I'm A Slacker

Confessional- I skipped both of the events tonight & rushed home after piano lessons. Not only that, I haven't made the cupcakes. I've been a baaaaaaaddddddd, baaaaaaaddddddddd girl.

My mom is coming tomorrow. Apparently, Daughter invited her, but either a) forgot to tell me or b) told me & I forgot. Probaby b.

What else? I can't remember. Oh yes- Son #1 & I did four miles worth of interval training this morning. I'm tired. Monday's covers on Smartbitches weekly cover snark inspired me to at least briefly stare at my TBR this morning.

Oh yes- LOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEEE watching those yummy soccer players race up & down the pitch. The games so far have been wonderful. I must say Posh Spice's husband, David Beckham, is exceptionally cute (I'm late to the party I know) as long as he doesn't actually speak out loud.
Spice Girls, Posh Spice, David Beckham, Family Life

Slumping again?

Or simply too busy/tired to read? I'm unsure at the moment. Husband says the new exercise routine is tiring me more than I give it credit. I'm not sure I agree, since I've been overwhelmingly tempted to take my entire romance TBR to the library for their sales. Any takers?Uh..sorta kidding. Not quite ready to dump it all yet, but ...

Schedule update- no rest for the overscheduled, at least for the next few days. Tomorrow- piano at 5:30, church event 6:15; another meeting 7:15. Friday- bake 4 dozen cupcakes, frost, etc. for nephew's baptism Sun.; Daughter's 8th grade bridging ceremony; last day of school. Saturday- clean up day at the local national park a.m.; drive to parents' house pm; help set up nephew's reception at church that evening. Sunday-church, baptism & reception; visit in laws; drive home.

Don't forget the exercise routine. Try to figure out where in my parents' neighborhood we could walk safely. Figure out how to gracefully extricate ourselves from in laws after a reasonable but not interminable visit.

Monday- Collapse. After my walk. Did I tell you I plan to make the kids walk with me?
Exercise, Family Life

Blogthings fun

You Are 43% American

America: You don't love it or want to leave it. But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over. On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead... And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

How American Are You?

Changes @ Bookwormom Central

I've started (maybe resumed is more accurate) a morning exercise routine in the last few weeks. Initially I would post here first & do all my chores & running around & exercise was pushed farther & farther back on the to do list. It got to the point where I wasn't leaving the house to exercise until after 9:30-10 pm.

In order to make exercise a priority in my schedule, I've decided to start posting at night & exercise in the morning during what had been my posting & surfing time. Of course, it took me several days of falling asleep on the couch at odd times to figure out that my evolution into a nocturnal schedule wouldn't work.

I haven't been reading. I'm behind on my surfing. I'm behind with blogging. On the other hand, I walked 10 miles last week & 7.3 miles so far this week. Husband went shopping for me & bought me cute exercsie clothes.
Exercise, Blogging, Lifestyle Makeover

Mother's Work

Is never done. Really. The family calendar this weekend is crammed to the last minute with events. A woman may even be forced to skip her beloved afternoon siesta! It's a crime, I tell you.

Daughter's Sunday school class is ramping up for their pilgrimage next summer. Opening event- ginormous rummage sale today. The fun & exciting program opens Thursday afternoon with the inital table set up & sorting of the mountain of crap- I mean treasures. Thursday we were there for just over three hours. Another hour or more Friday night.

Today the older kids are volunteering at Faux House all day (see Thursday's post). Which entails a forty five minute drive one way. Son #2, Husband & I worked the actual sale at church from about 10am to 2pm. At the end of which time, I discover our trunk full of goodies. A 10 gallon fishtank. An empty computer tower housing (don't ask, steam is still coming out of my ears on that purchase). A few more books because Husband says his goal is to sink the house into the ground due to book hoarding. A few really nice clothing purchases- camel suede leather suit coat from Gucci, a Givenchy leather purse among other items. We left before the real fun began- carting the leftovers to Goodwill.

Husband is off to fetch the older kids from Faux House. Dinner has yet to be cooked. Tomorrow is church, then the annual parish picnic. After that I get to supervise the usual weekend chores- laundry, changing sheets, vaccuuming bedrooms. I was going to say homework, but at this stage I figure it's the end of the year. No more homework.

Meantime we're DVR'ing whichever World Cup matches are on, which isn't nearly enough to please the Husband. I guess I ought not complain- at least it's a quiet activity with no driving involved. The third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, are on this afternoon; also DVR'd for later viewing pleasure. I doubt I've enough brain cells still awake enough to read.

Thursday 13 #13- DC Events

13 free & nearly free events in Washington DC held this summer. I hunted for things that will be held over at least a couple of days, some events stretch over the summer & into the fall.

1.19th & 20th Century American Photography

2.Renaissance of Venetian Painting

3.Botanical Treasures of Lewis & Clark, celebrating the 200th anniv. of Lewis & Clark

4. Environmentally friendly home contstruction & decorating

5. National Zoo, baby tigers, pandas & sloths (free timed tix rec. to see pandas)

6.Folklife Festival, featuring: Alberta CA, native basketry, New Orleans jazz & nuestra musica (latino music)

7.List of free parades & concerts over the summer

8.Free movies on the Mall during the summer

9.Comprehensive list of other free events compiled by National Geographic

10.Summer Restaurant Week dates TBD, but worth waiting for. Prix fixe lunch & dinner meals at the best tables in the city. List also details other US cities.

11.National Academy of Science museum. Only charge $5 per adult, $3 per student. Recommend over 13 only.

12.Smithsonian Jazz Cafe live jazz, food & beverages Friday nights. $10 cover, kids welcome. Discount if you went to see an IMAX at the museum & have your stub.

13.Museum & gallery cheat sheet 'insider info' to help you figure out where to go & when.

List your TT in the comments & I'll link to you here. Click link above to see other participants.


Washington DC Tourism, Thursday 13, Thursday Thirteen, Washington DC

Faux House

I am putting up free advertising for Faux House (click link above for explanation) in Arlington VA. Son #1 & Daughter will be volunteering at the House this Saturday all day- stop by & tell them hi if you can. The photos in the gallery are amazing, let me tell you.

Their primary goal is to eventually publish a photobook of the house & the techniques used to decorate the House. However- proceeds from events & sales related to the House will go to Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans to help buy a house.

There are also events in the Chicago area, if you live out there. The rectory at Church of the Atonement has had some work done. See bottom of gallery page for photos.
Faux Finish, Decorative Painting, Faux House, Habitat for Humanity, volunteering

Compassionate laundry

It's old home week, here at Bookwormom Central. Sunday night Husband helps me with the laundry by sorting two weeks worth of linens, our laundry & daughter's laundry- all over the kitchen floor. I'm grateful, I think. Except that the kitchen is a galley type with very little room. Yesterday I think I washed & folded eight loads of linens alone. Yes, yes, I realize it's partly my fault for skipping the linens last week.

On top of the laundry, yesterday noonish, the school nurse calls. Son #2 is in her office. Drive over & pick him up. He comes home, gets into his pjs & climbs into Daughter's bed (her room is cooler) & falls asleep. This child is 10 years old & never stops talking. I decided that he really must be sick after all. Why Daughter's bed? He sleeps in a loft & I reminded him that if he needs help I can't get up there. Thus- Daughter's bed.

After Son #1 comes home, I run out for errands & the Daughter. Who was reasonably gracious about sharing her bed. To ease the pain I buy her a new clay masque & face wash. Stopping by her room I pop the thermometer in & go get him an insulated cup of water. Return & discover his temperature is 103 & climbing. Wow. He's really sick after all.

Then I feel a little guilty. Why? Well- I'm not overly sympathetic or compassionate. Husband teases me that I've the bedside manner of a dr. That is to say- no bedside manner to speak of. I tell him it's a good thing the kids have HIM to make up for my shortcomings.

After all that- it's time to cook dinner. Where in the hell is the maid? Who fired her before she could finish the laundry & cook dinner?! Darnitall! Good help is so hard to find. Once dinner & laundry were done I realized I'd not taken my daily constitutional. Husband was home by then so I dragged him with me. We ended up walking about 2.3 miles (1/2 up a long steep hill), being attacked by a teacup poodle.

Today I'm tired. Son #2 is home, fever still raging. Possible strep throat caught from Son #1 who had it last week. I made beans in the crockpot & bought Son#2 some juice. He's watching ancient movies on tv (the original Poseidon Adventure & Curse of the Pink Panther).
Parenting, Family Life

My Heart Stood Still; L. Kurland

As usual, a well done time travel by Lynn Kurland first published in 2001 by Berkeley. I enjoy her books, but for me the historicals have been the keepers. Somehow the contemporaries haven't had quite the emotional depth.

