BookFiend's blog

I can't believe it!

I actually won Mel's Bookshelf's Sookie Stackhouse contest!  I've seriously never won anything before.  Not a single dollar from a single lottery ticket or any other contest.  Hmm... maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket now? haha. 

Well, I'm super excited.  I've been a Sookie Stackhouse fan for years.  But I guess I've always borrowed the books from the library so I don't actually own any of them.  And I'm pretty sure I missed a book somewhere in the middle.  Oh, and I've been Netflix-ing True Blood, which I LOVE so far.  So I'm definitely excited about having my own set of books and re-reading all of them. 

Thanks again, Melissa!  for an awesome contest.  And, since I no longer have the excuse of now owning any of the books, I am joining Beth Fish's Sookie Stackhouse Challenge. 

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Everything Austen Challenge

I've decided to join the Everything Austen Challenge.  Surely I can read/watch 6 Austen-related things by years end, right?  Here are my choices, which may change ...

1. Mansfiend Park - The movie starring Frances O'Connor and Jonny Lee Miller. I've seen this move before and it's one of my favorites.
2. Becoming Jane - This movie is already in my instant queue on Netflix.  Plus, I love Anne Hathaway.  I'm looking forward to watching it.
3. The Jane Austen Book Club - Again, already in my queue.  But too bad it's not on instant queue, which is an awesome feature!
4. Jane Austen Ruined My Life - Sounds like an interesting book. Plus, my friend Janicu is reading this one too.
5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Definitely want to check this book out.
6. Pride and Prejudice - Need to re-read this book.

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Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume (Two Dukes of Wyndham, Book 2)

Julia Quinn is one of my favorite authors, whom I just discovered last year.  I really enjoyed her series about the Bridgerton siblings.  I've also liked some of her non-Bridgerton books.  But I'm a bit unsure about this one.  I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't say I loved it.  

Amelia has been engaged to Thomas, the Duke of Wyndham, since she was a baby.  Even though Amelia is getting to be a bit on the shelf, Thomas is still taking his time.  Thomas likes to be engaged and he does intend to marry Amelia ... one day.  But just as he's starting to see Amelia as a person and finding out that he's attracted to her as a woman and a person, his long-lost cousin shows up.  His long-lost elder cousin.  If Thomas is not the Duke of Wyndham, who is he?  And is he still engaged to Amelia?

Overall, I liked Amelia and Thomas.  But I'm not sure I felt the chemistry between the two of them as much.  Plus, I knew this is one of a pair of books.  The other one, the Duke of Wyndham, is written from the cousin's point of view.  So the entire time, I was feeling like I'm missing something.  So I'm definitely going to read the other book and see if I can fill in some blanks, if there are any to be filled. 

[Slightly SPOILERISH]  I thought there would be more of a mystery about who is who, who is the real Duke of Wyndham.  But I guess the titles speak for themselves. Hah!  So in that sense, I was a little disappointed because it seemed too easy that Thomas just accepted that he's no longer the Duke and turned everything over to his cousin.  I guess I was expecting a bit more conflict, a bit more fight in him.  But he seemed to just accept that it's the right thing to do and seemed almost happy and relieved he's no longer the Duke with all of the ducal resposibilities.  I dunno, it just didn't feel authentic to me.

So, I'm going to pick up the other book and read it and see how I feel after that.  B-.

Also on blogger. 

Awesome Sookie Stackhouse Contest

@ Melissa's Bookshelf:  http://www.melissas-bookshelf.com/2009/06/huge-sookie-stackhouse-giveaway.html

I love the Sookie Stackhouse series.  In fact, I am signing up for Netflix just so I can watch the True Blood series.  It would be great to re-read the series again.

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Yikes!

Has it really been 3 months since my last post?  I truly admire real bloggers like my friend Janicu and all the other blogs I follow.  It takes time and dedication to maintain a well-written blog.  I suppose I'm more of a fair-weathered blogger myself.  However, I shall endeavor to post more regularly!

This post is not about anything in particular though.  I've been pondering keeping a TBR list.  Tips?  I read so many reviews on various blogs.  For example, I just read a positive reviews on The Good, The Bad, and The Unread on A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore.  I remember reading another good review on this book earlier on some other blog.  So I'm now tempted to try it.  But it's not at the library. Boo.  So I will have to remember it the next time I go to a bookstore or shop @ Amazon, which I never do.

So readers (if I have any other than Janicu!), how do you keep your TBR?  General list, excel spreadsheet, online, in your head?  I'm thinking of a simple table with book name, author name, and a link to the review or source that got my interest.  I will probably keep it online so I can easily reference it and easily link to the reviews.  But we shall see.

Now I'm off.  Gotta get ready to attend 2 weddings today!

