The Coffee House

[limr37 7]

Have you ever read Laura Lippman? That's the author of the book I had to read for the book club. I told you guys...okay, I complained to you guys about it in Leaderboard: http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-Green-Raincoat-Monaghan/dp/006193836X

I've been known to read crime thriller fluff and enjoy it from time to time. In Portugal, I got hooked on Patricia Cornwall books for a while because they were being passed around the teachers' room.

But this book was so fluffly and poorly written that it was torture to get through it. Thank god I was reading it while using the exercise bike so that hour and fifteen minutes wasn't completely wasted!

I'm really not a fan of the bodice-rippers, either.

 

[snowbear123 55]

When I want fluff reading, I turn to Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic series). Yes, I have read chick lit - more than once.

 

[sm4him]

Have you ever read Laura Lippman? That's the author of the book I had to read for the book club. I told you guys...okay, I complained to you guys about it in Leaderboard: http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-Green-Raincoat-Monaghan/dp/006193836X

I've been known to read crime thriller fluff and enjoy it from time to time. In Portugal, I got hooked on Patricia Cornwall books for a while because they were being passed around the teachers' room.

But this book was so fluffly and poorly written that it was torture to get through it. Thank god I was reading it while using the exercise bike so that hour and fifteen minutes wasn't completely wasted!

I'm really not a fan of the bodice-rippers, either.

No, I've not heard of her.

I also went through a Cornwall jag for a bit. A couple of those were decent, but mostly just too much language and not enough substance.

I DETEST the "bodice-ripper" books, and I can't abide a book, even fluff, that is so fraught with errors that I can't actually pay attention to the storyline.
I DO like John Grisham, and I like Jefferson Bass, aka Dr. Bill Brockton, the forensic anthropologist who runs a place called The Body Farm right here in my little hometown. He has gained national renown for the research he has done on the body farm, and back some years ago, took to writing novels based at least loosely on some of the crimes he's encountered over the years. His stories can tend to be a bit gory sometimes, but I prefer gory to sickening romance.

 

[Gary A.]

Man, day one and I am learning a ton of stuff in my Photoshop class. I don't know what real world application it may have in my work flow ... but It's been a real eye opener.

 

[sm4him]

When I want fluff reading, I turn to Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic series). Yes, I have read chick lit - more than once.

I don't know her either.

I "buy" a lot of my fluff material from Kindle freebies. I've gotten some pretty good stuff that way, and some absolute nonsense that I couldn't continue to read. But most of it is free, and what isn't free, I rarely pay more than 99 cents for, so I don't get too irritated if I hate it. I just move on to the next one.

 

[sm4him]

Man, day one and I am learning a ton of stuff in my Photoshop class. I don't know what real world application it may have in my work flow ... but It's been a real eye opener.

Yeah, I took a Photoshop class; a couple of them actually, in connection with my work--along with a class on Illustrator and two on InDesign. I got really obsessed for a while playing with some of the ultra-cool stuff you can do!

Now, I probably couldn't even remember how to DO half of that stuff. I'd really like to take an intermediate PS class strictly aimed at photo processing. I've got really good basic skills, but I get lost on the more intense stuff.

 

[limr37 7]

I'm not really sure what I consider "fluff." I mean, I know fluffy when I read it, but there's no genre that I reliably go to when I need something fluffy. I know this is probably going to sound horribly pretentious, but something like Jane Austen is kind of fluffy for me. I mean, ultimately it's just chick lit, right? Just with fancier vocabulary I'm just so aware of the writing and if it's bad writing, then I can't enjoy the book. If the writing is at least competent and doesn't get in the way of the story, then it's fine. But if the writing is bad, I just hate it and I seethe all the way through the book (which of course I HAVE to finish because I'm a moron that way...) And there's so much bad writing out there. It's one of the reasons I don't read a lot of current fiction. Some of it may be very good but I am more often disappointed then not, so mostly I don't even bother.

I enjoyed the Harry Potter series very much, actually. The storyline was so creative and compelling, and her writing was nothing outstanding but definitely competent. I used to read a lot of science fiction/fantasy, actually.

Basically, I treat most fiction as a 'rest' for my mind. But I also read a lot of biographies and non-fiction.

 

[snowbear123 55]

Harry Potter FTW!

 

[sm4him]

I'm not really sure what I consider "fluff." I mean, I know fluffy when I read it, but there's no genre that I reliably go to when I need something fluffy. I know this is probably going to sound horribly pretentious, but something like Jane Austen is kind of fluffy for me. I mean, ultimately it's just chick lit, right? Just with fancier vocabulary I'm just so aware of the writing and if it's bad writing, then I can't enjoy the book. If the writing is at least competent and doesn't get in the way of the story, then it's fine. But if the writing is bad, I just hate it and I seethe all the way through the book (which of course I HAVE to finish because I'm a moron that way...) And there's so much bad writing out there. It's one of the reasons I don't read a lot of current fiction. Some of it may be very good but I am more often disappointed then not, so mostly I don't even bother.

I enjoyed the Harry Potter series very much, actually. The storyline was so creative and compelling, and her writing was nothing outstanding but definitely competent. I used to read a lot of science fiction/fantasy, actually.

Basically, I treat most fiction as a 'rest' for my mind. But I also read a lot of biographies and non-fiction.

I loved the Harry Potter series! My boys and I read the first few together, but soon got so hooked that when a new one came out, I had to buy THREE books because no one was willing to wait their turn to read it!
Actually, usually I bought two books--my oldest son reads so fast (but still remembers it; he has an eidetic memory) that he was generally done in a day or two, so I was willing to wait that long. But I did buy three copies of the final book and none of us would talk to each other until we were ALL done.

For me, "fluff" is pretty much anything that just requires no more effort on my part than it takes to keep my eyes moving across the page. They are, for me, the equivalent of most TV shows, they don't require me to engage the brain. The genre doesn't matter--science fiction, humor, classics, mystery, etc.

The stuff I read that I don't consider fluff are books that engage me, that make me really THINK--either trying to figure out the outcome, or just engaging me in thinking, maybe understanding new concepts or different ideas. I just read a book about the life of Tesla that was pretty interesting. I like biographies, and a variety of non-fiction stuff. I also read a lot of Christian authors, but again, primarily nonfiction. Funny, I just don't much care for most of the Christian fiction I've ever tried to read. It's too Ozzie and Harriet for me. Well, there IS an author named Ted Dekker I like, although some of his stuff is kinda bizarre.

 

[snowbear123 55]

I tend to read non fiction, usually of historic or scientific influence. I do enjoy fiction and sci-fi, but not as much as I did a few years ago.

 

[limr37 7]

Be back in a while! I finally get to go home now

 

[pixmedic5 5]

15 hours down, 9 to go!

 

[snowbear123 55]

15 hours down, 9 to go!

Does your shift plan work out to about 8 days per month?

 

[limr37 7]

15 hours down, 9 to go!

More than halfway there! You can do it!

 

[limr37 7]

15 hours down, 9 to go!

Does your shift plan work out to about 8 days per month?

I'm curious about why so many in the medical field - EMTs, nurses, interns - have such long shifts. What is the advantage of cramming in all those hours in fewer days rather than spreading it out?