Almost the New Year...Are you Ready?

Everyone has been asking about New Year resolutions and I have noticed the annual glut (perhaps poor choice of words) of diet plans, exercise aids, workout programs, etc....
I learned not long ago that it does not behoove me to make resolutions, especially at the New Year. I don't keep them because I always make the ones that are icky in concept. Never eat more Cheetos, drink more wine, have more ice cream. Nope, it's always eat less 'bad' food and exercise more. I did a re-think in September when I went to day shift and off of shift work for the foreseeable future. I began exercising more, eating better choices (there are no good or bad foods, just better choices and smaller portions) and I recommitted to Weight Watchers. By golly, it's working.
If I do have a New Year resolution, it would be to make more time for me, reading, alone, movies, whatever. That old saying, 'If Momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy' holds grains of truth. So Momma is gonna be happier!

We paid a visit to B&N and bought some DVDs with the gift card we received for Christmas. The Die Hard boxed set to catch us up with the first three and Kelly's Heroes. Then we wandered the book sales. A lot of books 50% off and I picked up some holiday books for Lady K's collection and Jeff Long - DEEPER, the sequel to THE DESCENT which scared the badoobees out of me. Also AN ICE COLD GRAVE - Charlaine Harris, the third in this series. THEN there was the 3 for $9.99 sale tables.....GREAT SOUTHERN MySTERIES that DH picked out for me and THOU SHALT NOT KILL edited by Anne Perry. Gotta go find room for my additions. Also found PREACHING TO THE CORPSE - Roberta Isleib in my mailbox that I won a couple of weeks ago. It's second in a series and I know this one will be as good as the first. Thanks J Kaye!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope everyone is having a great day. Were books under the tree? I had four and Lady K had many many many thanks to my Booktalk friends and her Auntie Deb. I organized a Secret Santa book exchange and had two names, so received two packets of books and DH gave me the Paula Deen biography. I am very much looking forward to all of them. They are upstairs and I cannot for the life of me remember the titles. We are in the middle of Christmas dinner prep or I would go up and check the names.
We went from having just DH, Lady K and myself for the day as my parents were hesitant to drive out in the crappe weather Kansas was having. They called Sunday night and said they'd come out Monday. About 10 minutes later, our friend Jaime called and said he and his DS would be over for Christmas dinner and possibly his wife and MIL. And today DH's friend called to wish Happy Christmas and (my thought) hope to get invited for dinner with his DD and girlfriend. Sadly they were going to have pizza if they didn't come over here....sigh.....
So....we now have five more adults and two kids coming over at some point this afternoon for dinner at 5pm to go with DH, myself, Lady K, my mom and my dad. I am looking forward to tomorrow and holiday time is basically over. Might take my mom shopping if the snow (that the weather fibbers said we weren't going to get and now we have 6 inches on the ground and it's still coming down) lets up any.

A Redbird Christmas

I finished A Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg yesterday morning. I really didn't want it to end. What a lovely book! I had never read Fannie Flagg before and I am going to add more of her books to my wishlist from now on.
Oswald discovers his ailments are rapidly increasing his likelihood of dying. While at the doctor's office he finds a flyer for a retreat for better health. There really isn't anything keeping him in Chicago, so he calls the number on the flyer. He finds himself in Lost River, a town that time seems to have forgotten. We meet the residents in all of their sweet quirkiness. My favorites are Jack and Patsy. Jack is a redbird nursed back to health after being injured by crapweasel boys and now a pet of the local store owner. Patsy is the sweetest little girl, smart as a whip, and twisted of body due to a birth injury.
This was my absolute favorite of the group of holiday themed books I read in December.

So You Wanna Win Some Books....

No, I don't give away books, but I know someone who raffles books once she and her family are finished reviewing them! JKaye and her fam read and review books and they raffle them on Sunday. All you do is visit her site and comment on the books she reviews pretty much each day. I've won four or five and added some pretty spectacular titles and authors to my wishlists and shelves thanks to JKaye.
http://www.j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

Books I have won (what my brain can remember anyway):
Preaching to the Corpse - Roberta Isleib
Sexiest Man Alive by Diana Holquist
The Last Jew Standing by Michael Simon
The Overlook - Michael Connelly

What's in a Name Challenge List

1. A book with a color in its title. (The Black Echo – Michael Connelly)
2. A book with an animal in its title. (The Monkey’s Raincoat – Robert Crais
3. A book with a first name in its title. (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death – MC Beaton)
4. A book with a place in its title. (Pacific Vortex – Clive Cussler)
5. A book with a weather event in its title. (Storm Front – Jim Butcher)
6. A book with a plant in its title. (Thyme of Death – Susan Wittig Albert)

Calling it Good.....Joy's Seconds Challenge

Joy's Seconds Challenge October thru December

What I Listed I'd Read
Jacqueline Winspear - Birds of a Feather
Beverly Connor - Dead Guilty
Karin Slaughter - Kisscut
Larry J Hillhouse - Shot At and Missed: A Cody J Bryan Mystery
Katie MacAlister - Fire Me Up: An Aisling Gray, Guardian, Novel

Joy's Seconds Challenge Books Actually Read
Grave Secrets - Charlaine Harris (2nd in Grave series) Oct
Deep in the Woods: The Beginning - Larry J Hillhouse (second I have read by this author) Oct
Whole Lotta Trouble - Stephanie Bond (second of this author) Oct
Fire Me Up: An Aisling Grey, Guardian Novel - Katie MacAlister (second of this series) Nov
Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear (second in series) Nov
Blue Christmas - Mary Kay Andrews (second by author) Dec

A Highland Christmas - M C Beaton

A very warm and fuzzy holiday book. Very very quick to finish, two sessions on the recumbent bike. Superbly enjoyable if you like light cozy mysteries. No murders in this one, just some intrigue and warm wishes for the holiday season and what Hamish does to bring it about for several characters.
Calvinist roots run deep, so the village of Lochdubh does not celebrate the holidays in a showy fashion, at least in public. Hamish does his best to help bring the holiday spirit to all and sundry. There is a missing cat belonging to a reclusive 'witch' on the hill, a perfect child of rather strict parents, a new schoolteacher, missing fairy lights in a nearby village, an unhappy retirement home. All of these, not so oddly, come together for a nice story.
This was the first time I've handheld read a Hamish Macbeth book. I have only listened to them in the past and I could hear the lovely voice of Davina Porter, the narrator of this series, in my cranium as I read. This was definitely not a bad thing to hear this voice in my head. = )

Tumbling Blocks - Earlene Fowler

I finished Tumbling Blocks - Earlene Fowler this morning thanks to early morning wakeup due to muscles utilized yesterday that hadn't been utilized in quite that fashion in some time. Snowshoeing yesterday in the woods up at Eldora Ski Resort up and down some pretty decent hills. Anyway, the quads and calf muscles were giving me grief this morning and I turned to my bedside book. It was a very peaceful morning under the covers and I finished the last 60 or so pages.
I have always listened to Earlene Fowler's books before, so this was a variation of a treat. Earlene uses quilt names in her titles, but doesn't focus much on actual quilting. The particular quilt makes an appearance somewhere in the reading, but it's more of a metaphor for what will occur in the book. This one has several stories, all tied to mega-tasked Benni Harper. She is the wife of the town's police chief and she runs the town's folk art museum (a place I would dearly love to visit if it actually existed), and friend to many. I love her grandma Dove, her father, her friend Elvia, her cousin Emory, her dog Scout. Her husband is a rugged and sometimes troubled soul, but is devoted to Benni as Benni is to him.
The benefactress of the museum demands that Benni take on an investigation of the death of her best friend, another rich woman. Constance thinks Pinky (she's rich, the rich sometimes have silly names) was murdered. The police chief thinks otherwise and asks Benni to take on a fake investigation to keep Constance off his back.
Into this beginning, Benni's mother-in-law appears. She is someone who was not happy with Benni marrying her only son. Tension....perhaps.
A painting by an 'outsider artist' has been donated to the folk museum. We learn what outsider art is. The painting is by an reclusive artist which makes the artist's work that much more valuable.
All of this is going on throughout the book. One block falls in each and the tumble begins.
A good Christmas themed mystery.

