For the first time in a long while, this past weekend I found myself without a deadline to complete for Monday; I also wasn’t fresh from a deadline completed on the previous Friday (an event which usually requires a day of do-nothing downtime).

Which is why this past weekend turned into a weekend of reading for me. I had a glorious time!

The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima

I started with The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima. I would love to give credit to the blogger who originally added this book to my TBR list, but unfortunately I must have stumbled on this book before I started using Diigo to bookmark TBRs.

I know that I discovered this title as a result of another blog, because when I picked it up from the library (I had put in a request for it) I didn’t even recognize the title! It wasn’t until I read the jacket copy that I vaguely remembered reading something about it online.

So, whoever you are – thank you very much! I started my reading spree this weekend with The Warrior Heir, and I enjoyed the book immensely. I ended up putting in requests at the library for the two sequels (both of which were checked out) and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they will come in (1) in the proper order for reading and (2) during a period where I am not flooded with deadlines.

Set initially in the small town of Trinity, Ohio, the novel tells the story of Jack, a bright high school kid who one day forgets to take the medicine he’s taken every day of his life, and discovers he’s not who he’s always thought himself to be. Soon he’s immersed in an astonishing world of magical beings, with a tie-in to the War of the Roses.

I really enjoyed the world-building in The Warrior Heir; urban fantasy remains a favorite of mine, but I’ve read enough in the genre to know that building a realistic world that fits snugly within our own modern world can be challenging. Chima pulls it off with aplomb, and offers up a great cast of characters and a gripping storyline as well.

Devil’s Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda

Fresh from finishing The Warrior Heir, I plunged into Devil’s Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda.  In this darker novel, the order of the Knights Templar still exists, headquartered in Middle Temple in contemporary London, and its latest member is 16-year-old Billi SanGreal, the only female in the order – and Billi’s not at all certain she wants to live the harsh, violent life of a Templar.

This was another exciting read, although I did enjoy The Warrior Heir more. At times I found Billi to be just a little too full of angst for my taste – her desire for a normal teenage life is certainly understandable but she sometimes got too whiny and obstinate about it. After all, a small dose of angst goes a long way when there are terrible creatures to be fought and you and your fellow Knights are the only thing standing between humanity and the evil that seeks to plague them.  For the most part, though, I enjoyed her character, the storyline and the alternate world of the Knights Templar, filled as it is with mysticism, conflict and evil creatures.

Not to mention, Devil’s Kiss has one of the most compelling first lines I’ve read in a while:

Killing him should be easy; he’s only six.

What an irresistible opening line!

The Forever King, by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy

After finishing Devil’s Kiss, I found myself still hungry for urban fantasy, so I decided to go for a reread next.

The Forever King, by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy is an old favorite of mine. The book begins in New York City, where we meet Hal Woczniak, an alcoholic ex-FBI agent, Arthur Blessing, a ten-year-old orphan who lives with his Aunt Emily and a mysterious older gentleman by the name of Mr. Taliesin. Meanwhile, in a psychiatric hospital in England, a serial killer with no name who had entombed his victims in sculptures puts into motion a plan of escape.

The action moves quickly from the very start, and the storyline goes back and forth from contemporary to historical times. It is, as the title implies, a retelling of the Arthurian legend, with both a historical and a contemporary twist. At its core is the age-old fight for the Grail, a cup made of an unknown substance with miraculous healing powers.

Unfortunately, the book is no longer in print, but if you enjoy novels that involve Arthurian legend and a contemporary setting, this is a book to grab if you ever see a used copy floating around.

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

And finally, at long last, I started Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke. This book has been in my TBR pile for a long time now, and it seemed like a natural book to reach for this weekend, since I was immersing myself in urban fantasy.

I’m in the middle of the book right now; it’s a good read, although I do find my interest flagging a little. I suspect, though, that things are just about to get exciting again, as Mo, Meggie’s father, has a certain plan up his sleeve and while I do have a good inkling what it involves, it will be interesting to see how it all works out.

This weekend of reading has also proved to be very educational too in terms of my writing – but I’ll save those thoughts for another post!

I always have four to five books “on the go” at any given moment, some of which I admit I don’t actually finish.

But I’m pretty sure I’m going to finish The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern (the author of P.S. I Love You). I found the beginning slow to start, with a lot of telling rather than showing, but I’m now in the middle of the novel and Ahern has me all caught up in the world of her narrator, Tamara Goodwin.

The Book of Tomorrow has an unusual twist to it, involving as it does a magical book. A truly magical book, a book of tomorrow. And there’s a good dollop of mystery, too. Not a mystery in the sense of a crime, but a mystery nevertheless.

Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she’s ever wanted. Born into a family of wealth, she grew up in a mansion with its own private beach, a wardrobe full of designer clothes, a large four poster bed complete with a luxurious bathroom en-suite. She’s always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow.

But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever. Left with a mountain of debt, they have no choice but to sell everything they own and move to the country to live with Tamara’s Uncle and Aunt. Nestled next to Kilsaney Castle, their gatehouse is a world away from Tamara’s childhood. With her mother shut away with grief, and her aunt busy tending to her, Tamara is lonely and bored and longs to return to Dublin.

When a travelling library passes through Kilsaney Demesne, Tamara is intrigued. She needs a distraction. Her eyes rest on a mysterious large leather bound tome locked with a gold clasp and padlock. With some help, Tamara finally manages to open the book. What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its core.

So yes, I’m definitely enjoying The Book of Tomorrow.

And welcome, too, to a “new feature” at Ms. Bookish: In The Middle Of …!

Nora Roberts is such a prolific author, but I’ve never read a Nora Roberts novel before.

It’s partly because I always think of her as a romance writer (although I haven’t read any of her J.D. Robb mysteries, either – not sure why that is); while I do enjoy the occasional romance, I prefer romance with a large dose of humor, so chick lit is more to my taste.

But a while back when I hosted the Comfort Reads edition of the Bookworms Carnival, Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books submitted as her entry Roberts’s Three Sisters trilogy. I found the concept of the books very intriguing: they feature three independent women, all witches, living on an enchanting sounding island, Three Sisters Island. The combination of magic and every day life has always been very appealing to me, so I requested the first book in the trilogy, Dance Upon the Air, from the library.

I actually picked up Dance Upon the Air immediately after putting down another book, a DNF which I had thought would be very much to my taste, given that it was an urban fantasy with Arthurian elements. I’d read ten pages of this particular novel before realizing I wasn’t really getting into the story at all; I wanted to read something, though, so I picked up Dance Upon the Air from my pile of library books, and started reading.

Roberts is extremely skilled at telling her story; it took far less than ten pages before I was pulled in. I’m about halfway through the book now, and I’m enjoying it very much.

The setting of Three Sisters Island is beautifully rendered; this is a place I’d love to move to! In Dance Upon the Air, the setting itself is as much a character as the other characters in the book.

There’s a good dash of romance but it’s well-balanced well with the intrigue of an abusive husband who’s hunting down his wife. Add in the magical elements, and it’s easy to see why I was hooked so quickly and so thoroughly.

The only quibble I’ve had so far is Roberts’s tendency to describe her main characters too thoroughly. All three of the women in the story are impossibly beautiful, and there’s also the fact that I prefer less description because it’s always more enjoyable for me to use my imagination to fill in a character’s appearance in my mind’s eye.

But really, that’s a small thing. I’ve been enjoying Dance Upon the Air quite a lot so far, and I’m pretty certain once I finish this first book in the trilogy I’ll be moving to the next two books. I’m probably still not likely to read any of Roberts’s straight romance novels, but Roberts has written other trilogies with a dash of the paranormal, and I’ll be keeping my eye out for them.

What about you? Is Nora Roberts one of your favorite authors? What books written by Roberts would you recommend to someone like me who enjoys the suspense and paranormal elements more than the romance?

I’m practicing the Art of Procrastination (I am an ardent and devoted follower of the Art), so I thought I’d sit down and write my semi-regular rambly Saturday post. Why am I procrastinating? (I’m usually always procrastinating about something, and today is no exception.)

Tonight’s Open-House Dinner

I only managed to get a couple of rooms clean yesterday, leaving the untidiest rooms to do today (in the next few hours, no less). I’m still debating whether I should tackle my office or whether I should put up some sort of a barrier and an “Enter at Your Own Risk” sign at the door.

We have 28 people coming for dinner. It’s funny how that number makes me feel like I need to get the house cleaner than, oh, say six people coming over.

So wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

NaNoWriMo Update!

