Bookish Delights

New digs finally!

2012-01-17T17:19:00.000+11:00

Day five in my new digs, all moved in - now I just have to sort everything and find a place for it, at the moment the kitchen and one of the bedrooms is full of boxes. I don't know how I have all this crap, but hell if there ain't some treasures just busting for the pool room - I'll have to take photos and share.

Apart from that, everything has gone well, Sam has settled in, my clothes are in the wardrobe and I even managed to read a few chapters of Corralled by Lorelei James. It's part of the Black Top Cowboys series. And so far, so awesome, which I'm happy about, I've been waiting ages for it to arrive. I just wish I could stay awake long enough to finish more than a chapter at a time!

Just a quick update, as this is Sam's first full day alone, although I did go home at lunch time to check on her, so it's back to the unpack. Le sigh.

C.

DVD Reviews - With something for everyone!

2012-01-12T19:29:00.000+11:00

Prom - This wasn’t too bad,but I think I’m getting too old to watch these movies. They don’t shine quite as bright as they usedto. Or maybe I'm turning into a horrible cynic! It was terribly predictable, I’mpretty sure I managed to work out the major plot points and what was going tohappen to each character before I watched it. But what the hell, I love a cheesy movie and it was the perfect movie towatch for NYE.

And hello new eye candy –although I’m almost 99% sure I’m old enough to be his mother, come on downThomas McDonell! He’s Jesse, the angstyhotness counterpart to Nova, the good girl who’s got it all worked out. This will obviously get compared to HighSchool Musical, and while yes, it is set in a high school, there are teenagers,there are no dance numbers and the storyline is a little older.

I guess the best way to sum this up is: don’tjudge a book by its cover, follow your dreams and don’t rely on others for yourhappiness. Don’t lie and cheat – becausekarma’s a bitch. And most importantly – bro’sover ho’s.

Fanboys - I’m not a fan of StarWars by any means, but this was a fun way to pass the afternoon. And really who doesn’t love a road movie,with awesome cameos – it’s William ‘F*cking’ Shatner and a very scary SethRogan.

Overall this was a lot of fun, I'm a fan of road movies –but it’s still not good enough to make me watch the first Star Wars movies…andnothing will EVER change my mind on that! I thought the epic fight between the Star Wars / Trek fans was awesome and I loved George Lucas' 'house' was brilliant, I'd make my security dress up as storm troopers if I could!

Eight Legged Freaks - I remember this filmfrom way back, it’s still as silly as I remember. It’s too ridiculous to be really scary, butit still had me jumping and checking my sheets before I climbed into bed thatnight. I do love a good ‘dumped toxicwaste or leaked steroids/chemicals that can create mutant wildlife’ story – who could forget the awesome ‘Ticks’movie? (The link takes you to ‘Infested’, which is what it was called in the US, but ‘Ticks’on IMDb has the correct movie poster, but the wrong synopsis.

My favorite bit is still the jumping spidersas they chase guys on motorbikes through the desert. Really silly, but the perfect way to forgeteverything, unwind and have fun for a bit.

Eden Lake - Ok this wasn’texactly what I expected. I enjoyed ityes (as much as one can enjoy a movie like this), but I didn’t think it wouldbe so good. It had me thinking about itfor the next few days – both how I felt about the movie and what I’d do if thatwas happening to me. Maybe good isn’tthe right word – terrifying perhaps, scary even.

For those faint of heart, this isn’t themovie for you. While there is someswearing, compared to the gore and violence it’s nothing. This had me cringing, biting my lip andhiding my face. And I think it’s madeall the worse because the violence is steeped in reality. I could see this really taking place –something, not quite as violently has happened in my town.

This was far from a perfect movie in terms ofplot, or actions of some of the characters. At times I got frustrated by some of the characters actions, and I willnever get why Jenny and Steve didn’t just leave, although there was that, I don't think that detracted too much from the story. When the final credits rolled I was leftstaring at the screen, thinking ‘What? That’s it? Seriously.’ It was a tightly wound, perfectly combinedthriller/horror film.

C.

Pack Mistress 1 & 2

2012-01-09T19:41:00.001+11:00

After my vow to not buy any new series in 2012 and to finish as many off my Mt. TBR - what did I do - I went and bought a new series. Kind of! After reading a review of the second installment in the series on Awesomesauce Book Club, I was all "I just have a little peek" on Amazon. What I found was an interesting take on on a book series. The author, Evelyn Lafont is releasing her new book in serial format. What does that mean fearless reader...it means that Pack Mistress #1 was released in late December, PM #2 in January and from February onwards another installment will be released every second month.

Huh? I hear you say. Which was kinda my thoughts at first. When I love a book, I just want to read it all, in one big gulp. But what if I could extent the fun over the year? And that's what Lafont has done, taken a normal length book and split it into bite sized pieces, each around 30 pages. With all the other things I had to do over the weekend, (rather than pack all my stuff - I'm tempted to chuck it and start again!), all I managed to read were the two excepts. So this was perfect for me.

So just what are you in for if you decide to read Pack Mistress...some very sexy werewolf action - in and out of the bedroom, an angry phone stalker, some forbidden love, one tired pack mistress, (I'm not sure how she does it!), and a little art appreciation.

All werewolf packs need a sexual outlet. For south Florida’s Red Wolf pack, the sexy, liberated and infertile werewolf Lorena is it. Not your average Were, Lorena satisfies the males like no other wolf can. But as much as she enjoys her role as pack mistress, she longs for something she’s never had. A mate she can call her own…

I enjoyed both of these, read one after the other. Lorena is a well written character and I look forward to seeing how she progresses as the book unfolds. It's an interesting premise, having a 'pack mistress', something that I haven't come across before and while Lorena is supposed to be subsurvient, Lafont has written her as a strong woman, which I like. Yes there is a lot of sex for such a small book, but it's creative and well written. I'm hanging out for more of the art gallery and another encounter with R.W - who I'm guessing is going to become somewhat of a fixture for Lorena. Roll on February, I need a pack fix! Until then a reread wouldn't go astray - always a sign of a good book.

As you can see, I got the pics of the covers from Amazon.com and here's a link to Evelyn Lafont's site, where you can read an excerpt of Pack Mistress.

Until next time, enjoy.

C.

One down, fifty one to go...

2012-01-06T18:32:00.001+11:00

I can't quite believe that the first week of January 2012 is almost over. It's gone past in a blur and I feel like I haven't really done anything - but hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have finished AT LEAST one of the books I've started over the past week and a half. I've been in a reading funk, I want to read, but don't know exactly what I feel like, so I've started a few different books, but none have hit the spot.

What has everyone else been reading? Have you found that magical book to kick off the new year with? What ever the case may be, I hope that the weekend gives you time to relax, kick back and enjoy this lovely summer weather, (unless of course it's Winter where you are, then look on the bright side - you have snow!).

C.

Posts on the fly

2012-01-03T14:19:00.001+11:00

Just a lil' update, I'm all excited as I can now blog via email. Fingers crossed this makes it a litte easier to post.

C.

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-03T11:47:00.001+11:00

Wow 2012 already, it felt like 2011 has just flown by. I hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing Christmas and New Year break. It's my first day back at work today, (I'm not counting that I had to work Christmas and New Years eve's). I gotta say, I'm not really feeling it yet. Maybe it's 'cause I wasn't really in the holiday spirit this year, I was over it before I started.

But I am glad it's January, it means that I only have 10 days until I move into my new house. That I'm excited about. I can't wait until I have a place all my own - even if I don't own the house. It will still be mine, with my thing surrounding me. To celebrate, I've bought myself some new housey things, new sheets, towels, and I'm planning my gardening planting - a little veggie patch and some colourful flowers to brighten things up. But I'm trying to not get too far ahead of myself as I already have a storage shed full of stuff.

I'm not sure what the new year will bring, changes yes, big and small. I'm hoping to get back into studying and not waste my time anymore, I'd love to get my degree finished this year, but I'm thinking, it'll be next year at the earliest. I have a big box of new DVD's to watch and an even bigger Mt. TBR that I need to start reading. I'm going to start planning the next big holiday - I'm looking at starting with a round the world ticket, so I can visit the Brits again, but lookout Americas - I plan to storm your shores at my earliest possible convenience! Then there's my butt - I'm hoping to decrease the size of it in 2012. Not 100% sure what my plan of attack is just yet, but I know there is going to be one. I hesitate to call them 'resolutions', as I kinda feel I'm setting myself up to fail, I prefer 'lifestyle changes', that way it's about changing something permenently, rather than for the first couple of months.

What about you guys?? Any big plans for 2012? Small ones? No changes at all? Either way, I hope that 2012 brings you everything and more of what you need and want.

C.

I'm back! Although, technically I was never gone!?

2011-12-07T19:19:00.001+11:00

You ever get that "oh crap, why do they let me out of the house feelin'?", I has that now, apparently I was the only one who was having the problem viewing my blog as it should be, so after clearing my cookies all is well.

But seriously - I get paid to work with computers - how did I not figure that out on my own??? Any way, it's back, so I'm happy. It's been a crazy busy few week, what with work, Vinnie's and uni (I've got an assignment due Monday - procrastination anyone :D ), trying to organise things for Christmas and the biggest thing - trying to find a new house. I'm moving, hopefully in the next couple of weeks, so it'll be bye bye family and hello Me, Myself and Sam!

The rest of the household is off to live out in the boonies in their new , already set up, Dan can now have horses house, which she is very excited about. I think Holly & Rustyn are as well, there will be lots of animals to play with, so the kids are very excited. I'm looking forward to living on my own, which at 32 years of age - I've never done! It'll be a new adventure, I just wish I'd been good and saved my pennies so I could just buy a house now rather then renting. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and it definitely won't help me none at this point in time.

So this Christmas I'll be moving a lot of crap, and by a lot I mean how in the hell can one person have so much stuff? I swear, I'm one box away from an episode of Horders. It's scary. Crazy scary, I was sitting on my bed last night and got avalanched by boxes.

Once I'm done moving (and after my school work of course), I'll be reading some Maya Banks I've been saving and the latest Jill Shalvis - I can't wait. I also have a heap of DVD's that I've got recently, I'm still on my Tom Hardy bender, add to that mix, a healthy dose of Michael Fassbender, some Transporter and a large dash of period hotboys and my Christmas viewing is going to be toasty warm. Time to get the magic bullet, limes and the vodka out, mama needs a cocktail! But before all that where in Hell did I pack it???

So what is everyone else going to be reading/watching over the Christmas & New Years break???

C.

How do I loath thee...let me count the ways...

2011-12-06T14:52:00.000+11:00

Some asshat has decided to piggyback my blog address, since I'm not wonder woman when it comes to all things blog, I haven't been able to change this yet, but I have contacted blogger and hopefully my blog will be up and running as per normal shortly, sorry for the disruption guys.

C.

What do you like to read?

2011-11-02T18:50:00.001+11:00

Reader development - it sounds rather ominous I know. But it's what I'm focused on at work at the moment. I'm almost finished an online course (Frontline - Reader Development), which tries to focus on what readers want from their library opposed to what we give them and in turn - how we present it to them. I've been doing lots of little displays, (which I should've taken photo's of), some of which have gone really well and a couple that have kinda tanked.

So what is it that you want from your library? Are you getting it from them? Is it easy for you to find or do you have to go looking? Do you know all the ins and outs of your library?

I know that as a reader, I can find my library lacking in some areas, a lot of the time we buy what we think our readers want, not what they actually want. It can be hard to pick the right things, especially if you don't get feedback from patrons. There are a select few patrons that know they can request items, but a lot of them aren't aware that it's a service we provide. So that obsure love of Swedish poetry is not likely to be catered for - unless you ask for it. But if you only read the latest 'best seller' we will no doubt have you covered.

As a staff member - I recommend books that I read to a few patrons, because I know they read the same thing. The problem that I have is that for the most part, I buy my books, I don't get them through the library. So I'm in a position where I will say: "XXXX author is awesome, you should definately try them!" Then they're like: "Cool. Where are their books?" and I'm all: O.o - we don't got none. Sorry.

I, (along with another staff member who reads the same thing), have been trying to make extra effort to request the books that we read as well as buy our own copies. And we're lucky that the genre we read the most, (romance - of all flavours), is popular and the books that we've requested so far, are getting lots of use. I'm all for going that little bit extra, espcially when I know there are poeple who appreciate/will use it.

I guess the big thing I've learnt is if you want something from your library, you gotta ask - it's the only way to get it. Otherwise, for the most part we'll keep buying crap that no one really reads - but hey, at least it looks pretty. The other thing is that libraries need to think outside the box, we might not be charging you, but if we start thinking like retailers we're more likely to attract buyers (or in a libraries case - hirers!).

Something to ponder as we come to the end of another Hump Day, hope it's been fun for you. I'm off to enjoy some poetry slam, until next time here's wishing you lovely things.

C.

Take the Cake by Sandra Wright

2011-10-27T19:33:00.000+11:00

This review was originally published on the Australia Romance Readers Association blog.

Sometimes you just have to take life one cupcake at a time. A story of delicious cupcakes and sweet, sweet romance.

Kate Shannon is happy with the way things are. She has no love life to speak of, but what she does have is a successful cupcake shop in Greenwich Village. Michael Forrester has gone from enjoying the thrill of success to wallowing in the depths of despair. After writing a number of critically acclaimed novels, he has writer’s block.
What happens next is what you get when you combine friendship, cupcakes and good coffee with a substance called ‘the eternal breath’, all mixed up in a city like New York. Forget what you know about love, and Take the Cake.

What initially drew me to this book was all the cupcake action and the promise of a fun contemporary romance. Not only did Ms Wright deliver, but I got a great story, with lots of laughs and characters I enjoyed reading about. I loved the daily ritual of Wren’s quote fitting the girls’ moods and Kate’s matching cupcake. The banter between them and Emily, one of the other girls who works in the café, was well written and believable. I could see myself working there—Ms Wright captures the day to day well. Take the Cake reminded me of that perfect romantic comedy that we all love to watch. It was lots of fun to read. I also enjoyed the blossoming secondary romance between Wren and Michael’s friend David.

The build up between Kate and Michael was how I like to eat my cupcakes—in small bites, starting from the bottom and saving that tooth achingly sweet icing for last. Both were likeable characters and you wanted them to find their HEA. Overall, Take the Cake was lots of fun and well written, and I look forward to more by Sandra Wright. And for those cupcake aficionados out there, check out Sandra’s website—there are recipes for the cupcakes mentioned in the book.

C.

Weekly Hotboy - Inspirational Edition

2011-10-27T14:59:00.000+11:00

I haven't done a Weekly Hotboy post for a while and I was chatting on Twitter today about hot boys providing inspiration. So this post is for Rhian, may it inspire many, many words!! I have the lovely Google Images to thank for all the salty goodness - enjoy - I know I am :)

Tom Hardy

Jensen Ackles

Charlie Hunnam

Karl Urban

James Franco

Sloppy Jones. Wonder cat, part time puppy & fearless defender of the 'hood.

2011-08-14T00:16:00.001+10:00

Here's my girl, in her fave position, next to me in bed. I read, she sleeps. It's a hard life, being a cat.

I think it's official - Sloppy has gone for good. I'd been hoping she would just turn up one day, be there meowing her displeasure at being kept waiting by her inept human. But it's been around two months now and I've not seen her at all. She hadn't been well, a constant cold and mouth ulcer had been annoying her for weeks, plus she'd been loosing weight. I'm terribly sad, she was such a lovely cat. She used to drive me barking with all her meowing. I think she was the loudest, most expressive cat I'd ever met, not to mention her belief that she was a rather large dog. Wil and Sam can now relax - no more getting beaten up by a cat! But for all my annoyance, I would never trade her in. I miss her lots and wish she was here. I loves you moo shoo, to the moon and back.

Sloppy kicking back on my lap.

Cheers to the best meow in the world, Sloppy xoxo

C.

Dewey by Vicki Myron

2011-08-10T23:00:00.000+10:00

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I knew from the start that this would end sadly. But I enjoyed reading about Dewey's escapades. Who doesn't love a cat that can primp on demand! And it was the stories about his fun with Vicki and the library patrons that I loved the most. I used to play chasey with my cat Sloppy and this brought back lots of memories. This wasn't fantastically written, but it was a fun read, (well up until about Ch. 26), then I was balling my eyes out, trying to see the floor while I was vacuuming. It doesn't help that I'm still feeling sorry for myself because Sloppy has gone missing. Would I read it again - no, but I'm glad I read it. The picture book is hella cute, with lovely illustrations.

View all my reviews

Buzz Off by Hannah Reed

2011-08-10T22:58:00.000+10:00

Buzz Off by Hannah Reed
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up at work, first because I liked the cover, then the blurb got me. This sounded like a fun read and it was to a certain extent. I loved the beekeeping side of things and enjoyed the tourist side of Wisconsin. What I didn't really like the bullet points, I understand this is how story thinks, but it got old fast. I liked even less how her sister talks in abbreviated speech, BRB, OMG, TTYL - ugh! Annoying. I did love the relationship between Story and her beau, they were high school sweethearts and are slowly getting it back together. I've started the next one, something I'd like to see as the series progresses is more of the mystery side of things. Overall, an easy weekend read.

View all my reviews

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

2011-08-04T01:33:00.001+10:00

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small American town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. She’s secretive, on edge. Over time she forms a relationship with the general store owner and his two kids.

I haven’t read one of Sparks’ books for ages, but I really enjoyed this. While it was still romance, it seemed like a bit of departure from his usual. I liked the alternating chapters between Katie and Kevin, giving perspectives from both characters, even if Kevin is a six pack short of a slab. I can’t imagine going through/surviving spousal abuse, but I think Sparks’ writing treated the subject well, it didn’t seem contrived and I thought the relationship between Katie and Alex was sweet. It may be that I haven’t read one of his for a while, but it doesn’t seem as formulaic as some of his work. As any author on a best selling list, he seems to churn them out and I know I stopped reading him because I didn’t think some of the stories were as strong as his earlier novels.

Apparently this has been optioned as a movie and I do love me a Nicholas Sparks movie adaption, I'm still waiting for The Lucky One, with a hella buff Zac Efron to come out. Popcorn dinner here I come!

When life gets in the way...

2011-07-02T17:18:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it is now July, over halfway through the year. I remember, when I was younger it seemed like it took ages for the year to come to a close - granted my events for marking the year were birthdays, Easter and Christmas. But now, it seems like the years pass quicker, blink and you miss it! Something I'm not entirely happy with.

I've been absent for the last couple of months, pretty much everywhere - okay not everywhere, I'm still chained to my desk at work, (not literally, that would be bad OH&S), but I've been busy with that, with uni, my Mum's been unwell and my cat, the lovely Sloppy Jones, has gone missing and by missing I think she's gone to that big catnip filled field in the sky. She had been sick, with something that the vet couldn't identify, thus couldn't treat. Which was frustrating to no end. But I sure do miss her little quacking sneezing, which heralded her entry into a room. She was an awesome cat.

I've now kinda depressed myself. So quick - subject change - what else have I been doing - reading the first six books in the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh. Which I am loving so far. Great writing, I love the world building, the characters, the smexy times, where the author is taking the series, I've got four books until I'm up to date. I love the whole damn angsty, sweaty, sexy world. I'm a bit behind the ball on reading this series, it's been around for awhile and I was always going to read them, just later. But I met Nalini at ARRC2011 and thought she's awesome, I'm going to read her books. Now. And I'm so glad I did.

Apart from that, not a lot has been going down, just life in general, which always gets in the way of all the stuff I want to do. Hopefully I can juggle work, uni and the blog, I'm behind on reviews I need to do at the moment, too bad life isn't an episode of I Dream of Jeanie - it would make it all so much easier!

Have a great weekend guys, get out and play in the sun while you can.

C.

Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan - Book Club Read - February

2011-05-30T17:01:00.000+10:00

Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan

278 pgs.

I have to admit, as far as the happy goes, our book club has picked some fairly dismal tales, from last months apocalyptic 'The Road', to next months WWII fable 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. But first is 'Be Near Me', the story of an English priest in a small Scottish parish. Behold...the blurb. And bear with me, it's been a couple of months since I read this.