Slay Bells - Kate Kingsbury

Finished Slay Bells - Kate Kingsbury this morning on the recumbent bike. Perfect timing of 30 minutes on the bike and just the right amount of pages to carry me to the finish line of the ride. This was a fairly decent holiday cozy mystery. I might look for more by this author if she has written other holiday themed cozies for this series.
Main character has a pretty understanding husband to let her sleuth around and not tell the police who only seem to get in the way. Three deaths in as many days at the holiday timeframe and mini-mysteries going on as well. Is there a ghost in the inn? Who killed the three men, seemingly unconnected to each other? Why is that singer woman after the husband?
Thankfully a fast read and I can move on to something else.

The Dolls' Christmas - Tasha Tudor

World's shortest audiobook!! Or in my experience anyway. But I am counting it to my book journal for the month and I am counting it for the Christmas Challenge. I finished The Archer's Tale on the way home from work today and immediately began The Dolls' Christmas and it was immediately over after less than 30 minutes of story. The delightful Davina Porter narrated it.

The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell

I was both intrigued and hesitant when this arrived from RecordedBooks from my wishlist. I'd listened to my first Bernard Cornwell - Stonehenge not long ago and I really didn't like it much. The Archer's Tale is a search for the Grail and I love the King Arthur stories, so that was the intriguing part and that won me over the hesitation.
I began listening to it and wasn't too impressed, but I persevered and so very glad that I did. Thomas is a sympathetic character with flaws aplenty to make him very human. He is a bastard, in the birth sense, not character flaw sense. His father is killed for the lance that Sir George used to kill the dragon. He becomes embroiled on his own reluctant quest for the lance as well as the man who killed his father.
I found out midway through the listening that this is the first book in a trilogy. I am very glad of this and immediately have added the second in the series to my wishlist on RecordedBooks.

So very close!!!

I am sooooo close to finishing two books, The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell, audiobook in the car and Slay Bells - Kate Kingsbury, my current purse book. I have 30 more pages in the purse book and I am on the last side of The Archer's Tale. I have Innocent Traitor - Alison Weir, Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay, Fluke - Christopher Moore, Circle of Quilters - Jennifer Chiaverini, The Doll's Christmas - Tasha Tudor, and Bubbles All the Way - Sarah Strohmeyer to choose from.
Okay, just read the synopsis of Bubbles All the Way and it takes place at Christmas time....choices made....The Doll's Christmas as it is only one tape and can be finished by tomorrow, I think, and then Bubbles All the Way!! I can keep with my holiday themed books only in month of December even in the car.

AGGHHHH! I Could be READING!!!

....but no, I am working on Christmas cards! I wish I had the same shift position I had this time last year. It was quiet on nights and I could get these accomplished in no time at all. Now I have to do them at home with all of the little things that seem to interrupt or I make them interrupt. Like posting here on the blog...
Back to The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell tomorrow. Should finish this week and get to choose something new. Oh boy! I am enjoying this story the more I listen. It's a strong tale and it's a beginning of a trilogy.
I am about halfway through Slay Bells - Kate Kingsbury, my purse book. I will likely finish this week too with the rides on the recumbent bike. I'll just make them last longer.
I seem to be making headway in bedside book Tumbling Blocks - Earlene Fowler. I wish I could stay awake longer or in bed longer in the mornings.

Silent Night - JD Robb, Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, Claire Cross

Silent Night was a very pleasant surprise. I don't usually have good luck with compilation books or whatever one labels a book with four stories by four different authors. I have been on the reading end of these and generally there is one good strong story, one pretty good story and the other two are weak. Silent Night started strong and stayed that way all the way through. I kind of hoped it would be so because the book led with (unknown to me) Claire Cross and her story A Berry Merry Christmas a very amusing story of a Christmas elf sent from the North Pole to help a mortal girl get her wish for a new mom. Next came Dee Holmes' The Unexpected Gift, a good story of bad boy coming home and making good. Next up Christmas Promises Susan Plunkett. This one might be the weakest of the group, but still a very readable tale of a woman, once rich, now doing good things for battered women. The man from her past comes in and helps. Last story was JD Robb Midnight in Death. Eve and Roarke and company always a good tale, but this was a humdinger. I read this one last year, but re-read it and enjoyed it just as much the second time.

On Strike for Christmas - Sheila Roberts

This was such a good book! Talk about your life lessons. I did feel for these women who felt the need, for various reasons, to go on strike for the holidays. One because the husband didn't like the partying kind of celebrations, one because her husband liked it too much, others for reasons in between. They all put their significant others in charge of the holiday. To include cooking, decorating, getting the costumes for the holiday pageants, gift purchase, etc. All with varying degrees of very amusing results. All lessons learned on all sides of the households.

It made me very glad to be married to my sweetie-pie who loves Christmas as much as I. We decorate and bake and cook together. He did mention that we might not have to buy decorations any more except maybe the ones we can place around the house. Then the containers were empty and the tree still had room for more decorations. He conceded that it will be okay to keep getting them each year.

This is a highly recommendable book!!

Aunt Dimity's Christmas - Nancy Atherton

The Aunt Dimity series is an uneven kind of ride. Some of them (Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil) are awesome and others (Aunt Dimity and the Duke) are so-so.
Thankfully Aunt Dimity's Christmas was on the up side. I have a feeling I have read it before, but I continued on with it anyway. I usually get disgusted with my forgetful brain and throw the book in the trade stack as soon as I recognize that I have indeed seen the words before. I didn't feel compelled to do so with this one. It may have had, in part, to do with it was the only other book I had in my purse after finishing Blue Christmas while I waited to sign Lady K up for swim lessons and I still had a 2 hour wait. Mostly, though, it was because it's a charming book. There are times when I want to whap the main character upside the cranium, but then she comes through after realizing she is being a pewpcranium.
I'm tellin' ya, I want her life. She was raised poor, but came into a crappeload of $$ and then married a rich fella, too! Then she had twin boys, apparently kept her figure, and has her father in law there at beck and call to watch the boys at a moment's notice.

Blue Christmas - Mary Kay Andrews

This was a very good start to December and holiday type reading. Yes, I started the challenge with some paranormal and futuristic mysteries, but this one actually set the tone. Very easy and light and fun. Mary Kay Andrews is such a funny person and writes how I wish I could. More funny warm characters with interesting flaws.

Sigh.....Another Challenge to Join....Cannot Resist...

What's in a Name Challenge as challenged by Words by Annie
Dates: January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008
The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.
1. A book with a color in its title. Examples might include: The Amber Spyglass, The Red Pony, Blue Blood
2. A book with an animal in its title. Examples might include: The Hound of the Baskervilles, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julie of the Wolves
3. A book with a first name in its title. Examples might include: Jane Eyre, the Harry Potter books, Anne of Green Gables
4. A book with a place in its title. Examples might include: From Russia with Love, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Out of Africa
5. A book with a weather event in its title. Examples might include: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Red Storm Rising, Tornado Alley
6. A book with a plant in its title. Examples might include: Where the Red Fern Grows, The Name of the Rose, Flowers for Algernon
--You may overlap books with other challenges, but please don't use the same book for more than one category. (For example, you can use The Red Pony for either a "color" book or an "animal" book, but not for both.)

Working on my list of books now. Have to go check on Mt Git'r'Read and see what I might already have....

