Category Archives: Reading

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

“Are you going to read just paranormals until your brain falls out?”

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The title of today’s post was an actual quote from someone working at Uncle Hugo’s yesterday. And the scary thing? I only buy a fraction of the paranormals I read at Uncle Hugo’s. I check out most from the library, buy some at the library “withdrawn” store, and win quite a few, too. (Um, I might’ve won a couple more books yesterday. Whoops.)

Jen’s having a contest – look at the picture, try not to shriek, answer the poll, then leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win some pretty stitchmarkers. Contest closes 8 pm EDT, April 16.

You probably know I’m a big fan of bookstands. Here’s some info on how to make one yourself – the inspiration in this case was for an ebook reader, but I think you could adapt this to more traditional books. For ebook readers, I would suggest that you add something so that the reader doesn’t slip from side to side. For my beloved ReadUpon, I’m going to use a bit of rubbery shelf liner.

Looking for book information? ISDNdb.com looks very handy indeed.

Now that Barnes & Noble has acquired Fictionwise, there are rumors about a B&N ebook reader. Whatever happens with that, I’ll remain a proponent of ebook readers (like the EZ Reader) that focus on reading a wide variety of formats.

Sure, it’s a darn attractive bookcase, but it really doesn’t look like an efficient use of space to me. Now, these Tetris bookcases are another story…

Have a bike trainer or exercise bike without a book holder? Add one yourself.

Beware the dreaded vampire kitteh!

Hee hee – go Powell’s! Take advantage of the #powellswin special, which is 20% of any order over $20 if you use the #powellswin code before 11:59 pm PDT, April 16.

You’ll notice that my reading update looks a bit different today. Instead of using Amazon for my book links, I’ve started using IndieBound. By doing this, I’m able to support indie bookstores and to reduce, in my own tiny way, dependence on a megalithic bookseller. I got this idea from Dear Author and the Smart Bitches, whose explanations are far more eloquent than my own (yup, more fallout from #amazonfail). (Please note that if there isn’t cover art, the book was not available via IndieBound. Ebooks will be linked from BooksOnBoard if possible.)

Reading Update
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide To Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan. Written with humor, irreverence, and an obvious love for the wide wild world of romance novels, this book is hellagood snarky delight. Ranging from serious to silly and back again, the Smart Bitches reveal (pun intended) and revel in the genre’s excesses. It was a damn fun read, with enough insightful critical bits to keep things interesting. Plus there are coloring pages! A Choose-Your-Own-Ending Romance with paranormal, Regency, pirate, and contemporary paths! Mad-Libs! Controversy! And even a board game!
The Druid Made Me Do It by Natale Stenzel. Doesn’t it just figure – that hot one-night stand (who vanished in the middle of the night without a word) from vacation eight years ago turns out to be a puca and the local Druid leader puts you in charge of his reformation… (Hello! You aren’t even a Druid.)
Real Vamps Don’t Drink O-Neg by Tawny Taylor. So-so paranormal romance featuring vampires and lamiae. Very, very steamy stuff. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The Darkest Fire (Lords of the Underworld) by Gena Showalter. ebook short. Prequel to the Lords of the Underworld series. Interesting background information, but definitely not as smooth as the actual series.
The Darkest Night and The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld, Books 1-2) by Gena Showalter. These are really absorbing and well-written books about immortal warriors who were forced to house all the evils that escaped Pandora’s box (such as Death, Pain, Violence, etc).
Shadow Touch (Dirk & Steele, Book 2) by Marjorie M. Liu. Skipped this one earlier because I had trouble finding it. Continues to be a recommended series about the paranormal detective agency of Dirk & Steele.

“So you think he’s really cute, Mom?” -Mayhem

“Let’s see if he passes my snuggle test.” -Mayhem

“I’m sorry to break it to you, Mom, but he’s just not furry enough.” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading, Reviewettes

Contested books

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If you donate to Heifer International from April 8 through 15 and let Teabird know, you will have a chance to win an audiobook of Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat Who Changed the World and a “companion yarny surprise.”

Not all sales are going down in the current economic climate – sales of romances are going up. And paranormals continue to be a hot sell, whether they’re romances or young adult.

