Dan Brown

No more with the Lost Symbol....I've turned my copy over to my daughter...she seems to enjoy it so I guess (as with all books) its a matter of personal opinion. I look forward to the inevitable movie and can only hope its as good as Angels and Demons....I think the secret is keeping Mr. Brown FAR AWAY from the actual screenplan! (Are you listening Tom Hanks and Ron Howard??)

Just found out the title for the new Dan Brown.and immediately forgot it.  But I did put it on reserve at the library.  I cannot for the life of me decide whether I want it to be a DaVinci (great book, so-so movie) or an Angels and Demons (so so book but (IMO) an engrossing, if somewhat predictable, movie.  Haven't seen whether Tom and Ron are planning a Lost Symbol movie...if the previous formula holds, a movie of this clunker would have to be FANTASTIC.  Only time will tell.  I believe I'm about 150 on the library reserve list for the new Brown offering.  Again only time will tell.

The Lost Symbol and Hardball

I am still struggling with Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' and am about ready to give up and return my copy to the library, wait for it in paperback and hope it reads better next summer at the pool. Maybe I will give it one more chance (the sign of a bad read for me is my never ending enthusiasm to find something, anything else to read). I've picked up started stopped and returned to this at least a dozen times.

But Sara Paretsky has returned with a big smash hit in her long running but rarely dull VI Warshawski (as VI's young cousin remembers to spell the family name....a warrior on a rickshaw riding a ski). Taut, tight, compelling a true home run I highly recommend 'Hardball'. A lot of empty spots in VI's past are filled in and maybe just maybe she's found a new man to help fill some of the empty spots in her personal life.

All the favorites are back...Lotty and Max, Mr. Contreras, the dogs, cameos from Bobby and Murray the familiar Chicago of VI. Solid mentions of Boom-Boom, her beloved mother and father as well as the appearance of a new cousin and her father's much younger and much more successful (at least in a worldly sense) brother Peter.

If you've read VI and are a fan, run to pick this one up. If you don't know VI, 'Hardball' could be read as a standalone but do yourself a big favor. Start from the beginning and learn to love her.

Second Spirits

Written by Juliet Blackwell....a pseudonym for sisters working on apparently a couple of mystery series. This is the first in a series whose main character is a witch with a BIG W. In the world of witches her power is off the charts but somewhat untrained, unfocused and definitely not to be messed with.

I picked this up as a throwaway...'well maybe I'll give a new series a try' kind of a whim purchase. And while I am neither a witch (I can't even convince red lights to change for me)0r a believer in a lot of extra sensory 'stuff' I definitely think there are folks among us that have something more than the rest of us do...maybe they're just more aware, more in tune with their surroundings or maybe who knows what.

This book is filled with those people....whether or not witches (wise women, healers, and such exist I leave for you to decide). Well written (I fell in love with Oscar) and given the right amount of suspension of belief, very believable. In fact, given some of the poor quality of mystery writing coming out now, this is one of the better books I've read in a long time. Hopefully the next book due in Summer 2010 is as good.

Dan Brown

I excitedly went to the library on Tuesday to pick up my copy of The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's latest. Didn't know if it would be closer to DaVinci Code and I would stay up all night to read it or Angels and Demons and would have to wait for the movie after trying half a dozen times to finish it.

It seems that 'Symbol' is somewhere in between the two. Despite the fact that I did indeed stay up all night (in the hospital ER with torn ligaments in my knee, waiting for some pain relief) I can't really get into Symbol. It's all about the Masons. Now my grandfathers and my dad are/were all Masons and NONE of them were as creepy/disturbing/downright disgusting as some of the Masons Mr. Brown uses as the hero???villains??? of 'symbol'. Nope never saw my dad drinking wine from a human skull or saw tattoos on his fingertips. (He is living with us and believe me I checked, no tattoos).

So the jury is still out on Mr. Brown's new book. We live near Washington DC and lived in DC for several years so I am very familiar with his setting and sure don't think there is some mysterious portal to the place where the answers for the mysteries of the world anywhere in DC but I'm willing to be open-minded about that.

