2010 Recap - or, What the hell did I do with all my time this year?

In 2010 the number of books that I read dropped sharply.  You see, for the last 15 years or so I used to go every night to a local sports bar/restaurant, where I would drink coffee, smoke, and read for several hours.

Every night.

In 2008, for example, I read a total of 132 books.  At the beginning of 2009, however, smoking was outlawed in public establishments, and I stopped going to coffee and reading every night.  Consequently, in 2009 I only read 58 books.  Not too bad, really, still more than one a week, yet still less than half what I read in 2008.

In 2010, I quit smoking completely, but didn't get back into the habit of going to coffee and devoting two or three hours per night to nothing but reading.  The total number of books I read in 2010 dropped to only 41.  However, the 41 books that I read were mostly meatier and more substantial than (higher page counts!) than what I'd been reading in the previous two years.

So while I really don't do New Years' Resolutions, I am going to try to read more this year, and spend less time fooling around with things that aren't as important to me.  But we'll see how it goes!

And in case anyone is interested, here is the list of books completed in 2010.  The number before the title indicates the books' place in a series, and the date is the date I finished reading it.

4. The Charlemagne Pursuit	Steve Berry	1/8/2010
6. First Lord’s Fury	Jim Butcher	1/15/2010
1. The Innocent Mage	Karen Miller	1/28/2010
2. The Awakened Mage	Karen Miller	2/4/2010
1. Empress	Karen Miller	2/16/2010
2. The Riven Kingdom	Karen Miller	2/25/2010
3. Hammer of God	Karen Miller	3/7/2010
1. Foreigner	C.J. Cherryh	3/15/2010
4. The Sunrise Lands	S M Stirling	3/25/2010
10. Small Favor	Jim Butcher	4/2/2010
11. Turn Coat	Jim Butcher	4/8/2010
Your Heart Belongs to Me	Dean Koontz	4/16/2010
Breathless	Dean Koontz	4/20/2010
A Magic of Dawn	S L Farrell	5/6/2010
7. Tragic Magic	Laura Childs	5/11/2010
6. The King’s Buccaneer	Raymond E Feist	5/12/2010
7. Shadow of a Dark Queen	Raymond E Feist	5/21/2010
8. Rise of a Merchant Prince	Raymond E Feist	5/31/2010
3. Eclipse	Stephanie Meyer	6/7/2010
9. Rage of a Demon King	Raymond E Feist	6/17/2010
10. Shards of a Broken Crown	Raymond E Feist	6/25/2010
Cold Fall (James Bond)	John Gardner	7/7/2010
3. The Infinity Gate	Sara Douglass	7/15/2010
10lb Penalty	Dick Francis	7/19/2010
Zorro	Isabel Allende	7/29/2010
5. The Paris Vendetta	Steve Berry	8/9/2010
6. Aloha, Candy Hearts	Anthony Bidulka	8/12/2010
16. Sweet Poison	Ellen Hart	8/25/2010
17. The Mirror and the Mask	Ellen Hart	8/31/2010
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Stieg Larsson	9/7/2010
2. The Girl who Played with Fire	Stieg Larsson	9/23/2010
3. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest	Stieg Larsson	10/6/2010
2. The Moses Stone	James Becker	10/12/2010
4. Vieux Carre Voodoo	Greg Herren	10/19/2010
1. Soulless	Gail Carriger	10/25/2010
2. Changeless	Gail Carriger	11/2/2010
3. Blameless	Gail Carriger	11/22/2010
13. Towers of Midnight	Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson	12/9/2010
The Dying Earth	Jack Vance	12/13/2010
Here Abide Monsters	Andre Norton	12/19/2010
Cross Fire	James Patterson	12/27/2010

Happy New Year, everyone - and Happy Reading!!

Review - Cross Fire, by James Patterson

Cross Fire (Alex Cross #17), James Patterson, 12.26.2010, * * * *

I generally enjoy James Patterson's novels for several different reasons.  Patterson seems to have become the master of the short chapter, sometimes just one or two pages, which seems to increase the pace and makes the novel a faster read.  His stories are enjoyable, light, easy to read, and quick to get into and out of.

Cross Fire is no different and fits the mold perfectly.  I have read several of the Alex Cross novels, but not the entire series and I somehow keep reading them out of order.  Someday I would like to start at the beginning and work my way through them consecutively, but again the nice thing about the series and Patterson in general is that I don't feel like I need to read the whole series in order to enjoy this particular book.

