Why Kristen Can't Read

I can't read. I'm trying to, I really am but everything I pick up lately is just, well, dreck. (And how often do you get to use that word? Not nearly enough.)

Book One - A paranormal I took with me to Spain and read through only because I had nothing else to read. Seriously. If the potato chip bag had been in English, I would have pitched that book into the Mediterranean. As it was I left it in Spain. Reading this book was like swimming through nettle-embedded mud, a long painful process. The characters were so poorly drawn and lacked any depth of personality that by the mid-point I was routing for the bad guys.

Book Two - A historical I picked up when I got home from Spain, ready to sink my reading molars into something juicy. The opening scene was a very hot, sexy description. Of two horses mating. ICK! Get real! Even in my most desperate reading moments, I wouldn't read that. It totally skeeved me out. That book is now marked for the yardsale.

Book Three - A regency that I am still reading. But not for long. The book features a rape scene between the hero and heroine. Yes, a rape scene. I'm trying to read a little further, just to see how it's handled before I make my decision whether or not to mark up my wall by pitching the thing into it. So far, neither the hero or heroine have endeared themselves to me. He's a boorish clod, she's a ninny. Not really my kind of book.

Where have all the good books gone? They are not, I assure you, on my TBR shelf where the rest of these winners came from. Fortunately, most of these books have either been given to me or won. I haven't paid for most of them. Small comfort, really.

I guess I'll have to wait for my next Amazon shipment of tried and trues. Or June, when Gena Showalter's Awaken Me Darkly finally hits the stands. (Actually, I've preordered it from Amazon so it may come sooner. I love when they surprise me like that!)

And will someone please pick up Catherine Spangler's new series? I need something good to read!

Sigh. I guess I'll go write...