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I *heart* Used Book Stores

Especially since I live 5 minutes away from an awesome one.  I just took in two boxes of books for approximately $80 worth of credit.  Now cumulatively I have about $100 there, which is good and bad.  Good because now I have $100 credit; bad because it'll take me forever to spend it since I am much more discriminatory about buying books now.  And typically for my must buy books, I end up buying at a store or on amazon.com anyway because I can't wait for it to start appearing at a used book store.  Hmm. Problems. But still, this way, I got rid of some old books that I've outgrown and now have lots of credit. 

The books they didn't take include some random authors that I don't even remember reading, some old Sandra Browns, Julie Garwoods, one Jude Deveraux, a couple of Teresa Medeiros, Karen Robards and a couple of Johanna Lindsays.  Hmm. I wonder if these authors are in the remaining two boxes I have here.  If so, that could be an issue.  I think that store is definitely overstocked with Sandra Brown.  I see a lot of her books there.  Anyway, I have 2 more boxes left here.  Maybe I'll keep it for now.  Seriously, it'll take me years to spend that much $$ there!  Good thing the credit never expires. 

I didn't keep track of what the store did take so I can't miss it.  I do miss it a little though. *sigh*   I wish I had a huge house to keep everything. 

Also on blogger.

Getting rid of books is hard

Remember a while back I posted about how my parents were cleaning out their house and ended up sending me boxes of books that were still at their house?  Well, now I'm cleaning my house.  I'm taking 4 boxes of books to the used bookstore next week.  FOUR BOXES.  I estimate this to be approximately 200 books.  Whatever they don't want, I will take to the library.  This batch includes a lot of classic books I read in school, all of my Sandra Browns, Julie Garwoods, and other authors I liked but may be have outgrown.  It's sad, really sad, to be giving all of these books away.  But it's time.  Now I'm much more discriminating about the books I buy.  Hopefully one day, eBooks will get to the point where I can buy lots of books without feeling bad about space.

Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7)

On to my review.  This is Book 7 of the Meredith Gentry series.  Meredith is a princess of the faeries.  Her aunt, the Queen, promised her the throne if she gets pregnant before her cousin, Cel.  So to get pregnant, Meredith sleeps with many men (hey, it is a LKH book after all).  Last book, she finally got pregnant. With twins. Each kid fathered by two different men.  Eh...

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book.  I was actually a little thrown off because now that Meredith is pregnant, there's no sex with many men on every other page.  There is still sex, but much more toned down.  But on the other hand, the whole book didn't seem to have much of a plot other than the usual.  People trying to kill Meredith.  Lots of faerie fighting, Meredith getting lots of power. Some faerie politics that I don't really get.  Blah.  Every other page is now filled with Meredith full of resolve to protect her kids and the men she loves, and about how her magic is one of creation, but at the same time destruction.  It's all very grand and thematic and very blah.  I can't really explain it.  But I think back on good fantasy books like David Eddings.  This just doesn't compare.  It's like a kid playing at writing fantasy, with a touch of erotica.  But it's neither good fantasy nor good erotica.  I honestly don't know why I keep reading.  At least I get it from the library.  Grade: D.

ARGH!

Stupid DRM!  I can borrown eBooks from my library online, but I can't read it using Stanza on my iPod. I pretty much hate reading long PDF files on my laptop.  *sigh*  I guess I won't be using the digital library until this DRM crap is sorted out.

Happy 2009!

Wow - Can't believe it's the new year already!  I have to start the count again for 2009. 

2008 was a pretty good year, even though I was delinquent in writing up reviews.  I'm just going to list the books I read for the year and give the final tally.  As I was making the list below, I re-read some of my reviews and was remembering the books I read, good and bad.  The books I haven't reviewed don't yet have grades (bad me!).  In 2009, my goal is to review as I read.  We'll see how that goes. In 2008, I discovered some new authors that I really enjoyed.  Julia Quinn among them.  In 2009, I will continue to try new authors, perhaps based on some blog recs (janicu, dear author, smart bitches). 

So, below is a list/tally of my 2008:  47!

(But when I get home, I'm going to look around to see if maybe I read 3 books I didn't remember to round it up to 50).