Reading Update
At the Edge by Cait London. So-so romantic suspense about a set of psychic triplets. It felt like the author was maybe trying to be Nora Roberts, but her choppy writing style just can’t compare to the Nora. This was obviously the first in a series, but I have no interest in reading the other books – and you know how I can suffer mediocre writing to follow a series! 🙂
The Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich. This is one of her rereleased oldies, probably most interesting for the things that were lifted directly for the Stephanie Plum series. Grandma Mazur and her gun, the big old powder blue Cadillac that Stephanie gets stuck driving periodically, Bob the dog – they’re all here.
Crash Into Me by Jill Sorenson. Very intense and definitely recommended romantic suspense about an FBI agent and a SoCal surfer.
Casual Hex by Vicki Lewis Thompson. This was the third book in this series about the magical town of Big Knob (ahem), Indiana, complete with a witch, wizard, lake monster, dragon, fairy prince, and poker-playing raccoons.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Harlequin Blaze) by Kimberly Raye. Yes, another in this series about cowboy biker vampires who run a custom chopper shop in a small Texas town. At this point, I’m just curious to see whether they’ll ever find the Ancient One and be freed of their vampirism.
Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden. Very steamy and well-done paranormal romance about a psychologist to supernatural beings.
When He Was Bad by Cynthia Eden and Shelly Laurenston. A pair of decent paranormal romance novellas about shifters and the women who get used to having them around.
Here Kitty, Kitty by Shelly Laurenston. ebook. So-so paranormal romance about lions and tigers and wolves,  oh my! Laurenston’s newer stuff seems better.
Coyote’s Mate (Coyote Breeds, Book 2) by Lora Leigh. You shouldn’t have to sniffle and weep during an er0tic paranormal romance. It just seems wrong. Well-written and extremely involving – as evidenced by the aforementioned sniffling.
Hell’s Belles by Jackie Kessler. Runaway succubus Jezebel manages to get turned into a human and is hiding out in NYC. I’m definitely reading more of this series.
My Immortal (The Immortals, Book 1) by J. K. Coi. ebook. I like the premise of Immortal demon hunters, but I gotta hope that the writing and editing of this series improves. Silly things like someone’s t-shirt changing from white to black between pages are sloppy and disruptive.
Immortal Kiss and Dark Immortal (The Immortals, Books 2-3) by J. K. Coi. ebooks. Much better than the first book! Definitely some Dark-Hunter inspiration going on in this series.

Some have observed that I have special book contest winning luck. Hmm. Pictured below are most of the books I’ve won since February. (I loaned Angel’s Blood to Jeanne and I think there are at least three books still on their way to me.) So, what do you think?

Hmm. Maybe so.

“I don’t know what the big deal is about books. Most of them bore me.” -Mayhem

“I mean, ok, some of them are tasty, but then Mom starts yelling at me. Really, it’d be better if she didn’t have them around. How’s a panther girl supposed to resist that sort of temptation?” -Mayhem

Reading

EZ Reader

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Last week I mentioned that I had ordered an Astak EZ Reader ebook reader (aka the Hanlin V3 and the BeBook). It arrived Friday, so I’ve had a few days to form some initial impressions.

The EZ Reader has a 6″ screen and uses ePaper/eInk (as do most ebook readers). It’s definitely larger than my Palm Tungsten E2 (which is not a bad thing for reading).

It came with the leather case, wrist strap, headphones (plays mp3s), charger and USB cable, and 2 gb SD card.

None of my text comparison pictures turned out very well, alas. (Click on the pictures to enlarge any picture.) Not that you can tell, but the EZ Reader’s screen is, indeed, easy to read and easier on the eyes than the Palm’s screen. Plus the EZ Reader (like most other ebook readers) has several zoom levels. (You can see zoom examples in this comparison of the Kindle 2 and the EZ Reader.) You can also add and change fonts, which I’m sure I’ll find handy since I prefer reading serif fonts.

I much enjoyed the box, too – it’s a fascinating mixture of Engrish, contradictions, and excessive quotations. Don’t even get me started on the manual. I could improve that thing by 250% with a marker and 30 free minutes. *has flashback to tech editing training*

For example, in the upper right corner on the back of the box, it says “Download books easily to your computer, then onto EZ READER thru any USB cable. USB cable not included.” But… the USB cable is included, even if it isn’t mentioned on the package contents on the lower left corner!

