Last reviews of 2006

So, year 2006 will be officially over in a couple of hours... I guess it's fun and sad, both at the same time. I'm a bit glad. This year have been crazy and I'm hoping that the coming year will be a bit more relaxing. Although I have to say, time passes way too rapidly. It really flies by too fast.

anyway, hopefully, there'll be plenty of awesome books coming out in 2007 :)

So, I've been reading quite a lot lately and here are the last reviews for 2006. But first, I'd like to share with you the books I bought (yes, bought...) in the last week. I'm not going to list them, because, well there's too much and I'm too lazy. So, pictures = 1000 words anyway :D

The first picture is what i bought from the UBS store and the second, I bought at bookstore ^^; I know, I really went crazy... I hope they're all there. Ah well, onto the reviews now :D

Take a Chance on Me by Susan Donovan: 4/5

All right, I bought this one after it got a lot of praise over at Ames' blog :D

Hairy is a Chinese Crested dog; bald, small and pretty ugly. Not only that, his owner, Slick, was murdered in front of his eyes and now, Hairy can't stop shaking and peeing. Worst, he ends up in the care of Thomas Tobin, an attorney/amateur rugby player that does uncover work and poses as a killer-for-hire. Thomas has seen and heard all about the worse side of human nature and in result, he's been isolating himself, erecting walls around him. As the new owner of Hairy, Thomas brings the dog to see Emma Jenkins, a pet behaviorist in the hope that Hairy could stop shaking and peeing...

Hmmm, another bad synopsis. Maybe I should really do the next few ones in point form. Anyway, Thomas brings Hairy to Emma and immediately, he is attracted to her. It takes a while for Thomas and Emma to start a relationship, especially since Emma just divorced her crook of a husband. In addition to that, Emma is now in charge of LeeLee, her best friend's daughter. Also, in the course of everything, they realized that Hairy must have witnessed Slick's murder and therefore, try to get some clues from Hairy.

Okay, I've never been that much of a fan of Susan Donovan's novels, but I really enjoyed the story quite a lot :D Emma is quite the typical woman tho; recently divorced, trying to go through it + keep her business, in short struggling. As for Thomas, well I thought he had a really dark secret, but he didn't... and well, I thought his self-imposed isolation wasn't that necessary, but I guess if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be the same guy. Anyway, the love story was all right and the intrigue was too, although perhaps a bit far-fetched at the end. What I liked was actually the humour and I hoped Hairy would have "thought" more often, cos that was quite hilarious. In fact, if it hadn't been for Hairy, this book would have been lumped in the "okay, typical, not original" book.

Hidden Secrets by Cait London: 2/5

Let see if I can find the good words this time...

Spence has recently lost his sister, brother-in-law and nephew in a car accident and his mother, in another accident at home. He blames himself for not being there, not being able to protect them, not preventing their deaths and so, he has left his banker job in Seattle to move back to their little town. He now plays guide, organizes camping trips and search for the remains of his nephew for closure.

Then, there's Marlo Malone who's a psychic, but refuses to acknowledge her gifts. She and Spence have a past, but she's put it behind. She's also gone through a painful marriage and divorce and now, takes refure in her work. All she wants is peace and normalcy... However, lately, everytimes she sees the color red through glass, it makes her think of Cody, Spence's nephew, along with a feeling of anger that frightens her... She also believes that the accidents that took away Spence's sister and mother's lives weren't accidents...

Okay, I thought this book could have been way better, but instead, no. First, I got annoyed at Marlo. She's psychics... perhaps acknowledging her gifts would have helped her feel better. It also makes me mad that she can sense things, know things, but decides to remain passive. I mean, perhaps she could have prevented those events from happening and that would have save her some guilt trips. But no... then, there's this relationship between her and Spence. Oh man, annoying. It completely lost me. Spence and Marlo have a painful past together and I guess that the only person who truly knows Marlo is Spence... he can edge her, get a reaction out of her... he wasn't by her side in the past and so he thinks that he's worthless now and tries to keep away from her, but at the same time, he always, always comes back, edging her more. Like I say, completely annoying. Hey, if you love her, you have two choices: woo her or go away and let her have a better life if you think that's what she'll have. Instead, he comes over and over and just ruins everything. The intrigue wasn't so enjoyable either. Instead, I just kept getting mixed up... the timeline and flow of the story were difficult to follow in my opinion. One minute, this was happening, the other minute, something totally unrelated and it kept going and going. So yeah, didn't enjoy it.

