Is it December already?

Oh hi! Bet you thought I had completely forgotten about you. I didn't. I promise. I've been thinking about you quite a lot, but the world has just been too busy for me to find time to blog. But I have been reading and a whole boat load of other things I want to share with you.

First, I posted about this during November, but I have an update. I attempted NaNoWriMo for a second time this year. It was quite scary as I didn't have any real ideas until the weekend before....and even those were just pictures on a poster board. But, it seems that the collage worked.

 

And I'm still not actually finished. I hit the 50,000 required words, but I"m not at the end of my story. My plan is to pick it back up during Christmas break....see if I can finish it.

Oh! Also, I want to mention the book blogger  holiday swap...

I've already mailed out my gift.....I hope the receiver enjoys it!  And I received my package...It's sitting under the tree, tempting me with it's colorful paper and cards. I really want to give into temptation and open it, but I'm going to be good and restrain myself...Christmas isn't that far away! I'll share pictures with you when I've opened it.

And then reviews.....I have a pile of them to get through, an ebook, a YA novel or two, and a few romances...some are from November...some from Dec. It will be busy on this here blog. :)

How's December looking for you?

Comicon Shwag!

This is my obligatory, almost too late for it to mean much, SanDiego Comicon post. Did you know that many of our favorite publishers have booths at the con? How about the fact that many of them are giving out ARCs and other book related goodies? I didn't. I was completely clueless! In fact, it took much razzing by my husband to get me to even be willing to ask for the freebies. I know it was expected, but it just felt wrong....maybe selfish ...at first. I soon got over it.....to the tune of five bags filled with books and goodies!

This is my favorite set of goodies. The Penguin Group were giving out these awesom Vlad Todd bags. There was a different color every day and they encouraged attendees to come by and collect them. I became obsessed with them. Just a wee bit. I think at one point I was scheduling the events I wanted to see around when I could get a bag. Yes, I'm a dork....a happy, book bag lovin' dork.

The colors aren't nearly as shockingly bright in the photo as they are in reality. The yellow and orange are nearly blinding. Purple and blue are my favorites.

Piles o' books! I picked up a few every day....and a whole bunch on Sunday. Mostly they are ARCs.

On left: Procession of the Dead by Darren Shan, Shift by Tim Kring, The Electric Church by Jeff Somers, The Search for Wondla by Tony Diterlizzi, Feed by Mira Grant, Blood Prophecy by Stefan Petrucha, and Lucan by Susan Kearney.

On right: Matched by Ally Condie, Hero by Mike Lupica, Pleasure Model by Christopher Rowley, Clockwork Angel  by Cassandra Clare, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, Dark Days and Wicked Nights - Sampler, Frankenstein's Monster by Susan H. O'Keefe, The Prometheus Project by Douglas E. Richards,  and Star Trek (movie novelization) by Alan Dean Foster.

There were a few allusive books. I really wanted Boneshaker, but had misread the schedule and stood in line on the wrong day. There were a couple others I would have loved to get ahold of like, Unicorns vs. Zombies, but they disappeared before I could even get there.  All in all a great load of books!

And some awesome book marks!





I'm still all excited over this bunch of book goodness! I just had to share.

Between the reading...

We are readers. Well, I'm assuming everyone following this blog is a reader at some level. I don't know about your reading habits, but I have books that I read between readings. These books are somewhat like brain candy books in that they are relaxing and interesting. But there is a difference...these books aren't necessarily in my comfort zone. Some aren't even books per se. Some get finished, some don't.

Lately, my between book books have been comics. I've been trying to teach myself how to read graphic novels and comics. While I can read and get the story, I seem to miss whole large important sections of the over arching story or historical referrences. This bothers me a bit. I don't like thinking I've gotten something out of the text only to find out I missed a large part of it. I just never learned how to read comics.

Recently, I've been reading the Avengers' first 8 comics. I was inspired to read them after seeing the Iron Man movies. I've really enjoyed how these new comic movies are being dealt with, and I like the connections that are being made in each movie between the different characters. I want to see what they are based on.  Comics 1-8 were interesting, though much easier to read than the graphic novels I've tried previously. Really, the most interesting thing so far, besides being introduced to some characters I haven't known before (I knew of Iron Man and Hulk, but not Thor and Ant/Giant Man), was seeing the evolution of the various costumes. Between #1 and #3  there was a major evolution of Iron Man's costume.

