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The Inside Reader: A.M. Riley
May. 7th, 2010 11:08 amShow me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir MitchellI think that I can say without doubt that I have never read a book by A.M. Riley that I didn't love; even when she pushes on the key that is usually not my cup of tea, like BDSM or menages, I nevertheless like what she writes. And Amor en Retrogrado is probably one of the best Gay Romance novel of the last years. So, please, welcome her and her list; she asked me how she did... as always she did perfectly!
A.M. Riley's Inside Reader List
I’ve been dawdling over this list because it is so hard to point to ‘favorites’ in literature, the arts, even television. My favorite thing this week, depends on my mood, what I need what I want etcetera. So I decided to go for ‘pivotal’ favorite books. I.E., books that are on my list of bests but that also had a strong impact on me for other reasons. So, in chronological order:
1) White Fang by Jack London. Okay, maybe a six year old should not read a book in which bad men are savagely attacked and killed in the middle of the night by a vengeful white wolf. Maybe my parents should have been more vigilant about what I brought home from the library. But they weren’t and I was scarred for life. I was a very very good little girl. On account of the wolves out there. Paperback: 188 pages
Publisher: Prestwick House, Inc. (March 1, 2007)
Publisher Link: http://www.prestwickhouse.com/p-11531-white-fang.aspx?view=1
ISBN-10: 1580496741
ISBN-13: 978-1580496742
Amazon: White Fang
White Fang is Jack London’s classic adventure story of a wolf’s struggle to find his place in the frozen Yukon Territory. Born of a half-wolf mother, White Fang is torn between his domestic and wild heritages and struggles to understand his place in the cruel and kind world of men. This tale of adventure, bravery, greed, and survival was an instant success and is a perfect companion piece to London’s The Call of the Wild and is a great choice for reluctant readers.
2) The Once and Future King by T.H. White. From which I realized that life is tragic and being good is no guarantee of safety. Those wolves might come after anyone. But also, from which I learned that the tragedy of life is also what bequeaths it with beauty, heroism, love, hope. And in which I read the bit of philosophy that would inform the rest of my life: "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the worlds wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you.”
Sorry for the length of the quote. But it’s important.
I’ve read reviews of this book by adults and children. Some of whom have just read it for the first time. Some of whom re-read it every few years. It is a masterful wonderful fantasy that, like every good fantasy, is based on truths about the human condition. My current copy is a yellowed, underlined, ragged-cornered mess. I think its my third. I need a forth.
Paperback: 688 pages
Publisher: Ace Trade (October 1, 1996)
Publisher Link: http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780441003839,00.html?strSrchSql=0441003834/Once_and_Future_King_T._H._White
ISBN-10: 0441003834
ISBN-13: 978-0441003839
Amazon: The Once and Future King
The whole world knows and loves this book. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.
( books from 3 to 12 )
Is that ten? I’m not ‘leaving people out’. I can’t list everything and everybody. Some of my favorite authors you all know and love as well.
How’d I do, Elisa?
About A.M. Riley: AM Riley is a film editor, and sometime poet, living in Los Angeles. Riley writes primarily LGBT paranormal and murder mysteries, and has been published with Torquere Press and Loose ID.
No Rest for the Wicked by A. M. Riley Publisher: Loose Id
Publisher Link: http://www.loose-id.com/No-Rest-for-the-Wicked.aspx
ISBN-13: 978-1-60737-546-3
Adam has gone through a lot of changes in the past year, a new taste for 'O' neg blood and allergy to sunlight being the least of them. Maybe it's the cute young grad student who has been sniffing around Adam's longtime sex partner, Peter. Or maybe immortality gives a man a little too much time to think. But Adam's feeling motivated to change a few of his ways. If he could just get Peter to stop working long enough to notice.
Peter has his own issues with dating a dead man. And after over a decade of being in love with a commitment-phobe, he's finding it hard to believe that Adam isn't sampling the goods of the hot young vampire he works with.
They manage their issues the way they always have. By not talking about them...until a high profile computer software genius turns up drained in Hollywood, revealing a new vampire gang in Los Angeles, and all of their troubles come to a head. There's no rest for the wicked.
1) White Fang by Jack London. Okay, maybe a six year old should not read a book in which bad men are savagely attacked and killed in the middle of the night by a vengeful white wolf. Maybe my parents should have been more vigilant about what I brought home from the library. But they weren’t and I was scarred for life. I was a very very good little girl. On account of the wolves out there. 
2) The Once and Future King by T.H. White. From which I realized that life is tragic and being good is no guarantee of safety. Those wolves might come after anyone. But also, from which I learned that the tragedy of life is also what bequeaths it with beauty, heroism, love, hope. And in which I read the bit of philosophy that would inform the rest of my life: 
No Rest for the Wicked by A. M. Riley