In which I shock all of you by doing linkity on a different day of the week than I usually do

Remember when I gave you an assignment last week? (You did splendidly and I thank you!) You were all helping Chaos and Mayhem prepare to interview Crazy Aunt Purl’s kitties during their visit here tomorrow. They’re supposed to be helping their mom promote her new book (reviewed below!), but you know how kitties are… You’ll also have the chance to enter to win one of five copies of the book (Crazy Aunt Purl’s Home Is Where the Wine Is: Making the Most of What You’ve Got One Stitch (and Cocktail!) at a Time by Laurie Perry), so make sure to drop by!

Contests

  • CJ and LB are at DIK, giving away a copy of each other’s forthcoming books (Mind Games (urban fantasy) by Carolyn Crane and Catch Me If You Can (m/m romantic suspense) by L. B. Gregg). Leave a comment answering their question for your chance to win. Contest closes 11:59 pm EST, February 28.

Of Things Bookish

  • It’s time to vote for the ugliest book covers in Jessewave’s Fourth Ugly Covers Competition! Please note that these covers are totally and completely NSFW and should not be perused by the easily offended. Bring your brain bleach and leave your comment about which cover you think is the ugliest before February 28. Why, yes, I did nominate the cover that has Candy Cane Guy on it. However did you guess? 😉

Learn Stuff

Stuff That Didn’t Fit Elsewhere (Because I Didn’t Put Enough Effort into It)

  • This looks cool, but I have no idea how well it works for suggesting new music that you might like.

Meow Meow Meow Meow

Reading Update
Crazy Aunt Purl’s Home Is Where the Wine Is: Making the Most of What You’ve Got One Stitch (and Cocktail!) at a Time by Laurie Perry. Like its predecessor, Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split, this is a book that, for all its humor and irreverence, is about personal growth. Follow along with Laurie Perry as she makes her New Year’s resolutions (#7: “Try Something New [and Not Just a New Food]”), then tries to achieve them throughout the year. This was a great read – and you definitely do not need to be a knitter to enjoy it, although there are some fun (and funny) knitting and crochet patterns at the end of the book. (I am so going to make the braided icord rug.) My favorite lines from the book are about meeting and speaking with sock knitters: “Eventually they found me and talked soothingly to me, and told me stories about how easy it was and how quick, portable, and fulfilling sock knitting could be. I’m sluttish and easy when it comes to craft cults, so it didn’t take much convincing.” *ahem* I may have said those same things to knitters who’d never tried knitting socks before. 🙂 (Please note that I received this book from the publisher for review.)
When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling by Tom Collins. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a bi-curious artist with a heart of gold (whose family own the Irish Eyes pub) and a paramedic who avoids emotional entanglements. I was briefly afeared that there was going to be squicky twin action in this book and am very glad there wasn’t! My only complaint is a plot thread involving a voicemail and an attack that never went anywhere. (If it sways anyone’s opinion on the book, there are kilts. Yum.)
Brindisi Bedfellows by Jamie Craig. ebook. Enjoyable m/m romance about a guy who gets dumped by his boyfriend the night before they were supposed to leave for three weeks in Italy. While drunk, he invites his ex’s best friend along in place of the ex, and things get a bit complicated (but interesting!).
Dress To Impress by Jodi Payne. ebook. Good m/m romance about a financial adviser who meets a mysterious guy at a bar and takes him home for the night, then can’t forget him.
Sweet Treats by Stormy Glenn. ebook. So-so m/m romance about a doctor and a baker (but no candlestick maker) that was so sugary sweet I barely stayed conscious. Also, the main characters were called Nicky and Brandon, which was a problem for me. (See Cheating Chance by James Buchanan…)
Fundamental Things (OC Pride, Book 2.5) by Stephanie Vaughan. ebook short. I loved the previous two books (Jumping the Fence and Crossing the Line) in this m/m romance series, but this short didn’t do much for me.
Handle With Care by Mallory Path. ebook short. M/m romance short that left me completely “huh?” and “ooooooooooookay…”
Crimes of Passion by Mel Keegan. ebook short. Ok m/m romance about a couple dealing with difficult in-laws coming to visit.
The Guardian by Mary Calmes. ebook. This fantasy m/m romance qualifies for Kris’ m/m rut challenge! I’m trying and trying, but I fear the fantasy enjoyment channel in my brain might be permanently damaged. 🙁 Again, as with Hero, I don’t really feel as if I can evaluate this. I loved Mary’s paranormal m/m romance (Change of Heart) and her four-part m/m romantic suspense, A Matter of Time, but this just didn’t immerse me to the same extent.
Seducing Stephen by Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon. ebook. I read this m/m historical romance for Kris’ m/m rut challenge because I tend to avoid historicals like… the Plague. *pauses for groaning to die down* But then I won it in a contest last week, which seemed like a portent of some sort. So I hunkered down and read it. (Tam, you’ll notice that although this is a whole bunch of sentences, I haven’t actually reviewed anything yet.) And… I loved it! Possibly because there weren’t all sorts of dreary historical details, true, but the authors also managed to portray the secrecy and discretion that being gay in the mid- to late-18th century demanded. Highly recommended.


