1. When I'm sick I'm a suck (I have no problems admitting to it!).
2. When I take a walk, I think about absolutely nothing - walking clears my head.
3. Money can't buy happiness but it can certainly help.
4. Cotton makes me comfortable and leather makes me sweaty and sticky.
5. The strangest person/character I've had lewd thoughts about was - me, lewd thoughts! lol Can't think of anyone.
6. My favorite color these days is orange because it's cheerful.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching TV with my husband, tomorrow my plans include going to Toronto to visit my sister and my father and Sunday, I want to get the kids things together for school and relax!
I haven’t read too many of Carla Neggers novels, but what I’ve read I’ve enjoyed. So I didn't think twice about grabbing The Angel at the library.
Here's the blurb:
On a remote stretch of the rugged coast of Ireland, folklorist and illustrator Keira Sullivan pursues the mysterious Irish legend of an ancient Celtic stone angel. As she searches an isolated ruin, she’s certain she’s discovered the mythic angel, but before she can examine her find, she senses a malevolent presence. . . . Is someone in there with her? Then the ruin collapses, trapping her.
Keira’s uncle, a Boston homicide detective, enlists the help of Simon Cahill to find his missing niece. Simon, an expert with First Rescue, a rapid-response search-and-rescue organization, is trying to keep a low profile after secretly assisting in the takedown of a major criminal network, but he rushes to Ireland, pulling Keira out of the rubble just as she’s about to free herself.
Simon isn’t interested in myths or magic, nor is he surprised when Keira can’t find a trace of her stone angel. He doesn’t believe it exists. But the gruesome evidence of a startling act of violence convinces him that whatever she found in the ruin, the danger she faces is real. When the violence follows them to Boston—Simon and Keira realize that the long-forgotten story that has captivated her has also aroused a killer . . . a calculating predator who will certainly kill again.
Suspenseful and evocative, The Angel is a riveting novel of dangerous myths, haunting secrets and the shattering truth concealed within them. It is Carla Neggers at her best.
I was looking forward on reading this book, but at the time I didn’t realize it was part of a series, there’s a previous book that is connected to this one, The Widow. It usually doesn’t bother me, but there seemed to be a lot going on from the previous book. I felt like I was missing something, ok, eventually I figured out, but it bothered me all throughout the book.
Also I expecting more of a mystical, paranormal feel to the story. Maybe I just thought it was a paranormal, I thought that the crimes that were being committed were of paranormal forces and not of human sort. Because they were pretty gruesome.
I did enjoy the book, I liked the characters (even feeling that something was missing - previous book), I liked the setting: Ireland, Boston and the woods of New Hampshire. I did find some of the mystical magic that I was looking for, but I wanted more of that. I think it was my misconceptions of this book that turned me off. I was expecting something and got something entirely different.
The Angel by Carla Neggers (3/5) Romantic Suspense; Published: Mira (5/08); 100 + Reading Challenge (52); Library book;
Time for another short read! I can’t help it, I love reading these books on the deck and enjoying the weather.
Here’s the blurb for His Brother’s Secret by Debra Salonen:
In college, Shane Reynard lacked the nerve to tell Jenna Murphy how he felt. Now, with all his Hollywood success behind him, lack of nerve is not what holds him back. When his latest TV show lands him in Jenna's hometown, he offers her a place on his writing team. Too bad spending a lot of time with her reminds Shane of every single thing he liked about her.
But as much as Shane wants to fall for her, there's a family secret he has to confess first. And once she knows the truth, there's a real chance Jenna will never want to see Shane's face again.
I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it, but… and that’s where I can’t really pinpoint just one problem. The characters were interesting, their problems although heart wrenching felt to me to be too over the top especially Shane’s. His fear that Jenna would “hate” him was understandable, but he was overreacting a tad, and I won't start on his views on future generations. He had a bad time with this father and brother, but he never really got over that.
