Today's going to be a busy one...

First, I want to say I had a great time guest blogging on RTB, and was relieved that people commented, thanks ladies.

School day, but also "The Thanksgiving Songfest" day. I drop him off early and come back at 10:30 an hour early, considering we live a 1/2 hour from school it's not worth coming home and going back. I'll take some digital pictures and post them tonight. My kid's a huge ham. I think I'll bring a book and just wait. It'll give me an hour and a half to read, maybe that's enough time to finish Karen Robards' SuspicionSuperstition. I've been on a romantic suspense kick. I'll have to blog about it tomorrow.

After school, we're heading to a mega store (that one I love to hate) to pick up some Thanksgiving supplies and need to start cleaning the house. My husband wants to use our back porch, he thinks we need the space, now I need to find somewhere else to hide and store all the Christmas presents we've already purchased, not an easy thing considering we have a old house with next to no closets.

My Mom is driving me crazy, she's been watching too much Food network and especially too much Alton Brown. She wants me to brine the turkey for Thursday. I'll be happy if I can get everything cooked and on the table at the same time.

I've got to go or we'll be late.

Have a great day and happy reading.

A Little of This and a Little of That

I was surprised when I received an email saying my guest column was up today over on Romancing The Blog. I submitted it last week, for some reason I didn't expect it to be up so fast.

Instead of getting ready for Thanksgiving, which is at our house this year, I've been reading. I finished Hot Spell, Killing Time and Blue Smoke. I'm posting them over on the sidebar, but I'm trying to come up with something coherent to say about them in an actual blog. But, I'm starting to get a little panicky about the holidays.

I haven't really started thinking about what to make for Thanksgiving. We went to Mass last night, so I'm heading food shopping this morning. My husband just saw on the news that we're expecting a Nor'Easter on Tuesday (just rain) and maybe some accumulating snow north and west of NYC on Thanksgiving--that's us. Sixteen people for dinner and it may snow--I'm not a happy camper.

Got to get in the shower and get shopping. Have a great day and happy reading.

Library Reading and Mary Jo Putney's Stolen Magic

Tuesday I made a trip back to the library and picked up:

• Killing Time -- Linda Howard
• Superstition -- Karen Robards
• Son of a Witch -- Gregory Maguire

I also put on reserve:

• The new Candice Proctor historical mystery
• The new Gabaldon
• The new Anne Rice (what can I say, I'm curious)
• Wives and Daughters recommended by Anne E.
• Blue Smoke -- Nora Roberts

The librarian called today to let me know the NR's book is available, which kind of surprised me because I was 300 on the list, but it turns out that was for the entire library district and I was actually first on the list for the copy at our library.

So, tomorrow I'll be returning Mary Jo Putney's Stolen Magic and picking up the NR. Amanda asked me to comment on it.

I'm going to start out by saying the book isn't in front of me and I can't remember the characters full names, not good sign. MJP is a good writer, the story is well written, but it's painfully slow and it was work for me to finish. I thought the review over at RT was generous, 4 stars, but, it must be me, because the review over at AAR is a B+. Though, the reviewer over at AAR thought that the story bogged down at times, but not enough to detract from the story. I did like the unicorn and maiden theme. So if you can get passed the slowness of the story, you'll probably like this one.

I've already started Linda Howard's Killing Time, maybe I'll have time to finish it before bed.

Have a great night and happy reading.

Some days are better than others...

This may be somewhat meandering, but it's been a rough day. I'm going to start by saying Junior is fine.

It didn't start out so bad. I was up early (5:30) took a shower and actually got Junior to school early. I picked up Hot Spell yesterday at the UBS/Indie bookstore, bought it new, not used, and started Meljean's Falling for Anthony, but didn't have time last night to finish it. Brought the book with me thinking I'd read while Junior was in school and decided at the last minute to do some Christmas shopping instead, I'm horribly behind, normally I'm finished, wrapped, with the Christmas cards written and ready to go out.

I barely made it back to school by 11:30, traffic was horrendous. And when I walked into the school the Assistant Director said I was to go straight into the classroom. Oh boy, somethings wrong.

Not 2 minutes before I got to school, Junior was running back to his seat after storytime and fell. He hit his jaw against his chair and fell backwards hitting his head on the floor. And, he was hysterical, which is so unusual for him, but falling in general is unusual for him (he's very coordinated and rarely falls or hits his head, he's not one of those kids covered in bruises) and he had really worked himself up. I get him settled down and we head for home. And once in the car he falls asleep.

Well, that made me nervous, so when we got home I called the pediatrician. The nurse there tells me to wake him every 1/2 hour and make sure he recognizes me and if he starts to throw up I'm to take him straight to the emergency room. At 12:30 I woke him, he gripes at me but talks to me for a minute--I know he's okay. At 1:00 I had a hard time waking him up and I couldn't get him to focus on me. So I put him back in the van and head to the emergency room. At this point I've talked to my husband twice and he's on a job site an hour and a half away.

Junior sleeps all the way to the emergency room, wakes up when we get there, wants to know "What's this place and why are we here?" Now, I'm sure he's fine, but since we're there I decided it's better to be safe than sorry. Two hours later we have a clean bill of health and directions to keep as quiet as possible for the next 72 hours. He's got a wicked scrape and bruise on his jaw, but he's none the worse for wear.

The people at the ER were amazingly nice and thankfully it wasn't too busy. It turned out the admittance clerk sent her kids to the same preschool and the ER doctor was the one who helped save my dad's life--an excellent doctor. One day I'll blog about my dad's medical miracle, I've started to a couple of times but I usually end up in tears before I can actually get anything written.

Junior is fine, but he is very upset about missing Tae Kwon Do tomorrow.

After he went to bed, I got to finish Falling for Anthony. It was very good. I really like Meljean's writing style and you can't go wrong with a paranormal that has Guardians (Angels), a demon, a newly turned vampire and a nosferatu, I don't have the book in front of me so I hope I spelled that correctly.

Meljean, if you read this, you hit the horror mark when Anthony is attacked on the battlefield--nicely done. I'm looking forward to seeing where you take Lilith and Hugh.

I'm taping Lost, so I can go to bed, have a good night and happy reading.

Preconceptions, Good vs. Evil and Complete Ambivalence

I've blogged about this before, I try not to search out reviews before starting a new book, this way I can avoid being overly influenced by other readers and yet many of the books on my TBR come from reader blog recommendations. Basically, it comes down to this, if the book is by an auto buy author I don't bother to look for or read a review, if I come across one I'll read it, but it probably wont influence me one way or another. If it's written by a hit or miss author I'll check around for a synopsis, and if it's a new to me author I'll take the recommendations of different readers that I've found have similar taste to mine. It's a little convoluted, but it works for me.

All of this is a long winded way of saying I really try to avoid having preconceptions about a book. But, sometimes this is impossible to avoid, sometimes it's the back blurb of the book that causes the preconception.



I knew I was going to like this book before I cracked the cover. I love sports related romances especially sports related romances by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I thought it was a little long, but I was finishing it at 1:00 this morning and that may have something to do with this thinking.

For the past month I've been trying to read Patti O'Shea's Through a Crimson Veil. It's the 3rd book in the Crimson City series. And for the life of me, I haven't been able to figure out why it's not working for me. She has a great writing style and I should be loving this book. Yesterday, it finally hit me--I have preconceived ideas about demons. The hero and the heroine of this book are 1/2 demon, and for me demons have always fallen under the evil category in the grand good vs. evil scheme of things. Why I should think differently about demons than say ghosts, vampires or werewolves? I have no idea. It probably has something to do with religious faith, which in and of itself becomes a little heavy for blog that talks about romance reading, kids and other occasional musing.

And this brings me to my third profound thought of the morning. I'm wondering if the best way to come at reading a book is to be completely ambivalent, not really, but it's a concept. I haven't read Mary Jo Putney in years. For some reason I completely lost interest in her historicals and I've only read one of her contemporaries, and I can honestly say it pissed me off to the point I stopped reading her altogether. Somewhere along my web hopping I heard she had written a romantic fantasy. When I saw it at the library yesterday, I picked it up, I have absolutely no idea what it's about, but I'm giving it a try.

Those are my deep thoughts of the day, have good one and happy reading.

The Library

Today, while running errands after school I decided to stop at our local library. I can honestly say I completely under utilize it, but now that Christmas is upon us I'm doing the frugal thing and not buying books, I may be taking greater advantage of it. Not that I don't have a huge TBR pile, but for some reason this doesn't seem to count because nothing on it seems appealing, that is at least for now.

We picked up 2 kids videos, 2 kids books and 2 books for me. We didn't have much time and after picking out things for Junior I only had enough time to peruse the "popular reading" selections which included Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Match Me If You Can and a Mary Jo Putney that I can't seem to remember the title of, I haven't read MJP in a few years, but figured 'hey, it's a library book, I'm not paying for it.'

