On Vox: Books
I still haven't gotten around to reading the last 5 books in the Chronicles of Narnia, but I've promised myself that I'll read A Horse & His Boy next. Gotta give the set back to my coworker!
Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6)
Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
I'm always on the lookout for a new spin on vampires, and the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by Ward was a great discovery. The Brothers are all ass-kicking alpha males, the kind that I find unbelievably sexy but would probably want to strangle within a week of dating them.
Lover Enshrined turned out to be a transition book. A good portion of the book was spent introducing new story lines, focusing on the young males that will become the main characters of future novels, and the creation of the new main Bad Guy. I didn't mind it so much because Phury, the Hero, was not your usual romance novel hunk. He's an addict, and most of his part of the story dealt with his drug habit, why he became an addict in the first place, and everyone else's reactions to it. It was a little off-putting and if I didn't know there would be a change of subject quickly I probably would have given up on this one.
My only problem with all of the stories is the slang that is used to excess. Sure, she's writing with an Urban flair, but when you constantly say that one of the Brothers is getting up in someone's grill, I find it a big turn off. Plus she's constantly referring to their shit-kickers. When I read the first book, I was a bit confused. Here she's talking about this goth guy and saying that he's wearing cowboy boots. Yeah, the image just didn't work for me. I have to constantly remind myself that she's talking about biker-type boots, rather than cowboy boots. Maybe it's just we call cowboy boots shit-kickers in Texas. Anyone else ever hear biker boots called shit-kickers?
Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too
Gluten-free Girl by Shauna James Ahern
I don't remember where I saw a review of Gluten-free Girl, but I was intrigued and lucky enough to find that it was a recent addition to the public library. Some of the Amazon reviews complained that it's toopreachy, and while I do find it a bit preachy in spots, it wasn't to the degree that I was worried I'd find thanks to the reviews.
This book made me hungry every time I read it, but for fabulously fresh food. She talks non-stop about food purchased at farmer's markets, new whole grains that I've only heard about in passing, veggies, and fruits. It made me want to clean out my kitchen of all the processed stuff that I have and go stock up at Whole Foods and Sun Harvest. There are some great recipes in the book and I really enjoyed reading the story behind the recipe.
Originally posted on combingtoes.vox.com