It's Monday! and so forth

I know there are many people who work the long week month after month, year after year.  I'm used to having summers off, so the beginning of the school year Mondays are a little hard for me.  The middle of the school year, Mondays are a bit harder.  By the time the end of the school year rolls around, I'm barely hanging in there, forcing myself to get up - especially on those Mondays... Which is why I usually - absolutely - hate Mondays.  No Exception....except the summer when all days roll into each other.  Soooo fine (except for the being completely broke bit, lol)

Of course, Monday also means time for It's Monday, What Are You Reading? - the always fun book blog meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Full guidelines at her website - but basically it's a sharing of what we've read the past week, what we're currently reading and for some more organized folk, what is planned reading for the coming week.  My planned reading never works out, so I usually leave that part out on my own blog. :)  

I read a short story - The Moths of Miller Place last week. The Moths of Miller Place is written by J.A. Campbell and features more of Doc, The Vampire Hunting Dog.  I really love this character - if you like dogs (or animals) you'll understand when I say it's fun for me to try to picture my own dog and what he might be thinking while I'm reading about Doc - These Doc stories are from the point of view of the dog - and done very well, you can totally see how a dog might think along these lines.  Especially if you - like me - do NOT believe in the whole short memory thing with dogs.  I think there's way more to a dog's brain and thinking processes than people give them credit for - just like elephants, cats, crows.... hell, any number of animals.  Anyway- this is just one of the shorts about Doc - and there's more coming! :)

Other than the short story - the only novel I was able to finish reading this past week was Endgame by Ann Aguirre.  I have been looking forward to this novel for years!  I know that sounds very dramatic, but seriously - Aguirre has had the names of EACH book of the Sirantha Jax series listed on her site since book two (at least) and I've been waiting for each book to come out, buying them the minute I could and devouring them within two days....until this last book.  And then I fell into my last book of the series slow reading syndrome. I start the book and read some, then put it aside and do something else; then I pick it back up and read some more....repeating this.  I noticed that I do this about a year ago while reading the last Strange Angels novel; realizing more when reading Angel Town - and other final novels.  Seems like I have to drag out the reading experience on that last book, since I usually have mixed feelings about one of my favorite series coming to an end.  You know it's the smart thing for an author to do - go on while at the top type of thing (something a certain coughlkhcough author should have done about 11 books ago), keeping the series fresh and the readers not only wanting more but still enjoying the series. So I drag out the reading of that very last novel of the series.  I thoroughly enjoyed Endgame and happily - while there won't be anymore Sirantha Jax novels, there WILL be more in the universe.  That's good -because while I enjoy Aguirre's other series, I LOVE  her SciFi writing.  I'll be looking for the Dread Queen series - set on a prison ship in the Jax universe setting.  Ooh boy! Hoping it's just as good as Sirantha's stories.

Current Reading

Here is where I'm having a hard time this week - seriously - after reading such great books the past few weeks (most of the novels I've picked in the last few weeks have been so satisfyingly great reading) and finishing up with Endgame it's been hard to concentrate on the next novel.  

I started off trying to read Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi  - but it's not holding my interest after the first two chapters.  Not a fault of the author - there's a gun fight, augmented main character, some suspense in the past of this chacter - etc....then she goes home and has a MEAL with her mother...I fell out of interest, so I put it aside to try again later.  It SEEMS like it should be interesting - perhaps I need a palate cleanser novel first.  Perhaps it's because the main character is a woman written by a man in the first person pov - which doesn't always seem to work for me. (for ME, could be wonderful for other readers).  Who knows?  I don't.  I'll just have to try again later, which I'm willing to do.

Then I grabbed up In Fury Born - a nice meaty novel by David Weber that seems to be a reworking of two novels into one=I think.  Anyway a combination of extremely small font and a little too much of backstory of a planet's war history  made me lose interest - there are times when I enjoy a bit of history, some information of what's been going on, but most of the time it just frustrates me - AUTHORS - small doses of information judiciously applied here and there - please; don't overwhelm me with too much.  I don't feel like sitting through a class.  Again, this is a main character of a female written by a man, although not in the first person.  So I also put it aside for .....possibly for some summer reading.  *g* - yeah, that's it.  Summer reading. :)

I then picked up a book I've had for over a year - it's a sequel to The Better To Hold You - a book I read a couple years ago.  Moonburn is by Alisa Sheckley aka Alisa Kwitney - (first person pov of a woman, by a woman) and interesting - but my interest wasn't catching....I can tell it's going to be an interesting book though, and I did enjoy previous novel - different from most urban fantasies.  So this proves to me that it really is time for the palate cleanser read.  A book that has nothing to do with magic, urban fantasy, weres, vampires, fey or anything but mundane humans.  The regular fiction novel.

