Showing posts with label Jodi Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jodi Thomas. Show all posts

2/28/13

All Reading is Subjective

I mentioned a week or so ago that I was judging another contest. This contest was for published books. A few weeks ago, I received four books in the mail.

They were all historical romance novels.

3 were by NYT Best Selling Authors--I recognized all these authors, in fact, I'd previously read books by all three of these authors
1 author had only published 3 books--I didn't know this author

3 were single title length novels--these books are long--around 90,000 - 110,000 words
1 book was a Harlequin Historical (HQH)--75,000 words max.--Harlequin Historical series release 6 books a month.

2 stories took place in Regency England
1 story took place in Scotland, post-Battle of Culloden
1 story took place in Texas--post Civil War

2 of the NYT Best Selling author books were total duds -- and a totally forgettable waste of my time
1 NYT Best Selling book had 4 romances intertwined within one story --  WOW!
1 HQH was INCREDIBLE!

Those are a few stats about these books, but I have a few observations I want to make.

  • Just because an author is a New York Times Best Selling author, it doesn't mean that all the author's books are excellent. It just means they sell a lot of books, which puts them on the list.
  • Sometimes a longer word count doesn't mean a more exciting book. It can mean that the author dithers around about nonsense for far too many pages.
  • Don't assume that if you've never heard of the author before that the book can't be good
  • Don't assume that a Harlequin Series book isn't as good as a single title novel--sometimes they are better because they have to be written more tightly, which increases the pacing.
  • Because I love or hate a story, it doesn't mean you will have the same reaction.
Though I won't reveal the two dud books, I will mention the two stories that really worked for me. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Scottish warrior looks like this guy!