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Linkity’s guide to yet more gift guides

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Congrats to Nancy, who won Blood in the Water (An Act of Piracy #1) (2nd ed) by Tami Veldura! Tami is releasing Blood in the Water today.

Congrats to Kate, who won Holding the Edge (Cold War #2) by Keira Andrews!

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Reading Update
The Magicians (The Magicians #1) by Lev Grossman. DNF at 65-70%. Pretentious. Feels like Harry Potter and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe crossover fanfic. I hate everyone in the book and can’t be bothered to pick it up again.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong. Why do you ask?” -Mayhem, whose superpower is looking pathetic – she makes the vet feel guilty for just entering the exam room!

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity’s guide to even more gift guides

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Congrats to Irene, who won Fire and Water by Andrew Grey! Fire and Water will be released by Dreamspinner Press on December 15.

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Reading Update
Hockey Prospectus 2013-2014 by Timo Seppa, Ryan Schwepfinger, and Jesse Spector. Ok preview of the 2013-2014 NHL season, with a detailed section on each team. Probably most useful for serious hockey number crunchers or for those with a fantasy hockey team.
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. Delightful, humorous, and thought-provoking read in which Munroe answers a wide array of “what if…?” questions sent to him by blog readers and proves, yet again, that science can be fun. Now, if only Munroe would write a high school physics textbook…

“It is good to be free of the cone.” -Chaos (His cornea is completely healed!)

*creepin’ in the background* -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity gives thanks

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Congrats to tea58, who won Baited by Tami Veldura! Tami will release Baited today.

Congrats to Jess1, who won The Fifth Son (2nd ed) by Blaine D Arden! The Fifth Son will be released by Cayendi Press today.

Congrats to Sally, who won Stardust by Andrew Grey! Stardust will be available as part of the Dreamspinner Press holiday collection Celebrate! on December 1.

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  • Briefish linkity today because of my holiday weekend. 🙂

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Reading Update
Casino Infernale (Secret Histories #7) by Simon R Green. Another ok addition to this series. Once again, only Eddie can save the family Drood and the world, blah blah blah.

“I disapprove of this bear and of the coworkers who sent it to you with all of those terrifying ‘Get Well Soon’ balloons.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity limps along

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Congrats to Melandra, who won Out of Time by Clare London!

Congrats to Ardent Ereader, who won Making It Pay by JL Merrow!

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  • I spent Wednesday evening in the emergency room with what they initially thought were kidney stones, but which turned out to be a ruptured hemorrhagic ovarian cyst. Yay, painkillers!

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Reading Update
All Clear (All Clear #2) by Connie Willis. No reviewette I write can possibly do this book (or really, the single book composed of Blackout and All Clear) justice. Amazing. Epic. Subtlety of detail that had me paging back to confirm something hinted. Love. Loss. Loyalty. Uncertainty. Hope. Humor. Tragedy. The triumph of the human spirit. Connie Willis has outdone herself with this amazing tale of time travel so deeply rooted in place. Her Hugo and Nebula awards for Blackout/All Clear bring her lifetime totals to eleven Hugos and seven Nebulas. Make sure you have both books on hand and clear your schedule for a few days…
Fire Watch by Connie Willis. Pretty good short that introduced us to the time-traveling historians of Oxford. When comparing this to Blackout/All Clear, you can really see how much Willis has honed her craft over the years.
To Say Nothing of the Dog, or How We Found the Bishop’s Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis. Delightfully excellent romp through 1888 and 1940 with the time-traveling historians of Oxford. If you’re reading it for the first time, don’t be concerned when you have absolutely no idea what’s going on for the first quarter of the book. You’re in the narrator’s headspace and he has no idea, either.
For Heaven’s Eyes Only (Secret Histories #5) by Simon R Green. Ok continuation of this James Bond-inspired paranormal series. Yet another cliffhanger. Don’t be surprised when I suddenly stop reading the series, even if I have the next book on hand. Cliffies really piss me off.
Live and Let Drood (Secret Histories #6) by Simon R Green. Another ok continuation of this paranormal series. At least it wasn’t a cliffie!

“…zzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity is taking a four day weekend, falalalalala!

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Randonymity

  • Finished a Christmas gift:

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Reading Update
The Spy Who Haunted Me (Secret Histories #3) by Simon R Green. Ok paranormal thriller in which Eddie is teamed up with five other agents, who must work together and compete against each other to solve five great mysteries. The best part of this was Walker from the Nightside being one of the agents.
From Hell with Love (Secret Histories #4) by Simon R Green. Ok continuation of this paranormal thriller series. I would’ve been severely annoyed about the cliffhanger ending if I hadn’t had the next book on hand.
Blackout (All Clear #1) by Connie Willis. Very good story about the delightful chaotic time traveling historians of Oxford. Of course things go terribly awry. 🙂 Be warned that this is the first half of a story and things stop at a precarious point, so have All Clear on hand to continue. *hopes that someone returns an ebook copy to my library very, very soon*

“Socks socks socks socks socks!” -Mayhem

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Linkity fears winter is drawing nigh

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Reading Update
Daemons Are Forever (Secret Histories #2) by Simon R Green. Pretty good continuation of this paranormal suspense series loosely (very loosely) based on James Bond: Eddie Drood is Bond, the Armourer is Q, Penny is Moneypenny, the Matriarch is M, and the books’ titles are hauntingly not-quite-familiar.
Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1) by Jim C. Hines. Good contemporary fantasy about a wizard whose power is being able to make things from books real. Due to a magical mishap, he’s been relegated to working as a librarian in the UP (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) and not using magic… until the shit hits the fan, of course.
Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris #2) by Jim C. Hines. Ok continuation of this contemporary fantasy series about a UP book mage and the dryad he loves. That’s a radical simplification of things, but I’m still annoyed about the ending – it wasn’t a cliffie, but things were left way too wide open. If that happens with the next book, I won’t continue reading the series.

