Monthly Reads: September 2010

Once again, I'm really late putting up my monthly reads list. I don't know what happened. I started this post on October 3 - which would have been in a timely fashion - but never got back to it ^_^; Ah well, there's always October... and it should be fine, since so far, I'm having a pathetic month ^_^;

My health woes continue. I had an ultrasound last week for my urinary frequency problem. They checked the whole lower abdomen (kidneys, spleen, liver, pancreas, bladder, etc.) and apparently, everything's fine. While my urge to urinate frequently is not gone, it's been better and more manageable. Yay! My latest health woes though is that I poke my finger with something on Saturday (I don't know what) and now, my finger is a bit swollen. It's not bad, but it's bothering me psychologically ^_^; Sigh, I just want to be healthy again and not to worry about anything :( I always took my health for granted, but now, never again!

Anyway, let's talk about something more cheerful :P Books!! So let see what I read last month...

1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: B

Welcome to Panem, what used to be the United States. Panem is divided into 13 districts; however, long ago, the districts rebelled against the Capitol. Annihilating District 13 wasn't punishment enough, the government decided to organize the Hunger Games - a reality show in which 12 boys and 12 girls, one from each district, ranging from the ages of  12 to 18, have to kill each other in order to survive. The lone survivor is sacred winner and gets fame and fortune...

To spare her little sister's life, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to be the female representative for this year's Hunger Games. She is paired up with Peeta, the baker's son and probably the only boy she wished never to face again. Despite having a drunken mentor, Katniss is determined to do everything to survive and hopes that her skills as a poacher will help her greatly.

There was a lot of buzz when this book came out and with each subsequent sequel release, the buzz grew. With the third book coming out, I finally decided to check it out :P You know, in case it was so good that I needed to get the 2nd and 3rd book right away... It turns out that it won't be necessary for me ^_^;

I think Ms Collins did a great job at the world building and I thought it was very interesting. The concept Hunger Games was quite clever, and while the idea is horrifying, I didn't feel it was that far-fetched. I mean, looking at it, it's like a huge TV reality show ^_^; I could see why the whole nation would be fascinated by it. Kind of reminded me of Survivors. Especially when Katniss and Peeta thought of the previous years' challenges and strategies, etc.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the writing style. However, I had a major problem with it and that was Katniss. I didn't think she was very likable ^_^; In fact, I think that her mentor Haymitch describes her well: hostile. I understand that Katniss has lived a hard life and get where she's coming from. Still, understanding doesn't make her likable in my eyes. She's strong and smart and you need that kind of heroine to survive The Hunger Games, and yet... Personally, so far, I feel she doesn't deserve Peeta's love and devotion and Peeta is right to be angry at her.

While I did enjoy The Hunger Games, it wasn't a very cheerful book ^_^; And from what I heard, the next two books are only more bleak... which is why I've decided not to go buy them. I've reserved Catching Fire at the library but whether I'll read it or not, I'm not sure yet.


2) Last One to Die by Kate Brady: B-


3) The Golden Chance by Jayne Ann Krentz: B+


4) The Grimrose Path by Rob Thurman: B/B+
 Upcoming review.


5) My Lord Scandal by Emma Wildes: B/B+
Upcoming review.

6) Graceling by Kristin Cashore: B-

Throughout the seven kingdoms, Gracelings - those who have been blessed with a particular talent and whom are easily recognizable by their two different colored eyes - are pariah. When your Grace is killing, it's even more difficult to be accepted. Katsa's life was spared by her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns, only so she could be trained and become his thug. Trying to find meaning in her life, Katsa founded The Council, a group of people who assist the less fortunate. Her latest mission is to save the King Ror of Lienid's father who has been abducted for unknown reasons. This lead to the meeting with Prince Po, King Ror's seventh son, who is looking for his grandfather. After spending time together, it becomes more and more difficult for Katsa to do her uncle's biddings... and in the end, there is only one solution: to leave his court. Thus, she embarks on an adventure with Po who is Graced as well.