Holiday Gift Suggestion for the Booklovers in Your Life

Still at a loss for what to get that lover of books in your life. Yes, there's always asking for the wishlist or getting a giftcard to B&N or Borders.
My new favorite is a subscription to my favorite little mystery bookstore, High Crimes in Boulder CO. It's a book a month for my sister and one for my dad. It worked wonderfully last year for my sister, so I renewed for her. I thought it might work well for my dad, too, so started a subscription for him. I told Cynthia what tastes my sister and dad have and what they don't like (cozies are ick to my sister and female authors are a big bleck to my dad) and she goes from there. She chooses books from the not overly read authors, ones that the giftee might not choose for themselves.
So check with your locally owned bookstore and see if they have something similar. You can always give Cynthia a jingle and she would be more than happy to hook you up.
http://www.highcrimesbooks.com/

November Books I Read

Bubbles in Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer, BOT, just love this series and this is my favorite

Fire Me Up: An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel - Katie MacAlister, MPB, a super paranormal romp, Joy's Seconds Challenge

Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear, TPB, a keeper book..just wonderful, Joy's Seconds Challenge

What's a Ghoul to Do? - Victoria Laurie, MPB, who you gonna call? This was a good start to another good series

An Acquaintance with Darkness - Ann Rinaldi, TPB, so-so, Unread Author Challenge

Holidays Are Hell - Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M Liu, Vicki Pettersson, MPB, 50/50 decent, first two were the best, Christmas Challenge

Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews, TPB, what a FAB book! More! Unread Author Challenge

Memory in Death - JD Robb, MPB, Love love love this series! Christmas Challenge

Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker, BOT, once was enough, I was exhausted, Unread Author Challenge

7 books, 2 audio, 108 so far for the year

The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell

Okay, I've found my next audiobook and next 2nds Challenge. It's a good story, so far, and the narrator is fine. It starts in 1643 and goes from there. Thomas was the illegitimate son of a priest and becomes an archer after his village is pillaged by the Normands for a spear that St George used to kill the dragon. That's where I am now. So far, so good.

Anyone want a great grin, watch 'Shrek the Halls'!! Lordy, I hope this comes out on DVD. I was in a bad mood and now...not so much. Thanks Shrek and Donkey and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas....yummeh...). Sweet dreams now, babeh....

Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker

Glad to be finished with Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker. I have been listening to this for over a month, what with no listening time during the Thanksgiving week and not using my car much. 17 tapes, 22 hours long. Thankfully a very talented narrator, Frank Muller, kept me listening. I did fast forward through what seemed the millionth multi-partnered sex scene and kept fast forwarding when it got to be too much from then on. The story itself was intriguing, but I became a little overwhelmed at times. And I am not a Fainting Fanny nor get wrapped around the axle with sex scenes, but some of these became too much.
I liked how Clive dispatched the bad guys (male and female) and redeemed the iffy characters. Tammy was my favorite of the good guys and Katya was a well written evil biotch.

Ready to move on and try something new from the stacks of audiobooks in the backseat of the vehicle. The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell might be up next.

Started On Strike for Christmas

I started On Strike for Christmas last night. If given the time, I will read this one fast. It's very good and I don't blame these first two women for thinking about this strike. I would too!

I read for 30 min on the recumbent bike this morning, so that means I am a little over halfway through Memory in Death - J D Robb. I love a good fast read. They make the time on the bike go faster and I can mow through more in a month without skimming. I can mow and savor. I can't so much with skimming. If I am skimming, something is wrong with the book.

I have no idea what ol' Clive can do to fill the last two tapes of Coldheart Canyon, because most all of the main players have bit the dust. It will be a very long time before I get such a loooooong book on tape or CD again. I get antsy to finish and move on to the next one. I have several in the backseat of my vehicle and one or two in the closet at home.

Hissy Fit...what FUN!

I initially chose Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews because of the title. What's not to like about that term? Not necessarily being on the receiving end of one, unless you deserve it of course, but they can be a site to behold. Especially when it's from someone who is not known for throwing them. Keely is one such woman. But she finds out something of her soon to be husband and throws a doozy. And it goes from there. It is funny and warm and a mystery thrown in. I love all of the characters, even the pewpheads. Well, I'd love to take a cast iron skillet to the flat side of some of the characters' craniums for what they did to Keely. But she perseveres. I love Austin, her best friend. He steals the scenes he's in. Would love to know someone like him in real life.
I highly recommend this as not just a chick-lit book, which I am sure it was labelled. I am going out this afternoon and finding more books by Mary Kay Andrews. She is a new-to-me author and so glad I found her.
Now to find something new to read....holiday book, perhaps On Strike for Christmas - Sheila Roberts.

Soliloquy to Black Friday.....

Here is something I started on another site and a friend, Carol Ann, finished. I snort laughed and shared with DH...he did his version of snort laugh. I asked Carol Ann if I could use her Soliloquy to Black Friday. She said she would be flattered...here it is:

My start:

To shop or not to shop...that is the question....whether it is nobler to stay home and away from the crowds....

Carol Ann's deee-lightful finish:

Or to rise before dawn seeking outrageous bargains
While wading against a sea of determined shoppers
Should I oppose them in a made dash to the 40% off table?
Or shall I sleep; perchance to dream another 4 hours.
Aye, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of decadence what treasures might I miss?
It gives me pause to contemplate
The calamity of one item left for three shoppers
For whom would bear the scorn and trampling of the madding crowd
The oppressor wresting away your rightly claimed prize
The pangs of despising humanity
As you witness the insolence of one stealing your parking space
Shall I grunt and sweat hauling packages, boxes and bags?
And yet dread that next stop on my list?
The risk of missing the undiscovered 70% off item
Will I become one who puzzles other travelers?
Making me a bear and casting ill will round me
To fly at another who holds the last down blanket?
Thus my conscience does make a coward of me
And I must contemplate a resolution
To leave my sickle home or anything else I might cast
And enterprise to use only guile and the moment
If I encounter currents of people in need of being turned away
For I am inspired in the name of action
And free coupons for the first 250 customers
And pray that not all my sins be remembered


Happy shopping!!

First Christmas Book

Holidays Are Hell - Vicki Petterssen, Marjorie M Liu, Kim Harrison, and Lynsay Sands. A 50/50 kind of book which is what tends to happen with these compilation books. Sometimes it's only 1/4 good and that's sad. And I still get them and hope for the best. The better half was Kim Harrison who can write no wrong as far as I am concerned and I also am now a fan of Lynsay Sands. I think I could be a fan of the other two authors if I didn't feel like I'd been dropped into the middle of a story and was hopelessly lost, but maybe that was just me...cuz that happens a lot to me....

Next up for purse book, I have Memory in Death - JD Robb, who I adore in this incarnation, but not so much as Nora Roberts. This one occurs during the Christmas season in 2059, so I am calling it for the Christmas Challenge, too.

Read quite a bit in Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews this morning due to early wakefulness. It's gooooood!
On tape 15 of 17, side 1 Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker in the car. It's back to moving right along and most of the bad people are kicking off right and left. Not sure what the story will do for the next five sides.....let's listen, shall we??

Hope Amanda Stevens, I mean Nina Frost, doesn't mind....

http://rockstarname.com/index.php

Go find out who you are on stage!!! I am Ivy Ambrose. Bring on the drum solo, three encores and Bic Lighters babeeeee!!!

Time to Finish Some Books

I finished An Acquaintance with Darkness - Ann Rinaldi last night and began Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews. I had a hard time sleeping last night and was at the mercy of what was on the shelves in the Candy Room to read. Hissy Fit looked to be a good starting point.
I skimmed the last 10 or so pages of An Acquaintance with Darkness because I just could not like the main character, a 14 year old spoiled brat. I just got tired of reading about her. So I skimmed.
I hope Hissy Fit is more my style. I know how to throw one, so maybe I can learn some new angles.
= )
I have resorted to fastforwarding through Coldheart Canyon again. I am close to finishing and the ick parts are just getting to be too much. I am ready to move on there too. I am on the last story of Holidays are Hell and hope to finish that the next day or so.

Fabulous Web Site

http://www.freerice.com

This is a fab site for word power building and, as per the site, United Nations donates rice for all of the words you get correct. It is addicting in a very good way. Give it a try.

Hello Seester!!

I forwarded my blogspot site address to my sister and she told me last night that she is reading it now. So a shout out to my Seester! Luvs ya!! Thank you for the pearl bracelet. It's

gorgeous (in my best Barbara Streisand...much as I dislike that broad, love her caricature) !