Oh well, maybe the next book will be better…
His Brother’s Secret by Debra Solonen (2.5/5) Romance; Published: Harlequin (9/08); Harlequin Super Romance # 1516; Series: # 2, Spotlight on Sentinel Pass; 100 + Reading Challenge (51);
I went back to last month's entry, and I noticed some similarities, but also a few books that I didn't read. Let's just say that I'm a very moody reader. People are always surprised on the amount of books that I take out of the library. I don't read them, half of them go back unread, and someday I hope I go back and read them. But it all depends on my mood.
Here's what I have on my nightstand.
The Jericho Pact, I've had in my TBR for while. Eventually it will be read.
The Darkest Pleasure, I read the first book of the series, which I enjoyed. I've tried reading previously but couldn't get into it. Yep, my mood. It's on my nightstand, so I once I read it I can pass it on to my sister. I hope she's not in a rush.
Girls In Trucks, was a recommendation by a friend. It's looks interesting.
The Janissary Tree, I'm reading for the Book Awards II challenge.
The Smoke Thief, I'm reading for a group discussion.
I was in the mood for something short and sweet. Something to read in the backyard, while the kids play and hunt for insects. I did a blind pick through my Super Romance, and came out with An Imperfect Match by Kimberley Van Meter.
Here's the blurb:
Widower Dean Halvorsen is concentrating on just two things: his construction business and raising his teenage son. He doesn't really care about anything else. Not anymore.
Then Annabelle Nichols comes to Emmett's Mill, California, with her baby daughter, Honey. Before Dean quite knows how, Annabelle is working in his office and turning his world upside down. Still, the more time he spends with Annabelle and Honey, the more he realizes what's missing in his life. But Annabelle is all wrong for him.
Of course, when something—or someone!—is all wrong, that doesn't mean things won't work out just right.
Here's a story of two people that know that falling for each other is dangerous. The danger of getting their hearts broken. Annebelle thinks she can't compete with the memory of Dean's dead wife, and Dean doesn't want to fall in love again, for different reasons. There's also Dean's son, he's not dealing very well with Annabelle in their lives. But what happens next took me by surprise. (I won't get into it here, you have to read the book!)
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was short and sweet (just like I like them!), but it also had something more...a mystery. Who wants to hurt Annabelle? I loved the way she went back to confront a man in her past; and the way she made Dean realize that he wasn't the cause of something that hurt him so much. I really liked her character, I also like Dean, but Annabelle was the scene stealer for me.
I knew before I started reading this book that it was part of a series, usually it doesn't bother me, but now I have to go back and read the previous books of the Emmett's Mill' series.
An Imperfect Match by Kimberly Van Meter (4/5) Romance; Published: Harlequin (9/08); Harlequin Super Romance # 1513; Mini-series: You, Me & The Kids; Series: # 4, Emmett's Mill; 100 + Reading Challenge (50);
If you could take more control of one aspect of your life, what would it be? My diet. I've been trying to lose weight for a while now, but's so hard to stick with it.
If you were to name the difference between the male soul and the female soul, what would it be? I think there are no differences between male and female souls. The differences are in the choices that the individuals make.
If you had to admit the most selfish thing you do on a regular basis, what would you say it is? I want quiet alone time. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does...it's bliss.
My first memory of Gabriela, Cravo e Canela was as a child. During one of my summer visits to Portugal, I saw relatives enthralled watching this "novela", Gabriela. But what sparked my curiosity was the setting of this soap opera, somewhere that looked magical and scary all at the same time. And the way they talked. It was fascinating. And the music...
Later on, when I figured out that it was based on a book, I begged my mother to let me read it, and she didn't consider it appropriate for my age, I let it go, but it's been in my mind ever since. I've had several opportunities to read this book, but it wasn't until I was searching for another Jorge Amado book, that I decided this time that I would read it.
Here's the blurb of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado:
Lusty, satirical and full of intrigue, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon is a vastly entertaining panorama of small town Brazilian life.
It took me a while to really get into the story, but never did I feel that I wanted stop reading, I knew (and expected) it would pick up, and when it did I was blown away.
