SBD mid book variety day

I'm reading three books at the same time.
1. 61 Hours Worth Dying For Jack Reacher novel (on my Kindle)
2. Trust me on this by Jennifer Crusie (an actual book)
and
3. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (an audio book)

All I need to do is add an erotic book or a science fiction and I'll have a REALLY Wide Variety of stories. Oh, look. Up next is a Patricia Briggs.

The funny thing is that the Reacher book is the one I find hardest to put down and that's not because it's the best -- in fact, in terms of characters and writing, it's a third. The damn thing doesn't let up, that's why it's hard to put down. (get it? up? down). Thank goodness there's no romantic figure in this one. When Reacher flirts, it's painful -- like that Susan/Amanda flirtation in the last book. Stick to beating the shit out of tough guys, Reacher. Don't forget to land a couple of sidekick type people in the morgue. Thanks.

I think I've read too many of them in a row. The various Reacher tropes are annoying me and that's not his fault; it's mine. If I read one book a year the way I was supposed to, instead of however many in one month, I'd be reminded of his talents and habits (and all those damn "____ said nothing"s) -- instead I'm pummeled with them.

Except wait. . . I just finished a major Lois McMaster Bujold glom and never got tired of Miles or his stories, so maybe it is a little Reacher's fault. No, wait . . . .

I've changed my mind AGAIN.

The thing about Reacher is that he doesn't grow or change much and I think that's what we want. If he developed a conscience, it would probably be as bad as those flirtations. He's an old fashioned hero like one of those old fashioned television shows. You didn't have much a continuing, growing story line in those series (think Perry Mason) and he's more like one of those.

You know what you got when you turned on the tube and you didn't have to worry that you missed the episode in which it was hinted that Perry and Hamilton Burger were carrying on a secret love affair. Hell, you didn't even have to wonder about Perry and Della from week to week. So yeah. Reacher is Reacher and Miles is Miles. If I was on a desert island, I'd grab the Bujolds, but no one's asking me to, so there.

I'm almost done with the Crusie and it's not my favorite, but you know what they say. A mediocre Crusie is . . . is . . . worth two in the bush? A Crusie book always has some wonderful dialogue or character sketches or something to make it, um, wonderful. Maybe I ought to hire a writer for this blog.

The thing I don't like -- two pairs of characters decide they're in love less than 2 days after they meet. Huh. That worked just fine for me in the last Crusie I read, Getting Rid of Bradley. Maybe because it's two pairs? Or maybe the characters are less vivid? There aren't enough dogs? I'd stop to think about what I don't like, but I'd rather just enjoy the characters and dialogue. There's some point to reading great escapist fun: you do not have to analyze it, even on SBD days.

Oh and it's time to whine about the Garden book already? Okay. The skipping around time hither and thither is going to bug me, I know already and I'm only up to my third skippage. A jump here and there is fine, but this is dizzying and there's more to come, Amazon reviews warn me.

Hey. The writing is good, the reader is good.

And I have to make a fire in the fireplace now.

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