Go See Secretariat!!!

Lady K and I just got back from the 0855 showing of Secretariat. This has got to be the best movie I've seen this year. I tend to shy away from movies based on fact, since I know the ending...and those movies are always overblown in production and publicity. I made an exception for Secretariat for Lady K and what I saw in the advertisements. I also like Diane Lane and John Malkovich and James Cromwell, three of the stars.
The movie is more than a story of a horse who won the Triple Crown, it's the story of the people who believed in him. The people who made this movie did the best filming angles, story writing, acting. I kept laughing at the funniest bits and raising my fists in victory and cheering when Secretariat won each race. Lady K and I danced in our seats at the tunes played, "Oh Happy Day" performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers and "I'll Take You There" performed by The Staple Singers. The radio is playing in each scene the songs are played as Penny (Diane Lane), Lucien (John Malkovich) and Eddie (Nelsan Ellis) as they are washing down Secretariat. The scenes of laughter, smiles and dancing made me grin and feel so much better.
And it did take me a bit to recognize one of the actors, Nelsan Ellis, playing Eddie, Secretariat's groom and friend. Nelsan is known to me as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood. I knew I'd seen those gorgeous eyes and lovely voice somewhere. And it hit me soon enough.
Go see this movie. It will lift you up and make you cheer.

Big bowl of feel good lift you up diamonds....

Lady K-ism of the Day

"Mommie, I think I have another idea for what I can be when I grow up. I want to be a psychic ice cream truck driver. See, I can sell ice cream to the kids and then tell their future..you know to make some extra change on the side because I don't think you make much money selling ice cream."

DOPPELGANGSTER: Esther Diamond Mystery #2 - Laura Resnick

From the back of the book: Meet Esther Diamond, a struggling New York actress with some unusual friends....

"Esther Diamond is the Stephanie Plum of urban fantasy! In Laura Resnick's DOPPELGANGSTER, the New York actress is 'resting' between roles by working as a singing waitress at a Manhattan mob restaurant because wiseguys tip well. Then duplicated gangsters appear, bullets start flying, and it's up to Esther and her friend Max the Magician to fight Evil by stopping a gang war before it starts killing the wrong people. And if she has time, maybe Esther can actually keep a hot date with her hunky detective friend Lopez, who doesn't believe in magic. Yet. Unplug the phone and settle down for a fast and funny read!"

Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author

**************************************************

Esther Diamond is an actor between jobs, though she calls it resting. She finds out about a job at a restaurant she's used before as a fallback place of employment, a restaurant known to be visited by 'family' of the wiseguy persuasion. They love to hear Esther sing and she can crack wise with the best of them.

The doppelgangers, aka doppelgangsters (love this), start appearing and causing havoc as well as murder. Esther needs to find out how they are appearing since she witnessed a hit and might be on the list next and she knows something magically hinky is going on.

I love the characters in DOPPELGANGSTERS. The story is great, the mystery is intriguing, but the characters of Esther, Max the Magician, Alberto "Lucky Bastard" Battistuzzi, and Nelli, Max's familiar. I had fun reading the story especially when wiseguy speak was being utilized, translated and taught to Max. He is so literal and sort of out of touch and I kept snort laughing each time he was introduced to a new phrase.

If you haven't read this series, please do yourself a hugely excellent favor and get this book! If you can find the first in the series, DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY (my review), read it, but it's not mandatory to do so to enjoy this fabulously smart and funny urban fantasy.

Five because it's excellent and because it' Esther Diamond diamonds.....

