Monday, March 31, 2008
The Closers
**** The Closers by Michael Connelly. Mystery.
I'd bought this used to take advantage of reduced shipping from a seller on Half.com after noting that several friends enjoyed Connelly's books.
This is the eleventh book in the Harry Bosch series, possibly not the best place to start reading a new author.
Harry Bosch had left the LAPD, but has now returned and is assigned to the new cold case unit. Along with his partner Kiz Rider, the first case they investigate is that of a 16-year-old girl killed seventeen years earlier. Initially treated as a suicide, then deemed a murder, and by that time the trail had gone cold.
But there'd been blood on the weapon that killed her that didn't belong to the girl, and now there's DNA testing that there hadn't been in 1988. The DNA points to a white supremacist who'd been 18 at the time, but there's no way to connect him to the girl. In addition, the DNA evidence only links him to the gun, but not to the murder itself.
But as Bosch and Rider keep investigating, they get more and more resistance--not just from the girl's family and friends, but from within the police department as well.
This is an intriguing whodunit with plenty of twists and turns. I enjoyed following along through the investigation and seeing where it led. I liked the puzzle; I liked the book. I didn't love it, though. It was too sterile, too devoid of personality. I never really got any sense of who Bosch was; I never cared about him. He was more just there to facilitate the plot. From reading other reviews, I surmise that other books in the series do more character development than this one, and perhaps if I'd gotten to know him over the course of ten previous books, I wouldn't have felt the lack so keenly in this one.
But that's okay. I don't have to love all the books I read--that would get exhausting. I enjoyed the whodunit, and while I'm not rushing out to find more Michael Connelly books, I don't intend to put them on my don't-buy list, either.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery
Monday Morning Meme
I stole this from Grace at Sandier Pastures:
Here’s how this one works….You answer each question, search that answer in Google Image Search and then post the first picture that pops up.
Age at my next birthday: 48
Place I’d like to travel: oh, lots of places. One place we haven't been that I'd like to visit before we leave Europe is Greece
Favorite place: right now, the best place I can think of is the beach in Tirrenia. Oh, cool--the 5th picture Google comes up with is mine!
Favorite object: well, it would have to be the computer, wouldn't it?
Favorite color: purple, of course
Nickname: I've never really had a nickname, but my AIM and Yahoo handles are MsMoby (a legacy from my first days online). I had to separate it into two words to get any images: Ms Moby
Birthplace: Michigan
This was fun, wasn’t it? Go on, I know you’d like to play! Let me know in the comments and I’ll check out your images!
Categories: Meme, AboutMe
Here’s how this one works….You answer each question, search that answer in Google Image Search and then post the first picture that pops up.
Age at my next birthday: 48
Place I’d like to travel: oh, lots of places. One place we haven't been that I'd like to visit before we leave Europe is Greece
Favorite place: right now, the best place I can think of is the beach in Tirrenia. Oh, cool--the 5th picture Google comes up with is mine!
Favorite object: well, it would have to be the computer, wouldn't it?
Favorite color: purple, of course
Nickname: I've never really had a nickname, but my AIM and Yahoo handles are MsMoby (a legacy from my first days online). I had to separate it into two words to get any images: Ms Moby
Birthplace: Michigan
This was fun, wasn’t it? Go on, I know you’d like to play! Let me know in the comments and I’ll check out your images!
Categories: Meme, AboutMe
Labels: about me, random memes
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Simply Sex
*** Simply Sex by Dawn Atkins. Contemporary romance.
I got this, signed, in a charity auction a while back.
Kylie Falls's sister Janie runs a dating service. She prides herself on being able to find the perfect match for anyone. And she's found the perfect match for busy attorney Cole Sullivan, but there's been a mix-up, and Deborah is out of the country, so Janie asks Kylie to meet Cole for the arranged date and convey their apologies.
Sparks fly, and they begin a relationship that's "simply sex." Cole's soul-mate will be back from London in a couple of weeks, about the time that Janie will be leaving town herself--giving up her small ad agency to work for a large agency on the west coast.
Meanwhile, the agency is having some problems--first there was a software glitch that had them making matches for people who were already married and double-booking others, then their phone number had erroneously ended up on the ad for a phone sex service. And now reporter Seth Taylor is trying to dig up the dirt on them. And while Janie's trying to steer Seth away from the damaging evidence and present only her successes, she's also falling for him.
