Monday, June 29, 2015

Where is it?!

So, I had a little moment of panic this week-end and thought I'd share it all with you... because I know you guys will get it :)

I've been running out of space in my room for books - LOL, I know most of you get THIS - and so decided to make some space. My dream is still to re-organize my closet, but since we're having guests arriving on Wednesday for two weeks, I didn't have time to re-haul the closet... But I could make some space! I have a dresser in my room and on top, I've been storing DVDs and CDs and lately, stacking up hardcover books. Well I don't watch DVDs as much and simply don't listen to CDs anymore... So my plan was clearing up the closet top shelf so I could store the DVDs and CDs in there and have the whole dresser for books! Oh and the jewelry box I've gotten for my birthday last year and which has been gracing the floor every since ^_^;

Everything was going according to plan and Sunday morning was the fun part - re-arranging the books! :P I needed space mostly for the new hardcovers I have acquired in the past couple of years. (There's just too many paperbacks ^_^; I'd really need to purge to fit them all in the bookcases) So the authors I chose to go there: Ilona Andrews, Kelley Armstrong - everything I got starting from Waking the Witch, Anne Bishop's The Others series, Jim Butcher's latest, Kay Hooper's latest trilogy, Nalini Singh's Psy-Changelings hardcovers and finally, Maria V. Snyder's Magic Study. I added a few orphaned hardcovers, my favorite Nora Roberts re-reads and Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. The latter's paperbacks are different format, ugh. 


See, what happens is that most of my hardcovers are in the second row on my shelves ^_^; That means every time I want to read them, I have to remove the paperbacks in front in order to reach them. Having this space on my dresser just improves accessibility so much! Anyway, everything was going well... till I realized I was missing Written in Red by Anne Bishop. Just couldn't find the book. Looked where I usually keep the Anne Bishop books, looked under the various piles of books I have in my room, looked among the hardcovers that I had removed from the dresser. Just couldn't find it. Was so annoyed that I even posted it on FB - which I rarely do. Sent a message to all my friends to see if I had lent it out. I remember re-reading Written in Red earlier this year and my fear was to have forgotten it somewhere... but then, when I read hardcovers, I remove the dust jacket. There was no dust jacket anywhere, so I either lent it to someone or it was somewhere in my room. 



I'm usually very good at keeping track of my books. Yes, there is a lot of books in my room, but I know where most of it is :) I rarely buy the same book twice by accident - usually, it's on purpose LOL - because I remember what I own and where it is. So to say that missing Written in Red was frustrating was an understatement. I pretty much looked for it the whole day. At the end, I looked at the only spot where I keep hardcovers that I haven't looked for... and of course, lo and behold, there was Written in Red. The reason why I didn't look there earlier is because it's the mystery shelf and the only hardcovers that I have there are the In Death books ^_^; I even remember thinking "It won't be there." LOL. Guess it was the only space that fit a hardcover book left before I started stacking them on the floor and then, on the dresser LOL. 

Anyway, that was my mini-adventure. Ever happened to you? Looking for a book and not finding it? And what do you think of the new set-up? Wish I had taken a picture of before :P

Friday, June 26, 2015

9th Blogiversary!

Hi everyone!


how are you doing? I've been meaning to pop in and write a post for a while and today, June 26th, I realized it was my blog's 9th Blogiversary... Although I don't know if writing a handful of posts in the past two years can still count as blogging ^_^; Still, I've been around blogland for 9 years!! Kind of hard to believe :)

So, let see what's new since I last posted... Not much really :P My parents went to Cuba for a week and came back brown caramel ^_^; And that's with sunscreen!! We took the opportunity to paint the guest bedroom/office during their absence. It needed it as you can see from the pictures LOL. It was initially my sister's room when she was young and she chose the color and pattern more than 15 years ago. Let just say my parents are enjoying the new color :)




Otherwise, I've been kind of in a slump. Reading, but always having difficulty picking the next book. Well except when Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh came out. That one was an easy pick :) And I ended up really enjoying Shards of Hope. I'm also excited for her new story arc. By the way, what do you think of a book with a regular Psy? Someone that wouldn't be powerful in the Psy society nor super strong psychically? I'd be curious to see how a mid-level Psy with a regular life adapts to the new era. Anyway, just an idea.


I've also realized that I'm burned-out on contemporary romance... which is a problem since it's the genre I usually gravitate towards. Perhaps not every contemporary romance books, but for sure this particular trope: heroine escaped her hometown and for whatever reason - family, career implosion, etc. - has to come home and of course, faces her ex-boyfriend/husband or the crush that ignored her. I was actually updating my calendar for new releases and while reading blurbs, there were just soooo many books with that trope. It seems also that sport romance is on the rise... and those can go either way. I don't know, is it too much to ask for main characters that are happy with their lives and jobs? I'm also looking for romantic suspense books with cops and FBI agents, so if you guys have suggestions. Still a bit tired of military RS ^_^; As for UF, I don't know which new series I should dive into. On the very bright side, I just read Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway and had a smile almost all throughout the read. Perhaps that's what I should do right now, YA....

So what keeps me occupy lately? Well Masterchef Australia. I really love that show... I like the camaraderie between the contestants and witnessing their growth. This season has been pretty good :) I've also been trying to scrapbook. My parents are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this year and my sister and I wanted to do something nice. Except that we keep butting heads on ideas and stuff ^_^; Hopefully, we'll get it done in time... and of course, there's my constant struggle with my room. It's gotten a bit out of hand, especially with the scrapbooking. I really want to purge my room, but the reality is that I don't have the time and space to do it. We are having guests starting next week and guess where I am going at the end of July?...

Yep, I'm going to RWA again!! I can't wait!! Who's going?! I can't wait to see everyone :) I have a few friends tagging along as well, so this time around, I'm going to try to explore NYC. So much fun ahead!

So that's it with me for now. What about you?