WWW Wednesdays: 29 Feb 2012

 

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading asks you to answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next? 

My answers:

What are you currently reading?

Partials by Dan Wells. I haven't read any of this one since last week. Work has kept me busy and I sort of...quite by accident...started another book and then another...Oops.

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn. I can't put this series down...though so far not liking how this one is starting off. I adore that Plum and Portia are back...but where or where is Brisbane!?!

What did you recently finish reading?

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (Audio, 4 Stars). I was so glad this audio was on my iTouch because it allowed me to listen to it everywhere! I loved the story. That opening line is one of the best ever. The narration was really good and I enjoyed the gothicness of this book. I've read some reviews that talk about the prose in a whiney fashion but I think it was utterly perfect for the time frame of this novel It helped bring that historical feel to it that a more modern telling would ruin. Full review to come.

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn (4 stars). I wasn't planning on starting this one. I wasn't! But after finishing Silent in the Grave how could I do any less? For the first part of this novel Brisbane was quite the cad and I wanted to smack him. But at about half way through he is quite redeeming himself again. I am in love with all these characters. I can not wait for book 3!

 

Silent on the Moor by Deanna Rayburn (4.5 stars). I am a bit addicted to this series. Is it perfect? No...but Julia is such a fantastic character....even though at times she's a bit snobbish...but she is so very believable as a titled woman of the 19th century and I just love her dearly. Her growth and transition from how she was when we meet her in Silent in the Grave is just so amazing. There is just so much to love about this series!

What do you think you'll read next?

The Dark Enuiry by Deanna Raybourn - Lady Julia Grey series Book 5.

Why pretend that I'm going to read anything other than the remaining Lady Julia Grey book next? Lots of good quality fun in this series. I *LOVE* the March family!

What Books Did I Review Since Last Week?

Gah!! how could I not have reviewed anything?!?! Bad blogger! Just what have I been doing with my time...oh yeah...reading. Nasty habit that. 

Teaser Tuesdays: 28 Feb 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading asks you to:


• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My sentences are:

I swallowed hard and fixed her with an Inquisitor's stare.

"I  shall only ask you this once. Did you know?"

She paled, then took another sip of her whiskey, colour flooding her cheeks instantly.

~ pg  76 of Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

What I Watched: 26 Feb 2012

Due to Lent this feature is going on hiatus for a few weeks.

So this week marked the star of Lent and while I'm not the strictest of Catholics I do like to see if I can go 40 days without something. This year I was at a bit of a loss as to what I would give up as Lent sort of snuck up on me (see bad Catholic). In the end I decided to give up watching TV for 6 days a week plus 1 hour on Mondays. My DVR would blow up if I didn't go through it so Sunday's will be spent clearing off bits of that.  Plus the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is 47 days...back in days of old people were meant to fast, give up things and repent for Monday through Friday but Sundays were a day of worship and celebration. So that is why Sunday will be my day for DVR catch up. 

And that 1 hour on Monday...that's to watch Hart of Dixie. No its not the best show on my tv line up but...its a show that I live tweet about with a few twitter friends and I don't want to be spoiled from an episode or miss out on that fun. So if HoD is a new show then I will watch...if its a repeat...then the TV will be off. As you can imagine this makes for a very quiet apartment and I might be driven quiet mad by the end. Not for not watching TV...but from the Silence.  

Its my hope that I'll be able to get lots and lots of reading done. Although if these first 4 days are any judge this might not happen. Not sure what I did with my time...but it just sort of evaporated...and while I read I didn't read as much as I wanted. I'm sure that will change though. 

Snapshot Saturday: 25 Feb 2012

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

This is how I am spending my Saturday...at work...don't you just envy me? Yeah...I don't either. lol But all those papers need to be looked through, QC'd and organized all need and pretty for a customer visit on Monday. Been so busy doing things NOT on my To Do List at work (putting out fires and such) that I fell behind on those other things I need to do. Ah well. Hopefully it won't be long in the office as there is no one here and so no one to set fire to other tasks and thereby distract me from my To Do List once again.

I hope everyone else is having a more enjoyable day than I!

