I was glad to hear from so many people who wear seatbelts after yesterday’s post! Thanks for all your comments. The accident is definitely something I think about around this time of year.

Not that you can tell, but I’m plodding along on my very large super secret project. Such projects are the death of knitbloggers, aren’t they?

Wendy’s giving away a lovely skein of sock yarn – leave a comment by 4 pm EST, November 11 (aka today) for your chance to win.

Stephanie of On the Needles is having a stash sale you might want to keep an eye on.

A ferret in a bib!

What would Photoshop look like in real life?

It’s Litter Week over at ModernCat. They’ll compare natural litters, discuss various litterbox gadgets (watch for giveaways), and even talk about toilet training your cat…

Who can relate to this lolcat, eh?! Hmm, I think this one was enacted in my home when Mayhem arrived.

If you’re a fan of The Matrix (the first one – you know, the one that was good), you’ll probably get a kick out of the spoof – If The Matrix ran on Windows. (Depending on how your browser is configured, the video may very well start when you click on that link.)

Reading Update
Weddings from Hell by Maggie Shayne, Jeaniene Frost, Terri Garey, and Kathryn Smith. Four solid stories about weddings gone paranormally awry…
Necking by Chris Salvatore. Very enjoyable vampire chick lit.
What Dreams May Come by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Rebecca York, and Robin D. Owens. Three pretty cheesy stories about “magical romance.” No Dark-Hunters here, alas.
Reflections & Dreams: Reflections / Dance of Dreams (Stanislaski Saga) by Nora Roberts. Hey, I had this in my queue at the library when I was on my big Nora Roberts kick and it just showed up.
Really Unusual Bad Boys by MaryJanice Davidson. They are pretty unusual, but not very bad at all. They might even be a bit more cuddly and well-mannered than bad, actually.
The Vampire Shrink (Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist) by Lynda Hilburn. This was very well-written (if a bit uneven at times) and had an intriguing premise – I have the next book in my library queue already. Please note that this book is absolutely crawling with vampires. 😉
The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo. This posthumously published novel is very dark and intense. Recommended – but don’t expect it to be an easy read.

“Hmph. That big kitty thinks he’s such a badass, just because he can leap like a real panther. I’ll show him badass.” -Mayhem

I was trying to see if I could make it to November 1… Maybe next year!

Check out the huge’n’scary’n’black’n’purple spider in Sydney’s neighborhood! Eeek!

Author Kim Harrison is having a Halloween costume contest. You have until November 17 to submit your photo entry for a chance to win assorted goodies, such as a copy of Harrison’s forthcoming Rachel Morgan novel.

Only a few days left to participate in Obsidian Kitten’s contest!

Black kitties. Gotta keep an eye on them is all I’m saying…

Love Natalie Dee’s “Why you should learn how to knit” cartoon. Heh.