The front of the box (above) exuberantly notes that it “INCLUDES 2GB SD Card, Card Reader, Leather Case!” Hmm, no SD card reader, unless you mean… the EZ Reader itself? Oh, and definitely ignore the titles displayed on the EZ Reader pictured on the front of the box – although there’s no disclaimer, those titles aren’t among the free preloaded titles. Nope, not even Jane Eyre!

The front of the box also exclaims that “TEN (10)” book formats are supported. However, from what I’ve been able to determine, the reader supports 11 or 12 formats, plus some handy things like .zip, .rar, .jpg, etc. I’m all about supporting non-proprietary multiformat devices. 🙂

Not everyone around here appreciated the box as much as I.

“This box sucks. It’s way too small to stick my head into. Hmph.” -Chaos

Stay tuned in the days to come as I actually read a few books on the EZ Reader and compare the traditional and electronic reading experiences.

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Books with kitty tummy

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Excellent – a book blogs search engine. You can also check to see if your favorite book blogs are included and request that they be added.

Curious about what paranormal, urban fantasy, scifi, or fantasy releases are scheduled for April? SciFiGuy.ca has a great list.

Well, I just capitulated and ordered an ebook reader – I went with the EZ Reader (aka the Hanlin V3 and the BeBook), which is $229 after $20 mail-in rebate from Fry’s through April 3. It supports a pretty amazing list of formats. Yeah, yeah, I know, I was just saying that I was going to make my Palm Tungsten E2 last forever… but I finally got frustrated with 25 words/screen.

Like your book browsing to be atmospheric? Check out Obsidian Kitten’s post about some of the most beautiful libraries in the world and then look at pictures of some lovely bookstores. The Barnes & Noble  in the Historic Chateau Theater (Rochester, Minnesota) isn’t on that list, but it should be. (Bless flickr for having some photo sets of it.) I have fond memories of going to movies in that theater when I was very young and hoping a princess would come out onto one of the balconies.

Reading Update
A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison. This was a completely delightful read! It’s classified as a paranormal romance, but only because there’s a bit of magic (along the lines of Like Water for Chocolate). I think I’d even recommend this to the dedicated contemporary romance reader.
The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance. This is an excellent collection containing 24short stories from authors including Kelley Armstrong, Carrie Vaughn, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Meljean Brook, and Rachel Caine.
Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy, edited by Dana Stabenow. This is a follow-up collection to Powers of Detection: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy, which I really, really enjoyed. I enjoyed some of the stories in this collection (such as the stories by Simon R. Green, Laura Anne Gilman, Dana Stabenow, and Donna Andrews), but I also skipped several stories I couldn’t get into. Sadly, the blurb on the front cover (“Includes a new Sookie Stackhouse story”) was the best part of said Sookie Stackhouse story.
Body Movers by Stephanie Bond. Romantic suspense. Probably a bad sign that I wanted to smack the two main characters for being stupid… throughout the entire book. I passed this one on to CursingMama – we’ll see if she has the character smackdown urge or not.
Master of Darkness (Primes Series, Book 4) by Susan Sizemore. Haven’t read the first three books in this series – I picked this one up solely because of the very nice Nathan Kamp cover. It was an ok paranormal romance. I might read some of the other books in the series. (Although I was amused that Nathan Kamp, with shaggy dark hair, was used as the model for the book’s hero, who had very long platinum blond hair. Heh.)
Passion Unleashed (The Demonica Series, Book 3) by Larissa Ione. Really, really good paranormal romance. I was utterly unable to put this book down and am glad I started reading it early enough so I didn’t have to stay up all night reading it, because I would’ve. I highly recommend this series! The only problem I have with this particular book, which is Wraith’s story, is that the dysfunctional Wraith feels a bit too akin to a mixture of Wrath and Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. (However, Wrath’s and Zsadist’s stories were my favorite of the BDB, so…)
The Bride of Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula, Book 3) by Marta Acosta. Ah, Milagro De Los Santos, how complicated is your life! I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in this series to see what Milagro manages to get up to next. I think Acosta does a nice job of getting me thinking on issues of ethnicity and individuality, too, without beating me about the head with them.
One Hot Mess by Lois Greiman. Cocktail waitress turned psychologist Chrissy McMullen has a gift for finding trouble that’s second only to Milagro’s (see previous reviewette). And of course, brooding LAPD Detective Jack Rivera and his lecherous father, former California Senator Miguel Rivera, continue to spice things up. If you’re a fan of Lori Avocato or Janet Evanovich, you should give this series a try.