Alex and Bree are planning their wedding and are quite busy being happy and content with their lives and children when a series of brutal assassinations of high-profile people rocks Washington DC.  The sharp shooter is good, and leaves no clues to his identity, and the scramble to find the killer pulls Alex away from the family and wedding planning as he desperately tries to stop the killer before anyone else is killed.  He also gets pulled into an investigation of the murders of several homeless people with strange numbers and math equations carved into their skin.  And if all that wasn't enough to keep him busy, his nemesis, Kyle Craig, has returned to taunt and torment Alex as only a psychopath can.  With multiple bad guys to catch, Alex definitely has his plate full in this novel!

Overall this was an enjoyable read, perfect for the Christmas break.  The short chapters make it easy to pick it up and read for five minutes and put it down again if needed, without having to wade through dozens of pages to find a "good stopping place."

Although the short chapters can also have the opposite affect  - luring you into reading just one more, and just one more, and just one more!  (But that's OK, right?!)

Let me know if you've read any of this series and what you think about it, OK?! 
Until next time, Happy New Year, Party hardy, Don't drink and drive, and have a great holiday weekend!!

Review - Here Abide Monsters

Here Abide Monster, Andre Norton, 12.19.2010 * * *


Andre Norton is a master.  Everyone knows it.  That is the reason that I decided to read this very short novel when I stumbled across it in a bag of used books.  Unfortunately, I didn't really care for it much at all.


The basic premise is quite interesting - exploring the mystery surrounding various spots in the world where people disappear and are never heard from again.  The Bermuda Triangle, fairy mounds in England, and in many other places, there are hundreds of stories of people vanishing and never returning; or sometimes returning years later - but where did they go?  Norton explores that question by following two young people who vanish while driving down a road one sunny afternoon, when they suddenly find that they have somehow moved out of their world and into a world physically very similar to earth.  But they soon find that this "other" world is also very different, and is the places where the legends and myths of unicorns, dragons, the fairy folk, and many others all come from.  The world is dangerous, with aliens in flying saucers flying around capturing humans, and mysterious cities surrounded by invisible force fields, random monsters and creatures roaming the landscape and threatening the lives of anyone they come across.

As Nick and Linda explore their surroundings they quickly realize that there is no returning back the way they came.  They eventually meet up with a small group of survivors who have been living in this nightmare realm for years, and begin to learn about the world and the forces that control it.  Nick is presented with a choice at one point - to become one with the land and join with the "Heralds", the inhabitants of the miraculous towering cities which are safe from the attacks of the alien ship, or to reject the land and try to survive on their own.  The group is against accepting the Heralds offer, as they believe the changes it involves are somehow evil, but Nick isn't so sure.  And when some members of the group learn how to use the powers of illusion they are developing, Nick and Linda decide to try to rescue some members of their party who have been kidnapped by the aliens and hope to find a way home.

Unfortunately the story drags through much of the book, information is doled out so slowly that the pace becomes unbearable.  Character development is kept a minimum, although Nick fairs a little better than most in this respect since his is the main viewpoint of the story.  Linda remains forever the vapid girl with her yappy dog, and the others in the group are generally even less recognizable. Then after what seems like hours of slogging through uninteresting and unimportant events and conversations, the ending is rushed through in just a few pages, but with absolutely no resolution.  Nick and Linda don't find a way home, and we're left with the impression that they are planning to accept the Heralds offer and change, but the book ends before that happens so we don't even get to see what this supposedly horrible and evil change is, or if they even actually go through with it.

Another thing I didn't like is that the cover illustration shows something happening that actually never happened in the book - which is always frustrating for me personally.  If the motorcycle doesn't drive up to the city in the story, then don't show it happening on the cover!

Overall I was a little disappointed, but I'm giving it three stars because the idea was good, and I liked Norton's interpretation of where our own myths and legends come from.

Have you read this book, or anything else by Andre Norton?  What'd you think?

Merry Christmas!

That's it - Just hoping that all my little addicts have the most wonderful Christmas ever, and that y'all got lots and lots of fantastic books to read!!

It's Christmas, y'all!!

Oh my gosh you guys!  It's almost Christmas already, and I haven't posted a single thing about it. 