If only he didn't have to be sooo wordy. I understand Robert Langdon is bright beyond belief but does he have to keep reminding the reader about his eidetic memory? I'm only 182 pages into the book and have no real interest in finishing but I keep thinking that it has to get better. But so far, I don't really care about the kidnap victim, the weird CIA Security Chief was just irritating not threatening and the symbology explanations just seem silly not intriguing. At this point I'm not even sure that Ron Howard/Tom Hanks/et al can save this one! I think maybe Mr. Brown has too much crazy stuff in this one. A mysterious scientist and his sister with a hidden neotic science lab in the Smithsonian storage facility, a tattooed Masonic fanatic masquerading as the scientist's psychiatrist, the strange reluctance and withholding of information on the part of Langdon.....and the never ending wordiness of Dan Brown. This may just combine to be too much for most readers.

I will persevere however. Maybe I'll just ask my dad first if he has a skull hidden in his closet that he now uses to drink his diet coke from. Or maybe he does know where the hidden portal is and will share with me and I won't have to read the next 300 plus pages of 'Symbol'!

Kathy Reichs new book

I just started 206 Bones (the number of bones in the human body). So far it seems up to the standards of her earlier works...I have not been pleased with the series since she became not only an author but the driving force behind the Fox Network's TV series called Bones. Especially in the first few books after the TV deal I felt that she was more writing a TV script than a novel. I have hopes for this book that maybe just maybe she is actually writing for her readers not her viewers.

Not about books but about my puppy's blog

Check out the blog A Tale of Four Paws. (For Whom the Tail Wags). It's written (really he writes every word) by my new mini dachshund puppy. He's 2 1/2 months old and is absolutely one of the smartest dogs I've ever known...I mean he's already authoring his own blog! He's also cute.

Keep reading...I'll be back with some recommendations soon. I am looking forward to Dan Brown's new book...I believe its titled The Lost Symbol. I hope it reads like DaVinci Code and the inevitable movie treatment is as much fun as the movie Angels and Demons.

Three quick recommendations: Cry Mercy by Mariah Stewart (the end of a trilogy), Dust to Dust by Beverly Connor (latest in a series) and The Silent Killer by Beverly Barton....it's first in what is at least 2 involving the same characters--the next installment is due in February 2010.

Pup updated his blog today and I'm going to try and keep his nose to the keyboard as will I try and post every week or so.

Happy reading.  And really there's nothing better than reading a good book with a pup snuggled on your lap.  Try it sometime.  Great for the blood pressure, your stress level and just about everything else!

Another reader in the household

Well he really isn't a reader, he's probably going to be another chewer! I am the proud mama of a 9 week old chocolate and tan dappled mini-daschund. In keeping with his massive and imposing stature of 2 pounds (absolutely soaking wet) and maybe 9 inches of length and about 4 inches to the top of his head, his name is George Augustus the First. (Georgie or Geo for short) His daddy is working on his AKC Champion points and George and I may check out a couple of puppy shows. But he has to work on his distessing habit of falling stone cold asleep in the middle of conversations, his food dish, the latest mystery novel or an exciting movie....he won't win any points if he falls asleep in the show ring. Gotta go, rescue a paperback from George and try and get him to actually take a walk and tuck him back into bed.

Happy reading and happy happy happy new puppy

A few quick summer reading recommendations

NOONE and I mean noone does creepy romantic suspense better these days than Karen Rose. She has a new standalone out and her series books are great as well. Check out this author.

David Rosenfelt just wrote a new one in his dog lawyer series. No the dog isn't a lawyer Andy Carpenter is the lawyer, just made his name and added to his considerable fortune with a case involving a dog and those kinds of cases just keep coming his way. New canine character in this one...a rather lively Burmese Mountain Dog puppy named Waggy (really Bertrand II but wouldn't you rather be called Waggy?) who becomes the target of a crazed killer.

And last but not least, Nora Roberts new stand-alone sort of mystery more of a love story Black Hills is out....it's a great pool or beach book.

Gotta go--but please pick up a book and read!

Readers come in all shapes and sizes!

Here's one of my favorite reading companions....the only problem is he wants to EAT the books rather than read them with me.....

Summer Reading and The Classics

Looking at the calendar and seeing that it's already August reminded me of years past when August meant pulling out summer reading list recommendations (which really means a list of books you MUST read before school starts or be so far behind you will never catch up). And that reminder made me both nostalgic and angry. Nostalgic not only for the dim distant past when I was young enough to look forward to back to school but for the days when August meant running from place to place getting each child their complete back to school list (even though some of the supplies would never be used and most wouldn't be used for months and months and months) and choosing the exact right outfit for that crucial first day of school impression.

