Category Archives: Book Talk

Coming Soon! (What’s on my TBR stack?)

by

If you’ve read my main blog, you know that I’m turning 40 on Tuesday, and I had a lovely party last night. It didn’t include any atv riding, but there was yummy food, good cake, excellent company, and copious amounts of Mike’s Peach Margarita.

As is usual for me, books were in evidence…specifically four new additions to my TO BE READ stack.

They are:

  • A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style, by Tim Gunn with Kate Moloney
  • The One Hundred: a Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own, by Nina Garcia
  • The Little Black Book of Style, by Nina Garcia
  • Kiss My Tiara: How to Rule the World as a SmartMouth Goddess, by Susan Jane Gilman
  • The Wedding Gift, by Kathleen McKenna

The first three have been on my WANT list for a while, and are part of a project some friends and I are working on, the ‘Tiara’ book was on my wishlist of birthday inspirations, and the last is a new book by a woman who contacted me via this blog. She seems like a great person, the premise of her book seems right up my alley, and I’m looking forward both to reading it, and to getting to know her better – but all of these books made me grin, or laugh, or inspired me…

Isn’t reading just GRAND?

But Can You Use It in the Bathtub?

by

Generally speaking, I do try to do as much green shopping as possible. I refuse plastic grocery bags, instead using my own cloth bags, I try to find things in the least amount of packaging, and when I’m forced to use veggie bags, I always reuse them. Even though I still haven’t broken my addiction to water bottles, those that we buy are used multiple times (first for water, then for filling the dogs’ dishes, then for dog toys) before they’re finally sent to the recycling bin.

But I still haven’t made the leap to e-books.

Oh, I have a few on my iPhone, and one or two on my computer, but since a good portion of my reading is done on the toilet or in the tub, I still buy actual books. A lot. And most of them are NOT from used bookstores, because I think they smell funny.

But now Amazon has a Kindle on sale for only $139, a price I’m willing to pay. I mean, I’ve paid more for other devices I barely use, and the reality is that if I had something bigger than the iPhone screen and lighter to hold than a computer, I probably WOULD use such an e-reader.

And of course, my birthday’s in a few weeks.

So, I’m actually considering asking Fuzzy for a Kindle.

Yeah, I know…Scary.

Coming Soon

by

Sometimes I feel like I’m more likely to buy gold coins from a famous pirate than to ever catch up on book reviews.

Upcoming reviews you should look for:

  • The House on Oyster Creek, by Heidi Jon Schmidt
  • The Way I See It, by Melissa Anderson
  • Passage From England, by Frank Zajaczkowski
  • The Blue Bistro, by Elin Hilderbrand
  • Hope in a Jar, by Elizabeth M. Harbison
  • Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

And that doesn’t include the two books I’m reading now – a Laurie R. King one-off, and Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard.

The former isn’t gripping me the way King’s writing usually is, but that doesn’t really surprise me because I think I’m in a memoir mood right now.

In any case, I’m reading, and will be reviewing, so keep checking back.

Bagels, Books, and Beach-Reading in Bed

by

Eating bagels while reading in bed is probably not anyone’s idea of a good weight loss diet, but sometimes it’s just the perfect way to spend an evening.

Last night, after my parents went to bed, I retired to the casita (their guest house) with a stack of books, a toasted bagel, and some chai tea. While old episodes of “The Middleman” played on my computer, mainly for noise, I finished one book (Lost and Found) and set aside another (Rebecca Well’s latest), in favor of Outer Banks, by Anne Rivers Siddons.

This book was probably one of mine, left here several visits ago. In fact, almost the entire “library” in this guest house is made of my cast-off novels and other paperbacks. Right now, I can see Eat, Pray, Love, cuddling with Angels and Demons, and I know both of those were mine, as was Left Bank, and this great book about a woman who smelled like figs and had an affair one summer.

But I chose Siddons’ novel because her work always puts me in a comfy reading zone, and I wanted that last night.

Of course, I still have four other books I brought with me, and I’d really prefer not to have to cart them all back home!

Bad Bookstore, No Business

by

So, today, my parents and I drove from La Paz, where they live, to Todos Santos, the Mexican town which is home to the original Hotel California, among other things.

I wanted to buy some post cards, so we stopped in the local bookstore, which, I noticed, had some amazing local titles in both Spanish and English. I might have bought a book or two, as well as the postcards I’d been looking for, but the woman behind the counter was yakking on the phone the entire time Mom and I were shopping. We greeted her in Spanish, and she didn’t even acknowledge our presence. I don’t know what she was talking about – it could have been anything from lipozene customer reviews to what to have for lunch, but it was certainly keeping her focused on anything except furthering trade.

I finished my shopping and turned back toward the counter, when we realized that the music had been turned off, and the woman (I hate to refer to her as an employee or a clerk) had disappeared. She’d just left us in her shop with the door open and the lights on.