I am on tape 14 of 17, side 1 Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker in the car. The man can write and keep me interested even with the truly creepy things going on. It's done in rest-freaky-rest-freaky-rest-ewwgross-rest-holy crap...sort of roller coaster pattern. You get a chance to catch your breath a bit before the next weirdness kicks in. Definitlely listening to something warm and fuzzy after this.

I am a little over halfway through An Acquaintance with Darkness - Ann Rinaldi as bedside reading. I would love some more time with it, but I keep getting interrupted with falling asleep. Not due to the book, but from my thing of getting up so flippin' early to get my workout done for the day.

I started the second story in Holidays are Hell - four authors of paranormal genre. Kim Harrison wrote the first story wonderfully and can only hope the rest of the stories stand up as well. This is my beginning of the winter time holiday books and one for my Christmas Challenge.

I Believe I Found It

I went looking for a different purse book. One that would fit in my purse and be fun to read while on the bike and while standing in line and wouldn't take too much brain cells to catch up if I went for periods of time before getting back to it. But not too inane a book....I don't ask much. I believe I found what I was looking for, Holidays are Hell - Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M Liu and Vicki Pettersson. Sometimes these collaboration books can go awry, but I think this one might be pretty good. It starts with a very strong Kim Harrison writing about a very young Rachel Morgan, the main character in Kim's series. I fell for the series immediately (back in the day) upon seeing the titles For a Few Demons More, A Fistful of Charms, The Good the Bad and the Dead, and Every Which Way But Dead.

from b&n
This holiday, spend quality time with family and loved ones—living and dead . . .
There's no place like home for the horrordays—unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard . . . or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here—and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

I am looking forward to the rest of the book. My only problem will be finding the time this next week of holiday prep. If nothing else, it will get my butt down to the mancave to ride our recumbent bike just to get the chance to read. Work off the turkey and get my readin' on.

Thank goodness for purse books....

I always carry a purse book with me. I had a doctor's appt yesterday afternoon....I was early, the doctor was running late. I was at the halfway point in What's a Ghoul to Do? - Victoria Laurie when I sat down in the waiting room and I finished while waiting for my blood draw two hours later. Thankfully, that meant the appt was complete and it left me looking forward to choosing a new purse book. I stopped at Super Tarjay on the way to picking up Lady K at school and kept myself to my shopping list even though I did wander through the book section. I was hoping to find On Strike for Christmas - Sheila Roberts, but no joy. I will just have to go to B&N and renew my B&N card and use my discount now....oh the tragedy....

I went home after Lady K pick-up and got my schtuff ready for the next day of work and working out. I also thought I'd found my next purse book The Butler Did It - Kasey Michaels. No, he really didn't...at least not for me. It's an eHarlequin set in Regency England timeframe that I somehow thought would be a fun read and it so is not. So now to weed out the Kasey Michaels I thought would be a good deal to get all at once having never read her. I will try one more of another era and see how it goes. I will start this one at home or will carry two choices in my purse this time. It makes for a long recumbent bike ride when one doesn't have a book to read when one is used to having a book to read.

Possums....Coldheart Canyon is not for the faint of heart....

Yikes!!! Listening to Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker on my commute is getting more difficult. I am not a prude by any stretch, but jeezoh-peezoh!!! My eyebrows are raised as high as they can go (granted, this is not very high...) at some points of the listening. Thankfully, it alternates between stories or characters, so there is some relief. I will have to listen to something warm and fuzzy after this one. I am on tape 8 of 17, side 1.

I am about a third of the way through An Acquaintance with Darkness - Ann Rinaldi as bedside reading. It is billed as YA, but it is good for adults too. Or maybe I am YA at heart.

I have been enjoying my time on the recumbent bike while reading What's a Ghould to Do? - Victoria Laurie. This is the first of another the author's series and I will be getting more of this one along with her other Abby Cooper - Psychic Eye series.

Seconds Challenge - Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear

I stayed up past my bedtime last night to finish Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear (hey, it wasn't a school night). I chose it for my list of Seconds Challenge and was very glad I did. I loved Maisie Dobbs, the first in the series. That one was billed as a mystery, but it was more of a character development study with a tinge of mystery in that Maisie is a private investigator. Throughout that book it shows how she came to choose that path and all of the people along that path and showing the way, however inadvertantly. I should have been disappointed with Ms Winspear for misleading me somewhat, but I wasn't. I adored Maisie and enjoyed the other characters in that first book of her life.
Birds of a Feather continues the story and is actually a mystery. Women are being murdered and only Maisie sees the connection, however tenuous.
This is only a part of the book, though. It continues to be a character study of everyone in Maisie's life. I love Billy, Maisie's assistant, and all that they discuss and go through. He is a wounded soldier from WWI and is fighting his personal demons. I think he is my favorite character in the series, besides Maisie.
There are several things going on at once and I do not know how Maisie continues to carry on as she does, but she is described as showing signs of wear and concern for her well-being after the concern for her father and Billy. She wonders at her life and if she is capable of love again after Simon (read the first book).
With all that is occurring in her life, she never wavers from her self-assurance of her chosen path as a private investigator. I love how she calms and centers herself with meditation.

It is good, but it was early this morning when I chose it. All of my challenge choices were in the master bedroom and I was in the spare, Candy Room, and choices were limited to quietly choosing something from those shelves on the landing or in the Candy Room. Ann Rinaldi's young reader book An Acquaintance With Darkness looked intriguing enough. It is during the time of Lincoln, Civil War and a young girl's life at this time. So far, there has been mention of John Wilkes Booth, Dr Mudd, and body snatching. This will be a book for my Unread Author challenge, if I continue.

Giving Up on a Book....for now.....

It's actually two books. Both purse books are just not gettin' it for me. So, putting The Visitant and The Chemistry of Death back on Mt Git'r'Read for now and picking up What's a Ghoul To Do? - Victoria Laurie. This should even out the trilogy of books I usually have going. I need a balance of something light to go with my version of heavy or dark.
Easier to hold and pay attention to on the recumbent bike is a good thing, too. Stay on bike longer to read more book, lose more floof off of my 'aithe'. All good.

I am on tape 6 of 17, side 1 Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker in the car and we have ghost-age now. OR do we????? Ooooooooooooooooooooooo...........spoooooookeeeeeeeee........

I am fairly close to finishing bedside book Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear. I would like to finish this weekend, but not sure what kind of reading time I am going to get. Keep your fingers crossed for some quality reading time. Thankin' you.

Not Normally 'Into' Clive Barker....ready to make and exception

I saw Hellraiser back in the day as my then boyfriend's way to get me over my phobia of scary movies...it worked, mostly. That has been the extent of my Clive Barker delving. Nothing else intrigued me to grab one of his books and read. Until I saw the blurb on Recordedbooks.com for Coldheart Canyon a few months ago. I added it to my wishlist and it was sent in August.....and it has been in the box it arrived in for all of that time until earlier this week and I decided I just could not get into Diamond in the Ruff. I looked at all seven of the audiobooks left to my choice in the back seat of my car and decided to try ol' Clive. Was I glad I did. It is not scary yet, but I am thinking it will be. I don't even care that it hasn't gotten to the scary parts yet. The characters and the scenery, heck the description of the dog dying as I drove in this morning made my cry. I don't do that! I could rationalize the lack of quality sleep last night or this cold I have going, but I really think I am involved in this book. Good thing as it 17 tapes long, 22 hours of listening! I am looking forward to my commute.

Life is Too Short and All That Jazz

I have decided that life is indeed to short to listen to Diamond in the Ruff - Emily Carmichael. Way too much whining and not all of it from the dawg. I decided to give good ol' scary Clive Barker a shot with his Coldheart Canyon. Good choice that and I am only one side 2 of tape 1.
For next purse book, I thought I would dig on Aaron Elkins - Unnatural Selection, but I was wrong. It is #15 in the series and I am getting to like starting in the beginning or close to the beginning of a new to me series. Soooo, back on Mt Git'r'Read it went and I picked out one from my sister's last package titled The Chemistry of Death - Simon Beckett. It's already intriguing and will make for loooong rides on the recumbent bike I can tell.

