Chat Noir & other odds and ends

What a bummer 2016 has been already. We've lost David Bowie, Alan Rickman, the man who did the voice of Disney's Robin Hood,Lemmy from Motorhead, anbd now Glenn Frey of the Eagles. I'm sure I've missed someone else, but honestly that list is too long as it is!

Amazon finally managed to get the rest of my Christmas presents delivered! I'm listening to Paper Gods now & I like it much better than Duran Duran's last album. I was going to watch Luther 4, but I'm not sure I can stay awake.

Oh yeah, I'm sick again/still. The below freezing temperatures here haven't helped, & the double I foolishly worked Saturday made things worse. I'm voluntarily going to the doctor tomorrow.

Nightshade & Boo are taking turns being cuddly when I'm on the couch. Remy is still a bit reserved. Shady & the boys haven't quite figured each other out yet- lots of hissing going on, and Shady smacked one of them on the nose for getting too close. Not bad for only living together 3 weeks. It took that long just to get Shady out from under the couch when she came to live with me!

Signed up for the Goodreads challenge again this year. The last few years have been squeaked by at the end, so I lowered the bar a bit for this year. I'm making a concerted effort to get back to doing things I love despite the CFS, and reading is the biggie. I'm off to a good start so far!

I'm not letting myself start a new cross stitch project until I finish at least ONE of the ones I already have going. Since I really want to start the Beauty & the Beast project that I got for Christmas, I've been working on Chat Noir. Here's the latest view:

I've finished the cat's body & have started the base. Not much more to go. I'm dreading the back stitching, but I think it'll look good once I'm done.

Until the next time...

New Version Book Challenge

I'll most likely do the Goodreads challenge again for 2015, but I found this online and think I'll add it into the mix.

Hopefully the link works- it's a printable checklist for the Popsugar Reading Challenge.

Etiquette & Espionage- Gail Carriger

I believe I reviewed Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series in an earlier post. This is the first book in the Divine Miss Gail's new Finishing School Series for YA readers. It's set in the same world, but earlier than the PP books and you encounter some familiar faces in their youth.

The heroine, Sophronia, is my kind of girl. More interested in how things work and the world around her than is considered proper, she is 'banished' to finishing school after an incident involving visitors, a trifle, and the family dumbwaiter. An attack by air pirates as she is on her way to school makes Soph wonder just what kind of school this is.

She finds out pretty quickly. This school isn't just about learning nice manners and gentility. The girls also learn the finer points of espionage, battle with the air pirates again, and learn how to coexist with vampires & werewolves. And Sophronia adopts the cutest mechanical dog, Bumbersnoot. Reading about him made me want one of my own.

I can't say much more without spoilers, but suffice it to say that it's a worthy addition to my library. I'm looking forward to book 2, due out much later this year, and the sequels to the Parasol Protectorate that are also forthcoming!

Wicked Wager- Anya Wylde

This was a hoot! Emma has snared the one of the most eligible rakes in England, only her uncle the Duke isn't so sure he approves of the match. He orders Emma to come to his country estate and think things over. Richard, Em's betrothed, decides to come along disguised as a gardener, and if she can't persuade the Duke to let them marry, plans to compromise so that he HAS to allow the marriage. Things get tricky when the Duke (who is sharper than they think) decides to invite the prospective bridegroom to the estate and Richard enlists a friend to pose as him. The friend keeps forgetting who he is supposed to be in love with and winds up falling for Emma's cousin, who is conflicted about everything at this point. Add in an impromptu house party, blackmail, and a murder, and you have quite the entertaining read! I'm looking forward to Anya's next book, which I believe is due out later this year...




Note: I recieved a free e-copy of this book from the author for my honest review.

A Surrey State of Affairs- Ceri Radford

I liked this one. Mind you, it was slightly predictable, but it was a fun light read. Especially for those of us with a fondness for British chick lit.

Constance is a middle aged woman whose life revolves around her family and her bell-ringing society and the blog where she records the goings on. She battles with her Lithuanian housekeeper, and makes several attempts at match-making for her children and acquaintances with spectacularly bad results. She doesn't understand her son at all, and her daughter drives her to the brink of despair by joining the cast of an awful reality show before running off with her husband's best friend.