Hmm. Definitely a unique take on bookmarks…

Reading Update
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kenner. A pretty amazing cast (Simon R. Green, Donna Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, and more) writing stories about werewolves and Christmas.
My Immortal (Seven Deadly Sins, Book 1) by Erin McCarthy. I enjoy McCarthy’s humorous works, such as her tales of the Vegas Vampires, but had a lukewarm reaction to this book about temptation, demons, and lust, set in New Orleans. (It was completely vampire free, however.)
A Curious Affair by Melanie Jackson. Although it’s categorized as paranormal romance, it’s pretty light on the paranormal (the protagonist can talk to cats) and heavy on the mystery and sleuthing. (Also completely vampire free!)
Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I received this as an Early Reviewers copy via LibraryThing, so you get a bit more of a review than usual. 🙂 Free-Range Knitter is a collection of essays, split into seven parts as if it were a knitting project: casting on, knitting two together, yarn overs, left-leaning decreases, making one, continuing to knit even, and casting off. Each part begins with an essay about how a friend or family member knits, which then leads to deeper insights. Pearl-McPhee’s trademark knitting humour is evident throughout the book, and some of the essays will be familiar to regular readers of Pearl-McPhee’s blog, Yarn Harlot, but rest assured that the book includes plenty of extremely readable and thought-provoking new material. I found myself repeatedly setting this book aside, taking short breaks so I could savor it and look forward to the next part. I also kept trying to figure out what blend of essayists I could use to describe the feel of the book – I think Elizabeth Zimmermann meets Aldo Leopold, with a dash of Bill Bryson is probably the best I can do! (Even more vampire free than A Curious Affair!)
Knit Two: A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel by Kate Jacobs. I received this as an advance copy from the publisher – according to Amazon.com, it’ll be available November 25. So yes, you get more of a review for this book, too. This is set five years after The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn’t enjoy the first several chapters, which seemed chaotic, what with reintroducing the characters and updating us on the intervening five years. I had a related complaint about the beginning of Jacobs’ novel Comfort Food and its similar chaotic flurry at the beginning. But, as with Comfort Food, once I got past the somewhat rough start, the story quickly drew me in and immersed me. At times, the narrative style felt choppy and seemed to interfere with the flow. And I found myself annoyed with various characters off and on. I also thought I had the ending all figured out… and I didn’t. If you enjoyed The Friday Night Knitting Club, you’ll definitely want to read the sequel. (No vampires in this one, either!)

For those of you who were curious about what yesterday’s tissue paper snack might’ve been wrapped around, it was a wrist strap from splityarn for my camera.

“Wasn’t that strap thingy wrapped in more tissue paper? No?! Hmph. Too bad – it was tasty stuff.” -Chaos

Stephania’s having a contest – leave her a comment about the etsy/Ravelry/elsewhere crafter who particularly inspires you, and you could win a skein of her hand-painted sock yarn. Contest closes midnight, November 7, PDT.

Hee hee – have you seen the “Ye Olde Google Charts” sailing directions for Columbus?

In the future, will your plants be wandering around, competing with your kitties for the sunny spots? (I’m sure Mayhem won’t take any crap from the plants – I can hear the *crunch crunch crunch, nom nom nom* now.)

Hmm… here’s a nice IKEA hack that creates a cat friendly charging station.

If you haven’t switched to Google Reader from Bloglines, maybe this article about Bloglines’ failure to update and further failure to communicate what’s up will inspire you. The article includes information on how to export your blogs from Bloglines and import them into another feed reader – very easy. I ran Google Reader and Bloglines in parallel for a month or so earlier this year, and Google Reader was definitely more reliable. (Interestingly, it appears Bloglines fixed the update issue and communicated about it not long after Lifehacker posted about the problem.)

Megabus is coming to Minneapolis – a ticket to Chicago starting for less than $11? Same amount of time as the train or driving? And free wi-fi? Hmm…

Have paranormal romances killed off the contemporary romance? The folks over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weigh in.

If you’re a fan of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series, Caine’s agent has a Weather Warden short story posted on her blog.

I only found out about Saturday’s Readathon on Friday (from Nicole), so I didn’t participate this time. But there’s another one coming up in April. Cursingmama and I are already in training!

Reading Update
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. This is the tattoo-focused sequel to Wicked Lovely – much of it won’t make sense unless you read that book first. It was good, but it bothered me – not quite the same squinky feeling that, say, reading the Twilight novels gave me – but definite discomfort. And the ending was odd – it felt as if there was a chapter or two missing before the final two chapters.
Hot Spell by Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook. I picked this up for “Falling for Anthony,” which is the first tale of the Guardians. I also read the stories by Leigh and Walker – the stories were ok, but I’m not inspired to check out anything else they wrote. Speaking of Meljean Brook, she’s having daily contests until November 4, when the seventh Guardian novel, Demon Bound, is released.