The hero is your typical type A, adrenaline junkie, ghost seeing, psychic multimillionaire who *gasp, surprise* is full of ennui. One day, after spilling eggs all over the floor at his seaside estate in Maine, he decides to refurbish a castle he bought in Scotland.

The heroine is a ghost who was murdered at age 24 after being sold off to heathan Englishman. She has haunted the hero's derelict castle for over 600 years & isn't particularly interested in allowing the renovation of 'her' castle. Slowly the two reach a detente.

Eventually relations thaw to a point where the hero travels to a point in time just before the heroine is killed & he brings her forward. From there they have to rebuild their relationship from scratch. This point was important to me. Kurland did not take liberties with time & memory. Because the heroine was brought forward alive, she doesn't have memories of the hero or their relationship because it happened while she was a ghost. Kurland does not skimp on this point & that renewed my respect for her work.
Romance Novel, Time Travel Romance, Romance Review

Driver's Ed

Follow up to last week's Thursday 13. Go HERE & take the test. NO CHEATING. Compare your results HERE with the rest of your state. How well did you score? Did you pass in the first place? LOL Post your score & the state where you live- if you dare!

I took the quiz & scored 75%, which according to the GMAC page is a passing grade. I fell off my chair in shock, I swear. The ironic thing about it all is- I took driver's ed in Massachusetts- which is tied with NJ for 48th worst, I currently reside in metro DC which ranked dead last. My driver's ed instructor was a Massachusetts State Police officer, though, so maybe that made a difference.

Happy weekend all!
Driver's Ed, Driver's Test, Road Rage

May Synopsis

May was a surprisingly productive month, now that I look back on it. I felt bogged down & dithered around much of the time , but in actuality I glommed several books into a few days & then slumped a few days & repeated the cycle.

Fantasy
1. Sebastian by Anne Bishop
2-4. The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
5. Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop

Romances; Trad. Regencies & Paranormals

6. Sorcery & Cecelia by Wrede & Stevermer
7. Bewitching by Jill Barnett
8. One Good Turn by Carla Kelly
9. Miss Timothy Perseveres by Emily Hendrickson
10-11. A Proper Marriage & Devall's Angel by Debbie Raleigh & Allison Lane respectively
12. Kiss of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
13-14. Night Play & Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Thursday 13 #12- Summertime

Summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime! My favorite 13 summertime activities (not including hiding in the AC). Click link above for more participants, leave a link in the comments & I'll list you.

1. Tourist watching on the Mall

2. Watching late evening tennis- Kids against Husband

3. Late night walks

4. Haunting the Smithsonian museums

5. Kids visiting G'ma & G'pa & 'the folks'

6. Free concerts & movies on the Mall

7. Beaches

8. Laughing at the tourons stuck on I 95

9. Gardening

10. National Zoo-ing

11. Picnics

12. Pick your own berries

13. Getting to sleep in!

Doug at Balls & Walnuts has his 13 up. Cin from Vancouver BC has a list up too.

Thursday 13, Thursday Thirteen

Rummage Books

Daughter's Sunday school class is hosting a huge rummage sale in two weeks. Husband & I have been collecting odds & ends from around the house to donate. Unknown to me, he'd also mentioned the sale at work & collected quite a few things from his coworkers. One of which was a box of books!

I was so excited. You'd've thought Santa'd come early. LOL Unfortunately for me, the books were sci fi & thrillers by authors I don't read. Else they were half of a series. Never the first half, usually the middle or the end & mostly of series that seem to have no final chapter in sight. *Boo Hoo* I did salvage a like new mass market copy of Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. I'd read the series in hardcover & loved it.

Other book news

I bought a copy of The City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan. Penguin has a beautiful little group of paperbacks of literary & philosphical masterpieces. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is another one. The series is called Great Ideas. I plan to buy several more.

I also bought a copy of Much Ado in the Moonlight by Lynn Kurland.
Books, Romance Novels, Family Events

2 More Kenyons

I'm desperately trying to read down my TBR. Somehow I find Kenyon's work compelling & easy enough to read that I can glom three or four in a row. So far they haven't been keepers. Yet I enjoy the fact that there are recurring characters & readers get glimpses of them in subsequent books.

Night Play

You have your shapeshifter male with a huge Greek name who falls in lust with a zaftig Irish American woman who has just been dumped by her sucky tv personality boyfriend. You have your cast: the totally insane MIL, the almost but not quite trustworthy BIL, the zombified BIL, the Peltiers & their great bar Sanctuary, &, as always, Ash. So as long as you can totally suspend reality- you're in for a great read.

Seize the Night

Of all the Kenyons' I've read this one is my favorite because the hero, Valerius, is emotionally tortured. Valerius, half brother to Zarek (who has his own book, Dance with the Devil). Valerius has walled himself off because a)of his family history & b) most of the other Dark Hunters hate him due to (A). Tabitha, the local 'crazy lady' vampire huntress, empath & secret soft hearted do gooder accidentally stabs him during a fight. One thing leads to another & eventually, Tabitha gets Valerius to loosen up & let go & Valerius teaches Tabitha that not everyone thinks she's "only" the crazy lady.
Paranormal Romance, Romance Review

Memorial Day Concert

Late yesterday afternoon we took Metro up to DC to watch the Memorial Day Concert from the lawn of the Capitol building. It was a beautiful night, cool & breezy, lavender tinted sunset right behind the huge tree beside the stage. Clear view down the Mall to the & glimpses of Arlington in the distance. Note, the view in this photo is exactly what we saw.

We'd packed all the fixins for chicken fajitas, plus a few snacks. A few years ago I bought a picnic backpack from LL Bean. It was the best buy- we use it all the time in the summer. Sidenote- having older kids is great. They're used to carrying backpacks all of the time so I have one of the older ones carry it. Back to the main event. The Capitol Area Scouts were giving out bottles of water. Not that it was overly hot (lower 80's) but there isn't any shade on that lawn.

We had a great time. Love to be outdoors at night.
Family Events, Washington DC

Locked In

It's finally air conditioner season here in metro DC. Until very recently- read a couple of days ago, it hadn't been hot/humid enough to put the extra air conditioner in the window. See, the problem is we live in an older (50+ years) building that has cheap single pane windows & a tiny AC unit.Together this means that it's colder inside in winter & hotter in summer than the resident (ie: my family) might like it. Dollar bills float through the windows at alarming speed.

So we bought a small window unit that helps take the load off of the main one. & surprisingly, our energy bills dropped signifigantly beginning that summer. The landlord has added small decks to some of the units (our complex has quite a few duplexes) rather than invest in substantial renovations like better quality windows or more powerful AC units. But I digress.

This morning Husband & Sons wrestled the little unit into the window & added the weatherstripping etc. I am officially locked into the house for the duration of AC season. *WAAAH* I like to be able to open doors & windows for fresh air. It gets stale in here- especially with three males around.

The only side benefit to the sweltering weather is that my hands & feet aren't ice cold all the time. The bad thing- I often 'feel hot' & don't want to be touched, hugged, etc. during the summer 'cuz everyone is radiating heat. It's yucky hugging someone you can fry an egg on. Husband hates summer for this reason & related ones..LOL.

Hope your house is cooler than mine!
Family Life, Summer Weather

Kiss of the Night; S.Kenyon

A long time ago I started stocking up on S. Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. I didn't read them, I just bought them. I have quite a little collection going now. Slowly I've read them usually several at a time. Today I had to take Son #1 to the dr. Last time I had to take one of them to the dr on a Friday I was there for over 2 hours. Today I grabbed this title on the way out the door & read a good bit of it. Between the dr & the lab I'd plenty of reading time.

You have your basic immortal Viking & your human hybrid girl. Normally archenemies, they're thrown together by feuding, manipulative Immortals. Lust paves the way though. Both of them being victims of external plotting, they now have common ground. That & the fact that the girl is pregnant with his child. In the end, it's all good of course.

You know. I had a lot of problems with the plot & with the characters, yet somehow it kept me curious & flipping pages. I wanted to know how they got to their HEA. I enjoyed seeing other Dark Hunters from previous titles. Not a keeper & yet a good adventure yarn. Kenyon is an autobuy for me despite the fact that I've yet to have a keeper title from her. Go figure.
Romance Review, Books

Thursday 13 #11- Road Rage

Driving pet peeves. I live in the DC 'burbs & driving here is pretty bad, although not as bad as the top 5 on this list I do not claim to be a 'perfect driver.' I am human & I lose my temper- HOWEVER- I did learn to drive in Boston. Which is city #5.