Mayhem was the long skinny upside down kitty in yesterday’s post. (While Chaos does love to sprawl upside down, he’s, um, not quite as svelte.) Here’s a tummy closeup for your tummy scritching pleasure. And her tummy fur is far softer than it looks. *scritch scritch scritch*

*sprawl* -Mayhem

Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Once Upon a Crime

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On Saturday, CursingMama came over. We walked to French Meadow Bakery and Cafe for brunch (I had gluten-free Cajun hash browns with chicken chorizo – yum!) and then walked another block to the Once Upon a Crime Bookstore.

Once Upon a Crime was holding their 7th Annual Writes of Spring event, featuring over 60 local authors. If you’ve ever been to Once Upon a Crime, which is a wee shop in the basement of a brownstone, you’re probably wondering how they crammed 60 writers into the place, much less had space for anyone else. They managed the feat by having four shifts of 15 writers each.

CursingMama and I were there to see Lois Greiman and pick up signed copies of her latest mystery featuring psychologist Chrissy McMullen and Lieutenant Jack Rivera, One Hot Mess. We experienced part of the first two shifts of authors, mostly by lurking in corners to avoid being trampled and crushed by the polite and well-behaved crowd.

Ms. Greiman braved said crowd and graciously started signing while store employees were setting up the table for her shift. Darn it, I forgot to ask her why the latest book deviated from the naming conventions of the previous books in this series (Unzipped, Unplugged, Unscrewed, and Unmanned).

Our purchases at Once Upon a Crime qualified us for the Indie Bookstore Contest – hurry, you have to make your purchase and submit a photo of your receipt by noon EST, March 31! (Qualifying purchases must be from an indie bookstore during the month of March 2009 and be for more than $0.99.)

While I was out gallivanting, the kitties were having a really rough weekend.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

“…mmm… sunbeams…” -Mayhem

Knitting, Reading, Reviewettes, Tales of the Neighborhood

Proof that parents actually like to receive bibs

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Now and again I’ve taken some grief about knitting bibs for baby gifts (let’s ignore the fact that using the cats as models for the bibs might contribute to that, shall we?), but I finally have proof that a knitting parent who received a few bibs as a gift was inspired to knit more bibs! Really, what better evidence could there be? (Yes, you have seen the bibs in the linked post before…)

Saturday was gorgeous here – sunny and +60F. Most of the snow has melted. Unfortunately, it melted so fast that the ground is still frozen, so you end up with scenes like this:

Yes, that is a mallard swimming around the playground. I totally wouldn’t recommend going down the slides, which each had eight inches of water at the bottom (and a fine layer of mud immediately below that). We shall not even speak of the snow that’s predicted for tonight and tomorrow.

Reading Update
Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves. Definitely recommended for CursingMama and anyone else who enjoys a well-done contemporary romance. It even had me sniffling near the end.
Happy Hour at Casa Dracula and Midnight Brunch (Casa Dracula, Books 1-2) by Marta Acosta. Funny, snarky, and delightful. I wouldn’t actually classify this as paranormal romance – they have more of a chicklit sort of feel. Definitely recommended. (I will neither confirm nor deny that I got a little sniffly near  the end of Midnight Brunch.)
Riding on Instinct by Jaci Burton. I won an advance reading copy of this book at Nalini Singh’s blog last month. This is the third book in Burton’s “er0tic romance” series about the Wild Riders, a group of bikers based in Dallas who work undercover for the government. In this book, the Riders are supporting a federal agent who’s working as a stripper in New Orleans, trying to find a rogue agent involved with Colombian drug runners. Burton can definitely write, but I need a little more story to support all the steam!
Kiss of a Dark Moon (Moon Chasers, Book 2) by Sharie Kohler. Um, the best part of this book was the Nathan Kamp cover. It’s a paranormal romance about evil werewolves and the people who hunt them. So-so writing, but there’s a big oversight a few pages from the end of the book that pretty much ruined it for me.
Mortal Sins (World of the Lupi, Book 5) by Eileen Wilks. This continues to be a well-written series, more urban or paranormal fantasy than romance. The main characters are FBI Agent Lily Yu and werewolf prince, Rule Turner. The series is complex and compelling. Recommended – and read it order, dammit. 😉
“A Dream of Stone & Shadow” by Marjorie M. Liu, from Dark Dreamers. A nice Dirk & Steele short story.
Date with a Devil by Anne Stuart, Cherry Adair, and Muriel Jensen. A merely ok collection of romance short stories.
Night Secrets by Cherry Adair. More T-FLAC wizards. Yum.
Dead Sexy and A Body To Die For (Harlequin Blaze) by Kimberly Raye. Hee hee – hunky vampire cowboy bikers who survive more on s3x than on blood! (Come on, you know I’m a sucker for the silliness of some of this stuff, right?) Usually I complain about people on the cover having tattoos that they don’t have in the book, but in both of these, it’s the opposite. Very rare.
Thai Die: A Needlework Mystery by Monica Ferris. Betsy Devonshire and friends are back, solving mysteries out of Betsy’s Excelsior, Minnesota, knitting and needlework shop. This was an ok addition to the series.