Over the spring and summer of 2003, Father David becomes friends with two young people, Mark and Lisa: by the year's end his life is the focus of public hysteria.

As he looks back to his childhood, and to Oxford in the fever of student revolt, Father David begins to reconsider the central events of his life and to see what may have happened to the political hopes of his generation. Meanwhile, religious warfare breaks out on his doorstep.

I didn't particularly like this story, I thought it was well written, but it was just so damn bleak. While reading it I felt the weight of the world, (seen through the characters), on my shoulders. The characters of Mark and Lisa aren't terribly likeable. They're selfish, rude, they steal and vandalise. So you have to ask, why would Father David, befriend these kids - is it because he wants to help them, or is it because he's lonely and can't relate to the other adults in his parish. I'm going with the second one by the way. Apart from his relationship with his housekeeper, he doesn't seem to relate well to the other adults and I don't think he's happy with how his life has turned out. The dinner he has with (I want to say bishop), a fellow priesty person is prime example. His views on many things, Iraq for one - the war had only just begun - didn't seem in line with the Catholic church. I'll say sorry again, I'm writing this from memory, so events are slightly fuzzy!

What I did love about this book, was after things had escalated with Father David and Mark and the 'religious warfare', you get to know the real Father David. His early days at Oxford, I like this person, not that I disliked him later, I just felt he'd lost his way. Ultimately, I don't think he ever really wanted to become a priest, and if certain events in his life didn't transpire, I don't think he would've become one.

Would I recommend the book after all that - yes. I thought it was well written, and O'Hagan's ability to make me care about characters I didn't like is a good trait for an author to have.

As a book group we were lucky enough to meet the author, as he was on a book tour, promoting his latest book Maf the dog and his friend Marilyn Monroe. O'Hagan wasn't at all like I expected him to be. I think I still had Be Near Me resonating in my head, so I thought he'd be a sad, depressed, quiet man. What he was instead, was a very funny man, with the gift of the gab. I really enjoyed his description of his early life and his reading of Maf was great, complete with accents.

Until next time, when we tackle Nazi and 'The Boy in the striped pyjamas' I'll sign of and wish happy reading to all :)

C.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Book Club Read - January

2011-05-21T13:08:00.002+10:00

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

307 pages

A father and his young son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. The have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are waring, a cart of scavenged food - and each other.

Blurb taken from the back of the book.

I enjoyed this - as much as one can enjoy a scary post apocalyptic journey cross country. McCormac is aloms lyrical in his writing, it reminds me of the ballads of Homer. The way this is written helps with that general feeling also - lack of punctuation and no chapters. It's like a story told in one giant, crazy almost suffocation breath. I think that McCarthy's desicion to not discuss the apocalyptic event that sent the father and son on their journey was the right choice. In this story it's not about what has happened, but what's before the two characters. I read this almost in one sitting, despite the subject matter it is an easy read, I didn't actually want to put it down, I wanted to know what happened to the them.

Be prepared to be horrified Of course, one can guess at what type bad things father and son will run into, but it's not until you actually see the words on the page that it really sinks in, yes 'XXXX' is going to happen, (I'm attempting no spoilers, hence the XX bizzo). But for all the horror and despair there is hope, love and joy, the smallest thing is a miracle - finding a can of coke, or food, just when they thought they wouldn't find anything.

The relationship between father and son is beautiful and I like that they don't have names, it adds to the story, brings it a strength and a belief, that this could truely be anyone. And McCormac did what I didn't think he was going to be able to do - I finished the story feeling hopeful. All through the book I had in the back of my mind, this won't end well for anyone, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I haven't seen the movie version of this yet, but it's on my list of things to watch. But I think it's going to be one of those movies where I need to be in the right mood.

What did everyone else thing of it? - the book or the movie.

Up next for February is: Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan.

Wild Desire by Lori Brighton

2011-05-01T17:50:00.000+10:00

Wild Desire by Lori Brighton

320 pages of awesome historical romance. There's danger. There's lovin'. There's paranormal elements at work. There's sexy men and bad guys. And an Elephant. Gasp! Swoon!

First He Drove Her Mad
In what feels like a moment, Beatrice Edmund goes from being a proper lady cooped up in a stuffy Scottish castle to travelling miles from anything she's ever known, in the midst of the wildest adventure of her life. And at the centre of that adventure is the most infuriating, puzzling scoundrel on earth. She cannot take her eyes off him.

Then He Drove Her Wild
Colin Fitch cannot deny he's drawn to Beatrice--but lust is all he could possibly feel for the sharp-tongued minx. Still, if there's a chance she can help him stop the madman he pursues, he must withstand her obvious disapproval. Yet withstanding the longing he feels for her is growing more troublesome by the second. . . And Colin has never been terribly good at staying out of trouble.

The blurb was taken from Amazon.com. I received this book for free, from the author through goodreads.com. So thank you Lori – it was fantastic!

This was the second book in the series, I hadn’t read the first when I started this, but while I’m sure it would’ve filled in more of the background of the story, Wild Desire was okay as a standalone read. That being said, I’m now going to go back and read the first one, (Wild Heart).

This was a lot of fun, kind of what you might get if you crossed Indiana Jones with a romance novel. Lots of swashbuckling adventure and swoony romance.

I liked both of the characters, they were well developed. Bea isn’t your typical shrinking violet, she’s innocent about much of what goes on in the world, but at the same time she wants to get out there and have adventures. I enjoyed her headstrong nature and her pluckiness. She was a fun character to get to know.

Colin is rather lovely as well, a little bit anti-hero, in the beginning he’s more interested in finding the treasure he’s after. But as the story progresses and Bea and Colin grow closer his priorities change. He’s very much the ‘man’, cocky, stubborn and he quite likes to push Bea’s buttons.

I love when the two of them first meet - he’s rolling drunk and she’s buck nekkid! The main characters have great chemistry together and I really enjoyed the way they bounced off one another, whether it was in teasing or flirting. Both characters have been hurt in the past, so it was great to see them deal with what held them back and move forward in their relationship. I started this on the plane heading to ARRC2011 and I spent the whole plane trip cackling like a crazy lady – all signs of a good book in my mind.

There’s lots of lovely tension between the couple, one scene that springs to mind is when Colin and Bea get caught up in a street riot, and Colin has to cut Bea’s corset off – just mmm wow! Smoldering comes to mind and when their consummation scene finally comes around – hells bells, it was sexy, sweet and heartbreaking all at the same time.

One thing I didn’t expect was the paranormal theme running through it and to be honest it doesn’t take over the whole story, it’s only hinted at in the beginning, if anything it added to the adventure and danger that Colin and Bea were in. It isn’t mentioned at all in the blurb and I only found out ahead of time because I’d read another bloggers review of the book. The paranormal element is explored through Colin’s back story as the novel progresses. I would assume if you were reading this after the first book, there would be more knowledge of the paranormal side of things, but as I said earlier, it doesn’t detract from the story as a standalone or if you’re reading them out of order. If you don’t usual read paranormal, this would be a great introduction to it. The story at its heart is a historical romance, but it has lots of adventure and the paranormal helps to complete the novel.

The only thing I don’t think gelled was the use of some of the language, towards the end Colin swears – shit, I think – nothing too out there, but it didn’t seem to fit with the story and on occasion Bea used ‘British’ insults and it seemed that these were only used because the character was from England. Nobody else may think anything of this but I know as an Aussie, people think we talk like Alf from Home & Away – think gratuitous use of cobber, stone the flaming crows, maaate, or you could listen to any number of Kevin Rudd’s speeches – he used slang quite a bit. It kind of pulled me out of the story a bit, but it was the swearing more so.

Overall, this was so much fun to read and I’m really looking forward to reading Wild Heart. It was a fun, easy read, perfect for my holiday and it really set the tone for my holiday – lots of fun and adventure. It’s a great historical romance and I really enjoyed the paranormal elements of the story.

A Forever Kind of Love by Shiloh Walker

2011-04-19T03:46:00.003+10:00

I was given a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I've tried to write this without spoilers, but as awesome as I am, there may be some parts of the story that are mentioned.

A Forever Kind of Love by Shiloh Walker

Available in ebook from the 26th April, 2011. From Samhain Publishing.

The ARC (PDF format), I received was 463K, 69 pgs, chock full of awesome.

You can always come home. Second chances come a little harder. Chase and Zoe were the high school golden couple. Football captain, cheerleader, prom royalty. After graduation, though, Chase couldn’t resist the urge to experience life outside their small town. He didn’t exactly expect Zoe to wait twelve years for him, but now that he’s back, he finds some small part of him hoping she did. It’s no big surprise she’s married. The kick in the face is she married his best friend. Zoe was devastated when Chase left, but she’s filed those bittersweet memories under “Moved On”. She loves her life, and loves her husband. She has all she needs. And Chase keeps an honorable distance.

One cold, wet, miserable day, tragedy turns Zoe’s world upside down. Chase never expected her to simply fall into his arms, but a man can dream. Except his dream doesn’t include the fact that this time, she’s the one hitting the road…and he’s the one left behind. (Blurb taken from author's website).

Warning: This story contains heartbreak, heartache and one last chance for two lovers to find each other.

First off I'd just like to thank Shiloh for giving me the ARC to review, I'm a big fan of her books, I can honestly say that there hasn't been one that I haven't liked yet. But before it's even more evident that I'm her bitch - hand me my pen Sabu I feel a review coming on...

Once again Shiloh Walker has managed to write a story that is like a punch to the solar plexus. She has an amazing talent for writing characters that are damaged or in need of a second chance. And she manages to write them without them becoming trite, one dimensional and unrealistic.

This story was a little personal for me, I identified with Zoe and some of the things she goes through, so on my first read, I was crying like a baby half way through. But this is something that

I've come to expect from some of Shiloh's books, (in particular - No Longer Mine, Always Yours, Beautiful Girl, The Missing, Tempt Me).

Some ladies may hate Chase for leaving Zoe, but while he was a dick the way he went about leaving, I don't think the story would've been the same if he didn't - well duh! Let me rephrase - Chase as a character, wouldn't have been the same. I don't think he could've been the rock that he is if he'd stayed. I also like that we met Chase first, that we got to hear his side, because once we're introduced to Zoe, there is more of a focus on her and what she's going through and what Chase is feeling for her.

I haven't spoken about Roger, mainly because I didn't like him. I know he's going through stuff, but he seems like an arse - I'm not sure if that was Walker's intention, I certainly felt sympathy for the character - but beyond that, I didn't pay much attention. This could also be because for Chase and Zoe to have their HEA he needs to be out of the picture.

I love that Zoe chooses to go away, for me it made sense, both as a way for her to heal and as a way for Chase to understand what Zoe would've felt when he left. But damned if that whole scene isn't bittersweet and full of sexy pain. Again, it didn't seem hoky, it was natural.

And then after the emotional rollercoaster, there's the squee. Oh yes there's the SQUEE :) I love Walker's consummation scenes, they're just so damn hawt! This is light on in terms of the sexin', so if you're expecting it to be like some of her other titles, unexpect and keep reading, it's worth it. This is more a story of reconnecting, of second chances and while the sexin' is part of that, it's not the whole story.

The only part I didn't love of this book was the ending - in that, I felt it ended too soon. I felt kinda cheated, I wanted more dammit! Yes, there was a HEA, but I wanted more of Zoe and Chase once they'd resolved their issues, I wanted to experience their HEA. Which in part is because of the great writing, you're invested in the characters, you want something good to happen, and you want to be there when it happens.

One can live in hope that in all of Shiloh's spare time, (You gots teh bucket loads right??), she could write a sequel and let us know what's up *bat's eyelashes* - On second thoughts, *bakes cookies*, I've seen my eyelash batting and it ISN'T enticing at all.

So it's a hells yes from me, this was sexy, it was sad and just a little bit redemptive - but most importantly - it's what I've come to love about Shiloh Walker's stories, it's a beautiful, so real it hurts romance, with a sexy as hell hero and a stronger than she thinks she is leading lady.

Can't wait for the next one :)

Book Blogger Hop & Tag Along

2011-04-16T18:48:00.002+10:00

Well I've missed out on the last couple of these, so I thought I'd dip my toes back in the blog visiting pool :)

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy-for-Books

"Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

I've just finished an ARC of Shiloh Walkers' new ebook 'A Forever Kind of Love.' Zoe is one of the central characters, I enjoyed Zoe her a lot, she seemed like such a strong character. Her life from the get go hasn't been easy and while she has managed to find a wonderful husband, there are still things in her life suck. I think the reason why I like Zoe, is that she's real as a character - or believable is a better way to put it, and a lot of that comes down to how the author writes, but also the story - it could be anyone's life. Here's my full review.

The 18 and over Tagalong is a weekly event hosted by Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

Question of the week: Do you have a favorite hero, so far, this year? If-so who?

Do I have a fave hero of the year of what! I'm going to be greedy and have two :) First up is Chase from Talk me Down by Victoria Dahl. He's a bad boy, but he's a gentleman. Which basically sums it up right there. Oh and he's got a whole bunch of sexy tatts, muscles out the wazoo and he blows shit up for a living - ladies what more could you ask for. What I do love about Chase is that he's ok being Jane's special friend, no strings attached. He's happy to support her in whatever way she needs But when it gets real, his feelings included, he puts his foot down and it's on. My other hero is Brogan from Coyote Wild by Rhian Cahill. He's such a lovely character, big, muscley and he means bid'ness (do you see a theme running through my heroes?) This story has a paranormal element running through it, (he's a coyote shifter). I love his go get 'em attitude towards his lady love El. I do love my alpha heroes the most. But I will say I don't think I could live with them always - I'd end up busting heads!

So that's if for the week, hope everyone has an awesome weekend :)

Cairo Time - Movie Review

2011-04-12T16:04:00.002+10:00

Cairo Time

Starring: Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig.

Director: Ruba Nadda

Running Time: 86 Mins.

Juliette, a fashion magazine editor in her fifties, travels to Cairo to meet her husband, Mark, a UN official working in Gaza, for a three week vacation. When he is unavoidably delayed, he sends his friend Tareq, who had been his security officer for many years, to escort her throughout the beautiful and exotic city. The last thing anyone expects is that they will fall in love.

Cairo Time is a romantic drama about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off guard.

I want to start this review by saying it’s nice to watch a movie with an Arab man who’s not trying to blow shit up. In the media today, it’s impossible to miss the tension, the riots, the fighting that plagues that part of the world. It was refreshing to see instead, these people portrayed in an ordinary setting, as a beautiful and dignified people. Cairo Time is a beautiful love story with the lush landscape of Cairo and the pyramids as back drop. It's renewed my interest in visiting the city.

This was a slowly unfolding story, nothing 'big' happens, and I love how Juliette (Clarkson) discovers Cairo, sometimes on her own, at other times with Tareq (Siddig). They have fantastic chemistry together, which works well with the pace of the film. Their magnetism is believable and it makes for some blazin' screen time. And while they fall in love, it isn't acted upon and in part this is painful to watch - in a good way, bittersweet is the word I'm looking for! But it is so much more effective and packs way more of a punch than if their romance was consummated.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable film, wonderfully acted and beautifully filmed.

Four Stars from the Russian Judge :)

Tagalong and Blog Hop Friday

2011-03-25T14:01:00.004+11:00

Okay this will be a quick flying trip on the blog today, I'm currently enjoying myself at the Swiss Grand Resort on Bondi Beach and am gearing up for the cocktails tonight to kick ARRC2011 off. I'm positively excited!

18 & Over Book Blogger Tag Along Friday is a weekly event hosted by Laurie at Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

Question of the week: Where is you favorite place to buy or swap books?

I have a few different places I like to visit, in person it's Collins bookshop in my home town, Rendezvous the Romance Bookstore in Melbourne, online it would be Amazon.com for Kindle and Book Depository for print books. I'm always on the hunt for a bargain! Because of the type of books I read - romance/adult erotica and YA mostly, I find it hard to take advantage of the second hand places close to me. But really, it's not like I'm lacking in books to read!

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy-for-Books.

"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?"

I'd love to be a character in Victoria Dahl's Tumble Creek series'. Her books are so funny, she writes awesome characters, where the women are strong and they're not backward in coming forward. Sadly my Tumble Creek hero, Chase, is taken. That boy is so hot! He can burn the words right off the page. I love her humor and I love where the books are set, even though it's possible to get snowed in I just get the feeling it would be a cozy place to live. Surely those girls need a lovely library lady to round things out :)

I'll have to add linkys later lovlies, but enjoy your weekend where ever you may be. I'm planning to have a VERY good time.

Exploding Lemon Tart

2011-03-23T01:10:00.001+11:00

In celebration for my departure to Sydney on Thursday, I made a lemon tart to take to work. I must stress - it's a cheats tart. As per Jamie Oliver's instructions, (and I always do what Jamie says, except for when it comes to iceberg lettuce), I've used a store bought pastry casing. While it's blind baking, which takes 10 minutes, give or take. I mix 1 tin of condensed milk and 1 jar of lemon butter together, I used a masterfoods one this time and it was the consistency of jelly, which I wasn't really impressed with, but at the point of quality testing it tasted good. I prefer to either make my own or buy from the lovely lady at the farmers market. But time was short and I was lazy! Once this is thoroughly mixed, place into browned casing, then put it back into oven, I usually put it in for another 10 minutes, but that's because my oven likes to kill things.

So this is where the exploding part of the tart comes in - I often joke with a friend from work about the romance novels I read and how there's lots of 'exploding' at certain times - anyone who reads Lora Leigh will know what I mean! Anyway, since it's a romance convention I'm going to and there's bound to be a whole weekend of exploding I added the heart shaped 'bomb'.

These are the things that happen, late at night when I'm bored and have been drinking vodka. Go with it - it's much safer that way O.o

And while I was waiting for my tart to cook, I decided to decorate these little ginger bread guys. It was for an earlier post and I wanted a picture. Anyway, these are kind of fiddly and I've since decided it would be much better to leave these for when I can use enforced child labour. But until then, I did have to use my boning tweezers. And vodka - hence the Quasimodo of the gingerbread land below! Originally, I did tell myself it was to cover up his shame at being all blobby and conjoined together, but then I fessed up that it was more because I was lacking much needed hand eye coordination and plus I like me some icing and the little choc thingys.

Oh so good n tasty!

ARRC 2011 is almost here!!

2011-03-20T18:06:00.003+11:00

I'm so excited, this time next week the conference will be wrapping up, but I'm all aflutter at the moment, 5 and a half days and I'll be sitting in a room full of awesome writer and readers. I'm looking forward to lots of things - the paranormal talk, and the erotica one, the book signing, the goodie room, the meet and greet, the awards dinner - okay basically everything! I didn't get to go to the 2009 convention. To be honest, I didn't know it existed, I was still pining away, wishing I could to go the RAW convention held by Lora Leigh, (which, one day I WILL get to).

I'm new to the world of ARRA, when I found out they were having a convention and there was an association you could join, I did. I'm still exporing, occasionally I delurk to post a comment, but for the most part I'm just sitting back, taking it all in. I'm hoping this weekend will allow me to forge a few new friendships, even if they'll mostly be online :) But fingerscrossed, ARRA just keeps getting bigger. I've already bought a tin you can't open, ready for when I get back, so I can start saving for 2013!

I'm going to try blog over the weekend about all the haps, lets hope I don't get too excited and forget to take photos. Here's a link to the ARRC 2011 lineup

If you had a chance what would you ask one of the authors attending? Feel free to ask a question in the comments section and I'll do my best to get it answered :)

Okay, that I believe was enough procrastination, back to my hella exciting Marketing Concepts uni reading.

C.

Book Blogger Hop & Tag Along Friday

2011-03-18T15:03:00.000+11:00

It's another delightful Friday, I don't have much planned, cleaning, uni, and trying to organise myself for the ARRA Conference which begins next week in Sydney *happy dance* I've got a few books I want to finish and a stack of DVDs I need to watch. But before all of that lets get on with the friday fun :)

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy-for-Books. It turned 1 on March 5th and while I've only just started participating, I will still send a huge happy birthday! This weeks question, my dears:

"Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

For me, the anwser is several! I have so many books I want to read, I tend to try an read as many as I can. All at once. When it comes to books, I don't have a lot of impulse control. I usually have at least three on the go, but at the moment I've reading five. In print, ebook and audio formats. I'm never without a book. I know, I have a problem - but admitting it's the first step, right?