But it also makes me angry to realize how many children and young people are turned off reading by these reading lists including the 'classics' and the 'must reads'. Reading should be a pleasure not a requirement. To this day I HATE Shakespeare due to an inept and pompous Sophomore High School English teacher (I won't reveal his name, my luck he's lurking in cyberspace and reading this one blog). Jane Austin, please give me Georgette Heyer instead, Homer, Beowulf, Hemingway, To Kill a Mockingbird---never. The only 'classic' I ever enjoyed throughout my many years of education was Caesar and that was only because I had the privilege to read it in the original Latin (yes I was not only a BandGeek I was also a Latin Club nerd). And I was a child who LOVED to read....just don't tell me what I HAVE to read to become a well-read and educated person. And who makes up these must-read booklists anyway?

What is my point..if you're a parent and you have a child who maybe isn't an avid reader...you know the type, we read until lights out and spent hours trying to convince our parents/grandparents/aunts and uncles and various other caretakers that it wouldn't make us too tired or sick to read all night and no our eyes didn't hurt in the dim light of a flashlight under the covers.....PLEASE don't force your child to read. I have 4 children, one of them took after his Mom and read anything and everything in sight--he even likes some of the classics! I have 2 daughters, one has always been a reader, the other one not so much at first. My youngest son devours books but only of a certain genre and then will wait months for another of his favorites to be published.

My biggest reader success was with my oldest daughter. I would always tell her "read, anything you want...read the back of cereal boxes, ads in the paper, the trailer along the bottom of the TV, anything! Someday you'll discover you actually like to read." And you know what? She does. So, don't push your non-reader. Be patient and one day you will also hear....:hey, let's go to Borders I have a BIG list of books I need to get. "

Happy reading....my bedside stack gets bigger and bigger and now that it's a new month, there will be new treasures being published and more to add to the stack. I LOVE it!

I REALLY want some time to read!

Now that I'm back at work (and I'm grateful in these economic times) to have a job BUT I do desperately miss the long blocks of reading time that I used to have at my disposal. Instead of spending hours reading, I am now forced to snatch time to indulge myself. So as compensation, I am working my way through my Georgette Heyer bookshelf. These wonderful books are set in an easier time...Regency England....where the leading men are square jawed well dressed and wealthy and hide their powerful intellect behind a facade of elegant languor. They spend their days driving in the Park, 'on the strut' down Bond Street, blowing a cloud and trying to get a hit over Gentleman Joe's defenses at his boxing parlor and perfecting the folds of intricate neckties. Their boots are polished by their valets using a special mixture that always includes champagne, their horses are full-blooded and full of spirit. When called upon, these languid gentleman can be counted upon to come to the aid of their lady loves. Their ladies are resolute, lovely if not always beautiful, exquisite dancers, full of humor and strong minded and determined not to rely on their well dressed male counterpart. In most of Heyer's books, the female characters are frequently stronger and more expressive than the men. And while she never never never takes her readers into the bedroom, the passion and sex appeal of her couples leaps from the pages. Ms. Heyer is the natural literary offspring of Jane Austin and the grandmother of modern romance authors such as Nora Roberts. If you haven't read them, do yourself a favor and seek them out at your library. (And most of her books have been reissued in large size paperback form.) I however, cherish my original copies, dogeared pages, ripped covers and all. These books have travelled from my childish bedroom to my college dorm, to my first apartment, to my first home as a married woman and are always featured prominently in my bookcases. A word to the wise, since Ms. Heyers books are well researched and historically accurate as so slang (or cant to our well bred heroes) manners and mannerisms, and the picture of England they present is unbeatable and you actually may be prompted to do further research into English history. As a graduate student in History, one of my professors recommended Ms. Heyer's books as a source for social history of England in the period roughly covered by the American Revolution through the years right after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

All of her books are good and a few approach sheer genius. Start with Fredericka, The Grand Sophy, Talisman Ring, Sylvester, These Old Shades, Friday's Child, and Cotillion.....then work your way through the rest of the titles....and then check out her mysteries.

If you can answer these questions, you're an honorary member of the Georgette Heyer club.

1) Who is Mr. Willis and what famous establishment did he preside over (hint, don't try to gain entry after 11p.m. and don't ever ever ever attempt to waltz once you've gained entry until you have the permission of one of the patronesses!)
2) What exactly is ton?
3) What is a barque of frailty?

