I have reviews I want and need to write on a few books
But I picked up a book on my list, The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James. I cannot put the book down. My Kindle says I have read 18% of the book. I will be up all night reading. I see a 5 star review on the way.
Filed under Books, Recommended, Reviews
Yes I am Unsure
I love Queen Betsy, I really do. Along with her yummy man Sinclair. I think the author is witty, talented and has a great agent. Of all the series written by MJD I appreciate the werewolf books and can’t stand her mermaid books, love Betsy books.
In preparation of this release I re-read all ten Betsy books. The read didn’t take long. MJD is funny, snarky and great with internal monologue. The reading is fast and fun, light and enjoyable. Her books are not plot heavy. The stories have a simple plot and are filled in with Betsy’s unique view and thought process.
Undead and Unwed
Her mother and best friend are elated, the local vampire population – not so much. But vampires Eric Sinclair and Tina believe she is the foretold vampire queen because she isn’t burned by a cross and can go to church. They want Betsy to put an end to the reign of Vampire King Nostro, read kill, and rule.
Betsy isn’t having any of it but of course that is exactly what ends up happening. Oh and now Sinclair is her consort for the next 1000 years. Fun.
And book 2 Undead and Unemployed
But her last release, Undead and Unstable 
Undead and Unsure
As in some of the other books another character jumps in and tells the story for a chapter or so. That irritates me. In this case the character is Sinclair which is good and bad if you can get past the earlier baby talk crap.
If I was not a fan I would have stopped reading. The first half of the book is unnecessary internal dialogue to turn a short story into a book. After reading above you may wonder why you should read the book. If you are a fan, plow through because the last 1/3 or 1/4 of the book is worthwhile.
If you haven’t read the books, this is not the place to start. Start with Undead and Unwed
Remember, I love Queen Betsy and the series but don’t start here, this is a bit of challenge to wade through to get to the good stuff even for a fan.
For a complete list of Queen Betsy books click this link: Amazon.com Widgets
On a blog I follow, 101 Books, the question is do you read if you are stressed. 101 books question that made me think.
When and why do I read books? I read because I want to learn or escape. Enlighten my brain and heart. Discover new worlds and perspectives. Live more fully.
I read whenever I can. I had a job over a decade ago where I traveled frequently. I missed my dogs and home but the traveling allowed me time. Time to read. And I read on the airplane, in the hotel when my work paperwork was completed. Reading helped offset the downsides of traveling for me.
My reply is: I can read if I am stressed. A great book that takes me to a different world helps. However, if I am depressed I cannot read.
But was I being truthful with myself? Yes and no. I realized that sometimes when the stress level is high I do not usually read. What do I do? I fret.
Fret and worry is not productive but by my nature that is what happens. Maybe I should do something more productive by distracting myself with a good read. The best book is the book that makes you forget the world. You are living in the book and are bummed out when you have reached the end because you want the story to go on and on.
When I can’t turn off my brain of worries, I need to read. Perhaps I should tax myself with a thought provoking new topic. Instead of fiction take up a non-fiction or text book.
I cannot read when I am depressed. Depression zaps all the joy, motivation and initiative from life. And reading gives me pleasure Whether the book is sad and makes me cry or a textbook, reading is a joyful event.
Thomas Jefferson said “I cannot live without books.” Depression is suppressing life, my life, your life. Picking up a book doesn’t solve or fix this problem. Medical care can help with this problem.
But when I am down or blue (not depressed) I give thought to what I read. If I am already in the middle of a book I may continue reading. Usually, I turn to my comfort reads. A comfort read is a book that I have read multiple times. Comfort reads for me:
Sunshine
Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1)
Grave Secret (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 4)
Crazy for You
Welcome to Temptation
Undead and Unwed (Queen Betsy, Book 1)
Undead and Unemployed (Queen Betsy, Book 2)
My comfort reads are books I enjoy but can still get caught up in the world of the story. I have other favorites and re-reads but I don’t reach for them when I am blue.
The phrase, ‘So many books and so little time’ is true. The best book is the book that makes you forget the world. You are living in the book and are bummed out when you have reached the end because you want the story to go on and on. The best books comfort you. The best books provoke you. The best books educate you and expose you to other lives and ways of thinking. Books free you.
No matter the mood books make life better.
No matter the mood books make life better. The best book is the book that makes you forget the world. You are living in the book and are bummed out when you have reached the end because you want the story to go on and on. The best books comfort you. The best books provoke you. The best books educate you and expose you to other lives and ways of thinking. Books free you.
Joyce Carol Oates said, “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” Slip out of your stress and blues by reading. Heighten your joy by reading.
And broaden your mind and life by reading. “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” — Confucius
When and why do you read books? Is reading mood dependent or strictly time dependent? Do you make time to read?
Filed under Books
As always,hooray for PBS. If for no other reason, Sesame Street. And I watch PBS a lot: Nova, Nature, Antiques Road Show, Live Concerts of War and Heart, on and on.