The affair with the father's friend sends Constance's life into a major tailspin. Her husband becomes the target of a police investigation, admits to an affair, and they separate for a time while on a South American vacation. Constance throws caution to the wind and has the adventure of a lifetime traveling by herself for a time, and there is an ultimately happy ending.

Beauty and the Werewolf- Mercedes Lackey

Another outing in the 500 Kingdoms series. I rather liked it- Isabella isn't the usual sort of fainting/crying woman men expect. She's managed her family's household for years and is eminently calm and practical. She even manages to keep her head when chased by a wolf....who unfortunately bites her. Even more unfortuante is the discovery that the wolf is in fact the neighboring Duke and Bella may become a werewolf herself. She has to go live in his manse for 90 days until they can be sure she isn't infected. While there, she learns magic, becomes an apprentice Woodsman, and falls in love. Think Beauty & The Beast meets Little Red Riding Hood plus a few others thrown in for good measure.

Chocolate: The British Chocolate Industry (Shire Library)

After Gail Carriger recommended the tea book reviewed a few weeks prior to this, I searched out some of the other books in the Shire Library Series. How could I resist a book about the history of the chocolate industry in Great Britain? It's a very brief, but informative little book. I had no idea that the Kit Kat bar orignated in England! I just assumed it was an American invention. That tidbit, and many more are included. There are loads of pictures of early advertisements, a brief look at modern chocolatiers in the UK, and a list of references for anyone wanting to know more about chocolate and its history. My only problem with this book? I'm out of chocolate and REALLY want some now!

Double Booked For Death- Ali Brandon

I know, I know- another mystery with a cat and a bookstore, right? Well, when it's well done, it's not so bad, and this IS well done. Texan Darla has moved to NY to run the bookstore left to her by her deceased aunt. She's also inherited the bad mannered black cat, Hamlet. We begin after she's been there for a few months and is about to host her first big book signing, for an author of the latest teen blockbuster series. She's been warned that this author can be difficult to handle, and is calling this her Up Yours tour. The reason? She's a failed romance writer who was only able to get signings at a few indie bookstores around the country before hitting big with her paranormal teen book. Now all the big chains want her to do signings for them, but she's only planning to go back to the stores who acknowledged her earlier books, and Darla's store is the first stop. Darla enlists neighbor & former NYPD officer Jake (short for Jacqueline) to help with crowd control. Things seem to be going well at first, despite some infighting among the bookstore staff, the appearance of a protester and the threat of a church group picket, and then all hell breaks loose. Val, the author, winds up dead in the street when she's supposed to be signing books. The police at first think it's a simple, yet awful accident, but things keep nagging at Darla until she & Jake start putting pieces together, with the unwitting (or is it?) help of Hamlet and they realize there's a LOT more going on than anyone realized. There's also a subplot with mysterious break-ins at the store and Darla's apartment (nothing is stolen, but someone is CLEARLY looking for something), a potential future romance for Darla, and the developing relationship between Darla & Hamlet the wonder cat. All in all, a good read for a chilly day and a promising start for a new series.

Tea & Tea Drinking- Claire Masset

This is a small, slim volume that enterains and educates at the same time. Gail Carriger, one of my favorite authors, mentioned it as a potential stocking stuffer in a pre-Christmas blog post, so of course I had to go hunt it down and get a copy for myself. It gives the reader a basic overview of how tea became the premier drink in Britain, a brief account of how it's grown/harvested, and the way it became available to all classes, not just the rich.

Not only was it a quick and enjoyable read, I discovered that the Shire Library series has numerous other books that I think might be worth checking out. I bought the ones on Chocolate & Department Stores, as well as putting several other on request at my local library. Many thanks to Gail for leading me to these books, as well as for being an awesome writer herself!

Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos

Like me, you may have first encountered Simon's Cat on YouTube. If you are owned by a cat, you found those clips to be hysterical, and a fairly accurate reflection of life with a cat. The books followed, and I have to say I loved the first, but wasn't too crazy about the second one. Then I saw a listing for this one on Amazon. Something told me I wasn't going to be able to wait the 6 or so months before the print version would be out here in the US, so I broke down and bought it for my Kindle...and proceeded to laugh until I cried. Having watched my older cats adapt as younger ones joined our family, I can tell you that Simon got it bang on. I've been told that there are animated clips for this saga up, so now I'm off to YouTube to find them and laugh some more!