So much for my stellar start with NaNoWriMo. Initially, at the pace I was going, I should have been close to finished by now. But I still haven’t gotten the write-everyday-pattern down pat, and ended up taking two days “off” from writing. I’m not likely to get any writing done today, either.

Current total: 25,651 words

I’m still on target to complete 50K words by the end of the month, which is a very good thing indeed!

Currently Reading

I haven’t had the chance to read any print books this week. I did, however, end up sticking with my M.C. Beaton audios, and just finished up Death of a Dreamer. I’m really liking this series in audio – the Scottish accents are wonderful, and the stories are great cozies, very good when you’re in the mood for a comfort read.

Bookworms Carnival

And speaking of comfort reads, I’m hosting the 42nd edition of the Bookworms Carnival! (I think I am, anyway. I’ve submitted my topic, but haven’t heard back yet, so I need to get on the ball and email again, I think.)

The topic I’ve chosen is Comfort Reads. Deadline for submission of posts is November 27, 2009.

And if all goes well (meaning, my emails to the organizers haven’t been going astray!) I’ll be writing up a more detailed post later this week.

This Coming Week

Things should be less hectic this coming week. Several of my deadlines have shifted into December (great for November, not so great for Christmas!) so I’ll be able to take a bit of a breather and hopefully be able to finally tackle my Google Reader.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get tomorrow’s International Giveaways List post up, as I usually write that one up on the Saturday and well, it’s Saturday already, the house is only half-cleaned, and tonight I’m going to be more busy than not.

What have you been up to this week? I haven’t had a chance to visit very many blogs, so please feel free to leave links in the comments to your posts about any interesting things going on this week in your reading or writing life!

Despite being so busy this month, I was sitting back the other day, thinking about what I’ve been reading, and am quite amazed to realize that I have actually been reading!

Reading: Spiderwick Chronicles

Over the weekend, I finished reading the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. I’d seen a review of the books at Brizmus Blogs Books, where Audrey thought the Chronicles would be a much better read if you read all the books back to back. It was a rather serendipitous moment for me, as I’d just seen an omnibus volume of all the books in the series at Costco that day, and as I’d been intending to give the series a try, I ended up going back to purchase the omnibus collection.

I’m very glad I did. Audrey was right – Spiderwick is a great read if you read all the books in the series straight through. I polished the omnibus collection off in one sitting, and enjoyed it as a result. After I finished the first book in the series, I could see how it would have been quite a letdown if I didn’t have the next books in the series on hand.

And the illustrations are absolutely wonderful, of course!

Reading: The Lost Art of Gratitude

I’m also in the middle of The Lost Art of Gratitude, the latest Isabel Dalhousie book by Alexander McCall Smith.

I’ve been taking this one slowly – it’s just so enjoyable getting back into Isabel’s head. I find that it really doesn’t matter very much what the plots of the Dalhousie books are; they’re sometimes dubbed mysteries but they’re not really that mysterious. And even though I love mysteries, a good strong plot, the riveting nature of a story of good against evil, I don’t really care that the Isabel Dalhousie series has none of this.

For me the beauty of this series is the pure enjoyment of being in Isabel Dalhousie’s world once again. I fell in love with Isabel and her Edinburgh very early on, in the first book in this series, The Sunday Philosophy Club, and have looked forward to, and enjoyed, every new book in the series ever since. I love the way she thinks, and the way she goes about her world. I love the gentleness of the books, and the way they make me feel every time I dip in.

Listening: Hamish Macbeth

And finally, on the audiobook front – because I simply can’t get by without having at least one good audiobook on the go.

I had the tough task of choosing an audiobook to follow the last Harry Potter book. I’d just finished listening to the entire Harry Potter series in audio and was really feeling quite sad. It had been quite lovely listening to Harry and his friends every night before bed, and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to pick something equally enthralling.

I decided to choose a completely different genre, and ended up listening to M.C. Beaton’s Death of a Poison Pen. This was my very first Hamish Macbeth mystery, and I was in for a surprise. For some reason, I’d always thought these stories were older, set in the 30s and 40s, much like much of Agatha Christie’s mysteries. Well, they’re not. And they are such fun, light reads.

So I’ve been enjoying getting to know Hamish and the village and villagers of Lochdubh. After finishing Death of a Poison Pen, I moved onto Death of a Gentle Lady, which I should be finishing up tonight. There’ve been quite a handful of laugh-out-loud moments, too, which also surprised me.

What’s Up Next

All in all, I’ve been quite enjoying the Hamish Macbeth series. I’m not sure if I’ll go for another Hamish Macbeth novel when I’ve finished up with Death of a Gentle Lady. I recently discovered the audio version of Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, one of my favorite childhood stories (all the books in the series are so magical, and while the Disney movie version is very sweet, it doesn’t really quite capture this magic); I suspect I might dip into that for a listen when I’m finished with the current Hamish.

And I think I will start Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart series. I have Book One of the trilogy, and since I’m eager to dive into another children’s fantasy series, this seemed like a good bet.

What Are You Reading?

So that’s what I’ve been up to, reading-wise. What have you been reading/listening to lately?

It feels like a “lost” week around here in a way. Monday was a holiday here (not that it matters much to me work-wise since I work when I have a deadline and take time off when I don’t, but there’s the not-minor matter of not having to get up with the kids in the morning as they get ready for school!)

Add to that the head cold I had for three days, which unfortunately came back yesterday and really, it feels like all I’ve done this week is loll around in the grip of cold medication that makes me drowsy.

Reading …

I did manage to get through a nice chunk of The Likeness, by Tana French. I’ve mentioned before that, for some reason, this novel hasn’t hooked me the way In The Woods did. I finally felt really engrossed at around page 189. I’m now very near the end, but (and it might just be because I’ve been under the weather) I don’t find myself racing through to see what happens. In fact, the book has sat on the coffee table, open to the page where I last left it, for the past two days.

I did much better with the audio version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – I’m getting close to the end, and I just started listening earlier this week. (It generally takes me longer to listen to an audiobook because I only listen when I’m exercising, cleaning the kitchen and for an hour before bed.)

While I’ve reread the first three Harry Potter books a few times, I realized as I was listening to this one that this is my first reread of it. There were several things I’d forgotten, and one thing I was pleased to rediscover was that (tiny spoiler here, for those of you who haven’t read this one or seen the movie), unlike the movie, it wasn’t Cho who ratted everyone out. I hadn’t realized that the movie had parted ways with the book there (which goes to show how much of the book I’d forgotten by the time I saw the movie!).

Writing …

I’d meant to spend this week doing up character sketch thingies for my NaNoWriMo novel, but never lifted even a finger in that direction. I did, however, find a very handy set of free Excel worksheets right before I came down with that head cold. I’ll only be using the character worksheet, but for those of you who like to plot first, The Novel Planning Excel Workbook might come in handy (you can see all the worksheets in the novel here, but you need to go here to download it).

When I was writing NANTUCKET, I ended up taking a file folder and writing down all my secondary characters in it, because I found myself wasting a lot of time trying to remember names, especially the names of the more minor characters. I think using the character worksheet will really be helpful.

Fitness Challenge

I haven’t done that well this week with the challenge, logging in only two miles, on the day when I was feeling better. I was supposed to do another 1.5 miles yesterday, but kept postponing it, and then that head cold came back again. I really should get on the treadmill today, but I’m still feeling tired.

Ah … discipline. Nope. I don’t have it, not for fitness, anyway!

The Food Blog

Earlier this week, I posted about our Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend; I also mentioned that I was hoping my husband would start blogging at our food blog, Muse in the Kitchen, because I have been doing a terrible job of keeping it up-to-date.

The thing is, while I do love to eat, it’s Ward who’s really passionate about the cooking and the recipes. He’ll be so thrilled about discovering a new technique that creates a much better result, while I’ll be like, “okay, that’s wonderful, is it okay if we dig in now?”

So guess what? He wrote his first post at Muse in the Kitchen the same day I wrote about our Thanksgiving dinner! You can check it out here: 30-Minute Homemade Pasta.

Since that first post, he’s also written several more posts. And today he told me he’s having a great time blogging! My job with the food blog now is very much like my job in the kitchen. During prep time, I play the role of sous chef; at the blog, I do a bit of reformatting.

Life feels pretty near perfect right now …

I really hate when this happens.

I’ve had Tana French’s The Likeness out from the library for a while now. It’s on its last renewal legs, so to speak, so I’ve got to either finish it up in the next few weeks or it has to go back to the library until I can check it out again.

