The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, directed by Peter Jackson 

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Poster

I am a Tolkien fan. I'm a complete Lord of the Rings nut! I read the complete Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy almost every year during the holidays -- Christmas through New Year's -- or sometimes during the New Year's weekend if I'm not on vacation. In recent years watching the Peter Jackson movie trilogy (the director's cut of course) has also become a tradition.



My favorite poster
The Dwarves

But people! THIS year, Peter Jackson's movie of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is releasing today, 12-14-12. Actually, although The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien is one book, in the movies the adventures of Bilbo Baggins will become a trilogy. I do understand that information included in the Appendices from the Lord of the Rings trilogy books that pertain to The Hobbit will be incorporated into the movie trilogy. I can't wait to see how Jackson and his crew consolidate the information.

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The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit
or
There and Back Again
by J.R.R. Tolkien

As far as the book The Hobbit or There and Back Again goes, I read it a long time ago in school and remember enjoying it, but frankly this is not a book that I re-read. While discussing this with my husband, who is also a Tolkien fan, we both wondered why neither of us really re-read The Hobbit. We both came to the conclusion that it is because we think of it as a children's or young adults' story. A bit light in content compared to Lord of the Rings. Regardless, I decided to re-read it last week before the movie release.

What I found while reading The Hobbit is a lighter and less detailed version of Tolkien's world than that found in Lord of the Rings. The story has its dark moments, don't get me wrong, but for me there is something missing from the overall adventure. I definitely appreciated this book more when I was a younger reader.

On the positive side, The Hobbit is a tighter story than The Lord of the Rings, after all it is one book with a beginning and an end. It serves as a magnificent introduction to Tolkien's world of hobbits, wizards, elves, dwarves, and great heroes. The war of good against evil is there, but so is the pull of men's greed, nature in all its glory and the darkness in men (or the representation of men) that taints nature, and of course there are Tolkien's heroes -- the small, insignificant characters who battle and conquer fear, insecurities and incredible odds to beat immense evil.

Bilbo Baggins makes a great Tolkien hero. He is reluctant of course, and thinks he is too small, insignificant and cowardly to play the role of burglar needed by the dwarves. Bilbo is a proud hobbit though, and part Took, not just Baggins. Tooks take to adventures, so he accepts the challenge and goes off with thirteen dwarves to reclaim treasure stolen by Smaug the Dragon and to restore the King of the Mountain. The dwarves are led by Thorin, the her to the mountain's kingdom and they are all led by Galdalf the Grey, wizard extraordinaire.

Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo are both central in this adventure. The thirteen dwarves are named and described in the book, but only a few of them are really well characterized. The rest are pretty much interchangeable and don't get many lines throughout the whole adventure. Tolkien says that "Dwarves are no heroes," and for much of the story they are not, and neither is Bilbo! The adventure is all about the journey as they all find their hearts and courage.

Some of the adventures are more exciting than others. One of the most detailed chapters in the book where the reader actually feels the danger is "Chapter V: Riddles in the Dark," where Bilbo finds "the Ring" and meets Gollum. The two engage in a series of creepy and wonderful riddles that provide the reader with a dark, eerie and a true life or death moment for Bilbo. The other adventure that really pops takes place in "Chapter VIII: Flies and Spiders." This is where Bilbo begins to find his courage, an ability to lead and gains the respect of the dwarves.Of course there are the scenes with Smaug the Dragon... but I won't go into those, you'll have to read the book.

Overall this is a great adventure and I still believe that it is geared toward young adults. However, I can't think of anyone who loves Tolkien's works who won't read The Hobbit as an introduction to the amazing, incredible world he created. Worldbuilding? Tolkien was the master! !

Going back to the movie(s) by Peter Jackson, I can't wait to see how he depicts Bilbo's adventures and all the great characters he meets on his way. For example: the Necromancer was a bit of a mystery in the book, but I understand that he makes an appearance in the movie, so I'll wait and see how that turns out. And, Smaug the Dragon? I can't wait to see that sly old beauty...

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This post is for my daughter who is a Tolkien fan-a-tic and whose birthday just happens to be today! 

Happy Birthday, Vanessa!!!

TBR Highlights: Gay Spec Fic, Fiction, Non-Fiction

This was my week to again review a (one) book from my ever-growing TBR (to be read) pile. Last month I highlighted books added to my Kindle library, this month I would like to share with you some of the latest print books added to my book shelves.

My additions? They are a motley crew! You tell me:

Wilde Stories 2012: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction ed. Steve Berman (Lethe Press, July 2012)

Prepare to skew your view of the world: where jinni in the clouds of a future Tel Aviv aren't spirits but powerful computer programs; where a suburban garden hiding unrecognizable bones; to a planet colony that outlaws color; or the night when a lonely lab tech finds a spambot flirting with him. The latest volume in the acclaimed Wilde Stories series has tales of hitchhikers on the run, dragons in the sky, swordsmen drawing their blades. These are stories fantastic and strange, otherworldly and eerie, but all feature gay men struggling with memories or lovers or simply the vicissitudes of life no matter how wild the world might be.

I loved the 2011 Wilde Stories Anthology and wasn't about to miss this one. But why in print? Well... my 2011 copy is in print and I like to be consistent when keeping collections, plus the cover for this book looked gorgeous. As it turns out, the cover IS gorgeous, now I have high hopes for the stories. :)

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Sexual Revolutions in Cuba: Passion, Politics, and Memory by Carrie Hamilton (University of North Carolina Press, March 2012)

In "Sexual Revolutions in Cuba" Carrie Hamilton delves into the relationship between passion and politics in revolutionary Cuba to present a comprehensive history of sexuality on the island from the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 into the twenty-first century. Drawing on an unused body of oral history interviews as well as press accounts, literary works, and other published sources, Hamilton pushes beyond official government rhetoric and explores how the wider changes initiated by the Revolution have affected the sexual lives of Cuban citizens. She foregrounds the memories and emotions of ordinary Cubans and compares these experiences with changing policies and wider social, political, and economic developments to reveal the complex dynamic between sexual desire and repression in revolutionary Cuba.

Showing how revolutionary and pre-revolutionary values coexist in a potent and sometimes contradictory mix, Hamilton addresses changing patterns in heterosexual relations, competing views of masculinity and femininity, same-sex relationships and homophobia, AIDS, sexual violence, interracial relationships, and sexual tourism. Hamilton's examination of sexual experiences across generations and social groups demonstrates that sexual politics have been integral to the construction of a new revolutionary Cuban society.

Now this book falls more under Latino Studies (history and sexuality in Latin America). The subject fascinates me. The whole idea of a sexuality study done by way of oral history (interviewing subjects) was intriguing enough, but throw in the fact that this is a Latin American country that has undergone political upheaval, and my curiosity as to how those changes influenced sexuality did me in... I had to have it! Ebook format is not available! (I'm reading this book right now)

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Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel by Edmund White (Atlas & Co., October 2008)

Poet and prodigy Arthur Rimbaud led a life that was startlingly short, but just as dramatically eventful and accomplished. Even today, over a century after his death in 1891, his visionary poetry has continued to influence everyone from Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan to Patti Smith. His long poem A Season in Hell (1873) and his collection Illuminations (1886) are essential to the modern canon, marked by a hallucinatory and hypnotic style that defined the Symbolist movement in poetry. Having sworn off writing at the age of twenty-one, Rimbaud drifted around the world from scheme to scheme, ultimately dying from an infection contracted while running guns in Africa. He was thirty-seven.

Edmund White writes with a historian's eye for detail, driven by a genuine personal investment in his subject. White delves deep into the young poet's relationships with his family, his teachers, and his notorious affair with the more established poet Paul Verlaine. He follows the often elusive (sometimes blatant) threads of sexual taboo that haunt Rimbaud's poems (in those days, sodomy was a crime) and offers incisive interpretations of the poems, using his own artful translations to bring us closer to the mercurial poet.

I've had this biography of the French poet Rimbaud on my wish list since approximately the time the book was released but for one reason or another always put off buying it for later... and later. Well, I finally purchased it. I hope it doesn't take me four years to read it. :) I've always been fascinated by both the poetry and the poet.

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Boys Like Us edited by Patrick Merla (Harper Paperbacks, October 1997)

In stunning essays written especially for this collection, 29 noted gay writers recount their true "coming out" stories, intensely personal histories of the primal process by which men come to terms with their homosexuality. These essays form a documentary of changing social and sexual mores, timed to coincide with National Coming Out Day (October 11) and AIDS Awareness Month.(

Boys Like Us falls under the Gay Studies Memoir category, and it is a Lambda Literary Award winner. These are essays written by gay writers about their coming out experiences. This is another book I've had on my wish list for a long time that finally made it to my personal library.

