silliness

You'd think, by the way I'm dragging my feet on this, that I've never before, IN MY LIFE, packed a suitcase. Now, admittedly, it's pretty damn cold where I'm going and I've had to purchase a whole new set of clothes for this adventure, but still. Pack the damn suitcase Holley!

So, I'm going to New York on Wednesday! I've never been before and am pretty excited about it. Chances at this point are slim that we'll go into actual NYC, but it's a state I've not yet been to so I'll take whatever part of it they want to show me. We are going to Kingston and, consulting the website, we are both at a very similar temperature right now. That's pretty funny considering this is Alabama :-)

Geography has never been one of my strengths but my big brother tells me that it is in upstate NY. Looking at a map it seems to me to be more in the bottom right hand corner near Connecticut, but maybe they label things differently up there...like the upper Nile or something. We will be closer to Woodstock than to NYC and the town of Kingston itself dates back to the arrival of the Dutch in the late 1600's. The town has a historical district so maybe I can wander around and get into some trouble...at least as much as I'm capable of anyway.

Alright, enough dawdling! I'm packing my suitcase now, night ya'll!

out of the frying pan...

...and in to the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge over at J. Kaye's Book Blog!

I had a devil of a time keeping up with my reviews this past year and initially decided not to do the challenge again because of that but J. Kaye informs me that reviewing every book is OpTiOnAl!

So, I'm in! I have no problem keeping up with what I read, just finding time to blog it all so this time around I'll just be keeping a list and blogging what resonates. I'm not quite sure how I'll work that this time around but I'm pretty quick at figuring things out so I'll just wing it!

curiousities

I am behind a lexus with the tag LSU TT. I can't help thinking titty...

throwing in the towel

***UPDATE*** In re-linking this list, I discovered 2 books that I reviewed but did not add to the list! I don't know if they made it over to J. Kaye's blog or not but that makes 107!!! The two books were Jo Graham's Hand of Isis and Max Brooks' World War Z!***END OF UPDATE***

I just don't believe I'll be able to squeeze another book in before December 31st so I'm stopping because, after all, I am ahead! I read 105 books this year for J. Kaye's Book Blog 100+ Reading Challenge! And I should say that I'm not stopping reading, merely wrapping up this challenge. I probably read this much every year anyway, if not a little more, but I don't normally blog each and every thing I read...just the stuff I either really love, or really hate :-) Here's to getting back to normal and here's my completed list!

105. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

104. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

103. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

102. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

101. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

100. Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

99. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

98. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

97. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

96. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

95. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

94. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

93. With the Lightnings by David Drake

92. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

91. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

90. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

89. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

88. Orphan's Destiny by Robert Buettner

87. Eat the Dark by Joe Schreiber

86. Chasing the Dead by Joe Schreiber

85. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

84. The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe

83. Blood of Ambrose by James Enge

82. Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer

81. Dramarama by E. Lockhart

80. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

79. Alabama Moon by Watt Key

78. A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans

77. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

76. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

75. The Seance by John Harwood

74. Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts by Laura Benedict

73. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

72. Abandon by Blake Crouch

71. One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name

70. Benny and Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti

69. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

68. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

67. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

66. Mop Men: Inside the World of Crime Scene Cleaners by Alan Emmins

65. The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess by Andrei Codrescu

64. A Bride In the Bargain by Deeanne Gist

63. Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

62. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

61. The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne

60. Old Man's War by John Scalzi

59. Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One by Elliott Gorn by

58. Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett

57. The Orphanage by Robert Buettner

56. The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

55. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster

54. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

53. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

52. The Taking by Dean Koontz

51. (secret Harlequin title for review)

50. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

49. The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips

48. Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

47. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David A. Kessler, MD

46. Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin

45. 1601, and Is Shakespeare Dead? / Mark Twain

44. What is Man? / Mark Twain

43. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side / Beth Fantaskey

42. Nicholas and Alexandra / Robert Massie

41. Suite Scarlett / Maureen Johnson

40. Wintergirls / Laurie Halse Anderson

39. Fire Girl / Tony Abbott

38. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore / Walter J. Fraser Jr.

37. Genesis / Bernard Beckett

36. Blood and Ice / Robert Masello

35. The Master Harper of Pern / Anne McCaffrey

34. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

33. How We Decide / Jonah Lehrer

32. The Book of Unholy Mischief / Elle Newmark

31. The Host / Stephenie Meyer

30. My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt In Search of His Own Faith / Benyamin Cohen

29. One Thousand White Women / Jim Fergus

28. Watchmen / Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

27. The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. / Sandra Gulland

26. Hater / David Moody

25. What I Did for Love / Susan Elizabeth Phillips

24. Coraline / Neil Gaiman

23. Run / Anne Patchett

22. Dragondrums / Anne McCaffrey

21. High Voltage Tattoo / Kat Von D

20. Dragonsinger / Anne McCaffrey

19. To Seduce a Texan / Georgina Gentry

18. Dragonsong / Anne McCaffrey

17. Theodore Roosevelt / Louis Auchincloss

16. Glitter Baby / Susan Elisabeth Phillips

15. Watermind / M.M. Buckner

14. The Widow's War / Sally Gunning

13. Dalí & I: The Surreal Story / Stan Lauryssens

12. The Widow of the South / Robert Hicks

11. The Chopin Manuscript / Jeffrey Deaver et al

10. (secret Harlequine title for review)

9. (secret Harlequin title for review)

8. Sea of Poppies / Amitav Ghosh

7. Confessions of a Shopaholic / Sophie Kinsella

6. The Door: Poems / Margaret Atwood

5. Damn Nation / Andrew Cosby and J. Alexander

4. The Walking Dead: Book 3 / Robert Kirkman et al

3. Under the Tuscan Sun / Frances Mayes

2. a mercy / Toni Morrison

1. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation / Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell

The ides of the week before Christmas...

