Teaser Tuesday (4)

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Currently reading:

 

"The smallest of the children fascinated Myron, and he watched them in amazement. They were like short drunk people, loud and usually dirty, but all were surprisingly cute and looked at him in much the same way that he looked at them."

Location 3067 from Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan

Review: Boneshaker

Second Steampunk novel for my challenge. Hosted over at BA Reading Challenges!

Review:

 

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Goodreads blurb:

Cherie Priest's much-anticipated steampunk debut has finally arrived in the form of a paperback original. Its plot features the sort of calibrated suspense that readers of her Four and Twenty Blackbirds would expect. Boneshaker derives its title from the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, a device designed to give Russian prospectors a leg up in the race for Klondike gold. Unfortunately, there was one hitch: On its trial run, the Boneshaker went haywire and, long story short, turned much of Seattle into a city of the dead. Now, 16 years later, a teenage boy decides to find out what is behind that mysterious wall. Can his mother save him in time? Zombie lit of the first order.

Crazy inventions, Civil War era, a mad scientist, zombies, airships, and a devastated city in ruin what more could you ask for? If you are looking for action/adventure Steampunk-style I'd say this is a book you will want to read. If you are looking for beautiful scenery and in depth characters and story this will probably not be for you.

I will say I scratched my head a few times with the thought of, 'Huh?' running through it while reading this book. Overall it was a good read and I don't feel I wasted my time in the least. The long and short of it is teenage boy goes searching for more info about long lost and/or dead father in a less than friendly environment. Mom has to go and fish him out whilst berating herself for not sharing more information with him while she had the chance.  Madness ensues.

So, story-wise it was a tad shallow. Or perhaps it would be better to say there seems to be too much world and surroundings for Ms Priest to go into too much detail. Action happens too fast to expand on some things as a reader I would have liked to learn about. Something's occur just to move the story along in the right direction even though they seem too convenient or even unnecessary at times. I get the sense this would be well adapted to a tv miniseries or full length movie the way it is written.

Put this book on your to-read list for sure, but don't shell out full price. Buy it used or borrow it for a quick and fun read.

WWW Wednesday (2)

WWW Wednesdays is hosted at Should Be Reading

 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading? I'm currently reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. 2nd book for my Steampunk Challenge

What did you recently finish reading?   I just finished up Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton

What do you think you’ll read next?   Up next is the Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan for my 2nd book in my e-book challenge

Teaser Tuesday (3)

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Currently reading:

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

"The world was spinning beneath her, bleak, blind, and bottom-less. And somewhere, hidden within it, her fifteen-year-old son was lost and trapped, and there was no one to go down there and get him except for his  mother."

Review : The Greyfriar

This is my first book completed for Steampunk Challenge 2011! Hosted over at BA Reading Challenges.

Review:

 

Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

Goodreads Blurb:

Vampire predators run wild in this exciting steampunk adventure, the first in an alternate history trilogy that is already attracting attention. In 1870, monsters rise up and conquer the northern lands. As great cities are swallowed up by carnage and disease, landowners and other elite flee south to escape their blood-thirsty wrath. One hundred fifty years later, the great divide still exists; fangs on one side of the border, worried defenders on the other. This fragile equilibrium is threatened, and then crumbles after a single young princess becomes almost hopelessly lost in the hostile territory. At first, she has only one defender: a mysterious Greyfriar who roams freely in dangerous vampire regions.

I have to truthfully say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I knew nothing about the authors or what to expect from it. The beginning few chapters of the book were a bit sluggish to me at first. It just didn’t grab me that quickly. But, damn when it did I couldn’t put it down. That was around Chapter 8 or so. The Greyfriar took off like a rocket after that. 

The Greyfriar and Adele are just intriguing characters. You witness her growing in knowledge throughout the book and you worry about her future to come as those who are plotting start to be revealed around her. He will bring a few tears to your eyes toward the end as well.  The downside to becoming so attached is this is a trilogy and now we must wait for the next book. That is heartbreaking all by itself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves steampunk and/or vampires. The idea of an organized vampire empire at odds with their human counterparts is quite riveting. The empire dynamics themselves and living conditions are quite fascinating as well. I would love to learn more about this world and how it is arranged.

On a side note: it turns out I did know the authors through another of their works. Mr Griffith did a few of adventures of The Tick!

