ReadingAdventures

So I signed up for the Bang Bang Book Challenge back in August and nominated the following books to read:

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Winston's War by Michael Dobbs
Flashman and the Dragon by George Macdonald Fraser
Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig
The Birth House by Ami McKay

and I even managed to read all of those books except for one. I substituted Briar Rose by Jane Yolen for Winston's War. Where I didn't go so well is in writing the reviews! You know, good intentions and all that.

The challenge finishes on 28 February, and I still intend to write at least a couple of those reviews because I have only finished the last couple of reads in the last few days, but for all intents and purposes I am finished with this challenge as well.

No shops. No TV. No Electricity. No Daylight. No idea if your family is alive or dead. Could YOU survive? When a freak asteroid knocks the moon from its orbit, horrific tides engulf parts of the globe, and life on earth changes overnight. For 15-year-old Miranda as power, communications and food supplies start to break down, a desperate battle for her family's survival begins.

I first heard about this book at Becky's Book Reviews around a year ago when she interviewed Susan Pfeffer and I immediately added it to my TBR list. I may have heard of it before that, but that was the post that made me add it to the list. One of the things that I try to do with any reading challenges is to pick books that are already on my list so when Carl announced this year's Sci-fi Experience, I figured that this would fit the bill. I have to say, I am really glad that I chose this as one of the books for the Experience.

This is a young adult book told in a journal format, and our main character is 16 year old Miranda who lives with her mother and brothers in Pennsylvania. Like everyone else in the world, Miranda and her family are transfixed as they watch the coverage of the moon being hit by an asteroid. It is a major news event but everyone is reassured by all the experts who are commentating on the event and life is expected to go on as normal. Sometimes though, the experts get things wrong, and in this case they get things very wrong.

With the moon off it's axis, the tides are effected, and the first sign of trouble comes in the form of huge tsunamis around the world, but not long after there are earthquakes and long dormant volcanoes erupting causing massive death tolls. There are increasingly regular power outages, to the point where it is more common to have no electricity than to have it, and the weather is also effected, going from one extreme to another throughout the period of the book.

As soon as Miranda's mother realises that there is a chance that things won't get better they set about stockpiling anything and everything that might help them get by but the biggest worry as things get worse rather than better is that despite all the preparations, there is not going to be enough for everyone to be able to survive.

Reading Miranda's journal as the events go on, we are exposed to her emotions and see how they change. At first it is very normal sixteen year old girl emotions about boys, and in particular her favourite ice skater, about the prospect of learning to drive, fights with her mum and a little confusion about the events in her family with her dad announcing that his new wife is now pregnant. Miranda goes through a range of emotions from anger to despair to acceptance to resignation, and yet throughout the book there are also enough moments of hope (for example the family's first Christmas since the fateful night when everything changed) and love. Pfeffer touches on several different topics such as first love, the way some people might turn to religion during such a time, vigilantism and death of loved ones, and large scale death such as we saw with the tsunamis. In some ways this felt a bit close too home given everything that has been going on here with the bushfires recently.

I normally have one book that is my reading on the train book, and another that is my reading at home book. I started this one on Friday morning when I was not far from work. There was then a problem on the train so I was stuck for half an hour or so so I was able to get a really good start on it. By the time I got home, I just wanted to get to the end to find out what happened. There was no way known that I was going to be able to wait until I got on the train on Monday to finish this book.

It was in turn moving, chilling, realistic and scary and totally worth reading! I was all ready to request the follow up book, but apparently it is not going to be released here until 2010 which is a very long wait.

Reading this book did make me wonder how my son and I would survive in this kind of situation, and the short answer is not very well. I don't know that I would have the presence of mind to be able to get things together, let alone the ready cash that Miranda's mother had. The other thing is that there is just the two of us and so we wouldn't be able to divide the jobs up, but at least I wouldn't have to look at my kids and decide which one had the most chance of survival and therefore give them more food. That and the fact that as Australians we wouldn't have the foggiest how to survive in blizzards or even just temperatures that cold! Brrr!!

When I was looking for the cover image, I had a look at her page at Fantastic Fiction, and I was surprised to see that this author had written so many books over quite an extended period of time. My library doesn't have any of the others, which is a bit disappointing because I will definitely be reading at least the next book!

By finishing this book, I have now completed this year's Sci-Fi Experience. I really enjoy this experience as it does make me read outside of my comfort zone a little, and I enjoyed both books that I read this year.

Rating 4.5/5

Other Blogger's Thoughts:

Things Mean A Lot
An Adventure in Reading
Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Bookfoolery and Babble
Rosario's Reading Journal

I don't think I have ever read a book where people eat tulip bulbs. Yesterday, I read about it in two separate books! Admittedly one was an episode where it was eaten by accident, but I was most surprised when I read it again in the next book!

Tulips are my favourite flowers, but I don't think I will be eating them anytime soon.

Is anybody subscribed to this blog through the Feed My Inbox widget that I have in the sidebar?

If yes, can you tell me do you receive an email every day, regardless of whether I post something new, or only when I do post something?

I have added this widget to a blog which is only getting updated once or twice a month but apparently it sends an email every day regardless of whether there is new content or not, which is understandably a bit annoying to subscribers, and I would like to figure out if this is what is meant to happen or if it is an anomaly.

By all accounts, Sirantha Jax should have burned out years ago…

As the carrier of a rare gene, Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace—a talent which cuts into her life expectancy, but makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. But then the ship she’s navigating crash-lands, and she’s accused of killing everyone on board. It’s hard for Jax to defend herself: she has no memory of the crash.

Now imprisoned and the subject of a ruthless interrogation, Jax is on the verge of madness. Then a mysterious man breaks into her cell, offering her freedom—for a price. March needs Jax to help his small band of rogue fighters break the Corp monopoly on interstellar travel—and establish a new breed of jumper.

Jax is only good at one thing—grimspace—and it will eventually kill her. So she may as well have some fun in the meantime…

I first heard about this book over at Ramblings on Romance just about a year ago, and even though I knew that it would be something very different for me, I bought the book. Since then the book has languished on my bookshelf waiting for the right moment to be discovered!

That moment came when I needed to nominate a book to read for the Sci-fi Experience. With the cross genre combination of sci fi and romance, it seemed to be a perfect fit. Since reading this book I have bought another sci-fi romance novel by Susan Grant, so it is a good thing that I enjoyed this one!

Sirantha Jax is a jumper, or at least she was, and she thinks she still is. At the opening of the book she is being held prisoner by her employer, with interrogators trying to find out what happened during the fatal crash that killed many people, including some dignitaries and her co pilot and lover Kai. When a group of mercenaries, led by the enigmatic March, break Jax out of her captivity, she has no idea what they want from her other than her skills as a jumper. She soon finds herself drawn into a plot against the government, and one that has her travelling from one world to another.

