Re-Read Challenge: December!

Woohoo, last re-read challenge of the year!! :) Wowzer, right? How did a year go by already?!?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will continue hosting the Re-Read challenge for 2010. I will post up the details with a new icon in the next few days :D

So last day of the year... I know everyone will be busy. So you have from today till Sunday, January 3rd, midnight (Eastern time) to post your re-read review and be eligible for the draw :)

In the meantime, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and an awesome 2010 to come! :D


Kris: Moving Target and Running Scared by Elizabeth Lowell
Taja: Tiger's Eye by Karen Robards
Tracy: Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
Leslie: Forever by Judy Blume
Nath: Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz and Hunter X Hunter by Togashi Yoshihiro
Ames: Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts
Lori: Tapestry by Karen Ranney

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I wish you all health, joy and lots of books :)

I hope you had a nice time in the past few days :) At my house, it was very relax on New Year's Eve. Actually, my dad and I fell asleep and only my sister and mother were up to welcome the New Year :P

I've been scarce the past few days, because I was busy running some errands and mainly, cleaning my forever, perpetually messy room ^_^; I seriously don't know how it gets so messy... and so fast!!

Sigh, it was great to get some time off. I'm really dreading going back to work... although I have to admit that at times, I didn't know what to do... Besides reading, sleeping, eating, blogging and blog-hopping... what else is there to do?

I did end up going to work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday... but only a couple of hours each day. Did the experiments and then left, so it wasn't so bad. I brought with me speakers and dvds so I had some entertainment. Today, I've worked the whole day at the Fathers' house. It went faster than I thought it'd would and it hasn't been too busy, so that's good.

My parents did organize a get-together on December 30 for New Year. Basically, we organized another's family get-together LOL. See, we don't have many relatives living close to us and so, we get invited to other people family holiday party. The past few years, me and my sister have begged off... simply because for us, it was more fun just hanging out the two of us. I mean, all the other young people are cousins - they see each other all the time. So whenever we show up, we're clearly outsiders. Oh, they don't mean to exclude us, it just happens... and when they try to include us, it's always by asking us: "Where do you work?" "Are you done school?" Blablabla. Boring. This year, my parents decided it was our turn to host - can't always be the invitee... So I basically spent Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning my room... and it took me both days ^_^; As always, my mom over-cooked and it was kind of pot luck style... There was way too much food ^_^; We ended up with 5 different desserts... Ugh. I do have a sweet tooth, but seriously?!?

I've already finished my first book of the year 2010 :D Woohoo! It was My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. I will be reviewing it along with Almost Like Being in Love sometimes this week :) LOL, the year has only just started and already, I have so many posts to write!! Luckily, I caught up on my bloghopping :)

By the way, one of the authors I want to try in 2010 is Josh Lanyon... and guess what?!?! My library is not totally useless! I've discovered that they have 2 books by Josh Lanyon. Too bad it's not open today :( However, I'll definitively go tomorrow... and might stop by the bookstore :P

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my clean room LOL. These are for you, Ames!

The good thing is that I got rid of some junk and re-organized some stuff. Didn't have enough time to re-shelf my books, but that will come :P

Re-Read: Deep Waters and Hunter X Hunter

For this month's Re-Read challenge, you guys get a twofer. First, my comfort read of the year, Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz, and a manga series, Hunter X Hunter :)


Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz
published by Simon & Schuster in January 1997

You can read my review here.

The first time I've ever read this book, I was still a teen, still going to the town library and still reading in French. My, so many things have changed right? LOL :)

For years, this book has been on my mind. I remembered parts of the storyline, but did not remember the author or the title - let me tell you, it makes it hard to find the book and re-read it. Then, I decided to ask blogland and I was quite lucky, I got an answer :P So in February, I read Deep Waters and somehow, it has become one of my comfort reads this year.

I'm not going to write a detailed review, since I've already posted one earlier this year... Just write my impressions on my re-read.

