Monday, April 15, 2013

Musing Monday...I See Dead People..




 

 Monday already? Well,
 let's check out the questions at Should Be Reading...



Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!



I have another bookish rant.
Why is that I tend to lean toward the rants here?
Well, maybe if I don't rant my head would explode and that would be very messy.

This weeks rant was brought on by a conversation I had with one of my bosses yesterday. He stopped by the office and saw I was reading a book, a book by Dean Koontz. He asked if he could borrow it when I finished it..which he certainly can...and said that he was once a great fan of Koontz's books, but had not read one in years. Which reminded that years ago, decades in fact, I was a big fan of Koontz. It is hard to pin down but he was written at least 70+ books and I imagine I have read at least half. But the rant is about why I stopped.

When I read reading his books, I started with his most recent books and worked back, which is fine because these were all standalones. But at some point I picked up one, thinking I had not read it, only to find that I had, under A DIFFERENT TITLE!
What in the world is with that? And then I was discussing this issue today with a coworker and she reminded me of it happening with another author, a suspense author we both read.
That is crazy!

Bad enough when publishers issue them in different countries under different titles, but the same book in the USA issued under different names...unforgivable.
It is a scam?
Are they trying to drive readers insane?
I will tell you the second or third time it happened, I gave up on Koontz.
Which is a shame.


This book by Mr. Koontz I am reading now is part of a series, his Odd Thomas series. It is a series about a young man, a former fry cook, with unique talents that make him a valuable as a champion of the good and a force against evil.
Not like Superhero, but more like Supernatural Hero.
He see the dead as well, who seem to seek him out when they need a little help moving on. Hard to be sure because they don't actually speak. And on occasion he is graced with the help of a famous dead person, like Elvis, or Frank Sinatra or, in this case, Alfred Hitchcock and a cast of interesting people who come into his path when most needed.

This is the sixth in the series..but I must admit that it seems I missed 4 and 5. If it sounds interesting, you MUST read the first in the series, Odd Thomas... and maybe the second...and then you should be good to go. But if they start reissuing these with differ titles..I find the novella and graphic novels issued in the Odd series confusing enough...I will have to say goodbye to Dean once again.
So cut it out!

8 comments:

  1. I think Ive only ever read one Koontz book many many moons ago. Here's my musing: http://daystarz.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/a-different-sort-of-book-week/

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  2. I've never understood why publishers feel the need to publish the same book under different titles...I mean really, what's the point?
    Here's my musing: http://danielleheartsbooks.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/musing-mondays-20.html

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  3. I've never read any of Koontz' books, except the one his dog wrote, just a cute book about his pet dog. Other than that, I probably will never read any of his books. I'm not a fan of books where dead people show up in the storyline. I was just ranting about that last week on my other reading blog "Book Lust Journal".

    It's bad enough when I buy books I've already read by the same title, but to re-issue a book under a different title....show me the money I suppose is the reason?

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    Replies
    1. I am not usually a fan of a supernatural element, but Koontz books are an exception.
      And he has the BEST doogie characters in many, many of his books. In Odd Thomas, it is Boo, a white lab ghost dog. yes, ghost dog.

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  4. i was an avid Koontz reader til the books/stories all began to sound alike ...

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  5. Hmmm…that isn't right AT ALL to publish the same book under a different title. I've fallen victim to that more than once and it is annoying. I'm not a big Koontz fan … read one or two but they didn't do it for me so I never continued.

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  6. I enjoy the Odd series. I think I'm on the interludes and then this book.

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  7. They're going to re-title Lenore's book for it's paperback release. Since it's got 2 in the title people keep assuming it's a sequel.

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