Leave a link to your Thursday 13 in the comments & I'll link to your blog. Click link above to see more TT participants.

1. Not using turn signals. I don't necessarily care if you pass me on the right, cut me off etc, but I do want to know where you're going.

2. Weaving in & out of heavy traffic at high speed. You're going to kill yourself & a few others as well.

3. Tourons (hybrid word consisting of tourist & moron & is therefore self explanatory) who decide they want that exit right there & veer over 4 lanes of traffic at 80 mph to get there.

4. Stopping in the middle of a merge lane because you're scared, intimidated, etc. If driving bothers you that much than don't put the rest of us in danger with your stupidity.

5. Not turning right on red when you're allowed to, even though there's no oncoming traffic.

6. Pulling out in front of me when there's less than 3 car lengths between us & no one behind me.

7.Driving down the emergency lane unless you're a cop or EMS.

8.Backing up in lanes, on ramps or on the highway. Are you crazy?! Go up one more & turn around!

9.Blocking traffic lanes for a fender bender. Pull over onto the shoulder. Jeez. It's just a car.

10.Blocking an intersection

11.Driving less than the posted speed on the highway. You're gonna get run over. For your own safety, if 55 mph & up is scary to you- drive on the secondaries.

12.Cell phone drivers. Note, this all the way down at 12. I've seen both really scary & surprisingly good driving while people are on the phone. It depends on the driver. Spend the extra $$ & use handsfree technology. Better yet- pull over or get in the slow lane.

13.Tailgating at high speed

Edited-Doug has his Thursday 13 up, as does Fiona

Thursday 13, Thursday Thirteen, Road Rage

2 Trad. Regencies

A Proper Marriage

Written by Debbie Raleigh & pubbed by Zebra in 2002. A classic case of opposites attract & then don't know how to get along. Enter Vicar Humbly, who married them, a drop in houseguest who pokes prods & asks gentle questions thus assisting the union of two truly happy hearts. Excellent portrayal of pastoral care & counselling, the terror of in laws & the need to loved as you are.

Devall's Angel

Written by Allison Lane & pubbed by Signet in 1998. A young woman has only one Season to find herself a husband because her brother's marriage is imminent & she refuses to live with their mother in the dower house. Does she marry the man the Ton deems the catch of the Season? Or the man everyone has condemned yet who seems to be around whenever she needs rescuing? Surprisingly deep characterization for a short format Regency.

Both are keepers.
Books, Romance Review

Miscellaneous

There's a great SmartBitch Day rant about American history in romances at JMC's. Very, very funny if only because it's so pathetically true.

Also, New York Times printed a list of the top American fiction of the last 25 years. Any opinions on the list? Love some? Hate some? Confused by some? Sense any literary snobbishness happening?

Winner

Beloved;Toni Morrison

Runners Up

Underworld; Don DeLillo
Blood Meridian; Cormac McCarthy
Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels; John Updike
American Pastoral; Philip Roth

Received Mutiple Mentions

A Confederacy of Dunces; John Kennedy Toole
Housekeeping; Marilynne Robinson
Winter's Tale; Mark Helprin
White Noise; Don DeLillo
The Counterlife; Philip Roth
Libra; Don DeLillo
Where I'm Calling From; Raymond Carver
The Things They Carried; Tim O'Brien
Mating; Norman Rush
Jesus' Son; Denis Johnson
Operation Shylock; Philip Roth
Independence Day; Richard Ford
Sabbath's Theater; Philip Roth
Border Trilogy; Cormac McCarthy
The Human Stain; Philip Roth
The Known World; Edward P. Jones
The Plot Against America; Philip Roth

books, NYT top 25,

Maili's Meme

Please click the link above to Maili's webpage to to get links to the other four participants & see the questions she answered. If you'd like to play along, leave a link to your blog in the comments here & I'll think up questions for you tonight.

1. Name a film you’d watch every week for a year, and your reasons for choosing this film.

Hmm. I can think of a few movies I'd agree to watch that often, actually. The first one to come to mind is the LOTR series, mainly because it's visually stunning (scenery & actors) & has enough 'going on' that it could be fresh each time. Other choices would be Casablanca because I'm a sucker for tearjerkers. Amelie & Chocolat because they're cute & happy & sensual.

2. What were your favorite subjects in school and why?

History & English. History because I was born an armchair traveler & I love to learn about people & places long ago & far away (to paraphrase another movie). English literature, not grammar! Much of my childhood reading was centered around children's classics & the literary giants (thanks to my grandfather's tutelage). I fell in love with words & language very young & I find books have helped tide me over many of the difficult periods in my life.

3.What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

Ah. Hm. Leave them alone? Rant to the heavens that they are each endangered because of man's lack of appropriate stewardship on our little blue planet? Kill them both since they're unlikely to survive the lack of genetic diversity necessary to continue their species?

4. Barring being a mother, describe your greatest joy during your lifetime.

I will add the additional bar of being a wife, since I don't feel that either motherhood or wifehood defines the sum total of who I am.

I'd say the last visit I made to my childhood village was my greatest joy. I'd not returned to the area, other than flying visits for funerals, since I was a young teen. Both my father & my husband were military personnel & we moved often, but I always felt a very strong sense of place & belonging to my small village. I returned a few years ago with my husband & went hiking & took long walks & went to the last country fair of the fall. It sounds corny I know, but a part of my soul sighed in contentment & happiness & said, "You belong here. You will carry me in your heart forever."

5.If there was a time machine, which time period would you visit and why?

I think I'd probably go back to golden age of the Roman Empire. I'd love to see the Coliseum & the Forum in their glory. The US is often described as 'the evil empire' & I'd enjoy comparing & contrasting the two.

Miss Timothy Perseveres; E. Hendrickson

Much of this is standard romance scripting and yet it worked. Orphaned young woman used as an upper servant & companion, named Persys Timothy, is summarily kicked out of her aunt's home when her cousin gets married. Fortune smiles on Persys the day after the wedding when the Duke of Eddington hires her to be a companion to his invalided mother.

Although immediately attracted to her, Eddington realizes Persys needs time & space. His mother is an astute & friendly woman who isn't above scheming ( alot!) to bring Persys & Eddington together. Throw in Eddington's scheming cousins, Charlotte & George, Persys' attempt to start a school for girls & Eddington's reticence & you've a touching comedy of errors & manners.

I enjoy Ms. Hendrickson's work as it rarely fails to make me smile.
Roamnce Review

One GoodTurn; Carla Kelly

Color me slow. Carla Kelly has quite a following among traditional Regency fans. Yet somehow I'd not found her. Finally I found one at my one & only UBS. Scooped it up & brought it home. Then it got buried in my TBR. For a very long time. Yesterday, however, the Romance Goddess smiled upon me & said, "Go forth to thy TBR, pull out Ms. Kelly's book & READ it. Today. I demand it."

And all I can say is, wow. This book really worked for me. The heroine, Liria, is a Spanish woman traveling with her young son, Juan, a few years after the War. The mail coach overturns & she sets out in a driving downpour carrying her son & her luggage making for the next inn. Along comes the Duke of Knaresborough, Benedict Nesbitt. Traveling to his seat with his niece & his butler, Knaresborough stops to pick Liria & Juan up, although only after his butler prods him. From there, chicken pox, unexpected guests & fate step in.

Liria's character is revealed mainly through Knareborough's thoughts & observations as opposed to her own actions. She appears to be all that womanhood ought to be- loving, maternal toward her son, organized, a good nurse. Attractive, although not in the classic English mold. If I may say so (speaking from personal experience), Kelly did an excellent job writing a character who had all of the traits of an excellent military wife.

Knaresborough is not revealed in the best light- in love with a married woman he can't have, a recovering alcoholic, obsessed with Liria's supposed status as a 'fallen woman' yet is also a man who eats with his staff belowstairs. Even so, his love for his niece & Juan clearly comes across, his (eventual) concern for his men upon their return to civilian life all speak of a man returning to life after the horrors of a vicious war.

Knaresborough & Liria must reach across the bounds of culture, personal history, class & the long term effects of war to make their dreams come true. Liria's history becomes Knaresborough's obsession. Will she, can she, tolerate his digging into her past? Can each individual grow enough to allow love to flower between them? Can the horrors of war be healed?
Romance Review, Books

Thursday 13 #10- Keeper Authors M-Z

Finishing last weeks's theme, this week rounds out the alphabet M-Z on my romance keeper shelves. I've only listed authors who have two or more titles on my shelves.

