I haven't hopped on a spaceship and left planet Earth...
Yet.
Seriously, though, I can't believe I haven't posted since August! *facepalm* I've been around LJ, practically every day. (Those of you who watch firefly-signal probably know that. *G*) I've just been really bad about posting and commenting. :(
So, if I'm not posting, what have I been doing? Well, I did do some writing for scifibigbang. Unfortunately, I didn't get the fic finished. Still, I hope to do so some day. *crosses fingers*
I've also been doing some crocheting/knitting, though not as much as in past years. Finished one lap blanket and have another afghan more than halfway finished. Hopefully I'll finish that soon.
I took another trip in November that I hope to post about soon, but mostly, I've been doing a lot of reading!
Dragonharper by Anne and Todd McCaffrey: I really must stop reading these. Children/Teens once again save the world. Love at first sight that was totally unbelievable. And a plague story that was told better in Moreta's Ride. Ugh.
Black Butterfly by Mark Gatiss: The most recent Lucifer Box novel. Lots of fun, very fast paced. Really liked that the author went back to a non-supernatural explanation for the events of the book. Still miss Charlie. *g*
The Man Who Loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke: Just a typical romance. I was disappointed when the blurb 'fresh, original' turned out not to be true, and wish they would've advertised it as time-travel. I still would've read it, because I like time travel, but I wouldn't have had as high of expectations for it as I did. Oh, well. Still a fun read.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein: Why didn't I read these sooner?! I really enjoyed them, though the last two did take a little longer to read through than Fellowship, probably because I read it on the airplane home from vacation and was back home when I read them. Plus, they were mostly about the war. Still, I enjoyed them and didn't find them difficult to read/follow at all. I wonder if that's because I'd seen the movies, so could associate faces to names. *g*
The Maximum Ride trilogy by James Patterson: I really enjoyed the first one, The Angel Experiment. It's about a group of children who have been experimented on, and now have wings. They've escaped from the 'school' where the experiments were done and are on the run. The books are told from Max's POV, and she's a much better role model for teen girls than Bella! The 2nd book, School's Out Forever, began to annoy me when the villain of the piece was made to be a caricatured German (even though he had a Dutch name, whatever) and by the end of the 3rd - Saving the World - I decided I'd had enough of Max and her friends. Still, I recommended them to a lady at the store looking for a book for her teenage daughter. *G*
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn: Laugh out loud funny! Just a typical Regency romance, but the author developed her characters so well! I'd been a bit disappointed in her last two novels, but I'm glad I read this one. *g* One little quibble, though. People in the early 1800's didn't use the word 'moron'. Just saying…
Heatwave by Richard Castle: What can I say… *g* Actually, I almost didn't read this. I was reading the chapters online, and they read like so much bad fanfic--author insert, no characterization, too many scenes from the show inserted in the story, wrong names used, missing words, etc., etc. An author as good as he's supposed to be should've written a better story, even if it is pulp and a lot of bad stuff gets published these days. However… I stuck with the online chapters, and by about chapter 7 it started to get interesting so I ended up picking up a copy at the store when it came out. It's not the 'Greatest American Novel' by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not supposed to be, and it turned out to be a fun read. And page 105? Was tastefully done. *g*
Plum Spooky and Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum up to her usual antics. 'Nuff said. *g*
The Tailor's Daughter by Maggie Bennett: A friend recommended a book by this title to me. Turned out she meant the one by Janice Graham, below, but this one was good, too. Late 1700's, refugee family from the French Revolution settles in what would probably be considered nowadays as the 'middle class' section of London, their daughter and the tailor's daughter become best friends. The story follows their lives as they grow from children into adult women, and how the tailor's daughter basically puts her life on hold to be with her friend. There's a subplot about the anti-Catholicism sentiment of the era and how it affects them. My femmeslash goggles were firmly in place while reading this, but it didn't go there. Kind of disappointed with the way it ended, though it was probably the only way it could logically have done so, given the time period.
The Tailor's Daughter by Janice Graham: This one takes place in Victorian England, and was very interesting. The daughter in this story went deaf when she was 16, iirc, and reading about how she learned to cope and communicate was quite interesting. It was also interesting to see how she was able to insert herself into her father's trade at a time when women weren't allowed to sew for men. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in historical stories with a bit of substance to them.
The Kid by Dan Savage: When I was laughing in the store while reading the first page, I knew I had to buy it! Dan has a wonderful sense of humor, and reading about how he and his partner adopted their son was both entertaining and very informative. Recommended reading for everyone!
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood: Another book I really enjoyed! I don't want to say too much about it, because it's been made into a movie starring Zac Efron, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone planning to see the movie, but it was an excellent read. (Little sad at the beginning, but after that it was very interesting reading.)
