What I'll Be Reading

It was a very good Christmas.  Books, books, and more books.  The above picture is a pile of unread books, most from Christmas, and a few that my BBF lent to me.

So far, I've been able to read three of them.  All good, but I think my favorite is The Secret History of Moscow.  Somewhat Gaimanish, but considering he endorsed it, I can't complain it is a copy of his work.

Shot post, but I'll be back tomorrow.

Today's Inspiration

Books.  Since I was little, it has always amazed me how people can express so many things so wonderfully in words.  While I love to talk (Seriously, just try and get me to shut up about the magic of glass, or how stinking cute my dogs are, or...), I am not usually very eloquent.  I can get my point across.  I can certainly hold my own in an argument.  But stories?  I have grand stories in my head, but have never been able to put them into words.

I love fiction, but not fiction that involves real situations with made up characters.  I read to escape, so I want to escape all the way.  Nearly everything I read involves vampires, werewolves, faeries, zombies, demons, and alternate worlds.

There certainly isn't enough time to bore you to share all my favorite authors/books, but I just have to plug one author who makes me twitchy just waiting for her next book to arrive.  I am in love with Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire.  Under Mira Grant, she writes the Newsfeed series.  It is basically about the zombie apocalypse, but so, so much more. I first found her October Daye books about a faery halfling. She writes beautifully and I can instantly connect and care about the characters. Her endings make me shout out loud and leave me wanting more (in a totally addicted way).

"I guess in the end, it doesn't matter what we wanted.  What matters is what we chose to do with the things we had."  - Georgia Mason, Deadline (Mira Grant)

PSA: My dad was a voracious reader, and when I cleaned out his bookshelves after he died, he had over 3,000 of them.  I kept a select few (I have my own hoard collection to maintain) and I took the rest to the local VA hospital.  By the time I wheeled in the third dolly-load, I'm pretty sure half the residents were there.  They were ecstatic to see all the new books coming in.  My dad was a Viet Nam vet, and I know he would be very happy to see his books go for such a good cause. If you are ever looking to get rid of books, magazines, VHS tapes, or CDs, please consider your local VA.  Give a little back to those who have served.

What I'm Reading

Well, more like, "What I Just Read."

I finished A Local Habitation, by Seanan McGuire last night. It is the second in her October Daye series. I love these books. The main characters are intriguing and the stories are well-written.

From her website:

October Daye knows all-too-well how cruel Faerie can be to its changeling children. Born in San Francisco and carried to the Summerlands by her pureblood mother when she was just a child, she was raised in a world that never seemed capable of understanding her. She ran away the moment the opportunity presented itself, only to find that the human world wasn't any better.

Things have been going downhill from there.

The October Daye books are modern urban fantasy set in the San Francisco Bay Area, and heavily influenced by classical folklore. They follow the adventures of October "Toby" Daye as she tries to find her footing in a world that seems a little more interested in killing her than she'd like. The first book in the series is Rosemary and Rue, released by DAW Books in September 2009. Book two, A Local Habitation, was released in March 2010. An Artificial Night will be released in September 2010. Two more have been confirmed as following—Late Eclipses and The Brightest Fell, with release dates to be announced.

I cannot wait until the rest are released!

My Day Ends Well

While my day began with freaky zombie dreams, it is ending a very nice note. I came home from work to 3 packages for me. The first was an order of watch parts from Karen Hardy. I'm not sure how to use them, but I'm looking forward to figuring it out! The second package was copper mesh and glass from Howaco. YUM! The last package was from Amazon; Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads by Stephanie Sersich and Kitty's House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn.

It going to be great weekend!

I've Been Tagged!

Tagging is a blogger's game. You tag someone by leaving a comment on their blog and letting them know that they have been tagged. When you have been tagged you post several random, weird, or whatever facts about yourself. Then go tag seven other blogs. Post the URLs of the blogs you tagged. That's it!

I was tagged by Mary Beth at Novembers Fyre Studio (beautiful beads!). I love to talk, but I have a hard time sharing, so here goes!

1. I love to write, and then I shred what I've written. I've been doing this since middle school. Aside from a few school papers, there is no record of anything I've ever written.

2. I love quotes. I currently have 2 notebooks full of quotes.

3. Books bring me comfort. I have to have books in every room. Just touching books brings me comfort.

4. My two favorite movies of all time are The Little Princess and Hellraiser.

5. My first dog when I was little was named Sadie, and she looked like Benji.

6. The coolest muppet *ever* is Grover.

7. After waffling for over 20 years, I have finally decided on a tattoo. Now, I just need to figure out where, get the $$$, and find a very reputable artist.

The seven people I am tagging:

Vonna

Linda

Hannah

Scott

Robin

Lara

Amy

So I owe Elena a Book...

Friday night, I came home to Kaylee running around the house, NOT locked up in her crate. After a moment's panic, I realized the house wasn't nearly as trashed as it could have been. Unfortunately, I had books in the living room on the floor. Books that are not mine, but belong to Elena. *sigh* Suprisingly, she chose to chew on only one. Could have been worse...