There's a lot to like about Simply Sex. The hijinks with the phone-sex callers that Gail tries to convince to try the matchmaking service instead are by themselves worth the price of the book. And I very much liked that Cole and Kylie, and Janie and Seth all fill needs the other hasn't even realized they had; that what's right for them isn't what they thought it was.
But Seth was the only one I didn't want to smack upside the head before I was through. He was the only one who didn't hang on to some arbitrary rule regardless of his own feelings, or evidence against it.
Janie not only insisted that Seth couldn't be The One for her, she became very angry with Kylie for continuing to see Cole. Kylie kept denying her feelings for Cole and kept going ahead with her plans to join the other agency, despite mounting indications that she'd hate the job.
Cole was the worst. He'd never even met Deborah, yet he kept feeling guilty about her, and held back from Kylie because a relationship with Deborah would be so much better. And Deborah herself acted like a betrayed wife when she finally returned from London.
Any of those reactions would have been understandable, and actually added to my enjoyment of the story, except that they continued nearly to the end of the book. There's a point where dedication to a goal or belief in a theory crosses the line from admirable into TSTL-land, and all three of these characters crossed it.
Categories: Books, 3stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 3 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
Link of the Week
Since April Fool's Day is on Tuesday, you still have 2 days to come up with a good hoax. Maybe these will spark some ideas.
Categories: LOTW
Labels: cool links
Saturday, March 29, 2008
In the Line of Fire
***** In the Line of Fire. Drama.
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Rene Russo, John Malkovich
I watched this video while exercising.
Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) has the distinction of being the only active Secret Service agent to ever lose a President--he was there, on duty, when JFK was killed. Now someone (John Malkovich) is after the current President, and he's turned it into a game between himself and Frank, and Frank returns to directly protecting the President (he'd been chasing counterfeiters at the beginning of the movie) because "Booth" has made it personal.
Except that Frank is a little old to be running alongside limos, and the President is in the middle of a reelection campaign and the press secretary thinks Frank's alarmist tendencies are hurting his chances. Frank's main ally is Agent Lilly Raines (Rene Russo), with whom he gradually develops a romantic relationship, but even she thinks he's going too far.
This is just an excellent movie. I'm not in general a huge fan of Clint Eastwood--not liking westerns in general--but he's just perfect as the aging agent who has one last chance to get it right. Rene Russo as well is great as a rare female agent, and I very much enjoyed the way her character was portrayed--strong, tough, and smart without having a big chip on her shoulder, being tougher than the guys, or being a wimpy token female. The romance between the two built slowly and was understandable and believable.
But most impressive was John Malkovich's portrayal of ex-CIA-assassin Mitch Leary. He was seriously creepy, utterly ruthless, and yet he was a chameleon who could be any role his plan demanded. This was one of those movies that worked great for exercising to, because I'd get so engrossed in it that I'd forget that all those crunches were killing me.
Categories: Movies, 5stars, Drama
Labels: 5 stars, drama, Movies
Presumed Innocent
**** Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. Legal thriller.
Rusty Sabich is a prosecuting attorney. When colleague Carolyn Polhemus is murdered, his boss is in the middle of a reelection campaign, and Sabich is tasked with not only handling the case, but also ensuring that nothing disturbs his boss's campaign. Unfortunately, it's a conflict of interest, as Sabich had had an affair with her. But since nobody knows besides him and his wife, he can't say anything.
As the investigation progresses, all sorts of secrets come to light, and there are twists and turns and plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. Then Rusty himself becomes the prime suspect and not only does the reader have to guess which of the suspects did it, but also how truthful the first-person narrator is.
I absolutely loved the twists and turns and secrets and intrigue. And I particularly loved the unreliable (?) narrator. It kept me guessing and kept me turning pages. The only thing that was frustrating was the many tangents. A plot thread would just be getting good, then the subject would change abruptly and I'd be lost for a while until I got interested in the new thread--and no sooner would that happen than the subject would change again. It's funny--I read a lot of books that switch between disparate plot threads and it usually doesn't bother me in the least, but in this book it was very distracting. I haven't been able to put my finger on why that was--maybe it's something as simple as me not being prepared for it, or not being in the right mood for it.
Interestingly, I'd seen the movie and remember liking it, but I didn't connect the two until I was looking things up for this post. Even then, I had to look it up on the IMDB to refresh my memory, because it still didn't seem like the same story. I'll have to put Presumed Innocent in my Netflix queue.