1. Amanda McCabe

2. Judith McNaught

3. Nadine Miller

4. Karen Ranney

5. Marylyle Rogers

6. Anne Stuart

7. J.R. Ward

Obviously I've six more to go so I've decided to list authors in my TBR who have two or more titles on the shelves.

8. Rexanne Becnel

9. Jo Beverley

10. Marsha Canham

11. Loretta Chase

12. Claire Delacroix

13. Christina Dodd

Click on the link above to see a list of other Thursday 13 participants. If you leave a link in the comments I'll link to you here~

The ever efficient Doug at Balls & Walnuts has his 13 up. Fickle Fiona has hers up too!

Sidebar Addition

Please stop by Fickle Fiona's & say hello.

Sidebar Additions

I've added three more people to my sidebar, please stop by their blogs & say hello. Cranky and Evil Auntie Peril I found via Smart Bitches. Marg I've seen at Maili's & Avid Reader's (Keishon).

Great Book Covers

In Spain, that is. Squawkradio has a beautiful selection of book covers done up by Spanish publishers. I like many of them much more than ones I've seen here. Why must we suffer with such horrid covers? Obviously someone somewhere can compose nice covers! Just not here in the U.S. I think.

Which Squawkradio covers do you like & which are meh? My favorites are Lisa Kleypas' covers. Also the Christina Dodd cover on the very bottom. Medeiros' real estate covers are pretty too, but I always think they're (real estate covers, that is) a 'safe' choice. Maili has a beautiful first cover up on her blog.
Books, Book Covers

Pillars of the World; Anne Bishop

Remember a few days ago when I discovered I'd started Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn series third book first? Well, I finished the first one Saturday (The Pillars of the World) .

I enjoyed it after a while, but I discovered that the impressions I already had were very hard to set aside. It only goes to show how hard it is to overcome first impressions! Truly, first impressions are crucial. I also discovered that Bishop's villains are equally horrifying in this series as her other series (The Black Jewels Trilogy).

I enjoyed the background details offered, but so far my impression is that these aren't strung quite so tightly together. The characters are just as compelling, especially the pair who are in a position of responsibility to the wider community, but who allow their own frailties & foibles to lead them (& many others) down the road to hell. You know that road- the one paved with good intentions.
Fantasy Review, Books

Bewitching; Jill Barnett

Just a quick skim through for this one. None of it was truly appealing and yet I couldn't put it down. Compelling enough to skim through, but lacking enough oomph to cause me to read every single word.

Alec Castlemaine, the hero, emotionally abused & neglected through his childhood, has retreated into a cold & calculating shell. Joyous MacQuarrie, an inept white witch from the wilds of Scotland, becomes a wife of convenience through Alec's one impulsive act.

Things go downhill from there. Alec is overbearing, controlling & emotionally walled off from his wife. Joy, whom Alec calls 'Scottish' through the book, has no backbone whatsoever & tries whatever she can to attract/appease him without results.

There were several things I disliked about Bewitched. One- Alec cannot be bothered to call Joy by her given name or by her title. Two- she does not seem to have a backbone at all & accepts whatever crumbs he casts her way. Three- They finally come together through outside intervention, not their own efforts.

The positives- Alec's best buddies take Joy under their wings & help her as much as they can. Alec tries to protect Joy from the 'gossipy old biddies' of the Ton whenever he can. Alec & Joy both love, nurture & protect Stephan as much as they can, despite their estrangements.

So- enough to keep me occupied me for a couple of hours, but just barely.
Romance Review, Books

Reading Update

Wednesday Husband & I ran around doing this that & the other. Luckily, I'd brought The Pillars of the World with me to tide me over a long wait. The down side, I left the book under the seat of his car & didn't find it until just now. Meantime, I'd hunted high & low for it.

Thursday I gave up & started The Changeling, which is a reread & therefore doesn't count toward my annual book total. Changeling is another young adult fantasy. Light in tone, yet sounds & feels like a folk tale or legend.

Young serving girl in a fishing village becomes infuriated with the sea that took her fisherman father & won't return him. Peri determines to hex the sea, hoping it will return her father. The King's son, Prince Kir, discovers her plot & helps her having a hidden motive of his own. Who succeeds & who fails & how even the smallest actions can make large ripples round out this little tale. Well worth a quick afternoon read.

Book Review, Fantasy Novels

Sorcery & Cecelia; Wrede & Stevermer

What a treasure! A gothic, paranormal traditional Regency wrapped up in a young adult package. According to the copyright page, it was originally published in 1988 by Wrede (author of the series Dealing with Dragons). Stevermer has published a book called River Rats. In the authors' notes at the end, it seems it began as a type of creative writing exchange). Which by the end of the summer they realized might become a book.

Told in first person as a letter exchange between two cousins. Each girl's voice is unique & easily identifiable as her own. The period details are all there & I found this story to be very close to the tone & feel of a well done traditional Regency (Alison Lane & Judith Lansdowne come to mind) as opposed to a young adult paranormal.

Cecelia is mired in the country with her family while her cousin Kate is bundled off to London for her first season. They stumble into an odd little conundrum entirely by accident. Things develop from there. Quite well, as a point of opinion. Lady Jersey & the Countess Lieven both make appearances. I have to say though, Lady Jersey is less favorably portrayed than is common, while Almack's is descibed in altogether a rosy fashion. Which I supppose is only to be expected as Kate is from the country & does not pretend to have 'town bronze' as it is usually described.

The next book in the series is The Grand Tour already available. Another, The Mislaid Magician comes in November of this year. The back cover is sufficiently enchanting that even Daughter, the 14 year old anime fanatic, is intrigued.

Thursday 13 #9- Keeper Shelf Authors

Authors A-L whom I have two or more titles, on my romance keeper shelves, in alphabetical order:

1. Shana Abe

2. Mary Balogh

3. Jill Barnett

4. Jo Beverley

5. Christine Feehan

6. Gaelen Foley

7. Sandra Heath

8. Michele Jaffe

9. Lisa Kleypas

10. Lynn Kurland

11. Allison Lane

12. Judith Lansdowne

13. Elizabeth Lowell

None of the Laurens titles are Cynster series. The Lowell titles are very old historicals.

Hope you liked a little peek at my reading life!
*Edited to add- Balls & Walnuts has his 13 up!

Thursday Thirteen, Thursday 13, Romance Novels, Books

Do Over

Yesterday I said I'd started on the third book in Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn trilogy. This morning I started the first one. I hope filling in the backstory goes quickly, I want to return to the third book ASAP. I'm not as patient as I pretend to be!

Very interesting discussion over at Avid Reader's about Tearjerkers. Everyone had a different viewpoint, which is always fun.

I need to go out & find Paullina Simons' Tatiana & Alexander series. Which, according to Amazon UK, the third book will be out in the UK this summer. I've not heard of these, but they seem to have a loyal following & hopefully the third one will be just as great as the first two.

Off to the UBS & lunch out with Husband.

Webby Awards

The 10th annual Webby Awards have been decided- click the link above to see 'the best of the best.' I have to say, I surf quite a bit & have only seen a few of these, but it'll be fun visiting the sites & poking around.

Currently Reading:

The House of Gaian by Anne Bishop, book three of the Tir Alainn series. I guess I likely ought to begin with the first one, which is Pillars of the World, but I'm 140 pages into this one & don't want to stop. We'll see. I'm sure the story would arc & resonate better in order.
Webby Awards, Books

April Synopsis

Following is a list of titles I read during April. Some new, some old, some romances, some horror, & some fantasies. One DNF.


1.Silver's Bane by Anne Kelleher~Fantasy Romance

2.Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip~Fantasy

3.Sunshine by Robin McKinley~Horror

4.Lover Eternal by Robin McKinley~Romance

5.Dark Demon by Christine Feehan~Romance

6.Minion by L.A. Banks~Horror

7.Love's Reward by Jean R. Ewing~Romance

8.A Noble Resolve by Sara Blayne~Romance

9-11.Lady Scandal, Her Perfect Earl & Under the Kissing Bough. Lady Scandal & Under the Kissing Bough by Shannon Donnelly. Her Perfect Earl by Bethany Brooks.~Romance

12.A Singular Lady by Megan Frampton~Romance

The DNF was Lady Scandal by Shannon Donnelly.

Game

Stolen from Tara. There's only one question, but lots of reading so I suppose it isn't a quiz, but game isn't quite right either.