Two More....

Bubbles in Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer, BOT in the car, finished on Friday on the way home from work. I began Diamond in the Ruff - Emily Carmichael, BOCD. This is not a worthy follow-on to Bubbles and company, but it will reasonably do. Bubbles has moxie, the group of chicks in Diamond in the Ruff don't (doesn't?) seem to. Much whining, which is acceptable as one of the characters is a woman trapped in a Corgie's sausage shaped bod because of a past life thing. This is her penance and she must atone for her misdeeds by doing good ones in this current incarnation. Saving grace, so far, the book is set in the Denver/Boulder area and it's fun picking out familiar sites. The most saving grace is that the narrator is one of my favorites, Barbara Rosenblatt. She can make the phone book interesting were she inclined to narrate that.
I also finished Fire Me Up, An Aisling Grey, Guardian Novel - Katie MacAlister this morning on the recumbent bike. Magic, intrigue, dragons, sex, funny characters, a talking dog demon...what more can one want from a series? It's very fun and I really can't wait to start the next one.
I think I started Aaron Elkins - Unnatural Selection, but I may not stick with it at this time. It's #15 or so in the series and I'd like to start closer to the beginning, I think. We'll see if I get more time with it, but I have a feeling I will be choosing something else for now. JD Robb is calling, I think.

OCTOBER 2007 BOOKS READ

The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even - Julie Kenner, TPB, good YA vamp book. Kenner certainly does good vamp!

The Tunnels - Michelle Gagnon, PBK, GOOD thriller, hope there's more!

Wicked Women Whodunnit - MaryJanice Davidson, Amy Garvey (my favorite story of the bunch), Jennifer Apodaca, Nancy J Cohen, TPB, decent collection of female driven mysteries

Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris, PBK, GOOD..GOOD..GOOD

Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell, BOT, decently longwinded tale, lot of groin touching and not in a good way

Rumor of Bones - Beverly Connor, PBK, beginning of another wonderful series by Beverly

Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire - Michele Bardsley, PBK, very funny rather disturbing vamp cozy. Second in series.

Deep in the Woods: The Beginning - Larry J Hillhouse, TPB, pretty nifty sci-fi (if you listen closely you can hear Rod Serling narrating)

Harvest - Tess Gerritsen, BOT, YOWZAH GOOD as always

Whole Lotta Trouble - Stephanie Bond, PBK, good twist and shout read!

Shoo-Fly Pie: A Bug Man Novel - Tim Downs, TPB, twisty turny good!

Just About Done

I am so close to finishing Bubbles in Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer in the car. I am on tape 8 of 8, side 2. I should be seeing what to listen to next on the way home this afternoon. I will be leaving early from work today, so plan to go to The Hilltop Coffee and sit and sip and read purse book Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister, ideally until I finish it as well. Thank goodness for time on the recumbent bike and my 50 mile roundtrip commute five days a week or I'd never get any books read. My bedside book Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear is going slowly only because I get to bed and either get interrupted by Lady K being done with her bath early or I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Good reason for that is the sacrifice of extra zzzzzz's so that I can make it to the gym early in the AM and get this floof of my bod. 6 hours of sleep a night for five nights in a row and going on three weeks in a row, is definitely making me sleep better, but the reading is suffering. I hope to get in more time this weekend. No one in the spare room, so if I wander awake, I can go to the Candy Room (Lady K's name for the main spare room) and read. Then get up and ride the bike for some activity points and start the weekend.

Oh, It's Reading Time Again.....

Ahhhhhhh.....to be able to read again. No reading in the bedside book Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear, I was too flippin' tired last night. A good long day of waking early for some blessed alone time and then seeing the 'rents off back to Kansas. I took Lady K to school and was able to get my Bubbles on (Bubbles in Trouble - Sarha Strohmeyer) while driving back to the house. And I read in my purse book Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister waiting for DH to get throught the bank line. I brought that one up with me to Blackhawk in case I didn't get lucky but DH did. We both came out even and home happy.

I was back at the gym this morning and a little over halfway through Fire Me Up now, thanks to 40 min on the recumbent bike. My butt fell asleep and I just couldn't go for the hour I'd promised myself. Maybe tomorrow. More Bubbles In Trouble to and from work and I should finish that this week. I have FOUR boxes of audiobooks from RecordedBooks waiting for me in the passenger seat now.

And dontcha know that I have a coupon from B&N burning the proverbial hole in my pocket....only good through 4 November! Maybe after the 'holiday' rush.

Please, Sir, More Reading Time?

I love my family and love having company. This weekend was one and the same with the 'rents coming to visit for a few days. I took time off, so did DH. We cleaned house together and shared time with my mom and dad. Lady K was 90/10 sweetie-pie to pod child ratio the whole time. We walked and talked and raked leaves and shopped and watched Lady K at swim lessons and at a Halloween par-tay. I think I read for 12 minutes this entire weekend.
I am feeling rather virtuous in how sharing I have been and not getting too showy in my antsy-ness to get my book on.
Will get back to Bubbles In Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer tomorrow morning on the way back to work. Will get back to purse book Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister when I go back to work and the gym. I think I will stay an hour on the recumbent bike....
I have been able to read a teensy bit in bedside book Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear this weekend, but not but a few pages each night or in the wee hours when I couldn't sleep due to DH's snoring me out of the room and no spare room to rest my cranium. The couch in the family room is pretty comfy....

Medical Mystery Madness Complete, minus One

Soooooo, below are the books read for the Medical Mystery Challenge. It ends on 1 Nov and I don't think I can read any more before end of this month, so calling it good.
My favorite was Blindsighted and my least just chugged through hoping it got better and didn't was The Halo Effect.
I found some FAB new to me authors and had a great time with these medical thrillers.

Beverly Connor - One Grave Too Many (My first of the challenge and TOTALLY GREAT!!)

Karin Slaughter - Blindsighted (#2 of the challenges and a HUMDINGAH!!!)

Jefferson Bass - Carved in Bone (#3 of the challenges WOW!!!! )

Roberta Isleib - Deadly Advice (#4 for the challenge, very intriguing)

M J Rose - The Halo Effect (#5 for this challenge-phhht, no more of this author)

Keith Ablow - Denial ( #6 in the challenge and WOWOWOWOW)

Beverly Connor - Rumor of Bones (#7 in challenge and beginning of another wonderful series from Beverly!)

Tess Gerritsen - Harvest (#8, another humdingah from Tess)

Tim Downs - Shoo-Fly Pie: A Bugman Novel (#9 and pretty damn good)

Ted Dekker - Black (Never did pick this one up.....)

I Get My Short Week...Today is my Friday

I do get my short week and can only hope that I can get in some valuable reading time in there somewhere. My plan is to leave work and go to the Hilltop and read for an hour before Lady K pickup at school. Tomorrow is Chickie Day, so not much for reading there unless Lady K decides to hammer out a nap. Friday, DH is staying home and we will clean house. Oh joy! I will try to sneak in some Hilltop time for some coffee and reading after Lady K drop-off Friday morning. Once my folks get here, it will only be bedtime reading, I think.
I am on tape 3 of 8, side 2 Bubbles in Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer in the car. I so want to finish bedside book Shoo-Fly Pie: A Bugman Novel - Tim Downs before end of the month to count to my Medical Mystery Challenge that ends 1 November. And then there is Creepfest 2007 challenge, so I would like to finish Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister. Just one more.....

I had a box arrive yesterday from RecordedBooks, but forgot to look inside to see what they sent in this one. It could be Innocent Traitor - Alison Weir, Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay, Fluke - Christopher Moore, Circle of Quilters - Jennifer Chiaverinni. I also see that I have Diamond in the Ruff - Emily Carmichael (narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt) and The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell on the way as of yesterday. Don't know why I have ten books out from them. I have to call and find out the scoop if something was returned, but not marked from my wishlist.