I'll definitely look for more of Turow's books, though.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery
Friday, March 28, 2008
Secrets, Vol. 13
Secrets, Vol. 13. Romantic erotica.
- ***½ "Out of Control" by Rachelle Chase.
Event planner Astrid Thomas thinks she's being interviewed after answering an ad for event planning placed by wealthy businessman Eric Santos, but when she arrives, it turns out that the ad was for a submissive weekend "trophy wife," and she's been set up by her best friend, who's also Eric's brother's girlfriend.
Astrid intends to leave, but Eric talks her into admitting she has submissive fantasies and she agrees to stay and explore them with him for the weekend.
I suppose the main thing this story suffers from is being too short. I very much enjoyed the matchmaking aspect and twists, but I'd have liked it to be explored further. And I found both characters' emotional motivations interesting and believable. The introduction of Eric's ex-fiancee Natalie was necessary to understand Eric's emotional state, but I didn't think we needed to meet her in person--that took up space that, in a short novella, could have been better used. I also have to admit that the not-my-kink issue affected my enjoyment of this story. Semi-public sex always just seems sleazy to me, rather than sensual or erotic.
- **** "Hawkmoor" by Amber Green. Paranormal romantic erotica.
This one's about shapeshifters. Darien Hawkmoor is the leader of his people--a position he's holding in trust for the missing Lady Hawkmoor, to whom he was bonded when they were children. But now Mary Alison Hawkmoor (or Mary Alice Enhog-Moore, as she's been rechristened) has resurfaced, and neither of them is happy about it.
To put it mildly. Unfortunately, Mary Alison remembers nothing about her history, knows nothing about her powers or her position, and Darien has very little time to either get her under his control or sacrifice her. And he's not the only one trying to influence or control her.
The only problem with this story was the length--it was a little too short, which allowed not enough detail on some issues. Otherwise, I absolutely loved this one. The shapeshifter society was intriguing and unusual. The matriarchal leadership was a nice change, and I was very impressed with villains who weren't exactly villains--they just had conflicting goals. The romance was refreshing, too, in that instant attraction didn't cause them both to immediately forget everything else.
I've bought one of her full-length novels already, and expect I'll be buying more. Definitely an author I intend to watch.
- ** "Lessons in Pleasure" by Charlotte Featherstone. Historical romantic erotica.
You know, I should have liked this one--Lily Farrington and Damian Westerham, the Earl of St. Croix are reunited lovers, and I usually like stories just for that.
Lily and "Saint" had separated 7 years ago, and now he's determined to get her back. But he has an odd way of going about it. He sets up her friend's husband for a duel which Saint would undoubtedly win unless Lily agrees to spend three nights with him. So far, a little contrived, but not too bad.
During those three nights, he intends to instruct her in the ways of passion. Now my teeth are on edge. I really dislike the "all-knowing man instructing the shy little virgin" scenarios. And he decides that the best way to entice her is to pretend that he doesn't give a rat's ass about her and only wants her body. Uh-huh. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. In response, Lily is a complete dishrag. She goes along with pretty much everything he says, making a few token protests here and there, and then waffling back and forth between guilt and ecstasy.
I loathe paternalistic heroes (and I'm using the term "heroes" loosely). Alpha know-it-alls, sure, I'm fine with them. But manipulative jerks who think they know what the heroine needs and just how to give it to her without regard to her own feelings or opinions in the matter--that's one thing that gets a book tossed across a room.
- **** "In the Heat of the Night" by Calista Fox.
Nick Moretti is Molina Toscano's bodyguard--not an easy task, as Molina's 30th birthday is coming up, and her family is under a curse that kills them on that date. You can pretty much guess where the story goes from here: they fall in love, with the bodyguard resisting so he can do his job; and they solve the curse. That's not a spoiler--there's really nothing else that could happen.
Even though the bodyguard romance is fairly standard, this story does shine. Molina in particular is very credible as a woman who's known all her life that she's fated to die when she turns 30. And the way the curse is solved (I'm not going to spoil that) was a clever twist.
Categories: Books, EroticRomance, 4stars, 3.5stars, 2stars
Labels: 2 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, books, EroticRomance
Friday Flashback
From June 2002:
The Villa by Nora Roberts. Romantic suspense. Re-read.
You can read the entire discussion here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, RomanticSuspense
The Villa by Nora Roberts. Romantic suspense. Re-read.