While Junior is in Tae Kwon Do tomorrow, I'm going back with a list. Now, I actually have to make a list.

Have a great night and happy reading.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

I bought this book for my husband the first week it came out. He has always been a SK fan and I knew he would like it, besides I figured I'd buy him a book so he couldn't complain about the pile I bought for myself.

He's (my husband not Stephen King) has been bugging me to read it since he finished it. Yesterday was a quiet day, so I decided to read it. I enjoyed how the story was told in conversational manner, by two old, small town Maine newspaper men. The cover picture has absolutely nothing to the story being told to the young female reporter, and she certainly isn't sitting in their office looking like the that. I still loved the "Pulp Fiction" cover.

If you blow up the cover you'll see the question "Would She Learn the Dead Man's SECRET?" No damn it, you never learn the "secret." And, yet that was the whole point to the story, some mysteries never have closure.

On the sidebar I put this book under "Okay" but maybe after thinking about it I'll move it to good, not great, but good. I like closure for my mysteries.

Have a great day and happy reading.

One more thing, how can "sidebar" not be in Blogger's spell check? Didn't the OJ trail make that word completely mainstream??

Hey Erika, one more thing...

I didn't want my comment back to you regarding Lydia Joyce's The Music of the Night to get lost because of all my other posts.

One of the things I like about this book is the heroine (Sarah) is from abject poverty, but that hasn't stopped her from rising to become a Lady's Companion. The heroine is strong on her own, she doesn't need Sebastian and in fact Sarah makes him the better person. And, that's why I consider this an "adult romance".

What I also like about this book--she comes from poverty, but it's not a Pygmalion/My Fair Lady Story. She has already pulled herself out of poverty on her own, with a help from a friend, who we never actually meet. She makes hard and sometimes practical choices and lives with them, without too many regrets and always looks forward not back. She knows what she wants out of life and takes the paths that will get her there.

To be honest, Sebastian is an idiot at times and the revenge plot line doesn't ever show him in a favorable light.

It's an interesting book. I'm not trying to talk you into, just explain why for me it's an "adult romance" and why it works. I'm not on the AAR message boards very often, I'm usually over there checking out reviews. I'm kind of assuming "adult" is being used as a euphemism for "non-virgin" which would also work in this case.

A Couple of Kid Tales

I'm once again going to regale everyone with tales of my cute kid.

On the way to school the other day I told my son I was going to get my hair colored while he was in school. He sat there very quiet for a minute and then asked "Red, green or brown?" When I told him brown, he told me I should color it orange--that's his favorite color.

Monday while I was out running an errand I left my husband home alone with Junior. Hubby was getting changed and Junior was on his stomach, in the middle of the living room drawing pictures on a giant pad of paper. Somehow while my husband was upstairs for 5 minutes (so he says) our son managed to take magic markers and draw on himself green raccoon eyes, huge red clown lips, blued the top of his hands and put pink on his palms. I wish hubby had taken a picture, but he was so worried it wouldn't come off, he didn't think of it.

Two days later his palms were still pink, the rest of him washed off that night. I guess I shouldn't complain, it could have been worse, one of the boys in his Tae Kwon Do class is platinum blonde and he colored his hair with red marker and it didn't come out, he had a red patch for a week.

You could have knocked me over with a feather...

Yesterday, when I was opening several days worth of mail over at my yahoo account (I'm really bad about getting over there, it's like having a Post Office box and never stopping to check your mail) I found one with this title:

Romancing The Blog Guest Invitation

To be honest, it took me completely by surprise, a very pleasant surprise. At this point I have no idea what I'm going to write, but I don't think it will compare with todays column The Poisoned Nipple Theory (aka TPNT)--LOL, great column.

Have a great day and happy reading.

The Music of the Night by Lydia Joyce

Lydia Joyce has an amazing writing voice, so different from anyone else writing historical romance that at times she is shocking and refreshing at the same time. The Music of the Night is a rare gem in historical romances, a sophisticated adult romance.

I picked this out of the AAR review:

...I think some readers accustomed to the lighter and far less complex general run of historical romances today may find the book a tad overwritten. But, this, fellow readers, is how it’s supposed to be – complicated, challenging, sexy, and altogether adult.

There is so much going on in this book, I'm afraid to comment too much, simply put the story is packed with well developed characters and plot twists that any comment may give away too much information.

There are 2 things that keep me from saying this is a perfect book -- 1. Revenge is the driving force of the story and at times overpowers the relationship between the h/h. It also leaves me questioning whether or not I even like the hero. But, then the heroine is so different, so intelligent, so practical and on one level accepting of her lot in life and yet is constantly trying to improve herself and her life, that I'm left not really caring whether or not I like the hero, because she has become my heroine. 2. The ending is rushed and the epilogue isn't needed, and to be honest a little sappy, and I would have rather been left to my own imagination.

If you're looking for a dark, gothic styled, sophisticated romance, with well developed characters and interesting story--try this one.

I'm done gushing--LOL.

Have a great day, and happy reading.

Is this true?

So, tonight I'm watching HGTV's House Hunters International while I'm stamping "Merry Christmas" on the inside of 50 cards and I hear something I thought was a little strange.

This couple was looking for an apartment in Paris (they were living in Portland and were retiring) and the wife said that in France when you go to get a mortgage a full physical is required and your interest rates are determined by how healthy you are (but it doesn't matter if you smoke) and I wonder, gee, do they do credit checks too or doesn't that matter??

They also said that the average apartment in Paris is about the equivalent of $350,000. I don't think you can find a cardboard box in NYC for that. The apartments were great, but the kitchens were teeny tiny, and is purple a popular color for French water closets?? They found a cool apartment close to Moulin Rouge, it even had a huge patio.

A couple of updates

Just a couple of updates--Junior's stomach virus is gone and we found an allergy medication that doesn't gag him--it was a good day at our house--LOL.

I'm officially on reading hold. For some reason, which I can not explain, I decided to make our Christmas Cards this year (rubber stamp project)--what the heck was I thinking??? I also decided to make some Christmas gifts, memory pillows for some of the ladies in the family. And, I can't do anything while Junior is awake, tried it over the weekend and he ink all over himself.

I'll probably be doing a little reading early in the morning, so maybe I'll get a few books in this month. Right now I'm reading the new Lydia Joyce, The Music of the Night. I'm about a third of the way finished, it's very good, I really like her writing style, but I'm not really sure where it's going, which I guess is a good thing.

Have a good one, happy reading.

Wicked Storms

Last night the storm front that set off those horrible tornados in Indiana and Kentucky came through our area of NY. Fall and winter thunderstorms are amazing, I don't know if it's because there are no leaves on the trees to mute the glow of the lighting, but last night the sky was pure white light when lightning struck and the thunder was so loud it shook the house.

Sick Mode

Never believe a 4 year old when he says "I'm not going to throw up."

We've now spent the last several days in sick mode. The poor child has chronic post nasal drip caused by allergies, unfortunately this makes him sick to his stomach and add to that a real stomach virus and we have a recipe for disaster. For the past 2 days he's been eating the BRAT (bananas, rice, apples, toast) only we don't have any bananas in the house so I guess we would call it the RAT diet.

He actually has an incredibly sensitive stomach and we've only discovered one allergy medication that he will keep down and it's no longer available because it's being reformulated, whatever that means. All I know is I called several pharmacies looking for it and no one has it. Tomorrow we are back to the pediatrician for samples of one they think he'll keep down.

I'm done whining about my son being sick.

I reread Susan Squires' The Companion this weekend. I couldn't remember whether or not Langley from The Hunger was in it. Beatrix was, but Langley wasn't, though there is a nameless reference to him and she is anxious to get back to Amsterdam. For some reason I find myself wanting to see the characters from previous books almost as if to verify that the HEA is real. I'm trying to find a copy of The Only One which is an anthology from a couple of years ago that is part of this series. Can you tell I'm getting a little obsessive about the whole thing??--LOL

Have a great night and happy reading.

Ouch, bet that hurt!!

I found this in our local paper this morning:

Jury rules against woman in genital gluing

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A Westmoreland County jury on Friday ordered a woman to pay $46,200 to her ex-boyfriend for gluing his genitals to his abdomen.

Jurors found in favor of Kenneth Slaby of Pittsburgh in his civil case against Gail O'Toole of Murrysville after three days of testimony and ordered the payment for pain, suffering and emotional distress, according to television station KDKA.

"For all the pain and suffering I've been through, and the embarrassment, I don't think it's enough," Slaby told reporters after the verdict.
Slaby's lawsuit said the two broke up in 1999 after dating for 10 months, and he began dating someone else. After he broke up with his other girlfriend, Slaby said, O'Toole invited him over to her home on May 7, 2000, where he fell asleep.

