Book Lovers Club
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A Million Shades of SmutA field guide for the erotic-lit virgin.By Jessica Grose Published Apr 8, 2012
(Photo: Thomas Allen)In February, the media started tittering over erotic romance trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, by British author E. L. James. By that point, the BDSM-tinged novels, about virginal college student Anastasia Steele and her punishing paramour, billionaire Christian Grey, had sold about 100,000 e-books and print-on-demand paperbacks, owing mostly to Amazon reviews and word of mouth. A month later, amplified by scandalized coverage from the New York Times and the Today show, the buzz grew, sales tripled, and a bidding war broke out for the movie rights. But while mainstream attention for a work of erotica is unusual (in this case, it probably helped that the book was a hit in Manhattan instead of just the South and Midwest, where books like it are more popular), Fifty Shades' pre-titter sales were no major anomaly: �Once in a while, a random book will just pop,� says Kimberly Whalen, a literary agent with Trident Media Group. �It's incredibly successful, but there are a lot of other erotic books selling well.�See Also
The Thinking Woman's Guide to Fifty Shades of Grey If that surprises you, consider that romance, the large umbrella under which erotica is broadly classified, is a nearly $1.4 billion, recession-proof industry and the top-selling genre of fiction in the U.S., beating mystery and sci-fi combined. And if the bondage in Shades isn't your thing, there's probably a subgenre that is: More than just the classic historical bodice ripper, the spectrum of romantic fiction now includes everything from sex-free books starring Amish lovers to racier ones involving werewolves and vampires to the burgeoning sub-sub-category of erotic paranormal cowboy-ménage romance. For the uninitiated, here's a primer on the vast, ever-expanding universe of smut.....Here's the rest of the article:http://nymag.com/print/?/arts/books/features/romance-novels-2012-4/0 -
i am requesting the Weird Sisters. I am still enchanted with Pearl Buck's bio. The other day i went and checked out 4 Buck novels.. o, i love them.
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I am reading "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana". A true story...I like true stories. I just started reading so I will let you know how it is.
Any other suggestions on true stories?
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I too am going to request the Weird Sisters.
I've read a few random books. The Poisoned House, A Rip in Heaven, The Girl in the Blue Beret and now am reading Songs in Ordinary Time.
The Poisoned House was a mystery ghost type story set in the early 1900's based on journals found in an old house. It was pretty good and a fast read. I needed something like that after reading The Girl with the Blue Beret. I really liked that book as well. An American pilot in his 60's who had fought and been smuggled out of enemy territory during WWII goes back and tried to find the people who helped him.
Candie- A Rip in Heaven is a true story. It was an ok read, lots of people tp keep track of and very tragic.
Songs in Ordinary Time has been ok, again not great. I am almost finished it and yet can still put it down easily enough.
I had a friend give me a few books to read but I am going to request the Weird Sisters and Seamstress at the library this week.
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I am getting excited that so many of us are going to be on the same page! LOL!
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I've just requested The Weird Sisters at the library, too. I recently finished Lost in Shangri-La. It is a true story that could be a movie...plane crash, survivors with injuries, remote jungle, native tribes that could be cannibalistic, dashing and daring soldiers. It was a good story and I felt the author researched the circumstances and people very well. It read like a novel. I just started Turn of Mind. It is told in various view points, including a women descending into dementia and her journal entries. It's not a conventional writing style but the story seems compelling. Gina
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I just finished reading The Gendarme by Mark Mustian concerning the Armenian genocide in 1915. It was a great book, but of course it was sad.0
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I was not at all impressed with Songs in Ordinary Times. I like to peruse garage sales.. Alot of people have dumped that book.
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Apple...Hmmmm...Songs in Ordinary Times.....Must say something about Oprah book selections.........
I'd say....we do a better job at recommending books than she does!
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absolutely.. she has this thing about WOMAN empowerment and focus that kind of drives me bats. Except for the Color Purple (which may not even be on the list) I've disliked just about every book she suggested.
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Has anyone here read the Hunger Games? I am on book #3 of the series and it's a great series. However, I cannot believe they market this book to Young Adults. It is clearly not for YA in my mind, but I have very much enjoyed reading these books.
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Ok, add me to The Weird Sisters crew. I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It was ok. Starting The Weird Sisters tomorrow!0
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For all of you Erik Larson fans....his next book will be about the Lusitania.....Ahhhh....now I have something to look forward to... 0
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Saw the movie "Hunger Games" and was so bored, almost walked out. Unless you're a tween, forget it! Was going to read them but the movie was so dumb, it'd be hard to pick up.