Looking Forward to a Short Week

I put in for Thursday and Friday of this week and Monday of next week off from work. I do hope it gets approved. I can't see why it wouldn't. I am not particularly occupied right now and my parents are coming to town.
These are my folks who have been divorced for damn-near ever and are becoming friends again. My dad moved from Lincoln NE to Ottawa KS last month and my mom is moving out of my sister's house in Chicago to her hometown of Fort Scott KS as of this month. These two events are merely co-ink-ee-deenkle, or are they.....We'll see. At least they are in two different small towns with 80 miles between them. Again, we will see....

On to books, something I can chat about without getting my stomach worked up in knots over. I am on tape 2 of 8, side 2 Bubbles In Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer in the car. I just love Bubbles and in this one she is going undercover as Amish woman so as to get close to a source for a news story. This is a woman who worships at the counter of Maybelline and Fredericks of Hollywood, if you have never read the series. I cannot wait to see what happens. I haven't read/istened to these in order, so events are happening that I have heard tell of in the future books or intimated in the past.
I began Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister as purse book. I read for 45 min this morning while on the recumbent bike. Excellent. Just love Katie Mac's humor.
I am about halfway through Shoo-Fly Pie: A Bugman's Novel - Tim Downs. Makes for interesting dreams at times since it is my bedside book.

Two in One Day....

I was correct in my thinking that I was a cat's hair close to finishing Harvest - Tess Gerritsen, BOT. I finished it as I pulled out of my driveway this morning on the way to work. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind yesterday to lay out another BOT at the same time as I was laying out my clothes for work and gym. I had Bubbles In Trouble - Sarah Strohmeyer loaded in the deck faster than you can say....well, fast.Sometimes the quips just don't flow well and it is Monday ya know.
Harvest was a humdinger all the way through as I have come to expect from Tess Gerritsen. I felt so bad for Dr Abby DeMatteo once the crap started hitting the fan. I even felt compassion for her boyfriend for standing by her for the most part. I was completely suckered in for many of the characters and it didn't make me mad at the author for doing so. It was done in a matter of fact, some people just suck kind of way. All of the characters were well written, especially the crap-weasels. The medical terminology didn't bog down the thriller aspect of the story at all. The only reason I wanted to listen faster was to get more of the story in my cranium.

While on the recumbent bike this morning, I finished another super read from Stephanie Bond, Whole Lotta Trouble. That was an intensely fun ride with some good twists and turns. I don't want to describe Stephanie Bond as chick-lit or cozy mystery. Not sure what to call her work, but it is damn good fun. More please.

Reviewed By Liz Makes Another Hit!!!

http://reviewedbyliz.com/?cat=170

So, if you like mysteries, go to the above website, especially on Sundays. Liz of RBL fame is hosting mystery authors each Sunday. The authors will post an excerpt of one of their books. Today there were 15 or so excerpts from different authors. This is so cool! Liz hosted one of my favorite challenges this year and I still visit and found the Sunday Excerpt starting today. Sundays won't suck so bad now. DH can go pray to the NFL gods in the mancave and I have something cool to read and add to my wish/shopping list.

Harvest Counts.....

I was wandering the pages of one of my favorite site, stopyourekillingme.com, and found that the Tess Gerritsen I am listening to, Harvest, counts in my weird little challenge I set for myself for Medical Mystery Madness Challenge. Itwas her first non-series book of medical suspense she wrote. Whew.... yeah, I never claimed to be not weird...double negative much?
Granted, Tess is not a new-to-me author and it is not a first in series, but it's close, so I am counting it.....if only for myself....

Ahhhhhh........self-satisfaction at its finest....

A nice restful sleep, no wake ups in the night, pick-up of birthday pupcakes (as Lady K calls them) for DH's desk along with candles (a 4 and a 9) for a nice grin to start his birthday (which I remembered before he did!). A very pleasant workout on the recumbent bike and someone found the remote to the satellite receiver so that I could watch 'Angel' and listen to honkin' good tunes and read for a glorious 45 minutes in purse book Whole Lotta Trouble - Stephanie Bond.
I chose Shoo-Fly Pie: A Bugman Novel - Tim Downs as my bedside book and put Whole Lotta Trouble in my purse. I think Shoo-Fly Pie is going to be a fast read. It's good and I didn't want to put it down to go to sleep, and I was about ready to pass out. Getting up at 3am has that effect on some people. This is from my list of Medical Mystery Madness challenge. I will hopefully finish before 1 November, end of the challenge timeframe. I will add Harvest - Tess Gerritsen to the list as completed for the challenge even though it really didn't meet the criteria I set for myself, new to me author and/or first in series.

Thank Goodness for gym time

Thank goodness for an understanding DH who agrees to let me get up honkin' early, go to the gym, work out and I get in some reading time. Though I do need better planning as I finished my book a few minutes before the time programmed on the bike. So, I went back and re-read some bits I'd skimmed before in Deep in the Woods: The Beginning - Larry J Hillhouse. I started this one on the recommendation of the author and I thought it was a nice coming of age story of a young girl transplanted to the Appalachia mountains. Then it turned to a ghost story....no....not a ghost story...a sci-fi story of Twilight Zone proportions. I heard Rod Serling's voice narrating in my cranium. A very cool effect, I might add.
No idea what I will read next, I left my book bag in the car. And I may not choose any of those anyway. I have three boxes of varying sizes, full of books, from Our Lady of the Books, Book Temptress, Pamala of the Chicago 'Burbs that I need to go through. Rosamunde Pilcher books are in one box, thrillers in another and cozies in the third.
Tape 6 of 9, side 1 Harvest - Tess Gerittsen in the car and a few more pages read in bedside book Whole Lotta Trouble - Stephanie Bond. The thing about getting up honkin' early to go to the gym and get to work early is the sleepiness factor hitting a little earlier in the evening. I just barely kept my eyes open long enough to watch Sprout channel shows with Lady K. She kept nudging me awake to watch Bearenstein Bears' antics.....sigh....I'll get better at 6 hours of sleep on a daily basis...I hope....

Slow Reading Time Now

Still in mourning for the loss of what I thought was going be a banner month of reading time. I was pulled from shift work on Friday, just when it was going to lighten up task wise. sigh....
Now working Mon-Fri, but at least I can come in early and leave early. Get some time at the foo-foo coffee shop maybe and read my purse book choice, currently Deep in the Woods: The Beginning Larry J Hillhouse. I also worked it out with DH that I can come in early, go to the gym and continue the process of getting the floof off of my bod. That can mean time on the recumbent bike which means more reading time.
I finished another Creepfest 2007 challenge book, Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire - Michele Bardsley last night. I began Stephanie Bond - Whole Lotta Trouble after sifting and discarding other choices. Some actually made it to the trade stacks as they didn't grab me immediately and I have so freakin' many on Mt Git'r'Read.
I am already diggin' the women in Whole Lotta Trouble. Be good to see them get together and get one over on the pewp-cranium guy they have in common. I started the book last night and read quite a bit before sleeping and then woke at 2am and wasn't quite ready to get up early for work, so read some more. This is going to be one I am going to make extra time to read.
I am on tape 4 of 9 side 2 Harvest - Tess Gerritsen in the car. I should finish it this week. Then try Clive Barker - Coldheart Canyon.

Multi-Tasking Reading

Nothing like being almost at the end of a really good story, so deciding to stay on the recumbent bike just a leeeetle bit longer to finish. Finished a good story and got in a stellar (for me) time on the bike. Rumor of Bones - Beverly Connor is a first in a pretty snappy series. Dr Lindsey Chamberlain is an anthropologist working on an archaeological dig and it soon becomes a discovery of changes in relationships and a humdinger murder mystery of Gothic-style proportions. I love the science of archaeology and anthropology and you know I love mysteries, so this is perfect book for me. Thank you, Beverly, for writing this series. Off to find the rest. This book was a choice of mine for the Medical Mystery Thriller challenge I joined way back. It was my first challenge and I challenged myself to find the first in a series of new to me authors. I have done well so far but for one.
Larry J Hillhouse, if you're out there, I am about to begin the book you recommended, Deep in the Woods: The Beginning - by...ahem...you. You commented on my blog after seeing that I was reading In Over Your Head and asked if I was enjoying it. I was and you suggested this one I am about to begin. It fits perfectly in my purse, so it once again meets a criteria I have for some of what I read.