Sun Kissed by Catherine Anderson: 3.75/5

So finally, a book where the heroine is not "damaged." Well maybe a little, but not more than any other romance book.

Samantha Harrigan is a horse breeder and trainer with her own ranch. When she was younger, she married Steve Fisher, someone who was only after her money. But that's over, she's divorced him over a year ago and he's out of her life. Now enters Tucker Coulter, who've she met at this rodeo meet where she went against a drunk who was beating a horse. Both were arrested, but freed shortly after. Samantha has no intention to see Tucker again, but she needs a vet when two of her horses are poisoned... Soon, she's the prime suspect for insurance fraud...

So let see, this is the last of the Coulter siblings and I have to admit that the story was a bit different, but still enjoyable. For once, as I said, the heroine is not "damaged." Her ego and pride might be a bit bruised, but she's all right. Anyway, Tucker has never been my favorite sibling among the Coulter family, but he seemed to be portrayed quite differently in this book, seems to me he was gentler. Also, it seemed that the author, Ms. Anderson, was quite undecided about Tucker's faith... at the end of Sunshine, it was hinted that his mother would play matchmaker and she had a woman in mind, who knew how to stand her ground having grown up with 4 brothers. Then, at the end of the last book, he was heading for Colorado and I think the author intended to write the story there... then she came back to Samantha, who indeed has four brothers. *shrug* I guess it isn't that important.

So yeah, I did enjoy Sun Kissed. I guess I always enjoy Ms. Anderson's books. This one is just a plain, old romance with a little intrigue behind. The story went smoothly, but I have to say, the intrigue was way too easy to figure out. I mean, after reading the synopsis and page one, I knew who it was... now, that's way too easy. On the other hand, I actually quite liked Samantha - unlike the other heroines, she was quite confident. I mean, she knows what she's doing and she's proud of the results and that's something. She'd like to be more independent though, which is totally understandable. I think that her family might be a tad too protective. I mean, I usually like protective brothers with their big brother act, but Clint's answer was to beat out the crap out of anyone who hurt Samantha. Hmmm, no cute. Anyway, onto other matters, I also liked how Tucker was portrayed in this one. As I said, gentler and less jaded. Actually, he's quite like Isaiah, only sharper. Unfortunately, there wasn't that many romantic scenes though and it was quite understanble given the circumstances... but it still work. My only complaints are 1) we didn't get to see that many Coulters in the books... as the last Coulter's books, I'd have liked for an update for closure, but nope. 2) I bet Ms. Anderson was setting the characters for her new family series... I mean, Samantha has 4 brothers to marry now.

So although I enjoyed Sun Kissed, it didn't bring closure to the series. I also think I'm going to stay away from the new family series, because how much ranchers story can you write without it becoming too repetitive? Hah, I say that, but I'm probably going to crack. So not a bad book, not an oustanding book but an enjoyable one ;D

So that's it for 2006. I'm reading Demon Angel by Maljean Brook, but I doubted I'd be able to finish it before midnight :D

Sanctuary's Finest Giveaway!

Free books, free books, free books :D

Who can really resist to free books right? Not me :D No way. So head towards to Sanctuary's Finest to know more, or read bellow:

Happy Holidays from SF! Want Free Books??

This holiday season at SF, what's ours is yours. Please join us in celebrating the holidays by participating in our End of the Year GIVEAWAY!! (Ok, really? We totally stole borrowed the idea from Twisted Kingdom, but meh, whatever..LOL)

The rules are simple and easy.

Just copy/paste this post and/or put a link to it on your own blog, and then let us know you did so, either by emailing us, or leaving a comment here.

On January 1st, 2007, we'll draw two names and each lucky winner will have his/her choice of any THREE books from our Library Thing account. That's right, we're offering three books each, to two lucky people.







Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad,
Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa (and anything else we missed) and Happy New Year!!

My 100th post!!!