Something that I have found very interesting this month is that some bloggers have participated in Advent Calendars, or Tours, which I think is really kool idea!  I may have to think about doing something like that next year...

But today I am going to talk to you about Christmas Music.  Do you like Christmas Music?  Do you LOOOOOVE Christmas Music?

I do.  Totally, like, a lot.

I usually drag out the Christmas Music in early November, sometimes before the Halloween candy is even gone.  Nowadays, that doesn't involve pulling a big box of albums, cassette tapes and CD's out of the back of the closet like it used to, and eagerly sorting through the colorful covers to decide what to listen to first.  Now, it's simply a matter of pulling up the playlist on the ol' iPod - but as my taste does change slightly each year, there is always some rearranging that must be done, especially if I've discovered some new Christmas Music to add to my list!

This year I hit the jackpot!  I discovered new Christmas Music that was actually released last year by David Archuleta (you know, that guy from that Idol show!) but also - TA DA! - Glee released a whole Christmas album!  Score for me!

So here is my current top 10 list of Christmas Music from my iPod.  I never get much beyond that, as I keep going back to the beginning and starting over!

Sunny's Top 10 Christmas Music List:
1. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Casting Crowns.
2. Pat-A-Pan - David Archuleta
3. Riu Riu Chiu - David Archuleta
4. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Glee Cast
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Glee Cast
6. O Holy Night - Glee Cast
7. Silent Night - David Archuleta
8. The 12 Days of Christmas (Live) - Straight No Chaser
9. Three Kings - Eclipse
10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - 98 Degrees

(Yes, I know that one is on there twice - but I love it!  And it's my list, so whatever!)

So this is what I am currently obsessively listening to.  What are you guys listening to?  What is your favorite Christmas Music?  Do you start listening early, or wait until Christmas Eve?  Leave a comment below and tell me all about it!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

The Tease:
"But there was no wound and the man cowered back, with a crowing sound, his knife forgotten, his hands before his eyes, huddling in upon himself, while the serpent woman coiled and reared - until the monk lashed out with his pole and she vanished utterly.  That was only the beginning of the siege."  - Here Abide Monsters, by Andre Norton.

So....What's your Tease?

Review - The Dying Earth

The Dying Earth, by Jack Vance, 12.13.2010, * *

I couldn't find a picture of the cover for the book that I read - Sorry!

The Dying Earth is a collection of short stories written about some of the inhabitants of an Earth that is thousands of years in our future - maybe even millions.  The sun is dying, no longer yellow, but red and dim, and most humans have left the planet, but some remain, inhabiting the ruins of hundreds of long dead civilizations. Technology seems sparse, but magic has been discovered, although over time much has been lost and what were once the thousand spells has dwindled to barely one hundred.  A couple of  the stories overlap slightly as far as the characters involved.

I have heard about this book and the sequels for years, but never felt compelled to read it.  But it arrived in a bag of used books that my mom brought to me recently and I thought, why not?  People love this book.  People RAVE about the author and his mad skills and how wonderful and ingenious this series is.  So I gave it a try.

I didn't care for it, at all.

Maybe it's just that I don't really like short stories - I want some meat on my books!  My boyfriend says that if it can't be said in less than 300 pages it's not worth reading.  I'm the opposite - as far as I'm concerned 300 pages is just a good start!  So I have never really cared for short stories because I don't feel that they give me enough "story."  But sometimes a collection of short stories will satisfy like a novel, if they all move towards a common goal or have a similar theme.

But the stories in The Dying Earth don't seem to have any commonality that I could find.  Individuals travel the country looking for magical artifacts and some find them and some don't.  A magician learns how to create women.  A women tricks a magician in order to save the man who created her.  Everyone is either amoral or downright evil - cursing their lovers or friends at whim.  Sometimes there are consequences.  It was all just a jumble of weirdness that didn't make much sense and didn't have any cohesion, so I was unable to enjoy it.  Character development was non-existent, because none of the characters stuck around long enough for the reader to actually get to know them, and certainly not long enough for any of them to change or grow.  I do have to give credit to the author, though, for having a wickedly amazing imagination!

The series seems to be so universally loved though, that I wonder if I am missing something?  Have you read The Dying Earth?  Did you like it?  If so, leave a comment and tell me why I'm wrong!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

The Tease:
"The red sun, drifting across the universe like an old man creeping to his death-bed, hung low to the horizon when Liane breasted Prophiron  Scar, looked across white-walled Kaiin and the blue bay of Sanreale beyond. Directly below was the market-place, a medley of stalls selling fruits, slabs of pale meat, molluscs from the slime banks, dull flagons of wine." -The Dying Earth, by Jack Vance.

