Love Walked In

by Marisa De Los Santos

I just finished this book, I had started it a short while back, before the Fitzwilliam Darcy trilogy and it was a great before bed read but at the beginning easy to put down. After finishing the trilogy I picked it right back up and happily read it almost every night!

It switches back and forth between two characters, Clare and Cornelia whose lives intertwine. The book was very unexpected which I really really enjoyed but heartwarming too. I definitely recommend this, towards the last 1/4 it got very hard to put down as well which I'm finding is more often the case as I read these highly recommended books.

I think I bought this as a borders paperback special (buy 2 get 1 free or something) and boy am I happy with all those purchases so far (The Island, Snowflower and the Secret Fan...)

Now what next?? yikes - not exactly sure - will have to ponder this, I have a few paperbacks but also have some hardcovers I've had for a while and wanted to read. Could always read P&P again as well.. maybe something in the xmas genre... hmmm.

These Three Remain

by Pamela Aidan.

Finished! Dec. 3rd at 10pm!

This was a great finish to a great trilogy. I was just as giddy at the end as I was with Pride & Prejudice and I really really want to re-read P&P now.
I very highly recommend this trilogy to anyone that enjoyed P&P.

Now i'm not sure what i'll ready, I may go back to Love Walked In, or actually pick up P&P, I'll have to wait and see when the mood strikes me!

Duty and Desire

by Pamela Aidan.

I finished Duty and Desire over the holidays (Friday Nov 23rd I believe). This one did not have any real Darcy/Elizabeth time and covered the period of time when Elizabeth did not see Darcy at all. It was very well done and had a little mystery in there as well.

Now I'm on to the third and so far the best. During the proposal I was up until 2am reading (Saturday night) as I just couldn't put it down! I expect the same to happen when I hit the time at Pemberly.

Audiobooks

I finished "Survivor in Death" by JD Robb and I'm onto Origin in Death which is quite intriguing!

On another note I started "All Together Dead" by Charlaine Harris in audiobook format. I don't like the voices used for some of the characters but I'll stick with it. I think i'm 3 hours into it and listened while I quilted last weekend. I'll bring it home with me and possibly listen to it there over the holiday but not sure yet.

An Assembly Such as This

by Pamela Aidan.

This is the first in a trilogy that follows Pride & Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's point of view. This first one was excellent and very exciting and I delved immediately into the second already :)

This book covers the part of P&P where Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and Family are all in Hertfordshire and meet the Bennets for the first time. It ends with them off to London.

The second book I gather will not include any actual face time between Darcy and Elizabeth as it covers the time in London, Pemberly and back in London so far. I'm not sure yet where it ends up as the third is the longest book of the three.

This was a great read and really really makes me want to read P&P again!

Definitely Dead

by Charlaine Harris.

Book 6. I read this.. hmm... Friday night. I think it was from 9pm-2am.

One thing to note about this book, I felt like I was missing some story between book 5 and 6. She often refers back to prior events but in usually they are events that happened in a previous book that I remember. This time she refers back to certain events that never happened in a book which was quite frustrating for a while.

The book of course was excellent and I really like the new characters in it.

I'm thrown for what to do about book 7, I have it in audio form and I'm thinking I'll start listening to it but that's tough, I need 10 hours and I have to hope I can tear myself away from it once I start as I just don't have 10 hours straight to listen!

Dead as a Doornail

by Charlaine Harris

Book 5 did not disappoint! Last night my new amazon order had arrived! I couldn't resist and by 8pm I was snuggled up with Dead as a Doornail!

By 1am I was reading chapter 1 (the preview) of the next book but put it down before I got too in to it. I may have to read it tonight though.

Book 5 was full of mystery, I like how while there's a mystery throughout the book, the focus isn't Sookie trying to solve the mystery the whole time, she's got enough going on in her life! This one was full of danger and I'm very curious how the next one will go now! We also got to learn more about Were tradition in this one - a treat and a curse :)

Dilemma resolved

I decided to purchase books 5 & 6 in soft cover, and I'll probably borrow the hard cover 7 from a friend (since it's not out in soft yet). Audio book wise I'm continuing with the JD Robb series (they are always good!). So I'm currently listening to "Survivor in Death" and I just picked up "Origin in Death" from my mom.