“Mom, I’m pretty sure you should back away slowly from the photo effects.” -Mayhem

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Halloweenity!

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Reading Update
The Man with the Golden Torc (Secret Histories #1) by Simon R Green. Good paranormal thriller about Eddie Drood, the black sheep of a massive family that quietly protects the world from the supernatural. I was completely surprised by all of the turns this one took! *still  boggled* This isn’t rated higher because there was an awful lot of exposition that felt unnecessary and at times unending.

“I wish the windows were open. Mom is mean.” -Mayhem

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Linkity leaking lime (I have no idea what these titles mean, either)

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Congrats to Sara, who won A Time for Loving by Nico Jaye, plus a “Love” ring!

Congrats to Carolyn, who won Trick or Treat by JL Merrow!

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  • A bookmobile in front of the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Minneapolis last weekend:

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Reading Update
You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes – Photographs from the International Space Station by Chris Hadfield. Amazing, perspective altering photos of the Earth from the International Space Station, as taken by Commander Chris Hadfield during his nearly 3000 orbits of the planet. Apparently he took nearly 45,000 photos turning his time aboard the ISS – I can’t imagine how much work it was to sort them and identify the locations…
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield. Colonel Chris Hadfield’s engrossing autobiography provides a fascinating look at not only his life and the path he chose to becoming an astronaut, but also incredible glimpses of what it was like to fly on the Shuttle, ride a Soyuz to and from the International Space Station (ISS), and live in the ISS for five months. Throughout the book, Hadfield’s sense of humor and joy, as well as his levelheadedness, shine through and provide insight into living a more fulfilling life here on Earth.
Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1) by Jordan L Hawke. Good paranormal m/m romance about repressed scholar Whyborne who gets involved in private detective Griffin’s investigation of a mysterious death. The especially mysterious and paranormally bits were straight out of HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Truly, having studied at Miskatonic University in Arkham, the town of Widdershins would have to be Very Odd Indeed for Whyborne to notice anything amiss. And Whyborne’s colleague at the museum, Christine, reminded me a bit of Amelia Peabody.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

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Linkity leeway lacks

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Don’t forget to enter the contest for Cutting Out (Cutting Cords #4) by Mickie B Ashling! Closes 7 pm CDT, Tuesday, October 28.

Congrats to Lee T, who won Danny and Mike (2nd ed) by Valentina Heart!

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Reading Update
Cited to Death (Jamie Brodie #1) by Meg Perry. Good mystery about an academic librarian who receives a puzzling letter from a recently deceased ex-boyfriend (a medical librarian) and encounters no end of problems as he tries to figure out the puzzle.
Hoarded to Death (Jamie Brodie #2) by Meg Perry. Pretty good mystery in which Jamie agrees to go on a hoarding show to help his ex-sister-in-law. While I really appreciated that Jamie and his boyfriend deal with issues in a realistic way, I got annoyed by how contrived the plotlines were.
Burdened to Death (Jamie Brodie #3) by Meg Perry. Ok continuation of the series as Jamie and Pete continue working on their relationship issues and it didn’t really feel as if the “mystery” had enough substance for the book.
Researched to Death (Jamie Brody #4) by Meg Perry. Good series continuation as both Jamie and Pete’s ex-boyfriends turn up, Jamie gets involved in a murderous search for an old book, and, of course, Jamie and Pete continue to work on their relationship issues. Fortunately, the mystery in this one was more substantial than in the previous book, although I think both mystery and relationship issues could’ve been edited down to decrease how repetitive and contrived things felt by the end.
Hidden (Alex Verus #5) by Benedict Jacka. Good continuation of this urban fantasy series about a London mage specializing in divination, although you’d think his specialty was finding trouble!
Hockey Abstract 2014 by Rob Vollman, Tom Awad, & Ian Fyffe. Very good explanation, using NHL examples, of the basics of hockey analytics. This edition builds on what was covered in the 2013 edition, including discussing where and why their predictions for the 2013-2014 season went wrong. I’ll definitely be rereading this to help all the concepts sink in.

“squirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrel!* -Mayhem

The squirrel is hard to see – it’s between May’s body and the curtain (but outside, fortunately!).

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Linkity is forced to admit that it’s fall

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Reading Update
The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook: Revolutionary Techniques, Groundbreaking Recipes by America’s Test Kitchen. What I liked the most about this cookbook is its approach to gluten-free cooking. Instead of just providing recipes, America’s Test Kitchen explains what they tried that didn’t work as they developed each recipe. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but gluten-free cooking (especially baking) requires a completely different sort of cooking chemistry than what most people are familiar with. Because they explained what the challenges of each recipes were, what they tried, why they tried it, and how successful the results were, I learned more about gluten-free cooking from this cookbook than I’d learned in my previous 18 years of being gluten-free. While the baking recipes use a flour blend developed by America’s Test Kitchen (which can be made in bulk for less than buying flour blends), each recipe also includes adaptations for using two different commercially available flour blends.
Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World by Anne Jamison. I’ve officially given up on this one – I just haven’t been in the mood to read academic writing. Might never be in the mood to do that, actually. 🙂
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint. Illustrated by Charles Vess. A young girl who lives in the Ozarks wanders deep into the woods and ends up on a very unexpected path. Charming illustrations follow her journey, as she learns about friendship. consequences, and standing up for herself.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

I have no idea where May’s head is in this picture. That’s her front paw to the right of Chaos’ nose, but other than that… o.O