Reading, Reading, Reading

I’ve done a lot of reading so far this week: Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Even Money by Dick Francis and Felix Francis, The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters, and skimmed through Austenland by Shannon Hale.  I have plans for further reading before the week is done. 

I’ve never read Georgette Heyer’s mysteries before now.  I LOVE her romances, but wasn’t tempted by the mysteries.  Silly me.  I really liked it.  The hero reminded me of the Duke in These Old Shades; he was rude and super smart.  The heroine wasn’t a stupid girl, and it’s set in the ‘30s. 

Animal Farm is just disturbing.  I find myself wondering if I’m like the sheep, or maybe I’m one of the horses, or am I a PIG?!  Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the Communist revolution and regime because we refuse to see and think and speak until it’s too late?  I hope not.  I hope we won’t let our fearless leaders guide us by our fears and I hope we won’t keep letting others think for us and tell us they know best, and that what we thought we knew to be true was false.  Freaky.  But it actually happened.  Happens.

Even Money and Laughter of Dead Kings were good.  I like Dick Francis’s stories and this was a good one.  I like how he mixes the adventure/puzzle/mystery with day to day concerns.  This book’s hero has a wife with mental illness, and while he’s dealing with murder, and etc., he’s also caring for his wife and hoping against hope that this time when she leaves the hospital, her medications will work and things will be better.

I pretty much always like Elizabeth Peters, and I haven’t read her stuff in a while, so Laughter was nice and comfy.  She’s starting to bring together her Vicky Bliss series and Amelia Peabody series together, and she even made an appearance in this novel, a la Clive Cussler’s appearances in his own novels.

Austenland was cute.  I read the beginning and the end.  I liked the heroine’s voice and the idea, I just wasn’t in the right mood to read the middle.  Sorry.  Not really. 

Silver Borne

I just finished Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. I finished it while starting a migraine, I liked it that much. I would have finished it last night, but I started fading in and out while I was reading, so I knew I had to give up and sleep for a while.

I really liked it of course. I cheated and read the end at the book store, so I knew it ended well, but it seemed like there was a long separation between Alex and Mercy that I didn't think I'd like because I really like their togetherness. Luckily, what happened in the book was not what I thought; it was definitely good.

I read a review that complained about there not being any vampire involvement in this book. I was actually happy about that. I was getting tired of the vampires. I like vampires in moderation, but after all this is a series about werewolves. I was glad to read more about the pack and getting the pack dynamics settled.

Plus, and this is pretty nifty, Samuel finally gets a mate! I read another review that complained that Samuel's problem in the book was resolved too quickly/smoothly, but I didn't see that. Patricia Briggs' books move pretty quickly, which I see as a virtue, and I think there is just enough character and plot development to keep things interesting without overburdening the pace of the story. Frankly, Samuel really isn't the main focus of these novels anyway.

I'm glad the library had a copy when I went in yesterday. I really didn't want to buy a hardcover again. Yea, for libraries!

Potato chips

I just thought maybe I should change my blog title to Books + Potato chips = Heaven. I mean, I love greasy salty carbs. I love potato chips, and now, I really want some. Really. Lays potato chips. Regular flavor.

Switching to a completely different subject, tomorrow is the last episode of Oh! My Lady, and waiting to come home from work to watch it might make me mean at school. I'll buy potato chips on the way home to eat while I watch it. Maybe Tsuki no Koibito, the new Takuya Kimura drama, will be subbed by then as well! Happy, happy! A new drama to watch as soon as I finish the old one.

I'm such a nerd.

Wind

The wind is making me crazy. I didn't think wind could make me crazy, but it does. It's been blowing really hard the last few hours and I am completely over it. OVER. I'm writing this blog instead of sleeping because the wind is so ... I can't even think of a word for it, AND it gave me a headache, AND the air has a faint smell of dust to it.

The Hobbit cartoon movie

While this is on my mind...I saw The Hobbit cartoon and The Lord of the Rings animated dealies when I was in grade school and they scarred me for life. I grew up hearing and reading about people loving The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and wondering what was wrong with them because those animated things were seriously creepy.

I kind of blame my parents for thinking that since the books were good, it would be fine to show the cartoon movies to their kids. Ugh. Ugh. They showed us the Watership Down cartoon too. Let's just say that cartoon does not necessarily mean kid friendly.

I still hate those movies. The song from The Hobbit with the singer that was all wobbly voiced still gives me the willies.

It wasn't until I was in my late twenties that I finally worked up the guts to read The Hobbit. I devoured it and went on to consume LOTR. I felt cheated. So many years avoiding those books when I could have been geeking out over them because of a stupid cartoon movie. I'm still indignant - obviously.

Sleeping with Books

I've been sleeping with books again lately. I have books that I read really fast that don't stay in bed with me for long, and I have books that I mean to read, but don't quite get to that stay with me for a lot longer. Maybe I'll absorb the contents of the books I don't read just by having them sleep with me. I think I don't like to admit that I probably won't, or don't want to, read the books that seem to take up residence in my blankets. Those are the books I choose for their 'good for me' qualities. Sigh.

I used to sleep with books a lot when I was a teen-ager. I had piles of books that I was reading. I didn't read one at a time, I read a handful kind of in cycles. The book of the moment depended on my mood.