Nacib is suprised that Gabriela loves him, and she is happy that way their affair is going. She cooks for him, helps him in the cafe, takes care of him and loves him. He on the other hand is afraid to lose her, always freightened that one of the Colonel's will take her away. Their relationship changes when Nacib slowly changes Gabriela. He expects her to change the way she has always, and slowly you see her sad and drifting aways.
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado (4.5/5) Historical Fiction; Published: Livraria Martins Editora 1958 - Brazil; Published: Alfred A. Knopf 1962; Translated from the Portuguese by James L. Taylor and William L. Grossman; 100 + Reading Challenge (49); Orbis Terrarum Challenge (3); Library book; Added to shopping list;
Here's another book that my husband has been after me to read, hmm, since well...ever since I met him. And I finally did...It only took twelve years, honey! But I did it!
Okay, want to know what really got me fired up to read this book. This. So I gave it try, and surprisingly enough, I even enjoyed it.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price....
Like I mentioned before, I enjoyed the book. It didn't surprsise my husband, it didn't suprise my sister (another fan), but it surprised me. Although I have read science fiction before, I always thought it was hard for me to follow. Truth be told, I always felt like I needed a manual to understand certain things, but with this book I did not feel that way at all.
I was swept right in at the beginning of the book, and didn't want to let go until the bitter end...And then I ended cursing myself for not reading it sooner. Yes, mia culpa. It was always available to be read, I just didn't want to commit.
Okay back to the book... Loved the characters, although Case was great, my favourite was Molly. Now she knew how to kick butt. And together they made an awesome team, and I couldn't quite the author's intention with the ending, but that's just my opinion. The setting was so interesting, to travel cyber space through Case and Molly's eyes was exciting and a little scary, and their cities were dark and dangerous, but the combination made the book.
Neuromancer by William Gibson (4/5) Science Fiction; Published: Ace (1984); New Author; 100 + Reading Challenge (48); Book Awards II Challenge (1); Keeper shelf;
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. But I kept pushing it aside, for something else. Well, at least until I signed up for Orbis Terrarum Challenge. You can say that the challenge has given a swift quick in the behind.
Amir and Hassan are childhood friends in the alleys and orchards of Kabul in the sunny days before the invasion of the Soviet army and Afghanistan’s decent into fanaticism. Both motherless, they grow up as close as brothers, but their fates, they know, are to be different. Amir’s father is a wealthy merchant; Hassan’s father is his manservant. Amir belongs to the ruling caste of Pashtuns, Hassan to the despised Hazaras.
This fragile idyll is broken by the mounting ethnic, religious, and political tensions that begin to tear Afghanistan apart. An unspeakable assault on Hassan by a gang of local boys tears the friends apart; Amir has witnessed his friend’s torment, but is too afraid to intercede. Plunged into self-loathing, Amir conspires to have Hassan and his father turned out of the household.
When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his father flee to San Francisco, leaving Hassan and his father to a pitiless fate. Only years later will Amir have an opportunity to redeem himself by returning to Afghanistan to begin to repay the debt long owed to the man who should have been his brother.
Compelling, heartrending, and etched with details of a history never before told in fiction, The Kite Runner is a story of the ways in which we’re damned by our moral failures, and of the extravagant cost of redemption.
It always amazes me how certain books can bring me such deep emotions, not all books do, but this one brought me a gamut of emotions. While reading it I felt wonder, curiosity, happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. I cried and laughed. At the end of the book I was emotionally spent.
It was such a wonderful story! I loved the setting, albeit a sad one at times. I felt it’s magical essence through the boys eyes. The fun and the triumph of the kite competition. Amir confusion of emotions towards his father. I loved the boys friendship, and way Hassan protected Amir. I felt for both boys, Hassan for the act that was done to him and also for Amir that witnessed it and couldn’t help, and lived with that guilt throughout his life. And at the end Amir’s love for Hassan’s child and the need and want to help him.
I’m definitely getting a copy of this book for my keeper shelf. And I’ll also be looking for A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hussein (5/5) General Fiction; Published: Doubleday (2003); New Author; Favorite Read 2008; 100 + Reading Challenge (47); Orbis Terrarum Challenge (2); Library book; Added to shopping list;