Jax is a complex character. She can be harsh and bitchy, emotionally brittle, but she is also intelligent, strong and very entertaining. She is a woman who has been pushed to the edge of her limits and has managed to hang on. She is also someone who at first is being forced to move on from a past that she is not yet ready to let go of.

As a hero, March is pretty darned good! He is dark and broody, damaged and aloof and yet highly principled and prepared to do what it takes to firstly get the job done but on his terms, and also to provide as much support for Jax as she is willing to accept, always knowing when not to push her too far. This is a delicate balance because the relationship between jumper and pilot has a much higher degree of intimacy than just crew member to crew member would normally entail.

I loved the secondary characters, particularly with the introduction of Velith towards the end. The action moves through several different worlds, and there was enough information to be able to separately identify the worlds and their individual dangers without there being an info dump in terms of descriptions of worlds and aliens.

The end of the book was wrapped up very neatly, but I am sufficiently engaged to want to read the next one! I should also point out that Aguirre has the first book in a new series coming out soon, called Blue Diablo, and you can see the ticker in my side bar!

Rating 4/5

This is exactly how I felt after lunch on Pancake Day - and I wasn't alone I can promise you! There were several of us in the office who were in a similar predicament!


more animals

Before I get too far into this, I need to make the following comments!

1. I can not read my own writing! I did take notes on a few of the sessions, but not all of them. The big thing though is that some of those notes just look like scrawls! (Note to organisers - perhaps a note pad next time for disorganised people like me!)

2. I have spent years avoiding having my photo taken, so that now it is natural. Unfortunately that is probably not a great thing for events like this. The other thing about photos is that I either (a) need to learn to take better photos or (b) buy a new camera! I think you will be able to click on the image to make them larger and hopefully clearer!

3. I have been a couple of other people blogging about ARRC09 so there may be a couple of times where I direct you to other blogs for better details than I can provide!





The first ever Australian Romance Readers Convention (ARRC) officially began on Friday night, but I didn't attend the opening reception as I thought that I should probably spend that time with my son which kind of happened, but kind of didn't! (Book Thingo has some details about Friday night and general things about the conference) so Saturday morning saw me up and in the city by 7.30am. We won't talk about the fact that I struggle to leave by that time every morning during the week but that I was up and ready to go early for this particular event. Must be the motivation factor!

The room was packed to capacity as the conference proper got under way. The first speaker was Mary Janice Davidson. Once she realised that she was in Australia and not in Alaska, MJD was an awesome speaker to start the conference with. She was hilarious, talking about why being a writer sucks! Among the things she talked about were things like choosing to have the first Betsy book self published and then getting picked up by the New York publishers, about having limited control over things like book tours and covers. She also gave some really hilarious anecdotes about her own fan girl (or should that be stalker/deranged fan) behaviour towards Charlaine Harris, and an insight into a couple of her upcoming books and a future idea or two that sound great!

At this point it is probably right for me to confess that I have only read two of MJD's books, and they were both from the Fred the Mermaid series, and it's fair to say I didn't love them. I do think that perhaps I may give some of her other books a go, because now I have heard her speak, I think I can see how her humour is reflected in her writing!


Following this there was a panel discussion titled "What academics really think about romance fiction". Whilst this was a good discussion it had a very different tone to the opening talk. A few of the topics that were discussed were

• The idea of romance as emotional pornography
• The criticism of readers of romance who are predominantly female and the idea that these women should be doing something other than sitting around reading romance
• The role of media in terms of how they view the male/female relationship
• Books as a product, especially focusing on the covers, and titles.

The last point generated quite a lot of discussion, particularly around the Mills and Boon/Harlequin titles. It was at this point that the person who started off sitting next to me stood up to talk about titles - turned out it was Stephanie Laurens, talking about the way that there are certain words that sell books and therefore they are the words that marketing departments liked. She gave the example of an upcoming book of hers where the word Bride is in the title but there is no wedding in the book! Cristina Lee, Sales, Marketing and Publishing Director of Harlequin Australia, then reiterated those comments. As much as we may roll our eyes at titles like Ruthless Billionaire, Inexperience Mistress, (I didn't pick this for any particular reason, just needed to find a title to use as an example) the fact is that they tell the reader what they can expect and they sell!

During this discussion there was a slideshow of some romance covers from the 1950s and 1960s and there were some truly astounding covers and titles amongst them! (Click here to see some examples) One of the members of the panel was K S Nikakis. I had picked up one of her books from the library before mainly because she either does live or used to live in my area, but I didn't get around to reading it! Now I own it, although I will confess that I didn't buy it until Sunday afternoon and so it was too late to get it signed.

After morning tea, it was time for the first of the concurrent sessions, and I chose to attend the Paranormal session which was subtitled "The Immortal who loved me - why vampires, shifters and demons are so sexy". The short answer to this was basically because they are hot! The session was moderated by Kate Cuthbert (who runs The Australian Romance Reader website) on the far left and the participating authors were in order in the photo from left to right Keri Arthur, Sara McKenzie (who also writes historicals as Sara Bennett) and Mary Janice Davidson.


This was another highly entertaining session with lots of laughs and some fun snippets. One of the interesting discussions was about following the rules that you create for your world, and what happens if you box yourself into a corner in your world, but also that there is a lot of freedom in that you want to do something that sounds really silly or different then there is nothing to stop you when you are the one creating the world. There was also some discussion about where ideas come from (Keri Arthur mentioned having dreams) and then the authors discussed whether they work on more than one book at a time (MJD) or whether or not they can only be working on one book at a time (Keri Arthur and Sara McKenzie).

It was at this point that I was wondering how the heck is it that I haven't yet read Keri Arthur in particular!

After lunch it was time for another concurrent session, and this time I attended the Historical Romance. Anna Campbell led a discussion featuring (from left to right) Alison Stuart, Stephanie Laurens and Sara Bennett.



There is a really good summary of the discussions from this session over at Book Thingo (about half way down the page) so instead of recovering the same ground, I thought I would mention a couple of things about the three authors! Alison Stuart's books were two that I brought and got signed over the weekend, simply because they sounded so great as she described them in this sessions. Romantic fiction set against the English Civil War - not a period of time that you often hear about. One of her books won an Eppie award as well (for books that are e-published), so I am really looking forward to a good read when I do pick them up eventually.