He said he woke up to find that O'Toole had used Super Glue to stick his genitals to his abdomen, glued his buttocks together and spelled out a profanity on his back in nail polish.

Slaby said O'Toole told him that her actions were payback for their breakup, and he had to walk a mile to a gas station to call for help. He pressed charges and O'Toole pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and spent six months on probation.

But O'Toole's attorney contended that the incident was nothing more than part of the couple's adventurous, consensual sex.

© 2005 The Associated Press.

Sacrament by Susan Squires

I've finished 2 books in the last couple of days, Not So Innocent by Laura Lee Guhrke was the first. It was a good book, set in the late 1890s with a psychic heroine and a Scotland Yard Inspector with murder, mayhem and a Jack The Ripperesque villain.

I decided to read this one before Susan Squires' Sacrament, I'm afraid I'm going to vampire myself out, since I've never been a fan of Feehan or Kenyon and I had a tendency to base my opinion of the vampire romances by their works.

I started Sacrament last night and finished it while waiting to pick Junior up after school. I really enjoyed this book, and yet I don't think it was as good as The Companion and The Hunger. There is an underlying feeling of anxiety and dread as you're reading which is very compelling. I think TC and TH take the feeling of dread one step further which made them scarier books.

Off to read the new Lydia Joyce, picked it up at B&N today.

Have a great weekend and happy reading.

Sick Day

Today Junior was supposed to go on a field trip to a local volunteer firehouse, but he got sick in the parking lot of his school this morning and had to come home. He was heart broken, so heart broken I cried right along with him. There is nothing worse than seeing your child so unhappy. But, we stopped and got Coke and Gatorade and that cheered him up.

Mr. Incredible...aka so, you wanted pictures...

Snack time during our school party, please note the tiny cupcakes with spiderwebs--oh, and the kid's cute too.


Frozone isn't Mr. Incredible's only superhero friend, Batman is his other bestest friend in the whole world, aka Michael.

Working out, getting ready for lifting all that candy.

Going door to door is serious business.

No "trick or treat," no candy. That's the rule.


The night's finished and Petey Cat and Mr. Incredible are heading to bed.

And the chaos begins...

Tomorrow is Halloween, big surprise right. How did this sneak up on me?

Halloween has always been a hectic day for us. For the years I worked and commuted it was a project to get home by 6:00. Our town has a curfew that allows trick or treat between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening. Which is great because nobody shows up at your door before 6:00 or after 8:00, the local police are good about enforcing this.

Since having Junior we've had my parents for dinner on Halloween so they can see him in his costume. Well, this has now extended to my whole family and I spent the day cooking for tomorrow, cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming and moping the downstairs of our house, that was between running in and out of the house helping my husband finish roofing the front porch, he finally got back to that project, but that's a whole other story. I also raked leaves and cleaned out the flower beds for winter and made sure the front porch was cleared of fishing poles, bikes etc.

At school each family is asked to help out with one school party each year, somehow I was talked into Halloween, last year I did Christmas. I volunteered to make mini cupcakes and decorate them with teeny tiny spider webs. What planet do I live on?? I finally finished frosting and decorating at 9:00 tonight.

Tomorrow before leaving for school, I have to clean the bathroom, make the beds and fix Junior's "Mr. Incredible" mask. He ripped it while visiting his Nany and Grandpa to show off the costume. I also have to make breakfast for everyone, and hubby's lunch and promised to make a batch of cookies all before leaving the house at 8:30.

After school we're going to a friends house for a little party and some trick or treating, we have to be home by 3:30 so I can have dinner on the table by 5:00. Junior knows trick or treat starts at 6:00 and will be counting the bongs on mantle clock in the living room in anticipation.

Tuesday we'll be going to 7:00 am Mass and heading to The Christmas Tree Shop. It's about an hour away. Need to start Christmas shopping. And we'll need to be home in time for Tae Kwon Do class

Just typing all that made me tired, I'm off to bed.

PS--We still have to carve the pumpkins for the front steps.

Susan Squires Rocks

Well, it seems I may be back on the reading track.

I finished Susan Squires' The Hunger last night.



This book is great, a prequel to The Companion, and stars Beatrix Lisse, a 700+ year old vampire, whose vampire territory is Regency London, and John Staunton, the Earl of Langley, British spy. The evil Asharti once again must be stopped. It's a page turner, it's dark, it's erotic, it's compelling and at times even gory. Exactly what I want in a vampire story.

I am amazed at how Ms. Squires pushes romance writing envelopes and doesn't seem to follow any of the "unwritten" rules.

After visiting her website I realized Sacrament falls within this series time line and includes characters from this book. It's next on my TBR pile and I plan on rereading The Companion too.

Have a spooky weekend, and scary reading.

Today's B&N Finds

Not a large haul, but I think 3 good finds.

I couldn't pass up a 50th Anniversary Edition of Harold and The Purple Crayon.

And, I've already finished Wendy Wax's Hostile Makeover and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a Chick Lit meets Romance, nicely done.

I'm off to bed, happy reading.

A Strange Month

It's been a rather odd reading month for me. The list of books I've read is rather short considering I've been reading about 20+ books a month for the past few. I'll be lucky if I read 15 this month--I'm at 12 so far with only 5 days to go and I'm not really in the mood to read. The whole month has been this way, not really in the mood, but doing it anyway.

The list:

It Happened One Autumn -- Lisa Kleypas
Private Demon -- Lynn Viehl
Northern Lights -- Nora Roberts
The Champion -- Elizabeth Chadwick
The Bargain -- Jane Ashford
Bride Needs Groom -- Wendy Markham
Short Straw Bride -- Dallas Schulz
A Singular Lady -- Megan Frampton
Strange Attractions -- Emma Holly
The Dark Queen -- Susan Carroll
The Courtesan -- Susan Carroll
Crazy Hot -- Tara Janzen

Four of the books were over 500 pages, Northern Lights, The Champion, The Dark Queen and The Courtesan.

What makes it even more strange--I'm enjoying what I'm reading, even while pushing myself to actually do it. But, it has been a nice mix of books, which is probably why I'm enjoying what I read despite not being in the mood:

• Medieval -- 1
• Ren. France -- 2
• Trad. Regency -- 1
• Regency -- 1
• Victorian -- 1
• Western -- 1
• Romantic Suspense -- 2
• Contemporary -- 1
• Vampire -- 1
• Erotic Romance -- 1

Not a bad mix considering normally half of what I read end up being Regency period historicals.

Well, for what it's worth, that's this months stats. What are your stats this month?

Have a great day and happy reading.

One more thing, I'm heading to B&N today, so my pledge not to buy anything new lasted about a week. What can I say, I'm weak.

The Courtesan by Susan Carroll

Early last week or the week before ReneeW blogged about Susan Carroll's The Dark Queen, knowing I wanted this book and The Courtesan I ran out last Monday and picked up both at B&N. After an incredibly busy week, I finally finished both books. Renee gave TDQ a B+ and her review is right on, a very good book but not perfect.

Yesterday morning I finished The Courtesan. It rises above TDQ, what a fantastic book. There is a wonderful review at AAR . Here is a quote from the review that completely describes how I felt about the book:

This novel is almost 600 pages long and includes court intrigue, witchcraft, potential war, religious persecution and yes, a romance. Given all that, I would not have been surprised if it had bogged down at some point, but it never did. Ms. Carroll managed the various story threads with skill and grace. I read this in a night, unable to put it down. Though the plot and setting made this read more like straight historical fiction (with the very slightest touch of the paranormal), the author never forgot the romance. I was intellectually intrigued and emotionally satisfied right through the slightly over-the-top climax. Not many books can do that.

When I sat down to read yesterday morning I told myself I was only going to read for 20 minutes, I was so sucked into the climax (the last 100+/-) pages I didn't look up for 45 minutes and spent the next 20 scrambling to take a shower and get Junior to school on time, somehow we made it by the skin of our teeth.

The next book The Silver Rose is due out in February. I can't wait!!!

Have a great day and happy reading.

A couple of interesting stops...

I haven't been blogging in a couple of days, but I wanted to post a few things I found interesting.

I found an interesting article through Meljean's blog. I'm not the only person looking for horror with romance. She has a link to an article by Joyce Ellen Armond at Speculative Romance Online.

Yesterday AngieW an interesting column at RTB about the pushing of the sex envelope in erotic romance.

Got to go and get in the shower, we might make 7:30 mass.

Have a great day and happy, joyous reading.

Banned Books

I've now seen this at both Jay's and Nicole's and decided to bring it over here too.

List of the top 110 banned books. Bold the ones you've read. Italicize the ones you've read part of. Read more. Convince others to read some.

#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Kapital by Karl Marx
#37 Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#58 Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Emile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Emile Zola
#104 Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Boys will be boys...

I'm always amazed by what seems to be attached to the Y chromosome.