...and all through the 'brary not a creature was stirring except 18 bazillion ill-behaved teenagers studying for exams and eating/drinking the 3 metric tons of soft drinks, potato chips, and cookies that we buy for them.

whose idea WAS this? anyone have a few xanex to spare?

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Sookie is once again up to her eyeballs in trouble, this time with a sniper taking shots at local shape shifters. This concerns her for very pressing reasons, not the least of which is the safety of her loyal boss, Sam. Her turn of luck goes from bad to worse when her house catches on fire, Sam is shot, and her friend Tara takes up with one very nasty vampire. Local Were politics, her awkward relationship with her now (ex)vampire boyfriend, and Eric's suspicion about what exactly went on between them while he had no memory combine to make life exhausting and confusing for the barmaid from Bon Temps.

I HAVE to read my sci-fi book and Catcher in the Rye for my bookgroups so Sookie will go on hold for the next little while.

*sad*

the stork

My friend and coworker, the lovely and talented Book Diva, had her first baby not long ago (Dec 3rd I believe) so I went to visit and take lasagna once they were at home and somewhat settled.

Little Brooklyn is almost too cute to be believed and she napped in the crook of my arm quite comfortably! I just noticed that my hair is flipping up into little blond horns...how apropos.

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Since Sookie is on the outs with her (now ex-) vampire boyfriend, she has done little except work, work, work. On the way home from a rough New Year's Eve working at Merlotte's, Sookie spots a most unclothed vampire running down the road and is amazed to find Eric, Bill's boss and owner of the vampire bar Fangtasia. Even more amazing to Sookie is that Eric has no idea who he is, who she is, or what he's running from. This uncertain, sweet side is SO not what her fragile emotions need at the moment, nor the trouble following close on his heels from a coven of witches bent on destruction.

Keep 'em comin!

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

When Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Bill Compton, is abducted while on a secret assignment for the queen vamp of Louisiana, Sookie is enlisted to help recover him. The information he is gathering is wanted by many in the supernatural community and they will do anything to get it. Sookie and Bill have gone through a rough patch personally, but when she discovers Bill's relationship with his abductor to be more of a sexual nature, the relationship just might be over all together.

On to number four!

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Sookie is up to her eyeballs in trouble, this time in Dallas, Texas, when she attempts to find out who has abducted a vampire from a local nest. A local group, the Fellowship of the Sun, is suspected and it's Sookie's job to infiltrate the group and use her telepathy to find out anything she can.

Again, I'm loving these books but they are equivalent to a great big bag of pork skins. Would your doctor recommend them? Nope....but I do! :-)

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

In anticipation of the New Moon movie, I reread all four books over Thanksgiving. I now need new glasses.

I'm not going to lay out four whole reviews of these books because, in all honesty, who doesn't know what these books are about? You know what? I love Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn! I love the movies! I love The Host!

Is she winning the Man Booker Prize? No.

A) She's not British.

B)This is a fantasy novel written to entertain the yungins and I for one believe she's done a fabulous job.

that is all.

oh, and this officially brings my total read for 2009 to 101! I met the challenge. December 31st, here I come!

Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

After his second rescue from a stretch of time in the not-so-loving hands of serial killer Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, Archie Sheridan has voluntarily checked himself into a psychiatric hospital to deal with the ramifications his injuries, his sexual attraction to Lowell, and his addiction to Vicodin. Unfortunately for him, Gretchen is on the loose and people are starting to die in horrific ways again. The only problem is that the bodies are being dumped in previous murder sites and Gretchen Lowell may do many things but repeating herself is not one of them. The Beauty Killer seems to be hard at work again and the unit in charge of investigation wants Archie’s help in bringing her to justice but he is not sure Lowell is really behind the current mayhem.

Again, I love this series. It is gruesome, disturbing, and a very quick read. Is that a bad thing? If you loved Patricia Cornwell back in the day before she got so angsty, this is the series for you!

Heartsick
Sweetheart
Evil at Heart

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

So, I’ve finally gotten on the True Blood bandwagon which, of course, has led me to the books. I claim them as an extravagant guilty pleasure. Guilty in that the writing really isn’t that good, but, just like M&M’s, I’m devouring them at a high rate of speed AND enjoying myself immensely. Everyone needs to find books like these in their reading lives. I’m not speaking of the content of course, just the enjoyment level. Different content for different folks.

In Dead Until Dark, vampires have “come out of the coffin” and achieved some legal status (sounds AWFULLY familiar….cough, cough, Anita Blake, cough, cough) thanks to the Japanese perfecting synthetic blood to deal with their unique dietary requirements. The tiny Louisiana town of Bon Temps has been fairly isolated from the debate until vampire Bill Compton moves into town. Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress at Merlotte’s and is quite excited by this turn of events. Not everyone in town is as gracious to the newcomer, but Sookie is determined to make him feel welcome. Unfortunately, women in the town start being killed and the police are quick to point the finger at Sookie’s new friend. Her unique ability to hear the thoughts of those around her provide the perfect opportunity to try to find out who is behind it before her Lothario of a brother gets the blame. The only one she can’t here is Bill and the relief behind that silence leads to some steamy romance. First in a series…nine books and counting!