32.-38.
32. Whose panties are these? More misadventures from Funny Women on the Road. (Edited by Jennifer Lee, 201 pages, 3/24/07). This is an anthology of misadventure travel writing by women. Some was excellent, some adequate, but I like reading about gutsy women taking their shows on the road.
33.* Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce (308 pages, finished 3/19/07). More Tortall. Seeing Thayet and Buri through Daine and Keladry's eyes in Squire and Wild Magic inspired me to revisit this book, where they are rescued by Alanna, Coram, and the Shang Dragon and delivered to Jonathan's court. Thayet is more accesible in this book, but that makes sense because Alanna sees her as an equal, while Daine and Kel are both younger and her subjects. I love these books. If I was going to throw myself into Tortall I think I would choose to be one of the Queen's Ladies, so as to have the broadest exposure, with being a Queen's Rider as my second choice. I am not meant to be a knight.
34. Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank And Other Words of Delicate Southern Wisdom by Celia Rivenbark (262 pages, 3/22/07). I was attracted to Celia's work by another title - Bless her heart, tramp- since living in the south has convinced me that southern women speak a whole different language. In Belle, the phrase "bless her heart" generally means, "lean closer girls, and let's trash her." I still haven't read that one, and I may not. This book (Stop Dressing...) was supposed to be Erma Bombeck-like (and I love Erma), but it didn't draw me in. Her humor was a little sharp and aimed too widely for me to really empathize with her.
35. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (451 pages, 3/22/07). This is another wacky alternate reality with werewolves running amok. Bitten is Kelley's first novel, and it is great. Her female protagonist is more interesting and accessible than Miss Anita Blake, and the storyline is just twisted enough to be intriguing. I stayed up 'til 2 am on a school night to finish it, and am looking forward to reading the next one.
36. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton. (read 3/24/07, 418 pages). I shouldn't bash Miss Anita Blake, as I am still enjoying these books. They are fluff, yes, but fun fluff. Perhaps I have a higher tolerance for smut than other people, but I am planning to read a couple more in the series, despite having reached my artificial deadline (Obsidian Butterfly). I enjoyed Blue Moon because the relationships - and no, I don't mean who-is-Anita-sleeping-with-now, are getting more interesting. [spoiler alert!!] Having killed Gabriel ini the last book, Anita is now the Nimir-ra (Queen) of a were-leopard pard as well as lupa of a werewolf pack, girlfriend of a vampire, necromancer, student of Marianne's, etc. Watching her try to bond with the were-leopards, as well as navigate her other roles and what they mean to the bigger picture is interesting. And, bully for us readers, this time most of the sex was actually relatively non-gorey. I mean, all the rapes happened off-screen and the bodily fluids scenes weren't too icky (although there was a lot of blood and some licking of wounds). The fact that I present that as a nice change from other books is amusing.
37. A Hidden Wholeness by Parker J. Palmer (168 pages, read 3/23/07). My mother sent me this book, since she knows I have been struggling to figure out what it is I need in my life. Palmer argues that many people today live divided lives, complicating their choices and making life unrewarding. I can relate to that - I have gotten bolder about bringing the parts of my life together in the last year or so, but between the distance and over-active impression management, my life is certainly not a single, coherent whole. I read this book slowly, and have tabbed some pages to revisit, perhaps in a reflective LJ post. I enjoyed his gentle discussion of the importance of living a value-centered life, focusing on community, and making space to hear our own inner truths. The making space component particularly stuck with me, since I had arrived at that same language in my recent decision-making process, telling people that rather than making a decision I was making space for a decision.
38. The Accidental Florist by Jill Churchill (224 pages, read 3/25/07 sitting at Barnes & Noble). This Jane Jeffery story was fun, but I hesitate to describe it as a mystery - two people were killed and their killers arrested, but Jane and Shelley were too busy planning a wedding to solve the crime, instead Jane made one useful suggestion to the police and shopped, battled her future mother-in-law over wedding planning, and dealt with family crises. It was a fun read, but I wont be adding this one to my collection or revisiting it anytime soon.