My Impressions: Having read Deep Waters not that long ago, the re-read wasn't as powerful. Back in February, when I read Deep Waters, it was like discovering a new book, partly because I was reading it in English for the first time, partly because it's been so long ago... So this time, I wasn't so entranced by the book. The mystery didn't interest me at all and I focused on the romance in the book. I still really like Elias and Charity's characters... they are very different from one another, but somehow, they match. It's kind of fun to see Elias so clueless at times and figuring things out. It seems to me it's always delayed LOL. A lightbulb goes on and then, you see his mind working and finally, he jumps in. I think that only Charity could handle him :) It's also very interesting to see their relationship progresses... I think that back in February, I was so focused on the entire book... I didn't realize that their relationship wasn't that smooth. It seems to me, despite his water talks, Elias has a quick temper and too often, Charity seems to give in. Also, she was nervous and insecure in too many instances :( That did take out a bit of my enjoyment :(

Still overall, it's a pretty good story. I still enjoy their cooking contest and the "sweet" part LOL.

However, I think this is a book that the longer you haven't read, the better it's going to be on the re-read. So maybe I should wait a while before my next re-read :)


Hunter x Hunter by Togashi Yoshihiro

Hunter x Hunter is a manga drawn and written by Togashi Yoshihiro. The first chapter was published back in March 1998 and is still ongoing. There are currently 291 chapters released, compiled into 27 volumes and I have 26 of them in French.

This manga was hugely popular when it was released and even got its own anime adaptation as well as several OVAs which followed the manga very closely (those are the best). The only problem however is that the author is kind weak/sickly. As a result, the art has suffered a lot and he's been going on and off hiatus a lot. However, he should be starting up again (yay!!) and actually, chapter 291 is the first one of this come back. Hopefully, this time, he'll draw more than one volume... because at this rate, we'll never see the end ^_^;

The Story: Hunter X Hunter is the story of a young boy, Gon, who has been raised by his aunt on an isolated island. Much to his aunt's sorrow, Gon has decided to follow his father's footstep and become a professional Hunter. In this world, being a professional Hunter is quite an achievement and speaks loudly of who you are. They are several types of Hunters - bounty hunters, archeologist hunters, etc. Thus the story starts with Gon taking the exam and follows his friendship and adventures. However, the ultimate test that Gon has to face - find his father.

Like any manga, the story is divided into many story arcs. So far, we could divide Hunter X Hunter as followed:

1) Hunter exam (vol. 1 to 4)
2) Celestial Tower (vol. 5 to 7)
3) York Shin City (vol. 8 to 13)
4) Greed Island (vol. 14 to 18)
5) The Insects (vol. 19 to ?)

My Opinion: This manga is one of the best and it's really no wonder that it has so many fans and people are waiting so impatiently for its continuation. This is a fighting manga and the protagonist is very young, Gon and Killua (his best friend) are 11-12 years old when the story started and about 1.5 years has gone by. So Hunter X Hunter is mostly written for a male audience... still, I like it :)

It was great re-reading Hunter X Hunter. I have forgotten how fast the pacing of the story was. It's one great story arc after another and everything is moving swiftly. The whole story consists of clever twists and good ideas. The action is pretty non-stop, but it's balanced with a great story and world building.

I really enjoy the main characters - Gon and Killua. These boys are just fun to read and follow, quite endearing actually. Gon is pure and honest. He's quite direct, but he is not dumb. Killua is more interesting because he has more depth and dimensions... He comes from a family of assassins, so he's been trained quite strictly since he was young... So seeing him with a character so pure such as Gon, you can sometimes see Killua's internal struggles... the many shades of grey that makes up his characters. There are also two other characters worth mentioning: Kurapika and Leolio. They appear quite early in the manga (actually, even before Killua) and become very good friends with Gon... however, after the Hunter exam, they each go their own way. The characters do return for the York Shin City story arc which is very exciting. Anyway, this band of four would be invincible in a couple of years in my opinion :)

So yes, I really enjoy this manga. However, I'm not that much into the last story arc, the Insects one... and to my discontent, it's been the longest story arc :( Part of the problem I think is the slowness at which it's being written - the author having taken many hiatus. I just can't wait till he finishes and moves on. Seriously. I mean, this story arc is almost 1/3 of the whole story... I do hope that there'll be more story arcs after the Insects too. That's the problem with manga... the ending is always uncertain ^_^;