Most people witness the ability to make all sorts of car noises at an early age and somehow all boys seem to be able to pick up a stick and turn it into a gun, knife, sword... you get the idea. But there are other things attached to that Y chromosome I thought were learned, but I was wrong.

The other day Junior is getting ready for a shower and he announces he has to "poop." So, I turn off the shower and put him on the bowl, leave the room, because he needs privacy and when he's done he washes his hands and comes out of the bathroom. I go in to restart the shower and he heads into our room climbs up on my husband and the conversation goes something like this:

Jr.: Daddy, smell me.
Dad: Good boy, your hands smell clean.
Jr: No Daddy smell my hiney.

Another conversation between father and son:

Jr: Excuse me, I did a backward burp (that's what Junior calls passing gas--he came up with that one one his own)
Dad: You're excused
Jr. Hey Daddy, can you smell it?

Bathroom humor, it's part of the Y Chromosome.

Back to the books.

Monday while Junior was in school, I did my 2 mile walk as fast as could so I had enough time to run to B&N before he needed to be picked up. I was on a mission. I couldn't wait another day, not another minute for Susan Carroll's The Dark Queen and The Courtesan. Somehow I knew these books wouldn't be in romance and I found them immediately in "Fiction & Literature." How did I know this? The covers are too lovely to be romance, but have a wonderful "historical fiction" look to them. I don't normally care much about covers, but why can't historical romances have covers this beautiful??

Forget the covers, notice I'm easily sidetracked. I'm about half way through The Dark Queen and it's definitely a romance. I'm enjoying it, but not finding enough time to read. Of course, if I had spent my time reading instead of entertaining myself over at blogthing.com, I might actually be finished with TDQ and have started The Courtesan.

Holly Lisle has a great column over on RTB. I pulled this from the end of the column:

...Passion, heart, faith, hope, courage, and soul, tucked within a framework of strong characters, a tight story, and from time to time, a good laugh.

I just love this description of what type of book she's looking for. I realized this is what fuels my obsession with books, I'm constantly looking for the perfect keeper.

After my mad dash to B&N the other day, I've decided I'm getting a little out of control. I'm not buying anything until I get my TBR pile down a little. So how long is this going to last--I give myself a week maybe two. I know, I'm weak and pathetic--LOL.

Have a great night and happy, "joy"ful reading.

Joy of Joys

I've been tagged by Megan to search out the number of times I've used the word joy.

"There's no joy in Mudville" is the title of one blog. And, I've used the expression "joy of joys" twice in a rather sarcastic tone--LOL.

Okay, I'm a sarcastic toad who has no appreciation for the "JOYS" in my life--LOL. Well, that's not entirely true, I appreciate them I just don't blog about them using that term. Junior is my greatest "joy" and right now he's bugging me to get off the computer, so I've got to go.

I use "enjoy" and "happy" on a regular basis do those count?

Let's tag Cindy, Erika, and Amanda.

Have a great day and "joy"ful reading, hehehe.

Blogthing

Thanks to Jay I discovered Blogthings.com. I've spent the last hour discovering all sorts of things about myself.

1. My IQ is 140 but I'm logically below average (one of my college professors told me I thought in circles, so I guess this one is right--LOL)
2. My inner hair color is purple.
3. My power color is red-orange.
4. I believe in God and my religion (but I don't believe everyone needs to be part of my religion)
5. My blog should be purple.
6. I passed the US Citizen test with 9 out of 10, but I can't figure out what I got wrong.
7. I'm 50% weird.
8. My pimp name is Sugarlips Dynomite.
9. I'm like Mexican Food, spicy yet dependable.
10. I was a red headed cannibal who died of dysentery in a previous life.
11. I'm so observant I'm lucky I remember to put underwear on in the morning--that's really bad.

Thanks to Megan I'm supposed to be counting how often I've used the word "joy" in my blog. I'm afraid each time I've used it was rather in a sarcastic tone. I'll post the results later.

Can't figure it out...

It seems like I'm constantly running behind and because of this seem to have no interest in blogging about what I'm reading. I'm reading and enjoying a lot of what I am reading and yet I have no desire to talk about the books. This is one of the reasons I changed the sidebar to list the books by how much I've liked them.

This weekend I finished Megan Frampton's first book, A Singular Lady, it was very good. I like Megan's writing voice, it's a very nice Traditional Regency. The characters are quirky and fun which gives it an interesting twist to Traditional Regencies.

I also read Emma Holly's Strange Attraction, this was a extremely well written book, but the subject matter isn't what one would call a typical romance or romantica, it's really is straight erotica and yet it has a strange HEA, I guess that's where the title comes from--LOL. I'll leave everyone to search out a synopsis for themselves.

Got to go, it's a school day and we need to be out in 1/2 an hour and I've still to showere.

Have a good one and happy reading.

In case of nightmares...

Well, it's 7:45 and my son should have been in bed half an hour ago, but my husband is telling him the story of The Headless Horseman. He's only four, if he has any nightmares my husband is a dead man.

The rushing rising river...

The Wallkill River is normally a fairly quiet meandering river, not now.

And the rain, rain, rain...

came down, down down...

My son and I have been singing this wonderful Winnie The Pooh song for days.

Now, I know a few weeks ago I said smack me if I complain about the weather, but I think I'm officially allowed to now. Since Saturday we've had over 15 inches of rain and the river behind our house is flooding, big time. Thank God, we live on the high side and it's flooding across the river into fields and marshes. There is no risk to our home and most of the homes in our neighborhood, we would need a flood of biblical proportions to actually flood as high as our back door. We had an incredibly dry summer, so much so we've had a drought watch on for months. Well, we're all done with drought watches and warnings and the grass is now green again, which is rather nice since it hasn't been green in months.

The nice side of being stuck in the house, is not really being stuck, we've been rather lucky, we were able to get to school yesterday without a problem, today we are going to 2 book stores, the grocery store and Karate school. None of the roads we need will be flooded and since we're not made of sugar we wont melt. The down side Junior Barnes is crawling the walls, hopefully Karate will help.

It is giving me a little time to update my blog sidebar and now I'm going blog hopping for a little while.

Have a good one and those of you in the Northeast, stay dry.

Halloween Costumes

Yesterday was spent Halloween costume shopping. This is the first time we've done this.

For Junior's first 4 Halloweens I made his costumes. The first 3 were characters from the Wizard of Oz--The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion and The Tin Man. We only have digital pictures of him as The Scarecrow. I don't have a working scanner or I'd load the other two, both were real cute. Last year he announced he wanted to be Lucy from Charlie Brown's "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." The picture below is from when we visited my BIL's Halloween display, the skeleton sings the theme to Disney's Haunted House and the jaw moves--very cleverly done.

Scarecrow--2 1/2 months old


Ghost witch aka Lucy from Charlie Brown 3 years old, from behind he looked just like Lucy running down the street--absolutely too cute.


This year he wanted something different each time we asked. So, I took him shopping. We hit 4 stores before finding a costume at Party City. When he saw "Mr. Incredible" he announced "that's it!!"

I've had to hide the costume, he want to wear it around the house, had to take it to Grandma's and Grandpa's last night and try it on for them. His official unveiling will be Halloween morning for school, I'll post pictures then.

A Little FYI for Authors and Publishers...

While reading Wendy Markham's Bride Needs Groom I discovered one little, insignificant pet peeve that bugs me.

The Italian language consists of 21 letters, the 5 missing letters are J K W X Y. Here's a link to a teaching website that explains in nice simple pictures that J K W X Y are foreign letters and rarely used in Italian.

The hero's last name in this book is "Chickalini" which I guess could have been Americanized when the family came from Italy. For some reason this always bugs me, I'm 4th generation Italian American, the Italian side of my family has been in the States since the 1860s and I knew this. Somewhere along the publishing process someone has to know this, right?

Okay, that's it my pet peeve mini rant of the day.

The book's not bad, so every time I come to "Chickalini" I think someone on Ellis Island screwed up.

There's no joy in Mudville...

or Yankeedom. Our only consolation, the Yankees lasted 2 more games than the dreaded Red Sox.

There's always next year.

A Day Late...

I don't understand how life at times gets so busy. I spent the weekend catching up with this weeks RTBcolumns.

KarenTempleton's column about small town settings is very good. I live in a small town and love it. I'm a sucker for any book set in small town America, and I agree with Cynthia, the supporting characters shouldn't be "characters." I think the Sheik thing has to do with the exotic and different.

I loved Deeanne Gist's column about receiving her the first bound copy of her first book. I thought the "what's for dinner" questions rather apropos since it's the first question my husband asks almost everyday. There's only one other question that drives me crazy on a regular basis. If I get up at night to go to the bathroom, he asks "Where are you going?" Where the heck does he think I'm going at 2:00 am, out for pizza?