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The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd (Dial, May 2009)

It's Dade's last summer at home. He has a crappy job at Food World, a "boyfriend" who won't publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade's shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away.

Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet - and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he's gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary is another book I've had in my wish list since it released in 2009. I do this a lot! I add books to my list and then wait to buy them. This book is young adult gay fiction. It won the 2010 Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award and I understand it's good. Why print? I found a used hardcover copy at a great price, so why not?

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Have you read any of these books? Are any of these books in your TBR? I added three (3) non-fiction books to my print book collection. Do you enjoy reading non-fiction?

Summer Reads: Beach... or anywhere that's hot!

Playa Nibujon
Picture taken by my cousin F. Ma

Hey... it's hot, hot, hot... at least it's really hot this weekend in Jersey (100 degrees F), and the temperature is going to stay that way for the rest of the weekend and next week. Are we all dreaming of the beach yet? I know, I am!!! You see the picture of that beach? My family grew up swimming on that beach, and I'm dreaming of it right now...

Next week there's a holiday, and many of us will be heading to the beach, (down the shore), or to other summer places to get away from it all. What better time to get some nice reading done? Here are a few recommendations from my recent list of books read and from past years. If you're interested in reading some full-length summery contemporary romances, you can always pick up:

The Lucky Harbor Series by Jill Shalvis includes the original three books that I loved and the latest releases, which I plan to read during this next week, but for a hot summer day? The Sweetest Thing! Here you'll find a book that will make you want to run for the boardwalk, another one with a great seaside romance and an unforgettable dog! And yet another one about two people who begin a summer affair and find love.

The Sweetest Thing, #2 (2011)
No Tan Lines by Kate Angell (2012)
Summer at Seaside Cove by Jacquie D'Alessandro (2011)
Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl (2010)

And, if just want to pick up some shorter reads that won't take too much time out of your day, I loved and recommend the following three books -- all three are favorites:

Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry (2012 Contemporary Romance)
A Little More Scandal by Carrie Lofty (2012 Historical Romance Novella)
Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry (2010 Contemporary Romance)  

Here are some LGBT recommendations: two enjoyable anthologies full of short stories where you can find sunshine, love or fantastic seafaring tales, an excellent fantasy novella with romance a police-procedural, and a full-length light, summery, young adult mystery read.

Boys of Summer edited by Steve Berman (2012 Contemporary Anthology)
The Touch of the Sea edited by Steve Berman (2012 Fantasy Anthology)
Point of Knives by Melissa Scott (2012 Fantasy Novella)
Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure by Sam Cameron (2011 Contemporary YA Mystery) 

That's it! I'm going to go enjoy my hot, hot weekend and pick up a summer read! Enjoy your weekend. Stay cool!

New Releases: June/July 2012

Today is a great day for new releases! I have them all nice and cozy in my Kindle already. :)

However, there were a couple of June releases that I missed! Books that I'm really excited about reading, because they are written by a writer who make it to the top of my favorite list last year. So in a way, this is an author highlight and a new release post since two of the books I'm highlighting are by the same author, Mr. Elliott Mackle. The rest of the books are July 2012 releases that I will definitely read.

Captain Harding and His Men by Elliott Mackle
Release Date: June 1, 2012

When a C-130 bound for Southeast Asia explodes on takeoff at remote Wheelus Air Base, Libya, handsome, hard-charging Captain Joe Harding instinctively realizes that the cargo list--''medical supplies and radio tubes''--was faked. When Joe's newly-married workout buddy does a swan dive off a fifth story balcony in downtown Tripoli, Joe refuses to accept the semi-official verdict: suicidal depression. And when Joe's tennis partner, the son of the American ambassador, decides to celebrate his eighteenth birthday by appearing unannounced at Joe's BOQ door, the potential difficulties of their love-match must be addressed--seriously and without delay.

Continuing the adventures and misadventures begun in Elliott Mackle's award-winning Captain Harding's Six-Day War, Joe and his fellow officers and airmen contend with a highly decorated but sexually abusive wing commander (who happens to be Joe's boss), a closeted Pentagon official fighting to save his career, a CIA agent who may be an impostor, and shipments of British weapons that fall into the hands of anti-royalist rebels. When a kidnapping goes terribly wrong, Joe must fight for everything he holds dear: duty, honor, country and love.

