Quest the First -- Book 4

 

 

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris is Book #4.

When I went to pick my next book from my TBR pile, I just couldn't resist the next book in the Southern Vampire Series. I really like the main character Sookie, and all of her neighbors, both human and supernatural.

This book starts off with a naked man on the side of the road and never slows down. There are Vampires, of course, but we also get to see more of the Weres and the shifters, learning more of their cultures. This book also introduces us to the Witches and to a new supernatural who, while not getting a full explanation for, seems to be an interesting species and one I'm sure we will see more of.

The naked man turns out to be Eric, the vampire, boss of her ex-boyfriend Bill. But this is an Eric who has lost his memory and seems to be a kinder, gentler Eric than the one Sookie has known in the past. Poor Eric doesn't remember anything, and whoever took his memory may be trying to kill him. Soon Sookie has not only an amnesiac Eric to worry about, but also a missing brother. While investigating what happened to Eric and to her brother, Jason, Sookie is reunited with the Were Alcide, and with his help finds herself heading straight into a supernatural battle involving the vampires, the werewolves, and some witches... And, if that isn't enough, who are those shifters who live isolated in the little town of Hotshot just outside of Bon Temps? You'll need to pick this book up to find the answers to these and other questions.

I'm really liking these books, and I've already picked up the next book in the series. I'm sure it won't be long before I dive right back into the happenings in Bon Temps and the surrounding areas.

If you want to join in the Challenge, pop over to Stainless Steel Droppings to see how it all works. Come on, join us, you know you want to!

Memorial Day 2009

 

Love your country and live with pride
And don't forget those who died America can't you see
All gave some and some gave all
And some stood through for the red, white and blue
And some had to fall
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some gave all
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall, yes recall
Some gave all
Some gave all

---Billy Ray Cyrus  Some Gave All---

Please take a moment today to remember and honor the Men and Women of the military who gave their all and the reason we celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday of every May. One of the ways to do that is to observe

The National Moment of Rememberance:

The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute).The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday. The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans.

Quest the first -- Book 3

 

 

I chose Small Favor by Jim Butcher as my third book.

Being a Wizard should be more fun and less dangerous... unless you are the Wizard Harry Dresden. Trouble just seems to follow poor Harry around. I have really loved this whole series of books, and this one is no exception. If you are looking for a good story with great characters and lots of action and maybe a little mystery thrown in... this is a series for you.

While you can read this book without having read any of the others in the series, knowing the cast of characters and their background does make the story even better. For instance, the Small Favor in the title of the book? It's being asked of Harry by Mab, the Queen of the Winter Court of the Sidhe. Harry has had enough prior contact with Mab to know that she is not someone to cross casually, and he does owe her a favor after the whole attack on the Fairy Realm thing... and while Mab is neither the good or the bad guy, neither Court of Fairy is coming clean with what they actually know.

During the course of the book you will come across Harry's half-brother, who happens to be a Vampire, Sidhe  from both the Winter and Summer Courts of Fairy, other Wizards, a couple of Knights of the Cross, some Knights of the Blackened Denarius (who are Fallen Angels.. yep, those Fallen Angels!),  a little girl who just happens to be the Archive of all Knowledge, some members of the Chicago Mob, and even Harry's friend who is a member of the Chicago Police Force. And all of these people have a different agendas and different ideas about what is right and wrong and different world views. Jim Butcher does a great job of keeping all the plot points rolling along and juggling all the different things that seem to be happening till everything finally comes together in the end.

If you like detectives, wizards, and urban fantasies, you will love this. This book delivers a well-rounded story while still advancing the mystery we have slowly been uncovering in the multi-book story arc.

If you want to join in the Challenge, pop over to Stainless Steel Droppings to see how it all works. Come on, join us, you know you want to!

Armed Forces Day!

 

Today is the third Saturday in May, soooo it must be Armed Forces Day. This years theme is "United in Strength". Please take a moment from your day and give a thought to the men and women (and their families!)  who have served in the past, and the ones who defend us today. And don't forget to say Thank You!

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait...

 

 

It has been a little over 2 years since I lost my D.K. That's a picture of her at the top of this post. She went over the Rainbow Bridge in April of 2007. I still miss her.

D.K. was a beautiful black and white tuxedo cat. I had her for 13 wonderful years. My husband offered to get me a kitten not long after we lost her to cancer, and I would go and look, but I just wasn't ready. Finally this spring I thought I would like to again hear the pitter of little cat feet in the house. I did mention to the Hubs that I thought we should get a cat that did not remind me of D.K., and because of that I was sure I wanted to get a kitty that was any color but black. Maybe a pretty gray with black stripes? Or a Russian Blue?

What is that saying about making plans and the universe will laugh at you? Yeah.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an entry on a blog I follow. A cute little Wordful Wednesday, Kitten Edition at Putting the Fun in DysFUNctional. I thought the kitties were really cute, and showed them to the Hubs, and even commented about how cute they were in the comments on the post. It put the thought of kitties in the forefront of my mind again.

