Let’s see, what have I read this past week? I had a really busy week so didn’t get as much reading in as I usually do. In audio, I’m still working on Left Behind book 3: Nicolae in the car. I’m about halfway through it so far. At work, I’m listening to lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati. I had been listening to LitC in the car and N at work but I had to swap them out. There’s something wrong with the tapes for LitC which I borrowed form the library and the sound is messed up, so it can barely be heard, even at full volume. But with earphones I can hear it just fine. Go figure. LOL So now it’s my work book. In paper, I finished up Madeline Hunter’s Lord of Sin this weekend. In spite of the minimal reading time I’ve had lately, I still finished this one up in a week, which was quick considering. I took it with me to the gym for my exercising and read while I biked. LOL This book was great and I can’t wait for the next one. I love how she worked so much into the…

Today I’m sorta babysitting my husband, the pain shot/ mini surgery didn’t go so well yesterday so we’re taking turns watching for any loss of movement, etc. Or, in other words, I really can’t concentrate on anything other than doing my hourly checkups on him. Plus being a good wife, I keep him company watching old movies. But I digress… I was musing on my bookaholic habits; I have a book or two for the odd and ends readings in both cars, one in each handbag, one in the bathroom, a few on end tables in the living room, bedroom and any other room I might just land for a minute. Thinking about these books as I straightened up for Book Club this week, I realized all were either “comfort reads” or “marginal reads.” Descriptions so we can continue on the same page. A “comfort read” is an old friend book, one I read repeatedly because the read makes me feel good, or represents a place to take me away from reality, is a good cry book, or I just really really love the voice of the author. A “marginal read” is a book that isn’t bad, but it isn’t…

Had a great time at the cookout Wednesday evening. As always the food was plentiful and delicious, and the discussion lively. Thank you for always being willing to open your home to us. I came home and decided to stay awake a little bit longer and finished First Date by Karen Kendall. It was a light hearted read, without a lot of different characters and settings. It would make a great read for a harried person who didn’t have a lot of time and energy to devote to reading. As the dinner discussion included having to suspend belief in the realities of life I’d like to say to read First Date you don’t have to do that. However don’t go into this expecting the next great American Novel either, because you’ll be disappointed for sure. As I’ve mentioned previously I’m slowly working my way through the In Death books. I read the novella Midnight In Death after I finished Riggs Park. I almost wish that there had been a previous book about the villian in Midnight In Death, and that it had been a follow up story. Midnight In Death can be found in the anthology Silent Night. Anthology…that brings…

Time for that wonderful weekly update! LOL In paper, I finished Vickie Taylor‘s Carved in Stone this weekend and it was quite good. I like that hers is a very different premise for a paranormal romance. Never before reading this would I have thought of a gargoyle as a sexy hero. LOL I’m looking forward to Book 2 in the series. Also in paper, I started Madeline Hunter‘s Lord of Sin this weekend. So far so good. She always writes a good historical and I love how she’s worked her career as an art instructor into this story. Not exactly the type of artwork you’d expect a professor to cover, but it is definitely obvious she’s knowledgeable about her chosen subject. Which made me think, this isn’t the first one of her books she managed to work art in to somehow. In audio, I finished up book 2 in the Left Behind series: Tribulation Force by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. It’s getting interesting for this series which I finally decided I had to try out after hearing so much about it over the past few years. I also picked up Book 3 from the library: Nicolae and started that…

You know when you read a book and it doesn’t make you feel good, it just feels like a chore? Or you’re educating yourself or something “worthy” like that? Well, trust me, COURTESAN is such a book. I can see it being read by the women’s book club where everyone pretends literary ambitions. So an exotic locale — Paris at the turn of the 20th century (I’d do it the French way but I haven’t figured out the extra characters yet) — with the mishmash of clashing cultures, in the land where “anything goes,” COURTESAN is the story of a young girl “trained” by her grandmother and mother to carry on the grand tradition of being a courtesan. Now, when I was younger and a college student, this would have been so romantic — women in charge of their financial and social position. Well, not quite social since “bad girls” only last as long as their protectors are in power. And sad too, since the bad girls still wish they knew their fathers and were accepted everywhere. So instead of a romantic read: revenge by the young wife on the murder of her Jewish husband in Persia, turning to the…