I began Harvest - Tess Gerritsen in the car last night on the way home from work. It's starting out humdingah like her others I have enjoyed.

Finally Finished...

I was glad to finish Wicked Women Whodunit - MaryJanice Davidson, Amy Garvey, Nancy J Cohen, and Jennifer Apodaca. I was not overly fond of most of the anthology. The sex of the wicked women outdid the mystery of the whodunit in most of the stories. This is not to intimate I am a prude, far from it. Just would have liked more mystery along with the hottie well-written sex. I always enjoy MaryJanice Davidson and her story was a good 'un. Amy Garvey's was my favorite of the four and Jennifer Apodaca's was my least favorite. I admit I got to the point of skimming at the end just to finish. I really don't like skimming.

I started Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire - Michele Bardsley as next bedside book. I have been looking forward to this sequel of I'm the Vampire, That's Why. I had a lot of fun reading that one and this sequel of sorts looks to be just as fun.

I am very much close to finishing Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell in the car. It had some nose-wrinkling moments and I think I am enjoying the historical back story better than the actual book. I am pretty sure I would have sucked as Bronze Age chick. I will begin Harvest - Tess Gerritsen as next car book. Seems perfect, if in name only, for October.....

I hope to finish my purse book Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris today. I am qualifying it as a contender for two of my challenges, Creepfest on WW Booktalk and for Joy's Seconds Challenge. Actually, Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire will qualify for both as well.

More Reading Time, Gotta Like It

Thank goodness for a crazy work schedule. It is now allowing me to finish books in record time. I read and finished Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even - Julie Kenner and immediately started The Tunnels - Michelle Gagnon. I finished that the next night and am now reading Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris. I should finish that tomorrow and will start one of three or four in my backpack.

I really enjoyed The Tunnels. It was a humdinger thrill ride and I emailed Michelle to that effect. And she emailed a reply!! Love hearing from authors I admire. This is her first novel and I can't wait for more of the series and more of any stand alone she will write.

Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even was a fun YA book. I love vampire books, especially the wonderfully written vampire books. I like Julie Kenner when she writes her vampire or other paranormal books. Loved Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom. Couldn't get too fired up about her The Givenchy Code, but will definitely read the rest of the Carpe Demon series and the Good Ghouls' series.

September Books

~The Trouble With Magic - Madelyn Alt,pbk, good debut of this series

~Feint of Art - Hailey Lind,pbk, good start to a good cozy series

~The Sugar Camp Quilt - Jennifer Chiaverinni,bot, gentle well written series

~Better Than Chocolate - Bruce Golden, tpb, love-love-love this sci-fi, mystery, cool book

~A Secret Rage - Charlaine Harris, pbk, good stand alone book from one of my favorite authors

~Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay, bocd, yep, that Dexter is a hoot

~The Chick and the Dead: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels, pbk, good follow up to Don of the Dead where Pepper learned she sees dead people....and she still can

~Ghost of a Chance - Yasmine Galenorn, pbk, pretty decent, but looking forward to her fantasy work

~Witch Way to Murder - Shirley Damsgaard, pbk, this is a good series start and definitely looking for more

~Knit One, Kill Two - Maggie Sefton, pbk, makes me want to knit and solve crimes...

~Shadow Man - Cody McFadyen,pbk, O...M...G!!! SO yowzah excellent

9 books, 2 audio, total for year = 88

And One More for September

Able to add one more to the September section in my book journal. I finished Shadow Man - Cody McFadyen yesterday and what a humdiner. It's well written and grabbed my attention quickly and caused bad dreams. Can't get much better than that. I will now be on the lookout for #2 in the series, Face of Death.
I started Wicked Women Whodunnit (Whodunnit? Honey, Who Hasn't?) first story is by MaryJanice Davidson and good. Ready to start the second story when I get home in a few hours. That's the bedside book.
My next purse book was found at the grocery store, because hey, who doesn't browse the books while on the search for broccoli or hot dog buns? Anyway, Good Ghoul's Guide to Getting Even - Julie Kenner was stacked on the shelf with the other Halloween books and, as it is on my shopping list and it is October and Our Lady of the Books Pamala is having Creepfest this month, I decided this would be first up for the Halloween reads.

Cozy Challenge is Almost Done....and I got one in under the wire!

Whew! I finished one more cozy for the September is Cozy Month challenge. Knit One, Kill Two - Maggie Sefton is a first in series and was fun to read. That it takes place in Colorado is a bonus. It's my first knitting themed cozy, too. A lot of firsts in this one for me, first in series, first of this author I've read, my first knit cozy....I enjoyed my time with it and I will definitely look for the rest of the series someday.

I am on tape 8 of 12, side 1 Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell in the car, sooooo close to finishing purse book Shadow Man - Cody McFadyen that I've brought it up to be bedside book tonight and see if I can't stay up and finish it. I want to bring new books with to work tomorrow night. The Tunnel - Michele Gagnon is up next as a new-to-me author for Unread Author Challenge and I have Deep in the Woods: In The Beginning - Larry J Hillhouse as a Seconds Challenge by my friend Joy.

Shipment of Books - Just Like Christmas!!

I had a shipment of books from my B&N order last week and it was free shipping:
The Tunnels - Michelle Gagnon (recommended by BookBitch)
Death's Acre - Jon Jefferson and Bill M Bass
Rumor of Bones - Beverly Connor
Shoofly Pie: A Bugman Novel - Tim Downs
The Dollmaker - Amanda Stevens (recommended by Liz on RBL)

Deep in the Woods: The Beginning - Larry J Hillhouse (arrives today according to the UPS site) This one was recommended by the author in an email reply as a good starting point to his work.

Cozy Challenge Going Along Swimmingly...

Just love those well-written cozies. They go so quickly, short and well written so that a cozy-lovin' person wants read it for a long sitting (or lying/laying (??) if reading in bed). I finished Witch Way to Murder Shirley Damsgaard last night before going to sleep. What a good story, with nice realistic magical touches. Not supernatural type like Charlaine Harris or Kim Harrison, no vamps and werewolves (which I adore reading about, too, BTW). This is folk magick from the hills and the women who are in touch with the powers in the earth. A good mystery along the way with a magick grandmother and a magick reluctant granddaughter solving it.
I think I will start Wicked Women Whodunnit (Honey Who Hasn't?) MaryJanice Davidson, Amy Garvey, Jennifer Apodaca, and Nancy J Cohen as my next bedside book. I was going to read one of my medical thrillers, but I think I need at least one mellow cozy in the grouping. Especially as I am reading Shadow Man Cody McFadyen as my purse book. It's a wonderfully intense thriller mystery.

All Good Choices...Love When That Happens

I love when all of the books I choose are can't-wait-to-get-back-to-them good. Stonhenge Bernard Cornwell, BOT in the car, took a little getting used to, but now I am truly enjoying the story as it spends time with each character. Witch Way to Murder Shirley Damsgaard (bedside book)is another winner and I was able to loll around in bed yesterday after my pre-mid shift nap and read for over an hour. I could finish it today or tomorrow. My absolute favorite of the three, though, is Shadow Man Cody McFadyen. WOW! Thank you, SuziQ, for recommending it. When I get closer to the ending, I will get the next in series, Face of Death and have it ready to go. I'll have to take a break after this one, but the second in series will definitely be soon and I want to have it handy.

Love Hearing From Authors and Changes to the Line-up

I was pleasantly surprised to see a comment from Bruce Golden, author of Better Than Chocolate, my first Unread Author Challenge book. I was so glad it was as good as all of the hassle I had just trying to obtain it. Not that hassle is good, but I had my wish fulfilled that the book didn't disappoint as I was worried it would do after all of the hooey I had to do to get it. .....babbling, -V-, stop now.... I have it on my keeper shelf, needless to say.