Enter Serendipity. About a week after the first kitty post, I saw a different entry on the same blog. She mentioned that she was taking the kitties to be fixed so that they could go to an adoption event on the upcoming Saturday. For some reason I had been under the impression that she and her family lived farther south from us. When I saw where the kittens had been taken to, I asked in comments which place they would be going to for the adoption event, still not sure that I was right about how close they were. Turned out that the place the kitties would be at was the Petsmart that I visit frequently.

The next day I went to the Petsmart just to 'look' at the kitties. The one we thought we were interested in was the white one with black spots, and I still wasn't sure. But instead, once I was there, I couldn't resist the little black and white Tuxedo girl. I thought the hubs would bust a gut laughing at me. Not only did I end up with another black cat, but a Tuxedo to boot. Still, I think D.K. would be pleased since she too was an adopted stray.

If I had any doubts about my decision they were quickly put to rest when I arrived home. I sat the little darling down in the middle of the floor, and she was immediately at home with us and Morgan (our Corgi). She settled in and it was like she has always been with us.

The picture below was taken about 3 hours after we got her home.

 

 

Her foster mommy did a wonderful job with her. She has absolutely no fear of anything, loves people, and is so very confident of the world and her place in it. (i.e. she is a princess!).

I spent some time searching for a name, and we finally settled on Nyx. It fits her perfectly. She is so mischievous, and keeps us laughing constantly at her antics. I think when I was looking at all of those other kitties, I was just waiting for her to come along. We already adore her, and are looking forward to many years of laughing, loving, and fun with her and Morgan.

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

I can haz Kitteh?

Look what I got today! More pictures and the whole story tomorrow. Meant to post all about it today, but ended up playing on Twitter instead. Yep, I accomplished exactly Zip this evening. LOL!

 

Isn't she too cute for words? I'm in Luv!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Click on photo to go to a website with more info....

In Celebration of Star Wars Day...

Happy Star Wars Day! Today is Star Wars Day. No seriously, it is. I saw mention of it in several places around the web, so it must be so. Why today? Because it is May the Fourth. Get it? May the Fourth be with you....

In celebration of Star Wars Day, I give you the following video.

Discover a Classic in a New Way....

What is the significance of May 3rd? Well, if you are a reader of classic books (or movies), you might recognize the date as the day that Jonathan Harker makes his first entry in his journal and the reader embarks on a journey thru a story that is considered to be one of the classics of literature... Dracula.

Whitney Sorrow has decided to give the readers of her blog, Dracula, the chance to read the story from a different perspective than that of a bound book. In her words:

Experience Bram Stoker's Dracula in a new way -- in real time. Dracula is an epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of letters or diary entries,) and this blog will publish each diary entry on the day that it was written by the narrator so that the audience may experience the drama as the characters would have.

There are many novels that are considered to be classics. Some I have read, others I know the story, or have seen the movies based on them, but have never sat down and read the actual book. Dracula, surprisingly, is one of the those. I think this will be a unique way to enjoy it in written form for the first time. Anyone wish to join me?

Fortuitous Find

Sometime last week I wrote a post on bookstores and the problems they were having competing with online offerings. In that post, I mentioned how I love to go and just wander around a bookstore and admire the books, and how sometimes a book that you might not have ever seen or thought about reading, will jump right off the shelf, into your hands, and go home with you....

Thursday a friend asked if I would give her a ride to get her hair cut and stop a couple of other places. One of the places she needed to go was a bookstore. Twist my arm! I had just been to a bookstore on Tuesday, so I wasn't looking for anything in particular. But, since this was a different bookstore from Tuesday's, I was happy to wander the shelves , checking out discontinued, sales, and new arrivals.

As is my custom, my feet eventually led me to the Scifi/fantasy section. And there, sitting facing outward, was a book with an absolutely wonderfully beautiful cover. It was one of those large paperbacks that I normally don't like since I can't tuck them in my purse. Still, it had such a wonderful cover that I pulled it off the shelf to have a look. The blurb on the back was oh so interesting, and inside the back cover was an ad for the next book in the series. I asked the clerk, and she said it would be out in May. Interesting cover, cool story idea, next book out almost immediately? Sold!

 

When I got home I saw an entry in my RSS feed about the book/cover over at the Tor site. Since I had just bought the book, I clicked thru and was pleased to get a lot more info. Seems these books are going to be just one of three trilogies set in this universe. All three of the books are already out in England. They decided to do these wonderful complimentary covers for the US release and are releasing them one each month for 3 months. World's End was April, Darkest Hour will be in May, followed by Always Forever in June!! This is wonderful news for me because one of the things that drives me crazy is waiting for the next book in a series to come out. LOL! I think that is why I often wait till a couple of books are out in a series before I dive in.

Click here for a better look at all the covers, and an interview about the books, the covers, and how they all came about.

Oh, and just to wet your appetite for what's inside, here is part of the blurb from the back cover:

IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, HEROES ARISE!

A dragon firebombs a freeway. Shape-shifters stalk the commercial district. The deadly Wild Hunt wreaks havoc on the highway.
A pedal-to-the-floor, high-octane fantasy thriller that pitches magic and wonder into a pop culture mash-up of the modern world. Described as “One part Lord of the Rings, one part Illuminatus!, one part Arthurian romance, one part Harry Potter—100 % original!”

For more info on the book, and author, and to read the rest of the blurb from the back of the book, click here.