You Are 52% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints. But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line. You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

Try it & see!
Games, Quizzes

The Black Jewels Trilogy; A. Bishop

In this series, the good guys are very very good & the bad guys are very very bad. I have to say though, that I felt the 'good guys' were more rounded, complex characters- fuller human beings. The bad guys, I saw as similar to historical people like Hitler & Stalin. Totally out of touch with their own humanity, morality, compassion. Completely warped out of recognition by the pursuit of power & wealth. People who enjoy the subjugation & suffering of others.

I only managed to read 'the bad guys'parts through the first book. After that I found them too ..evil, over the top, something like that. They made me too uncomfortable. Besides, I was too much in a hurry to see what everyone else was up to. Where they were going & how they wanted to get there.

The major themes arcing across these books, as I see them, are: proper use of governing power; relationships between men & women, humans & animals, magically gifted & 'regular' people, parent & child; the whys wherefores & how tos of maintaining faith in a person or idea during a time of struggle. Last, but not least~ we get to watch a man & a woman develop the friendship & trust & openness necessary to a strong relationship. Subsequently you alternately laugh & cry with them & for them as they & their relationship are pushed to the ultimate limit.

The plot is this- a variation of humans gifted with differing levels of magic rule over a small group of countries in a medieval type setting. In one particular country, the ruling women subjugate the men in their court via pain & torture & degredation. A pair of brothers is held separately, in different courts, in this manner. It turns out they are awaiting a prophesied all powerful queen who, according to legend, will restore the power balance & morality of the magical race.

She finds each brother while a small child & visits them in their cells. We then watch her grow & suffer until she accepts her tutor's offer to live with him in his court. The brothers manage to make their way either to her at her family estate or to their father's court where she ends up as both his adopted ward & his pupil. Once she has fully come into her power, she is obligated to cleanse her people of the evil taint. How she does this, the price she must pay & the price her loved ones must pay totally absorbed my attention & captured my heart.

I strongly recommend this series. I ran around like a crazy woman last week hunting for Anne Bishop's books & it has been well worth my time, effort & and money.

Fantasy Review, Book Review

Day on the DC Mall

My mom is visiting over the next day or so specifically so we could see the Cezanne exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Advice- don't be cheap. Rent the audio tour. They're very good & well worth the money (in this case $5). My favorite is a watercolor, rarely seen, of a bridge with the barest of outlines of bathers in the water. Unfortunately, I could not find a print of this watercolor for sale in any of the books in the shops. *Waah* :(

It is also National Public Service Recognition Week- a fact I didn't know until we arrived on the Mall & saw a huge display of military & police vehicles, tents, police dog demos, helicopters, etc. Tons & tons of assorted vehicles to climb on, Navy divers in a tank to play tic tac toe with (via waterproof markers & plexiglass) who are VERY EASY on the eyes ladies. Mounted police. It's a kids heaven. Unfortunately, they weren't on any of the events calendars I looked at while hunting around for this post so whatever traffic they get will be purely by happenstance.
Washington DC, Family Events

Thursday 13 #8- Fav. Themes

Romance novel themes that is. Clink the link above to see more participants & their lists. Ready? Set..go!

1. Emotionally wounded hero
a)Lord of Ice Gaelen Foley
b)The Duke & I, Julia Quinn
c)Once A Warrior, Karen Monk

2. Guardian & Ward
a)Kissing Cousins, Nadine Miller
b)Four in Hand, Stephanie Laurens

3. Abduction/Captive
a)Promise the Moon

4. Highwayman/thief
a)My Lady Notorious, Jo Beverley

5.Time Travel
Any Lynn Kurland

6. Paranormal
a)Vampires- Susan Squires, JR Ward, a few Christine Feehan
b)Fairies- Marylyle Rogers, The Fairy Godmother Mercedes Lackey
c)Other Creatures- Melanie Jackson; Dream of Me, Lisa Cach; Smoke Thief, Shana Abe

7.Spies
a)An Arrainged Marriage, Jo Beverley

8.'Bluestockings'
a) Guilty Pleasures, Laura Lee Guhrke
b)Lord Stanhope's Propsal, Jessica Benson

9.Second Chances
a)The Bedeviled Duke, Judith Lansdowne
b)Borrowed Dreams, May McGoldrick

10.Adventure/road
a)My Lady Notorious, Jo Beverley
b)Promise the Moon, Linda Lea Castle

11.Governesses
a)Scandal, Brenda Joyce

12.Marriage of Convenience
a)The Reasons for Marriage, Stephanie Laurens
b)The Deception, Joan Wolf

13.Medieval
a)Dark Champion, Jo Beverley
b)Lord of Danger, Lady Fortune- Anne Stuart
c)Wild, Wonderful- Jill Barnett
d)Secret Swan, Shana Abe

IMO, what this list proves, more than anything else, is that sometimes even the most overused Romancelandia cliches can be well &/or uniquely done. Sidenote- none of my Laurens titles are the Cynster series. Hmmm.

Thursday 13, Thursday Thirteen, Books, Romances

Math Game

Fun & easy- I promise! I found this here. Ready? No calculators allowed.

1. How many times per week would you like to eat some chocolate? IOW, pick a number between 1-10.

2. Multiply by 2. After all, you can never eat enough chocolate!

3. Add 5

4. Multiply by 50. No cheating. Use scratch paper.

5. If you've had your birthday already add 1756. If your birthday is coming add 1755.

6. Subtract the four digit year you were born

You should end up with a three digit number. The first number is your original number from step one. The second two digits are your age. According to the site where I found it, 2006 is the only year this game will work. I don't know about that, but it was a fun few minutes. I tried this with our children last night & it works every time! Have fun!

Games

Mudslinging time

A big thank you to Lindy on the Romantic Times for bringing this to my attention. Click the link above. Read the section titled, Over the Ocean. The part you're looking for is at the bottom. Are you pissed off yet? You should be. Here, here's the most judgemental part, in case the link is bad. Ready:


"I don't write romances, where there is nothing more than the man and woman getting together and then being torn apart and the rest of the book is about their getting back together. My books are too complex for romance readers.."

This is a link to her website, in case you don't know who she is.

I'm actually surprised the magazine didn't edit out that segment of her reply. We may not get much respect *nods to Rodney Dangerfield*, but our dollars do. I would have thought (who knew I could think? I read those trashy romances after all) the editors of this magazine wouldn't want to offend a huge segment of the book buying public. Did they think this obviously inflammatory quote wouldn't get around?

Romance reading women are apparently stupid cows who lack the intelligence to buy superior fiction, ie: hers. Or could this be a slam on the editors who feel this woman won't sell in the US? A slam on the publisher's PR deptartment? In other words, if we (that is, US readers) haven't heard of her, whose fault is it- ours or her publisher & marketer's? Slamming the biggest spending segment of the book buying public is not the way to go.
Books, Opinion

Glomming

I think I'm in danger of becoming Tara's most despised creature- a rabid fangirl!As soon as I dropped Son #2 off at school & tidied up the house I rushed out to the UBS to grab up all of their Anne Bishop books. Luckily I found four of the six & scooped them up. So I only had to pay full price for two. Husband's sigh of relief can be heard all 'round the globe at eight pm tonight when he finds out. LOL

I bought a new to me author based solely on title alone- a very, very rare event for me I have to say. It's Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David. I love puns & word games & puzzles. I couldn't resist. Besides, I'd just saved all that money on the Anne Bishop books. Right?!

Books

Sebastian; Anne Bishop

Have you seen a print of Rind by MC Escher? Or maybe you like Salvador Dali's thought inspiring world where the usual laws of physics don't apply? Anne Bishop's new novel, published this past February by ROC reminds me strongly of these artists.

Ephemera (which means anything short lived or transitory, according to Random House) is a totally unique world & Bishop peopled it with strong individuals who must follow their own paths toward a common destiny. A world where gardeners hold the fate of many in their plots & where bridges are men. Where all of the usual rules suddenly no longer apply.

Sebastian, my favorite hero type of all- wounded & tormented- must think on his feet & with his heart when world shattering events begin unfolding all around him. Lynnea finds Sebastian's piece of the world & brings light & peace & humanity to the place more important to Sebastian than almost anything else. Together they will have to face their innermost hearts to defeat a common enemy. Will they have the courage to grasp their destiny?

I'd not read Anne Bishop previous to this. Boy, what I've missed, let me tell you. Now I'm compelled to run around like a maniac & glom all of her backlist. She reminds me of Robin McKinley or Anne McCaffrey. Sebastian is an excellent fantasy with strong roamntic elements. Highly recommended.

Books, Fantasy Book Review

A Singular Lady; Megan Frampton

One of the last Signet traditional Regencies, this was published in 2005. I feel this romance turns upon two individuals who manage to fall in love despite the fact that the basis of the hero & heroine's relationship is the classic "Big Misunderstanding." I realize certain topics were anathema for public discussion (especially with women), but I consistently felt that Titania & Edwin needed to 'fess up & get real.