Okay, sorry, very bad synopsis ^_^; Again, this is a YA novel that got a lot of buzz when it came out and in many reviews said that Graceling reminded them of Poison Study. After reading Graceling, I can see why :P Although myself, I prefer Poison Study.

Once again, the author did a great job at the world building. I liked reading about the different kingdoms, their sovereigns and how these kingdoms interacted with each other. It was all very interesting. The author did a good job with the characters as well. My favorite character was Po, he was just so nice and friendly LOL. Katsa was an interesting and complex heroine. They do start to come from the same mold though, all strong, clever, etc. However, she was much more likable than Katniss. The thing with Katsa is that she's been considered a pariah ever since she accidentally killed a distant cousin. People fear her and therefore, don't treat her well. I don't think Katsa completely understood this, but it was nice to see that it didn't stop her from living and having "friends." I especially liked her relationship with her cousin, Prince Raffin. I think that in the end, action speaks louder and thus, Katsa has people who are loyal to her.

I enjoyed the intrigue and the overall story concerning Po's grandfather abduction. Unfortunately, what didn't work for me in Graceling was the pacing of the book. The pacing was uneven, the beginning a bit slow. It seems to me the author focused too much on developing Katsa, having the readers sympathize with her, building her relationship with Po. If I remember correctly, Katsa leaves Middluns at about half-way through the book. Also, there was a build-up to the confrontation to King Leck, but that part was quite disappointing. Ditto for the final confrontation between Katsa and Leck. My reaction was "that's it?!?" I was expecting much more, but it seemed to me Ms Cashore ran out of gas and just wrote those scenes and they were quite anti-climatic. So that was definitively a let-down for me.

Also, I get that this is YA and that there is going to be a sequel, but the ending was a bit too open for me ^_^;

7) Fire by Kristin Cashore: D

I'm not going to recap Fire. Fire is the prequel to Graceling and takes place approximately 30 years before, outside of the seven kingdoms. The main character is named Fire and she's the last human-shaped monster with the ability to manipulate people's mind. Although quite frankly, her beauty is such that most males are subjugated in her presence... Her father, Cansrel, was also a human-shaped monster and manipulated the previous king, sending the kingdom into despair and a precarious situation with its barons. As such, Fire is mistrusted and hated by most because people believe she is like her father. Therefore when she finds herself in the presence of King Nash and his younger brother, Brigan, everyone is wary of what will happen next.

 This book was a big meh for me ^_^; My biggest problem with Fire was that it was so unconnected to Graceling. Yes, we get to see ONE character from Graceling and it gives us a bit of background story, but still. Whatever we learned of the world building in Graceling is of no use in Fire and the whole monster thing?!? I still don't get it ^_^; I thought that as world building goes, Ms Cashore didn't do such a good job. Perhaps it's because she focused all her energy on the characters ties... I mean, that part of the book was mind-boggling @_@ The romance and the whole plot felt so-so for me. There were too many love triangles and it did seem characters were so casual in their relationship. Yes, I can be very prudish ^_^;

I guess this book was simply not for me :(


8) Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher: B-
9) Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher: B
10) Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher: A-
11) Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher: A-
12) Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher: B+
13) First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher: B/B+

Upcoming review. I haven't decided yet whether I'll review each book or the whole series together; however, I'm definitively going to share some of my thoughts :P

14) Venom by Jennifer Estep: A-
Upcoming review.

15) Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews: B/B+
Upcoming review.

Books bought: +11
Books read: -14
TBR pile: -3


Woooohooo!! Negative number from the TBR pile! I'm pretty happy with the number of books I've read and bought in September, but even more pleased by the fact that many of the books came from my TBR pile. Now, I only need to catch up on my reviews :P There are a lot of slash grades (eg. B/B+)... those grades will become clearer once I write the reviews.

Hauling Sunday XV

Ugh, another week-end that went by without me realizing :( I do feel ultra-lazy lately. I think it's because I got a taste of "days off" and I need more of them LOL. Luckily for me, my boss is going away some time in November... and I'll be able to take a vacation. Woohoo :P

After the haul I had last week in the States, it's not surprise that I've only picked up one book this week. Okay, technically, if it was anybody else, there'd probably be no Hauling Sunday this week, but hey, it's me, Nath LOL. So here it is...