Captain Harding and His Men was actually slated to release in August, but released early in June. I noticed almost immediately because I bookmarked this book at amazon! I've been hunting this story down (checking up on it) ever since I read and loved the first installment, Captain Harding's Six Day War last year, and by June 5th this novel was in my Kindle. For those of you who also enjoyed the first book (or who want to give this series a shot), check it out... it's out already!

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Title: It Takes Two by Elliott Mackle
Release Date: June 6, 2012

February, 1949. Fort Myers, Florida. It started out to be such a nice day. But early morning gunfire at the Royal Plaza Motor Hotel changed all that. One white man is dead. One black man is dead. The white man's widow has just crashed the investigation and is waving a gun around. Dan Ewing, who isn't supposed to be there, barely escapes getting shot. Saving his bacon is Lee County detective Bud Wright. Dan and Bud are more than just fishing buddies. But that's one secret of many in this small town.

Dan is the manager of the Caloosa Hotel, a class act if you're just passing through, but a provider of card games, call girls, mixed drinks and other special ''services'' for members of the ultra-private Caloosa Club. This doesn't sit well with everyone in town, including a wealthy car dealer, the KKK, and Bud Wright, despite the fact that he's sleeping with Dan. But the car dealer is the dead white man, the black man is the husband of his wife's former maid, and the sheriff, Bud's boss, seems determined to steer the investigation off track. So what does the apparent murder-suicide have to do with the Caloosa?

Former journalist Elliott Mackle takes this wonderfully realized ''why-done-it'' to fascinating levels as he explores the various factions of a small southern town facing the giant implications of a rapidly changing society in the postwar years. It Takes Two, Mackle's first novel and a Lambda Literary Award finalist returns to print.

Also out in June from Mr. Mackle, his first novel It Takes Two. This book was out of print and was re-released in both print and ebook formats by Lethe Press. I looked and searched for this book last year and could not get my hands on it. I wanted to read it right away after finishing Captain Harding's Six Day War, and that was frustrating. Sooo, for me that was great news! It Takes Two was a Lambda Literary Award finalist and of course it had some excellent reviews when it was first released. I received this book for review from the author, and of course you know that yes... I already read it! If you have NOT read this excellent novel yet, check it out it's available again. Review to come!

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The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters
Release Date: July 10, 2012

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

The Last Policeman is another novel that I accepted for review. Now... how could I pass it up? It's the first book in a pre-apocalyptic "whodunit" trilogy, with a pretty odd sounding central character. The blurb for this book definitely grabbed my attention. I haven't read anything by this author, although I think most of us will recognize a couple of his previous titles, namely Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters and the bestseller Bedbugs.

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You Will Meet A Stranger Far From Home: Wonder Stories by Alex Jeffers
Release Date: July 14, 2012

Ten recent stories that wander back and forth along and across the boundaries between realistic, fantastical, and science fiction.

This is the only description I could find for Mr. Jeffers' latest collection, You Will Meet A Stranger Far From Home: Wonder Stories, except for a list of titles a small summary about each story at the author's site, plus a few advance reviews... some very good ones! You can read titles and descriptions here. I've read two of those stories already (in different anthologies) and loved them.

It's no secret that Jeffers is a favorite author, his book The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam was a favorite last year, so I'm not missing this collection.

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Title: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
Release Date: July 31, 2012

After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. She tries to put herself back together by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend. When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate. Now she must work with Raphael as her search for the killer leads into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta. And dealing with her feelings for him might have to take a back seat to saving the world…

Gunmetal Magic is Andrea's book! From the Kate Daniel's series by Ilona Andrews! Am I going to miss it? Heck no!! She's one of my favorite characters from this series, and I can't wait to read this book to see how the Andrews team develop Andrea into a central character. Andrea and Raphael... Hah! Yeah!

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There are only three July releases in this early release post. I will post more later! Are there any books you are looking forward to reading in July?

TBR Highlights: Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Gay Fiction

On Wednesday of this upcoming week some of us will be reviewing one book from our TBR (to be read) piles. My stack of books to be read has been growing and growing for a while. Today, I would like to share with you some of the books that I've yet to mention in my blog, but that I've quietly added to that pile.