How apt that my 100th post is writing during the holiday season! Something else to celebrate about! :D

So how is everyone? Recovering from Christmas? Pace yourself, New Year is coming :D I actually don't have any plans for New Year... perhaps just go out and eat with my parents. For Christmas, my parents dragged me to their friends' house - their friends were having a family reunion and we were invited. Go figure. It's quite boring, because they all see each other more than once a year and after all, they're cousins... so my sister and I were quite out of the loop. I ended up falling asleep cos I was dizzy from lack of it.

I also hope no one was crazy as me to go shopping on Boxing Day! I just wanted to go to the bookstores - although I knew there weren't any sales - and everything should have been fine... I mean, the bookstores opened at 9am... but then, my sis decided she wanted to look at other stuff... I was there till 3pm and it was absolutely hell. I'm really sorry for my sister tho, cos she enjoys shopping and didn't really find anything. Actually, she was quite disappointed by the sales... but then, Boxing Day isn't what it used to be. Except perhaps in electronics... for the clothing, I think it's really not all that worth to brave the crowd. As for books, don't even mention it. There was only 30% off on hardcovers.... and the I-rewards card didn't even work. So hello, it's 34% off + 5% off online on hardcovers. Oh well. Didn't stop me from buying books of course.

I'm again in the mood - I want to read and have been reading, but no books really appeal to me and I WANT to go BUY books. Although once I'm there, again, nothing appeals to me. I'm sorry for those who sent me books, no I haven't read them yet. I know they are extremely good books, but I want to wait till I'm in a better mood :P by the way, I need some suggestions/recommendations! Esp. fantasy books - Mailyn, can you help me out? Also, I've decided to keep track of the books I want, buy and read :P I'm in a list-mode.

But still, I have a couple of reviews:

The Shop on Blossom Street and A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber: 3.5/5

I won't write a detailed synopsis, because it's two books. However, here is what you need to know: Lydia Hoffman is 30 years old, but has had two bouts of brain cancers, one at 16 and the other at 24. Both events have been very difficult on her, but she was able to overcame them because of her father who was her rock. As a result, her relationship with her older sister is a bit strained... Unfortunately, her father has passed away recently. She is at a turning point in her life and has decided to open a yarn store, because she loves knitting and had learnt while she was at the hospital. So in The Shop on Blossom Street, she offered her first knitting class, a baby blanket and in A Good Yarn, socks. So in both books, we follow Lydia's story as well as the ones of her students. Both books are really characters-orientated books and each characters are quite different.

The Shop on Blossom Street: Jacqueline, a socialite that isn't happy with her daughter-in-law and is having a difficult marriage. Caroline who is 37 y.o. and quitted her job to finally start a family with her husband, but it is not going well. Alix who is a rebel and taking the knitting class so she can deduct the hours from her community hours.

A Good Yarn: Elise, a recently retired librarian who has lost all her savings to a dishonest contractor and is now living with her daughter and her family. Bethanne who just went through a divorce with two teenagers. Courtney who has to live with her grandmother in a new city during her last year of high school while her father works in Brazil.

Personally, I thought that The Shop on Blossom Street was better than A Good Yarn and I bought A Good Yarn mostly to have updates on the characters. Also, the thing with both books is that they are both very passive. I mean stuff happens, but it's no action, it's because they happen. Also, there are the happy endings, I mean, you know that everything will work out perfectly.

In the end, both books are decent reads and entertaining if you're looking for something relaxing. What's interesting is that you follow the stories of different women, of different ages and experience who are looking for different things in life. However, I'm actually debating whether or not to get more books by Debbie Macomber, because I have the feeling that once you've read it, you've read them all.

Home Before Dark by Susan Wiggs: 3.75/5

Jessie Ryder is coming back home to her sister, Luz, and her family after 16 years. The thing is that 16-17 years ago, Jessie got pregnant and gave her baby girl, Lila, for Luz and her newly-wedded husband, Ian, to adopt. Then, Jessie went abroad to live an work as a photograph while Luz and Ian started their own family.

Now Jessie is coming back to meet Lila, as well as her three other nephews. Of course, in her mind, Jessie wants to tell Lila her origin, not to reclaim Lila, but so at least, she knows and understands where she comes from. See, Lila is going through adolescence, rebellion. One night, after sneaking out to join her friends, they all get into a huge accident.

