Contest Links and other random bits

My very favorite British author is having a fun contest at her blog - and not only is she hosting a contest for some very cool books, but she also has links to other fun contests. Go to Suzanne McLeod's Spellcrackers blog and enter and then take a look at the other contest links that are celebrating International Urban Fantasy Month. (Yeay! a month celebrating urban fantasy - one of my favorite genres)

Also, take a look at the Haunted Halloween button on my sidebar - it'll take you to a page at Confessions of a Bookaholic's blog - many contest links.

TGIF. I don't know about anyone else (though I have a pretty good idea) but I know I'm so very glad that Friday is here. It's been a long crazy-weathered week. We've gone from hot to cold t0 muggy to hot again. HUGE SIGH...I know this happens here every September and October. We always get what used to be called "Indian Summers" but everyone around here always acts so surprised - "I can't believe it's so HOT in October..." Really? Because you don't remember saying the same damned thing last year? or the year before? Our little city has always had mild summers complete with morning fogs and the occasional heat wave and late hot-summer weather. Every single year. And then we tend to have bouts of spring weather in January and February - interspersed with the freezing (for us freezing, nothing like Minnesota or Michigan cold) bone-aching cold. And every few years we get the rains all the way through the end of June - and this year into July. Needless to say, this wreaks havoc on pollen allergy sufferers. Because it seems the plants are always releasing pollen because the weather keeps fooling them. We never pack away winter clothes or summer clothes. Nope - we keep them all handy all year round because you'll need them all year round. Even in our hot weathered months, we still have cool evenings (thank GOD - because I can't take continuous heat without wanting to KILL) and so we need at least light jackets through out the summer. But I wouldn't give up our weather patterns for any other place - at the moment anyway. Even when it's bitterly cold, making me ache with excrutiating pain, I know it's going to pass soon with intermissions of pleasant weather. I think we're lucky like that. However, this year we've been getting as many as four weather changes in a single week, and that feels a little weird.

New subject - or back to books. I know that everyone else in the reading world has read Hunger Games - everyone but me it seems. I haven't read it yet for a couple of reasons. One being that Young Adult is not my main reading material (me being past 50 now) and so when I budget money for books, I generally either buy adult books or books for the grandkids - putting other reads kind of on hold. I do read a few YA authors such as J.A. Campbell and Lili St.Crow, but YA is not my first choice. The other reason being that so many people raved about it that I kind of thought...."couldn't be that good". There's quite a few books that I've tried to read after millions and billions of people have blogged about (really - BILLIONS) that I wasn't that impressed with. We've all been there - tried a book because so many raved about it, just to find it kind of HoHum experience, or even wondering what the hell were they on while they were reading? So it was kind of off my radar. However, a teacher at the school I work at had a copy in her classroom (we share a classroom) and told me I really should read it. When I mentioned that there are few young adult books that I read, she said - um - NO you should try this one. So I took it home and kind of skimmed the first page....then last night I couldn't find my current read, the one I'm really into right now; so I read a little more of Hunger Games and OH MY JESUS GOD. MAN! I'm to the part where she is on the train, after volunteering to take Prim's place. Ugh. I have to finish it, and I will soon - but I'm also really into this Vigilante novel. Maybe I'll be able to finish both books this weekend. We'll see. But Hunger Games has me hooked....and I see that this teacher also has the second and third books in the series.....