Libwitch

Local folks:

We will not be taking all items with us when we move, including my grandmothers dining room table. Which is solid wood, in good condition. The chairs are not as in good condition as the table, alas, but they will not be dropping anyone on the floor, either. Its roughly 41 inches wide.

Sorry for the bad pic, but I can not *still* find my camera.

For the record, I think it does have a small extension in the middle, but I can not find it. If I ever do at any point find it (if I do find it, it is somewhere here, and it will resurface when we move), you will get it.

I am thinking $40 OBO. Buyer arranges for it to leave.

Please feel free to pass this forward. This post is unlocked.



Edi: Called for.

Wow - for Terry Pratchett fans, it has been an awesome few days:
* a tv mini series of Good Omens (with collaboration with NG, of course) was announced.
* another CityWatch novel is at the copyeditors.
* efforts to bring a CityWatch tv series to the screen is underway.

Now, of course, the question is to those of us in the US is availability - since Prime Focus is the producer of both tv series.

But still, may I have a big HUZZAH?! I thought so.

27. - 29. Soulless, