Wednesday, 25 March 2009

If there was ever proof that children are not part of my destiny, it's how tired I am after babysitting my 3-year-old nephew. And he's one of the good ones! Being sweet, relatively even-tempered (he is three) and cute as a bug's ear makes him a "good one" but he's three. Two days in a row of being Auntie and now my duty for the week is fulfilled. Now I'll spend the rest of the week and the weekend stewing over how many days I have to read until I'm at bat again. I'm such a whiner :)

In the Bleak Midwinter was soooooooo good! If the library had a copy of the next one ready and I didn't have to request it, wasting a day in between, I would have been there after I dropped The Boy off. They also have a copy of City of Glass waiting for me. I can wait until tomorrow, I can wait until tomorrow, etc. My husband was laughing at me the other night at my happy dance when I got the #1 slot in the wait list for City of Glass. 'Tis okay though, I was laughing too. Anyway, yes, Midwinter was awesome. I wouldn't have expected a book about a female priest to be so engaging but I was wrong. I'll be bringing home as many of them as I can tomorrow. 

I'm listening to Theory of a Deadman on my 'puter as I write this. They have become one of my favorite bands as of late; they have so many different sounds/songs - naughty ones, ballads, country sounds, funny ones. I'm so psyched that they're coming to my hometown in May. They aren't the headliner and the other bands they're coming with aren't as much a draw to me as TOAD (Three Doors Down, Hinder and some group called Black Stone Cherry) but we'll manage. Seether and Papa Roach came a few months back with Staind. Seether was who I wanted to see and Papa Roach really impressed me but we left during Staind. My ears rang for two days afterward so I'd probably be getting fitted for my hearing aid if we'd stayed the whole time. Our local venue is a civic center and it's not super big and they were so very loud. Reminder: take earplugs!

Tuesday March 24, 2009

I have a new lady to put on my author's to watch list: Maria V. Snyder. I read Poison Study last night and LOVED it! I made sure I got myself to the library today to pick up Magic Study and Fire Study. I think it's only a three-part series but she does have the first book in a new series out in April so yay :) Also got Mary Balogh's new one - Then Comes Seduction (silly title), Lisa Kleypas' Smooth Talking Stranger (they gave me the large print copy, ugh). Can't wait until approximately April 9 cause I'll be getting a really good box from Barnes & Noble. Inside will be new books from Jim Butcher, Ann Aguirre, Jaye Wells, Lynsay Sands, Kerrelyn Sparks, Ilona Andrews, and...Karen Chance. It'll be like Christmas :)

Right now I'm reading, well, look to the right of this post. First one of a fairly long series that is still ongoing with a sticky romantic subplot between an unmarried female Episcopalian priest and the married male police chief in their little upstate New York town. Yikes. That would definitely suck. I'm not that far in yet but I do like it. Clare (the priest) isn't a stick-in-the-mud and Russ (um, the police chief) appears to be a good guy so we'll see. 

Thursday, March 19 2009

So the Husband was home for the two past days and since he works his fingers to the bone to keep me in books, I try not to hog the 'puter too much. Not much to talk about anyway...Finished Sinful yesterday and while it was one of the better ones, not near as good as Slightly Dangerous was. It has only been about two months since I read it the first time (I had to look that up) but it still holds up. Or maybe it's just that I read so much that my retention stinks. I plan to talk more about this series pretty soon just as I want to with J.R. Ward's Brotherhood and Lara Adrian's Breed. 

After dinner tonight I started Kathy Love's I Only Have Fangs For You. I had to buy this one from half.com since it's next to impossible to catch on either of my book trading websites. I don't like buying brand new trade paperbacks since I read so fast (why do they publish popular fiction/urban fantasy/paranormal romance in that format when they could sell loads more in mass media paperback format instead) . I definitely don't get my money's worth, even if the story's great, and unless I'm going to keep it forever. Fangs is the third volume in the Young brothers series and this one is about Sebastian. He's different than I thought and is falling way faster than I expected. Good. May be the best one yet. 

I just want to acknowledge here that I do realize that I have a book problem. Out of the realm of possible problems, it's not a bad one to have, I guess. I don't watch much tv anymore, for starters. However, the things that I need to do - cleaning my house, working in the yard, etc. - definitely get put on the back burner. I get more excited about a new book coming out than just about anything. Is that weird? Probably :)

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Am about to start Slightly Sinful. I finished Slightly Tempted last night pretty late and only have the one book left until I get back to Wulf in Slightly Dangerous - I plan to power through. I gave Tempted a B- but that was only because I liked Morgan as much as I did. Her honey, Gervase the Frenchman, annoyed the hell out of me. In my head he sounded like a cross between Pepe le Peu and the Frenchie from Cheers (the one who tried to split up Woody and Kelly). Reminder: pick up Julia Spencer-Fleming's In the Bleak Midwinter from the library sometime. Rec came from Sarah at Smart Bitches. Sounds different, but promising. I'm also looking forward to the two Kerrelyn Sparks books that are on their way to me (God bless PaperbackSwap). To any fellow BookMoochers who read this, I also trade on PaperbackSwap. My heart belongs to BookMooch but PBS has presented opportunities that are few and far between on BM. 