18 & Over Book Blogger Tag Along Friday is a weekly event hosted by Laurie at Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

What was your favorite book you read last month?

Okay, I'm going to cheat and put two down, basically because one is adult reading - Tempt Me by Shiloh Walker. Seriously freakin HOT! This may only be a short story, but it packs a punch. I've got a lady crush on Shiloh, I can safely say I've loved everything of hers I've read, she is such an excellent writer. The other is a YA book: Shiver by Maggie Siefvater I couldn't put it down, it was so well written. Bittersweet, angsty, painful and beautiful all rolled in one.

There was lots of swoonage from me in February - but I think that's mainly 'cause I'm just a little bit dramatic. Have an awesome weekend everyone - enjoy yourself :)

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! Happy St. Patrick's Day.

2011-03-17T16:03:00.001+11:00

Well it's that time of year again, St Patrick's Day. Hope what ever you're doing to celebrate it is lots of fun and doesn't get you into too much trouble! I've got a meeting after work then more work, so I won't be doing much - I did buy a book today (what I can't help it, besides it's all about Irish...stuff). Plus there's the whole "I was going to patricipate in Irish Short Story week", but since it's ending today, I don't think I'll be completing that one. So instead I bought...Come Monday by Mari Carr.

This is the first in the Wild Irish series. I've been umming and ahhing over getting this series for ages, I've got no doubt I'll love it, but I was trying to be good dammit. I blame Tarn, she bought the cake in today and MADE me eat some. It was very delicious.

You'll have to excuse the poor photo, I should've made the background a bit nicer, but I was worried that another staff member would eat it before I could get a photo. It was presented way better than my photo gives credit, you couldn't tell until you cut it that it was green inside - half the fun.

Along with reading Come Monday, I think there may be a Guinness and a viewing of Boondock Saints on the cards tonight. Which really is all a girl could ask for...okay I could ask for more - like the hot boys from the movie to be delivered to my door - but since Ima lady I will do no such thing...O.o

C.

Weekly Hotboy

2011-03-07T18:53:00.002+11:00

I thought since there was a whole lot of talk about period dramas in my last post I would pay homage to them in my hotboy section. What could be more delightful than salty goodness from the age of chivalry.

This isn't the original Mr. Darcy, but he's still my favourite, Colin Firth has a lot to answer for when it comes to my rediculous standards about men (hence my being single!)

Matthew McFadyen as Mr. Darcy, he was quite lovely, I loved him even more in Little Dorrit, even if he was totally clueless. Here he is at the end of P&P, a little bit frazzled for all his wanting of Miss. Bennett.

Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton from North & South. I could seriously watch this over and over. This is from the "Look back at me." scene - pretty much guaranteed to make you squee!

Elliot Cowan, another Mr. Darcy, from Lost in Austen. I enjoyed this version of P&P a lot, I don't know how it went down with the purists, probably as good as the zombies did. But this scene is hilarous and oh so sexy at the same. I love the little smirk and half smiles from this scene. Makes me think he's got something naughty to hide.

Tom Hardy, as Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. He was fantastic in this and even though I would've been whacking you upside the head constantly, (because lets be honest, sometimes he is a truly maddening character), I would've waited for you.

I could keep going, but I'm going to pretend I'm a lady with modest appetites :)

I got told off for not having Rupert Penry-Jones and I'm not one to disappoint! Here he is looking all gallant as Capt. Wentworth. Don't you just want to scruff him up?

Monday Madness

2011-03-07T15:00:00.003+11:00

I had big plans for bloggish stuff over the weekend, but between some kid wrangling and me not feeling my shiny best I didn't get to do anything - which is usually the way when I get my planning on. But what did I find when I checked in this morning, some fantastic new followers - welcome, enjoy, feel free to comment and generally have a good time.

Beautiful things arrived in the post last Thursday, perfect for the mood I've been in the last few weeks. The cute has come from Pretty Whimsical on Etsy. The pendants are made using wooden scrabble pieces from the 40's and 50's. I'm in lust at the moment, they're just so darn cute!

I've been watching lots of period drama - the latest being the 2008 itv version of Wuthering Heights, with Tom Hardy portraying Heathcliff, he was so good, to me he nailed the character, thank goodness I was lying down - there was swoonage. Today Wide Sargasso Sea came in for me so I'll get to snuggle on down with that tonight. I've seen the '93 version before, but not the lastest version. I'm so looking forward to Jane Eyre, which is coming out this month. Hence me watching Wide Sargasso and hopefully I can get our bookclub to read Jane Eyre this month.

Here's the trailer...I just hope that it gets released in Australia the same time it does in the US. It looks deliciously menacing.

So what's your favourite period drama? Which adaption do you like the best?

All links are from IMDb

Book Blogger Hop & Tagalong Friday

2011-03-04T19:24:00.002+11:00

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books and runs from Friday to Sunday.

This weekend's question/topic: Who's your all-time favorite book villain?

There are a couple that come to mind --

Hannibal Lecter from Thomas Harris' series was hella scary - possibly because I read 'Silence of the Lambs' when I was quite young. Talking about scary books read when I was too young (I used to read my mum's books when she wasn't looking): Cujo the dog, from the Stephen King book of the same name. I was terrified!

I've participated in the Blog Hop a couple of times now, but I thought I'd add myself to the Tagalong Friday meme as well. So here 'tis lovelies :)

18 & Over Book Blogger Tagalong Friday is a weekly event hosted by Laurie at Bitten by Paranormal Romance (Please excuse the clunky links, I couldn't get it to work the way I wanted).

This week's question: How many book do you read in a month?

So far in 2011 I've managed 20 books in Jan and Feb, but I usually average around 15 or so in a month. It just depends on what my work load is like at uni and how late I've had to stay at work - sadly, even though I work in a library, they don't pay me to read books all day!

That being said I have some lovely new books to read over the weekend, bring on the Nalini Singh! I wish this one was twice as long - I've got so much to do.

Book Blogger Hop

2011-03-02T11:57:00.000+11:00

Book Blogger Hop is a lovely, weekly meme hosted by Jennifer@Crazy for Books. The Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!

This is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question:
"Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?"

I actually missed out on adding my name to this weeks linky, but I thought this question was perfect for me this week as I changed my blogs name last night - This is the blog formerly known as "How Do You Like My Blog Now Hans Brix."

I started this blog in 2008, when I was completing the 27 things web 2.0 thingy for work. Team America had just come out and puppet Kim Jong Ill had a special place in my heart (let's be honest, he still does). And so I named my blog to reflect that. My blog is mainly about the books I read now, with a smattering of movie reviews, thoughts on tv, music and anything else that takes my fancy. Hence the name change.

Hello Autumn!

2011-03-01T18:17:00.001+11:00

As I woke up this morning, I was greeted with seasonally appropriate weather. The tiny pitter patter of rain and somber grey skies. Summer this year was a non event really, not that I'm complaining, as much as I love the beach, my favorite time of year is Winter. I love the cold and there is nothing better than snuggling down in bed with a good book and a cup of milo, Sloppy purring at my shoulder.

Now is the time I love visiting my Cuj, okay I love visiting anytime, but there something about sitting in her garden in the Adelaide Hills, drinking tea all afternoon, eating tiny gingerbread men that my niece, Josie, has decorated. Then you get to go inside and sit in front of a toasty fire, with more cups of tea. Tea is a thing in my family, well that and nibbling, do very well. I think it's ingrained and what a tasty trait to have. How cute are the gingerbread men :)

Time to bust out the scarves methinks, it's layering time :)

C.

ARRA 2011 Conference

2011-02-22T16:55:00.004+11:00

I'm getting quite excited now, it's only about five weeks until I get to visit Sydney for the Australia Romance Readers Association 2011 Conference. Yay! I've been trying to work my way through books from the list of authors that are visiting. if only I didn't have to work - it would be so much easier!

I'm looking forward to the keynote speakers: Anna Campbell, Cindy Gerard and Nalini Singh.

The other authors visiting are: Maggie Anderson, Any Andrews, Keri Arthur, Heather Boyd, Berengaria Brown, Rhian Cahill, Shannon Curtis, Christine Darcas, Jess Dee, Michelle Douglas, AB Gayle, Anne Gracie, Lisa Heidke, Kelly Hunter, Fiona McArthur, Nicole R Murphy, Maggie Nash, Tracey O'Hara, Cathleen Ross, Karen Simpson Nikakis, Helene Young.

The following authors are panel moderaters: Karlene Blakemore-Mowle, Jennifer Brassel, Lexxie Couper, Kate Cuthbert, Erica Hayes, Melanie Milburne, Bronwyn Parry, Paula Roe, Denise Rossetti, Kandy Shepard and Annie West.

(I did have links to all the authors pages, but for some reason Maggie Anderson plotted evil things and took over all the linkage, so here is a link to the ARRA website so you can have a look at each authors website/blog - check them out, there are some great authors attending).

So far I've read:

'Coyote Run', 'Coyote Home' & 'Coyote Wild' all by Rhian Cahill,
'Doing Logan' also by Rhian Cahill,
'Secrets in the Marriage Bed' by Nalini Singh ,
'Innocent Baby, Wife of Shame' by Melanie Milburne (Link to the book is from LibraryThing, as I couldn't find it on Melanie's website).
'His Christmas Angel' Michelle Douglas,
'Carnal Connections' & 'Loving Lydia' both by Berengaria Brown.

All of which I enjoyed, this is the first time I'd read any of these authors. Some of which I probably wouldn't have read if not for ARRA, so that's great. But the standout has to be the Coyote series. There was serious swoonage, squee and general feelings of awesome, Rhian Cahill has a way with words, she's a fantastic author. I can't recommend the series enough. I'll have to add my reviews for these later.

C.

It's Book Blogger Hop Time!

2011-02-21T13:34:00.007+11:00

Crazy-for-Books has put the blog hop up on her site again, here's my contribution :)

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs

This weeks question:

"What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie?"

I'm going to go with what is fresh in my mind - I read it on the weekend - loved it!

"Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater

This was brilliant, I couldn't stop reading until I'd finished - but at the same time, I didn't want it to end. I own the second book and spent a half hour tearing up my room trying to find it, but alas it is in that 'safe' place I often put things and now I have to wait until a copy becomes available at work. A separate review will be up on the blog this week.

So until next time, happy blog hopping, I'm off to discover some new blogs myself.

C.

The Friday 56 - Ruthless Game

2011-02-18T18:54:00.007+11:00

Well it's that glorious time again - the weekend :) Which also means it's time for The Friday 56!! This was returned at work on Tuesday and has been next to my computer, ready for me to take home this weekend. What is it you ask:

'Ruthless Game' by Christine Feehan

About the Friday 56

Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"I throw males. I'm damned sure of it. We're having a boy. I'll be right back."

This will be the third book in this series I've read, I haven't read them in order - but it hasn't detracted from my understanding of the background or love of the series. I'm fairly new to the world of Christine Feehan but so far what I've read I'm loving.

Whatever you've got planned for the weekend, hope you guys have fun. There are advanced screenings of I Am Number Four tomorrow night, so I'll be toddling off to the cinema for that, then it'll be onto less fun things - uni starts up again in a weeks time, so I'm trying to organise myself for that. The end of my BA is quite close and while I can't wait to finish, I need a little motivation at the same time. This trimesters subject is Marketing of Libraries and Information Agencies. Which is good, as it's a subject that I'm interested in and will tie in nicely with the subject I've just completed (Social Networking for Information Professionals), but sometimes I can't help but dwell on all the lovely books I'll miss out on reading.

C.

I can has DVDs?

2011-02-14T14:38:00.011+11:00

I got to watch a couple of DVDs on the weekend, the first being The Rebound, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. I actually enjoyed this a lot. Yes it was predictable, but I thought it was well acted and funny.

The Rebound centers around Zeta-Jones character, Sandy and her move to New York with her two children after she catches her husband cheating. Enter Aram (Bartha), who helps by looking after her kids as she re-enters the workforce. As time goes on they get closer and closer, but is their relationship the real thing or just a 'rebound'.

This is one of the better chick flicks I've seen recently, as I mentioned before, it's well acted and that is partly due to the two leads having actual chemistry, their getting together was believable *I'm looking at you JLO and Ralph Fiennes - I still haven't gotten over the scary mismatch that was Maid in Manhattan*.

The kids add the funny and the awww and both have some great lines of their own - in general the supporting cast was great, with some scary cringe worthy screen time from Supermans dad (John Schneider).

The thing I hate most is the undies in his mouth on the movie poster - I just think it's ick, I know what they're trying to convey, but eww! One other thing is the ending, it's not as sctrong as it could've been, without giving anything away, it leaves it open to personal interpretation, but I was looking for something more. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and was perfect reward after looking after the terribles for the evening. I'd definitely watch this again, always a good sign in my book.

Then I watched this:

I knew this was going to be bad, I'd heard it was and fully expected it to be so when I first saw the preview. But seriously, what more could I ask for - angels - check, crazy apocalypse - check, hotboys - check, check, check, explosions - CHECK, evil children - shudder (and check).

Legion is the story of an angel (Paul Bettany) who comes to earth the protect a baby, so that humanity has a chance at survival. God has grown angry with us and rather than a flood this time, he's given the order for angels to destroy us. Enter one small diner/mechanics in the middle of the desert (the closest town being an hour away). Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) is a young girl, pregnant with the saviour of mankind. Jeep (Lucas Black) isn't the baby daddy - but he wants to be. He and his father (Dennis Quaid) run the diner where she works. When everything goes down, everyone has to band together to protect Charlie and her baby, while trying to keep the possesed out and them selves alive. In the mix is cook Percy, Kyle - who's lost and the unlucky family whose car has broken down.

For a movie with religious backstory, it has no real mention of religion - beyond God being angry with us, hence sending angels to destroy mankind. I found this kinda annoying, I think it would've added to the story if more religious explanation was added to the story.

And while there were plenty of explosions/gun fights, I would've loved to have seen more fight scenes, there is one which is pretty awesome - who knew angels had bullet proof wings y'all. The angels themselves, or should I say the possessed, are fairly scary, the ice cream dude reminding me a little of The Exorcist when the girl comes down the stairs, spider style. As the movie went on they became fairly standard bad guys and less scary, so there was the possibility of these being a lot more menacing with some more thought from the writers.

And seriously - who doesn't love evil nanna, she is awesome! I think she may even be my fave part. Even when she was all "aww cute when's you're baby due", smile plastered on her face I was all "bitch is crazy evil." See picture above - proof that GRANNY IS EVIL. If that's not scary I don't know what is.

This was predictable, and maybe because I didn't have high expectations, I didn't feel so let down, but there are quite a few flaws that would've been easy to fix if the movie had been given a bit more thought. And as much as I love Lucas Black, I was more than a little confused as to why his character had a Southern accent - I know that he refuses to change his accent, but perhaps another actor could've been used when none of the family had any connection to the south.

Did I love it - no, would I watch it again - hell yeah. Because in all honesty, I'm a huge fan of the craptastic and that's really what this is. Gorgeous, glorious, craptastic fun.

Manhunt by Janet Evanovich

2011-02-10T17:58:00.006+11:00

Manhunt is the story of Alex, a high-powered exec from Pittsburgh, who decides to give it all up, dog in tow, for a tiny cabin and a hardware store in the wilds of Alaska. She's looking for a husband - but not just any husband. He has to be average, stable, brown haired, cute butted and wants to have kids. Instead she meets Casey, of all these things he possesses a cute butt. As for the rest of it, he's far too exciting, plus he's rich, very hot and bound to get her into trouble.

I began reading this, putting aside other books I'd already started, I knew what I was going to get - a fun read, guaranteed to make me laugh. This is one of the twelve novels she wrote before she started the Stephanie Plum series, she seems to follow a formula with them - and I by no means am dissing her for this, it works for the books, and that's one of the reasons I love them, but there's usually a giant dog, a hot man and the feisty lady that wrangles them both - It may not work for some books/authors, but I've always enjoyed reading them, and each books still seems fresh. Evanovich has a knack for writing hilarious dialog/scenes. And there are some great moments when Alex is pottering around her new cabin.

I enjoyed the teasing between Alex and Casey and even though they've only known each other a short time, their relationship doesn't seem forced. I was laughing out loud when Alex was out with her sled buddy, knowing full well it would make Casey jealous. Evanovich had me hankering for a tiny cabin of my own in Alaska...fully equipped with a Casey all of my own. How does one arrange a holiday like that I wonder? In fact I'd be happy to move to Alaska if this muggy heat keeps up.

Definitely recommended for a light, quick, fun read, perfect for snuggling up in front of the fire (or in my case trying to cool down under the air conditioner in 35° heat).

C.

Book Quiz 1 & 2

2011-02-09T20:01:00.004+11:00

I was playing about on the innerwebs when I found these. I'm not quite sure what these say about me - apart from apparently I can't stop playing with rabbits and I like dead things??? But it is true - I do love Halloween :)

According to BQ 1 I'm Watership Down by Richard Adams.

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

For BQ 2 I'm the much creepier Frankestien by Mary Shelley

You're Frankenstein!

by Mary Shelley

Inventive, clever, and perhaps too creative for your own good, you
are widely admired. While most around you believe that science can only offer
unmitigated improvement of their lives, you show them another side to technological
advancement that is dangerous and downright scary. While this may sound like you're
regressive and even retrograde, it really demonstrates that you're voicing important
concerns with a world rapidly spinning out of control. There are those who believe
you're melodramatic, but most people appreciate you for this entertaining streak.
You really love Halloween.

Take the Book Quiz II
at the Blue Pyramid.

What book are you?

C.

Please Help...

2011-02-08T13:29:00.002+11:00

There are lots of awesome people in the world, Marrion P’Udongo, a minister in the Congo, is one of them. Before today I'd never heard of him, I found a link through twitter, asking me to comment on Shiloh Walker's blog. If she get's 400 comments on her blog post she is going to donate extra money to help Marrion P’Udongo, get his kidney transplant. This is that post here:
If you had a chance to save a life... I always love hearing about people helping other's out, it doesn't have to be big, it just has to happen.

In your lifetime, there are few moments when you’re given the opportunity to directly save another person’s life.-Bryan Mealer, HuffPo

If you had a chance to save somebody’s life, and it didn’t take all that much… would you do it? Well, here’s that chance.

Check out Shiloh Walker’s blog for a chance to read how you can help save a man’s life…

Changes to the blog

2011-02-07T18:30:00.004+11:00

While I should've been leaving work on time and 'getting things done', I did some procrastinating instead - so technically I did DO something, just not the thing I was supposed to.

Like the new look? It's got some more colour, I liked the brown, but this are more my style, and I love the flowers. Now I just have to organise some tabs, since this blog isn't just devoted to books, I thought tabs would be a good way to separate the topics I write about. Now there's no way I'm getting time to do anything before book club, until next time stay classy Adelaide. It's time to discuss The Road.

C.

It's my first Blog Hop!

2011-02-07T14:59:00.009+11:00

I thought I'd try something different and have seen this on a couple of other blogs that I read. So I thought I'd give it a go.

This weeks question is: "What are you reading and why are you reading it?"

I'm reading a few things this week, all are for my LibraryThing challenges I've got going for 2011.

Beyond Evie is the coming of age story of Charlotte, who feels a bit left behind by life, since her father passed away, she hasn't really spoken about it until Evie. Evie is the new girl that Charlotte works with at the local bakery. I'm enjoying this so far, it's by Australian author Rebecca Burton, whose first novel is supposed to be very good - another one for Mt. TBR, but really what's one more!

This was recommended to me by a friend, I'm a fan of Evanovich, I've not read her Stephanie Plum series, but I loved the Full series and I'm slowly working my way through her earlier titles. Alex moves to Alaska to find herself a man - all thanks to Alaska's lack lustre man to woman ratio. She meets Casey, who in anybody else's opinion, would be prime material, hilarity follows I'm told.