Edwin Worthington recently returned to England after being exiled by his father, deliberately hides his life circumstances from as many people of the Ton as possible (including the heroine) the better to see who his "true" friends are. He seems to be a suspicious & bitter person, although I felt he has valid reasons.

The heroine, Titania Stanhope, an honor bound, responsible young lady of twenty three is burdened with an impoverished title for her younger brother, debts in their wastrel father's name far far beyond what she could ever hope to pay & the requisite evil family members threatening debtor's prison & humiliation. It is imperative Titania marry a very wealthy man while hiding her family's circumstances. Yesterday or perhaps the day before if possible. Yet somehow members of the Ton, including the hero, are under the impression Titania has a healthy dowery. How has this happened?

It was an enjoyable read, although I really felt the hero & heroine's relationship was based on lust & deliberate mutual disinformation until the very last pages. All of the loose strings were also conveniently wrapped up as well. Unfortunately, not one of the more stellar Regencies I've read recently.

Thursday Thirteen #7- 13 Heroes

From my romance keeper shelves, the following are thirteen of my favorite heroes. Chosen at random & listed in no particular order. Click the link above for more Thursday 13 participants.

1. Fitzroger of Cleeve from Dark Champion by Jo Beverley

2. Nicholas Delany from An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley

3. Valentine Corbett from Sin & Sensibility by Suzanne Enoch

4.Simon of Navarre from Lord of Danger by Anne Stuart

5. Lyon Pennington of Borrowed Dreams by May McGoldrick

6. Rudolph Denbeigh of The Bedeviled Duke by Judith Lansdowne

7.Nicholas Daventry of No Greater Love by Katherine Kingsley

8. Nicholas Sverayov of Splendor by Brenda Joyce

9.Durand de Marle of Lord of the Mist by Ann Lawrence

10. William of Miraval of Candle in the Window by Christina Dodd

11. Gareth Harcourt of The Emerald Swan by Jane Feather

12. Malcolm MacFane of Once A Warrior by Karen Monk

13. Michael Hawthorne of After the Kiss by Karen Ranney

Thursday Thirteen, Thursday 13, Books, Romance Novels

Library Sale Treasures

I found the following books on the library sale shelves (.25 apiece!!) this afternoon:

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

The Taming of the Duke Eloisa James

Yon Ill Wind Piers Anthony


Believe it or not I've not read DOY (I'm sure you're shocked, KristieJ!) I've a few Kleypas keepers, Midnight Angel & Stranger in My Arms. I tend to either really like her or to either be left completely cold by them. I'm hoping this one is a great one since I'm slowly going cold on romances lately.

Losing My Way

I spent some time wandering around the local big box bookstore last night and was dismayed that I couldn't find a single thing other than the two books I was looking for. I was in an odd mood I guess. Well, that's not strictly true.

I've been off kilter reading wise for about a week or so. I started & put down three separate romances in three separate subgenres. One was written in some wierd 'sailor's dialect.' I don't know what else to call it. It was a pirate/smuggler romance (which I've not read in ages) by an author I'd not heard of before, but it was only a quarter at the library sale. Tossed into the trade bag immediately. I hate dialect. Scottish. American Southern. Native American. Whatever. Just write in standard English, please.

So anyhow, I'm not reading much of anything. Bad sign. I'm slowly working my way through Piers Anthony's Bio of an Ogre, the first of his autobiographies. I love his touch. Light. Deft. Unique outlook. Turns out I am woefully behind in the Xanth series. And did you know- he's written two volumes of erotica! Knock me over with a feather.

Here's wishing better reading blessings to you~

Rain Date

Husband and I, with another couple, went to see the Washington Nationals game at RFK Stadium Friday April 21. We arrived about forty minutes early- time enough to grab a hot dog & some fresh pretzels. I needed something salty since I got motion sick riding the Metro- pathetic!

There were several sparrows nesting among the lights above our heads & as I watched them swoop & dart I realized it had started to rain. Which came down heavier & heavier. We were in the upper deck under the roof so we were dry-thankfully. I just had to shake my head at the die hard fans sitting along the edge of the third base line, out in the downpour. Pulling on heavy raincoats & clear trashbags. It was so funny! ;)

The game was delayed by just over two hours. We sat up there (under the roof) the entire time, chatting & eating & whining about the prices & how far away we were from the Red Hot & Blue BBQ across & down from us. Sitting up there reminded me of being out on the porch on a rainy night. Not in a big hurry & no particular place to go.

Anyhow, the game itself was good. Washington scored right off & held the Braves down until the seventh inning when they scored three runs all once. I think it was the seventh. It was waaaaayyyy past my bedtime by then & there was no coffee or tea to be had anywhere. Anyhow- the Nats came back & scored four more runs & won the game.

A wonderful times was had by all. Husband & I can't remember the last time we were out together past midnight. A sad state of affairs I admit.

MLB, Baseball, Washington DC Nightlife

Three More off the TBR

Lady Scandal

Written by Shannon Donnelly & published by Zebra in 2004. This is a DNF because I don't like the hero. He manages to hold a grudge for ten years & initiates plans to 'punish' heroine for what she did. Turns out they had a flaming, torrid affair while she was married to another. It ended badly after her husband dies & she chose to end the affair in order to spare her school age son the shunning & the gossip he (the son) would have suffered had the h/h married. Meanwhile, the hero alternates between petulant pouting & twisting the heroine up in knots of guilt & duty. He is remarkably self centered.


Her Perfect Earl

Written by Bethany Brooks and published by Signet in 2005. Esmeralda Fortune fancies herself a classics scholar & poses as a governess to gain access to a family who owns a rare scroll by a little known ancient Roman poetess. Unfortunately, the owner is in dire financial straits & is estranged from his children. Because of the money problems, Ashforth is very near to offering for the daughter of an obscenely wealthy Cit in order to keep the family seat & maintain their status. Then there are Ashforth's five rambunctious children. The youngest of whom persists in either climbing on the roof or jumping into the pond.

Will Esmerelda find the poem & complete her studies? Will Ashforth muzzle his conscience & marry the Cit's greedy daughter? Can anyone tame & educate the children? Contains excellent groveling at the end.

Under the Kissing Bough

Written by Shannon Donnelly & published by Zebra 2001. Meek & mild wallflower Eleanor Glover accpts an offer from Geoffrey Westerly, Lord Staines. Staines' father is dying & demands his son must marry Christmas Eve so he (the father) can die in peace. Eleanor is overwhelmingly shy and afraid of crowds, which makes it difficult for Staines to get to know her. Being a quiet observer, Eleanor slowly falls in love with Staines while realizing he plans to have a marriage of convenience only. Staines realizes Eleanor has more depth than he expected- if only he can get her to himself a little bit and figure out just what scheme his father has cooked up for him.
Books, Book Review, Romance Review

A Noble Resolve; Sara Blayne

Yet another traditional Regency published by Zebra in 1998. A May- December gothic tinged romance. Josephine Powell, youngest of seven & always frail, is on her way to Harrogate to take the waters &, hopefully, overcome a bout of melancholia. On the way, her carraige & that of Devon Roth, Earl of Ravenaugh very nearly collide, thus ensuring an overnight stay at Ravenaugh's medieval fortress.

Josphine, being the youngest of seven & an observer (rather than a participant in) of life because of her health, captures Ravenaugh's interest through a shared love of classic literature & because Josephine makes several shrewd comments regarding Ravenaugh's troubled daughter Clarissa. Josphine's parents are long and happily married & are concerned for & love their children deeply- a unique circumstance in Romancelandia. Will Josphine's health improve? Can she encourage Ravenaugh to believe in her enough to give them a chance at a relationship?

Ravenaugh is deeply scarred by the circumstances surrounding his wife's death. In addition, he has been absent from home frequently due to the War which led to emotional estrangement from his teenage daughter Clarissa. Now, Josephine tumbles into his life at a critical juncture. Can he grasp the second chance life has offered him? Can he protect both Clarissa & Josephine from the man who threatens them? Is he able to let go & move on?

Book Review, Romance Review

Love's Reward; Jean R Ewing

Jean Ross Ewing now publishes as Julia Ross. This title was originally published in 1997 by Zebra & is a traditional Regency.