I do feel like I am letting myself down as a historical romance reader when I admit that I have never actually read any books by Stephanie Laurens. She is definitely passionate about this as a genre and had very strong opinions on many of the topics. One of the more interesting points she made was about the term "bodice-ripper" being used to describe the whole sub-genre. She pointed out that technically these types of books were published only for a very short period of time back in the late seventies and early eighties, but that the reputation still tarnishes the sub genre even now.

Sara Bennett also writes paranormal romances under the name Sara McKenzie, but it was obvious that these are both pseudonyms because everyone on the panel kept on calling her a different name! I wonder if remembering who they were was an issue for the authors at the conferences who do use pseudonyms!

The final keynote speaker for the day was Stephanie Laurens who spoke about "The books we love to read", specifically genre fiction, whether we are talking about romance, crime, sci fi or any other kind of genre fiction, as opposed to literary fiction or general fiction. The question she asked was do we love to read books for the story, for the language or the subject. In short, genre fiction is all about the story and therefore as a genre reader the main question we need to ask ourselves is "is it a good story" and if the answer is yes, then we are likely to be satisfied, especially seeing as we read for fun, enjoyment, entertainment and because it makes us feel good. Genre fiction provides escape, enables us to use our imaginations and provides affirmation of many of the important elements in life thus empowering ourselves. Of all the keynote speakers, Laurens was the most intellectual in terms of content.

Laurens then officially launched Tempt the Devil by Anna Campbell, and Anna explained where the term regency noir came from (courtesy of Stephanie Laurens).

There is still loads to tell, but it will have to wait until tomorrow night as I am still trying to recover from the weekend! Need to get some more sleep.

This week I have only been to the library once! Normally I go at least twice but I guess with being in the city all weekend I didn't really have time to go any more than I did! When I did go, I picked up three books:









Winston's War by Michael Dobbs - I have borrowed this book at least twice before, and I really want to read it because I have read books 2 and 4 in the series, but it just hasn't happened so far!








Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur - I had vaguely heard of the series that this book starts, but I was totally sold on the series as I listened to the author speak on the weekend!








The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Not too long ago I finished the first book in this series and I am definitely planning to read more!


****Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Alessandra from Out of the Blue and Eva from A Striped Armchair

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

The book that my teaser comes from today is one which I am reading for the Art History Reading Challenge, Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach (page 143). I am cheating today and posting a couple more sentences than I am meant to, but I think it makes more sense this way.

Just bags of onions, that is what they look like. For them, Jan has paid as much as he makes, with luck, in a year's work. How homely they look. Yet they are more valuable than jewels, than paintings, than gold. Stored within those bulbs, fattened by sunshine and rain, is his future.

Just a quick post to say that I have written a guest post for The Good, the Bad and the Unread about ARRC. There will be more posts and photos posted here in the next couple of days, but for my initial thoughts head to TGTBTU!

I saw this over at Darla's and seeing as today has been such a movie day it seemed like a good idea, until I realised how few I have actually seen! Never mind. It's probably a good thing they don't ask about books that have been read because my I have a life statement may come back to bite me!

I am definitely going to be giving this to a couple of my work colleagues who I can guarantee don't have a life, but I might need to leave it for a day or two because I am already in the bad books with the biggest movie buff I work with (we'll call him Poker King) . You see, every year PK asks us all to say (or guess) who is going to win the Oscars and he prides himself on getting the most right, and because we all can be just a little competitive, there will be some good natured ribbing about how bad the rest of us are.

This year, PK came third behind a girl from outside our department, and well, me. I think the fact that I beat him hurts a little bit, because I don't get to watch grown up films. Of all the major categories, the only nominations I had seen were Bolt, Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E. Yep! Only kids films.

Anyway, onto the meme!

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this as a post. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, and change the header adding your number. Have fun.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
() Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
Total: 7

( ) The Princess Bride (I've only seen parts of this)
(X) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
( )The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

( )Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 13

(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 19

(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland (it's in my Netflix queue)
( ) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 22

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 27

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 29

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 31

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
(X) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 33

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 38

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 40

( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 56

( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 63

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(X) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 65

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 68

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 69

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 72

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 75

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 75

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 75

( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 76

Now Add them up and...

Put "I've seen ...__ out of 239 films" in the subject line and repost it.

The inaugural ARRC is over. I had such a great time, but oh my goodness I am tired tonight!

I got a ton of new books, and discovered some new authors that I am definitely intending to read.

More later.

Do you notice that Days = 0, and there is only a few hours until the first Australian Romance Readers Convention begins! I am planning to not only enjoy the sessions but I also am hoping to get hold of lots of new books! Yep, I am going book shopping! Normally I don't buy books, but borrow them from the library but this weekend, I have plans!

Because of ARRC, I am going to be a bit scarce around the blog world this weekend, but I do have at least one post scheduled so it won't quite be totally dead here this weekend!

After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn't a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who's a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim's every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman's innocence, to capture her youth and vitality - in one fateful shot...

I am so tempted to start this review by making just one statement - Nora Roberts writing as J D Robb is an absolutely exceptional author!

With this book we are now 15 or 16 instalments (or 18 including short stories/novellas) into the series at which point you would think that we would know our main characters in particular really well, but in this book, we see Roarke redefined as he finds out something from his past which shakes him to his core, and we see Eve really struggling to balance between being a wife and being a cop. For the first time really we see Eve have to put her husband before her work and look after Roarke. We have seen Roarke do this consistently, but it is significantly rarer for Eve to be the one in this role.

This book took me through a whole range of emotions. I laughed out loud at the interaction between the characters, particularly between the antagonistic relationship between Summerset and Eve. They snipe at each other, but the thing that ties them together is Roarke, and when he needs them they know that they can rely on each other to take care of him. I also continue to laugh at Peabody and McNab and the fact that Eve really doesn't want to know anything about their ongoing relationship!

I also cried quite a few times in this book (always awkward on the train). When Eve has to talk to the family members of the victims you know that for all her hard arsed cop routine, her heart is breaking. I also cried loads in a scene involving Roarke and the journey he undertook during this book. Can't say anymore because it is a huge spoiler but oh my goodness - totally moving!

Notice I haven't said anything about the mystery yet? That's not because it wasn't interesting, but only because to a certain degree it was overshadowed by the interactions between the characters.

One of the best In Death novels yet. Whilst I do highly recommend this novel, and it could be read alone, I think that just to see how far the characters have come it is best to start at the beginning of the series with Naked in Death.

Rating: 4.5/5

A month or so I took a big step, and cut down the number of books that I have out from the library from more than 50 books to just over 30. I am doing quite well at keeping the total down to a managable level, although I am have borrowed quite a few books this week. I have taken quite a lot back as well though!