Anyway, lots of things happening and Jessie also meets the neighbor accross the lake, Dusty, who has a sad past too, and falls in love with him. The ick to all this is that Jessie is going blind...

I know, my synopsis isn't really good. but I hope that giving my opinion will help. It was a really, really touching story. I cried from beginning to end, although I wonder if it's the book or my mood :P Anyhow, the book was well-written as always and Jessie's condition was revealed to the readers early on. So it was an enjoyable story, again more character-orientated. I do think it's a bit selfish tho that ppl with diseases and conditions always come back home at that moment. I know it's not so others can take care of them, but to make up and stuff like that... but I mean, they wouldn't be there if it wasn't because of their condition right? So there are a lot of issues and problems that Jessie, Luz, Ian and Lila have to deal with in this book and this take precedence over the love story between Jessie and Dusty. Personally, I didn't see the chemistry between them all that much. They fell in love very quickly, too fast to my taste. So a decent read, but not the best Susan Wigg's I've read...

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas: 3/5

Growing up, Aline Westfield, daughter of a Marquiss, and John MacKenna, stable boy, fell in love. Of course, their relationship was discovered and Aline didn't have a choice then to send MacKenna away with harsh words and lies so he would never want her again. Few months after MacKenna's departure, Aline was involved in a fire in the kitchen and her legs are now scarred forever. Because of both events, Aline never married...

Now, John MacKenna has returned from America a very, very wealthy man. He wants revenge, but both still love each other... and you know the rest, they both dance this difficult dance around lies and secret. At the same time, there's also Olivia, Aline's younger sister who was also involved in a scandal and is now a recluse... She is attracted to MacKenna's business partner, Gideon Shaw, the never-sober-for-long wealthy American.

I did quite enjoy this book :D I liked how Aline and Olivia weren't innocent and inhibited like most historical heroines. They were not naive, they knew what they were getting involved in and you know, they were actually quite wise. I also liked how Marcus, their older brother, protected them. The three siblings had quite a nice relationship and that is rare I think in the historicals. Yeah, you do get to see over-protective older brother, but Marcus was different. He talked to his sisters and asked their opinions and so on. Then, I remembered... Marcus Westfield is the hero in It happened one Automn... I'm quite sad tho that he ended up with Lillian Bowan, the reason why i still haven't read that book.

Anyway, back to Again the Magic, it was quite entertaining, but then I thought it got dragged a bit because of the secrets and lies. I mean, yeah, Aline's legs are ugly and scarred and it's understandable why she wants to keep it a secret... but for the readers, it's too typical... you know easily what's going to happen. How the whole issue was resolved was a bit, dunno, not enough passionate ^^; See, the thing is that Aline and MacKenna's story wasn't enough to hold the attention of the readers and that's why in Again the Magic, there's also Olivia and Gideon's story and it was quite prominent. So that tells you something... Anyway, not a bad book, but not the best either ^^;

Goddess of the Rose by P.C. Cast: 3/5

Hmm, how to summarize this book. Mikaido Empousai, aka Mikki, has a gift with roses. Basically, from generations to generations, the women in her family perform a ritual which consists of mixing water and their blood to water the roses on the new moon. This results in sumptuous roses :) Then, through a series of accidental events, Mikki wakes up Hecates' Guardian, Asterius the Beast, and he transported her to the Realm of Rose where Mikki turns out to be Hecates' High Priestess. There, she learns the way and eventually falls in love with Asterius.

Not a bad book, but I guess not really my style. I don't really enjoy those stories where an independant modern woman ends up in another time period and you know, stands out and all. Also, anyone who has seen Beauty and the Beast know that a woman can fall in love with a Beast. Of course, the ending revelation reveals that Asterius was worried about more than the fact that he was a beast, but again... So the story wasn't bad, just a bit too passive to my taste which is due to the narration. The situation in which Mikki found herself is just a bit strange, because she really knows nothing about the rituals and everything, except for the roses... so I found it a bit boring all what she had to learn and I thought it impeded the storyline.

Okay, I'm not sure my reviews were helpful ^^; but hopefully yes and I hope you enjoyed the read :P Talk to you girls soon, probably with more reviews :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Enjoy your holidays and may the best happens to you this year!
I wish you all an awesome time and a lot of R&R and of course, lots of books!