I started a new book "Love walked in" by Maris de los Santos, that's my evening reading while I wait for the new Sookie books to arrive.

I was also recommended a new trilogy based on Pride & Prejudice by Pamela Aidan which is from Mr. Darcy's point of view, so I purchased those and am calmly (or not so) awaiting thier arrival. I may be reading a LOT this coming weekend!

Dead to the World

by Charlaine Harris.

This one I held off a bit (due to being busy Saturday) and I read on Sunday - from 5-10:30pm to be exact. Lots of suspense, still can't put these books down once i start them! I think I like the way this one ended and I'm looking forward to the next one (there was a sneak peak of chapter 1 at the end!).

Now i'm in a dilemma, I have books 5,6,7 in audiobook form to listen to but I think i like the paperback form so I may have to go buy them??? another friend owns 5 & 6 so I could borrow them from her but i'm not sure when I'd actually get them. So i may just get them at the bookstore...

Club Dead

by Charlaine Harris

Started Saturday at 12:00am, finished Saturday 5:00am. Yup still addicted! I couldn't help myself and as soon as I finished working friday I picked up the third book in the series!

The third brought in a lot of relationship turmoil and some new main characters to get to know. I'd have to say the second is still my favorite but I loved this one too!

Living Dead in Dallas

by Charlaine Harris

This is just sick - here it is only 14 hours after finishing the first book and I've already finished the second book - in the meantime I've also slept for 5 of those hours and worked a bit (estimating 4). These are impossible to put down. I really just wanted to read a chapter or two while my code was building and I couldn't put it down after that.

This one continues the Sookie Stackhouse mystery series with two adventures, one at home in Louisiana and one in Dallas. In order not to give much away I'll just say it was great!

Now i have a good 5 hours of work ahead of me before the weekend can officially start. I think I'll hold off on book three until saturday evening/night but I'm sure i'll be finishing that one this weekend as well. It's probably better to just finish all 4 before monday :)

Dead until Dark

by Charlaine Harris

These books should come with a warning! OMG!

So a very close friend loaned me the first 4 in the Sookie Stackhouse series, I read a few pages that first night and it was a winner but I was able to put it down and go to sleep. Then last night at 11, I had just finished working and decided I would read a bit to distract myself before bed (so i don't dream about work all night)... BIG MISTAKE. I couldn't put this book down, AT ALL! I hardly wanted to tear myself to pour some water at 2AM!!!! when my throat was parched.

Finally I finished the book at 4am! And then I could hardly sleep because I wanted to start the second... very very bad.

These books are ADDICTING. I can not say that enough, they are great, the characters are so much fun. It's fantasy but people are still people and are realistic so it's easy to relate to. It's got vampires and the main character is telepathic. I won't give away more than that but what a GREAT book.

So now i'm seeing how long i can put off starting number 2... I may have to just read a chapter or 2 really quick :)

JD Robb In Death progress

Hmmm.. well i have continued listening to the JD Robb series.

I finished Imitation in Death which I really enjoyed.
I believe after that was Divided in Death - some more interesting character development in that one.
Now I'm on Visions in Death which includes lots of references to crafts! It's great!

These go so quickly during the car rides but make the car ride so much more enjoyable at the same time!

The Island

by Victoria Hislop

Another great read! This book is about Spinalonga, an island off of Crete where lepers were forced to live during the early 1900's (through 1950's).

It was filled with historical information about Crete, through WWII and also filled with very deep relationships. I really loved the main characters throughout and this book went quite fast.

I love learning and I learned a lot with this book (about Crete, leprosy, and other things). It was extremely touching and well done. I would happily recommend this book to anyone!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

by Lisa See.

This was an excellent book. It really captured my attention and made me feel like I knew the characters. It was rich in characters for that matter, as well as chinese history. I love books that have some history in them with good characters and this was truly one of those books.