Being on summer break from school has helped my reading a lot! During the school year the house suffers because of the hectic schedule, and now it’s suffering because I can’t tear myself away from my reading pile. Since last I updated I finished Sweetgrass by Mary Alice Monroe. I’m told that this author had veered into stories that were very focused on conservation issues. Sweetgrass was not that type of book. It was a story of family. I personally found it to be a wonderful story of a family torn apart by tragedy, and in the end brought back together to fend off yet another tragedy that could have ultimately torn them apart forever. I’m a cryer, and if a book touches me deeply will cry as it winds down. I didn’t cry over Sweetgrass, but have to say if I were a keeper I would be adding another title to my keeper shelf! From Sweetgrass I decided that I needed something a little more suspensful. I’m still slowly but surely working my way through a first time read of the In Death books by J.D. Robb AKA Nora Roberts. I just read Holiday in Death. I first read…

I had to finish up LIE BY MIDNIGHT so I could return it today which rearranged my reading schedule somewhat. Although, to be honest I didn’t have a “formal” schedule in mind. Sure, there were a few “homework” reads hanging around, but nothing really in the “must read now” category. LIE BY MIDNIGHT is the latest Amanda Quick and it is the second (or third) set in Victorian England. It’s a hard cover and probably available at your local warehouse store for a healthy discount. It’s reputed to have the last Master of Vandazia in it, although I’m confused. Is the hero the last master or was it his teacher? I’m glad Quick left the regency period because I’ve developed a strange fascination for the Victorian era, both in mystery and romance. I love Elizabeth Peters’ Peabody books and recently I’ve stumbled upon the Will Thomas mysteries with Cyrus Barker and his apprentice Thomas Llewelyn. Barker is also an “enquiry agent” and a master of “mysterious” eastern martial arts. Both his debut novel, SOME DANGER INVOLVED and his latest, TO KINGDOM COME, took me straight to the heart and contradictions of Victorian London and life. Whether we were exploring a…

I’m back from vacation and boy did I get some good reading in! What a week of no cell phones, no computers and no television can do to catch you on your “to be read” pile! I started the week by reading one of the latest in the Murder, She Wrote series “The Maine Mutiny”, written by Donald Bain. I love watching reruns of this series on A&E and just love getting the latest copy of these books when they come out! In fact, I e-mailed Donald Bain and told him to keep on writing, because I would keep on buying and he personally wrote me back to say he was glad to know he had readers out there! After my mystery fix, I had to get some romance in and boy did I pick a pair of winners! I read some rave reviews of Nora Roberts new Garden series so I stopped by my local bookseller and bought the first two that were out. The series begin with Blue Dahlia , published last November and let me tell you, it was a great read! I loved the romance, the suspense, the mystery! Did I mention that there is a…

A big weekend in Dallas for signings — tonight we have the Naughty Girls of Downtown Press. They’ll be signing at the Waldenbooks in Lewisville at 6pm and we’ll be going out after to talk about them. Yeah, we’ll be chatting about them and I’m already conflicted, but we’ll see. All their books are trade size, so this will either break the book budget or we’ll just smile nice. I heard LETHAL was very good, but I haven’t gotten it to read and the excerpt didn’t really grab me. However, I might take along my reading glasses and give it a look before making the BIG decision. Doing the sour grapes whine because as for most of us, money is tight and at $13 plus per book, book purchase decision is a BIG deal these days. When you spend as much as I do on books and read as fast as I do, getting one book versus two or three means that one book better be darned terrific! Besides, we’re doing dinner after and I’ll need a margarita after dealing with the traffic to get to Lewisville by 6pm! Timing is EVERYTHING. Back to the purchase dilemma — how are…

After my batch of exceedingly bad books over the weekend, I decided to cleanse the reading palate so to speak and take a wander into the death side of reading. Chortle. In other words, I picked up a mystery to read today. I didn’t want too much blood and mayhem, wanted something lighter but not totally fluff, hoped for a bit of romance, would settle for a relationship. Not too stringent requirements I thought, so I pulled out the latest Dead-End Job Mysteries by Elaine Viets. Okay, Okay, I saw it in the Borders on Sunday and bought it. And I’ve got this problem with books lingering unread in my house, so its time was up. The first book in the series SHOP UNTIL YOU DROP was amusing but just enough to establish the Viets name in my brain. Unfortunately, I missed the next two books — never heard when they were available or saw them in the stores — then at the signing on Sunday, the current book in the series JUST MURDERED was at the front tables and I decided to see if the series held up. Little did I know I’d need a change of pace! Helen…