Also, since we're talking manga, we cannot forget the art. I think that Hunter X Hunter's art is very nice, easy on the eye. It's quite simple, but it works. Of course, the art also has suffered while the author was on hiatus (some of the chapters released in the magazines looked like draft @_@ Luckily, the author redrew them for the release of the volumes, phew). Still, it's a good style and I like that he plays with clothings and detailing ;)

Oh and since it's a re-read review, I'll say this... Hunter X Hunter is the kind of story that will withstand time and will become a classic, really :) As a re-read, I think that again, it depends on how long it's been since you've last read it. There's a lot of exciting moments and again, the longer it's been since you've read it, the better the re-read will be... because you'll be sitting at the edge of your seat and turning the pages so fast :)

My Grade: A-. It'd be an A if it wasn't for the last story arc...

Merry Belated Christmas and Re-Read Challenge Reminder

Merry Belated Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a great time with their family and friends :D

I lost my Christmas spirit last year and still haven't found it back yet :( However, I am enjoying the time off. It's been very relaxing: eating, reading and sleeping :)

Blogland has been quiet as well, but understandably so. It's good because my blogging mojo went on vacation. I hope it'll come back soon though :)

In the meantime, a reminder - the last Re-read Challenge is due on December 31, i.e. next Thursday. I'm not expecting too many entries, but still :P I'll be putting up the post on Wednesday and you'll have the end of the week and the week-end to post the review up :) I understand it's New Year and everyone is going to be busy...

By the way, I know that last month, I said I would stop hosting the challenge... but I've changed my mind and will be continuing to host it. However, there won't be any sign-up, prizes and reminders. If you do a re-read and feel like reviewing it, good :) If not, no loss...

All right, I'm going to go read a little :) I'll have a couple of reviews coming up in the next few days! :D

Early Christmas Gift...

So guess what is my early Christmas present to myself?

Tada!

LOL! Yep! Was able to score this book! LOL, I've been stalking the online indicator since last Wednesday and it finally showed up today!! What did I do? Of course, I rushed to the bookstore. Man, it was crowded!! I'm surprised because Coles bookstores are smaller, so they usually get less customers, but yeah, lots of people.

On my way to the romance section, I ran into James who gave me a coupon.

Me: Thanks, but no thanks. I already got it.

James: Are you aware of the promotion ending today?

Me: Yep, buy 3, get the 4th book free, right? *reached romance section*

James: Are you looking for anything in particular?

Me: *Already standing in front of the many copies of Forbidden Falls* Nope, all I want is right in front of me :D *pointing at Forbidden Falls*

James: Really? That's all? Because there got a lot of new books and there were still in boxes. Christine Feehan?

Me: Nope, I'm good. *start browsing the aisles to find 3 more books to buy*

James: Let me go check on the outside of the boxes... I'll try to get the authors names for you. *walks away*

So I'm there browsing. Although I love Coles because they put the new releases as soon as they get it on the shelf, they don't have much older releases because of lack of space :( So it was actually kind of hard to find 3 more books. Saw Early Dawn by Catherine Anderson, but I haven't read the last release and the last few before that were meh. Picked Believe by Victoria Alexander and put it back down. Although I like her, Believe was a re-print and her earlier work... hmmm. Checked for Crimson by Jordan Summers, but they didn't have it :(

James: *walking towards me with two books* Any of those you'd be interested?

Me: *looking at Scoundrel's Kiss by Carrie Lofty and Sinful Surrender by Beverly Kendall* Nope, sorry.

James: Yeah, I didn't think so.

Seriously, it's really the best when you get to know the employees and when the employees know you :) Felt like VIP treatment :D

So, want to know what I walked out with, besides Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr?

What about you all? How have you been? Are you in the Christmas madness?

TBR Day: Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas

It seems that I have become an nocturnal blogger, since I no longer have time to blog during the day. Hmm, that means I'll definitively have to re-adjust.

Today is the last TBR challenge of the year. I did okay this year I think, missing two challenges if I remember correctly :( Hopefully, I'll do better next year because I do plan on continuing this challenge :D

Anyway, I guess I should start writing the review... if I want the review to go up before the day is over! :) This month, I read a real TBR pile book LOL. One that has been written a number of years ago and which has been in my TBR pile for a while :) Actually, I don't even remember when I bought this book, so it has to be 2 or 3 years :)

Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas
published by Avon in July 2000

Zachary Bronson has built an empire of wealth and power - now he needed a wife to help secure his position in society... and warm his bed in private. But not just any woman will do for a man whom all of London knows is not a gentleman. Then he unexpectedly swept Lady Holly Taylor into his arms for an unasked for - but very alluring - kiss, and suddenly he knew he had found a woman whose fierce passions matched his own.