I'm not going to actually review these comics. I don't feel comfortable enough to be able to give any actual feed back, but I wanted to let you know what's been going on when I'm not nose deep in a novel.

Who reads fantasy fiction?

I'm curious as to which of my bloggy followers read fantasy fiction? Is anyone interested in reading and reviewing a new book?*


Teel McClanahan is looking for some press / reviews of his newest release: Lost and Not Found, Director's Cut.

You know how movie directors will occasionally re-release the movie with all the bits they actually wanted to put in, in the order they wanted the scenes shown....and it completely changes the movie? Think of this novel that way. It was originally released as Lost and Not Found, which is still available, but this version is much closer to the way Teel intended it to be.  Hey, you could probably even ask him a question or two about that yourself. ;) 

Here's the link to his blog post where he asks for blogger help. You should check out his book page, and then drop him a line if you would like to read it.

* This is me shamelessly pimping books for my husband

Apologies

As it gets closer to the end of the month, I feel I have to offer my apologies and explainations to the followers of this blog. I pretty much disappeared for this last month. It wasn't really intentional, I just got bogged down in February. For the shortest month it sure feels like it has been going on for several weeks longer than it should have. I can't really explain it. Don't worry though, I have been reading. I have one book to review (Lightning Thief), one to finish (The Host ((freakin' long book that has taken me all of Feb. to read....I'm still not done)), and two ready to go for reviews (WoW Stormrage, The Twilight Gospel).

So, long story short...I'm sorry about the lack of posts and I promise March will be much better. I love you all...thank you for sticking with me!

It's my birthday!

Isn't this cake awesome?! I would love to receive it, or something similar, on my birthday.  This year my birthday cake did not look like that...it looked like this:

Actually, these are real books not a book cake, but wouldn't that be cool? I didn't get a cake this year, but I did get a whole bunch of other goodies.  Now, technically only one of the books was actually for my birthday, but they all arrived around the same time....so I'm counting them.

It's my birthday; I can do that.

Actual birthday present: Creepy Cute Crochet from my husband who wants to have a horde of amigurumi zombies.

For review & book tour: Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

Under orders (from author Beverly Kendall) to read with an open mind (to try to find new historical romances that I might like): Proof by Seduction and Sinful Surrender

And two won books - one via blog - one via twitter: Truly,  Madly and Lead Me On

Plus, there have been vampire movies! Last night my husband took me out to see Daybreakers. Awesome! I love how they played up the whole bat / monster angle. These aren't your sparkly happy vamps. And as an early birthday present (we picked it up before Christmas) I also received Let The Right One In. If you haven't seen it....do. Go now. Don't wait for the American remake which is happening shortly. This one is great and has a book that is even better.

Yay! Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Brain Candy!

I'm a wee bit obsessed. Just a tad....and I blame the brain candy.  No, I haven't gone on a candy-eating-sugar-high binge...though, doesn't this candy bouquet look just plain ole delicious? I'm talking about those books that are like candy for your brain....fun, fulfilling, a few juicy bits, and not a lot of work. These are the books you turn to when you need a break. This isn't "I have to" reading...it is "I want to " reading.

I recently discovered that the Sookie Stackhouse novels are great for this. They are my brain candy! I've been devouring them. I spent the weekend rereading book two and smashing my way through book three. Two books in two days and I was hard pressed to be torn away from them. In fact, I was excited when my husband's nap carried over into bed-time because I could read uninterrupted and be a good wife....what with the being quiet and letting him sleep 'n all.

I love books like this. Brain candy novels are the reason I started feeding my romance addiction in the first place. Romance novels (and later paranormal romances) got me through some of the hardest times in my life. They also kept me sane during the busiest times. They are always available and safe. I know what I'm getting each time I pick up one, but knowing doesn't make it boring. It is very much like a comfort food or favorite movie.....exactly perfect whenever you want it.

I haven't quiet figured out all the ins and outs of the Sookie novels, but that's just fine. They are a new juicy flavor and I'm craving them!

What's your flavor of brain candy?