Good luck and happy reading. I'm off to a cotillion at Lady Wilshire's home...suppose Prinny or one of the other Royals might be in attendance?

Long time no posts

In addition to going back to work and having a brain full of new policies and procedures, I have been having internet malfunctions and I can't post from my Blackberry! I haven't read anything remarkable in the last several days with the exception of the latest Stephanie Plum "Finger Lickin Fifteen". I know a lot of reviewers will knock the book as not progressing the story or its the same theme over and over and why doesn't the author (Janet Evanovich) resolve Stephanie's love triangle? Me? I'm just happy to let Lula make me laugh (she actually gets stuck in a car window trying to escape a pair of moronic killers). Grandma is still Stephanie's best friend, her father is still trying to keep his head down and get a good meal. Morelli is patiently waiting for Stephanie to grow up and Ranger is still trying to tempt her into his arms. Bob? Has his usual food issues and Joyce Barnhardt is still the bane of Stephanie's life. Rex is running on his wheel and Vinnie is still Vinnie. So all is well in Stephanie's world and by extension I feel comfortable and amused with her antics....and some cars even blow up!

In other entertainment news....went to see the new Transformers and absolutely loved it....maybe I'm not critical of movies but if what you want is a couple of hours of summer fun, check this movie out.

More later. I'm just so thrilled that I have my internet back up to speed that I want to waste some time surfing. Have a wonderful week and Happy Fourth of July.

Two recomendations

"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe. New author who writes a multi century tale about 'cunning' women who descend from an unknown and innocent victim of the Salem Witch trial era and a modern woman who in addition to searching for original source material for her PhD dissertation is spending the summer in Marblehead, Massachusetts cleaning out her grandmother's vine hidden cottage.

"Dark Horse" by Craig Johnson...the fourth or fifth in the Walt Longmire series. Do yourself a favor, read all of these books.

Yes I am still reading

Unfortunately (or fortunately for my bank balance) I just returned to work after several months of unemployment and I am finding it hard, but never impossible, to carve significant reading time out of my day. The biggest problem I am facing with the return to work is simply getting back into the rhythm of the work day....setting an alarm, making a lunch, actually having to get dressed like an adult rather than spending the day in baggy yoga pants and well past their prime t-shirts. And like any new job, in a totally new profession, there is a lot of material to absorb, new routines to learn, new people to meet and become assimilated with....

I just finished, reading by candlelight during our first thunderstorm induced power outage, Plea of Insanity by Jilliane Hoffman. No it's not a serial killer book but a disturbing tale of murder and betrayal with a glimpse into the highly political world of the American justice (or injustice) system as well as a mini-course on the heartbreaking world of schizophrenia. "Plea" is a stand-alone (so far) from Ms. Hoffman. Her previous books were both centered on the same main character and I for one would love to see a second outing with the main characters of "Plea".

I also started (again by candlelight) the first few chapters of the new Bay Tanner novel....Covenant Hall. I am reading this with a lot of foreboding that it is about time for Bay to experience some soul-searing loss. Not sure if it's going to be her elderly father or her almost fiancee. She's already been widowed, betrayed by a lover, seen her partner killed, not to mention surviving the pain of a distant alcoholic mother. And it seems that she has an unknown sister that her dying father wants her to find....and somehow I just know that this sister will be tied in someway with the missing family of her new client. But Bay is tough and always manages to bounce back and so I'll go on the ride with her wherever it takes her.

Enough thoughts for tonight....after all I need to read and still have to set my alarm (groan).

Happy reading, everyone!

Yes I have read some good books lately

I originally made a decision not to make specific book recommendations largely because I don't want to portray myself as any kind of authority but one of my family members told me lately that if for nothing else than the sheer number of books I devour in a weeks time I have something to say, specifically, about the books I have read. (disclaimer: I do not have any personal/professional/monetary/etc. ties to any of these authors, their publishing houses, distributors...well you get the idea)
I am, remember, an on-line bookseller but I am not mentioning any of these books in the hopes of selling my used copy:):):) A lot of them are being recycled through my daughters hands and by the time they've finished, believe me, noone would buy these books. For a fun few hours, read any of these books....oops..gotta go, I've got a book calling to me!