Joanna Acton and Fitzroy Mountfichet are forced to marry because Joanna & Fitzroy's brother Quentin ran away to a posting inn together but were caught next morning. As Quentin is already married to a former stage actress, Fitzroy's father forced him to 'do right by the family'. Joanna's older brother despises Fitzroy due to an incident years earlier during the war. Robert's intense dislike for Fitzroy causes more mental anguish than Joanna already has, as they are close & she respects his opinion. Surely Robert wouldn't be wrong about a man's character? Fitzroy can't be loveable if Robert doesn't like him, right?

Fitzroy is entangled in government espionage & a plot among a few women of the Ton. As he desires this to be a marriage of convenience, he hides quite a bit of what's actually happening from Joanna. His sudden marriage causes difficulties all around- with his superior in the government, his wife & her family. Only the women plotting against him seem to relish the prospect of humilaiting Fitzroy's wife. The bright spot in his character that gives Joanna most cause for thought is Fitzroy's soft spot for his frail sister Mary. Can he be all that bad? Look at how he dotes on her!

One of my biggest issues with this book is that Joanna is supposed to be 'still in the schoolroom' which I took to be between 17-19. Her behavior other than the initial flight with Quentin, however, is decidedly more mature than most girls her age & I found this increasingly hard to deal with as the plot moved on. There was little or no levity in her at all- a trait rarely seen in girls of this age group.

My other issue is that I don't believe one action or series of related actions, committed while under duress, during a war, ought to permanently stain a man's character. I'm not saying one has a free pass in these or similar circumstances, but I also believe in new beginnings & dislike grudge holding.

Anyhow, this book reminds me of another with very similar plot lines which I have on my Keeper shelves. Love's Reward is not quite as heartwrenching, but is well plotted with rounded characters & is excellent to while away a rainy afternoon.

Book Review, Romance Review

Minion, L.A. Banks

This review is for Angie's April Challenge.


Title: Minion

Author: L. A. Banks

Year published:2003 & 2004~ This edition has extra scenes that weren't in the original

Why did you get this book? A recommend off of a message board, but I don't remember who it was or which board.

Do you like the cover? Yes

Did you enjoy the book? I had shelved this in my romance TBR, so naively, that is what I expected. HAHA This is horror. I enjoyed it very much though.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Yes, this author is new to me & yes, I'm likely to read her again.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Undecided

Anything else? The world Banks has built is well developed. Her alternate reality has an unique, & for me, odd combination of religion, astrology & paranormal elements. Minion skates the edge of my tolerance level for violence (even in books) though. I got stuck about two thirds of the way through & put it down for a few days. While I appreciated the thoughtful & truthful mother-daughter talk in the last few scenes, I'm unsure that the antihero will work for me over the arc of this series.

Book Review, Horror Review

Birthday Meme

I saw this over HERE & couldn't resist trying it. Yeah I'm a sucker for memes & quizzes & cute stuff. Sue me. No pet photos here though.

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Maili posted this little meme a while ago & here is my contribution. Click link above for other memes.

15 May:

3 Events

1. 1252- Pope Innocent IV issues a papal bull allowing the torture of heretics. Thus assisting humanity's long slide into moral depravity with the weight of religious approval.

2. 1869- The Women's Suffrage Association formed in the U.S.

3. 1928- Walt Disney release the first short featuring Mickey & Minnie Mouse, titled Plane Crazy

Births

1. Claudio Monteverdi

2. L. Frank Baum- author of the classic Oz series

Deaths

1. Emily Dickenson


To participate, simply enter your birth month and day into Wikipedia. Post three events, two births & a death that may interest others.

Meme, Memes, Birth Day Meme

Thursday Thirteen #6

Thirteen random facts about me. Not that I'm truly an exhibitionist, but sometimes people wonder what your little quirks are.

1. I was born in the same area the movie On Golden Pond was filmed. I love to watch the movie & reminisce about my childhood.

2. I cry at the drop of a hat during movies & tv shows, but for a book? Very rarely. Thus nearly all books that I cry for/with I keep.

3. I am completely musically illiterate. The only way I am able to be in the handbell choir is because I'm able to count to four. Over & over & over.That & the fact that I'm only responsible for two dots. Don't ever ask me to sing.

4. I actually enjoy cleaning. No, I'm not German or Swiss either. Yes, I realize this makes me a freak. No, I won't come & clean your house. I dislike other people's dirt.

5. Related to #2- I love horror & science fiction novels, but rarely watch similar tv shows. Something about the translation from written to visual rarely works for me.

6. I prefer to exercise outside, at night. After 9 pm if possible. Not that I'm exercising much nowadays. No excuses. I'm just lazy by nature.

7. I love to bake pastries, thus I really need to return to #6. Desparately.

8. Back to #2 & #5; it can be hard to get me laugh out loud. I have an odd sense of humor I suppose. Dennis Miller & PG Wodehouse & the Piers Anthony Xanth books are funny. Sarcasm & irony are often very funny to me, even if they skate on the edge of cruelty. Visual or physical humor (ie the Three Stooges, Jim Carrey, Benny Hill) isn't funny to me, neither is crudity or stupidity. I'm hard to please.

9. The scent of lilacs, jasmine & old English roses brings me back to my grandmother's garden.

10. I only dated one man shorter than 6' & he was a Marine (which made up for it, lol). Don't get on my case about this either, Husband!

11. The only place to get great Tex-Mex food is Texas. Big surprise. I REALLY miss San Antonio. Taco Kitchen or Cristina's are fantastic. Avoid the Riverwalk 'cuz it's a huge ripoff. The best, most authentic regional foods are often cooked by people who barely speak English.

12. There isn't much fantastic regional food to be had in the middle of the US. The exception might be Blue Bunny ice cream & fresh beef. If you like fish or shellfish forget it.

13. Hawaiian pizza or mac & cheese finished off with ice cream & chocolate would be the perfect meal. My kids made all of these for me for Mother's Day last year & it was great! I think I gained 10 pounds that day though.

Thursday Thirteen, Thursday 13

Still alive

Sorry posting has been light lately. Family life has been on overdrive. What little free time I've had has been spent hiding in a boiling hot tub full of bubbles peeling off several layers of skin. I've missed you guys & plan to spend the remainder of this afternoon catching up on everybody's blogs.

I'm not dead yet, although some days I really wish the Star Trek teleporter existed. School vacation weeks are hell on wheels- literally. Drive them here drive them there. Drive them to this other place. We want to visit so & so at such & such & they are already expecting us. We can't cancel. No we did not bother to ask permission/inform the family chauffeur first.

What else has been happening? Oh yes- family members begged me to have Easter dinner. Other family members said nope, we aren't/can't come so don't bother. AAAAGGGHHHH!!!! No family coming in from out of town after all. The result of which- we were invited to friends' & hopefully we can eat with them. If not- ham & all the trimmings here. Just us & all of the DVDs we haven't had time to watch yet. And no I won't answer the phone so don't bother to call me.

Currently Reading

Minion by L.A. Banks. Yes, I know I'm waaayyyy behind. Yes, I very much regret allowing this great little book to become buried in my TBR. Scary , urban vampires meet religious, astrology & horoscope wielding guardians. Molotov cocktails made of vials of holy water. Bullets made of consecrated ground. Unseen entities that help you get it on in the shower. What's not to love?! Fantastic stuff. Especially after a hectic day.

Books, Family Life, Parenting

Dark Demon; Christine Feehan

I'd very nearly given up on Christine Feehan before this title. Her heroines were too tortured. I couldn't relate. Even as a reader who primarily relates to & falls in love with heroes, I had so much trouble with these chicks I decided this title would be my last one. If the heroines weren't a bit more, I can't say normal, but less tormented & less whiney than I'd drop Ms. Feehan.

This heroine worked for me, although I've read comments elsewhere that certain readers found Natalya Shonski 'too hard edged.' I guess this means I'm firmly on the Carpathian bandwagon, at least through the 'reunion' hardcover due. Natalya is part human, part mage, part Carpathian & blessed with a tigress as an alternate form. Her lifemate, Vikirnoff von Schreider is a Carpathian who'd been sent across the Atlantic to keep Natalya safe from a band of vampires.

Vik, as Natalya calls him, binds her to him right away; discovering afterward that this is no meek & mild miss willing to be his subservient doormat. Natalya has been on her own for a long time & is fully capable of taking care of herself. With the help of an impressive arsenal & some hairspray. She will accept an equal partner or no one. Natalya tells Vik he either moves into the twentieth century or else she's going to figure out a way to undo the Lifemate blood bond/spell he sicced on her.

The subplot that had been moving along at a glacial pace through the series is FINALLY coming to a boiling point- I hope. This book moves us signifigantly towards what I assume to be a sort of culiminating event in the forthcoming hardcover Dark Celebration due 5 September. Feehan, however, is gifted with creativity so all of this conjecture may be for naught.