Things are going to continue to be cloudy and cool and rainy (maybe some snow on Wednesday) for the next several days, so I think Chaos has decided to hibernate. Wish I could join him.

*…zzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which I have to write my entire post in html because WordPress is being daft

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Think you can figure out what the mysterious items are from Eryka’s purse before March 20? If so, you could win a $50 KnitPicks gift certificate!

Over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, you could win a copy of Peter S. Beagle’s novel A Fine and Private Place, plus a copy of his new short story collection, We Never Talk About My Brother.

Largehearted Boy’s giving away three classic Dickens’ novels – comment by March 18 for your chance to win.

So, so wrong.

Google’s tracking our browsing history in order to target ads better, but you can opt out.

The Periodic Table of Typefaces is pretty cool.

If you’re a Moleskinne fan, check out the desktop icons.

Very, very cool bookmarks.

Top 10 reasons that knitting is better than therapy.

Ah, yes, this reminds me of my attempts to keep Chaos off the counters and table. And really, have you given enough thought to your zombie attack survival plan?

Thanks for Cyn for the link to this Osaka cat cafe. *ahem* I’m sure some of us you could run one of these from home…

Beware – Red Tango has more cute kitty merchandise available…

Reading Update
Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten by Sharon Ashwood. Witches and vampires and werewolves and demons and ghouls, oh my! This looks like it will be the first book in a new series, and I can only hope that the next book is as intense and enjoyable to read. Definitely recommended.
Tempt Me With Darkness (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 1) by Shayla Black. Wizards! And a warrior cursed to immortality by Morgan le Fay. The writing’s a bit clumsy at times, but either it improved as the book progressed or I got so involved with the story that it didn’t bother me anymore. I’m off to see if there are more books in this series. Maybe it’s just me, but there were two characters who reminded me of Voldemort and Snape… (Oh, I won this book over at Midnight Moon Cafe.)
Wicked By Any Other Name by Linda Wisdom. The third book in the series that started with 50 Ways To Hex Your Lover is another enjoyable chicklitty paranormal romp.
Raven: A Novel of the Cleveland Undead by S. A. Swiniarski. An excellent non-series vampire novel written in 1996. Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy a good mystery with some amnesia tossed in. (This was part of Blood and Rust: Two Novels of the Cleveland Undead, but while The Flesh, the Blood, and the Fire was equally well-written, it was a historical mystery that never really captured me, so I didn’t finish it.)
The Red Heart of Jade and Eye of Heaven (Dirk & Steele, Books 3-4) by Marjorie M. Liu. Kick butt paranormal folks working for a mysterious detective agency. Recommended.
Night Fall and Night Shadow by Cherry Adair. More T-FLAC wizards! Woot. Much as I enjoy these, I must remind you that they are not the best-written books you’ll ever find.
Strong and Sexy (Sky High Air, Book 2) by Jill Shalvis. I’ve now finished this trilogy, which was okay contemporary romance/romantic suspense. But now I have to wonder if every main male in Jill Shalvis’ books has a scar across one of his eyebrows.
Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, and Tomas E. Sniegoski. Very good stories about Harry Dresden, John Taylor, and Greywalker Harper Blaine. I suspect the Remy Chandler story was good, too, but I’ve never been able to get into that series, so I skipped it. Definitely recommended if you’re a fan of any of these authors.
The Better To Hold You by Alisa Sheckley. A very different paranormal romance about werewolves. Parts of it had promise, but in the end, it was too disturbing for me and just not that good.
Magic in the Wind (Drake Sisters, Book 1) by Christine Feehan. I actually read this novella a while ago, as part of the Lover Beware anthology, but having read most of the Drake Sisters’ series recently, I picked up this standalone when I saw it at the library. While the later Drake Sisters books are better, I continue to just shake my head at the s3x scenes.