Cockatiels at Seven (A Meg Langslow Mystery) by Donna Andrews. Yet another madcap installment in the Meg Langslow series, featuring a borrowed toddler, a boa constrictor, dancing poodles, wayward sheep, and missing Gouldian finches. My only complaint was the book’s abrupt ending – things were definitely left hanging.
Blood Drive and The Watcher (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 2-3) by Jeanne C. Stein. Being the further adventures of newly turned and reluctant vampire, bounty hunter Anna Strong.
A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix. A very dark and suspenseful first novel – I’ll definitely read the next book when it comes out later this year. (Note that I kept reading even though I am not a fan of novels with serial killers in them.) (Sorry, CarrieK, there are vampires in this one, too.)

“Why do you think I’d be a good spokescat for Caribou Coffee’s Obsidian blend, Mom? Are there spiders in it?” -Mayhem

Click the picture to discover the answer to the spokescat question…

If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.

– Richard Bach, Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah

Kristi’s knitting a tessellating fish afghan for her twins’ November birthday. In order to complete the afghan in time, she’s looking for some tessellating fish donations. For each tessellating fish received by November 3, the knitter will be entered in a prize drawing. (How many non-knitters are wondering “WTF?” right now?)

Scout’s giving away some KnitPicks Harmony needles if you leave a link to some great “swag” for her by the evening of September 25.

Did you see this wonderful cat modeling knitwear photoshoot over at Domesticrafts last week?

Imbrium has a very thoughtful post about knitblogging and Ravelry.

Oy, I am soooooo behind in Google Reader. The returning to work? Dang. Not an easy transition, especially since it appears I now am simply seven work days behind instead of relaxed from vacation!

Reading Update
Night Play, Seize the Night, Sins of the Night, Unleash the Night, Dark Side of the Moon, Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, Books 6-11); The Dream-Hunter, Upon the Midnight Clear, Dream Chaser (Dream-Hunter, Books 1-3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Ok, I finished rereading the Dark-Hunter and Dream-Hunter books, then reread the last bit of Part 1 and all of Part 2 of Acheron as I tried to figure out why the heck Acheron bothered me so much. I think I understand that now.

All of the previous Dark-Hunter and Dream-Hunter novels integrate the flashbacks into the story. In Acheron, Part 1 is the flashback to Ash’s human life 11,000 years ago, while Part 2 is the modern story. At the beginning of the book, Kenyon explains why she did this – she felt that Ash’s backstory was simply too extensive to do as flashbacks. As written, I have to agree. However, I think that writing the backstory was cathartic for Kenyon and it got self-indulgently out of hand and overwhelming for the reader. I think this would have been a much stronger and more satisfying book if she’d integrated then and now as she usually does.

When I reread Acheron, I skipped most of the backstory and just read the last bit of Part 1 (from Ash’s mortal death) and all of Part 2. While I still think that Part 2 would’ve been stronger with more flashbacks, I did enjoy the story much more this time. I was less dubious about Tory and Ash. I still had all the details from the previous 14 books (counting the Dream-Hunter novels) in my head, so things felt less “gappy.”

And really, I had huge expectations for this book, which I doubt it could ever have met… Because, hello, Acheron?! Yum. Speaking of which, we haven’t talked about this for a while – what fictional characters have you had crushes on lately?

I’m still rather fond of Roarke and Ranger (mentioned in that previous post). I’m a bit less fond of Jean-Claude and Doyle (mentioned in the comments to that previous post), since I’m getting a bit bored by the Laurell K. Hamilton books that take 400 pages to cover three hours…

Of course, when I wrote that post, I hadn’t read the Dark-Hunter novels (suggested by several people in the comments then)… so I now have to add Acheron (obviously), Ravyn, and pretty much all of the non-blond Dark-/Dream-/Were-Hunters. Then there’s the delectable Japhrimel from the Dante Valentine novels. Harry Dresden. David from the Weather Warden novels. Clayton Danvers from the Otherworld series. I’m sure you’ll suggest some others that I’ve forgotten or have yet to discover!

“Even though I’m not fictional, maybe I’ll make some of those crush lists, since I’m so dark and handsome and suave and all.” -Chaos