A Study in Sherlock

I believe it was my mother who got me started reading Sherlock Holmes. I checked out as many of Conan Doyle's books as I could carry home from the library. LOVED him, despite his flaws. (Cocaine? Bad, Sherlock!) As a result of my addiction, I have also read way too many Holmesian pastiches. As with other mythic characters (King Arthur, vampires, and werewolves come to mind), there are lots of good, well written stories/novels out there. There is also a LOT of sheer, deplorable DRECK. (Sherlock in Love by Sena Jeter Naslund- mercifully out of print and one of the many reasons I loathe the woman- is a prime example. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and don't)

Just when I was ready to throw in the towel, Mom struck again. This time it was The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R King. What an amazing read! (Come to think of it, I should post a review for that one) I love Ms King's explorations of Mary Russell and her quirky relationship with the great detective. So, seeing that she was part of this collection, I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did. The stories themselves vary in content. Some authors chose to feature Sherlock himself, others alluded to him. Some were set in the past, some in the present. I can honestly say I liked almost every story in this book, and it's given me a few new authors to try. The only story I didn't care for was the rather lengthy comic/graphic novelette one. I'm just not that into that style and it may be a good story- I just couldn't get into it.

Sweet Revenge- Andrea Penrose

Well! I read this in one delighted sitting. Combine several of my favorites- in this case, the Regency era, chocolate, and a thumping good mystery with an unconvetional heroine and a broody dark hero- and watch me be entertained! Arianna is a former young lady of Quality, living under an assumed name, disguised as a male French chef. Someone poisons one of her dishes at a party and nearly kills the Prince Regent. Saybrook is drafted to find the attempted murderer- and discovers Arianna's secret, well, one of her secrets, in the process. An attempt on her life makes them unlikely allies who now have to work together to find out not only who tried to kill the Prince, but who caused Arianna's father to lose his place in society and what exactly they hope to gain. The give-and-take battle of wills between them is entertaining, and the ending is not totally unexpected, but still satisfying.

Tom's Tweet by Jill Esbaum w/illustrations by Dan Santat

This was just as cute as it could be! Tom the cat thinks he's scored an easy snack when he finds a helpless little bird, but his conscience kicks in and he decides to do the right thing and tries to put the baby back in its nest. An angry Mama bird misunderstands and goes on the attack. Tom is forced to take care of the little one while he tries to figure out a way to get him back in his nest. Poor Tom finally gets his little tweet back home, only to find him on the loose again the next day. The illustrations were charmingly adorable, and the story is a hoot.

Get Away From Me With Those Christmas Gifts, and Other Reactions

I first stumbled over this little book as I was working as a shelver in the main branch of the New Hanonver County Public Library during high school. The title caught my eye and I had to take it home and read it. The title story as well as a chapter where Sylvia tries to recount how she came to create a recipe and one where she has a dialogue with the voices in her head while cooking are the reasons I have read and re-read it. Imagine my delight when I discovered that my library in Louisville has a copy! I make a point of checking it out once or twice a year just to keep it in the collection, in the hopes that someone else will find it the way I did! I can't find a cover illustration, but here are some images from when her writing was featured in Harper Magazine. (via Google images)

 

Ruby Red- Kerstin Geir

From Goodreads: Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!


Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential.

Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.
 
My opinion:
I loved this! Although I had figured out a few of the plot twists, I don't know what caused them yet. (I'm sure that they will be explained in the rest of the trilogy) Gwyneth and her best friend are a delight, her interactions with the school ghost (who doesn't know he's dead) are amusing, and her family is just plain baffling. She handles her unexpected ability to time-travel fairly well, considering some of the situations she gets thrust into. I'm dying to know what has created the schism in time-travel factions, and what Gwyneth's mystery power will turn out to be.

Poncho- Year One

I first came across this series a few years ago. Poncho is a funny little dog, and his interactions with the humans, cats, fish, and other dogs in his life are a hoot. Creator Paul Gilligan decided to go back and explore Poncho's origins, and I'm SO glad he did. You get to see his life from just before birth until he goes to live with his pet human, Chaz. The puppy sibling relationships are a scream- loved the Goth girl pup. Great addition to my collection.