Random Question of the Day

Hello internet!


I was just browsing on Twitter when I really should be working and tackling ALL THE THINGS on my TO-Do List...and all those other tasks that pop up that are more important than my handy dany To-Do List. Anywho I saw a tweet in which someone (sorry I lost the tweet in my stream and I can't access Web Twitter from my work computer) gave everyone at @randomhousekids a copy of the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

This made me curious and I want to know:

What one book would you give to everyone you knew if money wasn't an object? 

Leave me a comment and let me know!

WWW Wednesdays: 22 Februrary 2012

 

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading asks you to answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next? 

My answers:

What are you currently reading?

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Seriously considering marking this one as a DNF as I just can't seem to bring myself to pick it up and read it. Not sure that they time is right for it.

Partials by Dan Wells. This is a book that Presenting Lenore described as a twisty dystopian that reminds her of Battlestar Gallactica. After reading that I had to push it up my queue and so far I am enjoying it. I love the science aspect of the book but wish there was a bit more about the time before the Break...and what the RM virus actually is...or what RM stands for. I'm not quite 1/2 through yet so maybe those answers are coming. We shall see. 

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (Audio). Been meaning to read this one for a long while now as several people have recommended it to me. So used one of my audible.com credits and have started it as my new audio. So far I like the narration and the opening line...lovely!

What did you recently finish reading?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Audio, 5 Stars).  Absolutely brilliant! I loved this  one so very very must. Will Wheton was an excellent narrator and I just loved all the 80s references. I loved all the talk of the classic video games as it reminded me of my childhood. It was really easy to get lost in this story and its one of the few books that I would actually like to see made into a movie as I think it could be visually stunning - if done right that is.

Switched by Amanda Hocking (Audio, 2 stars). Blergh. I don't get the hype. Wendy is a very unlikable character. I like strong characters and she was anything but. She mopes about, doesn't really care about anyone or anything - except a dark and mysterious boy who she is also forbidden to date. And when said boy is removed from picture she mopes some more and doesn't care if she lives or dies. blah blah blah. Whine whine whine.

The Vittra Attacks by Amanda Hocking (Audio, 3 stars). An interesting short story at the end of the Switched audio. I liked this one better than the main story in the series. Loki is a far more likable character than than Wendy could ever be. What killed this for me was that it would randomly jump into another characters head for the sake of convenience. Which I find to be lazy story telling.

Vesper by Jeff Sampson (3 stars). I had high hopes for this one but in the end this was just a mediocre read. The voice of Emily never felt like a teen girl to me. Instead it read as an adult trying very hard to be a teen and trying to slip in preachy commentary on the perils of underage drinking and such whenever possible. Emily was very self-depreciating and I never connected with her. The random interludes of chat transcript only served to further distance me from the book.

A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, Book 1) by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars). I've been meaning to read the Sherlock Holmes books for a while now  and was glad that I did. This was a fun little mystery, albeit not as fun as Agatha Christie or a more contemporary one. I did think that the middle of this one suffered when it went into a lengthy description of events in Utah and admittedly I was a bit confused at the turn of events and thought I'd stumbled into a whole new story. I also have to admit that I enjoyed the modern adaptation of this one more as seen in the UK show Sherlock in the episode titled A Study in Pink.

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (3 stars). Received an ARC of the second book in this series and so thought I'd check out the first book. The main thing that this has going for it is that its a really quick read and I finished it in just a short time. I found that the world/history of the Forgotten really wasn't fleshed out super well...and many of the scene transitions & dialogue moments were very awkwardly done. The ending though...that's enough to make me curious about the next book.

What do you think you'll read next?

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King. This has been on Mt TBR for a long time and I really want to get to it as I've heard so many good things. Plus its on my List of Twelve and I really need to stop distracting myself and finish it up. =)

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. This is part of my List of Twelve books. I've enjoyed her other books and have heard good things about this one. Just need more time to read...and to stop getting distracted by other books.

What Books Did I Review Since Last Week?

Click here for my review of Angelfall by Susan Ee

Click here for my review of Dead to You by Lisa McMann

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (audio)