The start of a great novel!

Today's blog/item description from Woot.com is AMAZING! It's straight out of one of the novels I'm prone to reading these days and I LOVE it!!
Element 40” 1080p LCD HDTV

Go Home!

So this afternoon/evening, some child left the side gate open and at some point Waylon noticed and took himself for a run (we had already done a 4 miler this morning).  Not knowing that this was going on, the kids were watching TV in the living room and I was redecorating in the master bedroom.  They hear someone at the front door knocking/scratching and ask who it is.  There was no response so they opened it as I was walking over and in rushes Waylon, with a big grin on his face as happy as can be and jumping all over us.  Silly good boy used the front door instead of the side gate that was still wide open.  He was all excited instead of exhausted so I'm guessing that he didn't go on too long of a run.

I tried, I really did!

I tried to post 3 pictures today from my phone while we were on our monthly field trip but they didn't post, OF COURSE!

books

OK, I'm feeling good about books again.  That whole City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass trilogy by Cassandra Clare really sucked the life out of me - by the 3rd book I was reading every 50 pages so that I could find out what was going on without having to slog through the other stuff.  My last skim was 50 pages before the end so I didn't spoil the whole book for myself.  Then I went back and read every page to have picked up all the details of the story.  That was tiring!  I finished them up on the 26th.

The next books that I read from the 26th through the 29th were the first 2 in the Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas.  I loved the books and put the next 5 books of the series on hold at the library for me but only 2 of them have come in so far; I'll pick those 2 up tomorrow while the kids are at art class.  You may be familiar with this already as they are the books that the HBO series True Blood is based on.

Then I next read the first book in an awesome series that's at least 8 books long, of which the library system only carries the first and the last 2 books.  The Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine (she of The Morganville Vampires series) starts off with the fantastic book Ill Wind. I went to Half-Price Books to get the other books in the series but couldn't find any of them except for one of the most recent ones.  I did end up buying most of the books in the Broken Heart Oklahoma series by Michele Bardsley.  Next time, maybe on Wednesday while the kids are at PE I'll hit up the local Goodwill store; maybe I'll have better luck finding the books I want there and for cheaper.

I also picked up at the library a disappointing book by Patricia Briggs called Iron Kissed.  It's book 3 of the Mercy Thompson series but I gave up on it about halfway through the 287 pages.

But in my last library run I also picked up 2 winning books by Barbara Bretton.  Casting Spells and Laced With Magic; these books combine 2 of my favorite things - knitting and paranormal romance.  I finished Casting Spells about 30 min ago and once I finish this post I'll be starting on Laced With Magic (book 3 comes out next month).

I better hide my plant

Research is showing that a protein in Pokeweed has VERY strong anti-viral properties - as in it can kill the AIDS virus.  I better hide my plant before some giant pharmaceutical company patents the entire Pokeweed plant and starts going after people growing rogue plants in their yards.  You may laugh but it's happened before.
You know what isn't poisoned by eating Pokeweed?  Woolly Bear caterpillars, which are the larvae of the Giant Leopard Moth!! 

I've got a shot of one of those moths under our front light but I can't find it right now, oh well.

books

I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, book 1 of The Mortal Instruments.  I'm not feeling very happy about the book right now; the plot twist that happened after the plot twist that I saw coming from a mile away is NOT settling well with me.  I'm anticipating another plot twist back in the direction that I want in the next book in the series which I'll start reading momentarily.

books

I'm liking City of Bones so far.  I'm at page 174 and I LOVED the mention of 2 of Holly Black's characters that just happened.  Clary and Jace (City of Bones main characters) are going through NY City and see a group of homeless kids that includes Val and Luis (Valiant main characters).  I just LOVE when two different worlds overlap each other like that!!
Back to reading on this rainy day!

books

OK, I just finished Strange Brew, a collection of paranormal short stories written by various authors.  Some of the stories were really good, some were OK, and some I skimmed through because they were just eh.  I was surprised that I didn't enjoy the Harry Dresden short story more.  I liked the TV show pretty well, so did Joe, but this story at least didn't grab me like I thought it would.  Oh well.
Now I'm starting on the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, it looks to be good.

Oh, I started reading a funny book to Paul while he was in the MRI machine this evening.  I picked it out at the library today while they were at Art Class.  It's The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy by William Boniface.  He liked it a lot and I think that Giselle may enjoy reading it on her own too.

Oh well, back to the books!

books

Oh, I finished Holly Black's Ironside; A Modern Faery's Tale several days ago.  I just hadn't gotten around to posting it although I did update my personal reading lists.  LOVED it!  I kind of hope there's a sequel of sorts because I've enjoyed the series so far.  I do hope that there aren't any more Kaye and Roiben because I want them to have a 'happily ever after'.  But Ms Black did write a short story related to them that was published in the Poison Eaters collection that I've already read.  Since I finished Ironside I've been reading a collection that I'm not done with yet due to a reading glitch called "my 6-yr old damaged his LCL playing soccer and I've been tending to him a lot".
Time to call the Orthopedist again and find out why they haven't called me back yet.

books

About an hour ago I finished Holly Black's Valiant, book 2 in her Modern Faerie Tales series.  Good book, not great.  I don't regret reading it, especially since it took me less than a day to read the 314 pages. I guess I'll start on the 3rd book in the series, Ironside, tonight.  My eyes are feeling fuzzy but I think that's from all the mold in the air from all the rain last week.  More rain supposedly this weekend.  I hope it stays away until after Saturday's soccer games.

first things first

Yesterday we left the house at 9:30 am and didn't get back home again until 8!
First we drove 13 miles to a La Leche League Meeting at 10, then we high-tailed it back South to pick up lunch from Sonic and get the kids to PE by 12:50.  Then I popped to the library (practically next door to the PE park) and did some returns and checked out 2 books on hold and 2 more from off the shelf.  i had forgotten my errand list at home so I called Joe (who happened to be at home) and copied it down on some paper I had in the car.  Then I drove to Walmart to pick up a rubber tray to keep under the dog's indoor water bowl, then I went to Barnes & Nobles to get some school books for Giselle and renew my Educator's Discount card.  After dropping the books off in the car I went next door to Michael's to get aprons for the group I'm in who'll be serving Wednesday night dinner in 2 weeks.  I also got the paint to decorate them with and some more glowy sitcks. 
They're $1 for a container of 15 bracelets so I have to restock with 5 containers every time I go in there.  You can never have too many glowy sitcks, I always say.  And good thing too since of the 3 containers of glowy sticks that I brought on our camp out, almost one entire container was all duds!  Good thing I brought 3 instead of just 2 like I was going to do at first.
After leaving Machael's I had to drive across town another 10 miles to the Boy Scouts Store to get Paul's uniform that he needed for tonight even though he was going to be at soccer practice not at scouts.  I realized today while ironing on the required patches that one the patches they gave me was wrong.  Joe has gallantly offered to go and change it out for me.  Then I scooted back South and went to Thomlinson's Pet Food store to get, what else, dog food.  One of the 2 brands that we use was on super sale so I had to buy extra (they aren't going to carry it any more so I had to buy the last of their stock for 25% off regular price).  With the time creeping up on 3:30 I got to Sam's Club and bought 4 cases of 1-liter bottles of Ozarka for Joe, then headed back to the park to meet up with the other moms and kids after PE ended at 4.  We hung out at the park until 5:30 when it was time to leave for dinner at church followed by kids' choir and general hanging out until 8 pm.
Waylon was very glad to see us when we got home!

books

I finished Rachel Cain's Kiss Of Death about 15 min ago.  I'm really glad that I only have to wait 1 month until book 9 comes out.  I'm probably going to have to buy it since I'll be so far back in line on the hold list at the library.
Right now I'm number 6 in line to get the recently released Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare from the library but a friend of mine owns it, she told me at church Wednesday night, and said she'd loan it to me.  Although I think I'll wait to read it until after I read the sequel books.  See, it's like the Star Wars movies from when I was a teen - there were the first 3 Star Wars movies.  Then George Lucas made the 3 prequel movies and then the movies that WERE 1, 2, & 3 became movies 4, 5, & 6.  Well the new book, Clockwork Angel is part one of a trilogy that precedes the events in the first books City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels. 
So I'm not sure which of the 4 books I currently have checked out of the library I'll read next; I'm thinking it'll be the two Holly Black books, maybe.