Somehow I rarely watched Masterpiece Theater. At the beginning of this year I started to hear about Downton Abbey.
When I tuned in to Downton Abbey I was hooked immediately. I went on-line to PBS.org to view all the episodes. I am now a rabid Downton fan.
Season 1 begins with an idyllic life for the Crawley family in Edwardian England. But the sinking of the Titanic leaves Downton without and heir. Succession now goes to Matthew and his mother Isobel, part of the ‘new’ middle class. We meet the Earl and his American wife, married for her money. Their three daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil. The dowager countess Violet.
The servants include the strictly by-the-book Carson and head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes. Devious O’Brien and Thomas the footman. Mr. Bates is the new valet, Daisy a scullery maid, Anna and Branson the Irish chauffeur.
I love the soap opera-ish drama, the view into a different age. The characters are three-dimensional. And the creator Julian Fellowes has killed off some major players bringing me to tears.
Yesterday PBS had a special hosted by Angela Lansbury, Downton Abbey revisited. New viewers are brought up to speed. Behind the scenes interviews. But most importantly if you donate $200.00 or become a sustaining member of $16 a month you can get all 3 seasons of the series on DVD and a special on High Clere Castle where the series is filmed.
But wait, there is more! For a limited time your donation will get you the entire Season 4 on DVD. After the premiere episode in January you will be shipped the entire season before it airs.
Not only is this a remarkable and unprecedented offer but you can feel good about yourself by donating.
And I encourage you to donate.
If you have never watched Downton Abbey, give it a chance. Let me know if you loved or hated. Who is your favorite character? Other than the marvelous Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Downton who do you like? I am enamored with the entire cast and show, however my favorite couple is Sybil and (gasp) Branson.
Below is a link to join Amazon prime. I point this out because as a prime member you can watch episodes for free.
Filed under Recommended, Reviews
Simon Canderous has a double edge sword of a talent, psychometry. Psychometry is the unique ability to divine information about the history of an object through touch. Formerly a petty thief Simon answers a cryptic newspaper ad and becomes a new employee for N.Y. City’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. The D.E.A. is on the side of Good. Our young protagonist takes his new position seriously. He views good versus evil the same as black versus white.
Simon struggles with learning the aspects of a real job, office politics and other-worldly skills. His mentor, Connor, specializes in ghosts and points out a lovely young woman sitting across from them in a coffee shop. Because she has not moved on they interview her trying to determine why she is still here. The ghost has no memories but she says something cryptic about the movie Apocalypse Now. This suddenly makes her a priority case though why is not clear.
As Simon and Connor work to discover information about Irene they stumble across the Sectarian Defense League. The SDL is a cultist rights movement legalized by the city as part of equal rights movement. A kerfuffle ensues and the Mayor’s liaison arranges a meeting between the D.E.A. and the SDL. Simon is sent and meets Jane for dinner. Jane is the personal assistant to the evil Faisal Bane, chairman of the SDL. Simon is attracted to Jane but conflicted because she works on the side of darkness. Simon’s investigation leads him zombies, ghost sniffing drug addicts and other forces of darkness.
Dead to Me is light urban fantasy. Fans of the Dresden Files will in all likelihood enjoy this book. Author Strout has four Simon Canderous books published to date, obviously the series had potential. But this book is a bit uneven, the characters under-developed and the action come across as a series of confrontations from an outline. The humor in the book seems thrown arbitrarily. I am not saying it isn’t funny rather the characters aren’t funny.
Examples: “Are you implying you had someone murdered? The Mayor’s Office does not condone that sort of conflict resolution.” And
“A lot of people who have come to work for us over the years have come to us from …. shall we say suspect backgrounds. Involvement with the dark arts, telemarketing and worse.”
The first chapters of the book introduce the reader to Simon and his motivations. The writing could have been tighter. The book came out in 2008 and I started to read it but wasn’t engaged. It sat in my TBR pile for 5 years. Simon is a likeable, hot-headed but good intentioned, 24-year-old man. The secondary characters are interesting. However sometimes the story gets ridiculous. When Simon wants to learn if Jane really a bad guy, he reads her diary. Her diary that she was writing in a chick lit voice when she was on a rooftop spying on him and having been sent to kill him.
I did like reading the book and may give the second book a try. I can’t rate this book a 5 but if you want light urban fantasy this is definitely worth a try.
Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Ace (February 26, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0441015786
ISBN-13: 978-0441015788
Ratings 1 – 5
• Readability: 3.5
• Likability: 3.5
• Recommended: 3
• Book Club Read: 0
• Author Watch List: 2
• Laugh Meter: 32
• Cry Meter: 0
• Three Word Description: Light Urban Fantasy
Other books by Anton Stout. 
Filed under Books, Reviews, Urban Fantasy
Some times a product comes to my attention and I wonder how I ever did without.
Behold the 1-step looper.