“I am ignoring you and your nonsense about unobscured pictures, Mom.” -Mayhem

40 thoughts on “In which I shock all of you by doing linkity on a different day of the week than I usually do”

  1. I’ve read Brindisi, the Games book and Sweet Treats. I liked them all and you’re so right about the sugar overload in Sweet Treats.

    Thanks for the cool links!

  2. Oh wow… Thanks for all the heads up. OH the best kittie belly evea… tooo precious. And yes, I even teared up at Myron’s story.
    Thanks for the pimpage…. Now I have to go back and address when it ends… oooppss…
    Hope all is well.. it is hump day… a couple days closer to the weekend… and my countdown still goes on…

  3. We made yarn lampshades over balloons in art class in grade school in the early 70s. What is the world coming to?

    I think if you would leave some wet socks in your sink, May would leave your new socks and the photo shoot alone. Well, you might have to have the new socks next to the sink so May can be in the shot. Panther Princesses must be seen!
    .-= Brenda´s last blog ..Progress Report: Frost Diamonds and Seussian Vine Scarf =-.

  4. Grrrrr. Who ate my comment? Did your cats steal it Chris?

    I can’t remember what I said this morning. Sigh. I think I said I hate books that make you go “WTF?”.

    I also said I was going to pass on some of the links.

    Ummmm. Oh right, I liked Seducing Stephen for the same reason you did. They were discrete and had to be careful but it wasn’t this “OMG we could be hanged, angstety angst angst.”

  5. You said, “Um, I owe it all to Google Reader and the handy starring feature. :D”

    Ohhhh, I’ve tried Google Reader. Actually I still have it, but those blog posts just build up and sometimes I have to just click the link to mark them all read and start with a clean slate! haven’t really looked into the star feature, though …
    .-= Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Review TLC 101 by Janey Chapel =-.

  6. At the bottom of each post as you view it in the right pane in Google Reader, you have a few options: Add Star, Share, etc. I star the items that I might want to include in a linkity post, then view my starred items when I’m ready to write the post. Some of them make the cut, some don’t. I can’t imagine trying to keep track of all that without Google Reader!

  7. I LOVE Google Reader! It saves my day, every day. 😉

    The yarn lampshade is really cool, and totally up my alley, being all ‘no knitting required’. That would be a fun project for the light fixture in my wee downstairs bathroom…

    The Sky Mall Kitties song reminds me, vaguely, of Smelly Cat from Friends.

  8. Still laughing at the disgruntled male model pics (poor little raccoons, though)

    I must read both Aunty Purl books, and now I know what my mom is getting for her birthday! Laughing ’til I snort *and* shopping ideas all on one page. You and your bloggy goodness are indispensable, Chris!

  9. Holy crap you read a historical?? I almost fell off my chair when I saw Seducing Stephen on your list and that you loved it. Good for you! Now if we could just get the fantasy channel working in your brain you’d be all fixed. 🙂

  10. Oh, so many links I don’t know where to look first 🙂

    ! I’m trying and trying, but I fear the fantasy enjoyment channel in my brain might be permanently damaged.

    NOOOOOO! *starts throwing surgical equipment around feverishly* Must fix!
    .-= orannia´s last blog ..Next? =-.

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