• The Tick: Six Action-Packed Adventures, by Clay Griffith, 1994, published by Skylark Books.
• The Tick: Seven More Exciting Adventures!, by Clay Griffith, 1995, published by Skylark Books.

So I must say... "Spoooon!" just because I can.

Review: Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

This is going to be my very first review! I'm excited as I type this as I have been reading books since I could read. Reading is probably my most beloved hobby. In any case this is the first of 20 eBooks I will be reviewing for the 2011 eBook Challenge I signed up for at The Ladybug Reads.

A note about my reviews before I even write my first one is I am not quite aware of spoilers nor have spoilers ever 'spoiled' my enjoyment of reading a story or watching a movie. So, I may mistakenly give something away unintentionally. My apologies in advance. Though truthfully I probably will not be sharing a lot of content from the books I read as to me that is more of a book report as opposed to a review.

Review:

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

I really enjoyed this compilation of short stories taking place in the world Mr. Butcher has created. If you have NOT read up to Changes and you do not enjoy spoilers do not read this book. I have only read up to Grave Peril which is Book #3 in the series and you will learn things further along in the series by reading Side Jobs.

I read the Dresden books because I enjoy the world and the main character, Harry Dresden, is just awesomeness in a duster. Another reason I enjoy the series is Harry and the characters surrounding him are not invincible super hero types that grow and grow in power until you wonder what the hell has happened. They have emotions and limitations and yes even set-backs from time to time. Things can and do go wrong at times and that makes the stories more real to me as a reader.

Side Jobs did not disappoint me. I loved reading the stories from other characters perspectives or simply where some of the other characters were more involved. Harry wasn't necessarily the main focus in some of the shorts and that was refreshing. If nothing else read Side Jobs just for the last short story in the book. The perspective is from Karrin Murphy and it is amazing simply because she is not a magic wielding bad ass like Harry, yet she is a power unto herself.

I will say reading this has made me want to find the anthologies the various stories were published in and pick those up as well. Overall, I'd recommend reading this if you are already a Dresden fan. If you are not then what's stopping you? Pick up Storm Front (Book #1) and get cracking!

WWW Wednesdays

I thought I would do another day!

WWW Wednesdays is hosted at Should Be Reading

 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading? I'm currently reading Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. 1st book for my eBook Challenge

What did you recently finish reading?   I just finished up A Stroke of Midnight by Laurell K. Hamilton

What do you think you’ll read next? Planning on reading Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar next as part of my Steampunk Challenge. I'll probably be reading Mistral's Kiss by Hamilton as well to continue the Gentry series.

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I couldn't resist this one from Side Jobs by Jim Butcher (Location 656-67) -

          We started from the apartment together. "I'll pay you in doughnuts." 

          "Dresden, you pig. That cop-doughnut thing is a vicious stereotype."

          "Doughnuts with little pink sprinkles," I said. 

          "Professional profiling is just as bad as racial profiling." 

          I nodded. "Yeah. But I know you want the little pink sprinkles." 

         "That isn't the point," she said loftily, and we got into her car.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011! I hope everyone has a wonderful year full of good changes and surprises. On to the reading challenges! I don't have terribly many plans for 2011. My daughter will be starting Pre-K as my son moves on to Kindergarten. My mother will be retiring this year as well. We are all looking forward to that.

Another Busy Day

I have to say Christmas was spectacular with the relatives! They were kind enough to let us crash in their beautiful home. The kids really enjoyed themselves and made out like bandits this year. Still busy on this side though. My son's 5th birthday is Sunday and need to pick up a couple items for him as well as get the cake ingredients. I used an extra day off last week so I work 6 days this week and go in for a few hours today (hoping to get off early Sunday) for paperwork stuff. The New Year probably won't see a slow down but hopefully it will be a little more of a regular schedule.

On the reading front I am currently reading book number 4 in the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton. I like the idea of the Sidhe in America. I realize now that I mostly read her books for the worlds she creates, it is a shame they are hidden behind so much sex. Hamilton's characters and worlds are fantastic. I will probably start reading the next Dresden book soon. And come the new year I will start in on my challenges! Already have a book coming from the local library for the Steampunk Challenge.

Until later!

Challenges!

So I decided to look into reading challenges for next year. So many intriguing ones out there! Going to be hard to chose some and not go over board. I'm a pretty fast reader and tend to read up to 3 books at a time, but that's in genres I like. I want to use the challenges to read something outside my norm so need to not go nuts heh.