I know there are a lot of new releases that I want to read coming out at the end of June, but there are always other books out there that catch my eye, books that I hunt or flag until they release, or books that I finally purchase after placing the title on my list of "books to buy." I've added quite a few of those books to my TBR within the last month. Here are five of them:

The Croning by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books, May 2012) 

Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us. Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly eighty years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret...of The Croning.

From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.

Last year I "discovered" Laird Barron when I read one of his magnificent short stories. For a while now I have slowly been reading his awesome book of short stories, Occultation And Other Stories. Laird Barron certainly has a gift for writing speculative fiction/horror. The Croning is his debut novel and I was keeping my eye out for this title's release so I could scoop it up immediately!

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Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards (Night Shade Books, May 2012)

Many tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies-or perhaps their own mothers. Arkamondos, a bookish young scribe, suspects that the Syldoon's dire reputation may have grown in the retelling, but he's about to find out for himself.

Hired to chronicle the exploits of a band of rugged Syldoon warriors, Arki finds himself both frightened and fascinated by the men's enigmatic leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin. A secretive, mercurial figure haunted by the memories of those he's killed with his deadly flail, Braylar has already disposed of at least one impertinent scribe . . . and Arki might be next.

Archiving the mundane doings of millers and merchants was tedious, but at least it was safe. As Arki heads off on a mysterious mission into parts unknown, in the company of the coarse, bloody-minded Syldoon, he is promised a chance to finally record an historic adventure well worth the telling, but first he must survive the experience!

Okay, Scourge of the Betrayer is a fantasy book that came up in my list of recommendations at amazon in May when it released. I picked it up right there and then because from the blurb it just sounds like the type of book that I would love to read when I'm in the mood for fantasy. I'm hoping to get a break in my reading schedule soon so I can give it some time!

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Wonder by Dan Boyle (Lethe Press, January 2011)

Have a gay Caltech professor and his dying mother uncovered the secrets of the mind... and the universe?
Tom Flaherty's mother is suffering from a strange form of dementia that causes her to journey back in time; especially when she's housecleaning and finds personal items that trigger her memory. But Maude Flaherty's travels--from the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925 to the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963--might be the evidence Tom needs as a Caltech physicist to develop a unified theory of space, time, and place and reconnect with a society he's lost touch with since the loss of his partner a decade ago.

As Tom attempts to determine just what is happening to his mother, the sense of wonder that disappeared with Ken's murder returns and his renewed quest for the meaning of life leads him to the national spotlight. Housecleaning is both a gay love story and a family drama, questioning science and faith and how scientists see the universe as God.

My friend Indigene reviewed Wonder by Dan Boyle back in September 2011, and her write up made this book sound so interesting that it went on my "list" of books to purchase and read. I finally purchased it and it's now in my TBR. It sounds like a fascinating read, right? My kind of read. *g*

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The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Collins, 2006)

A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril returns to the noble household he once served as page and is named secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions.

But it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge — an act that will mark him as a tool of the miraculous . . . and trap him in a lethal maze of demonic paradox.

Now, here I have a book that I've been wanting to read for a long time. I placed a hold on reading this book because I wanted to get through the Vorkosigan Saga first, but you know what? I'm just going to read it! I'll get through Miles and his adventures slowly anyway. I just want to read this book!

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Taxi Rojo by Erik Orrantia (Cheyenne Publishing, April 2012)

Tijuana-the melting pot of Mexico, the gateway to the U.S., the armpit of Baja California. Two million souls struggle for survival, each searching for a way to become...something, anything better. Fate brings a few strangers together one night in a crowded taxi rojo. When the red taxi crashes down a canyon, it creates a connection between the passengers that, like the international border within sight of the crash, draws a line between triumph and defeat, hopelessness and perseverance, life and death.

Boyfriends Rigo and Cristian confront their demons when a supposedly innocuous tryst gets out of control. Pancha looks for love in a complex world of ambiguous gender and sexual identity. Toni's biggest problem is self-acceptance in a culture that has ingrained in him the idea that real men are macho and self-sufficient. Julia's faith is challenged as she toils to make a living and support her disabled sister, while feeling paralyzed by her sense of responsibility and lingering guilt. Even in Tijuana, light can be found in the darkness. Facing fears and giving of oneself pave the road to strength and freedom, while stubbornness and denial lead only to demise.

Indigene has been recommending Mr. Orrantia's works to me for a few years now. I have Normal Miguel in my TBR and have yet to read it (shame on me), but I saw Taxi Rojo, and between the title, the setting and the blurb, it just drew me and I couldn't pass it up. So it seems as if this will be my first Orrantia read. Finally (Indie)!