I've already loaned this out with high recommendations I loved it so much :)

I also found the friendship trials and tribulations very easy to relate to. As a young girl I had a very best friend, we did everything together. As we went away to college, we stayed close - sometimes not as close but close none-the-less. Then as we continued to grow and mature and our lives changed, we grew a little more distant. We stay in touch but it's usually for bigger events (new love/love lost etc).

I do see in the future after life has settled and slowed down that we'll become close again. This is very similar to the friendship of a lao-tong as described in this book. It was very easy to relate to and all the more enjoyable because of it.

Snow Flower started

I decided to start Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

So far I'm enthralled. I'm only a couple of chapters in but it's hard to put down and does remind me of how I felt reading Memoirs of a Geisha. I really enjoy getting to know new people that have such different lives than I do. It's a learning experience as well as an enjoyment!

Audio books:
Well I finished Imitation in death a while back and then listened to Remember When which is a crossover between Nora Roberts and JD Robb, short but very enjoyable. There was some confusion in the beginning with ordering of events but I ignored it.
Now I've started Divided in Death and it as always keeping my commute very enjoyable!

We Need to Talk about Kevin

by Lionel Shriver.

Finished Sunday morning. Well let's see - it was a good book, I'm glad I read it. The author pulled out the thesaurus a bit too much for my taste and a lot of the passages rambled on, but I tend to just glaze past that kind of thing (my fiance who also read this complains about that a bit more).

The story was a good one, with the almost constant school shootings of the 90's (probably still going on but I was in school at that time so it was closer to home) it brought a real perspective to things. I thought the end was very well done, predictable (more so by my fiance again) but well done. It is not a book to read if you want to sympathize with someone, I basically disliked/almost hated both parents and can't feel much sympathy for the boy either but I'm glad I read it (almost a "what not to do" type book).

I haven't decided what to read next, I have a nice new pile of books by my bedside after a run to Borders this weekend - lots of discount and on sale books! I can't wait to pick!

Sense & Sensibility

Oh it was delightful! I finished it wednesday night. Not as good as P&P but delightful in deed! I also just purchased the A&E special on it to watch (hopefully it comes today or tomorrow?).

I really loved a lot of the book, the development of the characters was great, I think part of what set it below P&P is that the building of the male characters was very light, it was very hard to get excited about them when there was so much doubt. With P&P there was such a buildup with Mr. Darcy, knowing so well the struggles both he and Eliz. went through. That sets it apart.

But I thoroughly enjoyed S&S and I'm very glad to have finally gotten to read it. I can't wait to watch it too!

Back to "We need to talk about kevin" now!

One Month Later

Let's see where we're at one month later...

We Need to Talk about Kevin - about half way through, I switched books so my fiance could read it (he needed something to read labor day weekend) and he's finished it but now I'm engrossed in the new book and will get back to this for sure.

New Book - Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen, of course I love it, not as much as P&P but I really look forward to it each night and even stayed up late (till 2:30) last night to get a little in after watching P&P until 2am.

Audiobooks:
Finished Purity in Death right away. Also started and finished Portrait in Death which I really enjoyed.
Now I'm on Imitation in Death and it's really captured my attention with some of the references in there.

Vacation Reading

Well vacation is always full of reading! In the book world I finished up the Cell.

The Cell by Stephen King. I really enjoyed this book, it was gruesome which is to be expected but it flows along nicely and you really get to know the characters. That being said I hated the ending! It just ended ubruptly. I honestly think more could have been done at the end, some sort of epilogue, anything.

Next up I started "We Need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver. I'm not very far into it and it was recommended to me by multiple people. It's captured my attention so far so we'll see how it goes.

Audiobooks:
Well the JD Robb In Death series continues, I finished up Judgement in Death and Betrayal in Death (as well as Interlude in Death) before going to Maine.
In Maine we listened to Seduction in Death and Reunion in Death.
I enjoyed them all and I'm thoroughly enjoying the current one Purity in Death.
This is a fun easy series and it's always fun to guess "who did it".

