Book Meme Beginnings

Hey!

So, the weight loss thing pretty much petered out after 20 pounds… I’m still limping along but that’s a story for another day.

One of my bloggy friends, Judy Edmonds over at Sheep Rustling, is doing a meme about books. It’s a series of questions she’s answering day by day, as she has a chance. Since I’m a lifelong reader and my next tattoo will probably be designed around books and the word READ, this meme is right up my literate alley.

So, here’s #1:

Day 01 - A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)

Charlaine Harris (of the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series) had a series featuring Lily Bard, a woman starting a new life after a vicious assault. Lily had moved to a new town called Shakespeare, where she cleaned houses, worked out at a dojo and was pretty much a loner. It was interesting to see her come out of herself and start to trust people and learn to love. She and her lover made a cameo appearance a while ago in one of the Sookie books but I’d love to see more novels featuring Lily.

I’m also hoping Debi Gliori starts writing the Pure Dead Series again. This one is about a Scottish family with Italian roots, who live in a huge house with monsters, a mother who’s trying to be a witch and family members who really are. She’s great with plays on words and she’s just freakin’ clever. Sometimes she’s so funny, I laugh out loud reading in public places. I miss all the assorted characters and wild situations they’d get into. Oh, Debi, put the kids in day care and move back in with the Strega-Borgia’s!!

C’est la vie!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchicksundries.etsy.com

Mare's Favorite Author/Book Series-Julie Hyzy

Hey!

Ok, I'm really too discombobulated lately to pick a day of the week for author articles, so I'll just put them out there when I'm inspired.

Julie Hyzy writes the most focused thrillers I've read in a long time. There's no fat on these novels-no distracting romantic diversion, no meddling mom or needy cat. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of cozies, which are rife with lots of sweet characters and diversions not directly related to the plot at hand. But these are thrillers, books of action not comfort (as much as murder mysteries can be comfortable...) and I like changing gears to read her fast paced yet pleasant stories.

Her character, Ollie Paras, a White House chef, somehow always finds herself right in the middle of T-R-O-U-B-L-E. In trying to do the right thing, Ollie ends up in some complicated messes but is compelled to keep digging or talking or thinking, whatever the situation demands. And the White House setting is ripe for all sorts of terrorists, intrigue and gingerbread men, so there should be plenty of plots to come.

I like Ollie. She's got a lot of heart and integrity and she's someone you'd want to befriend, if only she had the time. She has a boyfriend who's a Secret Service agent but with their crazy schedules, their time together consists of quick meetings, missed phone calls and the occasional overnight stay. Most of the people in the White House kitchen are hard working and fun, with a curmudgeonly assistant to keep things from getting, well, too comfortable. Glimpses of the First Family do not resemble the current residents, or even their recent predecessors.




The plotting is complicated and thoughtful, so you're not sitting there thinking you're smarter than they are 'cause you know who did it from the git go. And the "glimpses" of the White House and Camp David feel like history in the making.





You should read this when: you want to spend some time with an intelligent Girl Scout (and I mean that in the nicest way!) who can cook

Sequence (I like to read series in order): State of the Onion, Hail to the Chef

C’est la vie!


www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Shelfari-A Book Lovers Haven

So, The Husband has considered himself a Computer Widower for quite a few years now. Especially with the jewelry business, I spend a lot of time posting and schmoozing and browsing online.

Last night, while reading a fave blog, I happened to notice for the second or third time (this is why you can’t run a print ad just once. It takes several views for people to really notice…) that she had a bookshelf in the right column showing what book she’s currently reading. Now, kind readers, you may not know this about me but the only thing that can stop me faster than a bead store is a book store. I want my ashes scattered over a library, that’s how much books mean to me!

So, I clicked the graphic and zoom, found myself at Shelfari, which I think is run by Amazon. This was very late at night and I was so dazzled that I could look up all these books I’ve read and put them on my “shelf”, that the devil himself could have been the webmaster!

I haven’t really gotten that far into Shelfari yet but I know there are groups you can join and you can write reviews and see what’s coming out. Your book shelf consists of what you’ve read, what you’re reading and what you want to read. Now I have to confess, I have a Word page on my computer where I keep up on the titles I’ve read and what’s coming out when (I read a lot of mystery series) and what looks interesting that I need to find. So this is like Hog Heaven for Mare, let me tell ya!

Here’s my Shelfari bio:

When I learned to read in first grade, I must have made my parents crazy, reading everything as we drove around doing errands. I'd read street signs, billboards, signs in windows, on buses, anything I saw. And my parents, bless 'em, encouraged every letter and word!

Consequently, I'm a compulsive reader. I always have a stack of library books next to my chair, plus magazines and all things paper. If I'm stuck in a waiting room without a book (nightmare of nightmares!), I'll read the same sign about paying for services rendered 100 times...

The last few years, I've been going through what I call my American Cozies phase, light mysteries like John J. Lamb, Fran Rizer, Hailey Lind, well I could go on and on. I also love a very specific kind of vampire fiction--not too brutal or gory. Maryjanice Davidson, Charlane Harris, P.N. Elrod. Also a few children's series, namely Diane Duanes' Young Wizards series (rivals Harry Potter, in my opinion) and Debi Gliori's Pure Dead series. And every once in a while, something non-fiction will creep in, like Crashing Through.

If you’re a reader and a computer person, like me, go check it out. You’ll spend hours! Click the link below or my bookshelf in the right column.

www.shelfari.com

C’est la vie!

My new business banner!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com