So....What's your Tease?

Review - Blameless: The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Third

The Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger
1. Soulless, 10.19.2010, * * * *
2. Changeless, 11.02.2010, * * * *
3. Blameless, 11.22.2010, * * * *

Warning! - It is impossible to comment on Blameless without minor and major spoilage occurring for the previous books in the series!  If you have not read Soulless and Changeless, stop reading this, go buy the books, and read them IMMEDIATELY!!!
(Don't forget to come back here when you are done!!)

From the Back:

Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon is the scandal of the London season.  Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town.  To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.  While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templar's.  Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse that the vampires - AND they're armed with pesto.

My Thoughts:
So, after the revelations that occur at the end of Changeless, Alexia wastes no time leaving Castle Woolsey.  Unfortunately she has nowhere to go except home.  Things are all right at first - other than having to deal with her wretched half-sisters, of course - but somehow the news of her inconvenient condition leaks to the society pages, and suddenly her life is even more of a scandal than it already was!  After the attack by the previously mentioned mechanical ladybugs with their poison-tipped antenna, Professor Lyall and Madame Lefoux urge her to leave town.  Alexia does one better, and leaves England altogether in search of answers.
First stop, Paris, where she is almost immediately attacked by vampires at the home of Madame Lefoux's inventor friend, and the trio (you didn't think Floote would let her go traipsing off across Europe without him, did you?) barely escape by fleeing to the roof and flying away in their host's Ornithopter.
From there they head to the coast and stop briefly in Nice to consult with a member of the Order of the Brass Octopus who may know something that will help explain Alexia's condition and why the vampires are so desperate to kill her, but before they can learn anything they are forced to flee again, over the mountains and into Italy, and straight into the welcoming arms of the Templar's, who wage an eternal war against the supernatural vampires and werewolves.  Alexia and gang find themselves comfortably (if closely) held at the Templar HQ, and Alexia discovers the joys of pesto sauce.  But she begins to suspect that not all is as it seems, and goes digging for more information, discovering much more about her heritage and how the Templar's have used her kind in the past.  Deciding at last to flee the Templar's the Trio find themselves trapped, and Alexia must use all her skill and wits to remain safe - and in one piece.  If only Lord Maccon would leave off the formaldehyde and make himself useful!

This was probably the most enjoyable of the three novels to date - a light quick fun read, with just enough suspense and danger to keep things interesting.  The little reveals about the Templars view of the supernatural set and their many abuses of the preternaturals were interesting - Carriger has obviously spent a lot of time with her world-building and following the effects of supernatural entities out to their logical conclusions - including the invention of pesto sauce!  I give Blameless 4 out of 5 stars, highly recommend it to anyone, and anxiously await Heartless: Book the Fourth, which will be released in July 2011.

Have you read Blameless?  Leave a comment and tell me what you thought!!  Or if you haven't, tell me what you are reading now - Curious minds want to know!!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

The Tease:
"There were tears in Aviendha's eyes.  There was no shame at crying over this tragedy.  She had feared the truth, and she could no longer deny it." - Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

OK, so I'm STILL reading the same book for over a month now, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and I'm almost to the end.  Each one of the Wheel of Time novels have been so good that I really never want them to end anyway!

So....What's your Tease?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

So now that NaNoWriMo is over, I'm able to do a Teaser Tuesday again!  Hooray!
This week the Teaser is from Towers of Midnight (again - sorry!  I haven't been able to read much!).  However, I'm going to cheat a little bit - this is not a random quote.  It's also a little longer than two sentences.  But I came across it and thought it was great, so I'm going to use it for the Teaser this week!

The Tease:
""But son," Bryne said, leaning forward. "A man is more than one drive, one goal.  No woman wants that in a man.  It seems to me that men who spend time making something of themselves - rather than professing their devotion - are the ones who get somewhere.  Both with women, and with life itself."  Bryne rubbed his chin.  "So, if I have advice for you, it's this: Find out who you would be without Egwene, and then figure out how to fit her into that.""  - Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

What's your Tease?

My NaNoWriMo Word Cloud

November is almost over, people!  And I'm so far behind on my novel, it's not even funny.  But I hope to get caught up this weekend!

In the meantime, I found this kool website, http://www.wordle.net/, where you can paste in a chunk of text and it creates a "word cloud" from the most common words.  So of course I had to play with it!  Here's my word cloud, based on the first 31,000 words of my NaNoWriMo novel:

Pretty kool, eh?!

Ok, so back to writing - I'll be back soon with a review of Blameless, by Gail Carriger, and some thoughts on Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.

19,000 more words to go - Wish me luck!

Kids Need To Read

One of my favorite actors, Nathan Fillion, (Firefly, Serenity, Castle) is co-founder (with author PJ Haarsma) of Kids Need To Read, a charitable non-profit foundation which was founded in 2008.

According to their mission statement: 
"Kids Need to Read works to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children."

There are several ways to help this worthy cause:
1. You can make a donation directly to the organization.
2. You can also purchase merchandise from their cafepress.com store!  They have some great merchandise, and if given as gifts, helps to spread the word!
3. John Ottinger III (from Grasping for the Wind) is even going to donate the proceeds from his ads and Amazon affiliate links!  Way to go, John!

 So please check out the Kids Need to Read website, and if you can help, great!  If you can't help them with a donation or a purchase, I promise NOT to look at you with my judging eyes, but only if you help spread the word about this totally awesome charity!

Also check out Grasping for the Wind (which is where I found out about Kids Need to Read) - It's a pretty awesome blog, full of all kinds of book-tastic deliciousness!

Bits 'n Pieces

So, I've been crazy busy the last few weeks and haven't had time to post much. Sorry, y'all!  I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year, and then was sick for the first six days of the month and didn't do any writing at all - So now I'm totally behind on my word count.  But I'm slllloooowwwwlllyyyyy catching up.  Yay, me!

I'm sure everyone has already seen this, because it seems to be everywhere online today, but Entertainment Weekly is doing an "Exclusive First Look" including 10 photos of various characters, of HBO's Game of Thrones, (based on George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series), which is currently filming in Europe, and will air sometime in 2011!!  The sets and costumes look amazing, so check them out.

Ryan Britt posted an article on Tor.com, about the new BBC Sherlock Holmes mini-series (currently running on PBS Masterpiece Mystery), and discusses why he considers it science fiction.  I've been watching the series (Thank goodness for Tivo!) and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Holmes and Watson enter the 21st century and perform their special brand of sleuthing in a modern setting.

I'm also trying to read Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson when I can, interspersed with small portions of Blameless, by Gail Carriger.  Totally enjoying both, but need more time!!

What's keeping you busy?  Leave a comment and let me know what you've been up to!!

Teaser Tuesday - Towers of Midnight

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!


The Tease:
"Even something the Creator had designed to be eternal could be unraveled using the Dark One's energies.  It bespoke an eternal truth - something as close to being sacred as Graendal was willing to accept.  Whatever the Creator could build, the Dark One could destroy." - Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.

What's your Tease?

Review - Changeless: The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Second

The Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger
1. Soulless, 10.19.2010, * * * *
2. Changeless, 11.02.2010, * * * *
3. Blameless

Alexia Tarabotti, now Lady Alexia Maccon, is busy getting on with her new life as a happily married woman, and her new job as the muhjah, the third member of the Queen's top secret Shadow Council.  But when the Queen's armies, who have been recalled from India, arrive in London, Alexia inherits two new problems: a regiment of supernatural werewolf soldiers camping on her lawn, and a mysterious "ailment" that humanizes all vampires and werewolves in London, and exorcises all ghosts from their homes.  When her husband suddenly announces that he must leave at once for his native Scotland, (and refuses to tell her why), Alexia is concerned, but when the area of the "affliction" leaves London and begins traveling northward as well, Alexia decides she must do something at once!

Floating aboard a dirigible has always been one of her fondest wishes, but the reality is not quite up to her standards - bad food, poisoners, and secret attacks threaten her life and those of her traveling companions.  But upon arriving at Kingair Castle in Scotland she realizes that things are not likely to get better.  The "affliction" has arrived, no one knows why, what, or where it is, the pack can't change into their wolf forms and haven't been able to for months, and there's a whole leadership issue to be resolved - not to mention, who keeps searching Alexia's room and shooting at her?  Of course, Alexia considers all this to be merely par for the course, and she'll get around to solving everything after she has a decent tea - if she feels like it, that is!