The interesting consequence of having less books out is that I am able to read more of the books I already own, or I don't have to worry so much about the due date if I do choose to read a library book. Now this sounds like a good thing right? In actual fact, it is problematic. Last night I changed my mind about 6 times about which book I was going to read next, and it took about half an hour to finally decide! I never had to worry about that problem as much before.

So these are the books that I have checked out from the library in the last week:

Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne - I know that there are lots of blog posts about John Boyne's other book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but I don't recall seeing anything about this book any where.

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie - I read the first book in this series a while ago. It's time to read the second book I think!

Wife for Hire by Janet Evanovich - I enjoy these rereleased romances. They are very silly, but good fun and quick reads.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - I think I will read this as part of the Book Awards Reading Challenge.

The Low Road by Chris Womersley - This is the April book for a group that I have recently joined which focuses on crime novels.

Imitation in Death by J D Robb - Next book in this great series!


****Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Alessandra from Out of the Blue and Eva from A Striped Armchair

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

I am actually kind of in between reads at the moment. I finished the book I was reading in bed last night, and my train book this afternoon, so this teaser comes from the book that I am planning to start in the morning - Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (page 222):

He nodded to the colonel of the regiment, and himself turned and walked over to the dragons, to make a show of speaking with Rowley. No-one spoke, and the men filed in perfect order - with something even of a hurry - abourd the beasts: the rest of the army had been roused up to see if happen, and the dragons lifting off with the soldiers all aboard: with only a little prodding from the sergeants, the men aboard all jeered cheerfully at teh regiments marching below as the dragons sailed away.

... for you know what.

The first part of this post is the guest post that was posted over at Book Smugglers on December 22. The second part contains my final thoughts on this book and will contain spoilers!

They were just kids when they stumbled upon the hidden horror of their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name.

I have a confession to make. I am writing this post even though I haven't finished reading the book that I was dared to read. I heard that collective gasp! How can I write a review of a book I haven't finished yet? Well, I guess that I can't really, but I can write about my reading experience, and why it has come to this sorry state of affairs!

A little bit of background. Some time ago Thea was posting at DIK about her favourite books, and I was surprised to note that I hadn't read any of them. Whilst I certainly haven't read every book going, there is generally one or two books on each person's list that I have read. Fast forward a few days, and I had been dared to read any one of the books on Thea's list, and for some reason, that I can't really fathom, I chose It by Stephen King. I think maybe that it was because it was the book that was farthest away from my comfort zone. I read across a fairly wide range of genres, but horror is not one of these. Most of the others are books that I will likely get to one day.

Did I realise at the time how big this book was? Not at all. I was very surprised when I went to the library and picked up a book that was 1100 pages along, but I wasn't daunted. I love chunksters - books that tell stories that are huge in scope and in size. Was I expecting to be scared? Not at all - I mean the few slasher movies I had seen had made me laugh, or want to vomit as opposed to scream in fear, and I didn't expect this experience to be any different.

Now, I know my reading patterns pretty well I think. I always have two books on the go. One that I read on the train every day, and another that I read at night. Whilst the number of pages that I get through at night can vary, I am pretty reliable when it comes to the train books. Depending on the size of print etc, I can generally get through between 200 and 250 pages each day. So, 1100 pages to read, 200 pages a day, means that it should have taken me about 5 days, plus a few last pages at home to read. Plenty of time to finish the book and write up my post. Loads of time.

So here I am 11 days later, and I still have just under 300 pages to go, and I have to say that I struggled to get through the first 500 pages. If it wasn't for the fact that firstly, I hate not finishing books that I start, and secondly, I was dared to read the book, I would have put it down. Not with the intention of never finishing the book, but certainly with the intention of reading something that caught my imagination a bit more than this book did. So what is it that didn't work for me, that made the read such hard work. Firstly, I do think that part of the reason is that it is so far away from what I normally read. Secondly the amount of detail. Yes, the details of what happened are necessary, but this book is way too long, with mentions of some memories that really didn't need to be there. The third thing is the characters. I do feel as though I connected to a couple of the characters, and Richie made me laugh, albeit in a somewhat uncomfortable way but really Big Bill seems too perfect (except for the obvious stutter), and Eddie, Stan and Mike seem are necessary to the plot, but not characters that I could easily relate to.

Part of the reason for choosing to read this book is that it is written by Stephen King, who has a reputation for excellent writing. I have never read anything by him before, and I will say, that now that I have made it through the first half of the book I am enjoying his writing. He is very skilled at using language to make it easy for the reader to differentiate between the events that happen in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. His method of moving from the present to the past are seamless, and extremely well done. I don't remember reading a book where a chapter ends halfway through a sentence, and the next chapter starts with the second half of the sentence. I find myself surprised that as a technique it really works.

I also think that his representation of growing up in small town America seems very good, even if that small town is Derry, where there is definitely something strange going on. I love the technique he is using of only revealing a little bit to each of the characters as it is revealed to the readers - the jigsaw being built slowly but surely heading towards what feels like a crescendo where either the jigsaw is going to be completely destroyed, or the picture so complete that it is like the photos mentioned in the book where you can see the characters moving as you like at the static picture.

Do I get the horror elements in the book? Yes, and no. I get why people are freaked out by clowns after reading this book. I have to say though, the scariest elements in this book have not been the birds, or balloons, or clowns, but have rather been the human interactions. Bev's confrontation with her husband, the kids fights, both individually and as a group with Henry Bowers and his friends, Eddie's mother, and others. At this point I am fearing what will happen with both Tom Rogan and Henry Bowers, and I am a bit scared at the thought of what the final showdowns, both in the past and in the present will be like. These kids have already been tormented so much, and as adults are already remembering so much trauma.

Am I going to finish the book - absolutely! There is no way that I am reading 800 pages of an 1100 page book and putting it down. I have a few expectations of where I hope the book goes. As a reader who has a bit of a bias to romance, I know what I am hoping for in the ending. I don't think I am going to get it, because to be honest Stephen King isn't known for his romance now is he. I am hoping that Ben gets a chance with Beverly. I think Ben and Bev are the two characters that I connect to most. I wasn't a fat kid, but I am a fat adult, and there is definitely a common theme in Bev's story to my own. I am hoping that this group of friends who have reconnected again after so long don't lose each other again.

I want It to be destroyed. Having said that I have no picture in my mind of what Derry would be like without It being part of it - somewhere boring and mundane probably.

Most of all, I just want to finish the book. You can be sure that I will be sharing my final thoughts.

At this point in time, if I had to rate the book it would be somewhere between a 3.5 or 4 out of 5. I usually give a pretty standard good read a 4 so it is definitely a reasonable grade for a book that has (finally) sucked me into its world.