Lady Holly Taylor was beautiful, generous, and, as a widow, destined to spend her life playing by society's rules, even when they went against her bolder instincts. But Zachary's kiss had aroused her, and though the shocking offer he made didn't include marriage, she was compelled to risk everything and follow him to the place where dreams begin.

Genre: historical romance
Series: none

The Story: Hmmm, the blurb is close, but not entirely correct... so let me attempt to write my own summary. Lady Holland Taylor had a very good marriage and relationship with her husband, before he succumbed to typhoid fever three years ago. She is now coming out of mourning and is attending a ball for the first time... during which she is mistaken for another lady and passionately kissed by Zachary Bronson.

Zachary has built himself a fortune and become a very influential man. However, he wants to take it farther and be accepted by the ton. All he needs is a little polish for himself, his mother and his sister. As such, he offers the position to Lady Holly Taylor, because her reputation and station is above reproach and because he wants her. At first, Holly refuses the offer, because a lady of her station should not work, but to work for Zachary would ruin her reputation entirely... but the amount of money Zachary is offering is very enticing... especially since the death of her husband, she's been living with his family and their charity. Although they treat her very well, she wants better for her little daughter, Rose. So she accepts... but close proximity to Zachary might make her forget all about her reputation.

My Opinion: I picked up Where Dreams Begin because Taja has recently reviewed it for the re-read challenge. I was actually surprised to find it in my TBR pile... totally didn't remember buying it ^_^;

I'm glad I read the book; however, this was not my favorite Lisa Kleypas book. Overall, I thought it was just okay. There were a lot of good things actually in the story... such as Holly having a good marriage with her husband. She was happy, she loved him and was satisfied (to a certain point). I also liked the timeline, i.e. that Ms Kleypas took her time building the relationship and attraction between Holly and Zach. I think that the book spans a period of 4 to 6 months. Plus, I felt Ms Kleypas really did her research - when Holly was teaching proper behavior, I learned a lot. The little details were very interesting... This is something I feel a lot of historical romance books are missing lately. The stories take place in the regency period, but the characters don't act the time period. The characters were also all quite lovable... even Zach, despite his whoring to quench his desire for Holly (it helped that it was only mentioned and not describe).

My issue though with this book is that I felt it fell a little flat. I didn't really connect with Holly and I don't think that Zach and Holly had much chemistry. They had very different personalities and while they tried to get to know each other better, I don't think they really succeed. Where Dreams Begin just didn't grab me emotionally. The only character I felt attachment for was Rose, because she was so cute. The book was well-written and pleasant, but something was missing. Perhaps a bit more action since the characters were quite passive and very internal.

A few things I'd like to add... I did like the secondary romance, although it was very minor. It had been fun to see more of it. I did like the fact that Zachary had a mother and how uncomfortable she was with her new status. I think that made the book more realistic. I didn't care about the addition of the duke as a third party. He was totally superfluous. Holly had enough on her hands, adding the duke and a promise to her dead husband... meh. Also, I didn't see why the duke agreed to the promise. Finally, I really would have liked it more if Holly had to grovel a bit more. Do women grovel? When she got cold feet, Zach specifically told her he didn't give anyone second chances... but then, she came back and they had sex and they got married. Meh.

My Grade: C. Like I said, Where Dreams Begin was not a bad book... but it did fail grabbing my interest.

Things on my mind...

So here are things on my mind...

Roar to the Rings - Canada has finally decided on its curling representatives for Vancouver 2010. I'm a bit disappointed with the results - I was really hoping Jennifer Jones and her team would make it... but the team got off to a bad start. Then, during the tie-breaker, I was rooting for Stephanie Lawton, but she got eliminated... then, Amber Holland... and Krista McCarville... In the end, Cheryl Bernard won. I'm happy with the results. She proved to be the best during the trials and so, she deserves her spot. However, this bodes badly for me - if everyone I root for ends up losing ^_^;

On the men's side, I was rooting for Glenn Howard... just because this would have been his first Olympics. It was between him and Kevin Martin and Martin won. Ah well, it was kind of expected.