I first read this in high school a long time ago, and found it again last year as a rerelease, I've only read the first bit so far but I'm enjoying it enough to keep reading. I remember this was supposed to be a true story, the diary of an anonymous teen girl who was sucked into the world of drugs with no way out, I didn't particularly believe that then and I definately don't now. This was written by Beatrice Sparks, who also wrote a number of other diaries that she just happened to 'find', dealing with Satanism, teen pregnancy and HIV, to name a few.

I started reaing this last year, but I keep getting side tracked by other stuff, it doesn't help that I'm reading it on my iPhone. So it's usually trucked out when I'm waiting in line. I'm enjoying it enough, but I'm not finding it terribly scary or thhrilling, which is the side effect of reading it in parts. Oolanga has just had a first hand experience with the worm, so I think it's curtains for him, but there's still plenty of other unsuspecting victims and let's not forget the kite flying, fun for the whole family!*

* Apparently kite flying is the perfect thing to scare off a bird infestation - I'm still confused about that, (and a few other things, maybe the application of vodka would help?).

So there you have it, a few different things on the boil and who knows what we'll start reading for book club, something a bit happy I think, we're discussing and watching The Road by Cormac McCarthy tonight, which should be fun (well as much fun as an apocalyptic road book/movie can be), but I think it'll give great discussion. I've already got lots floating around my head. I really enjoyed the book, I love the lyrical way that McCarthy writes. This is the first that I've read of his - I've seen No Country for Old Men, but I'll be heading out to the shelves to find out what else we have of his.

C.

Weekly Hotboy

2011-02-03T17:47:00.005+11:00

I'm all aflutter this week - Vampire Diaries is back for 2011. Yay! It's all very excited with the threat of the new witch in town, new werewolves and more on the way and what's this - emotion from Damon. Gasp! He does wounded so well. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, but not having to wait forever and a day for season three. I know - put me out of my misery and give me Wolf Lake on DVD dammit. I wants it - like yesterday. Until then, there's these lucious morsels to tide me over and aren't they a delight :) Why yes, they are.

C.

Weekly Hotboy - Australian Edition

2011-01-30T03:10:00.004+11:00

In honour of Australia Day, which was last Wednesday for the unbelievers here's some Aussie manflesh, hot - just the way we like 'em!

First up is Ryan Kwanten, he's best known in America for True Blood, Summerland, but in Australia, he'll always be Vinnie to us! Okay, maybe not to me, I've watched him in TRue Blood mainly, which is the perfect place to watch him really - he often gets nekkid! Then there's Flicka, he's just so darn cute in it, not to mention Tim McGraw and hello, pony show!

Then there's Chris Hemsworth, another Home and Awayer, he was Capt. Kirk's papa and now he's Thor, the preview of which is fantastic - check it out.
Until next time, enjoy the hotness and stay classy

C.

December 2010 reading

2011-01-25T21:45:00.006+11:00

This is way late I know and I still need to finish my best of 2010. In some ways 2010 was an awesome reading year, there were some great new authors, I managed to complete two of my reading challenges, one whipped my butt - I'm looking at you 1010 challenge, ( I managed a dismal 62, I blame the books, they kept sidetracking me dammit).

Here's my December books list, which took my total to 144 books read for 2010. Not all of them have reviews, cause I wanted to finish posting this on LibraryThing - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

115. Call me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

I thought I’d start December off with some Christmas spirit and my first Debbie Macomber. As expected this is light fluff, enjoyable, but a rather predictable, by the numbers book. It’s the sequel to Mrs. Miracle, both of which have been made into movies. Even though it’s nothing new this is an easy read, perfect for some Christmas reading. I’ve been meaning to try Macomber before this and I’ll end up reading some of the Blossom Street stories, but to be honest I’m not going to be running out because I have to read it ‘right now’.

116. That Perfect Someone by Johanna Lindsey

This is the 10th in the Malory series, set in Regency England. Julia and Richard are the reluctant lovers, who’ve been betrothed to each other since early childhood. The problem being – they detest each other and at their last meeting 9 years ago they both vowed that if they ever saw each other again, they’d kill each other. So it’s no surprise that on their next meeting there’s fisticuffs and just a little bit of seduction, as you do. This was a fun read, I don’t read a lot of regency romance, but I did enjoy Johanna Lindsey’s writing and her characters, obviously explored more in the other Malory novels.

117. Private by James Patterson

Mike as a character is not particularly likeable, sure he’s dealing with shit from his past, but he doesn’t treat the ladies in his life very nicely. Over all, I did enjoy the story, it was a fast paced, if slightly predictable, thriller. And what up with all the James Patterson AND ……. I don’t really get the new phenomenon of authors writing with other authors, it can get kinda meh, and at least they’re not related. Don’t get me started on offspring who write. *hulk*

118. Family Ties by Danielle Steel

Ugh. Here's what I learnt from this book:

1. A woman must sacrifice everything for children, you can't have a career AND children - it's too hard.

2. Relationships between different cultures don't work, (the one in this was between a non- practicing Christian and Muslim) - they're just TOO hard.

3. All people who have tattoos and piercing are bad bad people who spread AIDS and Hepatitis.

4. It's ok to be an indiviual and go your own way, as long as you learn your lesson and realise that you have to be the same as everyone else by the end of the book.

Harsh I know, but I was really pissed off by the end of this and don't get me started on the repetative, descriptive paragraphs. Enough said, moving along. And swearing to never read DS again.

119. Burning Up by Susan Anderson

OMG! How awesome was this!! Way awesome I tell you. This was lots of fun to read and my first book by Susan Anderson, but it definitely won’t be my last. I think fire fighters are the new vampire/werewolves. This is the third series I know about featuring fire fighters hot enough to scorch the words right of the page. It features one very bad girl, one super hot fire fighter, a hunky Irish rocker and a not so good primary school teacher *gasp*, with lots of steamy situations, flirting, and fried chicken (very tasty – I made it for tea on the weekend).

120. Obsession by Karen Robards

121. The Ugly Duckling by Martin Powell

122. Don’t Blink by James Patterson

123. Angel: After the Fall by Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch & Franco Urru

124. Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith & Grant Cowan

Beautiful vintage dresses, the downside – I wish the illustrations, beautiful as they are, were photos. I would’ve loved to have seen more detail.

125. Classic Tales of Horror by Various

This was a collection of 19 stories. Some were quite dry, not very scary and a bit meh. I did enjoy The Brazilian Cat by Arthur Conan Doyle – Cousin tries to kill his cuj to inherit the families wealth. The Corpse Light by Dick Donovan – ghost wanting to get his body discovered. The Lame Priest by S. Carleton – warewolves. The Eyes of the panther by Ambrose Bierce.

126. Worst Case by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

127. Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard

128. Alpha by Rachel Vincent

129. The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

This was fang-tastic and a nice move away from all the vampire novels of late (although I now think 'Angels' are the in thing). It features a group of vampires, trying to survive, aided by two humans.

130. Irresistible by Karen Robards

131. The Other 51 Weeks by Lee Welch

132. Fundamentals of children's services by Michael Sullivan

133. Spellbound by Nora Roberts

134. Orchard Valley Grooms by Debbie Macomber

135. Crazy For Love by Victoria Dahl

This was lots of fun, although the male lead was kinda annoying sometimes (he has a need to take care of everyone), which can get annoying sometimes. But this is full of sext sassy writing, just what I've come to love from Dahl. I also enjoyed the side story between the main characters bestie and brother.

136. No Place To Run by Maya Banks

This was brilliant and I gobbled it up, the second in the KGI series, it's a romantic suspense, rather thatn the usual eotica that I read from Maya, but it still has her trademark Southern charm and alpha male hero's. I'm really looking forward to the other brothers stories (there'll be at least 6 books in the series & if we get lucky, we might get some of the side characters from KGI get theri own story). Well written, fast paced and lots of fun.

137. Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

This wasnt quite what I expected it to be. It tells the story of Elizabeth, Amarican girl, navigating her way around Paris with her French husband Gwendal. How she adapts to life. I wasn't 100% about this when I started it, it's seemed to move quite slowly, but as I kept on reading I got more and more into the story. I love the relationship food played in the book, bringing the characters together despite language barriers, plus there's the added bonus of the recipes at the end of each chapter. This was our last book club book for 2010 and we had a French night for our breakup. One lady made the mini almond meal and raspberry cakes - devine!

138. Trailer Park Zombies by Jason H. Jones

This was one of the better written zombie novels of the year - but not for the faint of heart, it's quite voilent and graphic in it's description of zombie mayhem. So if gore isn't your thing I suggest you stay away, but I thought this was a well written novel and I like the twist in the zombie ethos.

139. One Hundred Great Books in Haiku by David Bader

And with this - finally - I've started my Popular Penguin category for my 1010. This was a lot of fun and amazingly correct descriptions for some of the books.

140. Poems of John Keats by John Keats

What is more lovlier than Keats, ok so I'm being romantic, there are other fantastic poets out there, but Keats is a delight.

141. Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak by writers famous and obscure

An interesting concept, that works suprisingly well.

142. Secrets of a Proper Lady Victoria Alexander

Regency romance, that had me laughing out loud, I'm going to be tracking they others in the series dwon in 2011, perfect fodder for my 11 in 11 challenge!

143. The Bad Widow by Barbara Elsborg

144. Better Late than Never by Savannah Stuart

C.

Oohh 2011 you're all any shiny!

2011-01-17T17:20:00.009+11:00

Happy New Year everyone. Hope you Christmas and New Year was brilliant, I had a quite one with family in Adelaide. Perfect beach weather, not too hot. And lots of time for bubbles with friends and some very scary grappa! There was also time for new books :) I was lucky to get my copy of No Place to Run by Maya Banks before I left. Which was fantastic, it's the second in the KGI series, sadly I now have to wait until March for the third one.

I'm going to try mix it up a little here, I'm of teh suckage when posting, especially last year, so I thought if I had stuff I posted each week, it would make me remeber to post, (I'm all about the ideas). What does that mean? It means for starters I'm bringing sexy back. That's right you heard me...Weekly Hotboy is back!! Who's first off the ranks, why it's Matt Dallas, talented actor in the now defunct Kyle XY tv series (which I'm halfway through at the moment - hence the lusting). He was also in Eastwick, but I don't think that lasted long either. But he's got a few things coming out this year, so hopefully we'll get to see a little more of him :)

What else have we got to look forward to this year? Book reviews, movie reviews, Friday 56 and anything else that takes my fancy. I'm heading to Sydney at the end of March for the ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Association) conference, which should be lots of fun. There'll be author talks, signings, a goodie room and I'll be staying at the resort where the conference is held, right on Bondi, hello beach and hello spa days! I can't wait it's going to be awesome!!

Plus I have uni to look forward to, the rate I'm going I'll be going to uni on my zimmer frame. We now have trimesters, so I do an extra subject eact year now, so that should cut down on the time it takes me to complete it...providing I pass everything O.o I've only got one core subject left, then its electives after that. Easy done. Time will fly and I'll finish it all *pep talk*

C.

Bookapalooza!!

2010-12-03T16:51:00.001+11:00

Here's my November reading - hardly finished anything this month - I've got another 4 or 5 books I started in November, but I got sidetracked. I thought I'd put all my reviews in with this post so sorry it's all a bit random :)

111. The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest by Stieg Larsson

Wow, I’ve finally finished the Millennium Trilogy. The start was a bit slow in this book, but goodness the story really revved up from the middleish onwards. My fave character was Lisbeth, so I was glad when the story focused on her moreso. I was continually getting confused with characters names - which was frustrating, but I don't think took away from my enjoyment. Despite Mikke’s apparent ‘animal magnetism’ to the ladies *snigger* -- I found his jumping into bed with another lady a bit tiresome, (he's journalisms answer to James Bond) and I'm sure a throw back to Larssons inner 14 year old boy - who wouldn't want 'teh ladies' falling all over them. From now on Mikke shall be called LL Cool M. I'm glad I read the series, even with all the hype, I enjoyed them regardless of what everybody thought. Did I think they were the greatest thing ever - no, and I'll probably not read them again, but I did have lots of fun reading them.

112. The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens

This is the 2nd book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I quite enjoyed this, although I'm reading it out of order it hasn't been hard to follow the story, when I'd finished The Brazen Bride, I remember reading somewhere that there was too much smexy time in it, but this kinda seemed to have the same amount - the difference being, I think, is that in this story the lady isn't so forward about her liking for the horizontal mambo. As with the third book, there isn't a lot of explanation of who the bad guys are, or what it is they've done, just that they're evil, nefarious and wear lots of black - oohh, maybe they're models! But I did enjoy the action, lots of swashbuckling fun and games.

113. Hot Rocks by Nora Roberts

Laine and Jenny reminded me of Sookie and Loralai from Gilmore Girls and the banter bwtween Laine and Max was well written. This was a good fun read. I'm enjoying going through Roberts' stand alone titles, I've read a few of her older titles, they're light and fluffy and perfect for decompressing my brain between uni reading. It’s somehow part of the In Death series with Det. Eve Dallas – which I don’t quite get since that’s set in the future. Apparently this was previously published as Remember When, Part 1. I did try to work it all out but I was in danger of my head exploding.

114. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

The first in the Alex Rider series, I've read the Spy High series, but this was much more enjoyable. Both in plot and character. Obviously there is total suspension of reality - metal eating paste disguised as acne cream - but it was lots of fun to read. I still hold out hope that they’ll make the rest into movies. Either way, I'll happily be finishing the rest of the series!

C.

Let's do the mash! The monster mash!

2010-11-15T16:34:00.007+11:00

I've been busy busy lately, trying to finish all my categories for the 1010 and 100 in 2010 on LibraryThing, that I haven't posted any reviews. So I thought I'd have at it and whack a couple on the old blog. Here goes lovelies, gird things and whatnot it's a monster mashup!! Linkage isn't working, cause I'm lazy - also why there are no photo's of covers <--- It actually is, totally using LibraryThing from now on, I don't have to separately add links. Huzzah!

First up is:

65. Love in a Time of Zombies by Paul Gude

I got this for a couple of dollars through my kindle app. A bargain! And well worth it, it was a lot of fun.

Sex and zombies. That's all you really need to know. (That's the very helpful product description on Amazon).

I love this book, so far it's been my favourite zombie book to date. I know the above Sex and Zombies sounds kinda eww, and while there is some boomchica it's mostly between the non infected. (Y'all can rest easy now ;D).

I don't know if it was supposed to be as funny as it was. At the time I was reading this I was playing Zombie Farm on my iPhone a lot. When the zombies are running round the farm they yell out "brains? brains?" All in a tiny high pitched voice. So that's the voice that all the zombies in the book had while I was reading it - the zombies in the book all run around asking "Brains". They stop at crossings, drive cars, anwser the phone and in general - just want hugs! Not quite the usual zombie, but still just as creepy.

The story centers around Roy and Kim, exes who are trying to get outta Seattle without getting dead. They do this with lots of sarcasm, witty banter, smexy flirting, violence and some shop lifting. I think it also helps that they're both a little crazy. In fact, most of the characters that you meet along the way are a little skewed.

The whole infection part of the story is kinda hazy, it's explained a little, but not in any depth. I think this part of the story could've been expanded and the correlation between the infestation and Roy's dreams.

But overall, this was fun, perfect for some breezy holiday reading. And really - who doesn't love some crazy zombie capers.

Next it's a back to Portland...

101. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

I actually really enjoyed this novella, I felt that it was slightly better written and I liked the Bree character, I enjoyed her more than some of the other characters introduced in Breaking Dawn, it's a pity that she gets dead as I think she would've added a nice dynamic to the last book. And although they barely take off, I enjoyed her relationships with both male vampires that befriend her.

This is written as one long chapter, which made for easy reading and gave a nice insight into the newborns and how they were manipulated, it further touched on the dynamics of their group, that you only saw glimpses of in Eclipse. For those that liked the Riley character, it also has a tiny bit more about his relationship with Victoria, (although the character is only referred to as 'She' throught the novella). Although I felt like he was manipulated by Victoria in Eclipse, in the novella it seemed like he knew more about what was happening, so it made me like the character less.

The alternate story unfolding around the events in Eclipse flesh out the original story and compliment it well. Although there is nothing to say this couldn't be read as a stand alone if you didn't want to read the rest of the series.

Obviously, if you like the original series, you'll end up reading this, if you don't continue to feel free to hate on it. I know that this series is wildly popular in both love and hate camps. But when all's said and done, I enjoyed this just like the others, not as anything literary or spectacularly written, just as another wee slice of fun and frivolity and for a change there's no mooning, brooding, creepy stalking and sadly no smexy abs *sigh* (Okay maybe a little brooding, but it wouldn't be Twilighty goodness without it!)

And lastly, but certainly not least - Whedonverse :)

102. Spike: After the Fall by Brian Lynch; art by Franco Urru

It was great to be able to see what had happened to the rest of the gang, post apocalyptic Angel & Co. Vs Wolfram & Hart fight to the death. This takes off after the fight, LA has been transported to Hell, Wesley is dead, Spike and Fred/Illyria have teamed up and are fighting the big bad in Hell, there are cameos from Gunn and Connor/Stephen (I always wondered if the name was picked intentionally with the ‘I know my first name is Stephen’ movie in mind - sorry, tangent!). Angel doesn’t appear (he’s got his own After the Fall series). But I’m assuming that there will be crossover. I don’t love the illustrations, but it was great to see Spike back to his tally ho bad guys days and I like the Fred/Illyria characters slipping between each other. It adds a nice dynamic to the character. And what’s this – could there be romance budding between our two heroes?? Which could be kinda cool, but I don’t know 100% about that yet, cause even though he's dead I'm still a fan of the Fredly combo. I read this over the weekend and was then 'forced' to watch the last episode of Angel, the one where Fred gets infected by Illyria and the puppet episode (just for giggles). Needless I was all a bit crying at the end, remembering the good old days, both Buffy and Angel are still favourites of mine and it’s nice to visit Whedonverse every now and again. I've been constantly impressed with the Buffy/Angel comics, they don't let fans down, IMO.

Enjoy. I know I did. And HELLO! I've made it to the grand old total of 111 read so far, 3 more than last year and am partway through books, 112, 113, & 114 :) I'm so awesome, I'm kicking my own arse!

Dragon Prime by Lora Leigh

2010-10-06T14:00:00.002+11:00

He is a Prime Warrior of the Dragon Clan. An alien on Earth. Fighting a battle that could tip the balance between two separate worlds. But now his greatest mission isn’t the battle, or the blood of the enemy. It’s the love of one woman’s heart. One he’s lost once already and vows he will not lose again.

This is another book I've read for my Erotica Romance Reading Challenge 2010. While I do love me some Lora Leigh, this was definately not my fave. This was a little more science fictioney than her breeds series, (don't ask me the difference between shagging an alien or a man/lion hybrid - I know both options aren't a reality, I can't explain it!).

There are the standard - alpha hero that won't let anything stand in the way of getting the woman and the feisty lady who has been running from him. But for some reason this wasn't doing it for me this time. Maybe if I'd read the Wizard Twins books (which are loosely connected0, I may have liked this more. But over all, while this still had Lora's smexy romps and her witty one liners there was no happy ending for moi - unlike our hero & heroine, they go off like nobodies bid'ness!

I would recommend instead you check out her Breeds series if you like your erotica with a science fictioney edge, or her contempory 'Nauti' series. Which is one of her best in my opinion. Her 'Bound Hearts' is another excellent series, although I would say don't read the last two they were nowhere near as good a the earlier ones written for Ellora's Cave.

Happy endings to one and all!

The Friday 56

2010-09-04T14:29:00.002+10:00

Well, it's technically Saturday now, but I was busy out getting my drink on last night, so I didn't get around to doing this, so it's catchup time.

This weeks is taken from 'The Digging-est Dog' by Al Perkins. Some little library goer left it behind :(

"They dragged me up out of the pit."

About the Friday 56

Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Unbroken by Maya Banks

2010-08-31T21:23:00.004+10:00

Well I know you've all been waiting, full of excitement, for my very first post from my Erotic Romance Reading Challenge 2010. I started things off with a bang - thanks to Maya Banks!

I gotta say I do love Maya's writing, she has the perfect mix of funny, sexy, with great stories and characters I actually like reading about. Unbroken is three novellas, with the central characters all living in the same town.