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So these five books in my TBR pile are of the non-romance variety, and they're all Kindle editions. Next month, maybe I will have some print books on my list, as well as some romance. :)

Have you read any of these books? Are any of these books in your own TBR? I "discovered" Laird Barron last year and am really appreciating his writing, and a genre that I thought I would never read -- horror. Have you "discovered" a writer that grabbed your interest the way Barron grabbed mine? 

Happy Thanksgiving and some Pamela Morsi Americana...

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. I'm getting ready for my family get together tomorrow. Everyone in my family is going to be here. My brother is traveling from Florida, so all my brothers, their wives and children will be present this year. Nice! I just got home from work, but the cooking and baking are already underway. Of course we'll be having the traditional American meal of turkey with all the trimmings. It's a wonderful holiday, and I wish all of you celebrating tomorrow a Happy Thanksgiving with your families.

And because this blog is all about books and reading, I would like to follow that up with the nice surprise I had when I arrived home today. Last year I read and loved some excellent Americana historical romance. I fell in love with quite a few authors. One of those authors is Pamela Morsi. Well, I finally found some of her back list books, ordered them and they are here!

• I loved, loved Simple Jess. It was my very first Pamela Morsi read (the way the same friend who sent me the Balogh books, introduced me to Ms. Morsi's works by sending me that book. Isn't she the best?). The Marrying Stone is the book that comes before Simple Jess in sequence and I've been wanting to read it for about a year now. It's the romance between Jess's sister Meg and Roe Farley. I can't wait to go back to Marrying Stone Mountain in the Osarks! 
• Here Comes the Bride is another book that I've had in my sights for about a year now. This is the romance between Augusta Mudd and Rome Akers and this one is set in a small town in Texas. The description of the book reminds me a little bit of Courting Miss Hattie (my very favorite Morsi read) and I can't wait to read it. :)
• The Love Charm is another book I've had on my wish list for a long time. The setting alone sounds too intriguing to pass up. The story is set in19th Century Louisiana and the characters are Acadian. There seem to be a few romances going on at the same time in this story, but the main characters are Armand Sonnier and Aida Gaudet. 

Sooo, I have lots of great books to read! I wonder which books will call to me in the next couple of weeks. Notice that all of them are historical romances. Interesting.

Besides Pamela Morsi, I enjoy works by Lavyrle Spencer and Cheryl St. John. How about you? Who is your favorite Americana historical romance writer?

Book Haul! Mary Balogh Heaven & A Special Thanks

It's that time of the year! This is Thanksgiving week and the Christmas holidays are approaching fast. For me that means reading Mary Balogh historical romances. A few years ago, a friend introduced me to this habit of hers... she has been reading and enjoying Balogh's Christmas stories for years! Well, I find that I not only love to read Balogh's holiday books, but all her stories do it for me during this time of the year. In 2009 A Matter of Class was one of my favorite December reads, and last year A Christmas Promise was also a hit with me.

Anyway going on to that haul... that same friend and I have been swapping books for a few years now, and this year she really, really indulged me! This weekend I received a little package consisting of Mary Balogh backlist books I've yet to read. Here are my precious for this season:

• A Regency Christmas VII is obviously a Christmas anthology. This is the 1995 Signet edition, and it contains the following stories: "The Christmas Ghost" by Sandra Heath, "The Rake's Christmas" by Edith Layton, "Lady Bountiful" by Laura Matthews, "A Mummer Play" by Jo Beverly and "The Surprise Party" by Mary Balogh. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to reading this anthology for the holidays!
• The Gifts of Christmas is another anthology, this one a 1998 Harlequin edition containing three longer, thematic stories. "A Handful of Gold" by Mary Balogh, "A Drop of Frankincense" by Merline Lovelace, and "A Touch of Myrrh" by Suzanne Barclay. It's the three kings! This is another must read for me. :) 
• Then there's Longing! The 1994 Topaz edition. This novel is set in Wales and it's the story of Sian the illegitimate daughter of a lord and Alexander, Marquess of Craille, a widower with a daughter who hires Sian as his daughter's governess. I love the fact that this story is set in Wales, there's mention of ironworkers, poverty, passions, desire and well... I can't wait to get started on this one!