Again, another smashing success, full of surprises and mysteries, and even a reappearance of those darn brass octopuses - what could they mean?!  4 out of 5 stars, and I can't wait to get started on Blameless: Book the Third!

But it will have to wait, as I'm currently reading Towers of Midnight, which may take me awhile!  Until then, why don't you leave a comment below and tell my what you are reading this week?

Review - Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate: Book the First

The Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger
1. Soulless, 10.19.2010, * * * *
2. Changeless
3. Blameless

Alexia Tarabotti is one of the most fascinating characters that I have come across since first discovering Amelia Peabody several years ago.  She's a straight to the point, no-nonsense kind of girl.  This may have something to do with the fact that she's a spinster, far too old to be good marriage material.  Add to that, her father was Italian.  Oh, and plus that, she a preternatural - meaning she has no soul.

Set in an alternate earth where vampires and werewolves are an accepted part of London's high society, Alexia is a true oddity.  Very few know about her unique abilities, and her intense interests in science and technology are frowned upon by her family as being unladylike.  When a vampire attacks her at a private ball, she is both shocked and outraged at his behavior, which goes against all common decency and social etiquette.  Somehow he doesn't seem to know the rules, and she accidentally kills him.  Lord Maccon, from the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, arrives to investigate, and suddenly Alexia finds herself involved in the investigation.  Someone is making vampires and werewolves disappear, new vampires keep appearing with no one to claim them, and Alexia and her trusted parasol must get to the bottom of the mystery before time runs out for both her, and the werewolf who loves her.

I adore the slightly steampunk-ish setting of this novel, and Alexia herself is a riot.  Opinionated and not afraid to speak her mind or get her hands dirty, she's always right in the thick of things.  The romance part of the story was ok, but the best part was the mystery itself.  I give Soulless 4 stars, and would definitely recommend it!

Teaser Tuesday - Changeless

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!


The Tease:
"Resisting the terrible pushing sensation, Lady Maccon strode into the room and picked up a piece of the mummy's discarded bandage, pointing to the image depicted on it.  An ankh, broken in half." -- Changeless, Book 2 of The Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger.

What's your Tease?

Bits 'n Pieces

Just a few little things:

Towers of Midnight will be released November 2nd, 2010 - That's tomorrow, people!!  Hooray!!  I am so looking forward to this book - I can't even tell you!

If you haven't seen the book trailer, go check it out, it's awesome!!

I decided last week that I wanted to participate in National Novel Writing Month.  This will possibly cut into my reading and posting time a little, but hopefully not too much.  Wish me luck!
 
Also, AMC's The Walking Dead premiered last night, and it was freaking awesome! Did anyone else watch it?  I totally loved it, and the first episode ended with such an amazing cliffhanger, I don't know how I'll make it until next Sunday night.  I think it's great that it's not really a Zombie show, but instead a show about people who just happen to be trying to survive in a world filled with Zombies.  Ultimately, it's all about the characters, and the people, their choices, and what they are willing to do to survive in this new world they've been thrust into.
What did you think?

Halloween! - "Not So Scary" Movies

Someone asked me today, after reading yesterday's post about "Scary" movies, if I had any favorite Halloween movies or TV shows that weren't necessarily scary, but that were infused with the Spirit of Halloween.

(Ha!  Spirit - get it?  Muahaha!)

Anyway, the answer is - of course I do!!  These aren't in any specific order but I can honestly say I love to watch:

Hocus Pocus (1993) is fabulous - Why?  Because it's chock full o' Bette Midler, that's why!  If you haven't seen it (where've you been hiding?) it's about these three witches in Salem, MA who were sentenced to die 300 years ago, and have arrived in the present day to find that Halloween is drastically different from what it used to be!

Of course Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  It is a must see every year, no matter what.

Obviously, no Halloween list would be complete without the Roseanne Halloween Episodes!  Those were the best!!  Roseanne wasn't the only TV show to do Halloween episodes though - I didn't realize there were so many!!

Also (and these are probably my favorite) several of the Harry Potter movies show Halloween celebrations at Hogwarts, but even the movies that don't deal directly with the holiday are still fun to watch if you need some help getting into the Spirit of the Holiday!  (See!  I did it again - Spirit!  Muahaha!)

What is your favorite non-scary Halloween Movie or TV show?