I love the idea of Book Dares, and would gladly participate in another one at some point in the future, despite the fact that I don't think I will be in a hurry to read another book from this specific genre, or from Stephen King any time soon. Never say never, but it would most likely be when I have run out of other books to read, which isn't going to happen any time soon.

Thanks for the dare Ana and Thea!





**************************************************************************

SPOILERS

**************************************************************************




So finally, six or so weeks down the track I have finished reading It, and I am pretty darned pleased without myself that I have! Once I wrote the above post, I realised that I had other books that I needed to read and I put it down, always with the intention of picking it up again. It was just a question of when!

Overall, I enjoyed this book enough to give it a pretty decent rating of 4/5 but there are some parts that I just did not get at all, particularly in relation to the end of their time as young people. I get that the bond between the group was beginning to unravel after they had fought against It, but the sex part didn't work for me because it didn't seem to draw them closer together in the end. I was happy with one aspect of the ending, but I guess I didn't understand why the now grown up kids would forget about each other again.

Given everything that was going on here last week, I did find the story of the final battle and partial destruction of Derry not so much scary as superfluous. If I wanted to turn on the TV I could look at just as much if not more horror than what I was reading in the book.

I will read another Stephen King book eventually, although I have no idea which one. Any suggestions?

This time last week we were waking up to the news that 14 people had died and a few houses had burned.

A week on, the death toll is 181, and still expected to rise further, approximately 2000 homes are gone, more than 7000 people are homeless, and whole towns have been destroyed. Twelve fires are still burning out of control. The power of Mother Nature is astounding. Unfortunately some of the fires were deliberately lit, and it appears that one of the bigger fires started due to a power line problem, but once they started, the conditions were just right for a fire disaster and that is exactly what happened.

There have been amazing videos which just tore the heart out of the viewer, watching the fire and embers surround peoples properties and hearing those people say goodbye to their loved ones, just in case they didn't make it.

On Friday, for the first time since the fires started, you could smell the smoke in the air in Melbourne, and the sky was hazy. The moon was red and it just felt so eerie. It was a potent reminder that while the initial force of the fire has been mostly harnessed, there were still people whose properties and lives were at risk.

Whilst for the people who were involved in this fire, there is no respite from the reality of losing your home and your friends and loved ones, there have been times this week when I have just had to turn off the news and do or watch something else because the sense of loss and horror is just overwhelming.

In the aftermath, what we have seen is the very generous nature of Aussies and their friends. There have been huge amounts of money raised and mountains of goods donated, and this is only the beginning.

To give some kind of perspective to how close many of these towns are to Melbourne itself, the photo below is the view from Kinglake, one of the towns devastated by the fire, and the scene where many people lost their lives. Kinglake is 99 miles (160 kilometres) from Melbourne.

Photo from the Herald Sun

With all the news this week, there have been moments when I have just had to watch something other than the news. On Tuesday night I watched the first episode of True Blood, but I have also watched 27 Dresses a couple of times.

Only a couple of pick ups from the library this week, which is really helping at keeping those totals of books checked out under control.

The books I picked up were:

Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold - the first book in the Sharing Knife series

The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint - it's been ages since I read a Newford book.

Calamity Jane by Kathleen Bacus - this book was recommended on a list that I am on as a book that people will like if they like the Stephanie Plum series of books by Janet Evanovich. I could use a laugh right about now, so I will give this one a go.


The big news this week is the book that I took back to the library tonight. I was originally challenged to read It by Stephen King by the awesome girls over at Book Smugglers. When it came to deadline time, I still had a lot of book left to go, so I wrote about my experience reading the book and then put it down with every intention of picking it up again. Fast forward 8 weeks and I can finally take the book off of my currently reading list because I finished last night! Go me!

I am planning to add a few paragraphs and then post my guest post here as a review shortly!


****Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Alessandra from Out of the Blue and Eva from A Striped Armchair

I am not quite sure why but I somehow missed Teaser Tuesday last week! To make up for that, I have two teasers for you this week!

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

The first teaser comes from page 246 of Grimspace by Anne Aguirre:

Beneath his intellectual exterior lies a ruthless bastard. And this is the first time I've seen it. I experience a frisson of unease, as if I've been sailing along a smooth sea, unaware of dangers that lurk unseen.

The second comes from The Founding, the first book in the super long Morland Dynasty series. I have no idea why I am starting yet another series (in fact, both of these books are first in a series!), but I have been wanting to read it for ages:

There had never been so few children in the nursery, and Eleanor was suddenly made aware by how thin a thread the Morland futures hung. She decided then and there that she must look around for suitable wives for both Ned and Edmund, and must speak to the King about a match for Thom.

I am trying not to be on too much of a downer on the blog at the moment, but the fact is that the ongoing bushfire tragedy is basically at the forefront of everyone mind at the moment. This is now officially the worst natural disaster in Australian history.

There are both terrible, terrible stories coming to light now, but as well there are amazing tales of survival and bravery. The fires continue to burn out of control and there are still homes and lives under threat.

There are stories of entire towns being wiped out. There is a town called Strathewen that had a population of 200 people. There are fears that 30% of the population in that town have been killed. 30%. It just seems totally unfathomable.

Going into work today felt quite surreal. I remember feeling this way a couple of times before, most notably during the aftermath of the Bali terrorist bombings and September 11. It just feels so strange to be going about your normal lives when you know so many people are suffering so badly.

Once I got to work, it was to find that one of my staff has a sister who has lost absolutely everything. Whilst they all survived, it was a very close thing for her nephew who only survived by jumping in a water tank.

Another staff member lived 5 streets away from where some homes were lost, and yet another evacuated on Saturday just in case when a few homes in her suburb went up in flames.

One of the programs that my employer runs has been completely destroyed, so even if our staff were not directly in the path of the fires, they and others like them may have lost their livelihoods for a short time, or maybe for the long term.

Again, none of these affect me directly, but it still feels pretty close to home given that I know people who know people.

Amongst all the terrible stories, there are stories of incredible bravery and of miraculous survivals, and so many of our volunteer firefighters, some of whom have lost their own homes, are still battling to fight the fires that are still burning. And Aussies are being incredibly generous. Our phone lines were overloaded today as people tried to ring into our organisation to give donations.


** Image from TimesOnline

The year 1198. All of Wales is in turmoil.

King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon, known to his people as Noble, is struggling to protect his small kingdom from treacherous Welsh princes and Roger Mortimer, an ambitious English baron who murdered Noble's father years earlier. Desperate to secure a peace treaty, the king grimly agrees to a political marriage with Isabel Mortimer, Roger's niece.