On a side note: I'll probably not post much in the next two weeks. Due to the holidays of course and the craziness it inflicts on me at work. 12 hour plus days tend to kill the desire to sit at a computer and think of something to write. Well other than, "unghhh zzzzz."

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Mizb at Should Be Reading.  To participate, you need to:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser

This week's teaser comes from:

 Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3)

He hesitated a moment, then nodded, once. "I will allow it."
"Sage," I said, "a small lick like you gave Rhys in the other room, nothing else."
pg. 133

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

A day to remember those that have been lost, those that have served and those that still serve.

Thank you.

Music Day

My daughter is a music addicted toddler. She sings, dances, and just moves to the groove whenever she hears a tune. But, it's not what you might expect of a toddler. There is no tinny music in the background droning on about little stars or itsy spiders, no she gets her groove on to Santana. As soon as she hears that guitar go she is bopping all over the house. I love Santana as well only she discovered it all on her own. It makes a mommy proud.

Currently we are listening to Guitar Heaven. I have to say I loved the originals more, but then they were the originals and massively popular for a reason. However, that being said, I love this album. I may not dig some of the vocals but damn that guitar gets me every time. And really that's what it's all about anyway. :)

The new Santana and then my pick if you've never heard them before

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I am feeling extremely thankful for my very supportive family. I've had many ups and downs this year and we're in the thick of it now due to the holidays. My kids are just terribly adorable with hugs whenever mommy is 'sad'. My husband takes on so much so I can get extra quiet time even when I don't feel I deserve it.

But on a happier note: Let's eat! This was my dad's all time favorite holiday because we ate sooo much. He would cook it all and mom and I would make pies, pies, and more pies. And sometimes there was only the three of us yet we still made enough to feed an army. This year John has to work (it's an every other year thing, miss him but you get used to it after a while), so mom and I only made pies. Pumpkin and apple to take with us to a relatives house. Though I made a special surprise for John so he could enjoy his boring work day. Strawberry cheesecake! He said it was delicious with lots of 'mmhmm'.

To sign off I'm going to link to an Alton Brown book. We love his recipes and have been using his Turkey recipe every time it's our turn to make the turkey. We've yet to have a dry turkey no matter the brand. So, I highly recommend his cookbooks.

Reading Days

So, last Thursday my husband and I received our early Christmas gift to one another. An Amazon Kindle. So far it rocks, we read like most people breathe and this is so much easier than lugging an actual book around. I just finished reading A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton which is the first book in her Meredith Gentry series. I've been reading Anita Blake novels for quite some time and figured I'd start in on these as well.

They're basically just about sex, but Hamilton is a very descriptive writer in every part of her stories and I enjoy that. There are storylines even if they take up less room than all the sexual stuff and they are a fun and sometimes exciting read. If you're not a squeamish reader and just want to kill a few hours I'd definitely recommend giving her books a read through.

Music Day

Both mom and John are off to work today. So just me and the kids. Loving every minute of it, it's been too long that we 3 get a day like this. Started early with pancakes that were slightly delayed since we had to run to the store for syrup. I offered honey which Hailey was gung-ho to try, but Oscar snubbed. So we all ran around getting dressed and dashed to the store.

We've been jamming since then. Hailey currently is obssesed with Santana and dances around the room like only a three year old can. Oscar thinks dancing is a contact sport, but that's good for a giggle or two also. Now it's mommy's turn and I'm still getting my Muse on. Can't help it, just love this band currently.

Check em out: http://muse.mu

The Birth of Another Blog

With no format or content in mind I decided to just start another blog out in the vastness that is the internet.
So, without further ado. Welcome to the Day to Day!

Since this is the first post I'll tell you a little about myself. My name is Jennifer and I am a 32 year old mother of two wonderful little brats err toddlers. I guess technically I married my high school sweetheart, John, though I detested him in high school. My interests are pretty far ranging from music, books, video games, tv, movies, cooking and baking, scrap-booking, and many other odds and ends. I'm an assistant manager at a chain restaurant most of my waking hours, but I find brief moments to do other things from time to time.

I was doing research for a project John is working on and it took me to many an interesting blog, so I just figured what the hell I'll play around with one too. My guess is I will update fairly regularly the first couple of weeks then my interest will wane. But we shall see. Sometimes I surprise myself.