I really liked French’s In The Woods (my review is here) – despite the ending – and everyone I know who’s read In The Woods tells me that The Likeness is even better. But for some reason, I’ve been having trouble getting into it. It’s not that I’m not enjoying it when I do sit down with it, because I am. But for some reason, the book hasn’t hooked me in quite that way yet.

When I was reading In The Woods, I couldn’t put the book down, and if I had to, I could think of nothing else but picking it back up again. This hasn’t happened for me yet with The Likeness. But with only a couple more weeks left for me to finish it, I will need to buckle down and make sure that it’s the book I pick up to read whenever I’m in the mood for reading.

Which will really be difficult, because I’ve got some very interesting books that are calling to me right now. No, really, they are. They’re all making those funny squeaky noises, the ones that my booklover’s discerning ears can hear all too clearly. And those voices are saying, “Pick me up! I’m the one you should be reading right now. Pick me up! I’m so interesting. You won’t regret it …”

First, there’s French Milk, by Lucy Knisley, which I talked about in my last Incoming! new book arrivals post. Since this one is in graphic novel format, it would be so easy to pick it up, because I know it will be a quick and lovely read.

And then there’s Wait Until Twilight, which author Sang Pak sent to me in the summer. I read the first chapter online at Sang’s site before the book arrived, and if the book had only arrived shortly after, I would have finished it by now. The first chapter was really eerie and gothic and had me wanting more. So now I keep looking at the book and thinking, yes, I really should see what happens next.

But wait, there’s more (isn’t there always, though?). I also just picked up a whole slew of books from the library that I’d put in requests for.

Most of these books ended up on my library list because I saw it on a blog somewhere, by the way. So we know who’s to blame, don’t we?

There’s Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto; this is the product description from Amazon: “Mikage, the heroine, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father) Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.” Doesn’t it sound so interesting?

And then there’s Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, an eerie little book that looks like a wonderfully creepy read.

This one was a rather embarrassing find – I’d quickly skimmed through a review on a blog I frequent (I can’t remember which blog it was – I really need to start jotting down where I find my reads) and for some reason I thought it was “in the style of Shirley Jackson”.

Well, I loved The Haunting of Hill House, and “The Lottery” is one of my favorite short stories, so I quickly chirped in the comments something about being a Shirley Jackson lover, so if this was in her style, it definitely was my kind of book. Then I hopped over to my library’s website, typed in the title, and discovered that We Have Always Lived in the Castle wasn’t “in the style of Shirley Jackson” – it’s written by Shirley Jackson.

Sigh. Did I ever feel stupid for making that comment. (Do you ever make commenting blunders like this, by the way? Just asking. Would love some company on this one …)

And after reading so many really good reviews online, I also put in a request for The Summoning a while back; it’s the first book in Kelley Armstrong’s YA paranormal series.

There was a bit of a wait for this one, but at long last, it’s my turn – but it also means this is yet another book I’ll have to read within the next few weeks, because I’m pretty sure there’s still a wait list for this one.

See my growing reading dilemma?

And it doesn’t quite stop there. When I dashed into the library to pick up my holds, I saw Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, and couldn’t resist getting it after I read the synopsis:

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

I know that I shouldn’t do things like this; I should be disciplined enough to be able to pop into the library to pick up an armload of holds without looking around at the shelves to see if something else will catch my eye.

But I’m not disciplined at all when it comes to books and reading.

So there you go. So many reading temptations. But yes, I’m going to finish The Likeness first. I know it’s going to be good – I’m at page 110 and those hooks are finally starting to sink into me.

At least I know it’s going to be a pretty good reading month this month, right?

What about you? Is there a book you absolutely must finish right now, for whatever reason? Are you oh, so tempted by other books like I am, or do you possess the iron will and discipline that I lack?

I haven’t done a Saturday “this is what’s going on with me” post for ages, so I figured it was about time. And after this week, I actually might be posting something like this regularly on Saturday – because starting next Saturday, I’ll have more time.

The Big List of Book Giveaways

Why will I have more time?

Tomorrow will be my last “Big List of Book Giveaways” post for The Sunday Salon. I will still be posting a giveaways list on Sundays, but after a lot of thought, I’ve decided to change the theme of the list and focus only on giveaways that are open worldwide. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, ever since I read this post at J. Kaye’s book blog, where she mentions that Bookworming in the 21st Century posts Link a Contest Thursday every Thursday, and it’s so easy – if you have a giveaway, you just enter it into her Mr. Linky.

The Big List of Book Giveaways post had gotten to the point where it took up a big chunk of my Saturdays, but I’d been reluctant to give it up because it seems to be so helpful to everyone. Reading through the comments I’ve gotten, I saw that a lot of people liked the fact that I state whether a giveaway is open worldwide or not. So it makes sense to me to narrow down the focus to just international book giveaways – hopefully the list will continue to be helpful for everyone (since everyone can enter), and I get to take back some of my Saturdays!

I’m A Cheerleader for the October Read-a-thon!

I never know what I’m going to be doing on any given day until that day comes (in addition to being a moody reader, I also like to adjust my life around whatever I happen to feel like doing at the moment). So, while the idea of participating in the October Read-a-thon is so tempting, I know myself well enough to know it’s probably not a good idea.

Cheerleading, on the other hand? I can do that! So I’ve signed up to be a cheerleader for the October Read-a-thon, and am in the process of dusting off my Twitter and commenting pom poms. I will try to follow the lead of that great Read-a-thon cheerleader, Beth Fish Reads, whose impressive cheering performance during the April Read-a-thon was really what inspired me to sign up to cheer this time around.

If you’d like to participate in the Read-a-thon, or want to give cheerleading a try, just head on over to Dewey’s Read-a-thon.

100-Mile (160.1 km) Fitness Challenge

I’ve been noticing that I seem to have gotten, um, a bit more rounded, shall we say, over the past six months. With both the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts approaching, now seems like a good time to start running again.

Synchronicity struck – I was over at Amanda’s The Zen Leaf and she mentioned she was signing up for the 100-Mile Fitness Challenge. Perfect! So I’ve signed up, too, and hope this is the motivation I need to get running again. I’ve been noticing that my thighs feel sore after I go upstairs – I truly feel like I’m climbing the stairs, like they were some big huge mountain. Not to mention that out-of-breath feeling. So it really is time to do something about it.

My treadmill gives me Canadian distances, so for me, the challenge will be, roughly, 160.1 km over the next three months It turns out my treadmill gives me miles, not kilometres!. And I’m probably going to start out by walking first. I’ve got a ton of audiobooks waiting to accompany me, so my challenge posts will actually be bookish!

So, What’s Up With NANTUCKET?

I haven’t written anything about my progress with NANTUCKET because I haven’t made any progress with it since the last time I posted about it. I know – it’s a very sorry state of affairs. I still have three scenes to write, after which I can say, “I did it! It’s finished!”

You’d think it would be easy to get motivated to write those final scenes, but I have a small confession to make. NANTUCKET has always been my “practice” novel. After not having written anything for so long, I needed to show myself that I could do it. Since I wanted to use that first book to get myself back into writing, I decided to use one of my good ideas, and not one of the ideas about which I am really passionate.

And it’s worked, too. I have been able to write regularly, consistently, even when inspiration seemed far off. I have sat at the keyboard and invited my muse, rather than waiting on the sidelines for my muse to show up first (she never does, I’ve noticed).

But I haven’t felt inspired to write the ending, and worse, I haven’t been sitting down, so the muse hasn’t appeared.

I’m going to finish this manuscript though. I have to, because I’m itching to start the prep work for my NaNoWriMo novel (code name WAVERLEY), and I’m using this itch as an incentive to finish NANTUCKET. And I’m looking forward to pulling that first draft out of a drawer six weeks later and seeing how it reads, too.

So this is my long-winded way of saying, yes, I’ll be writing that “I’m Finished!” post soon.

Currently Reading

I am about a quarter of the way into Tana French’s The Likeness, and while I’ve been enjoying it, I got tempted out of the book when I picked up a copy of The Lost Art of Gratitude, the latest Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith. I haven’t been able to resist dipping into it, and I’ve quite enjoyed the handful of pages I’ve read so far.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on why I like the Isabel Dalhousie series so much. It’s certainly not for the mystery, because it’s definitely not the mystery that drives each of these books. I think it’s because I like how Isabel Dalhousie’s mind works, how, as a philosopher, she is always going off on these strange thought tangents all the time. She’s just so interesting, intelligent and self-aware.

I also like the fact that she’s an older woman in a stable relationship with a younger man. Many of my friends are in similar relationships, but I’ve noticed that this kind of relationship never shows up much in fiction. McCall Smith does a good job with it, I think.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. What about you? What have you been up to this week?