Luv, Nath

Good morning ppl!

Hello guys ;D

so wassup? It took me the whole week-end to recover, since I was EXHAUSTED from writing that report. Right now, I'm a bit worried ^^; because I realized that there are some mistakes and stuff. but what can I do? Too late right?

All right, so what's been happening in blogland? I know it's been very very quiet and so I guess ppl are just busy with holiday season. But let me tell you, I do miss you all!

I haven't been able to read... I hope that goes away fast, because I want to read!! I crave to read! So hopefully, I'll be able to do it tonight. I'm also going to do some x-mas shopping :P

Anyway, have a great time everyone! Hope you're all doing well!

I'm done!

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done.

Just thought you'd like to know that I'm still alive... and that I'm done. Okay, I did submitted it almost 11 hours late, but at this point, who cares? I'm done, I'm done, I'm done.

I'll post more tonight, when my brain will be back.

In the Spirit of Holidays....

To make your Holidays even more enjoyable, Twisted Kingdom is holding a contest. All details here.

Quick updates

Hello everyone...

sorreh for not posting much or commenting much on your blogs... I'm pretty much exhausted. Writing the report is in progress and hopefully, I'll have time to finish it up. So yeah, been writing and reading the Tir Alainn trilogy by Anne Bishop, which requires some staying up late and so, I'm very much tired.

I still haven't started by X-mas shopping ^^; and have some stuff to send by mail. Well sorry folks, I don't think it'll be there in time for X-mas. By the way, one question... is there a lot of packages lost during X-mas times?

What else.. Oh, I've been reading a bit... still slumping a bit, but it's better, well I think. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish Staying Dead by Laura Gilmann, but perhaps, that's just because of my mood. In addition, I really didn't enjoy On Fire's Wing by Christie Golden. So now it's pretty sad because I bought the sequel to it ^^; same thing for the Laura Gilmann's book by the way. The only good think I read is the Tir Alainn trilogy by Anne Bishop. All I can say at this moment is that if you enjoyed the Black Jewels trilogy, you'll want to give this trilogy a try then.

So that's pretty much it for me at the moment. I'm going to pick up my new pair of glasses after work and make a quick stop at Indigo/Chapters and see if I can't come up with any gifts, since Kristie sent me a 20% off coupon.


ps - I need some HELP! Although my English is okay, I still do some grammar and other mistakes ^^; and I was wondering if someone could be kind enough to go over my report and proof-read it for me. You'd be a sweetheart and my life saver!

pps- I have another favor to ask... Anyone who read With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George and still remember the story?

HAPPY B-DAY AMES

Happy birthday Ames!

I hope that this year will be good for you
That all your wishes will come true

ps- I hope you don't mind the modification I did :P

My room

Hey :D

Everyone had a nice week-end?

I'm still lazing off, so I'll probably be... well I don't know :P Writing furiously I guess... ^^; Anyway, I'm still in that reading slump. I don't know if it's because the books are bad or because I can't get interested in them :( The good thing tho is that I finally cleaned up my room!!! It's real nice... That is why I took some pictures :D I've been complaining that I don't have space for shelves and Mailyn asked for proof :P Well here it is:







So yeah, as you can see, not much space left. At least, not any for a piece of furniture... as for floatting shelves... only above the bed which I'm really not fond of because well, it would be above my head. Or above the desk, which would be a bit difficult of access because, well the desk :P

If you're thinking my closet space, well... let me show it to you:



There's already more stuff than clothes in that closet. You don't really get to see it in the picture, but the bottom is full of textbooks and class notes.

On the bad news side, my nightstand lamp is broken!!! I really need to go buy a new one if I want to continue reading in bed!

ah well, that's it for tonight... Have a nice evening and see you tomorrow!

Mailyn's X-mas gifts from Blogland

Okay, Mailyn, please don't read this post! Instead, stare at HK's hottest boyos :D



All right, for the others! Hello :D Please highlist the text to read!


I want to be discreet about this, but really, I have no idea who's going to do what. Anyway, I just want ppl who are planning to buy Mailyn's a X-mas gift, please send me an email (natuschan[at]gmail[dot]com)... so we can coordinate stuff and not get her the same thing twice :D


Thanx a lot!