1. Love You to Death by Melissa Senate, B+
2. Second Hand World by Katherin Min, B+
3. The Perfect Bride by Brenda Joyce, D-
4. Out of the Shadows by Kay Hooper, B+
5. Hiding in the Shadows by Kay Hooper, B-
6. Servant the Awakening by L.L. Foster, D
7. Creation in Death by J.D. Robb, B
8. Fear No Evil by Allison Brennan, A-
9. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, B
10. Speak No Evil by Allison Brennan, B+
11. The Prey by Allison Brennan, B+
12. Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb, B+
13. Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper, C+
14. Die for Me by Karen Rose, B
15. The Accidental Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 7) by Lynsay Sands, B+
16. Private Arrangement by Sherry Thomas, B+
17. Good Enough by Paula Yoo, B
18. From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Series, Book 8) by Charlaine Harris, B+
19. Quicksand by Iris Johansen, B-
20. Undead and Uneasy by Maryjanice Davidson, B
21. A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton, C
22. Escape by Carolyn Jessop, B+
23. Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen, B
24. Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas, A-
25. Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon, C+
26. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, B
27. You Can't Hide by Karen Rose
28. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
29. Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs 
30. Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
31. Trust Me by Brenda Novak
32. Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
33. Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson, F!
34. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
35. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
36. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
37. To Sir Philip With Love by Julia Quinn
38. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
39. Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose
40. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn
41. Between the Sheets by Robin Wells
42. Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey
43. The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
44. Dark Summer by Iris Johansen
45. The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner
46. Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann
47. Archeron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Goal for next year: 50 again. I can dooo it! :)

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

Into the Storm (Troubleshooters, Book 10)

This is my first Suzanne Brockmann book.  I wasn't too impressed.  I didn't realize this is Book 10 of the Troubleshooters series.  Maybe I should have started at the beginning because I felt there were quite a few background stories that I didn't get. 

What was also frustrating is that the backcover of the book is very misleading.  The back of the book describes a training operation that takes place in New Hampshire, during which someone on the team goes missing into the clutches of a serial killer.  Mark Jenkins (the hero) and Lindsay Fontaine (the heroine) must put their night of passion behind them and work together in a race against time to save their missing colleague. 

Sounds good right? Fast paced, suspenseful, racing against time to find the serial killer before he kills his next victim. Nope, the book is NOTHING like it.  Here's my rant about what is wrong with this book.

• Most of the action takes place in San Diego, CA.  They don't even get to New Hampshire until 200 pages into the book.  A 200 page set up is ridiculous.
• There are a TON of characters.  While Mark and Lindsay are supposedly the main characters, it never felt like that. The book is all over the place in terms of character development and focus.  Everyone had issues but we never got to explore any of them in detail.
• There's Mark, who seemed like he might have some emotional baggage to deal with from his experiences in Afghanistan, during which a close civilian friend of his was murdered.  But the rest of the book never mentioned this again, other than mentioning his shoulder injury once in a while.  The whole incident at the beginning of the book seemed pointless since the remainder of the book pretends like Mark is just some tough Navy SEAL.
• Then there is Lindsay Fontaine, who is ... Asian. WTF.  The book never really explored who Lindsay is.  We got brief glimpses of her issue with her dad, whose own father is one of the Japanese commanders responsible for many WWII atrocities.  But what does that have to do with anything??  And really, Fontaine?  When I found out she's Asian, I was seriously thrown a loop.  Not to say all Asian characters have to have Asian names but I just thought it was really random and unrealistic for this character to be Asian.  She's supposedly an LAPD officer for 6 years.  Now she's a tough Troubleshooters member.  But she's tiny and petite, and can still kick your ass.  Um stereotypical much? 
• Then there's the cast of secondary characters, who kind of took over the book.
• Hostage Tracy - who is a girly girl receptionist.  Mark has a crush on her.  Mark's friend Izzy wants to bang her.  Tracy's ex-boyfriend Lyle comes into town.  Tracy herself is at the same time ditzy and deep.  She's flirty but fragile. *rolls eyes*  There's more time spent on Tracy's character development than either Mark's or Lindsay's.
• Love triangle between Dave, Sophia, and Decker.  These are employees at Troubleshooters. Sophia has been through some past trauma.  She and Decker has a history but now they are fighting their attraction to each other for some reason unexplained.  Dave is in love with Sophia.  I am rooting for Dave, but given the set up, I think Decker would have to die or something for Sophia to get over him.  This subplot took a ridiculous amount of book time.
• The serial killer was barely an afterthought.  It didn't even make sense.  This guy kidnaps women, forcing them to kill each other to survive.  His hostage, Number Five has been surviving for a long time.  Tracey is Number 21.  So Number Five killed 15 people.  Under duress sure, but that woman is going to be messed UP.  But then at the end of the book, the FBI was like, oh yes, this serial killer has been killing people all over the country.  But he lives in NH, but he's only been in the NH small town for 3 years. WTF.  The "hunt" for this serial killer was seriously maybe the last 100 pages, out of a 500 page book!

Argh. The misleading backcover really pissed me off.  This is not a suspense book at all! It's more like a chick-lit book trying to be a tough suspense book.  Too many characters, too many issues, not enough plot, not enough suspense, not enough actual exploration of the key characters.  Maybe I should have read the first 9 books in the series, but I think I will pass. At least this was only $1 at a used book store. 

Grade: C-.