books

I just finished Rachel Caine's Fade Out, book 7 of The Morganville Vampires.  Intense would be the correct word for this one, less WOW than the last 2 have been.  I'm about to see what book 8 has in store for me - I bought it last night and got it autographed too.  I think that there's only going to be another 3 or 4 books written in the series and they aren't out yet so after book 8 it's on to my next library books.

books

I finished Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine 30 min ago.  Once again, all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!  And just 3 hours ago I actually met the woman who wrote the book and got her to autograph my reading list.  I'd stick around and post more but I've already spent the last half hour updating my reading list and this blog.  Now I've got to get to reading book 7 in the series; I bought book 8 earlier tonight at the Smart Chicks Kick It book tour stop here in Austin.
We've got a field trip in the morning to a local US Post Office; that should be fun!

replay

I just watched this again for the first time since we got Waylon 4 months ago. This is EXACTLY how Waylon acts and sounds, especially Joey who keeps standing on the arms of the chairs (although Waylon doesn't do that since he's not allowed on the furniture).



We love our squeaky dog!

books

OK, just a quick post to state that I just finished Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine, book 5 in The Morganville Vampires series.  WOW, WOW, WOW!  That's what I'm saying about this book in the series, just WOW!  Gotta leave and get on to book 6.  I'll be sure to buy book 8 at the book signing TOMORROW NIGHT and I'm sure that I'll be eagerly waiting to get book 9 when it's published at the end of this October.
See ya!

books

I finished Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine this morning and have already moved on to book 5 of the series.  This series is great, I don't want to stop reading it!  But real life calls and we've got shopping for cleats and groceries to do this afternoon so it won't be until tonight that I'll finish book 5 and start on book 6.

books

OK, I probably actually finished the book just before midnight but I had to edit my reading lists first before making this post.  I just finished reading Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine, book 3 in The Morganville Vampires series.  Book 3 was just as good as the first 2, maybe even a little better.  I love all the subplots that run through each book and how they thread each book together.  The final 2 twists at the absolute very end blew me away!  The only thing I missed in this one was that there was no recap of the book and teaser of the next book in the form of Eve's journal entries like at the end of the previous 2 books.  Oh well, just a minor thing.  Now I'm off to read book 4, Feast of Fools.  I doubt I'll finish it tonight but maybe before church in the morning...

pause

Just finished a 30 min break for dinner prep and eating.  I had only gotten to page 60 before the dinner break but I had to take an earlier break in there to refill the pool for the dog to soak in.  He's exhausted himself by running around the backyard non-stop while I was out there reading all afternoon.

books

I just finished The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine, book 2 in The Morganville Vampires series.  At about 250 pages each, I'm taking 5 hours to finish each - my standard reading rate is 50 pages per hour.  So if I start now, even with a break for dinner, I should finish book 3 tonight and get a good start on book 4 before I go to bed.  Depending on how much caffeine I drink this evening, I just might finish book 4 too!  I think it's looking good for getting all 7 read before Monday night.  I'll still be short two books but that's ok, maybe I'll buy those there at the signing.
Wish me luck!
Wow, in my rush to start on the next book I almost forgot to mention the one I just finished.  Well, I guess that my enthusiasm for reading the next book is actually a really good review - The Dead Girls' Dance was so good that I'm eagerly rushing to read the next in the series, Midnight Alley.  I 'm not doing full reviews of any of these books, if you want that kind of information you're welcome to read all the reviews at the Amazon.com link I post for each book.
Now, I'm off to refill my quart cup of ice water and then head back out to the back porch where I'll be reading until the kids make me feed them dinner.  Hey, I DID wash all the dishes this morning before I started reading for the day.  And I took Giselle to soccer practice, and I returned some shin guards to Target, and I got my eggs and veggies and bacon and sausage at the farmers market, and I picked Giselle up from soccer practice (I surprised her with a lemon/pina colada Jim Jim's).  So I haven't been sitting around all day just reading.