Long day...

Okay, where to start. Wow, my last post was on Monday... it's been like 3 days. So let's start this way:

MONDAY
- bought more books. Was bored and waiting till it was time to go pick up my sis. So went to the new Indigo, cruised around. Was looking for Eye of Heaven by Marjorie Liu, but still didn't find it. In the end I went home with the Dresden Files series... hmmm, so that was like 5 books.

TUESDAY
- went to pick up my sis and then rushed to Best Buy and then Future Shop to buy Pirates of Carrabean II. It was 2$ cheaper at Future Shop and they were giving away this box to contain the DVD, really cool box. So I watched the special features. It's really worth it. It was fun and there was lots of information and stuff.

WEDNESDAY
- So what did I do? Oh yeah, I went to Indigo downtown and bought books. Yeah, I know, I keep doing the same. I went a bit crazy tho and bought like 5-6 tradepaper books. Forget it, there's now a hole in my wallet. THe good news tho is that I finally found Eye of Heaven, which I read till midnight. So what books did I get? I don't even know ^^; Let see, Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara, Curse the Dark and Bring it On by Laura Anne Gilman, some books by Christie Golden. Okay, I'm going to stop here, cos it's getting really scary. I went to the cash and the guy was like: Your X-mas shopping huh? and I'm like: not even ^^; Then I went to the French manga store, cos finally, some of my manga arrived. AFterwards, rushed to the library where I had to look for some CD for my sis. (the library and manga store are close to each other). Then, I had to rush and pick up my sis again.

THURSDAY
-All right, this is where things get worse and why I'm so exhausted at the moment. So it start with, I had an appointment with the garage for my car... just a check up. Appointment was at 3h30, so I was planning to leave work at 2h30. My mom calls me at 2h15 and told me my debit card got cancelled and I had to go to the bank to get a new one... and also call this 1-800-xxx-xxxx to know what happened. So I call and the guy is very nice... but he has to verify my identity and ask me questions. Seriously, i'm totally ignorant. Do I have any investment at the bank? Well I don't know! my mom takes care of that... How much $ in those investment? How the hell do I know? so well, I flunked the questions and he couldn't get access to my profile. However, he did told me it was security issues so either I lost my card and someone found it or it got cloned and someone else used it.

So okay, was all ready to rush back to the South Shore. Talked to my supervisor a bit to see his opinion on the experiment and he's like: can you read the plates with the other reader. So I did and lost 30 min. So I left work at 3h... no way I was going to make it on time. finally got there at 3h50. so I was late and I kind of lost my priority and so it'd take more time. Anyway, they drove me home. I got into my mom's car and rushed to the bank where I got a new clerk who didn't really know what she was doing. Later, I found out that my card was indeed cloned and someone has taken 1000$ out. Urgh. Ouch, that hurts. The worst is that the lady who usually takes care of situations like this is on vacation. Anyway, got a nice lady and I should get my $$ back within the next 48 hours. (well maybe early next week). BIG SIGH OF RELIEF HERE! Now the problem is... I went to 2 stores yesterday: Indigo and the french manga store... which means that that's where the highest probability my card got cloned. Youppi, those are the two places I spend most $$... Gotta be extra careful now ^^;

After the bank, I rushed to pick up my sis. Got home and my mom was like: Honda called almost as soon as you were out of the door. Your car is ready. So I had to call for the car service and wait for them to pick me up... and finally got my car and went home. So that's pretty much my day, but I'm totally exhausted. And there's this guy in my lab, he makes me feel so incompetent. Every time I ask him a question, he's like: you should know, you're a master student or you should understand this! and blablabla... and he'll never give me a straight answer. anyway...

So what does all this mean? Hmmm, I haven't started my report yet? I know I know, procastination is bad! Especially when I'm not even having fun while procastinating. Also, a random fact: I have 22 books in my bed... I've been sleeping in my single bed with 22 books and cushions on the side so those books wouldn't slide between the cracks and fall down. I can't stand having my books under the bed, I'M like: poor them, so much dust (yes, very dusty under my bed). so every morning, my left side's been pretty sore. The worst is that I didn't read 3/4 of those books in bed... and there's more on my nightstand and on the floor. Sigh... man.