Isabel, not yet twenty, is confounded by the intimacy and informality of the Welsh court which to her foreign eyes looks barbaric and backward. As determined and wilful as she is naive, she eventually earns the respect and affection of her husband and his subjects - with the notable exception of Gwirion, the king's oldest and oddesst friend, who has a particular, private reason to hate Mortimers.

Gwirion's rascally tricks and diversion are expected - and relished - by all at Cymaron Castle. But a disastrous prank played during the royal wedding ignites a volatile competition between queen and confidant for the king's affection, with unexpected consequences.

As Mortimer makes it apparent that he has no intention of honouring the peace treaty, the bond between Noble and Isabel grows strained. And when Gwirion and Isabel's mutual animosity is abruptly transformed, Noble finds himself as threatened by those he loves best as by the enemies who menace his crown.

A masterful debut novel by a gifted storyteller, The Fool's Tale combines vivid historical fiction, compelling political intrigue, and passionate romance to create an intimate drama of three individuals bound - and undone - by love and loyalty.

A brief look at my archives will tell you a few things. One is that I love Historical Fiction. Doesn't really matter what the setting is, although British history is one of my favourites. Ever since reading Sharon Kay Penman's excellent Welsh trilogy, the idea of reading more about Welsh history has been very attractive to me. I also am partial to a good Historical romance, so this book should have worked for me on a number of levels.

Did you notice I said should? Unfortunately it didn't work for me at all. At over half way through I have given up, and have my first DNF for the year. Given that I have only had one book that I couldn't finish reading since I began blogging over 3 years ago, you would be right in thinking that this is something that I don't normally do, but I just couldn't go on!

The first thing that didn't work for me was the fact that this is supposedly Welsh history, but then a quick look at the author's note reveals that King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon really died the year before this book was set, Isabel Mortimer and her brother never existed, which means that all the dramatic points that I read (war councils and battles) cannot have happened. Oh, and that "Gwirion is not only fictional, but historically improbably, as the Welsh court had no known position corresponding to the concept of a European fool or jester." Yes, the laws and rituals described were based on historical fact, so it's not completely without basis but there's not much there.

The second thing that didn't work for me is the characters. Noble, who very much does not live up to his name, Gwirion and Isabel are all unlikeable.In the first half of the book, what we had is a King who had wed in a strategic alliance, but who continued to bed anyone that he wanted to, whenever he wanted to, with little consideration for his wife. Gwirion's pranks were not only not funny, they were downright dangerous, and when Noble pranks back it is almost to the point of killing the man who is supposed to be his best friend. Isabel is cool and distant, and when she does lose the heir that is so needed, it is in such a way that is just not likely to occur.

At the point where I have given up, Gwirion, who has hated Isabel vehemently since she has arrived, has just seen her with her hair down, and suddenly there is a strong attraction between them. Because I always take a peak at the end of the book, I have a fair idea of what happenes next and I know how it ends, and again, just don't see how it is likely that that could possibly happen when you have a king and queen involved. By the way, there are only a couple of times over the years where reading the ending of a book did really, really spoil for the reader, and this is one of those times.

The author is a screenwriter, and I don't know if part of the idea was to try and sex up historical fiction, and to make the plot as dramatic as possible, but it didn't work for me. I have in the past borrowed other books by this author and never managed to read them. I am still interested in reading The Fourth Crusade for example, but it will be a while before I will be ready to give her another go.

This is my last book in the Medieval Challenge.


Rating: DNF

A few weeks ago I was quite ruthless and returned more than 20 books to the library because I just had so many books out, and I was feeling very much under pressure in terms of due dates, and not reading the books that I own.

What I was hoping was that would mean that I would not need to be returning books to the library unread, but it doesn't seem that that plan has quite worked out as I anticipated.

Today I will be returning The Vizard Mask by Diana Norman without having even opened the book, and also The Mystery of Glass that I have read the first 20 pages of, but it is just not possible for me to finish before it needs to be returned, mainly because I can't renew it as someone else has requested it. The sad thing is that I really want to read both of them, particularly the Norman book as I do enjoy reading her books.

We woke up this morning to the news that at least 25 people have died in bushfires in Victoria yesterday. The fires are still burning, and officials are expecting to find more bodies today. Six people died in one car which you would have to think is a whole family.

There are also fires burning near Sydney.

There are no fires near me, but I do know a lot of people who provide support to firefighters, and I pay a lot of people who live in the affected areas.

It appears as though there is a town called Marysville near Melbourne where 90% of the town have been destroyed, including shops, homes and the local police station.

Edited to add: I just got a phone call to say that the mother of one of the victims works with one of my family members. He died in his car along with his best friend and fiancee. His dad had a property in the worst affected area, but is working overseas, so the man who died went to try and save the property, and instead lost his life.

I know that I don't know them, but it does feel even closer to home than it did before.

In all the time I have lived in Melbourne, I don't remember it ever being this hot. In fact, I don't recall it ever being this hot when I lived in Adelaide either.

Updated to say: How right am I! Apparently this has been the hottest temperature ever recorded in an Australian capital centre. No wonder I don't remember it being this hot in Adelaide.

Our weather conditions as of 40 minutes ago from theweatherchannel.com.au:

Conditions at Laverton 16:00 Saturday February 7th
Temperature: 46.9°C
Dewpoint: 2.7°C
Wind: NW at 53.6 km/h
Rain since 9am: 0.0 mm

Mean Sea Level Pressure : 997.6hPa
Relative Humidity :7%


I have know idea if that is the hottest it has been all day. I haven't been checking.

For those of you who don't work in celcius, that is 116.4F.


Edited to Add: According to the news, this is the hottest day in Melbourne since records began and ended up being 47.9 degrees near me.

Edited again: There are a number of fires burning out of control, and a number of houses burnt out across the state. Please keep the firefighters and people affected in your thoughts and prayers.

Nearly missed this weeks Weekly Geeks! I had started the post and then forgot about it!

#1. What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging? For example, are you crafty (knitting, woodworking, scrapbooking, model building)? Do you cook? Into gaming (computer or board)? Sports (player or spectator)? Photography? Maybe you like geocaching, rock climbing? Or love attending events like renaissance fairs, concerts? Music? Dancing? You get the idea.

Tell us why you're passionate about it. Post photos of what you've made or of yourself doing whatever it is you love doing.

I am passionate about a couple of other things I guess! No matter how much I can't stand my boss, I am passionate about my job, but that would be a pretty boring post wouldn't it!

I am not too sure that passionate isn't too strong a word, but another thing I am enjoy a lot is watching sport! I am a total couch potato when it comes to watching sport. I am happy to watch nearly anything, particularly when it comes to the finals of any event. This year I managed to be off work for all of the Australian Open tennis. Whilst I have been in previous year to watch matches live that didn't happen this year, but I did watch an awful lot of games, until the very late hours of the night. WE have also been watching the cricket, despite the fact that the the national team hasn't been playing that well. I do like to watch the English Premier League and A League (Australian soccer) but I have had a tendency to fall asleep before the EPL games started lately.