We waited ten minutes, but there was no sign of her, so I left the cards on the counter, and we walked out. I suppose we could have just taken them, but I would never DO that.

Later, on our way out of town in the car, we saw the store filled with tourists – and she had still not returned!

I bought my postcards, and about $500 MXP more merchandise, at the Hotel California gift store.

I’m Curious

by

So, you’re given a prepaid visa with a balance of $100, and two hours in your favorite bookstore. What do you buy? The hardcover new release that everyone’s talking about but has been out of your budget? A stack of magazines you’d never normally be seen in public with? Or an old favorite remembered from childhood.

I’ve been known to do all of the above on various shopping trips, or none. I’ve been known to buy seventeen books, and sometimes just one.

But hands down, my favorite place to begin is the New Fiction section. I love discovering authors when their work is new. Sometimes, I build lifelong relationships with them – I’ve been reading the Pink Carnation series since day one, for example, and I was reading the Anita Blake series years before it had gained any popularity – when it was being released only as mass market paperbacks, in fact.

So, if you’re reading this, tell me: what’s your fantasy book buying spree?

I have never worn gogo boots

by

I’m reading this book called What to Wear for the Rest of Your Life. It’s thick and yellow, and the pages are heavy, and I feel like it should be printed on glossy magazine paper, but It is not.

There are some lovely sketches in it, and cool fashion trivia. I saw a sketch of go-go boots and a note explaining that they came in as a response to the miniskirt.

I have never worn go-go boots, but suddenly I want a pair. I have pair of lovely cowboy boots with orange stitching and faux ostrich skin, and I love them, but they’re not the same. They’re not shiny plastic (vinyl) or anything like that.

Don’t you just love the power of words? I love that even a non-fiction style-guide can take me into a world where I have the perfect closet. I made mental checklists of my own wardrobe, and identified deficiencies as well as areas where I have too many items. I am not a fashionista – I work from home, and tend to chose comfortable black clothing most of the time (In my defense, I really DO need seventeen black t-shirts. I also need a new bathing suit, to take with me to Mexico, where I will read in the sun and splash in the sea for ten days.) but I love reading about fashion, and experiencing it vicariously through characters in novels.

And come home infused with new stories.

And perhaps, even, a new book.

Or two.

Book Trailer: The Baseball Codes

by

Listening to NPR while I was doing my morning bathroom routine earlier today, my attention was caught by a conversation with the author of a new book called The Baseball Codes that’s all about the official and unofficial rules, regulations, and codes of etiquette involved in baseball. While I’m not generally a sports fan, I do have a soft spot for baseball, and have fond memories of watching ball games on television with my grandfather when I’d be at their house during the summer.

I miss those summers.

In any case, when it comes to marketing books, one of my favorite promotional products isn’t really a tangible product at all, but the book trailer. So, here’s the book trailer for The Baseball Codes, by Jason Turbow:

Reading With the Fishes?

by

I have a thing for sharks. If I could have security cameras hidden in the ocean at the places with the most shark activity, and a constant feed, I’d watch it. Not 24/7 or anything, but I’d watch it. Naturally, if there’s a shark book, I want tor read it, as well.

My favorite shark book, so far, is Devil’s Teeth about the Farallon Islands, and the shark observation that went on there for many years. But recently, I saw this trailer for The Shark Man of Cortez, and it seems like it would be something right up my alley, so of course, it’s been added to my wish list.

I came across this video on YouTube, related to the book, and had to share it. Enjoy.

What I’m Reading

by

I haven’t finished a book in a while, but I have one or two in progress, and one I’m anxiously awaiting, so thought I’d share.

The Summer Kitchen, by Karen Weinreb – This novel is proof that choosing books is somewhat akin to employment screening, and I’m not always good at it. I mean, the premise of this novel is good, and the book itself isn’t badly written, or anything, but I’ve owned it for over a year, and haven’t managed to finish it. Maybe it’s because I have no deadline for reading it, but I seem to be unusually willing to set it aside for any other book that floats into my awareness.

Twelve Rooms with a View by Theresa Rebeck – I just received this yesterday, and it doesn’t go on sale til the first week of May. This is one I’ll be reviewing at All Things Girl, but I’m really intrigued by it, anyway, and can’t wait to crack it open later tonight.

Coming Soon

While the top two books are in my possession, those which follow are novels I’m eagerly anticipating:

  • The God of the Hives, by Laurie R. King – this is the latest installment in the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series, and I’m eagerly waiting for it, since the last one ended with “to be continued.”
  • Roast Mortem, by Cleo Coyle – more coffeehouse mysteries – yum! And it’s due out just a few weeks before my birthday, in August.
  • Dead in the Family, by Charlaine Harris – yes, more Sookie Stackhouse is a good thing…due out next month.
  • Changes, by Jim Butcher – because I haven’t caught up with Harry Dresden in a while. It’s out already; I just don’t have it yet.