I think Nora outdid herself with the villains in this book. There were (counting on my fingers here) 5 people I absolutely hated, and none of them was the Big Bad! The three women: Gina, Rene, & Kris, were just horrible. Impossible to sympathize with any of them.
The heroines made up for it, though. I loved Pilar. Anyone know how to pronounce "Pilar", btw? I really felt for her, realizing her marriage had been over for years, dealing with Rene, being thrown into a low-level corporate position she had no interest or talent for and feeling like a failure at that, feeling shy and hesitant about her first new lover in 30 years, and having that new lover tell her she's wasting her time in the job she's already frustrated with---then turning it all around and finding her strengths.
Sophia used casual sex and immersion in work as a way to avoid intimacy because she'd been scarred by her father. I had trouble warming up to her until I realized that.
Tereza, the matriarch. Reminded me of my husband's grandmother, whose name, coincidentally, was Theresa.
And the surprise at the end... I'm not going to mention it in case someone reads this who hasn't read the book yet, but it's a doozie!
It was nice to have the excuse to reread this one.
You can read the entire discussion here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, RomanticSuspense
Labels: books, flashback, RomanticSuspense
Thursday, March 27, 2008
TT #93
Carl's in Italy this week; last week he was in Belgium. One of the things I always have trouble remembering to do while he's gone is feeding the fish. So I thought I'd post 13 different kinds of fish we've had in hopes that it would help me remember. So far, so good--I remembered this morning, at least!
Neons. The cute, colorful, itty-bitty schooling fish everybody starts off with.
Zebra fish. They just look like fish to me, but Carl thought they were different. They sure were--they tended to be suicidal. A couple of times I'd come downstairs in the morning and find a dried-out zebra fish on the floor next to the aquarium. Ick.
Discus. It wasn't long before Carl decided to branch out into more exotic fish. The discus were interesting-looking, but were very difficult to keep. They didn't last long.
Plecostomus. Ugly critters, but essential for keeping the tank clean.
Knife fish. Now this one was interesting.
Piranha. Carl was very fond of the piranhas. For quite a long time, we had a plecostomus, a knife fish, a handful of mollies (which I didn't show because they're boring), and 4 piranha. Amazingly enough, the tank was balanced, and they all lived together just fine. Then Carl saw another knife fish in the pet store. Within two weeks, all we had left were the piranhas and the plecostomus.
Yellow tang. Eventually, the freshwater fish were no longer a challenge, so Carl moved on to saltwater. Started out with the standards, like this.
Clown fish. And this. We had one that must have seen the movie--it kept escaping into the filter.
Bat fish. These were absolutely gorgeous, but very fragile. They didn't last long.
Lion fish. Unsurprisingly, Carl got back into the vicious fish. We had one lion fish that was absolutely gorgeous--long, long spines and vivid colors. I've never seen one that nice even in an aquarium exhibit. Another time, we had three small lion fish of all three different types--red, black, and radiata (the spinier one)
Leopard grouper. For the longest time, we had a hex tank with just the big lion fish and this one. It got huge. And ate even more goldfish than the lion fish did.
Picasso trigger fish. Eventually, the vicious fish idea got old, and Carl turned to just unusual ones. This was his holy grail for quite a while.
Cow fish, a form of box fish. We had several of different sorts. Very alien-looking fish.Most of the big changes had to do with moving, and we'd give away the fish when we moved. For example, we never had saltwater fish here in Germany. So when we moved from Ann Arbor to Heidelberg, we put the lion fish and the grouper in coolers with bubblers and took them to my mom's. She had them for 3 or 4 years after that.
We've had quite a lot more kinds of fish than this--I was surprised once I got started how many I remembered--but these were the first ones I thought of off the top of my head and/or could find decent pictures of.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
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Categories: ThursdayThirteen
Labels: TT
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Fool's Gold
**** Fool's Gold. Romantic comedy, action/adventure
Directed by: Andy Tennant.
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Alexis Dziena, Kevin Hart
We saw this at the Hercules with the boys.
Ben (Matthey McConaughey) and Tess (Kate Hudson) Finnegan are getting divorced. They used to go diving for treasure together, but now Tess is working as a steward on the wealthy Nigel Honeycutt's (Donald Sutherland) yacht and Ben is in debt to rapper/villain Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart).
Ben thinks he's finally discovered the location of the legendary Queen's Dowry treasure, but he needs money--and Tess's help--to find it. So he convinces Honeycutt and his "celebutante" (think Paris Hilton) daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena) to join--and finance--the quest.
