres as well. Political and legal thrillers are my favorite. I am with you in your thoughts on Grisham etal. I read so many critical opinions about Grisham and the litany of authors who write similar novels. So many of the so called critics complain that the writing is flat, the characters are flat, the plots are predictable. You know what? Call it what they may, Grisham, Turrow, and the likes know how to write page turning, unputdownable books that keep us up at night determined to read just one more chapter. Dennis Lehane is another of my favorite authors.
Have you read any of James Grippando's legal thrillers? If not, you should check them out. I know of another author who may interest you, but he is a one hit wonder. His name is Robert Heilbrun and he wrote Offer Of Proof and which won the Edgar Award that year (can't remember the year-it's been a while) for best first novel.
Good choices. Aloha. (that does mean hello and goodbye, doesn't it?)
Bahahaha ooooh I love the idea of kids asking awkward questions at the kitchen table :)
Nothing wrong with liking thriller and political and whatnot... and I'm not given much of a choice in reading the ingredients to products; my mum has bad eyesight, so I have to do it every time we go shopping.
Memoirs are big now. Nice you are working on one.
Happy writing,
Monti
Mary Montague Sikes
Hahahaha. I did cringe when I read about the bodice ripping. ;) Not really!
I LOVE thrillers and I can't understand why some bash commercial fiction. I read for fun and I don't see anything wrong with that. The authors you mentioned are all great.
Dropping by from the Genre Blogfest.
Ahaha, kudos to you for admitting that you've read romance novels. My husband wore a pink shirt when we first met and told me only real men wear pink (he's a self-proclaimed man's man).
Real men read romance! ;3
Memoirs are my guilty pleasures too :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
If reading thrillers make one a Neanderthal, well I guess I'll join you in the knuckle scraping, lol! At least it will remove any hair on the knuckles, right?
I'm not big on Stephen King--not real fond of horror, okay, I don't read it--yes I've read enough to know I don't like it. But I have read and enjoyed the other writers you mentioned.
Have read any of Stephen Coonts Deep Black series? Oh man, he writes some good ones! He's also former Navy. One of my favorites is, Deep Black: Arctic Gold. I have Sea of Terror but haven't read it yet.
When you love to read, you read whats available--which is why I read most of Louie LAmor's books. Dad loved him. Never could get into Jackie Collins books and although I read some of Barbara Taylor Calwell's book, I swear I've never seen an author who could write PAGES describing a leaf falling or a meadow. Good lord. so I tended to skip chunks of her books to get to the story.
While I do enjoy some auto biographies and biographies, memoirs in general aren't my favorite reading.
Sia McKye OVER COFFEE
Hi, Mark. Good to meet you. I'm still working my way through the list, but had to stop and thank you for the Stephen King shout-out. Can't go wrong with Uncle Stevie!
-Jimmy
http://jamesgarciajr.blogspot.com/
I have always loved Stephen King - even before I moved to Maine :)
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