1. A Veiled Deception (Annette Blair). Not a literary masterpiece by any means but it kept my attention throughout and I am hoping that the author decides to make it into a series. Heroine Madeira, a dress designer extraordinaire and vintage clothing designer, returns home for her youngest sister's wedding. Murder, long buried passions, delicious clothing and a fun relationship follow. Why do I like this book? The main character is likeable, the secondary characters are fun, the locale is real and who wouldn't want a closet full of valuable vintage clothing, a loving family and a hot FBI agent at her side. And yes there are a couple of ghosts thrown into the mix.
2. Stephanie Bond's Body series.....there are 6 of them (five have been published, the 6 is scheduled for June). It took several tries to read the first in the series for some reason. I actually purchased 2 & 3 and skimmed their first pages. Heroine Carlotta Wren and her con man brother initially come across as unlikeable and totally self-serving initally. Get beyond that and enjoy the rest. Warning.....at some point you may find yourself wondering how much **** two people can get themselves into!
3. Love Mercy by Earlene Fowler. All about coming to terms with what you have and then finding out there are always new options and relationships to explore.
4. Nearly anything by Barbara Michaels or Elizabeth Peters. Actually they are the same person writing in two different genres. Warning....some of Barbara Michaels' books will require sleeping with the light on for a few nights (Ammie Come Home, the Crying Child)
5. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books are a hoot...there's a new one coming out in a few weeks
6. Donna Andrews' Meg Lansglow series. All I can say is wear waterproof mascara....I have never read one of these books without screams and tears of laughter. I not only want to have Meg's life, Ms. Andrews is one of those authors whose talent I lust after!
   

Books in a series and other offerings of my brain

In reading my posts to date I realized that what I am putting together is not so much a list of good books or a list of reviews of books or really any kind of list or recommendations. I am really thinking through my fingers and the keyboard of my computer about what, for me, makes a book good and what features I look for in a good or great book. Whether this is helpful for anyone else I don't know but I do know that I frequently will put down a book and think 'wow, why can't I put words together like so and so does?' I certainly know all of the words this author used in this book....why can't I do this? I have tried and believe me the results were not print worthy at all.

So here is a list (not all inclusive by any means) of some of my least favorite things to discover in a book. Most of these items refer to fairly well established book series, generally not 'one-offs' or standalone titles. I have abandoned book series that I have invested a lot of time reading for some or all of these reasons. I generally have anywhere from 40 to 100 books to be read scattered on my nightstand, on the floor on my side of the bed, next to my favorite chair, on my desk, in my purse, and a pile on my actual to be read bookshelf so I can be picky about what I choose to read and quickly cull out those books either being returned quickly to the library or going directly to my recycle/sale shelf.

1. The big tease. By this I refer to authors who design a certain back story for their character/characters and rather than resolving an issue in this back story, continue to walk the reader to the brink in the last chapter, time and time again, only to take a step back (often within the last few lines) and in essence tell the reader "gotcha again, not this time, maybe I'll resolve this in the next book....but who knows, maybe not." This is number one on my list because the book I'm reading now is one of those....Romantic suspense writers are bad at this....will she won't she?
   
2. Genre books that all jump on the same thematic bandwagon (I covered this in an earlier post so I won't elaborate.) Just a further thought....Be original.
3. Authors who fall into the trap of using 10 word descriptions when one or two would do. This is becoming more and more commonplace. Instead of calling a character by their name (and really when you've read 3 or 4 books in a series, the character's name is pretty easy to recall), some authors will seem to shy away from using a name and start describing them.... Mary Jones becomes 'the pretty dark haired librarian'. Or Sally Smith will become 'the vivacious blond candy maker'. We readers know the characters' names, why is it so hard for their creators to use them?
4. Likewise, there is a segment of writers (and this is as true in stand-alones as in series but it is a major peeve of mine) who have their main character use (over and over and over) expressions such as okaaaaay, or puhleeeeeze, or reeeally. The list goes on and on. For me this doesn't make the character seem real or relevant it makes them seem stupid.
5. Rewriting history. This is probably most common in a book series that was originally intended to be a one off and due to popularity becomes a series. Authors, please go back and read your first book and don't make your character, originally a red-headed photographers assistant from Keokuk now a sultry brunette from Baton Rouge. Really disrupts the flow!
6. I am a creature of habit...I like to find a good book series, watch the characters grow and develop within themselves as well as grow with the other characters in the book. I absolutely hate authors who apparently get so bored with their creations that they start killing off major players 6 or 7 books into the storyline or encourage their characters to act in a manner completely foreign to their nature. Now I completely understand that authors conceive and bring forth their characters as a labor of love and completely own their lives but why kill off a deeply loved significant other or some such other nonsense?

Great book/ok movie; so-so book/great movie

I did something this morning I have never done before in my life.....as you probably know Angels and Demons premiered at midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. While I didn't feel like staying up till after three in the morning for the premiere I did want to see the movie and didn't particularly want to fight the Friday night 'date night' crowd or sit in a theatre filled with teenagers trying to act cool. So I bought advance tickets for my oldest daughter, youngest son and myself. All three of us had read DaVinci Code (didn't everybody?) and we all saw the movie the weekend it premiered. We were also all in agreement that it was a great book and an okay movie...not bad not great but a movie that contained the kernel of a great movie but some how it missed. Whether the movie's ultimate disappointment was due to including too much of Dan Brown's book, careless editing, poor casting or a combination of these problems and just plain too much advance hype, the movie (in our opinions) suffered greatly in comparison with the original book. Personally I think it had something to do with Tom Hank's terrible haircut!

Angels and Demons however is a completely different story. I made a valiant effort to read the book, picking it up and putting it down at least half a dozen times and never finished it. My oldest daughter (probably the last in the family to actually read DaVinci) devoured Angels and designed a count-down calendar on her computer to the movie release date. So the three of us set our alarms, got to the theatre about 9:30a.m., DID NOT buy popcorn (we smuggled McDonald's biscuits and sodas in with us) and endured about 50 minutes of pre-movie advertisements and previews. Although I nearly fell asleep a couple of times, once the movie began I was literally on the edge of my seat. I don't know what the difference was....maybe Ron Howard (I always loved Opie), Brian Glazer and Tom Hanks actually took the time to sit in a screening room and analyze their errors in DaVinci, frame by frame...maybe because I hadn't read the book and had no frame of reference, maybe watching a movie at 10:30 in the morning is better than watching one at nearly midnite (when I saw DaVinci). I don't know but they certainly got this one right. From my daughter's comments, a lot of Dan Brown's transitional and descriptive pages were excluded...there was very little back story....Angels starts with a splash and doesn't stop for nearly three hours. I was exhausted by the time the lights came on and can't wait to go back for a second viewing.

I know a lot of people are going to complain that Robert Langdon solved the puzzles too easily or there were too many places where the viewer is asked to suspend reality or they don't like the leading lady (a lovely actress in my opinion) or there is too much religion or....on and on. But don't all movies and a lot of books ask us to suspend reality? If you are looking for a way to entertain yourself for 3 hours, consider Angels and Demons. It is well worth the price of a ticket, and even more worth the price of a ticket if you can, like we did get into the early bird special for $6/ticket.

And since my blog is about books, good books and what makes a book good, ask yourself how a great read can be an okay book but an okay book can be a great movie? Happy reading, happy viewing.

Books at the library and books at the post office

• What do the library and the post office have to do with books and with each other? Okay the library is obvious but the post office? I am an on-line book-seller and bookswapper so I spend a lot of time either at the post office mailing books or buying stamps. Today I had to visit the post office to find out how badly the new postage rates are going to affect my little on-line business. I had two books to mail (normally it would cost $4.46 for the two; today it cost $4.76, an increase of 15 cents/book. Most of my on-line inventory consists of gently read paperback books I recycle and after postage and other costs I net about 50 cents/book. The increase in postage (if I leave my pricing structure alone) lowers my profit to 35 cents/book. After several hours of back and forth I decided to reprice my inventory, adding the 15 cents to the price of each of my books which in turn will no doubt lower my overall sales as the average on-line used bookshopper is looking for the cheapest price not the best quality (which I provide). The other impact on my business will take a while longer to see. I will be reviewing my entire inventory and undoubtedly will have to switch the lower third to half of my for-sale inventory to swap inventory lowering my overall bottom line.