After looking forward to The Word on the Street all week, we all ended up missing the entire event. On Saturday, with the colder weather and the rain, allergies began hitting us – not the tiny-sniffle type of allergies, but full blown sinus-pressure, drippy nose (you wanted to hear that one, didn’t you?), cough and non-stop sneezing type of allergies.

My older son, who, ironically, seems to have constant low-grade hayfever during late summer and early fall, was the only one who remained unaffected.

By the time Sunday rolled around, all my husband and I wanted to do was lie on the sofa with hot lemon tea and a box of tissues each.

The good news, though (I do love that there’s always good news): I ended up finishing up three books over the weekend, all of which I really enjoyed. Add to these books the handful of books I read earlier in September that I also enjoyed, and I can definitely say September turned out to be quite a good month for me, reading-wise.

I’ll be writing up reviews for most of this week, so stay tuned.

There’s one book that I started a couple of weeks ago that I haven’t been feeling like picking up again to finish. It’s The Mystery of the Third Lucretia, by Susan Runholt. I thought it would be a did-not-finish for me, because I haven’t been able to really get back into it.

I can’t think of any reason why I’m not that interested in it, though, after reading about two-thirds of it already: it’s a well-written novel, with a fun and smart teenage protagonist and what looks to be quite a clever mystery. The author does have a tendency to overuse the gothic “if I’d only known” foreshadowing device (it’s a personal thing with me – I tend to think that even once is too often – and she doesn’t use those exact words, but there’s a lot of “as it turns out, this was a really bad decision, but we didn’t know it at the time”), but I’ve overlooked it in other books easily enough; I don’t like “if I’d only known”, but it’s not enough to make me stop reading a book.

I am so enamored of Blue Balliett’s middle grade art mystery series (I wrote a couple of reviews back when I first started MsBookish – I raved about The Calder Game here and enthused about The Wright 3 here); The Mystery of the Third Lucretia, another art mystery but with teen protagonists, is really a natural read for me.

Since I can’t put my finger on anything about the book that’s putting me off, I’ve decided to finish it tonight. I’ve already read so much of it, after all. Plus, it’s gotten so many good reviews, and I’m pretty sure I added it to my TBR because I’d seen a good review of it in one of the book blogs I follow.

On the theory that, for once, I’d hate to miss out because of my reading mood, I figure I might as well give it another go.

Have you ever done this – thought that a book was a DNF for you, but decided after a while to pick it up again and finish it anyway? It rarely happens to me, but then again, I don’t often read that far into a book before thinking, this one isn’t for me.

I am in the midst of getting the house tidied up, as we’re having friends over for dinner tonight – I love the end result of this process of cleaning and tidying, because it means not only a nice clean space in which to entertain, but also a nice clean house for at least a day or two after tonight as well.

That’s a rather rare event so I’m all for celebrating it when it does happen.

It’s funny the efforts we’ll go to for others, when in retrospect, we can see how beneficial it is for ourselves as well. As to why I don’t just keep the house clean on a regular basis, I don’t have a clue. Except that I don’t like cleaning, and it takes the threat of friends seeing the mess in which we live to move me enough to do something about it.

All of which leads me to The Opposite of Fate, by Amy Tan. No, this is not a book about cleaning. It’s a book of musings by Amy Tan on her life and on her writing. And the reason why I’m currently reading this right now is because I’ve spent the morning cleaning up, there’s still a little bit more to do, but I was hungry, and since I found myself eating lunch by myself (my husband is out doing the shopping for tonight’s dinner, and the kids have all gotten their own various versions of lunch), I did what I always do when I’m dining solo: I reached for a book.

I didn’t feel in the mood for fiction, so I decided to dip into The Opposite of Fate. And I’m very glad I did. It’s wonderful so far, and since it’s been a while since I’ve read an Amy Tan novel, it feels good to luxuriate in her words again:

In gathering these pieces for the book, I made a new realization, so obvious that I was stunned I had not seen the pattern a hundred times before. In all of my writings, both fiction and nonfiction, directly or obliquely but always obsessively, I return to questions of fate and its alternatives. I saw that these musings about fate express my idiosyncratic and evolving philosophy, and this in turn is my “voice,” the one that determines the kinds of stories I want to tell, the characters I choose, the details I decide are relevant. In my fictional stories, I have chosen characters who question what they should believe at different moments in their lives, often in times of loss. And while I never intended for the pieces in this current nonfiction book to explain my fiction, they do.

I’m supposed to be writing and I think I probably will, once the little guy is in bed later tonight, so in the meantime, I’m trying to decide what book to read while I curl up next to him on the sofa (he’ll be watching The Backyardigans).

I’ve just finished up two excellent middle grade mysteries: The Mask on the Cruise Ship and Shadows on the Train, both by Melanie Johnson. I’ll be reviewing each of these shortly, so I’ll just say right now that these are superb mysteries, and if you’re like me, you’ll feel highly entertained, very involved and deep in the story – for me, classic signs of a very good read, regardless of the age of target audience.

So anyway, I’ve been pondering (and procrastinating, but you all knew that. I haven’t been particularly stellar when it comes to my writing lately). Should I continue along the middle grade mystery path? Along these lines, I have The Horizontal Man, by Michael Dahl in my TBR.

Or should I switch genres completely and plunge into a bit of children’s fantasy? (I’ve been on a children’s books kick lately). I have Hatching Magic, by Ann Downer and The Anybodies, by N.E. Bode here, too. Then there’s Hannah’s Winter, by Kierin Meehan, which sounds like an absolutely delightful read.

To complicate matters, there are the two adult mysteries I’ve started reading – only a few pages of each, so it’s not like I’ve gotten very far into them. Louise Penny’s The Brutal Telling beckons; I love the world of Three Pines and Inspector Gamache very much.

And there’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson – which I’ve been hesitant to pick up right now because I’ve just realized via someone’s tweet on Twitter that it’s about a rather dark subject, and I’m not sure if I’m really in the mood for a whole lot of graphic details right now. (I have emails out to two bloggers I respect highly who’ve read the book, to see exactly how graphic it is; I know. I’m such a wuss.) Update: both of them say great read, definitely dark, not-to-be-missed and yes, I should be able to skim over anything too graphic. Very helpful, and now I’m leaning toward Louse Penny until I’m more ready for something darker.

Decisions, decisions! I’m definitely a moody reader, and it’s always such a challenge when I can’t quite determine what mood I’m in.

This has been a busy summer for us. In addition to our trip to Nova Scotia back in July, we’ve also been driving up to a few cottages, owned by various friends and relatives.

And now I’m off for a weekend in New York! My cousin got married in Hawaii back in January, but I wasn’t able to go. My uncle is now throwing a reception for him in New York.

It’s a nine-hour drive there and back (the things we do for family …) and I can’t read in the car, so audiobooks will be stepping in to save the day. Here’s what I’ve loaded onto my iPod for the trip:

• In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson
• Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down, by Dave Barry
• Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, by JK Rowling
• Austenland, by Shannon Hale
• The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith

The Bill Bryson and Dave Barry books (along with a handful of BBC dramatizations of Agatha Christie’s mysteries) are for listening time with my husband – we’ll attach the iPod to portable speakers for these. He doesn’t like listening on headphones or earbuds when he’s driving and we can never get those FM transmitters to work (we can never seem to find an open FM channel to use), so these little battery-operated speakers work perfectly.

The Harry Potter book is for the Harry Potter reading challenge; I’m re-reading all the books in audio. I am about a quarter of the way through Austenland, and haven’t started The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency yet.

And for any moments I can snatch to read when we’re at the hotel, I’m taking a paperback copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson.

Because this trip isn’t very long, I really didn’t have as many problems choosing titles as I did the last time.

What did you bring to read on your last road trip or vacation? And did you manage to read as much as you would have liked to?

Yesterday, after reading this review of The God Themselves by Isaac Asimov at Rhapsodyinbooks, I succumbed to a very insistent urge to dig out my copy of I, Asimov, Isaac Asimov’s memoir.

I didn’t actually have to dig it out. I have a bookshelf devoted to favorite authors’ autobiographies. So it was really easy to give in to the urge.

I read a lot of Asimov when I was growing up. I enjoyed his science fiction, but I’ve always been nuts for mysteries, so one of my favorite books was Murder at the ABA; I have always loved witty little footnotes in novels ever since. If you’ve never read Murder at the ABA, and you enjoy mysteries as well as humor, I highly recommend you check your library for a copy. (And now I’m feeling an insistent urge to dig out my copy of Murder at the ABA …)

Asimov influenced me greatly when I was young. He was my favorite science fiction writer. I was an avid short story reader back then, and whenever I had any money on me, I would be off to the store to grab copies of Analog and The Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy (and, of course, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine). I wrote scores of short stories during this period in my life, and at least half of them were science fiction.