“I am a vampire panther girl! Rowr! (Were you really, really scared?)” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

*insert annual whining about springing ahead for Daylight Savings*

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Author Barbara Bretton is giving away more alpaca silk – you can enter her contest until sometime March 10. (While you’re there, check out the picture of Laced with Magic, sequel to Casting Spells.)

*gasp* Betty Crocker gluten free baking mixes?!

This one’s for Margene and Carole.

I have to make some time to listen to This American Life’s explanation of the current financial crisis.

If you have a weakness for adorable black kittens… Beware. They need homes!

My kitties are more likely to knock the pictures askew… And they would totally kill me in my sleep if I did this to them.

This cat tail USB drive is kind of scary looking, isn’t it? And also? So wrong.

Who knew there were people out there who could certify a place as elf-free (or not)?

I definitely recommend Lynn Viehl’s hysterical post about a 911 hotline for writers and readers.

Dear Author has a nice point-by-point comparison of the Kindle and Sony ebook readers.

Do you ever lie about your reading habits and upscale them somewhat? You aren’t alone.

Reading Update
Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett. This somewhat stream-of-consciousness autobiography from EELS frontman Mark Oliver Everett (more commonly known as “E” or “Mr. E”) was surprisingly readable and moving. Listening to the EELS while reading the book definitely enhanced my experience – there’s something eerie and very right about reading what inspired a particular song and having that song come on. The book’s title is from one of my favorite EELS songs:

I don’t leave the house much
I don’t like being around people
Makes me nervous and weird
I don’t like going to shows, either
It’s better for me to stay home
Some might think it means I hate people
But that’s not quite right

Divine Fantasy by Melanie Jackson. The latest installment in Jackson’s Divine… series features an immortal, lycanthropic Ambrose Bierce. The first book (Divine Fire) was pretty good, but at this point I’m mostly reading these out of a certain sick fascination. (Of course, if you are fond of books written in an eighteenth-century style, you might appreciate these much more than do I.)
Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis. Nicely done contemporary romance set in the Sierra Nevadas at Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Based on the setup, Shalvis has a few more Wilder Adventures romances planned and I’ll definitely read them. However, there was one thing that kept bothering me throughout this book – the attraction between the two characters was such that every time Cam looked at Katie, her glasses fogged up. As someone who wears glasses, I found that to be silly and unrealistic.
Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis. Haven’t read Book 2 yet. Oh well. This was an ok contemporary romance that finished off the Sky High Air trilogy.
White Heat (The Men of T-FLAC, Book 11) by Cherry Adair. And now I’m all caught up with the men of T-FLAC.
Just Another Judgement Day (Nightside, Book 9) by Simon R. Green. John Taylor is back. What else is there to say? There are so many great lines in this book, such as this one: “Sharon led us down the hallway and ushered us into a nice comfortable parlour, which contained everything you’d expect to find in a cosy vicarage parlour, but rarely do outside of a Jane Austen novel.”
Tiger Eye (Dirk & Steele, Book 1) by Marjorie M. Liu. Nicely done paranormal romance about a woman with a telekinetic connection to/control of metal and a tiger shapeshifter cursed by an evil magician 2000 years ago.
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey, Book 3) by Mark del Franco. If you enjoy Harry Dresden, I recommend giving this series a try. Connor Grey’s a druid and private investigator in Boston, 100 years after Faery converged with our world. These are involving and enjoyable reads. And I’m sure I’d say that even if Nathan Kamp wasn’t on the covers (sadly, covered with clothing).
Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong. There are three main segments to this book – the first is the story of how Jeremy came to be, the second is a lengthy look at Clay’s backstory (from being bitten almost to meeting Elena), and the last is a more current look at a slice of Jeremy’s life. A must-read if you follow Armstrong’s Otherworld series.
Pleasure Unbound and Desire Unchained (Demonica, Books 1-2) by Larissa Ione. Image ER run by demons, with a few werewolves and vampires thrown in for good measure, inspired heavily by J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. Very good paranormal romance, but be warned – it’s also extremely steamy.