If I would have to pick a team to say I was passionate about, it is the Adelaide Crows, who play Australian Rules Football. The pre season tournament starts today. Fortunately the match is not here in Melbourne because we have another really hot day here (44C/111F) with a northerly wind. As an aside, these conditions are really bad if there is a bushfire. We have already had a number of bushfires, and lots over 30 homes in the city in the last couple of weeks, so fingers crossed there are no fires today.

I was planning however to post about card making. The thing is though that so far this year, I have only made one thing (several times) which is pretty poor really! It's probably fair to say that I am passionate about buying things to do card making - not the actual making itself! One of the good things about doing the card making is that it is something that my sister, her mother in law and I all do, so it is something that we share together, and on the nights when we are getting together for workshops or just to make stuff, my son gets to spend time with his uncle so it is a win-win situation for all of us - well, maybe not the uncle but I think he has fun being babysitter!

S0 what did I make? Bookmarks! And I am pretty happy with how they turned out, although I am struggling to get a good image of them to put on here.

#2. Get us involved. Link to tutorials, recipes, Youtube videos, websites, fan sites, etc, anything that will help us learn more about your interest or how to do your hobby. Maybe you'd like to link to another hobbyist whose work you admire or tell us about a book or magazine related to your interest.

To many outsiders the Aussie Rules game appears to have precisely no rules but they are there I promise! What we do have is spectacular leaps and great marks (catches), full body contact and lots of excitement!




To look at some of the other cards that I have made, click here!

#3. Visit other Weekly Geeks. Link in your post to other Geeks who've peaked your interest in their passion. Or maybe you might find a fellow afincionado among us, link to them.

For #3, you'll probably have to come back after other Weekly Geeks have posted.

Well, because I am so late in doing in my post, the weekly wrap up post is already up here, so click on the link to see how many very interesting Weekly Geeks there are around blogland!

After two bad reading months in a row, the start of February has been much better. In the first week I have managed to finish three books, and I have another one that is not far off of finished.

I am also debating about whether or not I have my first DNF for this year, after not having any at all last year. I have mentioned previously that I don't like to put a book down with no intention of ever picking it up again. I know that lots of people will DNF a book if they aren't enjoying it after the first fifty pages or so, but I find it really difficult to get to the point of no return. There are some really great books I have read over the years that were a bit slow at the beginning but then really picked up after that. There are also a few that were really slow at the beginning and never picked up.

With this book it isn't so much that it is slow. It is that the plot is improbabe and the characters unlikeable. The author admits in the Author's note that most of the plot is not based on history at all, with made up military events, and characters. I don't mind that in historical fiction normally, but I do like there to be some kind of historical framework around the made up characters, so that it fits in the time and place specified by the setting.

The other thing is that I know where the book is going because as always I sneaked a peak at the ending and that was completely imporabable as well.

I am more than half way through, and as of yesterday morning I was ready to put the book down and never pick it up again. Then last night I read another chapter and it was okay...ish. so now I am not sure whether I keep reading to the bitter end. The book has a 4 star average on Amazon, so maybe its me.

I don't know why I find it so hard to put a book down.

Decisions, decisions.

I got up this morning and was flicking through the channels, which I came across the Showtime Greats channel, and they were showing The Pirate King. At first, I was a little surprised, but youknow I have fun memories of that movie so I watched it again! My goodness, it's so bad it is great!

The strange thing was I was looking at the actors thinking my goodness there are a lot of Aussies in this movie. Then I was looking at the mansion that Mabel's family lived in, and I was thinking I KNOW that house! Turns out that the movie was filmed entirely on location in Australia, and the mansion used for filming was Werribee Mansion, which is five minutes away from where I live!

Of course then I ended up at Youtube seeing what I could find there! Turns out you can watch most of the movie there, but I thought I was post just one example of how this movie is so bad that it is good!



This was a good way to start Saturday!

I am not a huge Valentines Day fan. I've been by myself for far too long for it to be anything other than depressing, but even when I was with the ex it wasn't a big deal. Then again, this is the same man who forgot my 30th birthday and never understood why I was supremely pissed off! Yet another reason why he is ex!

So when you learn that there is an Anti-Valentine's Day Contest, and that there is a chance to win 3 new release books, it is a no-brainer that I am going to want to join in the fun!

For all the details on how to join in, click here!

As of about 2 hours ago, the clutch in my car is completely screwed. There is not a lot I can do about it, but it is pretty easy to get into a woe is me frame is mine.

The car has been towed to the front of my brother in laws mechanic. In the morning, I will have to try and get back down there and get a quote from him to fix the car.

One of my friends rang his mechanic and he has suggested it is going to cost at least $600 to get repaired!

DAMN!

From emerald jungles to the high seas to the glittering ballrooms of Regency London, beloved author Gaelen Foley tells a sweeping, sensual tale of the ruggedly handsome Lord Jack Knight and the passionate beauty who lays claim to his heart.

An English rose blooming in the untamed jungles of South America, Eden Farraday lives a life of independence–unheard of for a lady–with her doctor-turned-scientist father. But Eden misses England desperately. When the dangerous and darkly charming Lord Jack Knight sails into her life, she seizes her chance to return to civilization, stowing away aboard his London-bound ship.

Roguish and charismatic, a self-made shipping tycoon with a shadowy past and a well-guarded heart, Jack is sailing on a vital secret mission. When the redheaded temptress is discovered aboard his vessel, he reacts with fury–and undeniable lust. Forced to protect her from his rough crew, the devilish Lord Jack demands a scandalous price in exchange for Eden’s safe passage across the sea. As his wicked kiss ignites an unforgettable blaze of passion between them, Jack and Eden confront a soul-searing love that cannot be denied.

And so, I come to the end of the seven book Knight Miscellany series, and it has been a fun ride! The writing has been consistently good (I have rated them all at between 4 and 4.5 out of 5), the story lines different in each one, and yet, still felt connected. There is only one book in the series that I can't clearly remember, despite the fact that I read the first in the series about 18 months ago. In terms of His Wicked Kiss being the final book in the series, it was great to see all the previous characters featured, but the author got the balance just right, while also managing to introduce the basic background for the next trilogy that features relatives of the family in this series. There have been other series where there were too many special guest appearances in the final book and the storyline gets a bit lost, but this didn't happen in this book.