The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlene Harris: All 8 of them! Oh, god! I loved these! Practically devoured them! I love that Sookie's an independent woman who won't take any guff from the vampires and 'supes' she comes to know. *g* It got annoying to reread basic outlines of previous stories in following books, even if I understand why author's tend to do that, but on the whole I just fell in love with this series. I have no desire to watch 'True Blood', though. I'll stick with the novels, which don't glory in all the gore. ;) I'm actually planning to reread them soon, because I read them so fast I know I missed a lot of details. Not to mention how much I've forgotten. *g*
The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glenn Cook: This is 3 books published under one cover, and I actually read the first one, The Black Company, about a year ago when my son borrowed the book from a friend of his. Then I got side-tracked, and still had that borrowed book a year later. *facepalm* So, anyway, I finally got back to it, and ended up having to reread The Black Company because I couldn't remember what had happened in it. Finished it and the second book, Shadows Linger, just before the end of the year, and am now almost done with the third book - The White Rose. These books are the story of a group of mercenaries who end up fighting with 'The Lady', a powerful sorceress, in order to keep her husband, 'The Dominator', from returning to life. They're told from the POV of the company doctor/historian, and, while not my usual fare, are quite interesting. They're apparently the first 3 books in a rather long series. I haven't quite decided if I'm going to continue reading past them, especially considering that the library doesn't have the next book available. We'll see…
I think that's all the books I read over the past 8 months, but I may have forgotten one or two. *G* I did start The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway a week or so ago. It didn't catch my interest enough to keep reading when it became due at the library, so I gave it up. *g*
None of the books above were read for book club. As a matter of fact, I haven't read a book club book since … March? [Oh, yes, I did forget one. I… can't remember what it's called. Just something.Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs. Romance novel for book club that we then didn't read. It was actually quite good. She's a cartoonist, and her cartoons are used as chapter headings. Husband has cancer. *rolls eyes* Survives. Goes on to cheat on wife. She catches him and up and leaves. Goes back to Washington State and her family (had moved to Chicago for college, married him, never really adjusted to living there). Meets local fire chief, who was one of the 'big guys on campus' in high school. You know the rest. *g*] We didn't meet during the summer, I missed the October meeting, and I haven't had a chance to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett that we read for November. Still on the wait list at the library, and I'm looking forward to reading it once it's available.
For December, book club read How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn, the sequel to the book we read last December. Since I didn't like the first one, I chose not to read the second one. I'm also not reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold for this month. The rest of the gals are going to the movie then to dinner to discuss book/movie differences, which I think would be a good discussion. Just not for a book/movie I have zero interest in reading/seeing.
So, that's what I've been up to. *g* Well, that and a few other things I'll try to post about later. In the meantime... Hi, y'all! *g*
Seriously, though, I can't believe I haven't posted since August! *facepalm* I've been around LJ, practically every day. (Those of you who watch firefly-signal probably know that. *G*) I've just been really bad about posting and commenting. :(
So, if I'm not posting, what have I been doing? Well, I did do some writing for scifibigbang. Unfortunately, I didn't get the fic finished. Still, I hope to do so some day. *crosses fingers*
I've also been doing some crocheting/knitting, though not as much as in past years. Finished one lap blanket and have another afghan more than halfway finished. Hopefully I'll finish that soon.
I took another trip in November that I hope to post about soon, but mostly, I've been doing a lot of reading!
Dragonharper by Anne and Todd McCaffrey: I really must stop reading these. Children/Teens once again save the world. Love at first sight that was totally unbelievable. And a plague story that was told better in Moreta's Ride. Ugh.
Black Butterfly by Mark Gatiss: The most recent Lucifer Box novel. Lots of fun, very fast paced. Really liked that the author went back to a non-supernatural explanation for the events of the book. Still miss Charlie. *g*
The Man Who Loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke: Just a typical romance. I was disappointed when the blurb 'fresh, original' turned out not to be true, and wish they would've advertised it as time-travel. I still would've read it, because I like time travel, but I wouldn't have had as high of expectations for it as I did. Oh, well. Still a fun read.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein: Why didn't I read these sooner?! I really enjoyed them, though the last two did take a little longer to read through than Fellowship, probably because I read it on the airplane home from vacation and was back home when I read them. Plus, they were mostly about the war. Still, I enjoyed them and didn't find them difficult to read/follow at all. I wonder if that's because I'd seen the movies, so could associate faces to names. *g*
The Maximum Ride trilogy by James Patterson: I really enjoyed the first one, The Angel Experiment. It's about a group of children who have been experimented on, and now have wings. They've escaped from the 'school' where the experiments were done and are on the run. The books are told from Max's POV, and she's a much better role model for teen girls than Bella! The 2nd book, School's Out Forever, began to annoy me when the villain of the piece was made to be a caricatured German (even though he had a Dutch name, whatever) and by the end of the 3rd - Saving the World - I decided I'd had enough of Max and her friends. Still, I recommended them to a lady at the store looking for a book for her teenage daughter. *G*
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn: Laugh out loud funny! Just a typical Regency romance, but the author developed her characters so well! I'd been a bit disappointed in her last two novels, but I'm glad I read this one. *g* One little quibble, though. People in the early 1800's didn't use the word 'moron'. Just saying…
Heatwave by Richard Castle: What can I say… *g* Actually, I almost didn't read this. I was reading the chapters online, and they read like so much bad fanfic--author insert, no characterization, too many scenes from the show inserted in the story, wrong names used, missing words, etc., etc. An author as good as he's supposed to be should've written a better story, even if it is pulp and a lot of bad stuff gets published these days. However… I stuck with the online chapters, and by about chapter 7 it started to get interesting so I ended up picking up a copy at the store when it came out. It's not the 'Greatest American Novel' by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not supposed to be, and it turned out to be a fun read. And page 105? Was tastefully done. *g*
Plum Spooky and Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum up to her usual antics. 'Nuff said. *g*
The Tailor's Daughter by Maggie Bennett: A friend recommended a book by this title to me. Turned out she meant the one by Janice Graham, below, but this one was good, too. Late 1700's, refugee family from the French Revolution settles in what would probably be considered nowadays as the 'middle class' section of London, their daughter and the tailor's daughter become best friends. The story follows their lives as they grow from children into adult women, and how the tailor's daughter basically puts her life on hold to be with her friend. There's a subplot about the anti-Catholicism sentiment of the era and how it affects them. My femmeslash goggles were firmly in place while reading this, but it didn't go there. Kind of disappointed with the way it ended, though it was probably the only way it could logically have done so, given the time period.
The Tailor's Daughter by Janice Graham: This one takes place in Victorian England, and was very interesting. The daughter in this story went deaf when she was 16, iirc, and reading about how she learned to cope and communicate was quite interesting. It was also interesting to see how she was able to insert herself into her father's trade at a time when women weren't allowed to sew for men. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in historical stories with a bit of substance to them.
The Kid by Dan Savage: When I was laughing in the store while reading the first page, I knew I had to buy it! Dan has a wonderful sense of humor, and reading about how he and his partner adopted their son was both entertaining and very informative. Recommended reading for everyone!
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood: Another book I really enjoyed! I don't want to say too much about it, because it's been made into a movie starring Zac Efron, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone planning to see the movie, but it was an excellent read. (Little sad at the beginning, but after that it was very interesting reading.)
The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlene Harris: All 8 of them! Oh, god! I loved these! Practically devoured them! I love that Sookie's an independent woman who won't take any guff from the vampires and 'supes' she comes to know. *g* It got annoying to reread basic outlines of previous stories in following books, even if I understand why author's tend to do that, but on the whole I just fell in love with this series. I have no desire to watch 'True Blood', though. I'll stick with the novels, which don't glory in all the gore. ;) I'm actually planning to reread them soon, because I read them so fast I know I missed a lot of details. Not to mention how much I've forgotten. *g*
The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glenn Cook: This is 3 books published under one cover, and I actually read the first one, The Black Company, about a year ago when my son borrowed the book from a friend of his. Then I got side-tracked, and still had that borrowed book a year later. *facepalm* So, anyway, I finally got back to it, and ended up having to reread The Black Company because I couldn't remember what had happened in it. Finished it and the second book, Shadows Linger, just before the end of the year, and am now almost done with the third book - The White Rose. These books are the story of a group of mercenaries who end up fighting with 'The Lady', a powerful sorceress, in order to keep her husband, 'The Dominator', from returning to life. They're told from the POV of the company doctor/historian, and, while not my usual fare, are quite interesting. They're apparently the first 3 books in a rather long series. I haven't quite decided if I'm going to continue reading past them, especially considering that the library doesn't have the next book available. We'll see…
I think that's all the books I read over the past 8 months, but I may have forgotten one or two. *G* I did start The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway a week or so ago. It didn't catch my interest enough to keep reading when it became due at the library, so I gave it up. *g*
None of the books above were read for book club. As a matter of fact, I haven't read a book club book since … March? [Oh, yes, I did forget one. I… can't remember what it's called. Just something.Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs. Romance novel for book club that we then didn't read. It was actually quite good. She's a cartoonist, and her cartoons are used as chapter headings. Husband has cancer. *rolls eyes* Survives. Goes on to cheat on wife. She catches him and up and leaves. Goes back to Washington State and her family (had moved to Chicago for college, married him, never really adjusted to living there). Meets local fire chief, who was one of the 'big guys on campus' in high school. You know the rest. *g*] We didn't meet during the summer, I missed the October meeting, and I haven't had a chance to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett that we read for November. Still on the wait list at the library, and I'm looking forward to reading it once it's available.
For December, book club read How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn, the sequel to the book we read last December. Since I didn't like the first one, I chose not to read the second one. I'm also not reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold for this month. The rest of the gals are going to the movie then to dinner to discuss book/movie differences, which I think would be a good discussion. Just not for a book/movie I have zero interest in reading/seeing.
So, that's what I've been up to. *g* Well, that and a few other things I'll try to post about later. In the meantime... Hi, y'all! *g*