The 2008 closure post

I stated my blog beginning of this year and oh my, how time has flown. What started out to be a blog strictly about books and my thoughts on them, has become a venue for my thoughts on books as well as how I perceive some of the things that have gone in the world. Along the way, I have mourned a loss, lost 2 televisions and vented about July 4th.

Additionally I have lost 2 jobs due to downsizing and now face 2009 with apprehension and yes, hope. What will this new year bring about? We are about to see changes take place in the American government that are unprecedented. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what our new president will bring about and what legacy he will leave. I am also looking forward to the changes that will happen in my life. For good or bad, they will make me appreciate what I have now, the lessons I will learn along the way and hopefully make me a stronger person. Strength through adversity.

I hope your holidays are filled with joy and blessings. Make memories, be thankful for what you have and ring in the New Year with gusto!

Anobii vs. Shelfari

Initially, I liked Shelfari. But some stuff popped off with some other members and I removed myself. A friend introduced me to Anobii, and I've been hooked ever since. Members of Anobii seem to be a different breed of people altogether. More serious if you will, about what they read. I don't know why this is, but I am thankful for it.

If you like to read, and like discussing what you read, stop by Anobii and sign up. It's free and very entertaining. And while I am back on Shelfari, it doesn't hold the lure as it once did for me.

Additionally, there is Bookweazle. No need to list your books, just another place to discuss them. Stop by and sign up. This too is free.

Mercedes Lackey

I have become enamored of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters & Elemental Masters Fairy Tales. Each of these books has characters that have mastered working with one of the 4 elements. Earth, Air, Fire and Water. She goes into great description of the attached elementals for each of the elements and how they can be utilized by the Masters. All take place in the mid 1800's through the 1930's. Her characters are realistic and yes, there is a bit of romance. Her descriptions of the mores and thoughts in those times are spot on. (I am so glad I live in today's world.) Below is a list of her books in these series in order.

Elemental Masters

The serpent's shadow
The gates of sleep
Phoenix and Ashes
The wizard of London
Reserved for the cat

Elemental Masters Fairy Tales

Firebird (Russian folk tales)
The fire rose (Beauty & the Beast)
The Black Swan (Swan Lake)

I am looking forward to starting her Five hundred kingdoms series.

Passion: A Novel of the Romantic Poets by Jude Morgan

Amazon description: The attempted suicide of Mary Wollstonecraft opens this carefully researched, deeply imagined and gorgeously written novel about the Romantic poets, as seen by the women who loved them: Mary Wollstonecraft's daughter, Mary Shelley, who fell scandalously in love with then-married Percy Bysshe Shelley and wrote Frankenstein at age 19; the passionate but untethered Lady Caroline Lamb, who never got over her love for Lord Byron; charming Fanny Brawne, devoted to her consumptive fiancé, Keats; and Augusta Leigh, half-sister to Byron, notorious for her incestuous affair with him. Dense, empathetic, detailed portraits of each woman lift them above their iconography; even Byron, in all his famous charm, is convincingly rendered. The poets, of course, are doomed—Byron, fighting in the Greek war of independence, dies of fever; Shelley perishes in a boating accident; and Keats succumbs to consumption. Morgan concludes with a series of carefully crafted plateaus that evocatively capture the women in varied states of acceptance, ambivalence and longing after their losses. Augusta, whose appealing calm and optimism is all the more paradoxical in light of her taboo-shattering decision to sleep with her half-brother, Byron, makes for a particularly fascinating character study. Mary Shelley, clear-eyed, solemn and terribly intelligent, also emerges as three-dimensional and compelling.

My review: A sublime, beautifully written book that engages the reader from the start. I found the characters interestingly flawed and very real. Jude morgan has a deft hand with his writing and was able to bring these historical people to life in a way that made you feel as if you know them. This book has made it on my favorites list and I look forward to reading more of his works.

Another one bites the dust.

I am bewildered how I blew up 2 t.v.s in less than 2 months. Mind you, they are over 14 years old, so I am not taking personally. However, I find it funny (ha ha) and funny (weird) that they both decided to die out within weeks of each other. Yet another sign that I am right to not be watching t.v. at all. Ah well, at least books cannot blow up on you..... or can they?

Paranormal reads

I read a lot of these books. I am still rather new to them and have found I like them a great deal. Following is a list of some of my favorites, which include some of the better known writers. Let me know of some other ones I may be missing out on. These are in no particular order of favorites. I love them all!

C. E. Murphy- The Walker Papers trilogy & The Negotiator series

Shirley Damsgaard- Abby & Ophelia series. I want a grandma just like Abby.

Patricia Briggs- Love her werewolf/shapeshifter people

Laurell K. Hamilton- need I say more. Was worried for a bit, but she seems to have all the storylines back on an even keel. And even when they seemed a bit off, it still made sense.

Kelley Armstrong- Have liked her writing from the start

Lilith St. Crow- Dante Valentine series

Jenna Black- Great storyline and cool twist on demon possession

L.A. Banks-Vampire Huntress Legend. Wonderful blend of many races, religions all kicking demon/bad vamp ass. She rocks! And the new Crimson Moon series.

Jeanne C. Stein- Anna Strong Chronicles

Rachel Caine- The weather warden series. Djinn!!! This was so needed as I could never find any story lines with them
included. Not to mention that she includes a soundtrack listing of what she listened to while writing and it all makes sense.

Vicki Pettersson- Who knew super heros could be so cool? And even have good fashion sense...

Christine Warren for her Others series. This is really the series that got me hooked.

Katie McAllister- for humorous paranormal books. Wish that "dog" Jim was real. He's a hoot.

The list is huge. Shana Abe, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn to name a few more.

Reading, reading and yet more reading

It's been awhile since I posted a blog about books. So here goes.

I have currently finished all 5 of the books by Shirley Dammsgaard in her Ophelia & Abby Mystery series. The first book started off a bit slow, but the series did pick up by the second book and the author seemed to become comfortable with her characters. Well done to her.

I am currently reading Gale Force by Rachel Caine. Gale Force is the 7th book in the Weather Warden series and the series as a whole is written quite well and highly entertaining. I have waiting in the wings Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Myer. I am neither on team Edward or Team Jacob as I don't care who Bella ends up with. Bella at times annoys the hell out of me and I wish one of them would just shake her til her eyes roll back in her head. But the plot is interesting, so there you go. It's why I keep reading them. Kelley Armstrong's a favorite writer of mine, so I could not pass up her new YA The Summoning. Very glad I didn't. Her younger characters are as realistic as her adult characters. Well, as much as one can be with super powers.

I am also trying to still kick start my classics reading to no avail. Perhaps the weather has something to do with that. I will get at least one read before the end of the year. Perhaps I'll make it one of my new year resolutions.

Happy reading!