I posted last night that I was trying to read Corpse, but it wasn't doin' it for me. I changed out to Shadow Man Cody McFadyen instead. Here's a little blurb and you'll see why I chose it:

from B&N preview:

Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best-until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead-but her life was shattered forever. Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who's lost everything, what is there left to lose? She's about to find out.In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him-a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers' attempts to understand him. And he's issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.The killer videotaped his latest crime-an act of horror that left a child motherless-then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again-and she's about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother...and a merciless killer's next victim.

And I looked up my package from B&N and a box o' books will be waiting for me when I get home tonight. Oh boy!!! Just in time for the start of my 12 hour shifts!!! I plan to do as much reading as possible. Lord knows, Mt Git'r'Read could use some thinning....

Dry, dry, dry....

So I am trying to read and absorb my next purse book (supposedly), Corpse, and it is sort of grabbing my attention, but not completely. I am truly hoping UPS delivers my package of books from B&N as there are some doozies in that and I can change out purse books. I am thinking I am going to change it out anyway....I have to be able to carry in my small purse and this one is a TPB.

Banner Reading Completion Day

Had a rather good day of completion for three books. I finished my bedside book Ghost of a Chance Yasmine Galenorn instead of napping before swing shift. Finished Dearly Devoted Dexter Jeff Lindsey on my way in to my swing shift. And just now finished purse book The Chick and the Dead Casey Daniels while on swing shift and nothing is going on to pay much attention to except my book. All good in each their own way. I think of the three, I liked Dearly Devoted Dexter best.
And now I am ready to move on to three new books. I have my audiobook started already. I chose Stonehenge Bernard Cornwell and narrated by George Guidall. I have my next purse book Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death by Jessica Snyder Sachs. This one is non-fiction, but still in my interest level of forensics used to solve crimes. Not sure yet what I will choose for my next bedside book.

First Unread Authors Challenge Book Finished!!

Better Than Chocolate - Bruce Golden is the first out of the shute for the Unread Authors Challenge and I am so glad I made it my first one to start out this fun challenge! WOW! It was a pretty cool mix of sci-fi, mystery, and sex. I love the way with words, especially the term pow-whammy! You will have to read the book to know.....I had it figured out whodunnit, but it didn't piss me off like M J Rose did in The Halo Effect, I won't read more of that series, but I will definitely read more if Bruce Golden has more. He did recommend two other authors that I have in my little black book. I posted those two authors in a previous post.

Now reading The Chick and the Dead: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels as purse book, Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay BOCD in the car, and Ghost of a Chance: A Chintz and China Mystery - Yasmine Galenorn is my bedside book. All are wonderful in their own way and I am enjoying when I get the time to read/listen to them.

Good Readin'

For all that it felt like I had to go through to get Better Than Chocolate Bruce Golden in my possession, I was beginning to wonder if it was going to be worth it. I couldn't find it at a bookstore, had to pre-pay when I ordered it at B&N, then they lost it. Went with the receipt from UPS yesterday and they finally found it on their shelves! For their own stock! I know mistakes happen, but those are the ones that seem to happen quite a lot to me. sigh....Anyway, I finally had it in my hot little manos, along with Witch Way to Murder Shirley Damsgaard and The Rest Falls Away: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles Colleen Gleason. Dontcha know I had to ensure my trip would be partially worth it....
So I started Better Than Chocolate last night and I am now halfway through it. It is well written and entertaining as all get out. I can only hope that Mr Golden has written others, though he does recommend two other authors, Mike DiCerto and M D Benoit. The last one I have Metered Space on a wishlist. I am a sort of fan of sci-fi books, but some get too into the weeds for my enjoyment. This one is futuristic mystery and dry humor with interesting premises. Detective Dane loses his partner in a shoot-out and is reassigned a new one who/which is a droid in the form of Marilyn Monroe. Apparently a company made celebrity-droids and then they fell out of fashion. The droids had to find other assignments. Jim Morrison is a garbageman, or Shaman of Sanitation as he would prefer. Diggin' it!!

Finishing Books

I finished The Sugar Camp Quilt Jennifer Chiaverini, BOT, yesterday on the way home from work. This is my favorite of hers, so far. It does take place in Elm Creek, but is not part of the series. It is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it. Takes place pre-Civil War and deals with both sides of the coin and is a splendid study in human kindness, bravery, cowardice, and stupidity and lack of depth of soul. I wanted to reach inside the cassette player and alternately hug and slap different characters.

I finished another gut wrencher today. One of my purse books, A Secret Rage Charlaine Harris, was very hard to pick up and very hard to put down. I am most fond of her Southern Vampire series, then her Shakespeare series. Next in line is the Grave series. Charlaine is a prolific and varied author. I wasn't sure I would like her stand alone novels, but I was pleased (if that is a correct term) to find that they are equally attention grabbing.

Emails from Authors!!

Hey, I just had an email, actually two emails, from Stephanie Bond in response to mine to her telling her how much I enjoyed In Deep VooDoo and looking forward to Finding Your Mojo. What a sweetie and I will definitely read all she has written. She is funny and intelligent, a great combo.

Getting Fashion Tips From a 4 Year Old

Lady K just walked in asking if she looked like a real Mother. I told her, 'Yes, because that's how I go out every day, with my little red purse, monkey baby and cape around my shoulders. And I never leave the house without my sparkly tiara.'

Another Cozy Finished

Feint of Art Hailey Lind is another finished cozy thanks to some time in a wonderfully comfy spa pedicure chair. I finished a fun and a well done book and my toes look FAB! I hope there is more to the series from this sister writing team.
I immediately began A Secret Rage Charlaine Harris. It's bee waiting patiently (or as patiently as an inanimate object can wait) in my purse for the right time. It's good so far, but I am partial to Charlaine Harris.
I then went to The BookKeeper and shelved books for two hours and picked out Silent Joe T Jefferson Parker, Walking On Water Gemma O'Connor, Whiskey Sour J A Konrath, Drop Shot Harlan Coben, and The Chick and the Dead Casey Daniels. Whiskey Sour has been on my shopping cart for a long while and The Chick and the Dead is second in a series that I started with Don of the Dead. Pepper Martin bonked her cranium on a tombstone while performing her duties as a tour guide in a cemetary and now can see dead people. I do believe this will be my next bedside book.
I am still looking for a couple of medical thrillers for that challenge and I am looking for or hoping that my Unread Authors Challenge arrives soon. If not, it is a trip to High Crimes tomorrow. Like that is hardship....and another trip to The BookKeeper to earn more books.

First Book for September Finished

I guess I can consider The Trouble with Magic Madelyn Alt as first of 'September is Cozy Month' book completed. I finished it last night and read quite a bit in Feint of Art Hailey Lind. That should be finished this week. It's one of the reasons I dig the cozies, they are quick. Other reasons include the things I learn as the main characters specialize in something other than mystery solving. Herbs, teas, coffees, knitting, sewing, wine, magic......whatever.
Received an email from B&N that Better Than Chocolate Bruce Golden is on its way. That one is on my list for Unread Authors Challenge and I haven't been able to find any of the others. I feel a trip to High Crimes on the agenda this week. I have a small stack on the nightstand in the Candy Room (name Lady K gave one of the spare rooms), so will be choosing something from there in the meantime.

Books Read For August

Deal Breaker - Harlen Coben, pbk, I am in love with Myron Bolitar!!

Bubbles A Broad - Sarah Strohmeyer, BOT, Bubbles is indeed a broad in the best possible sense. This is my favorite of the series

Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires, Vol 1 - Rachel Caine, pbk, super good and getting the rest of series and anything else Rachel writes

Decaffeinated Corpse - Cleo Coyle, pbk, best of series

In Deep VooDoo - Stephanie Bond, pbk, super ride of a book. Getting more.

Denial - Keith Ablow, pbk, WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! Get all of this series and read in order

Anonymous Rex - Eric Garcia, TPB, just so freakin' awesome fun

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling, BOCD, if not for Jim Dale I might have set this aside for later