This tool makes a consistent size wire loop. Better than looping pliers you don’t have to mark the same spot on the pliers. Just place a headpin or wire in the hole on the side and squeeze the plier. The 1 step looper takes some practice to become comfortable using but the reward is the ability to have a round loop made rapidly and easily. Now my connecting loops are identical. Making two loops on either side of a bead is a breeze, Insert the wire, make a loop, slide on a bead and make another loop. Using this tool is so easy, like a daisy the pleasure is in the simplicity.
Another recent find is thread spools or bobbins. I found this product when I decided to make some kumihimo braids to I wanted to use a pattern for a square plate and needed a new one. These bobbins spare irritation by avoiding tangling of threads. Made of flexible plastic and easily opened they come in 3 sizes, 8 bobbins to a bag. I find the 1 7/8″ spools the easiest to work with but other sizes available are 2 1/2″ and 3 1/2″. Again, how was I oblivious to this wonderful tool? I keep buying more because they have made weaving, braiding, kumihimo and macramé more enjoyable.
Extra tip, using a weight when braiding with kumihimo is a great help but the weights are pricey. I have developed an alternative and hope to have available for sale soon.
Have fun and let me know if you have found a great crafting or jewelry making tool.
Filed under Crafts, Handmade, Jewelry Making, Reviews
This book is an enduring read. I have read this so many times I had to buy another book. Even having repeatedly read the book, I never skip certain areas or paragraphs as I do in other re-reads. That speaks to how marvelously written Sunshine is.
The book starts painting the normal world where our heroine and narrator of the book lives. The first line,
“It was a dumb thing to do but it wasn’t that dumb. There hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake in years.”
Rae Seddon nicknamed Sunshine just needs a break from her family. She is the baker for the family coffee shop. She is irritated with the smothering of love and togetherness so she drives out to the lake for a break from everything one night. The author paints an average young woman with normal life when wham the reader learns this is a very different world with the marvelous, last sentence of the chapter.
“And it was so exquisitely far from the rest of my life. ….. I never heard them coming. Of course you don’t, when they’re vampires.”
Sunshine takes place in a dark alternate version of our world. A world where demons, ‘were’ creatures (werewolves, wererats), vampires and magic are part of everyday life and everyday fears. The book is in first person and Sunshine’s narration is written like a conversation. Reading is like listening to a friend tell you a story. And McKinley has such talent that throughout this conversation she unveils and builds Sunshine’s world and a sophisticated, intricate well-thought plot. The atmosphere is dark, filled with menace, danger and small doses of humor.
Sunshine is kidnapped by vampires and chained to a wall as human livestock for a fellow captive. Her companion is a starving vampire named Constantine. Vampires are terrifying, frightening, smelly and deadly. Captive Constantine is the enemy of Bo, the leader of the vampire gang that captured them. Both Sunshine and Constantine are victims of an evil taunting game only Bo enjoys. Constantine tells Sunshine to remind him she is a rational creature so that Bo does not win the game today, the consequence being Sunshine dies.
Though petrified Sunshine recalls magic taught by her grandmother. And so she frees herself and Constantine. The mutual imprisonment and escape binds the two as partners in an ongoing battle against evil Bo. Neither is accepting of this bond. The relationship that develops is awkward and uncomfortable for both. Constantine is not evil, we come to know he is good and as a reader he becomes an endearing, heroic character. But the quality of menace remains as he is truly other and alien. Constantine becomes an endearing, heroic character.
Sunshine comes to learn more about the people around her and herself. Yes, she steps up to the fight ahead but as a real person. She is not suddenly brave and strong, she is scared and unsure. She is a flawed but always likeable, confused and deals with the trauma of her capture through work and pushing the people she cares about away. She is often bitchy. But she is a consistent narrator through her capture, escape, trauma and coming to terms with circumstances and the new reality forced on her. The meandering path of Sunshine’s thoughts show a very real person and her seemingly superfluous diversions continue to lay the ground work of this world and the story.
The ending of the book is strangely unfinished, quiet and yet remains true to the characters and story. It is a solid ending that is satisfactory and makes you want to cry. And if you are like me you will also want to cry that you have reached the end.
This is my absolute favorite book. Ms. McKinley is an amazing, talented author. Her storytelling and plotting is brilliant. I fear I have not done justice to the book. Sunshine is infused with the magical prose of Robin McKinley. Neil Gaiman said this book is “Pretty much perfect.” He is right.
Product Details:
Publisher: Speak; Reprint edition (April 29, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0142411108 ISBN-13: 978-0142411100
Mass Market Paperback Publisher: Jove (2004)
ASIN: B00E84F5CM
Ratings 1 – 5
• Readability: 5
• Likability: 5
• Recommended: 5
• Book Club Read: 4
• Author Watch List: 5
• Laugh Meter: 2
• Cry Meter: 1
• Three Word Description: Perfect Urban Fantasy
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Other books by this author: 
Urban Fantasy Reads:
Filed under Books, Literary Criticism, Recommended, Reviews, Urban Fantasy
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