So is this everything I wanted to say? I think so... I talked about my days, my report, books buying... hmmm, yeah. There's only two things left: Contest and reviews.


Pay if Forward Contest

Cool contest, really worth participating and very easy.

Get's all the details about the contest here, at Colleen's webpage.
All you need is to post the icon on your blog/webpage and do a good action.




Review

Eye of Heaven by Marjorie Liu: 4/5

So after many trips to the bookstore, I finally got my hand on the book and it was quite worth it.

Blue is part of the Dirk & Steele agency and is tracking a man named Santoso in Indonesia who is the leader of some human trade business (that incl. prostitution and organ black market and etc.) Near his goal, Blue meets this older woman who almost kills him with a bomb.

So after being saved by Elena, one of the most gifted psychic healer, Blue returns to the USA... what's better excuse then his father's death? Not that Blue and his father was close, actually the man's a real SOB. The ick is that Blue's father is not dead. He only staged his death so his other son, Blue's half-brother Daniel would show up. However, Daniel has disappeared and the father's best shot is asking Blue... or actually blackmailing Blue. So if Blue doesn't agree, the father will reveal all of Dirk & Steele secret to goverment and scientists. Anyway, Blue doesn't have a choice if he wants to protect his real family. He finally finds Daniel in a circus in Las Vegas... but once there, Blue is more interested to Iris, this lady with golden eyes and incredible affinity to BIG cats.

So where to start... Blue's psychic power is electrokinesis as in, he's able to command anything that works with electricity which means the human heart as well. I mean, it's a real interesting power and I think it's the first time I've come across something like this power. However, he doesn't really explain how it works and so on. As most of you could guess, Iris is a shapeshifter, wow big surprise. Now, that's something I'd like Ms Liu to stop... stop adding shapeshifters everywhere. They're supposed to be rare... Yet in every book of the series, you get to meet one or two. So this dragon lady could go a 100 years without seeing anyone of her "kind," but Dirk & Steele just happens to stumble over 2 or 3 ones every months?

Aside from that, I quite liked Blue's character. He's not tortured, but his life wasn't easy, especially with the kind of father he had. However, interestingly, life wasn't easier for Daniel either. Blue and Daniel have never met and very reluctant to trust each other, but that's a given given their father. I wouldn't say Blue's such an alpha either. I guess in this book, focus was more on the plot than characters. I've never felt much affinity to Ms Liu's character. As for Iris, well she's fine. Not too strong, but not whiny or TSTL... A decent heroine. But really, thanx heavens the book was filled with action, because with only those characters... I probably woudn't have continued on.

So this book is full of action and it gets quite complicated. There might have been a bit too much coincidences, but I guess, there were necessary. What I actually like about this book is that altho it's part of a series, the book was focused on our two main characters. Ms Liu wasn't trying to set-up her next book. Another interesting thing is that you usually don't see the other from previous books. I think that we saw quite a few of the previous characters and I was quite happy. I like to have updates on characters I liked. So story is more action-filled and there's plenty of conspiracy again. As for the love story, a bit bland. Too quick attraction between Iris and Blue and I thought there wasn't much chemistry between them. Oh and Elena's twist was quite interesting.

Finally, I think there was something else, but I can't remember... it's 11pm. and my breain just shut down. So the book was quite interesting and much better than the last. Still a bit confusing, I think Ms Liu should make her "master-plan behind the scene" a bit less complicated. If you're a fan of this series, you'll really want to read it.


Last thing... I read Kay Hooper's short story in Guardian Angel's anthology. It was really the only one I was interested in. So it's mostly romance with a touch of paranormal: Alex is an earl who's been working as a spy. He crosses to France and come back with critical information. However, during once of his voyage, it doesn't go well when smugglers confuse him for someone else and shoot him. Luckily, this woman appears in front of him and saves his life. She'll appear a couple of more time, everytime when he was in danger... and he'll reach a point where he puts himself in danger just to meet her. Anyway, cute story, you can see Kay Hooper's soft style... I wonder where the Romance Kay Hooper went and left for Psychic Kay Hooper. Anyway, the problem with the anthologies is always the same: way too short.

My Wishlist!