Nicole's first official column is about cats, a subject I adore, since we've always had at least one cat my entire life. Right now we only have one, Petey Cat that likes to sleep in sinks, begs like a dog and is 20 pounds of absolute loving affection. We think he thinks he's a dog. I think Karen Robards has a couple of books with interesting cats. I'll have to search it out--my sister will know, she's a huge KR fan.
Anti-heros are the topic of Kathleen O'Reilly's column, and I wish I had read it when it was first posted, I probably would have commented. I like her list of favorite heros, but I have to agree none are anti-heros:

My favorite heroes ever are: Johanna Lindsey’s James Mallory from A Gentle Rogue, Gideon from Amanda Quick’s Ravished, Lyon from Julie Garwood’s The Lion’s Lady. I asked some friends about their favorite heroes: Roarke from Nora Robert’s In Death series, Dane Hollister from Linda Howard’s Dream Man, and yes, lest we forget, Wolf Mackenzie from Mackenzie’s Mountain.

These hero's may be atypical, but they're not "anti." For me an "anti-hero" can just as easily be the villain of a story instead of the hero and is often just that, the villain of an early story. I love Anne Stuart's romantic suspense heros, they're always of questionable morals and that makes them fascinating. But, for me the biggest anti-hero is Graelam DeMoreton of Catherine Coulter's Song series. In the first books Warrior's Song (originally titled Chandra) he is the villain, he's not much better in his own book, Firesong and it takes the next two in the series to fully redeem him. Now, that's an anti-hero, not necessarily a favorite, but definitely an anti.

One more thing about anti-heros--Hans Solo is not an anti-hero!!

Loved Rosario's column about anthologies. She is so right about length. If done right a novella can be fantastic, but try to include to much and it's horrible. And, just because an author writes great full-size novels it doesn't mean that ability is transfered to shorter ones.

There have been some great columns over on RTB, I've got to try and get there everyday instead of once a week.

Have a great day, and happy reading.

There are days I hate Blogger!!!

Once again I've got a long blog waiting to post and it's sitting in draft neverneverland. Every time I go to edit and post it I'm getting blog not found. It's incredibly frustrating!!

The Mom part of Romance Reading Mom

I'm in a reading slump, don't know why, but nothing on the TBR pile is appealing right now. All the back cover blurbs are leaving me rather blah, so I'm blogging about being a mom instead.

I know I'm extremely lucky--I can be home full time at this point in our lives, and that I have a choice in the situation. I don't know how working women do it, and function on any level of normalcy.

I'm up early (5:30-6:00), make breakfast for everyone and pack lunch/school snacks. Get hubby out of the house by 7:30, on school days (Mon, Wed, Fri) Junior and I are out by 8:25. While he's in school, I walk 2-3 miles and run errands. We come home have lunch, I clean, cook and we play outside or go to the park. Junior has dinner between 4:30 and 5:00 and we eat between 5:30 and 6:00. He sits down and has a snack while we eat, but we completely avoid the "witching hour" by feeding him a little early. Junior needs a shower and is in bed between 7:00 and 7:30 and I get to read from 8:00 until I fall asleep, usually around 11:00. Tuesdays and Thursdays are slower as he only has karate in the afternoons.

Where is there time for a job in all of that? My SIL worked full time with her older child and is now home full time with her second child (there's a 7 year difference in their age) she swears it's easier to work--is that possible?

Another Good Vampire Book

I fully expected Lynn Viehl's Private Demon to be a good book. I enjoyed the first one If Angels Burn and thought it was a good set up for a series.

The odd thing is I'm not really sure these are romances, they have romantic elements--sex, but the build up of a relationship really isn't there. I'm left wondering if there is a true relationship being built. Cypien and Alex from If Angels Burn play a major part in this book and there relationship does seem to be a true love match, but you didn't necessarily feel that way at the end of their own book. Private Demon actually has a kind of strange love triangle--another vampire has been in love from a far with the heroine, Jema Shaw. The hero is Thierry Durand, he's the vampire who goes crazy at the end of If Angels Burn. Alex's brother John plays an important role in this book and he has left the priesthood since the end of the IAB

These books come really close to what I ultimately want in a vampire romance--horror. I guess this is why I like them so much. There is an underlying sinisterness and evilness that is very compelling. It's a good vs. evil story, but you're really not sure who is truly good--the vampires or the Brethern hunting them.

Reading Private Demon and If Angels Burn is like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle without a picture to follow. I have no idea ultimately where Ms. Viehl is leading and that makes me want more.

I Finally Gave Up

Yesterday blogger decided not to be cooperative. I spent 2 hours trying to post something new and it kept dumping me out. I finally gave up. It was a rather clever blog about how busy we've been, culminating with how my husband fell off our front porch roof Monday afternoon.

He's okay, the extention ladder actually slid out from under him, he grabbed the gutter and fell on top of the ladder when his feet got tangled in the rungs. A broken finger, a bruised tail bone, and a little sore all over.

This, That and The Other Thing

It's Sunday afternoon, I've got a sink full of dishes and need to make spaghetti sauce for dinner, but I'm here blogging instead. My husband is reroofing our front porch and I'm trying to avoid the "honey, can you get..." thing. So, I'm hiding in the home office. Why is it that I somehow manage to do the laundry, clean the house, wash dishes, replace the flooring in our foyer without once having to say "honey, can you get..." but he starts a home project and its "I could use a little help here." Juniors playing in his bedroom, this way he's not outside trying to climb the ladder and get up on the roof with daddy.

The other day I ran to the UBS/Indie bookseller and picked up part of my current book order...

1. Private Demon -- Lynn Viehl
2. Wedding Survivor -- Julia London
3. It Happened One Autumn -- Lisa Kleypas
4. Through a Crimson Veil -- Patti O'Shea

I also picked up the new RT, the link is in the sidebar--I'm being lazy today.

I've already finished It Happened One Autumn. I don't really know what I expected, but for some reason it hasn't lived up to expectations. Marcus has been a secondary character in a couple of books and I wanted his book to be spectacular. Don't get me wrong it's a good book, Lillian, the heroine, at time is incredibly headstrong, which is fine, at least she doesn't fall into the TSTL category.

This is the 2nd in the Wallflower series. The first was Secrets of a Summer Night. Which was good also, but at the end I was left really looking forward to this one, thinking this one would be even better. And, now at the end of this one I'm left looking foward to the next which I think will be better than the first 2. Of course, I've read the sneak preview and the hero of the next book was the semi-villain of this one. I love ex-villain hero's, like to see how an author redeems them.

The owner of the bookstore gave me an ARC of The Midnight Work by Kassandra Sims. It's a vampire book and she's not into them, so she was very nice and gave it to me. I'm not real sure about it, but I'll give it a try. Besides vampires the back blurb comments on zombies, sleazy French alchemists, fairies and "Fairy Land". All of which sounds cleverly funny, but what I'm really looking for nail biting terror from vampire stories. And, I'm so not into fairies and Fairy Land. Oh well.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged

by Kristie -

1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas...

"Sunday morning I finished Jane Feather's Almost a Bride."

Not much to ponder for meaning, kind of boring actually, which was my problem with the book itself. The blog was about good authors going "blah".

So, I can't imagine who hasn't been tagged, I'm leaving it open to anyone who wants to do it.

Rereading Old Keepers

I started rereading Whitney, My Love yesterday afternoon while Junior was in his Tae Kwon Do class. If I stay and observe he doesn't pay enough attention, so I went out to the car and read. Didn't get real far and didn't do much reading last night, Survivor and CSI were on, up until discovering LOST, they were they only TV programs I watched without reading at the same time.

I haven't reread this book in years, my copy is actually the extended hardcover version. I bought it when it came out and read the ending to see what was added, but didn't reread the entire book.

It's kind of sad when we realize an old favorite is no longer even enjoyable. Obviously, the book hasn't changed, but I have. In the back of my mind I knew this wouldn't be a keeper anymore. When this book was new, I read it over and over and loved it, 20 years later I'm not even sure I'll get through it.

I skimmed forward and read the "rape scene" and to be honest, I didn't find it as offensive as other people have. His guilt and groveling is enough for me. McNaught is famous for good hero groveling, usually they have done something incredibly stupid and need to beg for forgiveness over and over.

My problem with the book at this point is what's the attraction for Clayton, why would he be interested in this girl, because Whitney is really still a childish flirt, she's just been cleaned up and given some polish. She's in her late teens and he's in his early 30's. I don't have a problem with the age difference, my problem is with the maturity difference.

Why don't I remember Whitney being incredibly TSTL? She is only 15 when the book opens and we are all capable of stupid actions at that age, but even cleaned up, spit polished and a few years older, she seems to have the common sense of a flea. She misinterprets situations, acts at times without thinking and needs others to clarify and explain things to her. So young, so immature, what's the attraction?

And, while she is at times dumb as a rock, he's a jealous lunatic. Who needs that. I guess I grew up but Whitney and Clayton haven't.