• Truly (1996 Berkley edition) is another romance set in Wales! This time between a wealthy lord and a minister's daughter. It looks like I'm going to be enjoying historical details about Wales along with a sweeping romance full of adventure.  
• Silent Melody (1997 Berkley edition) is the second book in the Georgian set, the first book is Heartless. I haven't read the first book either, so I have no idea if that will make a difference to my enjoyment. However I do love books set in the Georgian period, plus the story sounds fascinating! The heroine in the story is deaf/mute and I can't wait to find out how Balogh handles the story and romance. 
• And well... Unforgiven (1998 Jove edition). This is the third book in the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' series. I read the first book, Irresistible and really enjoyed it, but have not been able to get my hands on the second book, Indiscreet! Believe me, I'm ecstatic to finally get my hands on the third book! 

I'll have to pick and choose which of these books to read, if not all of them! On this Thanksgiving week when we give thanks for everything we've received and for all our blessings (and this year I have to give lots of thanks), I would like to specifically thank my friend for her generosity throughout the years. But today? Well, today I'm a happy reader!

NJ Bloggers: Dinner, Books and the Heat!

Christine, Mariana, Natalie and I decided to have our NJ Bloggers Summer's get together last Friday, July 22nd. It was the single, hottest day of the month in our area... that day the heat index hit 114℉ or 45.5 ℃ in our area. It was brutal! But, we were determined and met anyway.

Christine was coming from home, Mariana and Natalie were lucky enough to be working from home that day due to the heat, I had to go to the office but was released early -- by 3:30 p.m.  Unfortunately, buses were breaking down left and right because of the weather, and by the time I caught one and arrived home it was 5:00 p.m. and I was feeling a bit fried from commuting. Brutal!

After a quick shower and change, Christine and the ladies picked me up and we took off for our meeting place, Houlihan's in Weehawken. We sat inside because it was too hot for enjoying outdoor sitting that day, but our table had a wonderful view of New York City and the Hudson River, and soon we were all relaxing. We had a cozy, lazy time and all had tasty dinners and great drinks (I'm having one of those martinis next time, Christine!), and shared one of their delicious desserts (they're huge!). Our conversation strayed toward the personal, but I can say that we were all quite proud of Christine's dedication, persistence and how brilliantly she has met her athletic challenges. She was still sporting the identification number from her last endeavor, which was temporarily tattooed by the sun on her arm while she biked... I wanted to take a picture of it, but if you haven't figured it out yet, this is not a picture-taking group. [grin]

We left our bookish discussion and book exchange for later. This all took place after dinner while we sat on a bench by the Hudson River. Christine brought a whole box of books so we looked through those, chose our books and left the box in the trunk of her car. Mariana and I brought tote bags brimming with books, so all four of us settled down on a bench to check out what we wanted from each other.

Despite the sheer amount books available, this time I only chose six books that I've not previously read. From Christine's box I chose four historical romances:

• With Seduction in Mind by Laura Lee Guhrke
• The Seduction of An Unknown Lady by Samantha James
• The Highlander by Heather Grothaus (new-to-me author)
• Barely a Lady by Eileen Dreyer

From Mariana's books I chose two romance suspense novels by Linda Howard, plus a few first edition romances by Nora Roberts for my collection -- I've already read these books by NR and still have them all, most of them in collections of three, but I still wanted these! I split those with Natalie who is a great Nora Roberts fan and is still making her way through her backlist. Here's the list.

• Open Season by Linda Howard (Hardcover)
• Now You See Her by Linda Howard (Hardcover)
• Local Hero by Nora Roberts
• Untamed by Nora Roberts
• Blithe Images by Nora Roberts
• One Summer by Nora Roberts
• Sullivan's Woman by Nora Roberts
• A Will and a Way by Nora Roberts
• Unfinished Business by Nora Roberts
• Genuine Lies by Nora Roberts

I read Genuine Lies a long time ago and thought it was part of my collection, so when I saw it in the bunch I past it along to Natalie, who past it back to Mariana, who gave it back to me and somehow remained in my possession. I thought of giving the book to my daughter, but when I went through my books at home realized it was not there. How could that be? I MUST do an inventory of my NR books! So, thanks Mariana for insisting. You all know what that means, right? Now I have to re-read it. LOL!