One more thing today...Being in my early thirties and having survived my adolescence during the nineties, the music that comes to my mind when I think of high school is Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in particular. I recently looked up the lyrics to the song since I had absolutely no idea what the hell Kurt Cobain was saying and now I'm disappointed. I'm not sure what I expected but now the mystique is gone. I'm sure this sounds dumb. Oh well, whatever, nevermind.

Monday, 16 March 2009

Here goes...I've just read the first book in Kerrelyn Sparks vampire series and really enjoyed it. It was funny and sweet. I'm not sure what made me pick it up though. I had just finished Meljean Brook's Demon Angel, which was so very good, but it took 2+ days for me to finish it. Me! I usually rip through paperbacks in a few hours, sometimes getting through 3 a day. Demon Angel was the first in the series and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything and she sure knows how to cram a lot of story in 400 pages. I'm going to read Demon Moon and then need to get a copy of Demon Night so I can reread it before I get to Demon Bound. I read Demon Night last October and while I liked it, I felt like I was missing something. Having now read the short story that started it all, "Falling for Anthony," which tells how Colin was made vampire, and Demon Angel, Hugh and Lilith's story, things are becoming much clearer (duh) but I don't remember details. Stuff like what Drifter's gift is. Anyway, heavy stuff like Brooks' series, while awesome, gets overwhelming sometimes. So, I'm not sure what's up next. I have library books to read; Mary Balogh's Bedwyn family books (Alleyne and Morgan), Christopher Golden's new one, A Map of Moments, Susan Krinard's Lord of the Beasts, Sharon Sala's Sweet Baby, and Georgette Heyer's Beauvallet. I have other books to return today and will probably grab Balogh's Slightly Dangerous, Wulfric's story. I've already read it but, as usual, it being the last book in that series, I read it first. Pay attention, dummy! Next up, I think will be Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh. I'm going to clean my bathroom after the mail gets here (hurry up, hurry up). Maybe after that, I'll read. What else?

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

I love these kinds of books - vampire romances that don't take themselves too seriously. Lynsay Sands is my favorite author in that genre so far, but perhaps Kerrelyn Sparks (after I read the next one) may move into the #2 spot. I loved Undead and Unwed, Maryjanice Davidson's first Undead book but having made it through book three, Undead and Unappreciated, it's losing the appeal. Books 4-6 have been sitting on my shelf for months. There are others but I'm moving off-topic, so back to Millionaire. It made me laugh out-loud, earning glances from my husband (probably wondering if he should go get his butterfly net), and I finished it in one sitting, having to stay up until 1:30 am to finish it. Goofy vampires, a snaggle-toothed vampire (not really one of the goofy ones, though), and a dentist in the Witness Protection Program. I'm looking forward to the next one, Vamps in the City.

This post is going to the first of (I hope) daily posts. I keep a book journal, one that I actually write in, but it's only dates and titles. I'd like to make this more of a book diary in truth; making daily remarks about what I'm reading and if I like it, not just book reviews. It's going to be hard because I do have a life outside the view of my monitor but I'm going to do my best. 

Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh

I was so not properly prepared when I began reading this book. I had never read any of Nalini Singh's books before. And, I was a total snob when it came to the titles of her other series. I mean, Hostage to Pleasure and Slave to Sensation? Am I supposed to want to read books with those titles? YES! And I will, as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on them. Angels' Blood is so very freakishly good that I still can't believe it. Now I have to wait another year for the next one to come out. Not fair!

I'm not going to discuss what happens in this book because I don't think I will be able to start without blabbing everything. Suffice it to say, it has seriously put me in the mood to read every book in Meljean Brook's Angel series (as soon as I can figure out which one is #1 in the series - kinda confusing). I've already read Demon Night and after I started reading Demon Moon, I was so lost that I decided to stop and read them in order. Now, I must go forth and figure out what to read next. Please forgive me, Ms. Singh, for my earlier prejudices and for breaking the cardinal rule concerning books: don't judge a book by its cover. :)

New Grading System

I'm going to start adding grades to my "books read" lists. It's more for my benefit than anything else; I read so much and keep picking up new authors all the time that I need help remembering what I thought. It could be early-onset Alzheimer's, I guess, since I'm only in my early thirties. :) Anyway, if anyone reading this diary of sorts of mine wants to trust in my so-called ability to properly judge a book, be my guest. Just do so at your own peril. Here are some tentative descriptions of what the grades in my grading system are:

A: So awesome I'm walking around with a big goofy grin on my face 

B: Definitely good

C: OK, may or may not wish for the return of the hours I spent reading it (you get the gist)

D: Book was thrown across the room when finished (if finished), a.k.a. a wallbanger

F: Couldn't get through it at all - that's pretty rare but it does exist

I should add that these grades are not just based on the writer's ability to write the English language; I hate books that screw with your head at the end (i.e. Ian McEwan's Atonement, Anita Shreve's The Last Time They Met). Making me become emotionally invested in characters in a book and then yanking the rug out from under me is a good way to make me avoid any author's book in the future. So, while Atonement was well-written and creative, I would give it a D (I did throw it across the room when done). I'm not going to be objective and keep my emotions out of this - what would be the point in that? It's my book diary :)