I'm thinking of declaring my blog a J.R. Ward-free zone.
Most of my regular blog-hopping haunts seem to be in pleasure overload ever since Lover Whatever came out and I find my eyes glazing over like I'm reading the latest tax codes.
I have nothing against Ms. Ward herself. I'm sure she's a lovely person, and I hope she's making oodles of money. I'm sure she deserves her success. I'm just bloody sick of hearing about her books. I don't care people - and by now you should all know it's all about me!
But I shouldn't pick on the Brotherhood. I had the exact same reaction with Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas and when that Suzanne Brockmann book came out - the one about Sam and Alyssa. How sad is that - I don't read Brockmann and I know her character(s) names. Tomorrow I get a life.
So my question is - can there be too much buzz? Normally I don't think so, unless the reader reading (and being inundated by said buzz) could give a flying fig. The Ward books do not work for me. I can understand why they work for others, but again - just not for me. So I'm already turned off, therefore when I keep reading buzz I tend to get annoyed. It's sort of like American Idol. I hate "reality shows" with a burning, seething passion (I think there might be an ointment for this) so I find myself slowly dying inside every time AI is mentioned on the radio, Internet, and television. It also makes me feel dirty that I like a couple of Kelly Clarkson songs.
Since I seem to be in a cranky mood today (blame it on an icky stomach and too little sleep), I thought we could all be cranky together. What authors/books are you just tired of hearing about? You don't care. You want people to shut up already.
Side note: I know I'm being a hypocrite. I mean, I won't shut up about westerns, so who am I to judge? But c'mon - this will be fun! And I know any authors that read this blog probably won't comment on the "who/what you're sick of hearing about" thing, but you can comment on the "is there such a thing as too much buzz" thing. So dish.
15 comments:
zsWell, I haven't read Ward or Kleypas or Brockmann either so don't think you're alone. Okay, maybe at one time or another in the far distant past a Kleypas book passed through my hands but it didn't stay or make a good impression if it did. In fact, I'm pretty sure it made a bad one but that's neither here nor there. Or is it?
I don't know but I tend to be a cautious reader in one sense that many might find strange. The more "extreme" buzz there is about an author, the more I seem to hesistate to pick them up until I actually see a plot of theirs that intrigues me all on its own. And ya gotta admit, the buzz about Ward has gone way over the line past extreme. Although, I've seen worse.
Beside, I'm so not into vampires at the moment that someone would literally have to pay me to get me started on another series of them. I just don't want to go there any more. Almost picked one up the other day at the store but decided no thanks after reading the blurb. That was enough to quash that budding impulse. ;p
I think we all have popular authors we don't care for. I just don't get Gabaldon or JD Robb. The Jamie/Claire/Roarke/Eve worlds can be as cultish as Ward's.
I tend to remember how my junior high friends and I behaved when our favorite bands released a new album. Really, it's the same sort of thing, except we're all grown now-and we're psyched up about fictional characters and authors who in most ways are the same women we are.
That's what big buzz and the way grown women behave over some authors and their books make me think of, any how. The KISS Army, all over again. :)
MaryJanice Davidson. Ugh. gag me with a spoon. I've read a few of her books and they do nothing for me I guess but so many people go ON AND ON AND ON about her and how great she is. I'm sick of it!
Lol. Nothing against those fans per se, and I'm sure her books are great to a ton of people, but... enough is enough.
Wendy:
I think the blog world is too Ward-y now, too, and I am a fan. And I am with you on reality shows--never seen one--and wish people would just care about something else, or at least talk about something else.
Bev, what buzz has been more extreme than Ward's? Just curious.
I'm with you Bev(bb). The minute something gets a ton of hype I become a skeptic. Plus, if that hype/buzz builds - well it gets ugly. I finally read The Da Vinci Code last year and all I could think was WTF?!?! People lost their damn minds over this?
Laura:
The Gabaldon hype tends to only surface for me when she has a new book coming out. Same with Robb, although I think the buzz with her has calmed mellowed a bit in the last year or so. And I loved the analogy to the KISS army. LOL!
Sarah:
I don't "get" MJD either - although her short storied tend to work for me. I've noticed though that the hype is slowly dying down with each Betsy book. Too much of the same old, same old for many readers (or as I like to call it - Stephanie Plum Syndrome).
Megan:
She is everywhere right now isn't she? You know what I'm afraid of? That the series "won't end" a la Stephanie Laurens. Of course, this is coming from the girl who isn't convinced that Harry Potter is going to end with book 7. I'm a skeptic by nature :)
In similiar overall magnitude, probably none. But there have been moments for other authors. Joy's Regar and Feehan's Gregory come to mind. Oh and let's not forget "Waiting for Rothgar" (Jo Beverley). That one got rather insistent for a while. I'm not even sure Laurens is in the same league in terms of anticipation because I don't recall any of her heroes being expected that way. So, who's the can't wait for "hero" in terms of Ward?
No, wait. Why am I asking? Slapping myself silly.
Rothgar! How could I have forgotten Rothgar!
For me it's freaking Harry Potter. I hate the little wizard with a passion. I think they are children's books that have been overhyped by adults. Ugh. Don't even get me started on the movies!
Yeah, Wendy, how could ANYONE forget Rothgar? I have the book. I haven't actually read it. I haven't actually read most of the . . . well, heck what's his family's name anyway? The very fact that I know HIS name say it all. I even spelled it right. I think. ;p Pulled it right out of that old memory hat from all the online buzz that surrounded him years ago when I wasn't even a fan.
So, how could you forget him after all that?!? *I* didn't. Drat it. Sigh.
Hehehe.
Obsessed? Who us?
You know it's really getting bad when we know enough about books we don't read to be able to tell people about them . . .
I think book buzz seems worse now with all the readers blogs and message boards. And yea, JR Ward is overdone-this from the person who just did a review - but! I didn't rush out to read the next one. Mind you I rushed out and bought the new one - but I'm not reading it until the buzz dies down.
You know it's really getting bad when we know enough about books we don't read to be able to tell people about them . . .
Yeah, like I know that Brockmann wrote a book about two people named Sam and Alyssa and I don't read Brockmann. I can't remember the names of the characters in my keepers, but Sam and Alyssa I know. Like how warped is that?
Yes, and what truly scares me is that I know most of the romance plotlines of the In Death books and I haven't read them either. My daughter inhales them, however, and then usually gives me a play-by-play recap of any pertinent developments in their relationship whether I want to hear them or not. So that's the excuse I'm sticking with on that one. It has the benefit of being the truth. Mostly. I mean I do listen to her. Sort of.
Hey, I read the first three, considered it a trilogy and left it at that. ;p
Well, I certainly get hyped up about books, TV, etc. But certainly there are hyped ones that just don't suit me. I've watched like one epsiode of "Idol", I haven't read Ward, etc. And I think when something you have chosen not to partake in gets hyped, you tend to figure the people who are hyping must be wierd.
But to the original can there be too much hype? - I'm not sure. It seems like no matter how much there's always someone who desn't know. But maybe that's a question of getting the right kinds of hype.
This is like when the AP had a Paris Hilton blackout. It lasted until she got a drunk driving ticket. :)
The book thing I sort of roll with. They come, they go. Same with TV. Although I do have to say I'm right there with you about reality TV. How many conversations have you had stating your negative opinion about reality TV and the person you're conversing with agrees with you and then proceeds to talk about their favorite reality show?
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