Yes, this is goofy, over-the-top, unbelievable, and McConaughey still gets on my nerves, but none of that matters, because it's fun. Reminiscent of Romancing the Stone (action/adventure and romantic comedy), or Twister (action/adventure and a rekindled romance), or even The Abyss (action/adventure, diving, and a rekindled romance), all of which I also enjoyed.
McConaughey does fit the irritatingly happy-go-lucky treasure hunter character pretty well, I must admit. And Kate Hudson likewise fits his more serious spouse. A lot of the reviews preferred the two in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but while How to... was a cute movie, McConaughey was like nails on the chalkboard for me. I could accept him better in this role. I don't know why he gets on my nerves so badly, but I find him difficult to watch.
Regardless, we all enjoyed the movie, even the boys.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure, RomanticComedy
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies, RomanticComedy
Guards! Guards!
***** Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. Re-read.
This was a breakfast read-aloud with the boys. They're already familiar with Pratchett--we read The Last Hero, the Johnny Maxwell series, the Bromeliad, and all the Tiffany Aching books together; Curran's read Small Gods and Reaper Man; Camden's currently reading Good Omens; and we've watched Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters. I decided to start here rather than elsewhere because Curran's already read the first of the Death books; they're already familiar with the Witches; and the Rincewind books start off kind of slow and I wanted to get them hooked before they tackled him.
Guards! Guards! is the first of the Night Watch books, in which we're introduced to Cpt. Vimes, the alcoholic captain of Ankh Morpork's Night Watch, and his men: Sgt. Colon and Corporal Nobbs. We also meet new recruit Carrot Ironfoundersson, the 6 1/2 foot tall dwarf.
After years of being just a token force, thanks to the Patrician, Vetinari, the Night Watch finds themselves trying to protect the city from a dragon. Everyone knows the large dragons are either just a myth or extinct, but one is incinerating parts of the city. So we also meet Lady Sybil Ramkin, who breeds swamp dragons, and who has a romance with Captain Vimes.
And the Librarian from the Unseen University (ook!) consults the Watch because a magical book has been stolen.
I've read Guards! Guards! several times, but the last time was a few years ago, and I'm surprised at how many of the staple characters of the series were introduced here, and how the foundation was set for future series developments.
Like all the Discworld books, Guards! Guards! was just a joy to read, with laugh-aloud moments on every page, no slow or boring parts at all, characters that spring to life, and a deceptive seriousness underlying the whole thing. As an earlier book, it's not quite as complex as the later books, but that's not a bad thing at all.
Categories: Books, 5stars, Fantasy
Labels: 5 stars, books, fantasy
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Key of Knowledge
***** Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts. Contemporary paranormal romance. Re-read.
This is the second book in the Key trilogy, following directly after Key of Light. Check that review for the trilogy premise.
This time, it's librarian Dana Steele's turn to find a key, and much to her dismay, author Jordan Hawke appears to be inextricably bound up in her quest.
Dana had grown up around the three best friends--her stepbrother Flynn, Jordan, and Brad, but in their teens, her friendship for Jordan turned into something else. Then Jordan's mother died, and shortly thereafter, Jordan left town for good, breaking her heart. Now he's back, they're spending a lot of time together because of the quest, and feelings are resurfacing she'd thought long dead.
I always love reunion stories, and this is no exception. It's even better than most, though, because we delve more deeply into the characters' emotions than usual, particularly their doubts and concerns. Dana worries that what she's feeling for Jordan is remembered emotion, or nostalgia, or simply due to the excitement of the quest. And she's still afraid she can't trust him with her heart.
Even more unusual for this kind of story is why Jordan left. It's not the stereotypical paternalistic leaving-for-her-own-good that you see so often. He left for reasons of his own, emotionally true reasons, that really had nothing to do with Dana. I'm not sure why, but that, more than anything else, is what made this story stand out for me, and pushed it to 5 stars.
As for the quest, now that the group has already found one key, the opposition is heating up, and the evil sorcerer Kane is acting more directly. As I mentioned with Key of Light, I didn't have a problem with the paranormal aspects of this trilogy. The whys and hows of the Daughters of Glass becoming trapped and the keys freeing them aren't all that well explained, but I didn't feel that they needed to be. The quest was just a metaphor for what each heroine needed to find in her own life, anyway.