I should have left well enough alone, and kept my good memories of an old keeper just that memories.

LOST, The Yankees and a couple of good books

A friend was kind enough to email me a character synopsis of the TV program LOST the other night so I could watch the 1st two episodes of this season, I'd never watched it before, but I can now say I'm hooked, thanks Kristie.

I have to admit I didn't actually watch it last night but rather this morning, my wonderful husband taped it for me, I'm virtually clueless when it comes to programming VCRs. The Yankees came on at 7:05 and I watched them instead. (Kristie and Wendy I'm not gloating--really, that would jinx them--LOL)

So, while watching the ballgame last night I finished Liz Carlyle's One Little Sin. It's a Liz Carlyle so, of course, it's entertaining and I enjoyed it, but there was something about the book that seemed vaguely familiar, and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because I probably read the coming attractions at the end of her last book, but the ending seemed familiar too, I must be reading too much romance and getting completely confused. I'm sure if you try RT or AAR, you'll find wonderful reviews, I haven't looked yet.

Tuesday night I finished Lord of Desire by Paula Quinn. It was a very good medieval. It takes place pre The Battle of Hastings and has Duke William playing a major role. Saxon/Norman conflict, interesting characters, evil villains, not without flaws, but a good book. I didn't check out these reviews either, but I'm sure they are good.

So, let's recap:

1. Discovered LOST
2. The Yankees are in 1st place with 4 games to go (I know it's only one game but it's still good)
3. Read 2 good books.

It's been a good couple of days, and I'm keeping my promise to blog positive.

Next book up on the TBR pile--a reread of Judith McNaught's Whitney, My Love. It's been years since I've read it. Will I still think it's great, or will my thoughts change with age? I'm not sure I'll be offended by the "scene" but I may find the whole book too melodramatic. I'll post about it tomorrow.

Dark Lover by J. R. Ward

Okay, this is the third time I've tried to blog about this book. I've been dumped out once and I stupidly hit back before saving it and 'recover post' only recovered the picture. Third time should be lucky--LOL.

I LOVED this book.

Picked it up on the way to my parent's house on Sunday morning and would have read it there if I thought I could have gotten away with it. Started reading after Junior went to bed, read for a couple of hours, woke up in the middle of the night read for another hour and finally finished it before I took Junior to school this morning. We were almost late.

I blogged about vampire romance not being scary enough, this isn't really scary, but it is suspenseful and incredibly hot. I had originally passed on this book because I can't stand hero's with names like "Wrath".

This book lives up to the hype, I'm looking forward to the next one, it's out next March. I'm sure I'll be able to find something to read between now and then--LOL.

Midnight Bride and Alpha Heros

Thanks to Kristie I've finally gotten to read Susan Carroll's Midnight Bride, it the last book in the Bride Finder series and has never been released in mm paperback, how strange is that.

It was a good book, but I found myself wanting to see more of the characters from the first 2 books. I probably should have reread them before starting this one, but this one completely stands alone, which is good.

Val (the hero) is a beta hero, nothing wrong with that, but as I read this book my preference for alpha heros solidified. Val comes from a long line of sorcerers all with different types of powers, he is empathic and can heal others by absorbing their pain. When he heals the "villian" he absorbs many of the villian's "evil" tendencies (with the help of a crystal, the explanation of which may become convoluted, so I'm going to leave it at that) and Val becomes much more agressive in nature.

I prefered the agressive Val much more than the passive Val. The passive Val was willing to give up on love because the "Bride Finder" foretells he's destined not to find love. But, he's already found love and is will to walk away--can't stand that. The alpha Val wasn't about to walk away from anything, least of all the love of his life. Besides, someone needed to punch the town drunk in the nose and his brother did need to hear how selfish he was.

Now, I realize some beta heros aren't as passive as Val, and some alphas are more agressive than he becomes, but betas don't need to be door mats. Though in his own way by using his healing powers he does protect the people he loves, he is too much of a martyr--not my thing.

Give me an alpha, warts and all. Agressive, strong and protecting. And, strong enough to stand with a woman who is equally strong, definitely my thing--LOL.

The Cake Thief

Yesterday afternoon my son came upstairs with a piece of Entenmann's Chocolate Filled Crumb Cake, nicely cut, on a glass plate with a fork. Now, I didn't cut him a piece of cake and I'm the only other person in the house.

Our conversation went something like this (keep in mind he's 4):

me: Where did you get the cake?
him: I got it.
me: I can see that, but how did you get it?
him: I cut it myself.
me: You cut it yourself *holding head*, are you supposed to touch knives?
him: Mom, it's just a butter knife.
me: Where did you get the knife?
him: On the drain board.
me: Where did you get the plate?
him: Climbed up and got it off the shelf. (note he had climb above the sink to reach the shelf and then had to move a stack of bowls to actually get the plate)
me: How did you get the cake down?
him: Climbed up and got it too.
me: You should have asked me.
him: I know, but you would have said no.

I was upstairs for 3 minutes talking to my mom on the phone (I'd left the cordless up there) he knew I was distracted, the child is too much. At least he didn't make a mess. The day he tried to pour himself a glass of lemonade, he dumped the entire pitcher on the floor.

We keep the doors and windows of our house locked, can you see why?

Moaning and Groaning...

The next time I start to whine about the weather in NY someone please smack me in the head. OMG, I can suffer through a little heat, a little cold and an occasional Nor'easter without complaining.

Now on to the book whine, sorry, I promise it will be the last...

I'm trying to figure out why sometimes I love everything I'm reading and sometimes I nit pick the heck out of every book I open.

I'm currently on a nit picking binge. I'm back on track reading a book a day, but I'm not happy with anything I pick up.

Two questions:

1. Am I the only person who can't seem to get passed the first chapter of Emma Holly's The Demon's Daughter? I keep telling myself the print is too small, even with my glasses and that's why I have a headache everytime I try to read it.
2. Why do I torment myself by reading authors I know I don't like? I read a synopsis, it sound great, I love the story line, the premise, it should be great. And then the actual execution leaves me wanting to throw the book at the wall.

This is my last book whine. I started a book this morning that I know I'm going to like and will only post positive glowing blogs in the future--well, at least I'll try.--LOL.

Have a great day and happy reading.

Doing My Part

Well, my husband has often said I do my best to aid the economy on a regular basis. Of course, I did a lot more back when I worked outside of the house, but I admit, I'm no slouch.

Monday afternoon I picked up the October Romantic Times determined to do my best to avoid Regency romances (re: Wendy's last RTB blog.) Half of the historical reviews are for Regencies. If we want a more diverse selection in historical romance, we need to start buying romances set in different periods.

I picked out 9 historicals:

1. It Happened One Autumn--Lisa Kleypas (Victorian)
2. Temptress--Lisa Jackson (Medieval)
3. One Knight Stand--Jocelyn Kelley (Medieval)
4. The Trapper--Jenna Kernan (Western)
5. Come Home for Christmas--Pat Prichard (Western)
6. Kissing in the Dark--Wendy Lindstrom (1870's NYS)
7. One Little Sin--Liz Carlyle (Regency)
8. To Hot To Handle--Cheryl Holt (Regency)
9. A Singular Lady--Megan Frampton (Trad. Regency)

All things considered not bad, only 3 Regencies--Liz Carlyle is an autobuy, I've already picked up the Holt (started it today, I'll blog about it tomorrow) and of course I have to get Megan's first book.

I'm also interested in:

1. Bride Needs Groom--Wendy Markham (Contemporary)
2. Wedding Survivor--Julia London (Contemporary)
3. A Will to Love--Angie Daniels (Contemporary)
4. Through a Crimson Veil--Patti O'Shea (New Reality-paranormal)
5. Private Demons--Lynn Viehl (Paranormal)
6. Courting Midnight--Emma Holly (Historical paranormal)
7. A Capital Affair--Angela Winters (Romantic suspense)

I'll probably order most of these through my local UBS, they sell new books with a 10% discount. It's good to spread the wealth around--LOL.

Have a great night, and happy reading.

OMG, "recover post" really works, blogger dumped me out as I was posting this and it completely disappeared.

Tae Kwon Do

Our little guy started Tae Kwon Do class yesterday, and received a one on one lesson with the instructor before class started. He had a great time and I had to drag him out in tears before the next class started. He doesn't want to go to pre-school now, just karate school.

Night of Sin by Julia Ross

I actually started and finished this book yesterday after whining that I haven't been able to finish anything in days. Having said that you may think I loved this book--ah, no I didn't love it. Actually I shouldn't say I didn't like it, because for me this is almost three books, the beginning, the middle and the end. The beginning and the end are wonderful, the middle sucked.

Ms. Ross has a beautiful writing style, the plot and storyline are interesting.