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan - The Lost Hero is Mr Riordan's new spin-off series, Heroes of Olympus. I was really looking forward to this book and just couldn't wait to get it ^_^; And it's a good thing since I've already finished it :P

I'm not expecting any new releases this week; however, it is the annual McGill Book Fair on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm probably going to go, but I'm debating whether I should show up at 9am like last year. Last year, I don't know, it was a bit disappointing... I mean, the books are indeed cheap, but the selection is up to donation and there wasn't much last year... I guess I'll have to go to find out :P

Review: One Scream Away and Last To Die by Kate Brady

Yes, a review!! LOL, it's been such a long time, I don't even know if I can write them ^_^; Kidding. I hope :P But yeah, it's been a while and it just kind of happened...

So today is a double feature. I've had One Scream Away in my TBR pile for a couple of months and finally decided to read it in preparation of Last To Die, whose blurb really appealed to me.


One Scream Away by Kate Brady

published by Grand Central Publishing in July 2009

One Step Away

Seven years ago Beth Denison was attacked by a killer named Chevy Bankes. Since then, she's created a new life for herself and her daughter, one far removed from the night that ended in an awful tragedy. But now Bankes is out of prison, and his chilling phone calls tell Beth he's coming for her.

One Breath Away

Ex-FBI agent Neil Sheridan is driven to investigate a chain of murders eerily similar to a disturbing case from his past. When the killer's trail dead-ends at Beth's doorstep, Neil finds a beautiful woman with a secret she'll do anything to keep. Yet even as Beth surrenders to Neil's protection - and then his embrace - she still refuses to tell him why Bankes hungers to hear her scream, and why she'll soon consider doing the unthinkiable: face Bankes alone.

Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Sheridan, Book #1

The Story: The blurb is pretty accurate. Seven years ago, Beth was kidnapped by Bankes and witnessed a murder and her testimony put him behind the bars. However, for some reasons, he is now out of prison and after her. He has started another killing spree and uses the cell phones his victims to contact Beth.

Neil Sheridan is an ex-FBI agent who spent the last few years doing bodyguard work overseas. However, his last job went wrong, landing his brother in the hospital. Neil is pulled into this new investigation because of the similarities to the case that ended his career. Following the trail leads to Beth... and her daughter.

My Opinion: Lately, all romantic suspense books I read, I tend to compare them to Karen Rose's books and she's set the standards pretty high ^_^; Not that it's a bad thing though. Truthfully, the reason why I bought One Scream Away was because it was published by Grand Central Publishing, same publisher as Karen Rose :P

Okay, review time. I thought that Ms Brady showed a lot of potential in this debut novel. I think the best part of the book was the suspense. The case and villain were chilling, gory and twisted and Ms Brady did a good job at fleshing the villain, so he would appear more than one-dimensional. At the end, I couldn't help but sympathize with the villain a little, for what he went through and what made him deranged. It doesn't excuse what he's done, but it's good to know what was behind it. In that aspect, Ms Brady's style is quite similar to Ms Rose's.

Unfortunately, Ms Brady has a major weakness: her characters. It's not that they are TSTL or boring. Truth be, they are actually quite interesting. Beth and Neil have both gone through difficult period in their lives and the strength necessary to come on top was unbelievable. However, that's not enough... The real problem to me was that Ms Brady didn't develop Beth and Neil's backgrounds and personalities enough. They are given characteristics, but it was never really flesh out - unlike the villain. For example, Neil just came back to the States, after leaving the Sentry. What really happened? How is his relationship with his brother now? Is Mitch really angry? What is he going to do then? How did he lose his job/quit at the FBI. Readers are given the information, but Ms Brady never delves deeper into the details. As a result, Beth and Neil didn't seem real enough and so, I never really connect with them... or any other characters. There is a scene where Neil's best friend dies... and that should have been heart-breaking, but I didn't feel the impact of his loss emotionally. It was "Oh, he died."