It’s funny, but these days I very rarely read science fiction.

Anyway, I am now rereading I, Asimov, and enjoying once again the glimpses into this great author’s life.

From the introduction:

In 1977, I wrote my autobiography. Since I was dealing with my favorite subject, I wrote at length and I ended with 640,000 words. Since Doubleday is always overwhelmingly kind to me, they published it all – but in two volumes. The first was In Memory Yet Green (1979), the second In Joy Still Felt (1980). Together, they described the first fifty-seven years of my life in considerable detail.

It had been a quiet life and there was no great excitement in it, so even though I made up for that by what I considered a charming literary style (I never bother with false modesty, as you will quickly discover), the publication was not a world-shaking event. However, some thousands of people found pleasure in reading it, and I am periodically asked if I will continue the tale.

My answer always is: “I have to live it first”

…

So what I intend to do is describe my whole life as a way of presenting my thoughts and make it an independent autobiography standing on its own feet. I won’t go into the kind of detail I went into in the first two volumes. What I intend to do is to break the book into numerous sections, each dealing with some different phase of my life or some different person who affected me, and follow it as far as necessary – to the very present, if need be.

I trust and hope that, in this way, you will get to know me really well, and who knows, you may even get to like me. I would like that.

And yes, I did like him, the first time I read I, Asimov. Of course, I already knew I would.

Incoming! is a feature at Ms. Bookish that chronicles new books that have arrived in the Ms. Bookish household. Here’s one of the latest new arrivals:

The City & The City, by China Miéville

About the Book:

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

First paragraph: I could not see the street or much of the estate. We were enclosed by dirt-coloured blocks, from windows out of which leaned vested men and women with morning hair and mugs of drink, eating breakfast and watching us. This open ground between the buildings had once been sculpted. It pitched like a golf course – a child’s mimicking of geography. Maybe they had been going to wood it and put in a pond. There was a copse but the saplings were dead.

Where I got this book: Library

Genre: Fantasy/mystery

Why this book:

I actually came across this title in a roundabout, “it happened because of Twitter” way. Someone, I can’t remember who, but I think it was a book publisher, tweeted about this article about top science fiction/fantasy writers picks for best real fantasy/sci-fi cities, I clicked on the link in the tweet, liked China Miéville’s take on things (he chose London, England), then decided to check out The City & The City. It’s a speculative mystery, a genre I enjoy, especially when done well. I know this was a big release for fantasy fans, but I hadn’t heard of it since I don’t follow the genre that closely. I’m very glad that Twitter lead me to it.

Related Links and Other Fun Stuff

China Miéville on crime novels

Interview with China Miéville (includes link to MP3 file)

The author talks about The City & The City:

Where to buy The City & The City:: U.S. (Amazon.com) | IndieBound | Canada (Chapters) | UK (Amazon.co.uk)

Other Blogs’ Reviews

SF Reviews

The Mad Hatter

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

Not very original, I know, but I can’t believe how this week has just flown by. I seem to be caught up in a routine of eating, drinking, reading and relaxing, not necessarily in that order.

My husband is on his way back from the fish market right now, with fresh lobster and deep fried clams, and I finally managed to snatch my netbook out of the hands of my daughter, so the time feels perfect for blogging.

This Week’s Reads

After finishing The Strain, by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, on my first full day here in Nova Scotia, I decided the atmosphere was perfect for some L.M. Montgomery – we aren’t that far away from P.E,I., and the sand beach near us has red sand in it, which reminded me of the Island. I have almost all of Montgomery’s works on my netbook in ebook format, so I decided to re-read The Blue Castle, one of my favorite Montgomery works. Unlike Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon, The Blue Castle is the story of an adult heroine, Valancy Stirling. It’s a wonderful Cinderella tale, and I’ve read and re-read it many times. I’d forgotten that it’s set in the Muskokas in Ontario, rather than P.E.I., so I will probably read Emily of New Moon sometime this week just to get my Island fix.

After The Blue Castle, I started Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, Book 1 of the Dresden Files series. I’m about halfway through – I love the concept of a wizard detective in current-day Boston, and it’s a fun book, but it wasn’t quite fitting my mood, so I also started listening to Hell Hole, by Chris Grabenstein, the fourth book in the John Ceepak and Danny Boyle series. I am quite addicted to this series now, and finished Hell Hole yesterday while we were at Crescent Beach in Lockeport, N.S.. Jeff Woodman, who narrates the series, is a superb narrator, and if you’re wanting to get started with audiobooks and like mysteries, I’d definitely recommend the audio version of this series. Just make sure you start with the first book in the series, Tilt-a-Whirl, not because each book doesn’t stand on its own, but mainly because characters from previous books do show up again (or not, as the case may be), which can give clues to the mysteries in the previous books.

Rounding up my reading for the week, I also started Wayne Dyer’s Excuses Begone!. It’s a great read so far; I like in particular its emphasis not on our feelings or desires, but on our identity.

Movies, Movies, Movies

It’s turning out to be movie night for the family every night here at the beach cottage – there’s just something really nice about gathering together after a great seafood dinner to watch movies (especially since it’s pretty bug-heavy outside at night).

So far, we’ve watched Music & Lyrics, The Dark Knight, Dirty Dancing, Miss Congeniality, Disturbia, He’s Just Not That Into You, and Gone in 60 Seconds. My older son did excuse himself to play the Sims 3 on the nights we watched Dirty Dancing and He’s Just Not That Into You, but otherwise our movie nights have been perfect family time (the little one was in bed, of course).

Writing (Or Not)

I think I must have been dreaming when I last blogged that I was thinking about writing 6,000 words a day! The only writing I’ve done so far has been in my journal; not only has it been tough to lay my hands on my netbook, but the ergonometric keyboard I brought along in order to, well, write, isn’t working very well – the “o” and the “b” keys don’t work at all.

And really, the days have been so lazy and idyllic, I just haven’t felt like doing much except (have I mentioned?) eating, drinking and reading.

Pictures!

I finally started remembering to bring my camera with me when we went on our our outings, which have been mainly to beaches so far, although next week we plan on heading out for day trips to Yarmouth and Mahone Bay. A visit to Peggy’s Cove is also planned, although the days are slipping by so fast, I’m not sure we’ll have time to do everything on our list.

The beaches here in Nova Scotia are just gorgeous – many of them are white sand beaches, and if it weren’t for the weather, you’d think you were in the Caribbean. I don’t actually like to swim, and I love cool, windy weather, so it’s been perfect for me. While they’ve been calling for clouds and rain every day we’ve been here, the weather has been beautiful and sunny  so far (just not particularly hot).

Sandy Point Lighthouse Beach

Red Sands at Sandy Point

Dylan & Daddy at Crescent Beach, Lockeport

Oops! Forgot My Sand Bucket!

Beautiful White Sands

Bit of Sand Beach at Our Beach Cottage

View from the Side of the House

This morning two technicians from Aliant swung by and set us up with a new modem – and now we are back online. But having the bit of downtime made me realize I was being a bit unrealistic, expecting to blog regularly while on holidays. I will definitely keep blogging, but won’t stress myself about missing a day here or there.

Much as I love Twitter, I suspect I’ll also be mostly absent from the Twitterverse while on holidays (I admit, IF my new-to-me BlackBerry hadn’t died on me, and IF we had cell reception here, I’d probably be tweeting regularly …)

The Strain

I read the The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan yesterday – I started it in the afternoon and found I couldn’t put it down. I finished it last night before going to bed. It was such a good read, and yes, I can definitely see it as a movie.

It’s got such a lovely mix of ingredients: science, vampires, zombies, evil mastermind plot, rag tag band of heroes … the kind of thriller I like to read. I know it’s billed as a horror, but it felt more to me like an action-packed thriller that just happens to have zombies/vampires in it. You definitely want to clear a chunk of time for it, because it is an extremely exciting read and if you’re like me, you’ll find it hard to tear yourself away for mundane things like dinner.

On Writing

I won’t be working on NANTUCKET while I’m away – most of my files are on my desktop, and I think I’m in need of a break from it anyway. Instead, I have this dream that I might actually finish HARPER. I need to rewrite it from the beginning anyway, since I’m changing the tense of the sections that are in first person narrative. I’m aiming for 60,000 pages, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that I might actually be able to write 6,000 words a day …

I won’t stress out about it, but I’m definitely going to write every day, so keep your fingers crossed for me and HARPER!