The back blurb:

Years of roaming the Far East have forged Lord Jonathan Deveoran St. George into an intrepid, solitary world traveler, estranged from family and homeland. Yet the theft of a precious fossil has forced Jack unwillingly back to England. Now the thief slips the prize to an unsuspecting young woman, innocently minding her own business. Seconds later, the man is murdered--and Miss Anne Marsh becomes the unkown killer's next target.

A perilous guardian angel, Jack sweeps Anne off to his ancestral estate...all in the guise of protecting her. Safely engaged to another, she's never met anyone like Wild Lord Jack. Trapped in this handsome aristocrat's company, why not seize the chance to learn something new--about the world, about love, about wickedness...

This is a perfect description of this book. Sounds great doesn't it. And it is great up until the point they reach "his ancestral estate" which happens to be filled with his obnoxious family, a dying father, a controlling mother and judgmental brother. Oh, what a joy it is to visit these people. The first thing he lets everyone know is he knows Anne in the biblical sense, and the book goes down from here. It doesn't matter that Anne was fascinated and curious and wanted sex with him. His family basically spends what seems like 1000 pages beating him up for being a horrible seducer of women. I found myself doing mea culpas for the poor man and saying Hail Marys as I was reading, honestly I'm not kidding. And most of these confrontations in the end turn out to be part of some weird powerplay between Jack and his mother, for Jack's continued independence. No wonder he's a world traveler, who the heck wants to be around these people.

Finally, Jack and Anne get married leave "his ancestral estate" and the book picks up again has a great, but rushed ending.

The beginning of this book would get an A, the end of this book would get an A. The middle, well it gets a C because Julia Ross has a great writing style, average it out to a B. But, it could have been so much more.

Does This Count As A Book??

I have started and put down 7 books this week. I read about 50 pages and get bored. I haven't finished anything since last Sunday or Monday, Every Boy's Got One, oops actually the last book read was How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire.

I was on a great pace to read a book a day this month, so I went and pledged 25 books for the TBR challenge over on RT's Readers Roundtable. I think I shot myself in the foot by making that pledge.

Since I've read about 350 pages total from the 7 books, can I count them as a book?--LOL.

Lurking at SB

So, how many people have been lurking over at SB this week? The commentary has been incredibly interesting and who would have thought Judith McNaught would show up in the mix? I'm curious to see how many people will be rereading Whitney, My Love, I've already pulled my copy and put it back on the TBR pile.

Grandmother Guilt

The other day I was talking to my mom on the phone when I got "I miss my grandson." Now, I almost pointed out it was only about 10 days since they had been over and that she's spoken with him on the phone, but I knew better. The 'I miss my grandson' comment came in the middle of her ranting about my dad's new car, at that point they hadn't picked it up--after picking it up she loves it and want to know why she can't use it everyday.

So the next day I call and ask them to come over this Saturday. She says "I'll get back to you."

"I'll get back to you." What the heck is that about? She pours on the Grandmother Guilt and then is going to get back to me.

Well, they're coming, but not going to stay for dinner. They're too busy.

Spell Check

When the heck is blogger going to add the words blog, blogging and blogger to their damned spell check??

The Three Stooges

This morning while blog hopping I could here Junior laughing hysterically. Before I could go see what was so funny he came running into me and said "I'm watching the funniest show I've ever seen." I had to get up to see what was so funny.

The Three Stooges.

Is it something in the Y chromosome that finds this so funny?

At dinner he and Daddy were going through hand motions and noises and both were laughing like crazy. I'm left shaking my head.

Blog Fangirls...

Angie had a great post about fangirls the other day on RTB. I didn't read the post until yesterday, but one of the comments stayed with me after I finished reading all of the posts:

What about blogger fangirls?

Seems to me that’s just as real a phenomenon. There seems to be a core group of 10 or 15 people who all agree with each other on their blogs and compliment each other effusively on their insights. Anybody disagreeing with one of the core group is attacked with the same rabid (and group) intensity you ascribe to author fangirls.

Fangirls are fangirls, don’t you think.

Comment by Suze — 9/13/2005

I thought Angie's response was right on, and no I'm not being a fangirl, honest.--LOL

You are so right, Suze. I was just thinking that as I typed a response on the SB’s blog agreeing with something I did. I found myself thinking, my God, I sound like a fangirl. I’m really not, I swear, I just happened to agree.

I do believe that sometimes people find it easier to agree or be agreeable, rather than to be a lone dissenter or one of few. So it appears we have a group of fangirls, when in fact it’s just so much harder to tell an author, a blogger, or anyone that you don’t agree, you didn’t think their book was great, or that they’re not your very favorite author.

However, I do think there is a real concern surrounding fan behavior reflecting on authors. I’ve had people email me, talking about how they might want to try an author’s book, but the fan behavior was really turning them off and making them hesitate in throwing money towards an author who encouraged that type of thing. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it happens.

Comment by AngieW — 9/13/2005

Suze is right a fangirl is a fangirl, we see them everywhere, but what the heck creates one?? The need to be right all the time?

I don't know why, but for some reason blogger fangirls always surprise me. It seems like so many avoid the fangirl stereotype and blog about being anti, but they are out there and at times with a vengence.

In each fangirl group is there one strong personality that dominates other voices and leads others with like minds--to use romance reading world terms--alpha females that lead other more betas to follow their lead? Or is it simply that like minded people gravitate together, and some have bigger mouths?

Is this something the author or blogger feeds--are they the alpha? Maybe, maybe not, maybe sometimes, maybe sometimes by accident. To be honest, I don't think it's always the author or blogger that feeds this, but we've all heard stories about authors wanting their fans to come to their defense when they've received bad reviews etc.

By not dissenting are we feeding an insular situation where fangirls feel justified in ganging up on the occasional dissenter? Are we simply living by the "if we don't have anything good to say..." logic? Are we afraid of being sent up in flames? Or are we simply avoiding beating our heads against the wall, because these people can't be reasoned with? Maili comes to mind giving up lecturing on Scottish history and kilts--LOL. For me, it's a little bit of all of these things.

And as to Angie's comments about authors being hurt in the long run, I think it's possible. I know of 4 authors I don't read because 1. I wasn't impressed by their books and 2. I'm not likely to try another simply because I'm not buying into the fangirl hype.

A few questions and thoughts about fangirls.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Finally Figured It Out

I have finally figured out why I'm not completely enthralled with vampire romances.

They're not scary enough. I want leave the light on at night, what was the noise, who's at the door, am I being followed HORROR. I want heart pounding fear. What we get is a watered down version with a HEA.

Can anyone recommend really scary vampire romances? This is what I'm really looking to read.

I woke up in the middle of the night (3:20 this morning) and finished reading Kerrelyn Sparks' How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire. Now, just by the title you know this isn't going to be scary, it's quirky, it's humorous, but it's not scary--not even the battle scene between vampires.

Heck, it's not supposed to be scary, but it left me tremendously dissatisfied.

Spoiler



She (the heroine) doesn't want to be a vampire, she wants the big house, white picket fence and big dog in the front yard. And, he (the hero) is going to give it to her, along with children that he will give her by altering donor sperm by adding his DNA, he's a scientist you know. Then what 50 years from now, she's dead, the children are getting old, his grandchildren will be having children. I know too much thinking, but this bugs me.

After finishing HTMAMV, I started Emma Holly's The Demon's Daughter, hopefully in addition to being erotic it will be a little scary.

Have a great day and happy reading.

Love at First Sight...

The working title for this is really "Love At First Sight Or Maybe Sometime In The First Week Or So". This seemed a little long and convoluted, so I cut it down.

Over the weekend I finished Meg Cabot's Every Boy's Got One. It was a fun little piece of chick lit?!? fluff. I guess it's Chick Lit--it's got on of those Avon Trade purse logos, you know the one with the ... "Because every great bag deserves a great book!" Which I always find a little odd because trade size paperbacks never fit in great stylish little bags, but I'm digressing and by digressing I'm starting to feel like the heroine from this book. Ditzy.

Like Boy Meets Girl this whole book is written through emails, journal entries, PDA posts and a couple of telegrams--I still think it's cleverly done, but it may start to wear thin after awhile .

Jane and Cal have been invited to help their best friends elope to Italy. Sounds like a great trip to me, but Jane is a bubbly, happy comic strip creator and Cal is a cynical, world weary, overseas journalist. Jane is thrilled about the wedding and Cal wants his friend to run in the other direction. Somehow these two fall in love in a week. Mrs G has an incredibly accurate review of this book.

After reading this I was left scratching my head wondering if it is actually possible to fall in love this quickly. They seemed to have nothing in common, and didn't even seem to like one another through a good portion of the book, but many romance has hero and heroines at logger heads, I'm not really sure why this didn't work completely for me.