As for the romance, I thought it was so-so. Personally, it felt abrupt to me. I didn't feel the chemistry between Beth and Neil. In the beginning, it seemed very improbable that anything would develop between them. Neil is after Beth because she's concealing information and she's concerned for her daughter's safety... and the next minute, Neil is lusting for Beth and suddenly, Beth is ready to accept Neil. Also, I felt that Neil was accepting Beth's daughter a bit too easily, given his past. I'm not saying the romance wasn't nice, but quite frankly, it just felt improbable with everything going on and the short timeline. I think it would have worked better for me if the relationship had been a bit more platonic and Beth and Neil work at getting to know each other better after the events of One Scream Away.

My Grade: C+. Ms Brady is definitively writing books in the genre that suits her and as I mentioned earlier, has shown a lot of potential in this debut novel. Of course, there are elements to improve, but I believe that when she will, she'll be a force to reckon, an author not to miss :P


Last to Die by Kate Brady
published by Grand Central Publishing in September 2010

No Warning

A ruthless killer hides in plain sight, portraying the ideal citizen while hatching a horrific plan. Sins of the past have come to light and now the time is right for revenge. Six desperate women will be brutally murdered as punishment for the secrets they've kept hidden...

No Escape

Detective Dani Cole is devastated to discover that a young woman viciously killed in a local park was someone whose life she'd helped redeem. Her investigation becomes even more personal when it leads her to Mitch Sheridan, a renowned photo-journalist. The two share a painful past... and an attraction that sparks as they race to find the killer. But danger is much closer than anyone imagines. For in the shadows, this calculating has a new target: Dani Cole.

Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Sheridan, Book #2

The Story: Mitch Sheridan is a renowned photo-journalist who's traveled the world in an effort to expose other countries' suffering. However, things have gone wrong during his stay at Ar Rutbah where Mitch was gravely injured... and since then, he's lost his passion for photography. Only the death of his mentor brings Mitch back home - to find out the circumstances of the death and to do one final exhibition. The last person he expects to cross path again is his first love, Dani Cole.

To say Dani Cole is going through a rough patch is an understatement. It's always been hard to be a cop when your father is a cop who was known to accept bribes from the mob, it's even harder after he's blown his head in your guest room. So her job is on the line, then she loses one of her protégées - a young troubled woman who used to be a prostitute - and her only suspect is her first love's mentor ^_^; On top of it all, she has to face her old flame again - the perfect guy she had to dump because she couldn't trust her heart... Of course, if things can get worst, they will... and that's how Dani finds herself the next target of a serial killer...

My Opinion: Last To Die is Ms Brady's second novel and I picked it up because the blurb sounded really good. Already, it feels like Last To Die is tighter and better than One Scream Away.

What Ms Brady did well in One Scream Away, she does well again in Last To Die. I definitively have no complaint about the suspense. In fact, mixing everything together, it felt like the plot was more complex. The villain might have been revealed a bit early, but I don't think it took away from the suspense at all. Also, there was a twist in the book and I have to say, wow :P

I think where we can see improvement is the romance. I thought that Dani and Mitch had much more chemistry than Beth and Neil. Perhaps it's due to the fact that Dani and Mitch already knew each other and have been in love in the past. I felt that they knew and understood each other well and that made the romance more believable.

While I think the characters were better developed in Last To Die, the characterization is still lacking. Mitch's personality was better fleshed out this time around; however, I would have liked to see his past and family background expanded more. In One Scream Away, we were introduced to Neil, Mitch's older brother... and yet, I still can't describe the brotherhood between the two. They don't seem to get along well, despite a good childhood. And both have a younger sister that's barely been mentioned. Same thing with Dani. I also feel that the author doesn't need to make the characters background too complicated. More complex doesn't mean more interesting or easy to connect and it doesn't necessarily develop them.