Categories: Books, 5stars, ParanormalRomance
Labels: 5 stars, books, ParanormalRomance
geek test
Monday, March 24, 2008
Beyond Breathless
***** Beyond Breathless by Kathleen O'Reilly. Contemporary romance.
This is the first book in the Red Choo Diaries trilogy. I've already read the 3rd.
Jamie McNamara is an up-and-comer on Wall Street. She's determined to make it on her own merits, and is a dedicated workaholic. And she's about to reach her own holy grail--an appointment, hopefully leading to a contract, with the elusive Mr. Newhouse.
But Grand Central is shut down, and she's going to be late, so she agrees to share transportation with "Andrew"--which turns out to be a white Hummer limo, the only vehicle available. The long drive, the chemistry between them, the heightened senses from the excitement of being so close to her goal, and the feeling of unreality all combine, and Jamie seduces him in the back of the limo. She thinks that's the end of it.
Andrew is the Andrew Brooks, Wall Street star, and he's determined to see Jamie again. But before he can do that, his brother Jeff, trying to make a point, demands to know when's the last time Andrew got laid. Four shots of Jagermeister loosening his tongue, Andrew tells him.
Then their sister Mercedes, an aspiring writer, gets another rejection letter, and Jeff tells her the story to cheer her up. And the story ends up online, with just the names changed, in Mercedes's Red Choo Diaries.
It sounds like a simple, predictable story. They'll be angry, then they'll realize they can't live without each other. They'll kiss and make up, and live happily ever after. And that does happen, but there's so much more to this story. Both Jamie and Andrew have personal demons, and there's honest and realistic growth there. And the publication of their story isn't the only thing standing in their way. While they're both admirable characters, they also have flaws, and they both make mistakes. In short, this is a couple I believed in and cared about, and I wanted to see them conquer their obstacles.
The secondary characters are also well-developed and real--Jeff's more than the happy-go-lucky younger brother; Mercedes isn't just self-centered in search of fame. Even Newhouse feels like a real person.
And lest I forget, this is a Blaze after all. It's definitely steamy, starting at the beginning with the scene in the Hummer. Better yet, those steamy scenes further the plot and illuminate the characters in addition to fogging up the windows.
Beyond Breathless is just a fabulous read, and what you'd hope all Blazes would be like. A wonderful, believable romance with realistic, sympathetic characters, and plenty of heat. Sometimes category romances feel rushed or less complete because of the shorter length, but Kathleen manages to fill 236 pages to the brim with a whole, sastisfying story--romance and personal growth--and it doesn't feel like anything's left out. I'm gushing, I know. But it feels worth it. This is a keeper.
The second book in this trilogy, Beyond Daring, is in my TBR pile. Somewhere. I hope.
Categories: Books, 5stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 5 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
Monday Morning Meme
Julia tagged me for this. I'll get even eventually....
Six Word Memoir
The rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
My life in six words:
Meant to do better; got lucky.
I think most everyone's done this one already. If you haven't, consider yourself tagged.
Categories: Meme, AboutMe
Six Word Memoir
The rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
My life in six words:
Meant to do better; got lucky.
I think most everyone's done this one already. If you haven't, consider yourself tagged.
Categories: Meme, AboutMe
Labels: about me, random memes
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Link of the Week
Granted, this isn't the kind of Easter egg you might have found in your basket this morning, but there are more of them, they're calorie-free, and you won't end up with dye on your hands or little bits of shell on the rug.
In case you're unaware, "an Easter Egg is a hidden feature or novelty that the programmers have put in their software." (or DVD) Click here for a more thorough explanation.
Enjoy!
Categories: LOTW
Labels: cool links
Friday, March 21, 2008
Friday Flashback
From March 2002:
Isle of Lies by Donna Fletcher. Historical romance.
You can read the whole thread here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, HistoricalRomance
Isle of Lies by Donna Fletcher. Historical romance.
I really enjoyed Moira being the convent scholar. It makes her recognizable to modern readers without the more usual tactic of having a medieval heroine dress up as a male and be skilled in fighting, etc. I always like brainy heroines, anyway. And her hiding her knowledge & her studies was a gentle reminder that at that time, learning, particularly outside of the church, was frowned upon, at the very least. Nice little red herring there with the alchemy, and it pointed out that science and magic weren't considered all that different back then. Another thing I liked about her was that she was a mixture of convent-raised naivete and intelligence, and that her intelligence manifested itself in practical ways. She didn't make foolish decisions for the sake of her own pride, which impressed me.
