Some Ground Rules & Books 6 & 7

Well, I feel a little more on track. Still behind compared to last year, but keeping a better book schedule. #7 only took me 2 days, although it was fairly short, under 300 pages. Normal Saturday routine is a trip to the library & since I have no other plans to speak of, I'm hoping to get through another book or 2 by Monday.

I also thought I should lay out a few ground rules for myself for when I do book reviews. I will try to keep from posting any spoilers without prior warning, but anything mentioned on the back of the book or the book jacket I will consider fair game. Same goes for stuff that happened in books earlier in a series when reviewing a later book. Ummm ... other than that I don't know yet but if I come up with anything more I'll be sure to let you know =) On to the books:

#6:

3rd Degree

Women's Murder Club Book 3

James Patterson & Andrew Gross

I've been enjoying this series more than I thought I would, but I have to start out by saying - damn you James Patterson! He has a habit of killing off important characters, and while from a plot standpoint I understand that not everything can have a totally neat & happy ending, it's starting to get a little old. Every book has contained the death of a main or semi-main character.

As a reader it's sad when you get to know someone & then they get axed just to progress the story. As a writer, I'm aware it's something I need to work on, because I have a TON of trouble ever killing off any of my own characters.

#7:

Real Murders

Aurora Teagarden Book 1

Charlaine Harris

This is a series that had been on my to read list for quite a while. I like Charlaine Harris but up until now I had only read her Sookie Stackhouse series, which may sound familiar to some because last summer it was adapted for TV by HBO into the series True Blood (which I have to say is pretty well done & has excellent casting [& Anna Paquin even won a Golden Globe for her Sookie] & I can't wait for summer for the 2nd season).

I liked this book but didn't love it - that may just be that it's the first in the series, and I feel like I'm still getting to know the characters, I'm not really invested in what happens to them yet. But I definitely liked it enough to pick up the 2nd book in the series. I got this partly to see if it was something I could recommend to my friend after she finishes the Women's Murder Club series, although Patterson does have another couple series & plenty of stand alone books to keep her busy.

So that's that & all for now. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Confessions of a Bookworm

It says right up top: "Nails, novels & other stuff that makes me happy." So where, you may be wondering, are these supposed novels?

I confess that sometimes my other hobbies get in the way of reading, and sometimes I get irritated with myself for being so easily distracted. Even though I have already read 5 books so far this year, a part of me feels a little bad because last year at this point I had already read 11 books.

Actually keeping a list & tracking how much I read came about basically from people at work teasing me. "How many books did you read this week?" Ha. Ha. Except it actually did get me to wondering. I knew I read 2-3 books a week most of the time, but I had never really tried to keep track before over a longer period of time. So, at the begining of 2008, I started keeping a list, and at the end of the year my grand total was (insert drumroll here): 130 books. I even impressed myself a little, surpassing my initial estimate of 100 books.

This part of my blog is still a work in progres. I mean, I'm getting a comfort level with the polish-related stuff, I'm doing better than I thought I would, but how much rambling about books will be tolerated in between? What kind of info should I include? What ... are other people posting on this subject?! And so it dawned on me: there are probably as many if not more book blogs as nail blogs. Why in the world hadn't it occured to me before to check them out?

So I did. And it was good. And you'll notice my "other blogs" little section is no longer so little. In fact, the book blogs may need their own little area like the nail blogs soon. On one of them (Bookish Ruth actually) I found a little quiz (I love online quizzes, so often they're just spot-on accurate), which I think summed it up nicely:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

That is so me.

Anyway, my main distraction to date this year has been reading blogs, writing my own blog, and shopping for polish that I suddenly realize I must have after seeing swatches. But I have managed to get a few books in & here's what they were:

#1:

Fish Out of Water

Book 3 of Fred the Mermaid

MaryJanice Davidson

#2:

No Rest for the Witches

Anthology

#3:

Moving Targets & Other Tales of Valdemar

Anthology

Edited by Mercedes Lackey

#4:

1st to Die

Book 1 of the Women's Murder Club

James Patterson

#5:

2nd Chance

Book 2 of the Women's Murder Club

James Patterson & Andrew Gross

Next on my list is the rest of the Women's Murder Club series. I started these books because my friend quit smoking & started reading instead, so to support her I decided I would read what she was reading so we can talk about it.

I can't say I intend to post reviews of every book I read, kind of like you don't catch me swatching whole polish collections - there are other people who do it better in both cases. But you'll probably catch me waxing poetic on some of my favorites, as I do with my favorite manicures. I can admit that almost every post I've made has turned out longer than I thought it was going to be when I started.

So. Maybe new record for longest post, and maybe not even on anything you care about if you've come looking for some NOTD. But I've been reading even longer than I've been painting my nails. And! Since I usually get all my books from the library, it's a much cheaper simple little pleasure than my nails tend to be.

If you're still with me, please feel free to let me know what you think! (Or even just what's on your mind ^^ ) That always goes, but especially for this first book post. And, as always, thanks for reading.

~Colette