So writing-wise, I think that Last To Die was better. The deal breaker unfortunately for my enjoyment was Dani's character. She wasn't very likable ^_^; I cannot pinpoint exactly what it was, but she just rubbed me the wrong way. I have to say, I didn't really like the way she treated people, although as a cop, it sometime made sense. I think overall it was the way she looked at life - I just didn't like her perception of it and how strong she had to be. That's why she broke up with Mitch the first time around, because she didn't want to rely or trust him, even though things were going badly. Sometimes, it's something to admire, but other times, it just feel like being stubborn for nothing. Especially when the guy is so great.

My Grade: B-. I enjoyed the suspense part and Mitch. I wanted more from the characters, but I do feel it's something that Ms Brady can achieve. This would definitively have been a B if I'd have liked Dani better ^_^;

My whirlwind week-end to New Jersey

Okay, so let me recap my trip to New Jersey :P LOL, I'll try to be short and to the point, but you know me :P No guarantee!

We left on Friday morning at 6.30am... which was only 30 minutes after the time I wanted to leave. Not bad for girls who stayed up till midnight and 1am to finish cleaning their rooms and the bathroom LOL. The drive to New Jersey was very nice and uneventful. We made good time and arrived at Hilcia's place at noon, right on time and without getting too lost! :P Seriously, it was awesome to meet Hilcia and her husband. They are such nice people, very welcoming and very friendly! LOL, it's always funny to see the husbands' reactions to meeting bloggers... I mean, bloggers communicate with each other all the time via their blogs or emails or chat or whatever other mean... so it's a lot of fun for us to meet each other, but I wonder what the significant others think. Do they think we're crazy? Do they find it weird? :P Well Hils' husband just took it in stride and welcomed us as if we were long time friends :)

After we settled and had some lunch, Hilcia, my sister and I made our foray to New York City via ferry. I have to say, we were extremely lucky that the week-end was soooo nice. The weather was gorgeous and we had plenty of sun which was definitively a plus :) We didn't do anything very touristic for two reasons, actually three: 1) lack of time, 2) my sister has just been to NYC with her friends three weeks ago and 3) I'm planning to come back for RWA this summer. So we just walked around and took in the view :P Time Square, Broadway, the outside of Rockefeller Center... We did hit the NBC store which was priority number 1 on this trip. My sister is a TV buff and she's been wanting some memorabilia :P She wanted to go to the CBS store as well, but apparently it closed down which was unfortunate :( Still, she got her Nerd Herd strap from the show Chuck, so she was very happy :)

We then made our way back to New Jersey where we met up with Hilcia's daughter and went out for dinner together. Hilcia's daughter is another awesome person! She is so fun to hang out with and her relationship with Hilcia is adorable!! It's just too bad she had to work during the week-end... but there'll be a next time! LOL. So we elected to go to a diner which apparently is staple of New Jersey :P We went to the Coach House Diner and OMG, the food was so good!! It really surprised me, because you know how in books, you often read that you should stick to the special menu :P In this case, there was so much choice and the portions were huge! I wished I've had been more hungry :P and that was pretty much it for the first day :)

Saturday started bright and early :) The plan was to go shopping and we chose the Jersey Gardens Mall for it :) We got there pretty early, I think just after it opened at 10am. From then on, it was non-stop till 2pm. LOL, I think I exhausted Hils :P But then, you know how it is when you can get great discount and save lots of money! and guess what? There's no sale tax on clothes in New Jersey!! Hey, for a girl who is used to 12-13% sale tax... No tax is like heaven! My sister and I had an informal list of what we wanted to buy during the week-end and we pretty much completed it :P I came back with new running shoes, a sweater, a yoga mat... but best of all, a new purse! LOL. The purse was pretty much chosen by Hils and pushed on me by my sister... but I have to say, the more I look at it, the more I really like it :P It's really a nice bag... I just need to push myself to use it :P (I tend to keep nice things for special occasions...) The best though is that my sister spent some money as well. I mean, the whole trip was pretty much for her, so I wanted her to enjoy it and make the most out of it... which means buying stuff that she likes.