Moon Over Soho- Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is back in this second installment of Aaronovitch's series, and all I can say is "More, please!" I'd swear he's writing these things just for me- set in London, featuring jazz and a biracial hero, with a healthy dollop of paranormal activity thrown in. All things I love, and well written, to boot! I liked the fact that a critically injured character from the first book still appears in the second, and without being magically cured of the damage she suffered. It's hard for Peter (and Leslie herself) to deal with the aftermath, but it doesn't get glossed over. Peter's mentor is also still suffering the effects of his injuries from Midnight Riot, and Peter is left with a great deal less superivision as a result. This, for him, does not prove to be an entirely good thing as he is faced with a man-eating woman (literally), several unexpectedly dead jazz musicians, and yet another woman who wants Peter for her own. Good stuff!

Midnight Riot- Ben Aaronovitch

From Goodreads:
The police career of techie Peter Grant was stuck in "pause" until a ghost whispered in his ear. The insights of this deceased eyewitness help solve a baffling homicide and bring paranormal Peter to the attention of his London Metropolitan Police bosses. What follows is a smoothly-paced supernatural procedural that is grounded enough to keep you guessing and strange enough to keep you amused

My opinion:

This was a fun read. The hero is a biracial police officer (not that it matters to the plot- just being biracial myself means I notice more when I come across a character that is) who meets a ghost while being stuck at a crime scene and finds himself launched into the world of the supertnatural while still trying to be a good police officer. He's transferred into the unknown-to-him paranormal police squad and begins to learn magic himself- all while solving the seemingly random crime wave in his area and settling squabbles among river deities. Add in a potential police officer girlfriend, a potential river deity grilfriend, and Molly the maid of unknown supernatural descent, Toby the dog, and an exploding cell phone, and you have quite an entertaining novel. Can't wait to start Moon over Soho- the next book in the series!

Ready Player One- Ernest Cline

From Goodreads:
At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed


My opinion:

I started this book at 1 a.m. thinking I would read for an hour or so until I fell asleep. I closed it at 4:58 and felt like I was saying goodbye to an old friend. Cline has created a frighteningly good portrait of what the world may turn into within the next 50 years. And while I'm not the avid gamer/computer freak that the characters in this book are, I knew enough to follow the story easily and try to decipher the challenges & clues that would lead them to the ultimate prize. The BOATLOAD of 80's trivia made me smile- I don't know how many times I sat up with a squeal of "Hey, I KNEW THAT!" Seriously good stuff

Rumble Road: Untold Stories from Outside the Ring by Jon Robinson

What fans see IN the ring is nothing compared to some of the antics OUTSIDE the ring. Although my days of running the roads with wrestlers are long over, it was fun to read the stories in this book and remember things I've seen and done. From travel woes (how on earth did some of them find places before GPS?) to pranks pulled (ask Chris Jericho about his deaf Fozzy fan), this collection covers everything and then some.

True story: In the early 90's, My friends and I were hanging out with some then-WCW wrestlers who invited us to come to the next show in Roanoke, VA. (We were at a show in Winston-Salem NC at the time) We got directions and drove up- it took about 90 minutes. 7 hours later the frantic show promoter comes knocking on our hotel room door. It seems he'd gotten a phone call from the guy I was dating. He & his tag team partner D were riding with another wrestler, Steve. My guy, M, & Steve had fallen asleep, leaving D to drive. D had the attention span of a gnat and no sense of direction, so of course he had taken a wrong turn. The others were asleep, and he left them that way thinking he'd figure out how to get back to where they were supposed to be. He didn't. M woke up at some point several HOURS (and miles) later, looked out the car window, and shrieked "Where the HELL are we?!?" Steve woke up when M started yelling, and they convinced D to pull over at the next gas station. They were in Charleston WV.  M refused to get back in the car with them- I had to drive from Roanoke to Charleston and get him. The other 2 waited for me to get there and followed me back. We barely made it to the show on time. Needless to say, D wasn't allowed to drive again for a LOOOONG time. I hadn't planned on going on the rest of that scheduled run with M (they had 3 more shows in VA & MD), but he begged me to stay and drive them. Since I was between jobs at that time anyway, I agreed. There are several more stories from that trip (ask me about Space Mountain sometime), but those will just keep until I write my OWN book. LOL