But, let's get back the title of this post. Love at first sight, the cynical part of me was thinking this doesn't really happen, and then I had to smack myself in the head. I know for a fact this happens, okay not at "first sight" but definitely first dance. My Mom and Dad met at an April Fools Church dance in Brooklyn, NY in 1962. My mom knew after one dance that my dad was going to be the father of her children--one dance, I'm always amazed by that, she was right. They got married the following February, 3 kids and 43 years later they are still happily married. Well, kind of happily married. Right now Mom is mad at Dad for buying a new car, she's retiring in 4 months and doesn't think they need two cars now, of course, she's not real happy with me right now. Instead of telling her she's completely right to be mad, I told her to sell her car after she retires and then they'll only have one car again. She didn't like having it pointed out that when we were little and only had one car she hated being house bound. We moved out of Brooklyn when I was 9 and my Dad's work schedule didn't coincide with commuter train or bus schedules, of course the woman didn't learn to drive until she was 37 and we didn't need 2 cars. Now I really feel like Jane and have completely gone off topic--LOL.

So, all of this is to say--"love at first sight or maybe sometime in the first week or so" can happen, but for some reason in this book, it didn't work for me. And, what's with the title "Every Boy's Got One"? Got one what? We never get to see Cal's, though there are a few suggestions about size.

Have a great day, and happy reading.

TBR Pile--A Dangerous Thing

In the last few months my TBR pile has grown in leaps and bounds. I used to keep about 10-15 books on hand at any given time. It now totals close to 100 which is absolutely outrageous, at least for me. I know some people have hundreds that go back for years, but I've never been this way.

I spent time this morning updating my sidebar to include books I'm planning on reading next. Oh well, more books showed up this afternoon and once again the sidebar is wrong and I'm now reading Meg Cabot's Every Boy's Got One, notice it's not on the sidebar.

A while ago I cleaned out my bookcase next to the bed and filled it with the TBR pile, those books now seem to lost in TBR Neverneverland as I don't even bother to open the doors, I just stack the new books on top and read them. LIFO seems to be inventory control method of choice.

I need to get under control and need to work on this pile. I'm heading over to RT and pledge something for this months TBR challenge, maybe I'll actually stick to the darned TBR pile.

Have a good night, happy reading.

Tara

Pet Peeves, Likes and Hates

I love blog hopping. One of the things I find most interesting are peoples pet peeves, likes and hates...

Love them or hate them secret babies, long separations and books with children get lots of attention. Secret babies isn't a favorite plot device, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I feel the same way about books with children that are amazingly bright for their ages. Long separations don't bother me as much. If it's a favorite author or a book that sounds interesting I'm not going to avoid them because these story lines.

I wish I could work up the indignation some find over book covers. So many bloggers love to talk about covers. I'm lucky I even notice what's on the cover, maybe because so often it doesn't match what's in the story. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with me, why don't I find Johanna Lindsay's Fabio covers so offensive I need to rant about them?

I have friends who prefer brunette heros or Latino heros or blond heros. I'm lucky I notice what the hero and heroine look like. Unless the hair and eye colors change from page to page, I'm not likely to even care what they look like. Though, I would probably notice if the hero was fat with a comb over.

A couple of weeks ago I mini ranted about heroine who was a "vegan virgin who had never been kissed." I actually don't have a problem with a "vegan virgins who have never been kissed," I had a problem with this particular heroine, but there are some readers who prefer virgins and others prefer experienced heroines. Neither bother me one way or another, as long as it seems realistic to the story line and plot, I don't care about experience.

I've never understood the need to have sexually repressed widow heroines. Is there some unwritten law that says a widow in a historical has to have been married to a cheating dog, an up tight puritan, an abusive impotent idiot or a closeted homosexual? Why can't these heroines have happy marriages with good sex lives? Is it the need to have the hero awaken their sexuality? Hey, I guess this qualifies as a pet peeve, but it's still not going to keep me from reading a book that sounds interesting.

I really don't have very many pet peeves. There is really only one plot device I avoid--the dreaded "amnesia" story. For some reason these NEVER work for me, even when favorite authors use it. I've never met anyone who has suffered from amnesia, I'm sure that it happens, but it never seems realistic. Why this should be important I'm not sure, how realistic are most romance novels?

Since I have completely sworn off amnesia stories, there are really only 2 things that are going to kill a book for me:

1. A TSTL heroine, we all know who she is and why she's really annoying.
2. Bad or unrealistic dialogue will take me out of a book faster than even a TSTL heroine. I'm always amazed when an author creates a hero that sounds like my best girlfriend. I don't have a problem with men showing a soft side, but I can't see men talking to other men the same way women talk to other women.

One more mini pet peeve, really a minor irritations, villains. I hate when "Mother/Mom" is the villain. I know there are plenty of lousy moms out in the world, but for me mom is one of the good guys.

I used to be much more obsessive about things, in the past I would compare the cover art to the character descriptions, I needed the history to be accurate, why include it if it's not correct, I'd prefer it to be correct, but it wont kill me if it's not. Dialogue needed to fit the time setting (I still like it to fit the period, I probably should add this to "bad or unrealistic dialogue.")

But, I've decided, for me, this is all window dressing. Several months ago I broke out of my comfort zones and by doing that I stopped obsessing about these things. All I want is a good book, it doesn't matter what's on the cover, or what's driving the plot (except for the aforementioned amnesia thing). As long as it's well written and I believe in the HEA, I'm happy.

Have a great day and happy reading.

One more thing, I just finished Susan Spencer Paul's Touch of Night, it's a historical paranormal and it has a very similar tone to Susan Carroll's Bride Finder books. Maybe I'll blog about it later or tomorrow.

Reading = Escape

We didn't do anything exciting this weekend. No family barbecues, no going away, no train rides, just us and the news coverage of Katrina.

I used reading as an escape this weekend. Between Friday and Monday nights, I finished 4 books and started a 5th.

1. Houston, We Have A Problem by Erin McCarthy, a fun sexy book. Sexy being the driving force of the book, but it had a good story line and it moved along well.
2. A Lady's Guide to Rakes by Kathryn Caskie, another regency historical in a long line of regency historicals, a good book, not great and not bad, just good.
3. Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson, secret baby story, but it was good, but I love stories with a back drop of sports, and I love hockey.
4. See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson, another hockey story, so I liked this one too.
5. A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu, I'm about half way through this book. It's great, better than the first in the series (Crimson City by Liz Maverick) and much better than Liu's first book Tiger Eye.

I'm really enjoying A Taste of Crimson. The world building is pretty much finished in the first book, but we get to see more of the werewolf world below ground. Crimson City had a vampire heroine and a human hero. This one has a great twist a werewolf heroine and a vampire hero, it's made more interesting by the class distinctions and hatred between the two societies.

Got to go lots to do today.

Have a great day and happy reading.

A Quickie

This morning I was running late and was getting out of the shower while my husband got Junior dressed for church. We were so late I didn't have time to redress the child. So he went to church in blue jeans with a hole in the knee, Wiggles sandals and a Notre Dame Basketball tee shirt with the sleeves cut off. He dresses better for the playground--LOL.

Next week I'm laying out the clothing the Saturday night.

Have a good one.

Tara

UBS Not B&N

Well, I didn't get to B&N, decided to wait until the weekend, so I'll pick up A Taste of Crimson in a couple of days.

But, I did get to the UBS. Traded in somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 books and have probably another 700 books going to various local charity organizations.

I can't get out of the UBS without buying something and picked up:

• Hot & Bothered by Susan Anderson
• Someone Irresistible by Adele Ashworth
• A Ladies Guide to Rakes by Kathryn Caskie
• Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson
• See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
• Houston, We Have a Problem by Erin McCarthy

I'm trying to do some light reading, so I looked for light, fluff romances.

While surfing today I discovered a blog template that I liked, but I'm a little leary about copying it over here, I'm not really sure about what I'm doing. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sometime this weekend, I'll try it.

Heading to B&N Tomorrow...

I promised my husband I'd be frugal and watch my errand running, saving gas you know, but I'm heading to B&N tomorrow (I wont run the AC maybe that will save some gas--$3.49 a gallon locally.)

I just found Mrs G's review of A Taste of Crimson. I only read the first paragraph, but it was enough to catch my attention, without giving anything about the story away.

Reading Blahs

With Katrina dominating our news for the last few days, I find myself doing very little reading, and to be honest nothing seems very appealing.

Over the weekend I reread Liz Carlyle's The Devil You Know, Monday I started and skimmed Lyon's Gate by Catherine Coulter and started reading Theresa Weir's Bad Karma Tuesday.

Liz Carlyle is a favorite and I always enjoy rereading her books, but Bad Karma just seems too sad to read right now, and I've probably reached the point where I'm done reading Catherine Coulter completely. Her newer historicals seem disjointed and the dialogue is either too witty or somehow disconnected.

Nothing is holding my attention, I think I need something funny, and uplifting and I'm not finding anything interesting on my TBR.