So I searched my shelves for a regular fiction book - of which I have few.  I found a novel I had won from Sheila over a year ago - Hasta La Vista, Lola by Misa Ramirez.  It's time I read it.  I read the first couple of pages tonight and I think this is going to be the one novel I read this week.  The only thing that kept me from reading more tonight was this meme, and a couple of episodes of Leverage. :)  and of course - LOLCatz. *g*  I captioned the lolcat below - not the one above, though. :)  The plan will be reading the palate cleanser novel, Hasta La Vista, Lola! and then going back to MoonBurn by Sheckley - it's calling my name now, even.  But then, so is Lola!

No other reading plans - not committing to anything else, my commitments rarely work out with books anyway. :)

So, what's going on with y'all?

Isn't this kitty kat a creepy looking cat? 

Tuesday Teaser, some reminders....a busy Tuesday

Don't Forget ...

recent releases - the fourth Spellcrackers.com novel; The Shifting Price of Prey is now available in the UK.  The entire series is worth buying and reading, good stories, plots, dialogue and characters. By Suzanne McLeod.  For U.S. readers who don't want to wait for the U.S. release, there is always the Book Depository (my favorite way of getting books not available in the United States).


J.A. Campbell is holding a
fundraiser to help the wolves that have been affected in Colorado from fires.  She explains this much better than I do.  But basically, a  percentage of all of her Doc;Vampire Hunting Dog sales in a certain time period go towards helping the wolves.  I've bought an e-copy of the latest - The Moths of Miller Place and will soon buy  a couple print copies of the first Doc novella to add to our school library collection.  While you are at her website, learning about her fundraising efforts for the wolf sanctuary, take a few extra minutes to read about her other writing projects.  She's published a few novels and has others in the works.  This is one very busy young lady. On top of all of that, she is raising a border collie, taking her round to sheepherding lessons AND she is owned by a few cats.  

And Now - the real reasons for Tuesdays....

it's time for Teaser Tuesday!

Yes, it's that time again.  It's Tuesday, that wonderful day after Monday, the day we tease each other with teasers from our current reads.  This week, I am reading at least three novels.  One, I'll probably finish in a day, and the other two will be going back and forth between until I 'settle' on one for the finish.  (ugh - that's either vaguely dirty or sporty sounding - not sure which)  The first novel is....

Endgame 

by Ann Aguirre

sadly, the last of a wonderful SciFi series

from page 145 

'     "He seems to be laboring under the impression that he stands in the way of our grand passion."  By the rapid twitch of his mandible, Vel is hideously amused.

     "I'm going to kill him."

     "No need for violence when our passionate love has been acknowledged at last."

     "So you suffer the agonies of the damned due to our fierce, unconsummated devotion?"  I eye him, wondering how far he'll take this.  "Well, I'm in the mood for revenge sex, and I might be drunk enough to do unspeakable things to you." '

is it just me, or are a lot of these covers looking the same?

from the new Shadowstorm series comes

Blades of Winter

by G.T. Almasi

from page 77

'     I ask our host if we're being followed, and he says,  

''Mais oui! I am always followed.  With a handsome face like zis, how can it not be so?''  He laughs as he swerves onto a highway entrance ramp.

     Trick and I look at each other.  It's not the first time we've wondered if Jacques is actually a Martian.'

Now, I'm finished with the teaser bit.  I was going to include three, but changed my mind. This particular post is probably long enough, and the day begins early for me tomorrow.  Things to do, people to see, books to shelve, etc.

New Doctor Who season - the last one with Rory and Amy.  Next episode is September 8th, on BBC; for all those Doctor Who fans - you know you're out there. :)

Endgame cover (Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax series)

Yesterday I posted on a Waiting On Wednesday post about Ann Aguirre's final Sirantha Jax novel. When I posted, I couldn't find a cover for the book, Endgame.

Tonight I saw the cover - up on her site, in all it's glory

Nice!

waiting on wednesday

I haven't taken part in this meme in way too long, but I felt like posting about these two books. Hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine, Waiting on Wednesday is the meme where we post about books we're eagerly waiting to be published - and these two I've listed are two books I'm REALLY looking forward to reading...

Suzanne McLeod writes this great series about a half fae half vampire woman just trying to make a living in London - except the witches, vampires and other fae are always in her business, trying to claim her, murder her, or just impregnate her. LOL it's way more complex than that, I've simplified it quite a bit. The fourth book in the Spellcrackers.com series is titled The Shifting Price of Prey and will be released in the UK June 2012 {U.S. release date....oops, not sure} I live in the States, but I use The Book Depository.... :)

The other book I've looking forward to does not have a cover yet - or at least, there isn't one online yet. So we are going to pretend that this lolcat pic is the cover for...... Endgame by Ann Aguirre. Endgame is the final (sob) novel in the Sirantha Jax SciFi series. Endgame will be out in August of 2012. Can't wait - looking forward to not only reading the book, but seeing what the real cover will look like.