So at 2pm, we finally stopped for lunch LOL. I think Hilcia was very happy about it LOL. And happy me, I was hungry enough to get my pretzels from Auntie Annes. I love pretzels, especially with the cheese dip, but it's not very popular in Montreal. Actually, it's not popular at all. So every time I go to the States, I try to have some :P Then, we headed back to Hilcia's place to meet up with Christine for some book shopping and dinner again :P

Christine is another awesome person :) Very friendly, nice and genuine :) It was awesome of her to take time to meet up with us :) She was also our driver on this book shopping expedition. We went to Barnes and Nobles first, but I didn't buy anything. Mostly because I had 40% coupons off from Borders and also, the selection at the Barnes and Nobles was so-so. It didn't even have The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook yet... so I decided to wait for Borders. Once we got to Borders, I went wild as usual. Proof? My Hauling Sunday post LOL. It's always fun to book-shop with other books lovers and this was no exception. Christine was very controlled and didn't buy any books since she just got an iPad. As for Hilcia, she stuck to her list. LOL, two bloggers with a lot of willpower :P We talked books and also whether to switch to ebooks or not for series that you've already started collecting in print. After book-shopping, we went to Houligans. Another place with good food and a great view of NYC at night :) Again, once we got back to Hils' place, I was beat and that was it for me LOL. The whole day has finally caught up to me.

Sunday was very relaxed. We woke up at a decent hour, had breakfast and hung out. At 11am, my sister and I took our leave from Hilcia so we would get home early and Hils would still have time to go hang out with her family. We did a little bit more shopping before hitting the road, but nothing drastic. At 1pm, we finally left for home. The drive home was not as enjoyable as the drive to NJ... mainly because I got a speeding ticket T_T and because we got stuck at the customs for 2 hours! Yes, I had to choose the booth where two lanes were merging together. So not the perfect way to end the week-end, but I've decided to not let it ruin the great week-end we had. Since we got home on Sunday, my sister and I got to hang out a little bit with our relatives from Boston :)

Basically, my sister and I had a great time this week-end :) It was a bit short, but it was very productive and surprising, not so rushed. We met wonderful people, got to hang out with them for a great time, had a good shopping haul and time to relax. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

So a big thank you to Hilcia and Christine for such a great time :)

Hauling Sunday XIV

Hi everyone!! Did you miss me? :P Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week. Life has been busy, chaotic and stressful lately ^_^;

Sigh, where to start? I guess from the beginning. I've been experiencing some health issues in the past two weeks. It all started when I suddenly got urinary frequency. At first, I thought it was an urinary tract infection and so, went to see the doctor who prescribed me antibiotics. However, after a week, I was still experiencing urinary frequency. Seriously, peeing every 30 to 60 minutes really does alter a life... and it's not fun :( Since the bacteria culture came back negative, the urologist is suspecting the kidneys. However, my blood test came back normal... So go figure. In any case, I have an ultrasound scheduled this Friday, so we'll see. However, right now, I think everything was due to stress ^_^; Seriously, seems like stress is going to kill me one day.

A lot has been going on at work also. We're in the process of publishing an article, my co-worker's work schedule has been erratic due to family emergency, the experiments are going so-so... and of course, it just had to happen all at the same time.

The only good thing that has happened is that I went to New Jersey/New York City the past week-end! Woohoo! My sister has been saying that she wanted to go somewhere for her birthday. She specifically wanted to go to New York City and initially, none of her friends could... so I told her we should go :) That way, I would get the chance to meet Hilcia and Christine :P And so, that's what we did! :) Because of my health issue and work, the trip was almost canceled, which added additional pressure. In the end though, my sister and I left early Friday morning and spent the week-end with Hilcia and we got to meet Christine :) I had an awesome, awesome time and a full post coming up very soon :P I was planning to share the good news with everyone, but yeah, it was very busy ^_^; Add in that I had relatives coming over during the week-end and staying in my room... that meant extreme deep cleaning ^_^;

So yes, life has been quite busy... however, I'm back :D Or at least, I'm planning on it :P and to start it all, here is my haul from the States :)

Here above are my new books from Borders. I have to say, I prefer Borders over Barnes and Nobles for some reasons.

Quickly, here's the breakdown of the haul.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook - That was priority number 1 of the trip. Something's been going on with book delivery and some books have been showing up really late at the bookstores. Trade-size paperbacks have been most affected so far.