Fun and easy to do:

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading

Hmm. The dishes in the sink are suspiciously black and furry…

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Author Barbara Bretton (who wrote the wonderful Casting Spells) is giving away six skeins of alpaca silk to a lucky commenter. Leave your comments before the evening of March 6.

Bridget’s giving away a copy of Julia & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. Send her an email or leave a comment by March 7 for your chance to win. (I read it a while ago and enjoyed it, although some of the cooking scenes left me queasy.)

There’s still time to contribute to Animal Rescue of Fresno (ARF) and participate in Concateknit’s contest! For every $5 you contribute, you get an entry in the contest, which ends March 7.

If you’re interested in the chance to win an iPod Touch and are willing to work for it a little, check out the latest contest over at Bitten By Books. Contest runs through March 20.

OMG! A real panther cub! The cute! The cute! It burns!

Eeep! Chaos?!

Dear Author has a list of recommended romance releases for March.

Check out the Random House Suvudu Free First Book Library, where you can download the first title of a series for free. Current titles are Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, and Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt. I just downloaded Blood Engines myself.

While being able to find more information on every little thing that wanders through your head is a nifty aspect of the interwebz, keeping a tangents log can help you stay more focused.

IKEA Planner is a nifty little free Windows application that lets you play around with how different IKEA stuff will fit into your space.

If you’re like me, glasses shopping is fraught with peril (since you can’t actually see what you look like in various frames). The FrameFinder seems like it could be very handy for us.

Like to learn things but don’t really want to bother with credits and all that? Check out the list of 200 free online classes put together by the Online Education Database.

Eeek! If a kitteh like this shows up at your house, you should probably run away really really fast (taking your hard drives with you, of course).

“If I pretend I can’t see you, Mom, you can’t tell me I shouldn’t be in the sink. Besides, all panthers hang out in sinks. Really.” -Mayhem

Contests, Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Beware! There’s a dangerous predator hiding in the grape ivy.

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Karen’s celebrating her new blog home with a contest – guess how many yards of finished 2-ply yarn she’ll get from the pictured bobbins and you could win some fibery goodies. Contest closes at midnight, March 5. Please note that the English translation of the post starts right after the photo.

The Largehearted Boy is giving away a set of Monty Python’s Flying Circus Megaset dvds. Leave a comment about your favorite television comedy character by March 4 to enter.

Just a heads up so there are fewer injuries this time around – I will be posting about knitting tomorrow. You have been warned. 😉

Wow – talk about an amazing transformation from garage to gorgeous crafting room!

Doodling might actually increase focus and concentration. *saves this one for work*

Lifehacker has an interesting list of ten useful tools for your blog.

Here’s an intriguing do-it-yourself cat bed/scratcher.

An ebook LOL that’s probably most amusing to those of us who read some variety of romance.

Hmm, maybe the paranormal romance genre’s a little out of control? Hee hee.

Literary Escapism has a truly amazing summary of forthcoming urban fantasy and paranormal romance releases, upcoming author interviews, and more.

Reading Update
Mine to Possess and Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changelings, Books 4-5) by Nalini Singh. Surely you’re tired of listening me to wax rhapsodic about this author and series? Don’t forget that Angel’s Blood, the first book in the Guild Hunter series, comes out tomorrow. You can also read an interview with Nalini Singh at Bitten by Books and maybe win a copy of Angel’s Blood!
In Too Deep (The Men of T-FLAC, The Wrights: Book 4) and Hot Ice (The Men of T-FLAC, Book 7) by Cherry Adair. Hmm, I think I’m all caught up through Book 10 in this series now. Books 8-10 were definitely my favorites – love those anti-terrorist wizardly Edge Brothers. (But I think Hot Ice has a major plot inconsistency that surfaces nearly at the end, alas.)
The Good, the Bad, and the Sexy by Emily Carmichael. Enjoyable non-paranormal romance about a movie star hiding out at a ranch in Arizona with his incorrigible tween daughter.

Oh no! Be very, very careful passing near the grape ivy as you attempt to water it…

“I am a fierce panther girl, lying in wait for my prey, the wicked and wily furry pink mouse! Quake in fear, FPM!” -Mayhem