The Touristy Stuff

The sun is fighting a battle with the clouds right now – it’s likely to be cloudy and rainy for much of the time we’re here, although we knew that when we booked our holidays. But it’s more warm than not, and since we just lived through a heat wave in Toronto with a broken air conditioner, the weather actually feels rather perfect to me. Spring and fall are my two favorite seasons, and it definitely feels spring-like.

I’ll post more pictures later – I’m just lazing around right now, having my coffee and enjoying being online.

We arrived yesterday at the beach house we rented in Nova Scotia – we are on the South Shore, right on the scenic Lighthouse Route. The house is beautiful – there’s a screened in veranda so we can sit outside at any time and not worry about bugs. We’re about 100 metres from the ocean (my husband tells me that’s about 300 feet), so the beach is just a short walk away.

The only glitch to our holiday? We’re supposed to have high-speed Internet access. The beach house has a router with a DSL connection but that beautiful little light on the router marked Internet? It flashes on and off.

So I’ll only be able to post sporadically instead of regularly as I’d hoped. I blog using Windows Live Writer, so I’ll keep writing my posts and saving them as drafts, and then when we go into the nearby small town for provisions, I’ll be able to upload my posts (with thanks to our USB modem – unfortunately, our location is so remote we don’t have cell phone access either).

My brand new hand-me-down BlackBerry (my sister got a new one so she gave me her old BlackBerry Curve 8310) also died (the Universe is telling me, I think, that it’s time for a break from everything online – what do you think?); in the few days I’ve had it, I’ve come to really like it, so I will miss being able to access my emails and Twitter as we’re driving about!

As to what to do about three teenagers who had been promised their MSN and Xbox Live abilities during the two weeks we’re away (they’re not particularly outdoorsy kids …), thank goodness the girls have their camcorder, my son has Sims 3 on his laptop, there’s a gorgeous ocean and beach in front of us, fresh seafood galore and satellite radio and TV, and we brought a ton of board games for family fun.

Currently Reading

During our nineteen hour drive (which we split over two days), I finished Mad Mouse and Whack-a-Mole by Chris Grabenstein on audio. I get motion sickness if I read in the car, so the audiobooks are perfect.

Today is our first full day, and the weather is cool and foggy, so it’s a perfect setting for reading The Strain! I am very glad I packed so many books – over the next two weeks I expect to be able to get through a lot of them. We will do a little bit of sightseeing, but mostly we are here for rest and relaxation, which to me always means tons of reading.

Pictures

I haven’t had much time to take pictures – it’s cloudy and chilly outside right now and we arrived late in the evening last night; here are some shots of the view from the veranda (you’ll be seeing the view through the mesh):

Ocean View

The Side Yard

Posting Schedule

I should be able to upload posts every few days; I will definitely miss being able to check out everyone’s blogs, though – not to mention Twitter.

And of course, there’s always the possibility that Internet access will be fixed!

I’ve finally pared down my vacation reading list – room is limited, unfortunately, so I had to be very selective. Here’s what I’ll be taking with me on holidays.

Print books:

Audiobooks:

Ebooks:

I’m probably not going to be able to read all of these books, but I figure I’ll have something for nearly every reading mood that strikes me.

What’s on your reading list this summer?

Incoming! is a feature at Ms. Bookish that chronicles new books that have arrived in the Ms. Bookish household. Here’s one of the latest new arrivals:

L.A. Candy, by Lauren Conrad

About the Book:

Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer . . . everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can’t wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.

When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a “reality version of Sex and the City,” they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!

Soon Jane is TV’s hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara—free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres—and she’s lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane’s spotlight.

In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it’s not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be.

L.A. Candy is a deliciously entertaining novel about what it’s like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a reality TV show, written by a girl who has experienced it all firsthand: Lauren Conrad.

First lines: “Jane Roberts leaned against her dresser, studying the way her white, silk nightie looked against her sun-kissed skin. Her loose blond curls cascaded softly over her shoulders as she pretended not to be interested in the guy in her bed.”

Where I got this book: Harper Collins Canada

My initial thoughts:

I’’m about a third of the way through L.A. Candy – I’d been hoping to be finished in time to post the review around the book’s release date, but then deadlines caught up with me. I’m at the part where Jane and her best friend Scarlett are being offered roles in the reality show L.A. Candy. I find myself really liking Scarlett in particular – there’s something so quirky and independent about her. It’s shaping up to be a fun read so far.

Related Links and other Fun Stuff

About the author: Lauren Conrad is the star of MTV’s number-one hit show, The Hills. She launched her career as a fashion designer in Spring 2008 with the debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection. Lauren has been featured on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, and Entertainment Weekly, among others. She lives in Los Angeles. This is her first novel.

Browse inside L.A. Candy

Where to buy L.A. Candy:: U.S. (Amazon.com) | IndieBound | Canada (Chapters) | UK (Amazon.co.uk)

I finished my deadline yesterday (on time, thank goodness!), and it definitely felt good getting that huge stack of papers off my desk. All your kind comments were very helpful, and I particularly loved Joanne’s comment that the photo of the huge pile of papers looked just gorgeous. I started thinking, you know, if that was my own manuscript I was talking about, it wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

Sometimes, just a slight shift in perspective can do wonders.

After I finished up the deadline yesterday, I found that all I wanted to do was snuggle into the sofa with a comfortable book – which to me always means, a book I’ve read before.

I decided on The Year of Living Famously, by Laura Caldwell. I read it a few years back and enjoyed it enough that it’s always been difficult to put it on the “books to give away” pile. To my slight disappointment, though, the book didn’t hold up as well on a second reading (unlike Elegance, by Kathleen Tessaro, which I read again late last year and enjoyed as much as the first time I’d read it). Still, it felt comfortable, and that was exactly what I needed.

Now I’m ready to dive back into Deborah Crombie’s Kissed a Sad Goodbye, Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Laurie King’s The Language of Bees. Or I might do another re-reading of Elegance … it’s a long weekend around here (Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canadians!) and I’m getting that drowsy, comfortable long-weekend kind of feeling …

After my recent Library Loot post, I really didn’t think I could have that many more hold requests at the library coming in. I haven’t had a chance to read ANY of the books from that batch, with the exception of an audiobook, a BBC Radio Production of Agatha Christie’s The Caribbean Mystery (it helped get me out of work-brain back into me-brain every night before bed).

Frankly, the only reason I haven’t succumbed to temptation is that I know myself too well – I am weak when it comes to books, and if I pick up something and get engrossed in it, I’m in for a 3:00 a.m. night. (Which is why the next Dewey 24-hour Readathon, I may very well be participating … although Beth F. makes cheerleading sound like fun, too.)

But here I am again, so soon after the last Library Loot post, writing up another one. I received a few more automated calls from the library over the weekend, and by my mental count, was up to about four books ready and available for pickup. I asked my husband to stop in at the library and grab the books for me on his way home from doing the groceries, and he returned with an enormous bag.

So here we go again!

Mysteries by Deborah Crombie

A Finer End

Dreaming of the Bones

Now May You Weep

Water Like a Stone

All Shall Be Well

Kissed a Sad Goodbye

I suspect that another library patron was on a Deborah Crombie kick right around the time I was looking for more of the Kinkaid/James mysteries, and had signed all these out at the same time. And now I’ve done the same – only I hope there aren’t any holds for these as I will probably end up needing to renew at least some of them!

I have a book blogger to thank for my addiction to Deborah Crombie works, of course. I’m holding Cathy of Kittling Books responsible for getting me back into these books; I’d read the very first Kinkaid and James last summer but had then forgotten about the series. Until I read one or two posts by Cathy about them, that is! After reading one of her reviews, I picked up a few more, and I was hooked. (You can read my review of In a Dark House here.)

The Rest of the Batch

Mystery: Death by Bikini, by Linda Gerber. I can’t remember where I first came across this book, but I suspect the title probably leaped out at me and grabbed me. However it happened, I promptly put this book on my i-want list, and must have quickly added it to my holds request the last time I oh-so-recklessly went online at my library.

Children’s books/Fantasy: Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. This one is probably self-explanatory. I’d like to read it before I get around to seeing the movie …

Memoir: Growing Up Again, by Mary Tyler Moore. Because I am currently, for some unfathomable (to me) reason, on a celebrity-autobiography kick. Don’t ask me why. All I know is, I’ve also got Julie Andrews, William Shatner and Robert Wagner in a stack here, waiting for me too.