Okay, about 2 weeks ago (Thanksgiving week), Mailyn emailed me demanding where my wishlist was. Wishlist? What wishlist? I never keep a wishlist, because well, I usually buy books as they come out. I have my list of authors and titles and when the books are coming out and you'll see my at the bookstore within a week of the "date" to buy them. Or I check the web to see which stores have it in stock, at least twice a day ^^; Same thing for the manga. Yeah, I have no self-control...

Anyway, 2 weeks later, here is my wishlist :P
(I'm going to put the covers in the WANTED section on my sidebar as soon as I get home)

Anne Stuart
- A Rose at Midnight
- To Love a Dark Lord
- Lord Danger

Elizabeth Doyle
- Beyond Paradise

Holly Black
- Tithe

Stephanie Meyer
- Twilight

Marth Wells
- The Death of the Necromancer

Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall
- Amber
- White Mountain

Christopher Paolini
- Eldest

Katherine Stone
- Roommates
- Bel Air

*The books are in no order*

So that's my wishlist... I'm kind of proud of myself that I could come up with at least some books :P

So does everyone have a wishlist or is it only me?

I hate Mondays...

Seriously, Mondays suck.

Woke up this morning, the cellphone and the battery recharger were missing. My room is a mess and all my sis' homework is on my desk. MY desk. One of my boot has a hole in it and the other, the zipper is broken. There's snow outside... The first snow and so I wanted to wear my boots, but obviously, i have to bring them to a shoe repairman first. Then, been looking for a compound since last week and couldn't find it. Finally asked the guy to make some more and what happened? Of course, he finds it in the common stock and tells me I should look with my eyes. Argh. Mondays truly suck.

Reading Blues...

Hey everyone!

Hmmm, what was I going to say? Oh yeah, remember: because of the presentation, I got a bit off schedule with my blog hopping and this is probably going to continue till December 15. So basically, I do go on other blogs and read messages, but I can't seem of think of comments... so I'm sorry if it seems like I don't read your blog... I actually do, but I don't know what to say because my brain is switched off or dead ^^; By the way, it also seems like the reading slump has caught up to me. I've bought so many great books, but I can't seem to get into them. I'll start one and won't feel like continuing. It really sucks.

Onto other news... i got new glasses. Glasses are so expensive. Also, how come ppl are so dense? First there's my parents that don't understand everything or decide to suit their interpretation to their taste... Today, I went home and ask my mom if she was washing clothes and what was she washing.... She answered clothes. Euh, yes mom. I know it's clothes... I meant what kind? Underwear, Pjs, casual clothing?

Yesterday, I went to the bookstore again. I was looking for Eye of Heaven by Marjorie Liu, because apparently they received it according to the computer. So I went and didn't find it. So I asked a lady to help me... That lady led me back to the shelving in romance to look and after that, in fiction. Yo, I'm a regular at bookstores... I wouldn't bother you if it was simply misplaced. Hey, I even looked under "M" because, she writes under Marjorie M. Liu. So we couldn't find it and she told me: you should order it. You'll receive it in about a week. Hello lady... the reason why I go to bookstores is mainly because I can't wait. If I could wait a week, then I would order all my books.

That reminds me of that day I was at the library. I was looking for Eragon; however, at that time, I didn't know it was Eragon. I mean, I've been seeing Eragon and Eldest's covers everywhere for years. Anyway, I wanted to read the two books because recently, Mailyn has commented on it (okay, so maybe not that recently). So I was at the library and I was: they probably have it, let's go check. I asked the lady at the desk and I'm like: I don't know the author, don't know the title. I only know it's two volumes, hardcover. One is blue and the other is red and both have dragons on it. I thought that as a librarian, she might recognized it. Turns out the lady wasn't a librarian, she was in charge of the multimedia (assigning computers and stuff). So she's like: can't you do a search? I was very polite and answered: Don't know the author or title. She answered: well you can enter a subject. Subject is often enough. Hello!!! What am I going to put under subject? Fiction? Young Adult? with no title and author? yeah, I so going to get THE result I want. And how am I going to know it's really that book I'm looking for. Anyway, I was a bit frustrated, because hey, I'm a regular at libraries and bookstores and I know how to search and look for books... What do I look like? stupid?

Anyway, that's it tonight. I'm going to do some re-read and perhaps try to get into my new books :P See you guys soon!