Healer's Choice by Jory Strong - This is book 3 in the series and I haven't read the first 2, but I'm intrigued with this one thanks to Tori's review.

The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks and Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt are two books I've gotten because of the great reviews they've received in blogland. Other books I bought because they caught my attention at one point and I was like, why not since they are cheaper in the States :P

Here are books I've got from Hilcia mostly :) She's a ruthless purger and I took advantage of it LOL. Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin is a loan from Christine :P

All in all, I think that once again, I did great in the States LOL.

Conditions of books

Ugh, I'm not feeling great today. I don't know if it's related to my first condition or something totally unrelated or if it's all in my head ^_^; All I know is that I want it to go away, as abruptly as it came, leave me alone!! Especially since I have plans this week-end! I'm thinking a good night of sleep is what I need :P Anyway, there are more interesting thing to discuss :P

Last week, the discussion topic was how do you review... and the responses gave me inspiration for this week's topic :P Some of you mention that you dog-ear pages. Personally, I have nothing against dog-earing pages LOL, but it made me think of books condition and how some people really care about it. So...

Is book condition important for you? And how do you treat your book?

Me? I don't really care about book condition. Of course, when I go to the bookstore, I try to choose the nicest copy available. I think that's a normal reaction. However, I'm not too picky about it, because I'm not one who keep my books in the most pristine of condition ^_^; I mean, I throw my books into my purse, I fall asleep on them... so as a result, I often get kinks and cracks on covers and some damaged pages ^_^; You've seen some of the damage my carelessness has done ^_^;

When it comes to used books, I'm even more lenient. Hey, I'm getting them at discount price, right? I'll rather go with cheaper than better condition. If I can get both though, that's the ideal situation :) All in all though, I'm just happy to get the books, so I don't fuss too much.

What about you?

Hauling Sunday XIII

The week-end is almost over and I basically did nothing ^_^; It's not real news as it happens quite often, but it's still cause to sigh. Sigh. LOL.

The past week has been okay. Hmmm, it's been quite stressful and depressing at work. Stressful, because I was expecting reagents to be delivered and they were, but I didn't receive them. So I had to track them down and it was a real headache :( Depressing because my co-worker has family issues. His grandmother is very sick and she's refusing treatment. Obviously, he's been kind of depressed, sad and quiet... and it made the atmosphere in the lab very heavy. We're only two in the lab and I didn't know how to act around him. So I've been keeping quiet and it made for a long week. Finally, I have some minor health issues. Nothing serious, especially since it was caught early. It's more of an annoyance than anything... and all I can do now is wait for the meds to work their magic.

Luckily, I seem to have found my reading mojo again :) Plus, I bought some books so that always cheers me up! Let see, what are the goodies I got :P

Our Wicked Mistake by Emma Wildes - Quite frankly, the blurb of Our Wicked Mistake sounds so-so; however, I really enjoy Ms Wildes' writing and her stories. They are simple and focused on what is most important, the couple :) So we'll see how this turns out :P

A Hellion in Her Bed by Sabrina Jeffries - This is the second book in The Hellions of Halstead Hall series :P I read an excerpt a while ago and was really looking forward to reading A Hellion in Her Bed :P

Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis - I was a bit hesitant at getting this book as Ms Shalvis is pretty much hit and miss for me. However, it does sound good and the price was right :P

Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle - Ms Boyle is another hit and miss author that I enjoy. The relationship between the hero and heroine of Mad About the Duke started in How I Met my Countess and I've been very curious to see how it would develop. I was going to wait to get this book; however, my 25% off coupon was expiring on September 30, so I thought I should take advantage of it :P

And lucky me, Tabitha has been purging her books to make more space in her new home... and she kindly sent me the following books:

By now, you probably know why I asked for the Jayne Ann Krentz books, given my recent review of The Golden Chance :P I've also been in the mood for romantic suspense and so  Laura Griffin was on my list of authors to try out :) Finally, Tabitha has reviewed Island Heat and seemed to enjoy it a lot :P 

And that is my week :P