So overall, I'm a bit disappointed, simply because my favorite teams didn't make it... but can't complain, because both Cheryl Bernard and Kevin Martin's rinks are good... and I had a lot of fun watching the trials :)

***

Speaking of sports, unrelated to the Olympics, but still noteworthy... Justine Henin, my favorite tennis player, is back!! Woohoo!! I'm so glad to hear this :) So far, she won a few exhibition matches... and that's good :) Can't wait till January when the WTA season starts again :) Really looking forward to Australian Open now :)

I kind of lost interest in tennis a little last year... but with Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin's comebacks, things should get interesting again :)

***

I really don't understand how publishers price their books. Seriously. Some books are now 10.99$ CAD. Let me repeat, 10.99$ CAD. Last I checked, the 1$CAD = 0.94$US. So can someone explain to me why a book that is priced 7.99$US = 10.99$CAD?!?

With the Canadian dollar being so strong, pricing on books should decrease. However, it's not the case! It's actually increasing, so I really don't understand the publisher's reasoning. I could accept 1$ difference... but 3$ - that's way too much. This what actually what I was paying 1$CAD = 0.50-0.60$! So I really hope prices come down soon...

And please, don't bother pointing out e-books. Not interested.

***

S, my friend/co-worker, finally deposited his thesis today. Yay!! It's finally over, finished, done!! Sure, it's not perfect, but at this point, you cannot ask for miracle. Today was actually his deadline and he had till 5pm. My other co-worker, J, and I were joking and telling S that if by 4.45pm, he wasn't going to make it... to jump in front of a car - that would give him a good excuse LOL. In the end, he called us at 4.50pm to tell us it was all done (the printing and binding). So happy for him :) Now, we'll have to see whether he passes or fails, but it's out of our control.

It was a bit crazy the past few days, proof-reading his thesis. Luckily, J is fluent in English... Our boss corrected the content, I proof-read and I had J proof-reading after me. So S still had a lot of corrections to do today and a 150 words abstract... and he had to translate it in French!! Oh gosh. Seriously, scientific writing in French is hard and impossible. I can't imagine people going into sciences in French... It sounds so weird. There was no way I could translate a 150 words abstract in English to 150 words abstract in French. We reached 198 words and I was really proud... and then, you had our boss making changes and stuff. Every hour, he would call S up to talk and every time, for about 30 minutes. At 2pm, he still had S changing his rationale of the study! I mean, are you kidding me?!?! Just let it go!

Anyway, it's all done. S now owns us a meal LOL :)

***

Speaking of work... My boss is going to Cuba with his family from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31!!! Woooohooo!! You know what that means, right? It means, I'll have some time off :) I might have to come to the lab one or two mornings, but it shouldn't be that busy :) So that's some good news :D

***

Oh, I almost forgot... I know, how could I really forget books?

I need some books suggestions... what was your greatest reads lately? I have all those coupons and I have nothing to buy :( It's just sad.

I was actually thinking of buying the Dante Valentine's series by Lilith Saintcrow. Anyone have read this? Lately, I find myself reading a lot of urban fantasy... and this has caught my attention... Especially since the series if finished.

I've also seen a few other books... The Sweetheart's Knitting Club by Lori Wilde... A Zebra release about vampires... but I can't remember the author right now.

I need to check Li's blog, Me and my Books, because I remember she mentioned Moira Moore. Now would be a good time to buy one or two of this author's books.

By the way, anyone knows whether Jordan Summers's Dead World series is finished or not? I can't find that information. I recently read Red and it was okay. I do have Scarlet in my TBR pile already and I've skimmed through it... and meh. Not too sure about it. Crimson, the third book is out, and I'm debating whether to buy it or not. If the series is over, I might cave... but if not, I think I will just stop.

***

Okay, I should be going to sleep. Haven't had much sleep lately... and I think that I caught a cold again because of lack of sleep. I should know better by now.

Tomorrow is TBR challenge. I read the book, hope I'll have time to write the review :)