That's my book progress so far. Reading is really slow these past few months but that's not surprising with everything else going on.

JD Robb Update

I've been on an audio book kick lately and finished off Witness in Death and Interlude in Death. I've just started Judgement in Death, I think that's number 11 in the series if you don't count the two mini novellas.

Witness in Death was even better than Conspiracy and Interlude was quick and dirty, which is always fun. No twists and turns because it was so short.

Judgement is very good so far and I'm sure there will be lots of twists and turns in this one.

In the regular book world I'm now reading Cell by Stephen King and enjoying it. It's my bedtime reading and so far isn't scary, kind of morbid at times but nothing I can't sleep after. It sure makes me think twice before using my cell phone though!

2 Finishes

Well I finished Kalahari Typing school for Men. It was very good but I find that this series is not very captivating. It's a nice enjoyable read but as soon as something more interesting comes along my attention is distracted. It has been really good for car rides when I drift and think of other things but don't end up missing anything (I do this while reading sometimes as well but always have to re-read the section).
I started on the next in the series but I may interrupt that to switch ...

Because I finished "Conspiracy in Death" by JD Robb - I really think this was the best one in the series yet and that's not because I was reading it versus listening to it. I actually prefer listening to these because the reader does an amazing job with the characters, really bringing them to life. I have no borrowed the next 7 or so from my mom in this series (audiobook form) and I think I will be switching to those for my car rides starting tomorrow.

Next up next to the bedside is Stephen King's - Cell - i do believe, my fiance just finished it and I've been waiting to start it!

New Start - Kalahari Typing School for Men

Well I'm back to listening to the #1 Ladies Detective Agency on tape during my drive. These go very quickly. It is a series by Alexander McCall Smith and this is the 4th in the series. I have 5, 6 and 7 all in tape form from my mom as well.

I always enjoy this series, a little mystery and a lot of fun! Once these are done I may go back to the trilogy that is Dragons :) but i want to get some of these done and back to my mom since I have no actual book case space for them!

Mistress of Dragons

By Margaret Weiss - I just finished this audiobook - and I sure did enjoy it! It reminded me a lot of Poison Study and Magic Study (can't wait for Fire Study to come out in October!).

I'm looking forward to more in this series and I'm going to go order some now!

Previously finished audiobook -
Vanishing Acts - Jodi Piccoult - I really enjoyed this a lot, it did not disappoint at all!

Book form -
Chronicles of Pern - finished the dolphin short story and put it aside for a bit, definitely will come back to it but I had some other interests come up.
Complete Book of Sewing - ordered the newest release of this book and I'm reading this now, returned the older one - this is a great book to read and I've already learned a lot.

Conspiracy in Death - JD Robb. This is a series i've doing in audiobook form from my mom, she doesn't have this one book in the series so I bought it paperback and I started it. It's a light easy read, perfect for bedtime!

Books I've finished Recently

Generally I will do a quick review of each book as I finish it but for now just a list of books I've read recently:

In Progress:
Chronicles of Pern - Anne McCaffrey : Short stories - the first was a bit short but the dolphin one has really grabbed my attention
Complete book of Sewing - from 1954, borrowed - and loving it - i just ordered an updated version of this same book!

Recently Finished:
Perfect Match - Jodi Piccoult : I really liked this one, not sure if I would recommend it to parents who have young children but as always it was a great book!

Harper Hall Trilogy - Anne McCaffrey : Not as good as the first trilogy but very enjoyable
DragonRiders of Pern Trilogy - Anne McCaffrey: Awesome - i love dragons so this was a natural one for me!

Audiobooks:

In Progress:
Vanishing Acts - Jodi Piccoult : Great so far!
Just finished:
Tenth Circle - Jodi Piccoult : Another winner!
Undead Series - MaryJanice Davidson : Lots of fun!
Second Glance - Jodi Piccoult : Different from her other work but very intriguing
Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger : Absolutely a great book - I LOVE IT!