Understood

Jake made the ultimate mistake - falling in love with Ellie, his best friends wife. Distance was the only solution, but it prevented him from seeing what a bastard his friend turned out to be. Now Ellie is free from the bondage of her past, and Jake waits. Needing, wanting, and ready for her when she spreads her wings.

Overheard

Gracie is tired of the men in her life never fulfilling her vivid sexual fantasies. When Luke overhears her talking about what she really wants, he's stunned - and very turned on. So Gracie thinks no man can satisfy her? He aims to prove her wrong.

Undenied

Payton is the last woman Wes ever expected or wanted to see again. He's come a long way since their awkward teenage encounter, and his ego needs no reminder. Payton harbours no such reservations about catching up on old times, if she could just get him over his mental block. But that's nothing a blindfold and a little mad seduction scheme can't fix...

Warning: This title contains explicit sex, graphic language, mad seduction schemes, drop dead sexy hunks, and a menage a trois.

How can you say no? I happily said yes, yes, oh yes!

One thing I love about Maya's characters is that the women are nice and sassy, they're not afraid to go after what they want. While there is swooning, they're not weak. And they make me laugh. A lot. I'm often surprised I don't wake anyone else with all my snorting. The other thing I love about Maya's books is they're so easy to reread. Which is pretty much what I did when I came to the end of Unbroken.

Although that did have something to do with the fact that I felt obligated to read both my ebook and print versions, (yes in all my excitement I bought both versions without knowing it), as you get to know me you'll realise impulse control isn't my strong point when it comes to books. Proof in the pudding - I just bought 11 new books, halfway through writing this post - it was all the Maya Banks talk. I HAD to buy her new Kelly Group International series and it snowballed from there. But I digress...

And of course, there's the smexy bits! Maya has a knack for writing HOT sexy scenes, they don't seem over the top or fake, (or course since it's a book we're reading, the boys are always hung and the girls always come :P Maybe not what always happens in reality, but I'm not complaning!).

If you like your sexy books with some smoking hot lovin' and a healthy dose of laughs, I totally recommend this.

And check out the cover - that's some hot manflesh right there!

C.

Oh yes...cause I need me another reading challenge.

2010-08-21T01:17:00.003+10:00

I was playing about on the net tonight and discovered the Erotica Romance Reading Challenge 2010. So I of course thought to myself, 'Self, you don't have enough reading challenges, you're only doing like 5 - what's one more?' So I decided to add another one. Wait I'm not finished, I went a little challenge crazy and found another one - Contempory Romance Reading Challenge 2010.

In all honesty, they would probably be the two easiest of my challenges to complete, I tend to read within this genre the most. Plus I'm thinking it'll be the kick in the arse that I need to finish a few of the books I've bought over the past year - the majority I haven't read yet. When it comes to books, my impulse control is seriously lacking!!

I'm all cited to start and have chosen to read Maya Banks' Sweet Surrender to begin, (thought I'd better get my butt into gear and read the first four before the next one comes out!!).

C.

Friday 56

2010-08-20T21:15:00.004+10:00

Thought I'd try something new - The Friday 56 - tonight ima give gonna give you a little snippet from Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston, my very handy mouse mat of the moment!

He stared down at her and she stared up at him. She kept smiling even when he didn't. Finally, he asked, "What time did we agree on?"

About the Friday 56

Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Well that's it folks, my first Friday 56. Le Awesome. Enjoy your weekend kids.

C.

The Brazen Bride by Stephanie Laurens

2010-08-18T01:32:00.004+10:00

Before I went away I was lucky enough to receive a proof of one Stephanie Laurens new titles from the lovely people at HarperCollins, yay twitter!! So here's my review - late as usual, but that's just how I roll.

The Brazen Bride (Black Cobra Quartet, book three). 432 pgs of swashbucking adventure, saucy excapades and smexy behaviour!

This was released in July, so Laurens readers would most likely have already read this, but if you're one of the uninitiated - I definately recommend giving this book and the rest of the series a closer look. As per my usual lazy self I've used the blurb from the HarperCollins website

They're bold, courageous, resolute . . . ex-officers of the Crown united against a deadly traitor known only as the Black Cobra.

Shipwrecked, wounded, he risks all to pursue his mission—only to discover a partner as daring and brazen as he.

Fiery, tempestuous, a queen in her own realm, she rescues a warrior—only to find her heart under siege.

Bound by passion, linked by need, together they must brave the enemy's gauntlet to win all their hearts' desire.

I haven't read many of Stephanie's books, but I liked this. I hadn't read the first two books in the series, but I was mostly able to follow what was happening with the plot and storylines. Linnet Trevission is not the typical romance heroine. She's Captain of the Esperance, sometimes in the employ of the English Navy. She is living at Mon Coeur, with her rag tag family when the lucious Logan Monteith is literally swept onto her doorstep.

And so begins the next chapter in the Black Cobra quartet, with Linnet's help, Logan may just manage to to complete his part of the mission to bring down the Black Cobra. Sounds dramatic, I know, but it is rather. There's lots of action, with sea battles and sword fights in dark alleys with nasty assassins. All in all it's lots of fun. One thing I didn't like about the story, (without going into too much detail), was how easily Linnet changed her mind at the end. She's all whiny about her independence and not needing a man. Which will totes make sense when you read the book for yourself!! The other thing I'm still not sure about is the relationship between Alex and Daniel (the bad guys), half brothers, lovers??? Far be it from me to deny anyone some bum fun, but I'm not sure what it has to do with the story and it's a bit incesty, which gives it an ick factor. Maybe it makes more sense having read the first two books in the series.

Overall, an awesome time was had by me, it was the perfect way to start my holiday reading. It was a nice change of pace from the other books I'd been reading. Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.

C.

This is the worst holiday blog in the history of holiday blogs...I get a prize for that right???

2010-07-19T08:31:00.003+10:00

In case you can't count this is only the second post I've done since starting my trip, my access to the interwebs has been sadly lacking. On the upside, I've been having a grand old time galavanting around the country side. While I didn't get to Monet's Gardens, we did have two days at Disneyland, after Versailles. Which turned out to be perfect as we got to go to both parks, I discovered a fave new ride (and have the photo to prove it!). It was a keister load busier this time around and would probably not go during June-July again. Although if you do stay at one of their hotels, you get two hours in the park before it opens to the plebs...unless of course you run into evil worker William, who won't let you in 'cause you don't have the other pass, 'cause that's with your cuj, who's already in the park, and besides *I* wanted to sit on a park bench for an hour anyway >.< rarrgh!!! Apart from that and a little incident where Jake and I got stuck on a ride it was awesome! I think I also own half of Disney's stores now, can't help myself, it's all so cute.

After Paris, we had a couple of days in London to rest up and visit some more family, which was lovely, both as we hadn't seen Uncle Bill for ages and I got to meet family I'd never met before and because we got to see some English countryside, we even went over the hill that is in the opening credits of Vicar of Dibley. After a quick rest it was off to Dublin. We stayed at Trinity College, which is brilliant, I got to see part of the Book of Kells, which is housed there. Words can't really describe it, that there is something that old, still in relatively good condition, the colours are still so vibrant and just imagining how difficult it would've been to get all the different coloured paints, (crushed beetles, copper, lapis luzuli, from Persia, the Mediterranean and Afghanistan). It would've been great to have seen more, but they only display one page of illuminations and one of text. With the other two books in a separate part of the student library.

I also got to walk through the old library, apparently it's the longest building of it's kind 65 yards(?) long. I was itching to get in there though as none of it's alphabetised, they're on the shelf big to little in genres and much of it's in Latin, so really, I wouldv'e been in a bit of a pickle - so good thing Wombat & I went to the Guinness factory instead! More on that later, I'm bushed and I've got to get some beauty sleep so I can convincingly sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about when we visit the Tates tomorrow.

Until next time auf wiedersehen lovelies.

C.

Bon Jour!

2010-07-02T04:45:00.005+10:00

Well this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write a blog post, little or no interwebs makes Cathy a cranky girl. But I can't complain too much, I'm sitting in a Maccas in Versaille! We had a lovely day walking around the palace, we had lunch in the gardens, then hopped onto a mini train thingy to have a look at the gardens further out and at Marie-Antoinette's 'mini' house. Very stately and not quite so ever the top as the palace.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Louvre, which was quite busy, as it's school holidays in Paris atm, but I mananged to see a tiny bit of it! There was the bone crushing visit to see Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. I only managed to walk through the galleries with the Spanish and Italian paintings, I saw a little bit of Egyptian statues, but the exhibit I wanted to see didn't start until the next day. I've got some great photos, but I'll have to wait to post them, as I need to buy a card reader, but trust me - there shall be photo's, oh yes there shall.

The night before that we visited Le Tour Eiffel, which I'm with SJP on this one, looks lovely lit up and we managed to time it right so we saw it all sparkly (nobody told me it was a Cullen!), but it was good to see it at night, as last year Asha and I saw it during the day.

Hopefully we get to visit Monet's gardens tomorrow, and if we have time pick up some tappas!! Fingers crossed it won't be too long before I get to post again, but until then stay classy Australia :)

C.

Cathy & Julia Part Duex

2010-05-31T16:41:00.002+10:00

Well, Saturday nights French extravaganza didn't go quite according to plan, prtly because I was feeling lazy, but mostly as I've been sick. So I'm shooting for next weekend, as I feel marginally better.

Can I say I suck, I've just found this draft, which I started on 31st May last year, it's now 7th Dec 2011 and I don't think I made anything French - I didn't end up have the delcious french dinner. On the plus side, perhaps since I now own both volumes of the cook book in question, I will actually get off my arse and make something from them once I move into my new place.

C.

No Longer Mine by Shiloh Walker

2010-05-25T23:26:00.007+10:00

I was happily playing on the net on Sunday night, catching up on new book titles coming out and I found a most wonderful blog Leontine's Book Realm lots of lovely reviews and it was here that I found her review of No Longer Mine. So of course in this age of instant gratification I bought it from Amazon and in the twitch of a whisker there it was on my iPhone - imagine my delight! This was at 2 in the morning, I of course was going to be on my best behaviour and only read the first couple of chapters. That was before I started the story, once I started I didn't want to stop - I did at 5:30 in the morning, after I'd read the whole thing. Here's what all my fuss is about!

As usual, I've used the blurb from Amazon, cause Ima lazy biatch. This was purchased in ebook format, at the very affordable price of US $6.40.

One woman, one man, and a love that won't let either of them go.

Born on the wrong side of the tracks and dealt a fair share of hardship, Nikki Kline never gives up a fight. Even when her reason to keep going is ripped from her, Nikki tries desperately to hang on. But when the man who broke Nikki's heart comes back into her life she doesn't know how much she can take. Especially since that man seems determined to win back her damaged heart.

Wade Lightfoot is a man who knows he's made more mistakes than most. As much as he would like to repair the damage he's done to those he loves, Wade also knows there is no going back. But when he sets out to put things right the last thing he's prepared to find out is that he had a son. A son he'll never get the chance to meet.

When the truth is out and all the old wounds are bared, it seems impossible that Nikki and Wade will find their way back to each other. But true love is an undeniable force that even past hurts can't destroy.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Warning: This title contains heartbreaking tragedy, lies and deception, and a scorching passion that nothing can deny.

****Here Be Spoilers and my review :)****

What can I say, this book had me as soon as I started reading it, from the first chapter I was hooked. I think I spent the majority of the book with my hand on my chest, having a little cry every now and then, it's just that kinda book, a little bit dramatic I know, but the story got to me. In most romance stories, the main characters don't have quite so much angst to deal with. This story seems to be heavier in subject matter than usual, I know that you need something that needs to be resolved for the characters to move on and I think anyone reading this would be hard pressed to not be moved by the story.

Walker does this without being too sentimental, it's written with honesty and feeling. It's heartbreaking without being too superficial or sentimental. I was wondering what it would be like as Walker herself had said it wasn't her finest writing, but to be honest I didn't even notice and normally shit like that annoys me, but I was too busy loving it.

There were a few times when the characters made me cranky, I was wanting to slap Wade upside the head Gibbs style. The scene with Wade and Leanne at dinner when Wade hears about Jason's death was particulary difficult to read and I found it hard to like him at that point. And while Nikki's stubborness was frustrating at times, it was refreshing that she wasn't just another character that just 'gives in', which often happens in these types of stories.

Then again, I could handle Walker drawing out the teasey bits as it made it all the sweeter when they finally get together, even if it's not 100% outta love on both sides. And as sexy bits go it was rather sexy, although slightly tamer than what I've been reading lately. But it read real to me, it wasn't over the top, just two people rediscovering, in all their hot nekkid glory, what they've lost and could have again if they can forgive each other. (As an aside, what's up with all the car sex?? It's all up in my shit lately, I think the last 3 or 4 books I've read have had some auto loving - not in the creepy "Mmm hello exhaust pipe" kinda way, but in the "Lets christen the car"!!).

I do wish that there was more, I would've loved to have been able to explore Nikki and Wade's world more. To see where they went after the final chapter. One can dream, I would also love to see a story between Dylan (Nikki's older brother) and Kris (her editor), as there seemed to be a story there.

Overall, this book is of teh awesome, I've actually read it through again, twice. I love it when you find a book like that. It's only made me want to read more of Walker's books, which are on my ever increasing Mt. TBR, which is threatening to topple and crush me in my sleep. Bring it on for Fragile and Broken, I wants to read them. Now.

C.

P.S: FYI, I asked Walker if she was considering a sequel, with Dylan and Kris' story. And it's already out (and I had bought it the same night as NLM), colour me stupid!! So expect a review on Always Yours once I'm done. And yay! I don't have to wait to read it.

Cathy & Julia

2010-05-21T13:32:00.005+10:00

Earlier on in the year I watched Julie & Julia, which I loved. For those living under a rock it's the story of Julie Powell who decides to cook all 536 recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the art of French Cooking, while blogging about it. On the flip side it tells the story of Julia Child's life at the beginning of her culinary career and throughout the creation and publication of her cookbook.

It was a fun movie, I thought Meryl Streep did a fantastic job and the delicious Stanley Tucci who played her husband. Amy Adams was great as Julie Powell. I loved her in Sunshine Cleaning also. I loved the scenes with Julie creating the recipes, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the Julia part of the movie more than the Julie. i haven't read the book (or much of the blog, I did have a play after I saw the movie, but Julie hasn't really added anything for a few years).

So all enthused, I've borrowed Volumes 1 & 2 of Mastering the art of French Cooking (no I'm NOT goind to be cooking every recipe), what I will be doing is have a French night, which I haven't done for ages. But I'll choose starters, main, dessert - the whole hog, just not turbacyducken style, there be slightly more class. While I'm attempting the madness, I'll try and take photos and post the recipes that I choose.

C.

I need minions and lots of them.

2010-05-18T00:25:00.007+10:00

Well the shiny has officially worn off of uni. Now I'm all just hurry up and finish the semester already. Not that I'm not enjoying my subjects, I just shouldn't have chosen two. The good thing is that there's not a management text in sight! Joy :)
Apart from that I've been lazy, I need to post a gazillion book reviews, I've already read some great stuff this year, and happily only a couple of crap books. I've discoveredthe wonderful world of Kindle, with an iPhone app. It's great to be able to go anywhere and know that I've got a half dozen books to choose from. So much easier that carrying a bag full of books. But I gotta say, I still prefer having an actual book in my hands :) But what do you expect - I'm surrounded by books everyday.

It's been a busy couple of months, Sloppy nearly lost her other eye, (instead she got an eye lift!), which was way better than the alternative. I don't know what I'd do without my bundle of purr. So now she actually looks like her eye is open, which is kinda funny after 8 years of squinty face.

And because after all that stress, I'm giving myself some holidays! It's off to Europe again, this time with the family. This time I'll be spending more time in London, I'll also get to visit Ireland and the Oxygen Festival with Jake. I'm also looking forward to a week in Paris and where ever else my fancy feet feel like taking me. Looking forward to it.

Well that's it for tonight, You stay classy, San Diego.

C.

Hippy New Year (March is the new January!)

2010-03-02T18:14:00.005+11:00

It's been awhile folks, how was the end of '09 for you? It's been that long I can hardly remember! Christmas was good, rather quiet, I stayed in Mildura, as the boys were over from the UK and it was Holly's Christening. Apart from that and eating WAY to much crap, not much happened - good Christmas all in all. New Year was celebrated with copious amounts of bubbles, a heart attack (Rustyn was introduced to sparklers - NEVER AGAIN!! Or at least until he is old and I can't see him playing with them), Scary!! He of course thought it was hilarious to chase everyone around with said sparkler.

But now I'm off to Office Works, gotta buy stuff for Uni, looking forward to this semester, I'm doing electives Children's Services and Marketing so it'll make a nice change to more Management subjects.

C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - December

2009-12-16T17:53:00.001+11:00

Here's the list so far, thought I would add it now rather than forgetting half of it at the end of the month.

76. Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke

Kenny is 14 and his father has just died. He now has to get a job so that he can keep his family together. Something happens that will change the way Kenny looks at the world. This fantastic story is told with six different tales interwoven together. Told through the generations of Kenny’s family, it shows what happens when youth and adulthood collide. I thought it was very well written.

77. 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls

Quite a good Australian story about Dan, who is spending a year living with his cousin Jacq and her roommate Naomi. Dan is finishing his last year of high school

78. Little Fur: A Fox Called Sorrow by Isobelle Carmody

I remember reading Isobelle Carmody when I was little, I’ve always enjoyed entering her fantasy world, Little Fur is no different, and I’m reading the third in the series now. Although Carmody has still been quite heavy handed with the ‘humans are the ruin of the earth’, I have really enjoyed this junior series. I think that despite me not liking that aspect of the books, it still sends a positive message about what we’re doing wrong. The series, with its secret wilderness full of creatures, reminds me of animals of farthing wood. For this adventure Little Fur and friend Ginger, two ferrets, a rat and Sorrow, a fox that wants to die have to journey to the Underth, to discover an evil troll kings plans.

79. Little Fur: A Mystery of Wolves by Isobelle Carmody

Little Fur rescues a wolf Greyson, as payment he agrees to take Little Fur deep into the mountains to look for Ginger and the ferrets from the last story. Along the way, Little Fur learns the story of her parents, and elf prince and troll princess. She got a green pendant from her mother and a grey cloak from her father.

80. Don’t Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, she Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a Whorehouse by Paul Carter.

This was hilarious – I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. Carter has a fantastic way of telling his story. He makes even the scariest situation seem funny.

81. Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

This was a well written, if rather chilling story. It’s scary to think there are actual children out in the world like JJ. But it raises a very interesting topic – can people really change?

When JJ was 10, she killed her best friend. The story is told in flashbacks by ‘Alice’. Although I knew what was going to happen, it didn’t lessen the impact, Cassidy has taken a very real subject and rather than sensationalizing it, she has written an honest yet unflinching novel.

82. Spy High, Episode 1: The Frankenstein Factory by A. J Butcher

I’ve been listening to this on Playaway and so far, I’m not terrible impressed. The series is set in the US, but this edition is from Bolinda, an Australian company – so its bad American accents all round. But while the narrator is reading the story he has a skippy accent.

83. Spy High, Episode 2: The Chaos Connection by A. J. Butcher.

Against my better judgement I listened to the second Spy High book, the narrator and his crap American accents don’t improve, which is kinda distracting. Who says Van-ness-sirrr? I mean really, even I can do a better accent that this guy. The actual story isn’t too bad as long as you suspend all belief that somehow, fully trained spy/army adults can’t take care of themselves. But 6 teenagers with limited experience in everything but being annoying teenagers, can manage to pull through and not get dead. There are the general grievances between Bond Team members and other students that add a slightly more realistic edge to the series. Overall, it’s not a bad series, just put your suspend reality pants on and go along for the ride.

84. The Song of an Innocent Bystander by Ian Bone

The story is told in alternating sections, Freda, at different ages, the hostage taker, John Wayne Grady and Napkin, which is another hostage. I like how the story unfolds, although it is quite slow in places, a slow build one could say.

85. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The first love triangle with only two people. I quite liked this, although in some places the writing is annoying, particularly when she is talking in the ‘WE’ (Wanda and Melanie together). Overall, I enjoyed the book, it’s no masterpiece, but then neither are her previous books. It has of course been left open for a sequel, and considering the popularity of Meyer at the moment I wouldn’t be surprised if this is made into a movie.

86. Serving Love by Annmarie McKenna, K. A Mitchell and Mary Winter

This is an anthology of gay M/M novellas. I liked McKennas the most, along with the sexy bit, she has good writing and an actual plot, which some romance novels lack.

87. Surrender by Kimberley Zant

This is the first of Zant's I've read. I was buying some other books on Amazon and saw this in my reccommended reading, I enjoyed it, it was hawt, good story, although rather unbelievable (at least in my world it is!).

88. This is not a drill by Paul Carter

This is the second book by Carter and is just as funny and well written as his first. He has the talent of making even the most mundane story interesting.

89. Dreamwalker by Isabelle Carmody

This graphic novel was beautifully illustrated and the story was great, Carmody def has a way with words. I love how Ken's notes are written throught the book, it's a nice touch.

90. How to be bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle

This was a fun book, three girls driving through Florida, seeing the sights and learning about life and each other (corny much!), as the blurb says: "Sometimes it doesn't matter where you're going, since getting there is half the fun."

91. Atalanta by Justine & Ron Fontes

Graphic novel about the Greek myth. I liked it and it's a way to learn about myths and legends.

92. Demeter and Persephone by Justine and Ron Fontes

I liked this myth better, (storywise), both were quick reads, but they still seemed like you got the whole story. Hoping that work has the other four in the series.

93. Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden.

Not sure why I haven't read this series until now, enjoyed the first book a lot. I remember having to read So much to tell you for school & I love his other books. I'll be interested to see what they do with the movies.

94. Spy High 3: The Serpent Scenario

Surprisingly, this was better than the last two. The writing was better and I enjoyed the story more than the previous books.

Books I've Read in 2009 - November

2009-12-16T17:51:00.003+11:00

64.Night of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy.

This is the third of hers I’ve read and this didn’t annoy me nearly as much as the first. Just going on what I’ve read and the movie I’ve seen (Circle of Friends), she has a formula and sticks to it – basically, there are is group of people or girls, fleeing something. Bad stuff happens to A. show them it’s really not that bad at home or B. they need to move on, perhaps with one of the new characters they’ve met). As with the first book I read there was the VERY annoying girl who couldn’t see that the man she had chosen was a complete prat – either because in true family saga style, they are already married, thus cheating, have done something to hurt those they love, they like to beat their wife/girlfriend. Although it sounds like I don’t enjoy Binchy, I actually think her books are well written, it’s just her characters and the plot lines that tend to make me cranky.

65. Persuasion by Jane Austen

I’ve seen the mini series, I’ve watched the movie and now...drum roll please… I’ve read the book! This is my second favorite Austen book, I love Anne and Frederick together, all the angsty stolen glances, and it’s fully of Austen’s wit.

66. What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

This was quite good, another teen verse novel, I’m about to read the follow up to this title. This is all about first love, second love and the sometimes rocky relationship that you have with your parents. I found it insightful, funny, it was easy and fun to read.

67. Free Fall by Robert Crais

This is 8th? in the Elvis Cole series, I’m really enjoying Crais’ books, I find them hilarious, the writing is strong and I’m liking the character development of EC and JP (although I’m not sure if we’ll every learn too much from JP, he keeps it all hidden with those glasses). This adventure sees the boys getting themselves in trouble with the LAPD and the 8 deuces gang.

68. Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka

I actually started listening to this on a Playaway, but it stuffed up so I hade to read the end. This was a little weird, I didn’t mind it, pretty much the same I felt when I read the Tractor book for BC, the dog section on the Playaway was weird also, as his POV is all loudly whispered and very fast, in the book it’s written in capitals. However, it is effective in getting across the excitement a dog feels going about its doggy bid’ness.

69. Emma by Jane Austen

This could possibly be one of my least favorite of the Austen novels. I don’t particularly like Emma, which makes it hard I guess to fully appreciate or like the character.

70. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

If you haven’t guessed I’m on an Austen kick, I’ve never read any of the other books, apart from Pride and Prejudice, so I though I’d give them a go. It’s also part of my plan to read the 1001 books to read before you die. I’ll have to get reading if I’m ever going to finish – I’ve only read about 10 on the list so far.

71. What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

This was a follow up to What my mother doesn't know, it's a verse novel as well and told from Robin's POV, the male character from the first book. Great writing, captures being a teen well.

72. Betrayed by P.C. + Kristen Cast

This is the 2nd in the House of Night series. This is part of the explosion of teenage vampire novels that have cropped up since Twilight. While I have enjoyed the first two books and the writing is improved from the first one (Marked), it’s still no masterpiece. I’ve not read any of P.C Cast’ other books, but I think her daughter is putting her stamp on the series and that’s where the annoying part comes in. I quite like the main character of Zoey Redbird, she’s now become the head of the Dark Daughters after her showdown with Aphrodite. She’s learning about her new powers and trying to accept all the changes. From my distant memories, the interaction between different groups at the school is pretty spot on, but really, that stuff doesn’t change too much, it doesn’t matter what school you go to There are six books in the series so far and while they do annoy on occasion, they also make me giggle and I like the general storyline, characters, so I’m going to finish the series.

73. Undine by Penni Russon

I enjoyed this beautiful tale and have always been fascinated by magic and the pull of the ocean, which is what Undine feels. I remember wishing I was a mermaid when I was little and on occasion I still think it would be awesome to be able to swim for as long as I wanted underwater. Russon weaves a delightful tale of first love, magic, family and coming of age. Her writing is almost lyrical in places and I’m looking forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy.

74. That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton

I was putting books away last week and saw this. I’ve not read it for ages, so decided to take it home on the weekend. I still love Hinton’s writing, I remember reading her books a number of times growing up and I was so glad that they still read the same for me. I know that isn’t always the case with childhood memories, (I remember when they released Kimba the White Lion on DVD – such a disappointment!) I love the way she really seems to capture the feeling of the small town where it’s set, the discontent that the characters feel. The ending between Bryon and Mark is so sad. I’ll now have to hunt down her other books, I read The Outsiders for Uni last year, but haven’t read her others since school.

No doubt I’ll be reading a few of my old favorites, we’ve just had a huge withdrawing bee at work and a whole heap of books I read eons ago were taken off, so I grabbed them all in the near future.

75. Shadows in the Twilight by Henning Mankell

This is the sequel to A Bridge to the Stars, Joel will soon be twelve. After he is struck by a bus, but is unharmed he believes that a miracle has happened. He now has to find a way to repay the miracle. Again, Mankell has written a brilliant story. I love Joel’s view of the world, how his imagination works.

C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - October

2009-12-16T17:49:00.002+11:00

Sigh, back to Australia and reality.

58. Prey by Rachel Vincent – Book four werecats.

I had to wait until we got to London to get this! And it didn't disappoint me. This continues Faythe and Matt's story, with

59. The Quickie by James Patterson

Quite predicatble, although I still enjoyed it. I do like Patterson, although I’ve not read a lot of Patterson’s books. I do prefer his Cross series more.

60. Not a Star by Nick Hornby

61. Daniel X by James Patterson

Fantastic graphic novel, liked the illustrations.

62. My Soul to take by Rachel Vincent

Good teen book, with Banshees and first love - what a combo. I quite liked Vincent turn at YA.

63. Heroes Vol. 1

I think I actually like reading this more than watching the TV show, lest repetition and lots of other characters and stories that are not on the show. I also like the back story that I’ve gotten from reading them. This is the first graphic novels in the series, I’m waiting for volume two now.

C.

Books I've Read 2009 - September

2009-12-16T17:40:00.003+11:00

Here's my holiday reading list, finished mostly in Spain, it was lovely and I would like to go again. One day.

45. Reinventing Julia by Muriel Jensen

This was meh really, not fantastic, but since I didn't have much else to read I kept reading. Julia was quite unbelievble, I didn't really like the character, the plot was also choppy and all over the place.
Book one in the Forrester Square series

46. Elusive Dawn by Kay Hooper

47. On Her Doorstep by Kay Hooper

48. Return Engagement by Kay Hooper

49. Stroke of Fortune by Christine Rimmer - Lone Star Country Club

50. Staying at Daisy's by Jill Mansell

51. Kiss Me Quick by Margaret Moore

52. Between Duty and Desire by Leanne Banks

53. The Marriage Medallion by Christine Rimmer

54. Driven to Distraction by Dixie Browning

55. The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

This book was fantastic, enjoyed it a lot, which I’m not really surprised about as I love Pan’s Labyrinth and Del Toro’s take on Hell Boy. I also like that it pays homage to the original vampire myths (coffin full of dirt), and that all vampires come from the ‘Old Ones’. I had goose bumps a couple of times, I read this on the way to Bilbao and made it cover to almost cover (if only my bus trip was 20min longer!), I didn’t want to put it down. The suspense was fantastic, it was scary and I’m really looking forward to the next two instalments. I think what makes this work so well is the realism – who isn’t worried about a virus spreading and not being able to do anything.

56. Truth or Dare by Jane Ann Krentz – Book 2 Whispering Springs

I liked this, good action and the story was fun.

57. Touch of Darkness by Christina Dodd

Book two of the Darkness Chosen series.

This is the second book by Carter and is just as funny and well written as his first. He has the talent of making even the most mundane story interesting.
C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - August

2009-12-16T17:38:00.002+11:00

And roll on August...

39. The Hunter’s Prey by Diane Whiteside

This is part of the Texas Vampires series and was quite good, I’m looking forward to reading more from the series.

40. Rogue by Rachel Vincent

Book 2 in the Werecats series

41. Pride by Rachel Vincent

This is number three in the Werecats series

42. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The first love triangle with only two people. I quite liked this, although in some places the writing is annoying, particularly when she is talking in the ‘WE’ (Wanda and Melanie together). Overall, I enjoyed the book, it’s no masterpiece, but then neither are her previous books. It has of course been left open for a sequel, and considering the popularity of Meyer at the moment I wouldn’t be surprised if this is made into a movie.

43. The Woman in Black (BC)

This was quite good, it focuses on a group of women that work at a department story in Melbourne.

44. The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (BC)

I enjoyed this book, but gads it took a long time to read, mainly because I had lots of other stuff I really wanted to read.

The book club bizzo isn't in the right month but meh.
C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - July

2009-12-16T17:31:00.003+11:00

Here's the next lot of books I've read, I'll have to fill in the blurbs etc later.

36. Token by Alisa Kwitney & Joelle Jones.

Fantastic! Great GN about not fitting in, first love, and even though it wasn’t in colour I put my snobbery aside and read it anyway – in one sitting. Fantastic illustration by Jones and Kwitneys story was fantastic, I’m hoping there’s more where this came from.

37. Last Light by Andy McNab.

This is the second book of his I’ve read and again really enjoyed it. From a military standpoint, I’m assuming it’s fairly correct (he was in British Army), but his stories are also really funny. I’ve read this out of sequence, which wasn’t a big deal, small changes in characters, but as its part of the back story it doesn’t interfere with enjoying the book.

38. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

Heartbreaking, this was filled with such anger and love, beautiful writing and I just loved the realness, I sound cornier than a field but just fantastic! It’s the first GG that I’ve read, would love to try more.

I'm being all lazy with this now as it's nearly the end of the year. I'll have to make it a resolution to keep my lists up to date next year. (Cause yes, I'm that kinda cool).

Books I've read in 2009 - June

2009-12-05T15:20:00.002+11:00

I've taken off the Last.fm widget off my side bar also, as you now have to pay to use the content. Which I don't have a problem with, but I'm not terribly fussed about either, hence...the removal. But onward and upward peeps, here's the june book list.

27. Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, but Gentlemen Marry Brunettes Anita Loos - This was fun, the main character, doesn't really have any talent, she just pretty and uses her looks to get what she wants, with amusing results. As a feminist, some might be offended, but if you're dumb enough to fall for it too bad I say.

28. Wicked Pleasure by Lora Leigh - This is part of the Bound Hearts series, so needless to say...it's hawt! Jaci Wright has been running from the Falladay twins, Chase and Cam, for seven years now. So this book is all about what happens when they finally catch her. Despite what many think about romance/erotica, the story is good, I like the characters, they're developed well, which serves the series well, as they often pop up in other titles.

29. Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh - The other Falladay brother gets a chance at his lady now. This rather steamy romp also has a few apperances by Khalid, who I think will be the next guy to get a book in the Bound Hearts series. His character was a welcome relief in this book as for the most part this is quite disappointing. The character of Chase didn't resemble the character that was seen in 'Wicked Pleasure'.

Previously, Falladay was a man who was comfortable in his own skin, he was happy, whereas his brother was the moody tempremental one who couldn't deal. This time around, it's Chase that has issues, which is annoying to say the least. This definately was poorer quality than what we usually see with Leigh. I can't help but think personal issues got in the way of her writing (the author was going through a separation), as Mavrick, from another series was also less than stellar.

30. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroder.

I really enjoyed this. The basic plot is girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy dies, then comes back to haunt girl. Because she’s still in love with him she continues the relationship, weird yes. Not only does she have issues with facing the fact that he’s dead, she also blames herself for his death (they had a dare thingy going and the last dare was cliff diving, from which – obviously he didn’t survive).

I gotta admit, I love the verse novel, it’s a fresh way of telling a story, not often seen with adult novels, it’s mainly in teenage section that I’ve come across them. Check out Breaktime by Aiden Chambers, another fantastic verse novel and Love Ghosts and nose hairs is another great Australian? one.

This is Lisa Schroder’s first book – www.lisaschroederbooks.com

31. The King of Torts by John Grisham.

I don’t mind JG, but he can get repetitive and there’s only so much law talk I can take, so it’s actually the first one of his I’ve read in a long time five dolla. Basically, Clay, who works for the Public Defenders Office, gets approached with the deal of a lifetime, become a tort lawyer – make lots of money in an unsavory manner, generally by stiffing your client. Clay says yes, makes millions of dollars, spends millions of dollars then loses millions of dollars. Grisham is generally a good storyteller, I do sometimes get bored, this wasn’t as thrillery as some of his earlier novels, I loved The Client and The Pelican Brief. I haven’t read any of his non lawyer ones, I did start A painted house, but haven’t finished it yet. Not so much because I don’t like it, more that I have other stuff I would rather read.

32. A Bridge to the Stars by Henning Mankell.

Joel lives with his Father Samuel in Sweden. His mother has abandon him and at night he sneaks out of the house to look for a dog that he has seen from his window. One night he discovers that his father’s bed is empty, he has found a girlfriend in Sarah, the local barmaid. Which Joel resents, he and another boy for a secret society and wreak havoc on the towns no nosed lady. As Winter moves to Spring Joel discovers more about life, culminating in an event on the bridge

I thought it was beautifully well written, I’ve not read one of his adult novels (this is his first young adult effort).

33. Beast by Ally Kennen.

Stephen has a secret pet he keeps in a reservoir near where he lives, it’s one of the last things his father gave him. He’s been in and out of foster homes most his life. His mother is in a mental institution, his father lives in the forest and his brother is gone. About to be kicked out of the latest home, he decides he needs to kill the ‘beast’, he asks his father for help. He forms an attachment to Eric, who has his own welding/metal business and is a father figure to Stephen. The beast is both animal and a euphemism for all that’s gone wrong in Stephens life. By getting rid of the beast, he’s finally free to begin again, without the past coming back to haunt him.

I thought this was well written, engaging and I wanted to find out what happened. The mix of danger and excitement and the psychological aspects all tie the story together.

34. Little Fur: The Legend of Little Fur by Isobel Carmody.

This was a beautiful junior novel, really cute (not really the word I’m thinking of) characters. The story isn’t original, LOTR to name one, but Carmody is such a fantastic writer, that it doesn’t matter. I’ve been a fan of her novel since I was a kid and read Obertwynth. I did find some of it a bit hinky and it may well go over some kids heads, but there’s a strong moral woven into the story – basically we’re killing the earth and a. we’re doing nothing to stop it and b. we don’t care. I found that aspect a bit patronizing.

35. Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast. - This is the first in the House of Night series. I didn't mind it although, and I think it's the daughters influence, but the writing is annoying sometimes. The characters say/do immature things and while I know it's a teen series, it doesn't mean the readers should be treated like idgets. I did like it enought to keep reading, there are 6 in the series so far.

K, leaving it here today, will have to add the next few months of books tomorrow. Coming up also...my review of New Moon and Where The Wild Things Are :) Awesome.

C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - May

2009-12-05T14:53:00.002+11:00

Well I've very neglectful of the blog since I've been back, so I though I would at least try and add the books that I've been reading throughout the year. So here goes. Ranther than do a review of each one I'll keep it simple and do a couple of lies for each.

19. The Divide by Nicholas Evans - Fantastic, this is Evans' latest. His books always make me want to pick up and move to Montana, his writing is just so descriptive. This is a family/mystery, with just a splash of eco terrorism. Loved it!

20. The Watchmen by Robert Crais - First in the Joe Pike series, this also has a cameo from Elvis Cole, who Joe works with in his books (around 10 in the EC series). I did start at the wrong end, but it doesn't have a huge impact of the story. I found Crais' writing very funny and as this was a playaway, the guy who read it, really added to the story. It could just be me and my very black humour - but this was hilarious.

21. Rural Bliss by Lou Wakefield - Not a favourite of mine, a few of the characters grated a little. I did contemplate not finishing, but pursevered as there were elements that I did enjoy. Typical chick lit really.

22. Nauti Intentions by Lora Leigh - Yay! The next Nauti installment. I enjoy Leigh's series a lot, she has action - of both kinds :), humour and alpha males, which are ever so genrously displayed on the cover! I love the characters from this series, larger than life and not willing to stand by and let someone get hurt, even if it means they're going to pay for it.

23. Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Bream - This was another playaway and I'll admit, if I'd had to read this in print, I don't think I would've picked it up. Glad i did though, this is what the movie Gladiator is based on, which I didn't mind. I thought Bream's writing was strong and I did enjoy the story more, it seemed imo, to be slightly more historically correct.

24. The Travel Writer by Simone Lazoo (Book Club) - I didn't particulary like the title for this months book club. The female characters all seem rather vapid, don't really stand up for them selves and the male characters are portrayed as 'bad/unsavory'. Rather disappointing.

25. The Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee - This is the first I've read of this author, I was being all 'Coetzee's one of those brilliant authors I really should read'. I agree - he is brilliant, but the going was tough, his style is very dry. And while I did enjoy the book, I didn't enjoy reading it...if that makes sense.

26. Frantic by Katherine Howell - This was quite good, set in Melbourne (or maybe Sydney), the main character is a paramedic, she comes off shift to find her husband shot in the head (he survives), and their son is taken by someone, who may or may not be involved in shady dealings with the husband - who's investigating a bank robbery, which is supposed to be pulled off by a group of police officers. That explanation maked it sound terribly difficult to understand, it's not, it a rather enjoyable light thriller/mystery.

Well that was May, stay tuned for the next exciting adventures in the land of books.

C.

I'm Baaaaack!!!

2009-10-23T11:38:00.007+11:00

I'm sure you're all now brimming with joy...after my travels overseas and sadly not finding a rich older titled gentleman to keep me in a manner I'd like to become accustomed to, I've had to return home, and gasp - to work. Details and photo's from the trip can be found on Cathy and Asha's European Vacation sadly as we went on the wifi got worse, so there aren't a lot of posts.

So now that I'm sort of back into the swing of things lets get down to stuff! Like what you ask...like a noice book review. I discovered these on the Bookmobile this week.

Never Ever Before by Stephen Michael King

Blurb, craftily found on the back of the book:

In the drifting, swirling land of small, Big is born. Big stands solid, strong and predictable, until the day a breeze bigger than never ever before begins to blow...

The illustrations are really simple, different shapes in bright colours. It's not terrible long, so it would be a good length to read to a pre school storytime group, although it may not hold everyones attention span. The lovely morals of the story is it's good to be an individual baby, because it takes all types of things/people to make life work, and team work is awesome, because sometimes you can't do everything on your own! It's not preachy in it's message, which is how I like my books.