• Today's library experience was totally positive. I had books on reserve ready for quick pick up. The books were ready and noone was ahead of me in line. And one of my favorite librarians was working. Our local library system is rated as one of the best in the United States and I confess that I don't utilize the library resources as much as I could. Rather than browse the stacks and maybe find an undiscovered gem I take the lazy woman's way out and just request new titles (nearly always mysteries of course). So I 'haunt' the online services (Stopyourekillingme.com, cluelass.com, amazon.com) and the various author tracker services for the latest from my favorite authors. Occasionally I find a new author to try and these finds are exciting for a reader like me. I also hear once in a while from different authors announcing new books or upcoming book tours.

• Not a lot today about actual reading...but for you who are looking for book suggestions I do recommend that you can use some of these online sights for new reading ideas. And if you, like me, are trying to minimize your book buying budget, get your lists together and find out whether your local library system has an online reserve/request system. It is possible to set up your book wish list and reserve everything you want without even changing out of your pajamas!

Gotta go find a new book to read.

Happy Mother's Day (read a good book for, with or to your Mom today)

My wishes go out to everyone, everywhere who is a Mom by birth, adoption, or circumstances....maybe you are an aunt, an uncle, a best friend, a sister or a grandparent who has taken on the role of Mom to a child. I think a lot about the role of Mom-dom these days as my oldest son is getting married in two weeks. I rejoice in his happiness and wish only the best for my son and his lady love but mourn a bit the loss of my role as the most important woman in his world....but I am happy to share that title with his fiancee, as long as once in a while he turns back the clock for a few minutes and I can selfishly be, once again, the only one! My mom, unfortunately, requires skilled nursing care round the clock and has been in a nursing facility for the last few years. We nearly lost her in January and while we can no longer share a day at the Mall or in idle gossip, I do wish her a Happy Mother's Day and thank her for her patience, love, and understanding.

On to the topic of books.....I'm reading my 4th serial killer book of the weekend and remember how I talked earlier about trends in the cozy mystery genre? (this ties in to Mother's Day as well) The last 2 books have been about an apparently non-regulated industry--fertility clinics....maybe this is in response to the furor about Octo-Mom and maybe just coincidence. The first book was about a tycoon's desperate search for any children of his college sperm donation....he needs a liver lobe donation. Trust me when I say that being one of his 'donor offspring' quickly became a quick ticket to the morgue. The book I'm now halfway through is a missing persons whodunit surrounding a young girl's search to find her unknown donor father...roughly a third of the way into the book the female 'donor offspring' are starting to disappear for yet unknown reasons. Both are good books and thoroughly enjoyable.

Yes I had a great Mother's Day. My four offspring took me to lunch, my soon to be married son provided a beautiful bouquet, my youngest son and his puppy painted me one of their Jackson Pollack type of canvases, my oldest daughter made me a scrapbook and my youngest daughter just brought in 2 boxes of chocolate....

Go read a good book and give your Mom a kiss!

Serial Killers and other Monsters

I just can't decide why I enjoy certain books....I am particularly fond of mysteries (just ask my long suffering children who have grown up tripping over stacks of books, endured endless hours in the library, the bookstores, watching me search online for the latest and greatest). But even I, mystery fiend that I am, have certain requirements. Despite the fact that I have an advanced degree in History with a dual concentration in American Colonial and British History, I absolutely hate loathe and despise British mysteries. Say all you will about the wonders of Agatha Christie...Ms. Marple and Mr. Poirot bore me to point of lunacy. Sherlock Holmes? Never. I thought maybe it was just the time period ...nope I hate current British mysteries, I hate historical British mysteries....the one glaring exception to this is the astonishingly hilarious world created by Elizabeth Peters and Radcliffe and Amelia Peabody/Emerson. Maybe because they don't actually live in England except during Egypt's off season for archeological digs??

Anyway I just wandered off the point...something I am prone to do. Requirements for a good mystery.

• No English mysteries (except Amelia and her brood)
• No historical mysteries (I made one exception to this rule, got totally involved in the series and it abruptly ended...so I guess that shows me)
• No true crime...I can't stand the thought of anyone actually eviscerating someone else which makes me wonder why I like serial killer books?
  