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hi all, apparently this thread fell off my active topics radar and I've not been here since Feb. Just spent the last 45 minutes sipping my morning brew and catching up on what I've missed.
Since Feb, I have (re)read my way straight through the first five books of the Earth's Children (Clan of the Cave Bear) series in preparation for book six, The Land of Painted Caves. After five in a row, I needed a break from pre-history so put Ayla aside and took on A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. VR you asked my opinion. It was an interesting concept and I agreed with his premise but IMO he belabored his points so while it was OK, sorry to say I wouldn't number it in among my favorites.
Thurs a friend from work loaned me the paperback of The Hunger Games. Good book! Read half Thurs p.m. and finished it last night. Thinking of going to the Sat. matinee of the movie today. Hope it's not me and a bunch of 'tweens OMG! :-)
At this time I am 40 pages into another non-fiction book- The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William J. Broad. Heard him interviewed on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR and was intrigued. Borrowed it from the library but may have to purchase my own copy. Really enjoying it so far.
Will check into The Weird Sisters. Happy reading, everyone!
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p.s. also wanted to mention The Art of Racing in the Rain, a WONDERFUL book by Garth Stein. My favorite quote:
"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live."
This was not a sad book for me, tho I did cry at the end, it was so hopeful and life-affirming.
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Badger.. Glad you got to read A First Rate Madness. And yes, his position was a very interesting concept. Another friend of mine just read it and also thought it was an interesting point of view. She elaborated on JFK and thought, perhaps that RFK was the de facto president because JFK was so incapacitated. The book has us rethinking history. I think the extensive research that he did on the medical records of the leaders is important to understanding history. Might not agree with everything he wrote...but nonetheless, I think he discovered an area of history that needs more development and scholarship.
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Just reread 'Paris Wife', as it was choosen for my Book Club. Very good the second time around also and now I have looked up a bunch of information about all the main characters and have found that it is very true to the actual facts. And I now really hate Ernest Hemingway, a male chauvenist pig if ever there was one!!!!!!0
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Just read The Woman Who Wasn't There. It's a true story based on a woman who claimed to be a 9/11 survivor and was Chairperson of the Survivors Network. Was so riveted by the story... I then watched a 45 minute documentary about her that I found on YouTube.
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I started the Weird Sisters.. very intriguing but i am so re-enamored with Pearl Buck that I decided to reread 'The Good Earth'.. her books are so very fascinating and Pearl was a wonderfully brilliant and open minded woman, exposed to such unusual things.
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Apple... Sound like Pearl Buck would be the kind of woman we'd like to be friends with. I would have also liked to have known Alice Roosevelt...
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I finished The Weird Sisters and I'm kind of ambivalent about it. On the positive side, I found it well-written and I thought the use of first person plural interesting (though at first I found it confusing at times). I enjoyed the Shakespeare quotes, but by the halfway point, they felt like overkill. On the negative side, I found the characters to be stereotypical and unoriginal (all three sisters sterotypes according to birth order, the mother the cliche cancer patient and the father the absent-minded professor). I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, but overall I was kind of disappointed.0
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I agree with you mcsuchi. I have a few pages left.. It was more intiguing in the first part. I guess that means that the author did her job!!
apple Love love love "The Good Earth"
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I just finished The Last Letter from Your Lover by JoJo Moyes. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think it was recommended on this board. Has anyone read anything else by her?
Jane
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For the book the Seamstress who is the author? I thought I knew and when I went to buy it for my kindle there are three different books with the same title and the one I thought it was had no kindle book?0
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Also- Wenweb- is the Weird Sisters worth it or not? I trust your judgement 100%
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exactly Voracious Reader. i just love absorbing the minds of good thinkers.
and there are soooooooooooo many. I had a alot of reading time during winter in my earlier years and as a kid.
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Hey Laurie!! I know I raved about The Weird Sisters, and I did enjoy it very much, but I would recommend getting it from the library. For you it will be a really fast read.
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Thanks Wendy, I'll do that. Do you know the authors name to the Seamstress? Everyone was raving about that one too?
I just finished a book that started out interesting and ended up stupid and crazy, ghosts talking and pre teen type crap. But it was a free download so you get what you pay for I guess. A friend had given me two books to read but neither look like my type of thing. I am ITCHING to download to my kindle.....right now I have nothing, unless I pick up the friends books : /
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Laurie: The Seamstress is by Frances de Pontes Peebles. It's a hearty book! Also, just started reading Double Bind on you recommendation and I'm enjoying it do far. It makes me want to re-read The Great Gatsby!
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