Ian, well, he was pretty much "practically perfect in every way," right? Not that Moira recognized that right away, with the way he deceived her into marriage. Another tribute to her intelligence is that she did forgive him once she understood that he made a "difficult decision" (love how she kept coming back to that) for everyone's benefit. He thought he'd never love again after Kathleen died, but just as Anne said, once someone has known love, they're more likely to find it again.
Blair and Anne were wonderful. I really enjoyed how they were each spying on the other. Not minding it a bit, either!
Did women enter menopause that early back then, or was it just more dangerous and/or less likely for them to conceive? That fainting worried me. I never fainted when I was pregnant. I did throw up a lot, though.
Moira's father sending her away..... I understood that at the end---he'd really loved his wife, and when she died, he shut himself off from his children. The boys, well, especially back then, they weren't supposed to be coddled anyway. But Moira was a reminder of his wife, and caring for her was too painful. He did start thawing at the end, there, so I'm thinking there's hope for him.
As for the mystery, at first I suspected Moira's father, but as soon as we met Arran, he was my prime suspect. Since Brianna didn't have a child, I didn't really see how he'd benefit (yeah, sometimes I do need to have things spelled out for me), but I figured he was involved somehow. He was so anxious to fight with the border clans, and so horrible to Brianna. I really wish he'd been found at the end. I guess I'm going to have to read the next book, huh?
Oh, and I loved when Ian discovered the "sewing room". I always enjoy it when characters don't do the usual things.
You can read the whole thread here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, HistoricalRomance
Labels: books, flashback, HistoricalRomance
Thursday, March 20, 2008
TT #92
I stole this from Carrie Lofty, and decided to turn it into a Thursday Thirteen.
Da Rulz:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Quote a line from each.
3. Post them for everyone to guess.
4. No Google/IMDB cheating!! Srsly. What's the fun in that??
Post your answers/guesses in the comments, and taking a page from Carrie's book, I'll put the titles up once they're guessed.
**note: I've added extra hints for the last four, since they're a bit more obscure (though I must say, I thought all writers loved #4). Good luck!
- "Don't you dare strike that brave, unbalanced woman."
extra hint: "You. You in the blanket! You seem to have caused all this trouble. Exactly what have you got to say for yourself?" - "You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together, I've got nothing better to do." ~ Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ah, Indy. I just finished watching this while exercising. Great motivation! - "They're gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess." ~ Die Hard
Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, lots of action, and a handful of laughs. mmm.... perfect. - "The important thing, kid, is that you're doing something you like to do."
extra hint: "She thinks she's a character in a book. She thinks I'm a character in a book. She even thinks my mother is a character in a book. The woman is crazy!" - "Oh, it's probably some kind of hunting lodge for rich weirdos." ~ The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The epitome of camp. Great songs, too. - Mr. A: "I didn't steal any money! She just saw me with another woman! You're French, you understand that!"
Mr. B: "To be with another woman, that is French. To be caught, that is American."
extra hint: "Fellas, last year I made 3 million dollars, but your 50 thousand was the most fun. Are you ready? Then let's go get 'em." - "Listen, I'm a politician which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops. But it also means I keep my options open." ~ The Hunt for Red October
Another one I watched while exercising--this one was more distracting than motivating, but that works, too. - "Wow! You're a genius. You're like the Ernest Hemingway of bullshit." ~ Housesitter
Kind of a modern screwball romantic comedy. Plus--what a cool house! - "The stairs are always San Juan Hill." ~ Arsenic and Old Lace
I love Cary Grant, and this is just so funny. I've seen it as a play, too, and it's wonderful. - "Ever wish you could freeze frame a moment in your day, and look at it and say "this is not my life"?" ~ Mrs. Doubtfire
Whenever our daughter visits, we have to watch this at least once a week, usually more. She never gets tired of it. - "The ladies are dirty. Walk away. The ladies are dirty." ~ Gone in 60 Seconds
Cars, action, Nicholas Cage. And the "holy grail" was a Mustang. Very cool. - "And I take the sardines. No, I leave the sardines. No, I take the sardines."
extra hint: "Think of the first night as the dress rehearsal. If we can just get through the play once tonight - for doors and sardines. That's what it's all about, doors and sardines. Getting on, getting off. Getting the sardines on, getting the sardines off. That's farce. That's - that's the theatre. That's life." - "We ain't great. We're just some guys from Jersey." ~ Eddie and the Cruisers
Loved the music, loved the mystery. And Michael Pare.