If strong heroines & confident males are your dish, you like to revist old friends from previous books & the whole soulmate thing doesn't bother you than this is a great book. If you've hung in with Feehan until now because of the subplot, this pushes it along a goodly bit. If you like action adventure paranormal romance this may be to your taste.

For myself, I'm happy the Carpathians and their Lifemates are back in top form. Keeper.

Lover Eternal, J.R. Ward

If you like vampire romance, go buy this. That's the quick & easy version. This isn't overly dark, as far as vampire romances go, IMO. The heroine gets a tad whiney at the end, despite my understanding & agreement that in her circumstances she has every right to be the way she is. I just found her a little too.. I can't quite put my finger on it. She redeems herself in the end. Rhage (or however the hell Ward spells it) is totally believable. Yummy, delicious & I really wish the Husband's eyes would glow in the dark like his- but, hey, I guess we can't have it all. Too bad Ward didn't have the marriage ceremony at the end of this one as she did at the end of Dark Lover, but we did see more of the Scribe Virgin & get a better sense of how she operates. Keeper.

BTW- traveling this weekend, so I may not return until Monday. Have a great weekend all!
Book Review, Vampire romance review, Romance Review

Paranoid anyone?!

Yesterday Husband drops me off at the library & leaves to run a bunch of errands. One of my favorite things, a quiet library. Anyhow, when he returned he told me the most bizarre story. While on the way to Son #2's school he ended up following a white Land Rover covered with military special forces stickers for several miles. As we live in a heavily populated suburban area, this should not have been unusual.

While stopped at a particularly long light, an older man (driving said SUV) wound his window down & asked my husband, "Why are you following me?" Husband, who'd rolled his window down thinking maybe he had a tailight out or a tire flat or something innocuous, started laughing. See, this is the suburbs of DC. There are any number of truly powerful important peole who live here. This man however was clearly not one of them.

After catching his breath Husband answered, "Grandpa, the Vietnam war is over. There aren't any Viet Cong living in northern Virginia. I hope your flashbacks aren't too bad. For your information, I'm on my way to pick up my son at elementary school."
With that the light turned green & Husband drove off.

Now, this was on a major thoroughfare on a major commuter route. I have been stalked & it is a truly terrifying scenario. If this old man honestly thought he was being followed, why didn't he simply stop at a public place or drive to a nearly police station? What purpose would confronting a complete stranger at a stoplight do?

Road rage around here can be a very serious, occasionally violent event. Husband is not always the most patient & tolerant of men. He is also a large man (all the better to snuggle with, my dear!). What was the geezer thinking? Or not thinking, as the case may be. I mean really. We drive a very common commuter vehicle, same make & model & color etc. seen quite often. How many others has he accused this of? Obviously his ego & overly inflated sense of importance makes him suspicious. HAHAHA

Now I'm going to look at every vehicle similar to that one & wonder if this was the guy who is becoming a paranoid schizophrenic (sp).

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

The depressing part is, I'm done & there aren't any more books set in this world. Nor does it appear Ms. McKinley is spilling the beans about her next book. No info on her website or Amazon or anywhere like that. *sob*

The happy part being- Sunshine is a great book & I totally loved it & I am buying the hardcover new to add to the keeper shelves. A rare accomplishment in my little book world.

Sunshine is set in an alternate modern post apocalyptic reality. At least I think it is. Humans & assorted magical being had a huge destructive war. There has been tremendous damage done to both the physical world & to the institutions that govern the races living here. There are areas that are 'safe' from the bad guys & areas that aren't. Humans & magical beings have interbred enough that strictly by looks alone it isn't possible to tell who is human & who is 'passing'. Vampires however are always bad guys, for different reasons Ms. McKinley spells out clearly.

Sunshine and her newfound ally/compatriot must overcome both cultural & societal hurdles and unite to defeat a power hungry bad guy. Sunshine must grow hugely, which is depicted in all of its pain & difficulty &, sometimes, bitchiness. She moves fully out of childhood & its assumptions that what you see & what you're told is the truth, into adulthood. Which is to say, Sunshine realizes that one must leave the cocoon of the familiar. That the adult world is messy, more grey than one might wish for, things are never quite what they seem & that government agencies are often hamstrung by their own lurching need for paperwork & doing things the 'right way'.

A great book all around. Fully realized, fully though out & rounded. Plus, lots of possibilities for a sequel or two.
Book Review, Books

A. Kelleher News

We exchanged a couple of emails, Ms. Kelleher & I. The good news being she has another trilogy set in the same world as the Silver series. Publication date unknown as of yet. The prequel is coming in September though. And no she doesn't have a website.

Closer to home I've started reading Sunshine by Robin McKinley. It's written in a first person stream of consciousness type style. Which I find a bit hard to follow. It feels like she's sitting beside me talking a mile a minute & she won't slow down or take a breath & my attention is wandering. Sunshine caught & held me but I had to stop & reread a paragraph or two.

Tuesdays & Thursdays are drive all over creation, to hell & back type days. So if you've a mind to send some good thoughts (ie: that I manage to get everywhere I need to go safely) aloft on my behalf. And if you've a mind to, have a tipple or two for me!
Books

Solstice Wood, Patricia McKillip

This is the first book set in contemporary time Ms. McKillip has written in an age. Don't ask me what the most recent previous contemporary-time title is because I don't know. According to the Penguin website Ms. McKillip has two stories in separate anthologies coming this week. One book is Flights, Extreme Visions of Fantasy and the other is Firebirds Rising. So far as I can tell there isn't an 'official' website by her- which is fine with me since I want her to write more & surf less. LOL :P

Solstice Wood is about tradition & fear. How communities and individuals can perpetuate and enforce these same ideas almost (but not quite) to the point of no return. On another level it is a book about death & change & the flow of time and boundaries. The power of family, community & love. Forests, meadows, hearth magic & beings not of this world. Or are they?

Sylvia Lynn, a bookstore owner in the Pacific Northwest, must return to her childhood home upon the death of her grandfather. Events unfold from there. I won't say more except that things are not all what they seem to be.

Ms. McKillip writes a lyrical & beguiling blend of myth, allegory & fantasy just right for a spring weekend bursting with new life.
Books, Book Review, Fantasy Review

Seed starting

I've never tried this before, other than morning glory seeds. However, Son #2 is determined to attempt it. We've collected petunia, moonflower, zinnia & balsam seed packets. We started them on wet paper towels inside ziploc baggies in a south facing window. I got him to edge my beds yesterday. Quite a feat for a ten year old with more desire to help than weight to shove the spade (although it's sharpened) into the soil. Wish us luck!

The professional cycling season has begun. Husband & I now spend Sunday afternoon watching the races in Europe.

I'm about one third of the way through & so far it's typically excellent McKillip. More when I'm done. No website for her, unfortunately.

Also- a few people have begun a new romance oriented message board, still in its infancy.Link on the sidebar. Hopefully, it will grow & grow. Blogging & HTML help. Suggested books. Chat. Links to helpful sites. Etc. I'm very excited!

March Synopsis

March Reading lists

I read one mystery.

There were two wallbangers/DNFs, discussed here. Plus two more from the Song series are discussed here.

A medieval romance and a traditional Regency are here. Another delightful traditional Regency is here.

I read two books by new-to-me author, Anne Kelleher. Printed by Luna, they are strong fantasies with romantic themes, but not strictly romances in the traditional sense. Excellent books & I plan to watch for more of Ms. Kelleher's work. I talk about them here and here.
books

Review: Silver's Bane

I finished this late last night, so I hope it fulfills Angie's challenge! *trying to sneak in under the wire*

Title: Silver's Bane (second in a two book series)

Author: Anne Kelleher

Year published: June 2005

Why did you get this book? I wanted to see how the Luna titles fell- truly a hybrid of romance & fantasy or more of one than the other. This series falls more toward the fantasy side than the romance side, IMO.

Do you like the cover? Yes

Did you enjoy the book? Very much so

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Yes, Anne Kelleher is new to me and, yes, I'm likely to read another title by her.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping

Anything else?
The story arcs very strongly across both books, and they must be read in order. The peak of the action was in the end third or fourth of the first book, so Silver's Bane continues the action & then presents a conclusion.

It's actually a bit vague at the end, to be truthful. Superficially, each storyline is wrapped up, but there are specific bits left out that I'd like to have known exactly what was what. Beyond that I can't say without spoilers. Definitely an autor to watch, IMO.
Romance Novel Review
Book Review