And the Audiobooks:

Of course, my list wouldn’t be complete without some audiobooks. This year is my year of audiobooks – I’ve got a post up my sleeve explaining my reasons why. I like Agatha Christie audiobooks a lot, whether or not they’re those fabulous BBC Radio Production dramatizations:

The Listerdale Mystery and Eleven Other Stories, by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser

The Mysterious Mr. Quin, by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser

And that’s the end of the list … !

I hope to have time during my breaks the next few things to check out everyone else’s Library Loot for this week.

It must be some sort of Murphy’s Law applicable to bibliophiles, I think. Work-wise it’s been quiet around here, which is why I’ve been able to keep up with all my reading even through all the renovations around here, instead of being stuck at my desk pounding on deadline after deadline. I always have a stash of books I’ve requested from the library, and during these past few months, my holds have been trickling in.

And now? Well, on Monday I received a veritable flood of assignments and now have three deadlines all falling due next week. Then I received several automated phone messages from the local library, telling me that books I had requested were now on hold for me.

Today I took a break from work and popped over to the library. I needed two bags to hold everything! An embarrassment of riches indeed – and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that despite my deadlines, I’ll be able to read most of them. I have three weeks, and I can renew books for two additional three-week periods, provided, of course, that no-one else has put in a request for the titles. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll remember to renew any I haven’t read yet online before the due date!

Here’s what I picked up from the library today:

Mystery: Unnatural Fire, by Fidelis Morgan. I think I had this on my list as a result of reading about it at Cathy’s Kittling: Books.

Mystery: Now & Then, by Robert B. Parker. More Spenser!

Mystery/Paranormal: Ghost at Work, by Carolyn Hart. This one wasn’t a request. The library had it in a display, so it’s more of an impulse grab.

Nonfiction: Loch Ness Monsters and Raining Frogs, by Albert Jack. Another one that was on display. Simply couldn’t resist.

Chick Lit: Odd Mom Out, by Jane Porter. By the author of Flirting with Forty, this definitely looks like a good read, although I’m not sure how it ended up on my hold list.

Mystery: In the Woods, by Tana French. I’d heard so much about this book, and I’d like to read it before French’s new novel, The Likeness, comes out in May (in case it’s really good, in which case I’ll have another book to add to my i-want list).

Nonfiction: Himalaya, by Michael Palin. I’ve been wanting to read this for a while; I love travel books, and like Palin’s humor as well.

Memoir: Up Till Now: The Autobiography, by William Shatner. I came across this a while back while on one of my online book-buying sprees; unfortunately, while Amazon has the hardcover version at a bargain price (in anticipation, I think, of the upcoming release of the trade paperback version), Chapters in Canada didn’t. So I checked the library and put myself in the queue for it. I almost picked it as my Audible selection, but the audiobook is abridged, so I thought I’d go for the longer read instead.

Paranormal/Thriller: Blood Sins, by Kay Hooper. I haven’t read Blood Dreams, the first in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit trilogy, yet, but I’m hoping that it’s the kind of series you can read out of order.

Paranormal/Thriller: Blood Brothers, by Nora Roberts. I haven’t read very many Nora Roberts novels, and this one sounds good. It’s the start of the trilogy, so I may be in for more happy reading with this series …

Young adult/Mystery: Break and Enter, by Norah McClintock. I’ve already raved about this series here.

Children’s fiction: The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken, by Howard Whitehouse. I couldn’t resist typing out the full title. I don’t have a clue how I first came across this book, but I suspect all I had to do was read the title and it was writing itself down on my i-want list.

Fantasy/Erotica: Naughty Paris, by Jina Bacarr. I can’t remember where I came across this title, either, but there it was, on my list of requested books. About a woman living in today’s times, a maverick painter in 1889 and a little bit of black magic and (I gather) a whole lot of sex.

Now, if I could just finish up these deadlines so I can succumb to the lure of this embarrassment of library riches!

It’s been quite a whirlwind around the MsBookish household – we seem to have plunged right into spring cleaning/home renovations fever, and if that sounds chaotic … it is!

But I’m still reading. I think it’s the only way to stay sane during a renovation. The main problem is that I don’t have much time for reviewing. I’m toying with posting mini-reviews – maybe call them “In A Nutshell” or something like that, to distinguish them from my regular full-length reviews.

I’ve been having a good time, though, renovations and all. Here’s a list of the books I’ve finished the last four weeks (I may be missing some that have gone back to the library – I forgot to keep a “master list”):

The Victoria Vanishes, by Christopher Fowler

Ten Second Staircase, by Christopher Fowler

Jinx, by Meg Cabot

Missing You (1-800-Where-R-You, Book 5), by Meg Cabot

Bones, by Jonathan Kellerman

Pictures of Perfection, by Reginald Hill

Ruling Passion, by Reginald Hill

A Pinch of Snuff, by Reginald Hill

The Third Degree, by Norah McClintock

Over the Edge, by Norah McClintock

Double Cross, by Norah McClintock

A Rule Against Murder, by Louise Penny (called The Murder Stone in Canada)

The Case of the Left-handed Lady, by Nancy Springer

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, by Nancy Springer

As you can probably see, there’s a definite mystery “theme” going on in my life right now. I’m pretty sure I’m missing some titles as well, but I’ll update the list if/when the missing titles come back to me.

In the course of renovating, and moving furniture around, I’ve also been going through my bookshelves. It’s so difficult, weeding my book collection, but it must be done – we simply don’t have enough space for all my books. I must admit, my heart cries a little with each box of books that leaves this house, headed toward charity book sales! But on the bright side, I’ve been finding a ton of books that I either (1) haven’t read yet or (2) want very much to re-read.

So yes, I’m still reading …!

Time for The Sunday Salon again! Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:

Ten Second Staircase, by Christopher Fowler. I finished Full Dark House, the first book in the Bryant and May Peculiar Crimes Unit series, a few days ago (review coming soon), and I loved it so much I picked up the next Peculiar Crimes Unit book in my TBR, Ten Second Staircase, right away. I’m right at the beginning, and so far, so good.

The Charlemagne Pursuit, by Steve Berry. This is the first book by Steve Berry that I’ve picked up – it stars ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, and I’m finding Malone likeable enough to want to pick up the earlier books featuring him. I’m about midway through this book, and it’s a fun and exciting read – except that I’m finding the motivation for one part of the plot to be kind of weak. (More on that when I finish the book and write the review.) Despite this, though, I’ve been enjoying this book a lot.

The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer. I’m still reading this one – haven’t had a chance to pick it up again since the last time I was reading it last week. I have two other books in this series in my TBR pile, so I’m hoping this one is as interesting as the first chapters indicate.

And in audiobooks: last night I was feeling a bit under the weather, and even the thought of picking up a book to read was enough to make me feel kind of dizzy. So I took to my bed (I’ve always wanted to say something like that!) and started listening to an audiobook of PD James’ Skull Beneath the Skin. I’m not sure if the version I’ve linked to is the actual version I’m listening to. Mine isn’t so much an audiobook as an audio production – lots of lovely British actors saying the lines; it feels like listening to an old-time radio show.

So that’s what I’m currently reading. What books are enticing you these days?

I’m in the midst of a hectic weekend of deadlines and such, but thanks to a little experiment I did involving changing my beliefs about time, I find myself with the time to write today’s Sunday Salon post!

What I love best about The Sunday Salon is checking out what everyone is reading. So my own TSS posts are usually about what I’m currently reading (unless another bookish idea sounds more interesting – I confess, I was debating writing a post about why so many novelists are lawyers, and one day I will, but today is not that day).

I normally have a whole boatload of books on the go (a reflection, I think, of my scattered eclectic way of living), and this week has not been an exception. Immediately after reading Christopher Fowler’s White Corridor, I found myself wanting more of Bryant and May, so I plucked Full Dark House, the first book in the series, out of my TBR. It’s been a great read so far.  Bryant and May are both in their mid-80s (and still working at the Peculiar Crimes Unit) – the story begins, oddly enough, with the news of Bryant’s death. May investigates, and the story goes back and forth between present day and the past. Fowler handles the flashbacks very well, and it’s interesting getting to know the characters as they were at the beginning (and, I should say, at the end).

I also started reading Nancy Springer’s The Case of the Missing Marquess today; I had brought it to Disney with me, but the cheerleaders-as-CIA series The Perfect Squad, as well as Meg Cabot, kept me too well occupied to dip into this Enola Holmes mystery. I’m only on the first chapter still, when Enola’s mother has disappeared, but so far it’s shaping up to be a fun middle-grade read.