(Since I have the spreadsheet automatically, tallying pages, I can report that I am now over 11,400 words read this year).
33.* Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce (308 pages, finished 3/19/07). More Tortall. Seeing Thayet and Buri through Daine and Keladry's eyes in Squire and Wild Magic inspired me to revisit this book, where they are rescued by Alanna, Coram, and the Shang Dragon and delivered to Jonathan's court. Thayet is more accesible in this book, but that makes sense because Alanna sees her as an equal, while Daine and Kel are both younger and her subjects. I love these books. If I was going to throw myself into Tortall I think I would choose to be one of the Queen's Ladies, so as to have the broadest exposure, with being a Queen's Rider as my second choice. I am not meant to be a knight.
34. Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank And Other Words of Delicate Southern Wisdom by Celia Rivenbark (262 pages, 3/22/07). I was attracted to Celia's work by another title - Bless her heart, tramp- since living in the south has convinced me that southern women speak a whole different language. In Belle, the phrase "bless her heart" generally means, "lean closer girls, and let's trash her." I still haven't read that one, and I may not. This book (Stop Dressing...) was supposed to be Erma Bombeck-like (and I love Erma), but it didn't draw me in. Her humor was a little sharp and aimed too widely for me to really empathize with her.
35. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (451 pages, 3/22/07). This is another wacky alternate reality with werewolves running amok. Bitten is Kelley's first novel, and it is great. Her female protagonist is more interesting and accessible than Miss Anita Blake, and the storyline is just twisted enough to be intriguing. I stayed up 'til 2 am on a school night to finish it, and am looking forward to reading the next one.
36. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton. (read 3/24/07, 418 pages). I shouldn't bash Miss Anita Blake, as I am still enjoying these books. They are fluff, yes, but fun fluff. Perhaps I have a higher tolerance for smut than other people, but I am planning to read a couple more in the series, despite having reached my artificial deadline (Obsidian Butterfly). I enjoyed Blue Moon because the relationships - and no, I don't mean who-is-Anita-sleeping-with-now, are getting more interesting. [spoiler alert!!] Having killed Gabriel ini the last book, Anita is now the Nimir-ra (Queen) of a were-leopard pard as well as lupa of a werewolf pack, girlfriend of a vampire, necromancer, student of Marianne's, etc. Watching her try to bond with the were-leopards, as well as navigate her other roles and what they mean to the bigger picture is interesting. And, bully for us readers, this time most of the sex was actually relatively non-gorey. I mean, all the rapes happened off-screen and the bodily fluids scenes weren't too icky (although there was a lot of blood and some licking of wounds). The fact that I present that as a nice change from other books is amusing.
37. A Hidden Wholeness by Parker J. Palmer (168 pages, read 3/23/07). My mother sent me this book, since she knows I have been struggling to figure out what it is I need in my life. Palmer argues that many people today live divided lives, complicating their choices and making life unrewarding. I can relate to that - I have gotten bolder about bringing the parts of my life together in the last year or so, but between the distance and over-active impression management, my life is certainly not a single, coherent whole. I read this book slowly, and have tabbed some pages to revisit, perhaps in a reflective LJ post. I enjoyed his gentle discussion of the importance of living a value-centered life, focusing on community, and making space to hear our own inner truths. The making space component particularly stuck with me, since I had arrived at that same language in my recent decision-making process, telling people that rather than making a decision I was making space for a decision.
38. The Accidental Florist by Jill Churchill (224 pages, read 3/25/07 sitting at Barnes & Noble). This Jane Jeffery story was fun, but I hesitate to describe it as a mystery - two people were killed and their killers arrested, but Jane and Shelley were too busy planning a wedding to solve the crime, instead Jane made one useful suggestion to the police and shopped, battled her future mother-in-law over wedding planning, and dealt with family crises. It was a fun read, but I wont be adding this one to my collection or revisiting it anytime soon.
(Since I have the spreadsheet automatically, tallying pages, I can report that I am now over 11,400 words read this year).