This isn't even remotely close to an exhaustive list of my favorite movies, or even my top 13. I don't think I could even come up with a favorite 100. Still, these are favorites, and ones I will watch over and over.
Hint: the most recent movie on the list is from 2000. The oldest is from 1944.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- Brenda: spring clean your manuscript
- Carrie Lofty's mom says "hi"
- Joely Sue Burkhart: creative affirmations
- Jennifer Shirk: kids' TV shows
- Ann & Renee's favorite songs
- Angela/SciFiChick: Eli Stone
- what drives Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX wife bananas
- Open Grove Claudia: trusting yourself
- Susan Helene Gottfried: spring has sprung
- Cajunvegan: another promotion bites the dust
- Candy Minx: favorite Law and Order villains
- Xakara: wishes
- Nissa's nicknames
- PussReboots: book covers with just titles
- FullBodyTransplant: cheese and crackers for Obama
- Julia Smith: Toronto public art
- Di: non-mommy blogs
- Grace: things left unsaid
- Robin: Purim
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Categories: ThursdayThirteen
Labels: TT
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Minerva Wakes
****½ Minerva Wakes by Holly Lisle. Contemporary fantasy.
I first discovered Holly Lisle through her romantic suspense--I loved Midnight Rain (#2) and Last Girl Dancing (#24), and have been slowly collecting her backlist ever since.
Minerva and Darryl Kiakras are like a lot of us: they're married, with kids, and they've grown up. They've done what we pretty much expect to do when we grow up and become parents: put away their dreams (Minerva's of being a painter and Darryl's of being a playwright), and started taking life seriously.
But then they start seeing things that aren't--can't--be there, and their children disappear, and it turns out that their dreams are more important than they'd realized. There's a world linked to ours that depends on those dreams, and to get their children back, Minerva and Darryl have to reawaken their dreams and rebuild their partnership.
The premise is almost too sweet--giving up your dreams is A Bad Thing--but it's redeemed by the sheer exuberance of the story. Minerva in particular is a real, believable character, a woman who's very familiar. The story is action-filled and suspenseful, but it's lightened by a healthy dose of humor--much of it in the form of the dragon Birkwelch.
Minerva Wakes would make a fabulous movie--particularly the scenes where Minerva is stuck in the alternate world and she and Darryl are trying to work together to rescue the kids and escape.
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, ContemporaryFantasy
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, ContemporaryFantasy
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Help Wanted, Desperately
**** Help Wanted, Desperately by Ariel Horn. chick lit.
Alexa Hoffman is a college senior with no idea what she wants to do after graduation--other than get a job in New York City so that she can stay with her boyfriend Jared. Unlike certain other people (ahem!), she starts actively looking and counting down the days with over six months left to go.
Making it even more imperative that she find a job, she's signed up to go teach English in Majuro, a third-world country, for a year, starting immediately after graduation. If she doesn't have a job, she won't have an excuse not to go.
So Alexa applies for job after job, each one more unlikely than the last: deodorant sniffer, earthworm breeder, model scout--you name it, she applies for it.
It's a cute story, though being on the other side of the generational gap made me a bit less sympathetic toward Alexa than I might have been. In particular, I didn't find her resume-padding and outright lying amusing. But she's young, and she does learn from her mistakes, writing down her lessons learned in a Bridget-Jones-ish section of each chapter.
What really redeemed the story for me is that Alexa does change and grow through the story--a pleasant surprise, as her character at the beginning of the book was fairly standard for chick lit: self-centered and focused on her goal. The fact that she developed into more than that; that the story wasn't just about her escapades but actually had some heart, made it definitely worth reading.
Help Wanted, Desperately was the result of one of my forays into Amazon's bargain bin in search of new authors, and one of the successes. I think I'll pass it on to Dagny (ahem), though I suspect she'll be hesitant to read it, thinking I'm nagging (which I am, but on the off chance that it'll help....).
Categories: Books, 4stars, ChickLit
Labels: 4 stars, books, ChickLit
Star Wars Horoscope
| Star Wars Horoscope for Sagittarius |
 You are superbly wise and have been known to spread your wisdom widely. You are impatient and pushy when people take your teachings too lightly. And your philosophical side always peeks through. Star wars character you are most like: Yoda |
Well, of course I'm impatient and pushy when people take my teachings too lightly. I'm right--they should listen! *g*
Categories: Quiz
Labels: quiz