Since I started book blogging, my TBR pile has grown tremendously, so I’ve not been re-reading as many books as I used to. But recently I stumbled on my much-loved copy of Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, and I made the mistake of flipping it open and reading “just a bit”. With Carr, you can never read “just a bit”, and soon I found myself caught up in his beautiful writing and characterizations, and feeling just that little bit creeped out with the mystery. Carr is such a joy to read – I always find myself wishing he had more books out – and I suspect I will be digging out my copy of Angel of Darkness next.

If you haven’t read The Alienist yet, here’s the summary. The book is even better than the summary promises.

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or “alienist.” On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan’s infamous brothels.

The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler’s intellect and Moore’s knowledge of New York’s vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology– amassing a psychological profile of the man they’re looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before. and will kill again before the hunt is over.

Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian’s exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.

Last, but most certainly not least, is the audiobook I’m currently listening to. My experiment with time had one truly lovely result – I discovered that I can now listen to an audiobook while I work. I’ve tried this in the past, with fairly disastrous results. The nature of my work is such that I’m often at the computer, thinking and typing out what I’m thinking (it sounds like writing but alas, it’s not nearly as interesting as writing); the last time I tried to listen to an audiobook instead of music while working, I ended up typing what I was hearing, instead of what I was thinking.

But I gave it another try yesterday, and was thrilled to discover that I am able to separate the two parts of my my mind somehow and work while listening to an audiobook at the same time. I’m listening to non-fiction, which might be what’s making the difference, as I find with non-fiction if I tune out here and there, I can still get the gist when I tune back in.

So right now, I’m listening to Brian Greene’s wonderful The Elegant Universe. I’ve watched Nova’s gorgeous film of the book, and I have the book itself but never had the time to get to it. Listening while I’m working is the perfect solution. The narrator’s voice works well with the material, evoking space and time and all manner of scientific mysteries; I’ve been meeting my deadlines and overall, feeling quite happy about things!

The Snapshot Review

What I Liked: Bryant and May and all the other wonderfully quirky characters at the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

But: I didn’t get into the book until about a third of the way.

Ms. Bookish’s Very Quick Take: If, like me, you have difficulty getting into the book initially, stick with it – when the plot lines take off, they really take off, and you’ll find yourself unable to put the book down.

Read the Full Review of White Corridor

It’s Sunday again – time most definitely has been flying by. I’m currently reading four books, but this week is a hectic week for me in terms of editorial deadlines, so I’m not sure how many of these I will be able to finish up and review by this time next Sunday.

But there’s just something so comforting about having such a lovely line-up of books in my Currently Reading pile.

I’ve been getting into the Christmas spirit with Rita Mae Brown’s Santa Claws. Mrs. Murphy and the gang are back at it again, and even though a murder isn’t the most Christmas-y of things, Santa Claws is shaping up to be a nice, cozy read. It’s definitely the kind of book you want to read with a mug of hot chocolate and mini marshmallows by your side. (Oh, wait a minute … I get that feeling with every book, actually.)

I haven’t gotten any further along on Katherine Neville’s The Fire, not because it’s not looking like it will be a good read, but because it’s one of those big, complex looking books that say to me, “I dare you to pick me up, start reading me and then put me down half an hour later because you’ve got work to do. Go on. I dare you.” Frankly, I’m a real wuss when it comes to such challenges; The Fire looks like it will be hard to put down once I get into it, and with so many deadlines coming at me, I’m scared to pick it up.

I know, kind of pathetic. What can I say? Books rule my life. And I’m woman enough to admit it.

Moving right along, I’ve also started Meg Cabot’s Big Boned. I love Cabot’s work, whether it’s her children’s books, YA novels or books for adults. In Big Boned, Heather Wells is back to solve another murder. I personally am reading this not for the whodunnit, but to see if Heather (a) will ever go back to singing superstardom again and (b) ends up with Cooper. Tad’s okay, but Cooper’s more than okay. Poor Tad.

Finally, I’m also reading Christopher Fowler’s White Corridor, another in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series featuring Bryant and May. I really like this duo, who are as quirky as you can get; sure they’re older, but that doesn’t get in the way of solving the crime, another locked room murder.

So that’s my reading week for the coming week. Now if I can only get some of these pesky deadlines finished up, it will be a very good reading week.

And here’s a round-up of the reviews I posted this past week:

Not in the Flesh, by Ruth Rendell (review)

The Cruellest Month, by Louise Penny (review)

The Book of Lies, by Brad Meltzer (review)

Casting Spells, by Barbara Bretton (review)

I am currently reading a fun stash of books right now, and the only reason why I haven’t finished any of them is because I haven’t had a good block of time to do so. I keep my “currently reading” books in different rooms of the house, and tend to just pick up whatever book is in the room I happen to be in. Of course, if I sit down with a nice chunk of time, I’m likely to finish whatever book it is, but this week has been hectic, unfortunately.

But I should be finishing up all three of the following books this week:

1. The Book of Lies, by Brad Meltzer. This one is stashed away in the living room, and it’s a pity each time I’ve picked it up I’ve had limited time, because this one has been a real page turner so far. I’m only in into the fourth chapter (or so) and each time I’ve had to put it down, it’s been extremely difficult doing so.
2. Casting Spells, by Barbara Bretton. So far this one is shaping up to be pretty good (although there’s a minor discrepancy near the start of the book that keeps bothering me – I’m hoping it will be explained away as I get further into the book). The book involves a quaint New England town which is home to many different magical people (werewolves, witches, vampires and fairies included), a murder, a sorceress’ daughter and a human cop. It’s been a nice read so far.
3. The Fire, by Katherine Neville. This is the sequel to Neville’s novel The Eight, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading several years ago. I’ve hardly had a chance to do much more than look at the cover of this one longingly and open it up to read the first few words, but I’m definitely looking forward to this one. If it’s anywhere near as good as The Eight, it’s going to be a wonderful read.

Sadly, I do have one current read that I just don’t see myself getting back to this week, not with this handful of exciting books calling to me. I am halfway through Princess Izzy and the E-Street Shuffle by Beverly Bartlett, but it’s “court biography” style, while interesting, hasn’t been interesting enough to get me to pick it up after having put it down. I do want to finish it, though, since I’d like to see what happens with Princess Izzy and the Springsteen loving mechanic in the States (and also, I’m reading this for the From the Stacks reading challenge); I’m just not sure exactly when I’ll be able to get back to it.

I’m currently reading three books right now, all of which I will be reviewing later this week (or when I finish them!).

I started Charlaine Harris’ An Ice Cold Grave last night, and was in for a pleasant surprise. I had actually read the first in the series, Grave Sight, last year and had enjoyed it – but I’d forgotten the name of the author and hadn’t realized it was the first in a series (the Harper Connolly series).

So far An Ice Cold Grave has been an engrossing read. I’m a third of the way through, and I only put it down because it was so late and I knew if I kept at it, I would be finished the book but it would be 5:00 a.m., which really wouldn’t do. If I get a chance to get back to it today, I’ll likely be able to finish it.

I’m also reading Alexander McCall Smith’s The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday. I really enjoy Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie series; I know they’re “mysteries”, but they’re very different from the mysteries I normally read. With Isabel Dalhousie, it’s not really so much the plot, but Isabel herself who is so enticing. I fell in love with her from the moment I read The Sunday Philosophy Club, the first in the series.

The key to enjoying the Isabel Dalhousie series, I think, is to let go of the notion that they’re mysteries. Yes, each book involves a mystery of some sort, but the book itself is very much driven by Isabel’s character, her philosophical inner talk about everything that happens around her, and the application of ethics to every day life. If you reach for a book in this series expecting a rousing mystery, you’d probably be disappointed. But Isabel herself is so loveable; she tries hard to look at the world without judgment, and reading about her is always so enjoyable. It’s the kind of book you savor, rather than reading through in a breathless gallop – both are wonderful experiences, and I always like to have a little of each in my current reading.

The third book I’m reading right now is Beverly Bartlett’s Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle. The book quite surprised me when I first started reading. It’s written in something like the style of a biography, a Royal biography really, but with a chatty “talking to you, the reader” feel to it.

This is the first book I’m tackling for the From the Stacks Reading Challenge. I’m finding that while the book is interesting and fun as I’m reading it, when I put it down, my memories of it are not engrossing enough for me to pick it up again. But I’d like to finish this one by the end of this week.

Reviews Roundup: This past week, I’ve reviewed the following books:

Review: Doppelganger, by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue
Review: The Calder Game, by Blue Balliett (I really loved this book)
Review: The Riddles of Epsilon, by Christine Morton-Shaw
Review: Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer