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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Suggested Reading (Non-Romance)



Hey there, I’m busily not reading book six in the Sherrilyn Kenyon series. That doesn’t meant the book is bad. It just means I have a life. We’ll have to wait and see if the book actually sucks.

Anyway, I was thinking on the fact that most of the focus here is on paranormal romance. It is because that’s what I’m about to write and my attention is there. I was thinking however of some paranormal classics. Anne Rice came to mind as did a few others, but I want to focus on something edging on horror and something intellectually savvy despite it being a coming of age story.

Well, let’s talk about my favorite Stephen King book, The Stand. It’s a pretty large book and I suggest you don’t read it during flu season or anytime you plan on going on a large road trip. Trust me, you’re imagination won’t have the additional yardage on the playground if you avoid doing those two things.

Of course the book is a classic horror, post-apocalyptic journey into severe creepiness. It’s got disease, the end of the world, survival, love, betrayal, a journey, some mysticism some evil, some good and some bad that’s kind of in the middle. And it’s pretty spine tingling.

Anyone who says they like horror has to read it. Anyone who says they love paranormal can skip it, but man it will add to your world in a way that’s uh…worth the unease.

Suggesting The Stand is a pretty easy pick. It’s King, it’s a classic. The next book on my suggested reading list is quite different from The Stand, in fact I wouldn’t even put them in the same aisle in the bookstore.

The Society of S by Susan Hubbard was a real surprise to me. I admit I bought it because it sounded potentially kinky. It’s not, but damn it’s a great book.

The story is about a 13 year old, Ariella. She’s of mixed heritage and the book is essentially her coming of age story. It sounds simple, but the causal paranormal twist, the intelligent dialogue and the calm, easy, manner of Hubbard makes this a must read.

Skip it though if you’re expecting a wild paranormal romp or to be scared to the nines. This book won’t deliver that. It will deliver, soft smiles, a linguistic playground, meandering intrigue all dressed up in a unique, enticingly languid style.

So, these are my non-paranormal romance suggestions of the month. I’ll try to include some in my reviews as I plow through the seedy, underground of smutty paranormals. It’ll be hard to keep my hands clean, but like I said, I’ll try.

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