• I used to prefer female leads, but once I discovered Elvis Cole and Harry Bosch, Alex Delaware, Jesse Stone....well you get the picture....I relaxed this rule
• Cozy mysteries used to fill my nightstand but I am rapidly growing annoyed with the cozy genre authors. They seem to be trend driven (lately all of the new cozy series have a craft theme) Not that I have any objection to crafters...When I'm not immersed in a stack of books I scrapbook, crochet, bead and alter books just like any other middle aged, middle American mom. I guess my big complaint with the cozy genre is that a lot of them go something like this. Somebody is killed in the heroine's general vicinity (usually someone the woman never met, doesn't know and has very little reason to really care about). The police come and interview the heroine (usually a very good-looking policeman). For some reason the intrepid heroine doesn't think the policeman is either a) very smart despite their overwhelming good looks or b) our heroine is just plain bored and decides to investigate the murder of a total stranger to the detriment of her business, her safety and in the face of the disapproval of some of her circle of friends. But then there is always her little band of Baker Street Irregular wannabes who egg her on and then Ms. Heroine starts running around asking annoying questions of everyone she meets until she stumbles upon the villain (usually involving the reader in some sort of unbelievable moment of peril until she is rescued by the above mentioned good looking policeman and either goes happily home with him if this is a single book or if intended as a seres, the heroine goes home with him promising not to ever get involved again in a crime (until the next total stranger gets murdered in front of her) or throws a snappy come-back at Mr. Policeman and fully intends to never see him again (until the next total stranger is murdered in front of her)
• I like a book with a sense of humor and an author who can combine real sounding dialogue, a sound plot and characters the reader would like to meet in real life.
• A bit of romance is okay....I have actually strayed into the romantic suspense section of the local bookstore more than one time. I just stay away from the bodice rippers.
• I realized a long time ago that there also has to be some sort of visual impact about the book cover/jacket. I am absolutely certain that I have passed up books that were terrific because I didn't like the primary color of the cover or hated the artwork in some way.
• This brings me, finally, to the topic of this post. Serial Killers and other Monsters. I have discovered a love within my reader's soul for books combining gorgeous female FBI profilers or tomboy cops butting heads with and investigating serial killers alongside dashingly handsome (and of course renegade) Private Investigators (most of whom used to be FBI or Secret Service). One of the main characters is usually filthy rich and has all of these fascinating toys to play with (their own jet, a fantabulous computer set up capable of tracking the tiniest movement of the tiniest of little ants) Are these books as formula driven as the cozies? Of course they are....but give me a nasty evil horrifying depraved serial killer (with a catchy media name) over a cozy killer anyday. I am so glad that reading lists aren't a matter of public record....I'd be in big trouble:):):):):)

My point is that reading choices are as individual as snowflakes.....I have always tried to instill a love of reading in my children....always telling them I don't care WHAT you read as long as you read something. Of course now that they're grown and can drive themselves to the bookstore, maybe I need to amend that statement slightly to read anything as long as it's legal and you wouldn't be too embarassed for Mom to see it as well.

This has turned into more of a treatise than a post. I need to go check the shelves and find a new renegade FBI agent/female investigator duo to read about. And I have some scrapbooks to finish--with a nod to the cozy genre.

If you're more into running than reading, check out theseshoesweremadeforrunning.blogspot.com and follow our journey to the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in April.

First thoughts and a thank you to my Mom

I have been a reader of, lover of, collector of, and admirer of books, good books, since I learned to read my first word which just happened to be "look". I remember the pure joy with which I shared my new found education with my mother. She happened to be standing in our kitchen getting ready to prepare what most certainly was one of the many delicious meals that our family ate. What does this have to do with reading? Probably not a lot but in hindsight I realize that part of my abiding love for reading grew from Mom's response. She was a busy lady...my younger sister was a colicky baby with a lot of health problems and I am certain that Mom had better things to do on that rainy afternoon in a late fall day in Wisconsin than to stop, put aside everything else and concentrate on one wildly excited and highly educated little girl. But she did put aside everything else and give my announcement of "Mommy I can read, Mommy I can read....look, look, look" her full and undivided attention. This moment was important to me so it was important to her. To this day, the act of reading is somehow connected to the love of my mother and her pride in me and all of my accomplishments....it didn't matter to her if I learned one word that day or a thousand. So in this my first ever blog, I want to say Thank You Mom for shutting the refrigerator, turning off the oven, tuning out the colicky baby, not answering the phone and giving me your love. "Mommy, I can read." In other posts I will ponder on the question of what makes a good book, why certain authors can assemble words in a fashion that puts a reader to sleep and other authors can use the same words and create a world within their work that invites readers in, enthralls them, and makes them reluctant to leave when it is time to turn the light off and go to bed.