Wanton Wantin' Book List Wednesday - 6 OCT 2010

GLIMMERGLASS - Jenna Black, YA fantasy
IF WALLS COULD TALK: Haunted Home Renovation Mystery - Juliet Blackwell, paranormal cozy, 7 Dec 2010
BLOOD GROOVE - Alex Bledsoe, paranormal thriller
SWORD EDGED BLONDE - Alex Bledsoe (love this title), sword and sorcery mystery
SACRIFICE - S J Bolton, thriller
AWAKENING - S J Bolton, thriller
BLOOD SACRIFICE - S J Bolton, thriller
SHATTERED - Jay Bonansinga, thriller
ARIEL - Steven R Boyett, UF, Sci-Fi Guy recommends
GOD ON A HARLEY - Joan Brady, current fiction
BLACK SUN - Graham Brown, thriller
PRIEST: Jack Taylor #5 - Ken Bruen, thriller
THE SAD TALES OF THE BROTHERS GROSSBART - Jesse Bullington, recommeded by Sci-Fi Guy
A CURSE DARK AS GOLD - Elizabeth C Bunce, YA fantasy
DEAD DANCING WOMEN: Emily Kincaide Mystery #1 - Elizabeth Kane Buzelli, mystery, TPB
AVALON HIGH - Meg Cabot, YA fantasy
CHILL FACTOR: Weather Warden #3 - Rachel Caine, UF
KISS OF DEATH: Morganville Vampires #8 - Rachel Caine, paranormal
GHOST TOWN: Morganville Vampires #9 - Rachel Caine, paranormal
BLAMELESS: Parasol Protectorate #3 - Gail Carriger, alternate history paranormal
THE SILVER SKULL - Mark Chadbourn, Sci-Fi Guy recommends
MIDNIGHT'S DAUGHTER: Book One Dorina Basarab, Dhampir series - Karen Chance, paranormal

THE PASSAGE - Justin Cronin, narr Edward Herrmann

From the back of the BOCD: It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret US government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the uspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear---of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilazation crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey---spanning miles and decades---toward the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

********************************

Justin Cronin...not sure what I can say about the author or this book. I was blown away to say the uber least. My sister read the book last month and told me she was sending it to me in audio format since she was sure that would be the quickest way for me to read it. She was that adamant that I absolutely needed to read it ASAP.

And I am glad that I bumped it to the top of the commute book list. It is an epic novel, bigger in story and scope even more so than the 766 pages it clocks in at. Don't let the page number stop you from reading this fantastic tale. I listened to the audiobook even though I usually stay far away from abridged audiobooks. I really don't think I missed much of the story by listening to this abridgement. I will pick up the actual handheld when it comes out in MPB and read it just to make sure and put this on my keeper shelf. Right next to the audio format.

I liked the first part of the story, the experiments and escape...but the absolute gripping part was the last two-thirds which is after the virals (vamps) have taken over and the humans are trying to survive the night and shadows. The story really picks up when the team of refugees make their way to Colorado, point zero.

I really can't go into any more or there will be spoilers..at least that's the way I look at it. I can't emphasize enough how awesome it is.

I thoroughly enjoyed the voice of Edward Herrmann as the narrator. He was perfect. Listen to the story, read the book, just do this. It's more than a vampire book if that is what holds you back.

A bowl of it's more than a vampire book...it's epic...diamonds......

A TIMELY VISION: A Missing Pieces Mystery #1 - Joyce and Jim Lavene

From the back of the book: Meet Dae O'Donnell, a woman with a gift for finding lost things. Sometimes it leads her to lost keys or earrings--and sometimes it leads to murder....

The mayor of Duck, North Carolina, Dae O'Donnell wears many hats. She's the ceremonial ribbon cutter, champion of the local turtle population, and the person everyone turns to when they've lost something. One touch and Dae can find it, and missing pieces seem to find their way to her, whether she wants them to or not.

When town matriarch Miss Mildred seeks out Dae to help find her missing watch, Dae's vision leads her straight into a murder investigation. Now she must prove that Miss Mildred isn't a cold-blooded killer. With the help of town newbie and retired FBI agent Kevin Brickman, Dae sets out to prove Mildred's innocence---hoping she won't become Duck's next missing piece....

**************************************

I was nicely intrigued when I read the premise for this series. Can't remember where I read it, but the locale of Duck, North Carolina was part of the draw. Something about the East Coast along the water seems perfection for cozy mysteries and the premise of the main character's ability to find lost objects by touching the losing person's hand I thought was pretty cool.

And I was rewarded for my intrigue with a well written cozy mystery with plenty of atmosphere and excellent characters. I love Dae's multi-tasking self of being mayor of Duck and owning a shop of treasures, Missing Pieces. I want to go to Duck and visit or live there and I want to go to the shop and root around the treasures there and I want to help save the turtles.

There's the atmosphere part of the draw. The other hook is the mystery. There is a murder and really there are a lot of suspects, rather good ones and the end had me saying, 'Well, HUH!" A believable suspect with a believable reason....

All told, the atmosphere and characters are the main reason I'll come back to the series and look for the other series this duo writes, Renaissance Faire Mystery series, Peggy Lee Garden series, and it looks like it they write some sci-fi, too.

Five treasures and turtles beans....

FROM HELL WITH LOVE: A Secret Histories Novel #4 - Simon R Green, narr Gideon Emery

From the back of the BOCD: New York Times best-selling author Simon R Green creates a fantastical world in his Secret Histories novels. This fourth entry in the series finds paranormal investigator Eddie Drood's life getting turned upside-down.

Eddie is assigned to LA---make that Hell A-----when someone tries to acquire a mysterious auction item called the Apocalypse Door. But this plot is the least of Eddie's problems when he hears that the Drood family matriarch has been found murdered, leaving him in charge. Eddie isn't happy about being the new head o thte family, especially now that everyone believes either he or his witch-girlfriend Molly was responsible for the killing. Soince Eddie knows he didn't do it, he doesn't like where this is going.

Publisher's Weekly calls FROM HELL WITH LOVE a "gripping, fast-paced, emotionally intense" addition to Green's popular series. Narrator Gideon Emery deftly portrays the Drood clan in a pitch-perfect performance.

*****************************************

I'm not sure what took me so long to get to this series, but I am going to make up for lost time as soon as I can. Starting with the fourth in the series wasn't a hindrance either. I think this one could be a stand-alone if needs be.

I know Simon R Green from his Nightside series which is one I would like more if it didn't have the little tic of stating something about 'the Nightside' in every other paragraph.

Thankfully, this series seems to be tic-free. Absolutely nothing to bug my tic-picky brain. Everything to dig as far as action and well-written characters of both good and evil and excellent world-building, witty dialogue. It started, for me, with Eddie Drood's undercover name, Shaman Bond. Well, maybe it started with the punny titles of the series:

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN TORC

DAEMONS ARE FOREVER

THE SPY WHO HAUNTED ME

However it started, I will be back for more Eddie Drood, Molly, and the rest of the good guys versus bad.

Five Bond, Shaman Bond beans.......

Books In September

CURING THE BLUES WITH A NEW PAIR OF SHOES: Domestic Equalizers #5 - Dixie Cash, BOCD, cozy Texas mystery, superb

GRAVE SECRET: Harper Connelly #4 - Charlaine Harris, BOCD, paranormal mystery, superb

THE TOMB: Repairman Jack #1 - F Paul Wilson, UF/horror, MPB, superb

MURDER ON WAVERLY PLACE: Gaslight Mystery - Victoria Thompson, historical cozy, BOCD, ehhhhh

CHANGES: Dresden Files #12 - Jim Butcher, UF, BOCD, perfectly outstanding

INK EXCHANGE: Wicked Lovely #2 - Melissa Marr, YA fantasy faerie tale, BOCD, okay

CAST-OFF COVEN: Witchcraft Mystery #2 - Juliet Blackwell, paranormal mystery, MPB, excellent

FARM FRESH MURDER: A Farmers' Market Mystery #1 - Paige Shelton, cozy mystery, MPB, really super

SPIDER BONES: Temperance Brennan #13 - Kathy Reichs, forensic suspense, BOCD, good

DOPPELGANGSTER: Esther Diamond #2 - Laura Resnick, UF, MPB, funny and oh so excellent

A TIMELY VISION: A Missing Pieces Mystery #1 - Joyce and Jim Lavene, MPB, excellent cozy

THE PASSAGE - Justin Cronin, epic vampire thriller, BOCD, highly excellent

FRAGILE ETERNITY: Wicked Lovely #3 - Melissa Marr, BOCD, sappy and I think I am done with the series
Books: 5

Audio: 9

Month: 14

Year to date: 137

Wishlist Wednesday - 29 Sep 2010

Latest additions to the WWBL:
MURDER AT THE PTA: PTA Mystery - Laura Alden, cozy mystery (Oct order to Cynthia)
STALKING IVORY: Jade del Cameron #2 - Suzanne Arruda, mystery set in 1919
THE SERPENT'S DAUGHTER: Jade del Cameron #3 - Suzanne Arruda
THE LEOPARD'S PREY: Jade del Cameron #4 - Suzanne Arruda
TREASURE OF THE GOLDEN CHEETAH: Jade del Cameron #5 - Suzanne Arruda
THE CROCODILE'S LAST EMBRACE: Jade del Cameron #6 - Suzanne Arruda
RAVEN BLACK: Shetland Island Quartet Book One - Ann Cleeves, Brit thriller
FUNDRAISING THE DEAD: A Museum Mystery #1 - Sheila Connolly (Oct order to Cyntyia)
A FREE MAN OF COLOR: Benjamin January Mystery #1 - Barbara Hambley, historic mystery
THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK - Mark Hodder, alternate history thriller
LET ME IN - John Ajvide Lindqvist, vampire thriller
WINGS TO THE KINGDOM: Eden Moore Mystery #2 - Cherie Priest (Sept order to Cynthia)
PASSING STRANGE: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line - Martha Sandweiss, TPB, nonfic
I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM: Mystery A La Mode #1 - Wendy Lyn Watson, cozy mystery
LEGACIES: Repairman Jack #2 - F Paul Wilson, thriller

FARM FRESH MURDER: A Farmers' Market Mystery - Paige Shelton

From the back of the book: Becca Robins leads a simple life, making jams and preserves on her very own farm. But when there's a murder in her quaint little town, she goes from making jam to being in one....

Becca is late for her stall time at Bailey's Farmers' Market. By the time she arrives, the normally lush and lively market has turned into a crime scene, with a murdered peach vendor as the featured item of the day.

Cranky old Abner Justen sells wildflowers and is like a father to Becca. It seems he's also the number one suspect, seen arguing with the victim just days before. As Becca seeks the truth, she comes to realize that life in the friendly farmers' market is filled with bushels of secrets and deceit. To preserve her own life, she'll have to sniff out the murderer before he spoils the market for everyone.....
*******************************
I especially like it when a mystery gets right to the action, the death happens within the first five pages...now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout. The rest of the book is all about getting Becca involved (in a satisfying to me way....come on you know how I am) in solving the murder.
I enjoyed the whole process, watching Becca meet the hottie new guy, Ian, and the possible new guy, police Officer Brion. Becca admits she doesn't have a fab history with men, so she treads carefully with both.
The mystery is well written and I had my favorite "WTH?" moment when the killer was revealed. And the action didn't stop! Very cool.
I know I love a story, too, when I want to move to the town where the action is happening. I want to move to South Carolina, I want to have a stall at Baileys' Farmers' Market and I want to have a farm like Becca's and make jam all the live long day....and I want to find the MMMMM-Amazing lemon meringue pie that Mamma Maria creates...read the book and you'll see why on all counts...

Five enticing jam-filled beans.....

Books in the House - Mon - 27 Sep 2010

From my lending library Jenna:
AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT: October Daye #3 - Seanan McGuire, UF, MPB
UNSYMPATHETIC MAGIC: Esther Diamond #3 - Laura Resnick, UF, MPB

and because she's da bomb diggity:
STRANGE ANGELS: Strange Angels Book One - Lili St Crow, YA UF
BETRAYALS: Strange Angels Book Two - Lili St Crow, YA UF
JEALOUSY: Strange Angels Book Three - Lili St Crow, YA UF

Jenna won the above Lili St Crow series at Lili's book signing at Powells Cedar Hills location and gave them to me! And she had them signed to me! Thank you Jenna!!

She also sent me:
NATIVE STAR - M K Hobson, Wild West fantasy, signed by the author

And the below image shows what my buddy Bonnie (Redlady's Reading Room) sent me:

I LOVE Thursday Night Again

A CAST-OFF COVEN: A Witchcraft Mystery #2 - Juliet Blackwell

From the back of the book: Lily Ivory is not your average witch. She runs a vintage clothing store called Aunt Cora's Closet, and with her magical ability to sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry. Lily has made the shop a big hit---and her mystery-solving skills are also in high demand.

Students are spooked at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts, and Lily is called in to search for possible paranormal activity. In exchange for her help, she's been promised a trunkful of Victorian-era clothes recently discovered in a school storage closet.

But Lily finds something else: the body of a wealthy patron of the school. In between running the tore and seeing her new boyfriend, Max--a "myth buster" who is uncomfortable with her witchcraft--she uses her sleuthing skills to try to solve the murder. Soon Lily senses something from the school's vintage clothes, but it's not the smell of mothballs---it's the unmistakable aura of evil intent.

**********************************************

I do enjoy this series. It's a great mixture of mystery and paranormal with a nice dollop of humor and neat characters.

Lily is learning what it's like to have friends. She's never had them before since she was a cast out in her hometown in Texas. Since moving to San Francisco, she has friends, a lovely shop that is highl popular and a neat familiar, Oscar the shape-shifting critter.

The evil that Lily finds in the closet at the School of Fine Arts is a mystery, but she knows she must get to the bottom of it and can with the help of the coven and her really mysterious friend and possible mentor, Aiden Rhodes.

Lily is also trying to figure out how to have a relationship with her myth-busting possible boyfriend, Max. She is a powerful witch and Max doesn't believe in magic or anything mystic. Will the relationship work out?

Five mystical magical beans.....

Books in the House Monday - 20 Sep 2010

From Seester:

THE PASSAGE - Justin Cronin, horror, BOCD, abridged but a really good abridgement



High Crimes Mystery Bookshop

THE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS - Andy McDermott, archeological thriller, MPB

A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION: Double Feature Mystery #3 - Jeffrey Cohen, cozy mystery, MPB

BUZZ OFF: A Queen Bee Mystery #1 - Hannah Reed, cozy mystery, MPB

MURDER PAST DUE: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #1 - Miranda James, cozy mystery, MPB

A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS - R J Ellory, suspense, TPB



Barnes & Noble (using my e-giftcard from Cozy Chicks)

SKETCH ME IF YOU CAN: Portrait of Crime Mystery #1 - Sharon Pape, cozy mystery, MPB
A KILLER PLOT: Books in the Bay Mystery #1 - Ellery Adams, cozy mystery, MPB
DEATH MOST DEFINITE: Death Works - Trent Jamieson, UF, MPB

Ann, my cozy trading buddy at work:
THE COLD LIGHT OF MOURNING - Elizabeth J Duncan, cozy mystery, MPB

THE TOMB: Repairman Jack #1 / Adversary Cycle #2 - F Paul Wilson

From the back of the book: Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Gia, Repairman Jack doesn't deal with appliances---he fixes situations for people, situations that too often land him in deadly danger. His latest fix is finding a stolen necklace which, unknown to him, is more than a simple piece of jewelry. Some might say it's cursed, others might call it blessed. The quest leads Jack to a rusty freighter on Manhattan's West Side docks. What he finds in its hold threatens his sanity and the city around him. But worst of all, it threatens Gia's daughter Vicky, the last surviving member of a bloodline marked for extinction.

*********************

It's taken me a bit to work up the nerve to write a review on THE TOMB. It is such a well-written and engrossing thriller and I want to do it justice. I may leave it at the above statement and call it a day. I've been told that not all of the series has the touch of paranormal or horror that THE TOMB has. I'm glad, it was a little intense. I love thrillers and I love paranormal and horror reads, but have to pace several books between...except in October and I read them pretty much back to back, just because it's October.

I can see why F Paul Wilson has such a huge fanbase. I have become one of the legion, that's for sure.

Five shudderingly fab beans......

INK EXCHANGE: Wicked Lovely Book 2 - Melissa Marr, narr Nick Landrum

From the back of the BOCD: Leslie, beaten and violated by an abusi brother and his friends, wants a tattoo to signify taking control of her body and life. After spending weeks browsing the artwork in Rabbit's shop, she can't find one that's right----until the artist brings out a special book of drawings.

Leslie is strangely attracted to one particular tattoo, and feels changed after ait is inked into her skin. She begins seeing things that she knows cannot really be there and becomes physically powerful beyond what should be probable. Leslie is soon pulled into a horrifying world ---where a fey king is searching for the key to save the Dark Court. Enslaved by the tattoo meant to symbolize her freedom, Leslie struggles to finally reclaim her body as her own.

Melissa Marr continues the story of New York Times best-seller WICKED LOVELY in INK EXCHANGE. Nicke Landrum voices the dynamic characters with ease, making the Dark Court seem frighteningly real.

*********************************

INK EXCHANGE is definitely the dark side of the fae world. I had a much harder time listening to it than I did WICKED LOVELY, book one in the series. Not that it wasn't good, it was just very brutal.

Leslie was probably the only bright spot and she was a victim trying to drag herself out of her hell. She puts on a brave face for her friends at school because she doesn't want them to know she has a missing mother, alcoholic father and a drug addicted brother who loans Leslie out to his druggie friends.

She visits her friend Rabbit's tattoo shop each evening after school and work, looking for the perfect tattoo that she thinks will help her dig herself out of her troubles. She finds it in Rabbit's special book, a book of fae tattoos, ones that will tie her to the fae world in ways she doesn't realize.

The ending is worth the wait as is watching Leslie grow as strong as she can through her travails.

I am looking forward to the third book in the series, FRAGILE ETERNITY.

Four dark fae beans.....

Books in the House Monday - 13 Sep 2010

Dad:
FRACTURED - Karin Slaughter, thriller

Mary @ Bookfan Mary had a contest to celebrate her birthday...and I won!
29: A Novel - Adena Halpern, magical fiction

Ann Aguirre from her contest...my choice of book and I chose:
GRIMSPACE: Sirantha Jax Book One - Ann Aguirre, UF

Kelly Gay had a contest...and I won!
THE DARKEST EDGE OF DAWN: Charlie Madigan #2 - Kelly Gay, UF, signed!
NICE GIRLS DON'T HAVE FANGS: Jane Jameson #1 - Molly Harper, paranormal romance
THE CONQUERER - Kris Kennedy, historic romance, signed!
IRISH WARRIOR - Kris Kennedy, historic romance, signed!

Pamala, Our Lady of the Books:
THE FAMILY TREE - Sheri S Tepper, science fiction
THE MARGARETS - Sheri S Tepper, science fiction
SINGER FROM THE SEA - Sheri S Tepper, science fiction
CITY OF SHADOWS - Ariana Franklin, historic mystery
HISSY FIT - Mary Kay Andrews, super funny Southern novel....got this one for my keeper shelf
1999 BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY SERIES
PICK YOUR POISON:Yellow Rose Mystery - Leann Sweeney, cozy mystery
MURDER MOST FROTHY: Coffeehouse Mystery #4 - Cleo Coyle, cozy mystery
PET PEEVES - Taylor McCafferty, cozy
HANKY PANKY - Taylor McCafferty, cozy
THE BODY IN THE GALLERY: #17 - Katherine Hall Page, cozy
THE BODY IN THE BELFRY: #1 - Katherine Hall Page, cozy
THE BODY IN THE BOG: #7 - Katherine Hall Page, cozy
THE BODY IN THE FJORD: #8 - Katherine Hall Page, cozy

CHANGES: Dresden Files #12 - Jim Butcher, narr James Marsters

From the back of the BOCD: Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover---until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it---against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...

He's fighting to save his child.

*****************************************

Holey crappe Mr Butcher! What the hell!? Cliffhanger much? Now I have to wait for next year before GHOST STORY comes out...AGHHH!!!! This was a superb book, especially to listen to on my commute.

Harry Dresden dives into the fray with Susan, half vampire and Dresden's former lover. She is dead set to fight the Red Court, a powerful contingent of vampires. They have taken a child to use as a blood sacrifice. This child is Susan and Harry's daughter, a daughter Harry didn't know he had. Susan has been keeping her a secret to keep her safe, but now she needs Harry's help to get their daughter back.

They gather a motley team of an archangel, Dresden's protege Mollie, Dresden's best friend Murphy, and his half-brother Thomas and gather the clues necessary to fight the fight to get Maggie back. Clues gathered, they head to Chichen Itza and throwdown with a gazillion vampires and their minions.

I am looking forward to reading more of the series. I haven't been reading them in any kind of order and I don't think I'm missing out on much. I got caught up on anything I thought necessary during the course of this book.

And I reiterate.....WHAT THE HELL Mr Butcher?! What a hellah cliffhanger!

Five big ol' sparkly diamonds for CHANGES.......and a bowl of sparkly diamonds for James Marsters....well, because he's James Marsters and I luh-huv him...and this is my blog so if I want to give a bowl of diamonds rating....

TGIF!! 10 Sep 2010

DH gets back from his elk hunting trip on Saturday. Lady K and I have had a fun week all to ourselves...a little bit of shopping, a movie at the show and a lot of movies at home, a Big Bang Theory season 2 marathon, several trips to Abbotts Frozen Custard, some long distance walks...all in all a good chickie week.

No big plans for the weekend. Maybe a movie for Lady K and me, another couple of walks around the marsh, a wee bit of grocery shopping, some sleeping in....

How about you?

Books in the House Monday - 6 Sep 2010

Some tasty treats arrived last week.....

From Cynthia at High Crimes:
CHOSEN: Anna Strong #6 - Jeanne Stein, UF (one for me & one for Jenna...getting them signed soon)
A LOCAL HABITATION: October Daye #2 - Seanan McGuire, UF
SHADES OF NIGHT - Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge, UF (can't find a link for this one except as a Kindle...)
NIGHT CHILD: An OSI Novel #1 - Jes Battis, UF

From Mickie:
THE UNFORTUNATE MISS FORTUNES - Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dryer, Anne Stuart, paranormal mystery

From Mary Ann:
THE GLASS RAINBOW: Dave Robicheaux mystery #18 - James Lee Burke, suspense

EMBERS: Anya Kalinczyk #1 - Laura Bickle

From the back of the book: Unemployment, despair, anger--visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit's unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya---who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern----suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil's Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya--with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team---can stop it.

Anya's accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she's risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she's ever faced.

*************************************

I will start off saying that I want a salamander familiar like Sparky. He's a sweetie and is ornery, I like that in a pet. Anya has had Sparky to help her out since she was small and they keep each other company, Anya's been pretty sure Sparky is all she needs. She's a Lantern, ingesting spirits who are basically evil, which makes being a loner a better option. Until she finds out there is another Lantern....one who is causing havoc and ingesting spirits who are not causing problems, ingesting them because he can. Oh, and he's trying to bring about the end of the world with an ancient being.

Anya kicks major ass and I want a Sparky of my own, please.

Five smokin' spirit ingestin' beans.....

BOOKMARKED FOR DEATH: Booktown Mystery #2 - Lorna Barrett

From the back of the book: Once a struggling town, Stoneham , New Hampshire, is now enjoying a renaissance---thanks to booksellers like Tricia Miles, proprietor of Haven't Got a Clue. It's a great place to find a good mystery to read---or to solve....

To celebrate her bookstore's anniversary, Tricia Miles hosts a book signing for bestselling author Zoe Carter. But the event takes a terrible turn when the author is found dead in the washroom. Before long, both police and reporters are demanding the real story. So far, the author's obnoxious assistant/niece is the only suspect. With a sheriff who provides more obstacles than answers, Tricia will have to take matters into her own hands---and read between the lines to solve this mystery....

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A cozy mystery set in a mystery bookshop set in a town full of bookshops...what more can a reader want? What you get here is a cozy mystery with well drawn characters, both the good and the bad, a good mystery and a good reason why the main character, Tricia, needs to solve the murder. The sheriff hasn't much talent, but has a lot of animosity towards Tricia, so isn't in a hurry to clear Haven't Got a Clue as a crime scene. Tricia needs her shop open so she can sell books and make a living. AND be able to get back to her life and home since she lives above the shop.

I'm looking forward to book four BOOKPLATE SPECIAL and #4 CHAPTER AND HEARSE. One is on the nightstand and the other is on its way from Cynthia at High Crimes Mystery Bookshop. I like watching Tricia and her sister bicker and get along, like sisters can and will do. And I want to visit Stoneham, New Hampshire!

Five a-town-full-of-bookshops-is-cool beans.....

LEAD-PIPE CINCH: Georgiana Neverall Mystery #2 - Christy Neverall

From the back of the book: Drowning in a moat is so Middle Ages.....

When Georgiana Neverall left behind her fast-paced, corporate lifestyle to become a plumber's apprentice in Pine Ridge, Oregon, she thought she knew what she was getting into. But she hadn't pictured herself knee-deep in a muddy trenc, building a moat-part of a state-of-the-art castle that will soon house a retired Microsoft engineer.

She also hadn't planned on running across the man who stole her former company and dumped her--Blake Weston, who's on-site to provide security for the castle. When it turns out Blake's in a little over his head--in the moat, that is--Georgiana finds herself the number one suspect in his murder. To clear her name, Georgiana will have to pursue the remote possibility that someone out there despised Blake Weston more than she did.....

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Even with only two books, this has quickly become one of my favorite cozy series. I love the premise of the main character meandering back home, trying to keep her head up after getting shite-canned from the company she created in California, going to work as a plumber's apprentice. A cool premise, a good reason for the main character to get involved in the solving of the murder, excellent side characters to either help or hinder the main character along the way.

I really liked getting the backstory on Georgie's life in California and the contrast with her life now at home in Oregon. She still has her fingers in the computer security life, just an eensy bit by helping her friends keep their computers up to date and safe. She has her candy apple red Corvette she bought with her first big stock option check. And she still has her two Airdale pups, Daisy and Buddha.