This books starts out in the jungles of South America - a very unusual setting for a Regency romance that's for sure, and dealing with historical events that I never knew about that were taking place elsewhere in the world at the same time as my own country was only just being founded!

Eden Farraday is desperate to leave the jungles behind her. She has been working there with her father, a renowned doctor who has been exploring looking for new medicines. Eden really wants the chance to try to see how she survives in a very different environment - the ton in London!

When Jack Knight meets her in the jungle as he is finishing up some dodgy political dealing and other lucrative trading, Eden sees her chance to escape to England, and she is not about to let Jack's refusal to allow her to accompany him stop her, so she stows away on his ship. Trapped in close quarters with each other, Eden and Jack come to find what they were both looking for, but in a completely different place than they were expecting.

There were times, particularly later in the book when I just wanted to slap the two of them and say talk to each other, but for the most part this was just an engrossing and fun story, with a hero who is part pirate, part gentleman, very dangerous and totally charming. Eden actually held her own in this book pretty well as well. She is able to survive in the jungle, and in the ton - in fact the only place she seems to struggle is really in learning to deal with her husband!

I did have one problem with this book, and it was one that jarred me out of the book every time I saw it mentioned. A lot of historical romance novels rely on a suspense subplot, which generally involves some kind of crazy father/cousin/jilted lover etc who endangers the heroine and then the climactic ending is the reunion and declaration of love between our hero and heroine, and this book is no different.

I know it isn't really funny, but this story amused/amazed me today when I found out about it!

Back on December 19 last year, after months and months of construction and a few costly delays, a new tourist attraction opened in Melbourne. Dubbed 'The Southern Star' it was our very own version of the London Eye ferris wheel, giving visitors a changing view of Melbourne and it's environs.

At around $29 for an adult and $17 for a child, I hadn't yet managed to go to the wheel, but I certainly intended to do so, probably next time we had visitors from interstate or overseas. I should however have made the effort to go earlier because, umm, it has had to close already.

You know how I have mentioned that it has been a bit hot here over the last week? Apparently the $100m project didn't factor in the summer heat and the extreme weather conditions caused the wheel to buckle and crack and it is closed for the foreseeable future while they try to figure out how to fix it.

So, it cost $100 million to build, and it was open for a total of 6 weeks!

I know there are lots of other examples of this kind of thing. The Millenium Dome that sat unused in London for seven years before it was reopened, and the pedestrian bridges across rivers that then can't be used.

Anyone else got any good examples of this kind of thing?

Last week I picked up a few books from the library. I am still doing okay at keeping the number of books that I have out down to around 30, but given how little I am actually reading it won't take long to creep up again. The books I borrowed were:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Fish Out of Water by Mary Janice Davidson
Foul Play by Janet Evanovich
Portrait in Death by J D Robb
Snowy Night with a Stranger anthology


I am pretty sure that I have had the last two out previously but I had to return them unread. I want to read them both so I can continue on with the series that I am reading, so I am hoping that I will get to them this time!

Pride and Prejudice is on audiobook, and will be my next classic read. I am trying to use audiobooks to improve on my pretty poor record of reading many of the classics during this year.

Changing the topic a bit, can you believe that January has gone by already?? It's hard to work out where the month has gone. Way back at the beginning of the month I posted about NaJuReMoNoMo - National Just Read More Novels Month.

For the second consecutive month I have read less than ten books, which is almost unheard of for me, so I think it is fair to say that I didn't exactly read More as such, but I did end up starting and finishing five books. All up I finished eight books during January but three of those were books that I had started prior to 1 January and they therefore do not count for the purposes of this challenge.


**Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Alessandra and Eva. Details here**

So that's about it really for my holidays. Back to school (yay) and to work tomorrow! I don't think I am really ready, but I think it is always a bit of a struggle. For me, it also means back on the trains so I am hoping that the temperature stays down so that I am not left stranded on the platform like so many of my fellow commuters have been in the last week.

As you may know, I had a list of things that I wanted to get down during my two weeks off. I managed to get most of them done, although I left a few of the bigger ones for the second week, which didn't work out too well given the heat.

So here's the list as it stands now:


Kitchen

Clean out fridge and freezer, including behind and on top.
Clean out all the kitchen cupboards
Clean out food cupboard

Spare room

Empty at least one of those boxes that has been there since I moved house. It will be a pleasant surprise to see what I find I am sure.
Fold all clothes
Reorganise craft table with an eye to getting reinspired into making some things.


My room

Empty at least one of those boxes that has been there since I moved house. It will be a pleasant surprise to see what I find I am sure.

Laundry

Reorganise linen cupboard

Son's Room

Tidy up. This took four days last year. Hopefully won't take as long this year.
Check for too small clothes

Garden

Mow the lawns/weeds
Weed the front gardens (did some of this, but not all)
Take the dead heads off of the roses

Garage

Sweep it out

Car

Get it cleaned.


In addition I played more table tennis than I can possibly think about, watched loads and loads of Australian Open tennis, went to the movies, watched a few movies at home, had a manicure, went out for dinner, had friends and family over for dinner, went bowling, listened to some music, so while it the same as going away somewhere, we still had a fairly pleasant time.

The only thing is that as I return to work after thinking that I have been at home for two weeks you would think that I would be all caught up with everything. Unfortunately that isn't the case. At the moment I have over 2000 posts to read in Bloglines, I didn't manage to post a single review, I haven't done the awards post that I really need to do, and I only read a couple of books. I didn't even manage to visit one of the forums that I am a regular at in the whole two weeks. Never mind!

I did however do a couple of other things that I have been meaning to do for ages, including doing a backup of my documents etc on the computer, prompted by the fact that I couldn't turn my computer on this morning. I am hoping that it isn't the beginning of a downhill slide, although the computer I have is almost 5 years old, so it's possible.

Another big thing to get done is that I did my resume this week. I have been talking about getting my resume sorted out for about 18 months, if not longer, because the fact is that I love my job, as long as my boss isn't in. It is also not a practical job given the fact that I have 3 to 3 and a half hour of train time every day - that equates to at least two full days of travel time every week. I would love to get a job closer to home but the likelihood is remote, so I might just have to go into the city, but at least it would be only one train then. Who knows. I might still be in the job in 3 years time, but at least the resume is done so if there is something interesting that comes up, I am ready.

My next door neighbour asked me the other day if he minded if he took out a plant that is on my side of the fence, but grows onto his side. It looks nice but it has huge spikes on it that are pretty darned sharp, so he is going to take that out for me (well for him) but I don't have to do it, but I thought that I should clear out the path at the side of the house so he can get to it, so even though I didn't do all the gardening that I had on my list, I did do some!

I have to say, I don't know how people find gardening therapeutic. Feels much too much like hard work to me!