The next book is:

Chester and Gil by Carol Faulkner and Ann James

Once again I'm making use of mah blurb reading skillz:

Chester and Gil live in the same goldfish bowl. While Gil just floats around the same old place, Chester knows he can save the world. His motto, 'Life is what you make it', takes on epic dimensions in this funny story of a fishy odd couple and the power of thinking big.

Methinks someone slipped Carol the 7 Habits book! That aside, I thought this book was really cute. The illustrations are water colours and while the colours themselves aren't bright, the pictures 'pop' on the page. Ann James is a beautiful artist. While the book is quite wordy, it would be great to read for pre school storytime, (I just read it aloud to myself), and Chester allows the reader to get as dramatic as they like - and I do have a flair for the dramatic :)

What a sterling start for my return to blogging, check the books out, either from the websites above or if you don't want to buy them, borrow them here. Enjoy kiddies.

Trying to blog with my iPhone but it's not really working...again.

2009-10-03T22:08:00.002+10:00

I've had to again add the body of the message once I've logged into my puter dammit. Which isn't really a message, just two sentences :)

C.

Almost in Europe!!

2009-08-19T02:47:00.003+10:00

I've been flat chat organising stuff for the European vacation, so have been neglectful of my bloggin duties, hopefully with my netbook, I can catch up on the usual stuff here and blog bout travel stuff on Cathy & Asha's European Vacation. Will we ever have a doozy about the Virgin transfers from Adelaide to Melbourne, but of course I'll save it, plus I only have 6 mins left on my time of the innerwebs.

So looking forward to the trip, it'll be my fist overseas adventure. I of course think I've over packed but, you can never be too prepared I'm sure someone's mother once said. I'm still stressed at the moment as I don't have enough reading material I'm sure, I'd take a whole nother suitcase of books if I could. But I'm sure I'll be able to muddle through with what I've got. Fingers crossed they have good movies on the plane, I'll be able to add to my reviews, which have been sadly lacking of late, not really for lack of trying, just lack of time.

Anyway I've got 3 min left and I'm worried that it'll take a while for this to load, so until Milan cyabye!!

C. :D

Kid friendly (well I am...most of the time)

2009-07-31T11:47:00.016+10:00

I've seen some really cute kids books in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd share! Enjoy :) Pictures & links are a bit sucky, but I was on the truck so deal :P

First up is one of my absolute fave authors Mick Inkpen, he is responsible for Kipper, Wibbly Pig & Bear to name a few. Lullabyhullaballoo! is a very cute story about a little princess trying to sleep, but it's too noisy. There is also a CD read by Helen Lederer. I've always loved his illustrations & the stories are fantastic to read aloud.

Even with the prolificness (I too can make words up), of swine flu I've decided to put Ella Of Course! by Sarah Weeks, Ill. by Doug Cushman on the list. Ella is a little pig with a big problem! Ella may be a problem solver, but when she receives a present, she becomes a problem maker! Gasp horror! But she can't help it, after all - her umbrella makes such a lovely 'whoosh, click' sound. Pretty, bright illustrations, it's nice & easy to read.

Who's Yawning By David Bedford & Leonie Worthington is part of a series that Rustyn loves & so do I. It's simple, with only a few words on each page - "Who's yawning?" "Miiaaaaoooow." "Cat's yawning" - or sommat to that effect :) The illustrations are beautiful & it's another book you can get the kids involved in, it's got great animal sounds which they love, it was also a great way to teach Rustyn what each animal was.

The Pigeon Find s a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems isn't a new book, but I just love the pigeon series, (Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus, Time For Bed Pigeon). The story is essentially about sharing, Willems is great with how he words things and I love how the pigeon gets frustrated & splodes, he sarcastic, just he's a great character. The series is for kids, but adults love them too (and by adults I mean me!)

Good Luck Bear is the 3rd book from Greg Foley. I like how the illustrations are very simple, almost washed out. There isn't a lot of colour, but I think this adds to the book overall. It's a sweet tale about luck not always being where you think it will.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas is great. There are 3 very silly looking dust bunnies (ed, ned & ted) who love to rhyme and then there's bob, who doesn't rhyme at all.

Me a nd My Dad! by Alison Ritchie, ill. by Alison Edgson. Beautiful smiley pictures, cute words, it's just the book to read with your dad! I'm a bit of a sucker for cute bears in a book I must say.

Forever Young by Bob Dylan (yes, that Bob), ill. by Raul Rogers. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the illustrations, I like the colours, but the peeps have weird faces, but I do like the illustrator's notes. Mostly, I love the words, the song was written in the 70's (from the album Planet Waves), about one of Dylan's sons.

Okay, that's about all the cutesy kid shit I've got time for, back to being my normal, bitchy, foul mouthed cranky self!

C.

Books I've read in 2009 - April

2009-07-23T15:58:00.004+10:00

I haven't added my books I've read lately - only a few months behind, so here's Aprils. Be thrilled people, be thrilled!!

15. Poppy Shakespeare by ??? - This was a playaway, not sure if I would have finished it otherwise. It was actually a little annoying. The main character, known as 'N', narrates the story of how Poppy came to be at the mental health daycare centre. There was one thing that N said over and over which got annoying quickly. That said, this did have funny moments and the author describes the menagerie of characters so that they add to the story rather that detract. Overall, not a bad noivel, the ending is just depressing and really sad. It ended completely differently to what I was expecting.

16. Mavrick by Lora Leigh - Yay, new Lora was my first reaction. But I was actually a bit disappointed with this. It continues the Elite Ops series that has spun off from her Tempting SEALs series. Many of the reoccuring characters shor up in this. It continues and (sort of) conclues the back story of the kidnapping of Kari and Emily by her father and the beginning of the relationship between Kari and 'Mavrick', who wants to avenge his mothers death and the hands of Orion, who also had a hand in kidnapping the girls and is the new threat in Kari's life. It's safe to say that Leigh has a reoccuring theme that runs through her books - her leading men find redemption through the women they love, but it would be great to see her write something where this wasn't part of the story. I'm hoping that the Australian character that she has will steer clear of it, especially since he seems a bit frisky and rather happy go lucky. Personally for me, the best bit of the books - all for the wrong reasons mind you - was when he and Mavrick are talking about Mavricks 'stare' or as the skippy dude puts it - his 'Mossad facade' - absolute gold.
17. Marley & Me by John Grogan - This was April's book club book and I really enjoyed it, I guess everyone is able to relate in someway to the story. Growing up we had a dog just like Marley, who thought nothing of destroying the house if we were so insensitive t o leave her home. But she was such a good dog, she got forgiven quick snap. I enjoyed Grogan's style of writing, he was quite funny and I think Istarted tote book not thinking I would like it so much, but the balance between Marley stories and Grogan's life were a nice mix, I coiuldn't help but get on the Marlye bandwagon.

18. Body Double by Tess Gerritson - Another author I hadn't read ye, I'm doing quite well with the resolution to read anything and everything this year. This is part of a series that features ME Maura Isles and Det. Jane Rizzoli. It was well written, snappy and kept me interested. Maura comes back from a trip to Paris to be confronted by a murdered woman in her front yard, one that looks exactly like her. She discovers truths about her past and the sister she never knew. Meanwhile, her friend Det. Rizzoli is investigating the murder, while trying to prepare for the birth of her first child. Uncovering the truth could harm Maura and Jane in more ways than one. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Well that's it for April, I'll have to get the butt into gear and add the rest, sometimes I really wish I had those damn innerwebs at home! Would make my life a whole lot bloody easier I tell ya. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday :)

C.

Hottest 100 of all time Part II

2009-07-13T14:51:00.003+10:00

Well, the polls are in and it's no suprise really, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana was #1. I love SLTS, but went for Something In The Way instead, I ended up getting 2 of my official picks in #25 Alive by Pearl Jam and #4 Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. Overall, I was happy with the line up, Jeff Buckley kicked ass with four songs and I was well pleased that that Hallelujah made it (#3). I was also very happy that Hurt by Johnny Cash made it at #60.

There was of course a distinct lack of female artists, not sure why, from memory, the only female voice was that of Elizabeth Fraser (of Cocteau Twins - which I've never heard of), from the Massive Attack song Tear Drop #22. I had 3 female artists in my picks, but obviously we're not loving the ladies. Don't ask me why, I could think of a few that I would pick, Laura Marling, Tori Amos, Camille, Madeleine Peyroux, but on the day, I was feeling what I was feeling and I picked mostly boys.

For your listening pleasure, here is the Hottest 100 Of All Time. This is of course was not my doing as I am a lazy beggar, the brilliant @Warlach did this. Check him out if you're on twitter, he's good people and here's the thingy he made, that plays the music...no not a stereo...a blip.fm Hottest100playlist!!

Enjoy, I know I did :)

C.

Triple J - Hottest 100 Of All Time

2009-07-10T21:23:00.003+10:00

Thought I'd add my picks for the competition on here, so far one of mine has made it in. Yay for Pearl Jam - Alive. It came in at #25. Fingers crossed I get some more in. I didn't really have a hard time picking songs, but I'd probably pick all different ones if I did it again. I'll have to do my own Hottest 100, cept I suckass at making decisions - unless of course it's where I'm going to holiday next, then I'm all like gangbustas with the decision making. Anyway here are mine in no particular order, plus my number 1 at the time.

11. Mother Love Bone - Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns
10. Paramore - My Heart
9. Pearl Jam - Alive
8. Flogging Molly - What's Left Of The Flag
7. Jeff Buckley - Mojo Pin
6. Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire
5. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
4. Nina Simone - Feelin' Good
3. Nirvana - Something in the Way
2. Doors, The - The End
1. If I Were A Carpenter - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash

Johnny got two songs as he has a special place in my heart - my dad and I used to spend a lot of time together and he was generally what was playing. He already has one song in the countdown at #60, with Hurt, which is a fantastic song. Flesh & Blood is another of my faves. Looking forward to Sunday, Sandbar is playing the Top 50, so I'll be having a few adult beverages and kickin back to the tunes.

C.

Blogging on my phone! Cept I can't get curser 2 go in main box dammit! So while this will be longest ever post title - I'll have to do rest @ work.

2009-07-05T22:45:00.005+10:00

As promised here's the actual post, I played around a bit, but still couldn't get the cursor into this part, I also noticed I missed a couple of words in the excitement, but anywho, I loves my phone anyway. No buyers remorse for me - and yes, I did get an iPhone3Gs. Besides, I couldn't fit anymore words in there. I'm a little afraid to see how much data I used over the weekend, I got it friday night and was on it al over the weekend, putting apps on it - (seriously addicted to the bubblewrap game and toobs), good thing it was Independence Day in US, otherwise I never would have got off twitter, I'd be too busy chatting. So my guess is that I'll be stuck to it for some time to come, not only cause got a little lust happening for it, but cause I'm also still trying to work the damn thing out.

I was also going to add to my books to read list (which were photo's in my old phone - that I can't get to. Oh, it's a long and complicated road I travel). Anyway, here's what I remember, with clicky bits from Amazon cause I'm a lazy bitch:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Teen horror/action, part of series.
Generation Dead: Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters - Teen horror/romance with zombies YAY!!
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - I saw this at work and liked the cover (yes I'm one of those people :)) AND...more zombies (it's also a teen title).
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - Another teen, I just saw this when looking for the titles to the next two books.
Untamed (House of Night, Book 4) and Hunted (House of Night, Book 5) - Vampires this time, I've just finished the first one and quite enjoyed it, there are a few things that annoy me about the writing, hopefully it's fixed as the series goes on.

I had a bunch of others, but can't remember them, which is going to annoy me. But they'll turn up eventually I'm sure. But for now it's goodnight from me to you.

C.

Mmm...I forsee more popcorn dinners in my future.

2009-07-02T20:05:00.004+10:00

I've gotten side tracked - yet again - by some new stuff I'd like to see. My list is growing a whole lot faster that I'm watching stuff at the moment. But no doubt I'll get to them eventually.

First up with Chris Evans, Dijimon Husson, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle etal.

PUSH in HD

Next up is the very cool Where The Wild Things Are. It's based on the book of the same name & it looks fantastic, I'm hoping that it is.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE trailer in HD

I want to see this as well, it's all a bit thrillery. It has Sarah Michelle Geller & the guy from Final Destination 2 & the guy from that other movie...you know the one...that movie with the actor guy.

Possession

And this looks funny too.

Talk to Me

This looks so silly, but I wanna watch it anyways :)

Fired Up! trailer

And this looks good too. It's got Sam Rockwell in it, he did the sexy dance in Charlie's Angels 2 after he's all "I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it".

Choke

Ok, have to stop watching trailers!! I need to go do other stuff. Enjoy, no doubt I'll find more.

C.

UFC 100

2009-06-30T18:59:00.004+10:00

It's nearly time for new UFC and they're ringing the big 1-0-0!! Sweet, what's even better is that GSP is fighting (Georges St-Pierre Vs. Thiago Alves) and Frank Mir (Brock Lesnar Vs. Frank Mir) and Mike Bisping (Dan Henderson Vs. Michael Bisping). I've seen Dan Henderson and Thiago Alves fight before but the boys in bold are the ones I want to win. There are of course a number of other fights on the night, but I don't think I've seen any of them fight before, so I'll have to do some research and pick my winners (please note that my usual method of picking fighters is cause they're hot - it's Cathy logic, just run with it :) generally it works in my favour).

I'm also hoping that while I'm on holiday, they have some UFC in UK *fingers crossed* That would kick ass, not only would I get to see UFC live - I would also be able to ring Jason up and go 'guess where I am biatch" that's right UFC!!!! Sucka.

That would be brilliant, it would be the perfect end to my holiday.

C.

More movies I wanna watch

2009-06-26T18:46:00.004+10:00

I found this through @insidefilm today on Twitter, Daybreakers which is out in January in Australia. Take a looksee, it has Sam Neill, Ethan Hawke, Willem Defoe, Claudia Karvan & Isabel Lucas. Shot in QLD, it's got vampires!!

And them I found a different trailer for G.I Joe that I hadn't seen before, it's got Channing with no top & I got all cited!!

I think it's got a fairly high chance of being crap, but I don't care, I wanna watch it anyway. Well If there's no more bloggy goodness for the rest of the weekend enjoy yourselves :)

C.

iSpam you!

2009-06-24T17:22:00.008+10:00

I love it that my latest comment is about iPhone insurance, all because I mentioned iPhones in my last post. Maybe I should write a fake post about how Will.I.Am beat me up n then I'll get some actual comments.

Anyways, I tried the whole tethering thingy on my puter & it didn't work - not cause I can't, but cause my stupid fucking phone is broken. That's right ladies & gentlemen - I could have been happily tethering away for the last 2 years!! Baa Fricken Hum Bug! Thems the breaks & there's no point saying fix it stupid phone fix it cause it's officially out of contract and warranty, as is the way of things. But chin up, I'll have a new phone soon old chums :) I just have to plod away until then.

On a much more exciting note - Transformers 2 is on tonight so Dani, Ash & I are up for a hot girly date. Looking forward to it. I'm going in with no expectations - well okay one - that there be hot boys and plenty of them - but beyond that I'm just waiting for all the ploding bits, they're always fun. Oh & getting to see more Decepticons. So I'll try & not be a slackarse & get a review up on the old blog soon. I also saw The Hangover last week. Classic!! It was pure gold, I'm talking so funny I was snorting & I almost peed myself. It was a laughter flashback to the nut punching scene from Bad Santa - still what could possibly be my favorite cinematic moment ever & the second time popcorn has tried to kill me. No seriously - it tried to kill me. The first was - spookily I might add - when we went and saw Fahrenheit 9/11. Right when Michael Moore was talking bout WMD - the popcorn attacked & was dubbed and forever shall be known as the popcorn of mass destruction or PMD. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen again, it was rather painful.

Okay, heading off to buy tickets, blog ya later.

:)

Slackarse? Moi? Well okay yes!

2009-06-23T19:12:00.006+10:00

I've been as usual, negelectful in my bloggy duties and I'm really beginning to think that having that new fangled interwebs at home would be a bonus! I've got limited Twitter & Facebook on mah phone, but beyond that, I can't easily acess the net from it & as previously discussed my trials at blogging from said phone resulted in an epic fail. So I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet & get connected @ home, or get an iPhone so I can do me some tethering...on that front, I'm actually going to try do that tonight with my phone now - so fingers crossed. Although I'm not holding my breath. It would def. make life a hell of a lot easier, on the down side - I'd turn into a total mouse potatoe - cause hell, I'm so damn active now. lol.

Planning for the holiday is coming along, slowly, but still moving along, Ash & I are now officially delegates, with our conference fees paid for, along with flights, insurance & accomodation in Milan. Sweet!! We've found a couple of places to stay in Spain & a nice place (if photo's can be trusted in Paris & Berlin), plus quite a few scary backpackers that I hope never to set foot into. It's only 57 days til we touch down in Milan & it's all very citing!!

I'm thinking of getting an iPhone, so I can organise some ebooks to put on there, (this is where I conveniently forget that I already have an iPod that has lots of space for audio books), I'm not sure exactly how to overcome the whole away for 6 weeks when I would probably read around 30 books in that time. One good think is that Ash & I read the same thing, so we can swap books, but still taking 60 or so books away isn't an option. Obviously there is the swap box factor, but I like to keep my books, as I tend to read them more than once. Ideas people are always welcome. I could always seamail some over, as they would get over there in time for the 2nd half of holiday, but that seems silly as I'd have to send them back also. Who knows!

Talking bout books, some of my presents from amazon arrived today, so I have 4 new books to read. Huzzah! They are all sexy books, I got the 3rd in the Magnus Pack series by Shelly Laurenston and the first in her Mane series, (the 2nd & 3rd in that series are still coming), plus two Maya Banks ones & I've got 3 more to look forward too. So sorry book club book, I'm putting you on the back burner!! Okay it's half 7 and I've got elsewhere to be, enjoy the rest of your am/pm :)

C.

Cadbury Eyebrows = The Devil?!

2009-06-15T15:36:00.005+10:00

WTF is up with Cadbury's latest add campaign?? Eyebrows? Huh? I got my stick on eyebrows a couple of months ago in a magazine and was all I don't get it? Then the other day I was on the Empire website and saw the add with the two kids, all I can say is - Mummy! That shizz freaked me out bad. One thing it didn't do was make me want chocolate. Then I was in target on the weekend and they had the eyebrow mirror and I was all ahh...*lightbulb* I still don't like it tho.

My thoughts are if your add's that elaborate it takes me months to 'get it' and doesn't make me want to eat chocolate, there's something wrong with your advertising. At least the gorilla playing drums was funny, instead they decided to reanimate the evil spawn from Children of the Corn and slap some wiggly eyebrows on 'em - NOT FUNNY.

It was a weird weekend I tell you. There were The Eyebrows and then there was The Customer. I had to work on the weekend and has the displeasure of serving a customer that thinks romance/sci-fi/horror paberback novels are for imbeciles (sadly I can't slap our customers. Sigh.) Let me start by saying, I'm unashamedly a reader of romance novels, have been for years. Me loves the 'lady porn' as it's often called (no I don't take offence at that). Back when I was a young lass, I used to read the good old Mills & Boon (a company that's still going strong btw), I also added a healthy dose of Virginia Henley (historical romance). These of course were quite daring when I was younger, I don't really read these anymore. Now I'm more into Lora Leigh, Lori Foster, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Maya Banks & Shelly Laurenston (to name a few), decidedly not writing about giving a good hand holding and if there is any its so the hot boy can firmly guide his lady love to his sexy bits.

To be honest the old M & B no longer cut the mustard, I like my sexy books full of steamy sex, alpha hot boys and no beating about the bush...well maybe a little :P. Lora Leigh - you ruined me for M & B! Along with my sexy bits I like a good story and that's why I choose the authors I do, they so successfully meld romance with suspense, the paranormal, action, science fiction or fantasy. Which was something that the lady I was speaking to couldn't understand. The brilliant thing is they make me laugh, Lori Foster, Shelly Laurenston and Sandra Hill have on numerous occasions caused me to laugh out loud, howl at a situation so funny that I forget my place and have to try and pretend I'm normal so all the other people on the bus don't think I'm a lunatic.

I just don't get the stigma that sexy books have. A book is a book is a book people! Regardless of the content, if it touches the reader, makes them laugh, cry or grab their other half and give 'em a good seeing to, the book has successfully reached it's audience. Not all books have to be 'literary', win a Miles Franklin and be touted as the next great thing. Cause lets be honest...some of those books are boring as all shit and nobody wants to to be bored with what they're reading - what's the point, it's supposed to be fun. Unless of course you're reading something for uni, in that case, chances are you might be a little bored - but that's why the sexy book was created, to distract you from all the boring stuff.

As far as I'm concerned reading is for everyone, not for the few. So lady - you're a wanker! Go read a romance and then come see me when you've seen the error of your ways. Silly Woman.

Here endeth the rant...:)

C.

Books I've Read in 2009 - March

2009-06-03T17:41:00.004+10:00

Hark is that books I hear you talkin bout Willis *pout*, I thought it was bout time I added some more books to my list since I'm 3 months behind. So without further delay...here 'tis:

8. Warnings of Gales by Annie Sauders - This was a playaway and not something I'd normally read, it's about 3 women who take their children on a beach holiday, sans husbands (for two of them), except on weekends. Two of the ladies have never met before and their differing personalities and parenting styles clash with cringeworthy yet funny results. I didn't mind this, but it didn't have me banging down the door at work to get another title from Saunders.

9. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters - This book was great, it was a nice take on teen romance with a zombie angle and really who doesn't love a good zombie story. I'll keep this short here cause I've done a review for this, which I need to add, patience gentle reader, one can't rush a lady :)

10. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter - This is the 2nd or 3rd book I read of Slaughters and I really enjoy her writing. The stories are all rather grusome, but she has lovely flawed characters which make you want to keep reading. She has 3 reoccuring characters, Sarah and Geoffrey (medical examiner and police chief respectively), they have been married divorced and are back together again and then there's Lori (I wanna say Lori, it might not be that tho), and she is a detective that works with Geoffrey, her sister is murdered in this book. I did managed to guess who the killer was, but it didn't detract from the story, I happily kept on reading and and waiting for the next in the series. I guess you couls say she is similar to Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs.

11. Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston - This was fantastic, I hadn't read any of her work before and got this and the next in the series, when I was in Melbourne and one of the greatest bookshops on earth, Rendezvous! They have sexy books! YAY! Anyway, Sarah is a half human half wolf, she just don't know it yet. But she's about to find out - all with the help of Alpha dog Zach. This was hilarious, the interaction between her and her mates (they get their own books), and with Zach and his pack. Brillo I say, I ended up reading this on the way home from Melbourne.

12. Go Fetch by Shelly Laurenston - This is the 2nd book in the Magnus series of books and was equally fantastic, pretty much from me putting the 1st book away to me getting the next one out was a minute, I just wanted to keep reading. This time around the story centers on Miki, Sarah's crazy weapon loving friend from Pack Challenge, I had to keep trying to be quite cause I was laughing so hard while reading these. Conall is a shape-shifting Viking that hangs with Zach and the Magnus pack, but he's sets his sights on Miki and won't take no for an answer, with hilarious results. Miki drugs him, she handcuffs him and has her wild way with him when she comes to her senses. I just can't wait for the next one 'Here Kitty Kitty, which is Angelina's story. I want it like yesterday!

13. Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts - This is the last in the Sign of Seven trilogy and ties everything together nicely, bringing the last couple together. The final battle takes place and if they win the Hollow will finally be safe from the evil that has plagued it since the boys 10th birthdays. If they lose - it's Hell on earth - literally. I don't mind a bit of Nora, now and again. I've really only read a couple of her books, the Irish vampire trilogy and the 3 sisters island witchy trilogy, which I really enjoyed. I've read a couple of her stand alone titles and seen a few of the books that've been made into movies - they are pure gold.

14. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue - This was the bookclub books, so I'll keep this short here too, but this has been one of my fave books this year, it's the story of a group of changelings and how they go about stealing children to replace and how they cope with the changes that time brings to the world. It was beautifully written and I really enjoyed reading it although it was quiet a sad book.

That's all for March, quite a bit better than the 3 I managed in Feb.

C.

Some new movies I wanna see.

2009-06-01T19:22:00.003+10:00

While looking at the New Moon trailer I found some other new stuff that I wanna watch when it comes out. First up is Sorority Row, which is a horror and seriously, who doesn't love a movies where annoying sorority girls get dead?

SORORITY ROW trailer in HD

and then there's Fighting, with the very lush and very buff Channing Tatum, it's got all a girl could ever want from a hotboy movie...a hotboy (obviously), some fighting, said hotboy with no top on looking suitably pretty. Plus it's got other stuff as well, but I didna really pat attention to that so much cause he was all hot with no top on :)

Fighting trailer in HD

Then there's Bruce being all hiyaa! in Surrogates, which is based on a graphic novel and actually looks kinda cool, cept for his scary hair. That was the only thing I didn't like.

SURROGATES trailer in HD

Looking forward to them!!

C.

New Moon Trailer!!

2009-06-01T18:34:00.003+10:00

How happy was I today - well happy, that's what. The trailer for New Moon was released and after all the fake ones it was lovely to see an official trailer. Here it is below, enjoy I know I did :)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

I'm definately loving the CGI for Jacob's wolfing up. He's looks bigger than a normal wolf, but not too fake and helloooo, take a gander at his muscles!! He's done a magnificent job at buffing up. I'm so glad they decided to keep him, I couldn't see anyone else playing him. That is one of my pet hates when they change the actor and you have to pretend it's still the same character. Well, cept for Dr. Who, cause he's all up with that regeneration thingy. Although I wish we were still keeping David Tennant, cause he's been my favorite so far, I'll be interested to see how the new Dr (Matt Smith), plays the character.

It also looks like they've fixed Edwards makeup, so he's not so pastily applied with a trowel, I'd like to see what they do with the sparkles. I don't know if I like Laurent's eyes either, cause in Twilight and the books, if they're hungry, their eyes are black, although the nomads did have a touch of red, which did look good, but when he's going to attack Bella, they're just red. I guess I'll just have to wait patiently...sigh...something I don't want to do. I want to watch it now!! I suppose I'll just have to watch the trailer until the 19 of Novemer when it finally comes out.

C.

Flights a go-go

2009-05-29T22:37:00.005+10:00

Paid the final instalment on our flights today, just that little bit closer now :D We've been very lucky, with a fairly direct flight. We went with Emerits and we leave from Adelaide, quick stop at Melbourne, then to Dubai (sadly only for 2 hours, not enough time to go outside and see stuff), then onto Milan. Then coming back we leave from Heathrow and do the same in reverse. We also extended the time we're staying in Milan, as we arrive a few days earlier than orignally planned, we're staying in the Hotel Capitol. It is a 4* gorgeous hotel, and in fine upmarket backpacking (we decided we're too old for 'real' backpacking), they have a breakfast buffet, pillow menu, and marble jacuzi - which I do believe I will take advantage of.

Depending on jet lag /time we might try and daytrip to Venice, we were going to go the following weekend, after the confrence, but the Regatta festival is on, so it will be busy busy there. So hopefully if we go the weekend before it won't be as hectic. It's not too far by train to Venice, 200 or so kms, fingers crossed it all works out. We've also been looking at a hostel in Paris which looks quite cute and is fairly close to the centre of Paris, sadly our dream of staying in the same hotel as Carrie in SATC is a bust, at around 7000 Euro a night, it's all a little too expensive, even if we share a room. Maybe next time. Maybe we can have coffee and pastries at the hotel if they have a restaurant there.

There are so many places that I want to visit, feel free to let me know of places I should visit. I'm always open to suggestions :) I wish I was going for more than 6 weeks, but I have to come back to work of all things, like, how rude! I've got things to see. Somehow I don't think that work would think that's a valid reason for not coming back.

Until next time, sweet dreams, hopefully of the lovely holiday variety, with hot boy baristas, beautiful scenery and not of the evil Slovenian hostel variety *shudder*

C.

Look out Milan here we come!!

2009-05-26T18:59:00.003+10:00

Today Ash & I booked our accomodation for Milan. Yay!! Finally seems real that in 56 days we will be at the start of our holiday. Holy crap, just freaked out a little, beyond that we haven't done anything else. But like anything else that we plan - last minute she goes, it's all good. Finally feels real and I'm all cited and I can't wait. I'm looking forward to visiting all the different places. I've just scared the shit out of myself, it's not 56 days its, 84. Still not very far away, but mama's got a little leyway now. Here's the website for the confrence we're going to, should be good, with lots of library goings on

C.

It's Library Week!

2009-05-25T18:10:00.004+10:00

It's that time of year again. Library Week. When y'all get to come in and discover all the shizz we have here. This week we are inviting all our users to come and try the literacy PCs. They're a great way to practice your literacy and numeracy skills, all which are cleverly disguised as games!! My fave game is the Nessy program, but Word Shark is fun (Numbers Shark would be too if I didn't suck ass at Maths!).

We've got a few display's up to do with our Book Clubs - if only I could find my handcuffs, then my 6 Seconds display would be complete! We also have National Simultaneous Storytime, this year the book is Pete the Sheep by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley. It's a great book, here's a little blurb:

Shaun is a shearer and instead of a sheepdog to help him, he's got a sheep sheep - Pete. After being rejected by the other shearers and their dogs, Shaun and Pete set up a sheep salon in town. Sheep from everywhere arrive to have their wool shorn in the latest style and even the shearers' dogs end up arriving for a cut in order to look gorgeous.

I think that's bout it, check out our website for more info on times for stuff that's happening. I'm heading off for the evening, enjoy yourselves kidlets :)

C.

It's like a cloud for your mouth...

2009-05-21T18:06:00.004+10:00

I've pimped my blog, adding a picture to the title thingy, sexy ja? Of course if you go into any library this is how we're all dressed...no really...would I lie to you. Never. I'm going to Adelaide this weekend which should be lovely and as luck would have it skivving off work early too. Ah the joys of council work. (Contrary to popular belief all of us don't really lean on shovels all day...some of us are lucky enough to have chairs!!

Listening to Gym Class Heroes - As Cruel As School Children at the moment, I'm quite liking it. It's sort of hip hop, rock, R&B and funk. I love their version of Good Vibrations, which is on the One Tree Hill Soundtrack, Vol. 3. It's very easy to listen to, plus they have funny talky bits which is always amusing. I've just discovered that Track 14. Cupid's Chokehold is another some I've heard before and love - just not knowing what I was listening too. I love it when that happens. I've also been listening to Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, which is hip hop, funk and also very (rather appropriately) cool, his song I Gotcha, which I loves is also on the OTH soundtrack.

Well, I'm done for the night at work, so I'm going to finish this post off and try and find my other list of stuff to add, wish me luck, my desk, as usual, looks like a bombs hit it. Organised chaos baby, organised chaos, I know where everything is. Well, almost everything.

C.

It's Lady Wood station here tonight!!

2009-05-19T18:37:00.000+10:00

The official movie poster for New Moon came out today and I wanna see it now!! The boys are looking all hot and angsty. Kristen's all I gots me hot boys and you ain't got shit. Have a look yourself...it's well tasty.
Hello Salty Goodness :) I know what I'll be giving thanks for this November.

And congratulations and hi to Vicki for being my first follower, you're ace!! Not much else been happenin, work, work and more work and some uni, which I must finish stat. I gotta go gang busters on the whole studying jizz. Also have to add new books I've read. Not sure how, but I've managed to read quite a bit so far this year, maybe it's cause I'm actually recording titles, who knows. My place is not to know it's to ponder. Or something silly like that :)

Ohhh, talking bout emoctions...I learnt how to throw a punch with verticons...

(9o'_'o)=@ Hiyaa!! I just threw a punch baby! Look out Chuck Norris...Boutros coming for ya!!

C.

'Scuse me but I think you stepped in wookie...

2009-05-13T13:35:00.000+10:00

Okay, I know Mildura's not the fashion capital of the world and that trends take a couple of months to reach us and when they do they stick round longer than is proper, but surely we are beyond wearing the furry ugg boots. Wait, let me rephrase that - surely we're beyond wearing ugg boots of any kind in public.

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE IT'S WRONG!!!!!!!!!

So what's with all the damn ugg boots? Today, my eyes were even more assaulted than usual - ugg boots with fur trim *ack* the fur of course is to make sure she keeps warm on account of half her ass hanging out the top of her jeans, which led to a very scary muffin top issue. Lady (I use the term loosely, here's a tip - if yo fat, too tight hipster jeans are a mistake in any circumstance.

Plus Monday at work there was a guy wearing a fur trimmed, hooded cardigan. I kid you not. I was all WTF! That shits just naff. Not. Cool. In. Any. Circumstance. EVER. Forever, forever, ever, forever ever?...yes Outkast Forevah!!

C.

Movies I've watched in 2009 - April

2009-05-09T23:55:00.000+10:00

Since I'm doing this late I'm trying to remember everything I've seen, so I'll start small and go from there, as they say from little things big things come...or that could just be my arse!

29. Race to Witch Mountain - This was actually lots of fun and I really enjoyed it, which I've already said in another post so I won't repeat it all again - just go see it.

30. Monsters Vs Aliens - FUNNY!! This was fantastic, possibly one of my fave films this year. My fave characters were Seth Rogan's blobby thing and the Insectasaur and Rainn Wilson was hilarious as the evil alien. One of my fave scenes was the Pres. serenading the aliens with the theme tune to Beverly Hills Cop. Pretty much any scene with the General was a hoot as well, I thought he was channeling R. Lee Erny from Full Metal Jacket and Robert Downey Jnr. from Tropic Thunder. I seriously had trouble breathing through the whole of this movie. I'm so glad I saw this at the cinema, I think it would have lost a little if I'd seen it at home. I would totally go see this again fer shizz.

31. Fast and Furious - This was ahem a work of staggering genuis...or not. Don't get me wrong - I loved it, it was crap and I'm okay with that and while I never shun my duty to watch a hot boy this was kinda wooden from all accounts. Michelle seems to have one kind of character she plays, Vin was surly as usual and poor Paul couldn't get a brah in anywhere. I came to the understanding that there was no brahing, on account of them no longer being friends, but come on - right at the end when they were all besties again there was room for one little brah surely...sigh. I will totally admit I loved the opening sequence, suspending all reality, it was brilliant and the drive through the caves was nifty. I don't really know where they can go from here, in terms of the current cast, obviously Vin can't head back to the States, I guess they can take up where Tokyo Drift left off. But one may ask the question, do we really need another FF sequel? Well ok, why not, who doesn't love a hot boy or two driving fast and beating the crap outta each other and lovingly calling each other brah...Dominic and Brian can do a reverse Thelma and Louise and have a bromance that transcends time.

32. Wolverine - Okay I've also done a review of this so I'll keep this one short too. I really enjoyed this, good to be able to see what happened to Logan before X-Men. Hopefully it does well enough that we get some more Origin movies.

I know there were more movies, I just gots to remember them, so until then my pretties, enjoy these lovely reviews and wait ever so patiently and ye shall be rewarded :) Yay bananas!!

Shitballs! I remembered more - how could I forget...

33. 17 Again - I went to this for one reason and one reason only - to perve at the hot boy. Now don't be all mean with the laughing, he's hot and I'm sure that boy could bounce a coin off his butt. I found the actual movie a little disturbing, the movie went to an oh so wrong place when his daughter started mackin on him, complete with sexy talk, growling and biting *gag* The fake dad (Matt Perry's high school friend), is kinda funny. Basically he's mega rich, sounds like he's never been laid and dresses like Clay Aitken. But never fear, he finds time to have some sexy time complete with elf ears. This is by no means an original story and it won't be winning any awards...ok, maybe a few razzies. But it was funny, not pay to see it again fun, but fun no less. Sides did I mention the hot boy?

C.

Watchmen Review

2009-05-09T19:45:00.000+10:00

I'm taking advantage of the work laptop to catch up on all the posts I've been meaning to add. So here's the first of like fiddy beelion. Now you has to pretend it's like the day after it was released at the cinema, otherwise you'll be a like WTF?!

After many months I finally saw Watchmen after donkeys and despite a number of shite reviews bout it buzzing in mah head - I liked it. By no means a masterpiece, but still good. There was some great action scenes and one song I liked the soundtrack, (we'll get back to the sexy times sone in a minute).

Again hot boy Denny/Mr. Winchester, Weeds dude kicks it...sigh. It's like he's JCVD wife - fated to die!! Poor thing, I dont' know what's worse, dying all the time or being compared with JCVD movie wives - TANGENT - pologies.

What I didn't like was the kinda long intro. I understand why they have long intros, cover backstory etc, but by the end I was over it and just wanted it to start. I wasn't a fan of the editing either, kinda all over the place which was annoying.

Okay, now the sexy times scene for Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan - more than a little freaky, I was all dude with the hands, oh dude extra person! It was all a little Michael Keaton for me. The there was the one between Niteowl and SS. I just started laughing and they butchered Halellujah, completely wrong song for the scene, even when it was Jeff Buckley singing. Ugh...red bucket party of one.

Roaschack (scusi the spelling), his 'what ink blot is that?' Pretty butterfly bit made me laugh. His scenes were my fave. For me he was the best character and really captured what I think Alan Moore was trying to put across with the graphic novel - I'm hoping I got the dude's name right :)

Overall, I liked it, more than Underworld 3. I need to read the graphic novel and do a little comparison, fingers crossed it's in clolour - I'm all it's black and white 'I ain't reading that!'. I thought I'd put a link to a different review of Watchmen on here (later of course), different view from mine, but a great review.

Either way, go and see it for yourself, or now if you reading this, wait ever so patiently for it to arrive on DVD :)

C.

Weekly Hot Boy

2009-05-09T00:53:00.002+10:00

It's been awhile since I've added a new weekly hot boy, which kinda defeats the purpose of a 'weekly' hot boy I know - but anywho there's hot boys now so it's all good in the hood. Since I'm lovin' One Tree Hill at the moment I'm taking my queue from the boys on the show. So without further delay...here are the hotties of OTH!! Huzzah!! (Okay, it's not all of them, but my brain was hurting on accounta all the searching I was doing).

Starting with the VERY sexy and talented Tyler Hilton (he plays Chris Keller). He's not in it that much, but he makes with the funnies when he's on it and me likes his singing.

It's Lee Norris (Mouth), apparently he's handy with a BBQ, which is always a most coveted talent. He plays one of my fave characters on the show. Last seen after been attacked in cougar town, poor baby, I'd so kiss it better.

Why hello James Lafferty (Nathan Scott), haven't seen you in anything else, but I won't hold it against you...specially since you so pretty.

Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott), goodness he's lovely even though he's leaving OTH, meanie that he is. Fingers crossed he decides to make some movies and quick smart.

Bryan Greenberg (Jake Jagielski), sigh...why did you leave Jake - WHY!!!! I wish he would come back and sweep Peyton off her feet - preferably without his top (trust me it'll would help).

Antwon Tanner (Skillz), another of my fave characters, not only is he damn hot, he's funny! I loved his relationship with Bevin and I was laughing so hard at his trash talk the first time he played for the Ravens. Not sure I like him with Deb tho, kinda grossing me out.

Well here endeth the hottness of One Tree Hill, bask in the lushness for it is great.

Smidge by Beth Shoshan

2009-05-08T15:37:00.000+10:00

I was planning to do a review of some other books I've been reading, but I was putting books away and found Smidge. Very cute, great illustrations (by Jenny Arthur), I couldn't resist. Basically Smidge, likes to eat lollies and lots of them! He goes through the book eating different kinds of lollies, changing his appearance according to what he's just eaten, until he has one lolly too many and then he's driving the technicolour bus - but I think Smidge can boast to being the only creature who still looks cute while doing it.

It's just a whole lot of fun, great colours and use of photography (lollies are from photos, not drawings). As a bonus, if you get the right edition, it comes on the waterproof, tear resistant, child irresistable plasticky paper stuff. Right on!

Enjoy...everyone could use a little Smidge in their lives :)