I really think I have DH convinced to get an Airdale when it's time to get a dog in the household.

Five a plumber's life for me beans.....

CURING THE BLUES WITH A NEW PAIR OF SHOES: Domestic Equalizers #5 - Dixie Cash, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: The best-selling Dixie Cash novels featuring Domestic Equalizers Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin go down like a cold sarsaparilla on a hot Texas day. In Cash's CURING THE BLUES, the duo's many charms get the royal treatment in a side-splitting romp featuring pop music's most riveting figure.

Hey, baby, Debbie and Edwina aren't likely to thank anybody very much when a despicable sneak thief pilfers Elvis Presley's blue suede shoes--the main exhibit at a Salt Lick, Texas, festival for the King. Substituting old slippers for the stolen memorabilia, the irrepressible Equalizers are fit to be tied when the mystery of the missing footwear leads to even more curious happenings. But that's still not enough---not by a long shot!----to keep the ol' gals from doing a little matchmaking along the way.

Cash's delightful Lone Star State adventure proves as tasty as a bacon, banana, and peanut-butter sandwich---especially with a lively reading from acclaimed narrator Peggity Price.

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I didn't think this one was as good as the past books in the series have been, but it was still highly enjoyable. I do love the colorful language, the cocktails, the matchmaking, the mystery and definitely the characters. The combination of the Dixie Cash writing team and the delightful Peggity Price giving voice to Debbie Sue and Edwina is winning one fer shure.

I know the formula by now, there is a new girl character, a new boy character, new boy and new girl tussle and eventually get together with the help of Debbie Sue and Edwina.

There is a myster to solve, sometimes things get a little out of hand, but it all works out. A Texas cozy mystery of the finest kind.

Elvis Presley visited Salt Lick back in the day when he was 19, he was given a pair of blue suede shoes. This famous pair of shoes eventually makes its way back to Salt Lick in time for the annual birthday celebration held each 9 January. Said famous shoes go missing from the diner where the celebration will be held and Debbie Sue and Edwina are on the case. Especially since the sheriff is a clueless goober. He's ineptitude is funny to listen to and listening to Debbie Sue control her temper and steer him in the right direction is priceless.

Four thank you, thank you very much beans.....

GRAVE SECRET: Harper Connelly #4 - Charlaine Harris, narr Alyssa Bresnahan

From the back of the BOCD: New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris pens darkly inventive paranormal tales, including the immensely popular Sookie Stackhouse novels. With GRAVE SECRET, Harris returns to her beloved Harper Connelly series to deliver a thrilling mystery.

Ever since Harper was struck by lightning, she's been able to see and hear the last memories of the dead. Going on the road with her stepbrother Tolliver, she uses this unwanted gift to solve crimes and bring clients closure. Now, besides handling a budding romance with Tolliver, Harper is on the trail of a particularly gruesome killer in rural Texas, and she must act quickly before more lives are lost.

A tale of dark desires and even darker intentions. Harris' fourth book in the series shows why she's become a household name in fiction. A gripping performance by Alyssa Bresnahan will have readers tingling in rapt anticipation.

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This defnitely is the best of the series.There isn't as much of the searching for bodies with Harper's ability. I missed this aspect a lot, but what this reader/listener got in return is a heavy duty look at Harper's background. The poverty, the drug addicted parents, the kids all trying to keep the family together as best they can. There is also a look at the time of the disappearance of Cameron, the oldest sister.

This had the feel like it could be the last of the series. A lot of issues are addressed, but it could also clear the way for Harper and Tolliver to move on, so there could be more books. I hope so, cause this one was a humdingah.

Harper is hired by a wealthy family in Texas and the trouble begins. Someone is shooting at Harper and people around her are getting hurt.

GRAVE SECRETS has some serious twists and turns and many "Holey McCrappes!" left my lips.

Five if this the end it's a humdingah way to go beans.......

YAY ME & YAY COZY CHICKS!

I have a lineup of favorite revisit blogs and in the top five is Cozy Chicks, a group of..well cozy mystery authors like Maggie Sefton, Ellery Adams / J B Stanley, Kate Collins, Heather Webber, Lorna Barrett, and Leann Sweeney. I visit and comment pretty much every day. Once a month they draw a name from the commenters and I found out today I won for August! YAY ME! It's a Barnes and Noble e-giftcard...and you know what I'll be getting and who the authors will be...