Anyway while all this was going on, Christine, Mariana and I exchanged and shared impressions from our RWA experience about authors and books with each other and with our sweet friend Natalie who didn't attend. Plus, we shared our thoughts about our latest favorite books and reviews, grading reviews, ARCs, publishers and publishing... all of it as we perused and discussed some of the books we were exchanging, and tried not to think of the heat! By that time it was almost 10:00 p.m. and I'm pretty sure we were all thinking: water! shower! So, we finally drove away and said so long, hopefully until our next get together in the Fall.

One last thing... Happy Belated Birthday, Natalie!

RWA Literacy Signing

Susan Elizabeth Phillips,

RWA Literacy Signing,

New York City, June 28, 2011

So I attended the RWA Literacy Signing in New York City on Tuesday after all. It was touch and go all day on weather I would make it or not, but at the end of the day I jetted out of work like rocket! Even with all the bad traffic and aggravation, I got to the Port Authority in time to meet Mariana and arrived at the hotel early enough that the lines were not overwhelming, yet. Although later on I heard they were incredibly long.

I met most of the authors on my list, and a few more... they were all lovely and gracious and I must say it was the best experience. Of course I didn't really take loads of pictures, no time, inclination (or camera, lol), BUT I did take this little picture with Ms. Susan Elizabeth Phillips. She is the most gracious and lovely lady. Mariana and I later met her at the elevator as we were leaving and I had to make sure I didn't make a cake out of myself, we said hello but gave her the privacy she deserved after such a long evening.

My stash

What other authors did I visit? Well, I met the lovely Jacquie D'Alessandro whose book I just finished reviewing... Summer at Seaside Cove. I decided to get the print copy signed by the author... we chatted about the book, and she told me that the next one in the series will be coming out in 2012!  Jennifer Crusie was close by and she was just as gracious (well, they all were) but she took her time to chat a bit, and then she autographed Maybe This Time for me.

I was also quite the fan with Elizabeth Hoyt, Jill Shalvis, Eloisa James, Miranda Neville, Angela Knight, Tess Garritsen, and Thea Harrison, who were all gracious and accommodating! Mariana and I also had conversations with three wonderful ladies, L.B. Gregg (Lisabea), K.A. Mitchell who recognized Mariana from a previous meeting (what a memory!), and Victoria Jenssen who is just as lovely in person as she is online! It was such a pleasure meeting her in person.

What authors did I miss? Jodi Thomas and Madeline Hunter! I lost my list along the way and somehow missed meeting those two authors. :(

However, all in all it was a wonderful experience and I would do it again in a New York minute!

Latest book haul!

I rarely write up posts about books I add to my ever growing "to be read" pile, but I'm a bit excited about my latest additions. So here's my own random version of those "book haul" posts I love to visit. :)

I do love to buy those older backlist books and hunt for used books and deals. The following are in that category. Sunshine is a 2003 vampire book I heard about a long time ago when I didn't hmm... read books about vampires. I recently heard it mentioned again (don't remember where) and decided to read it. Nath and Tabitha highly recommend the Jennifer Estep UF series, and I've had the first book in my TBB list for a long time. Phyl recommended Miranda Neville's historical romances a while back and they just looked good! I purchased the three fantasy books below for the 2011 Women of Fantasy Book Club -- I'm already reading War for the Oaks by Emma Bull! And I found Kate Rothwell's historical romances at Amazon while searching and thought they looked interesting.

Used print books:

Kindle additions:

Here's Rick Riordan's latest release, The Throne of Fire. I decided to get the Kindle edition this time, instead of the print book. I also added two LGBT books by two favorite authors, Harper Fox and Josh Lanyon -- I continue to gloam Lanyon, and am slowly catching up with his extensive back list -- I finished The Dark Farewell last night! Then, there's Cherie Priest...I read Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest last month, and although it wasn't an outstanding read for me, I liked her writing. Renee recommended Bloodshot, Priest's latest UF series, so it went on my TBR. I also decided to buy Priest's short steam punk story Clementine, to give that world a shot. And last, but not least, I just had to buy this Blaze by Jill Shalvis! It's part of her Santa Rey firefighter series and I can't believe I missed it. Hot!

My SFR books! I bought three more... Enemy Within and latest release Enemy Games by Marcella Burnard, plus I pre-ordered Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley, a Sci-Fi Romance that's releasing on May 9th!

Okay, that's it! I really did get some great prices on those used books! Oh well, until the end of the month, that's when I'll be looking for all those great new releases. :)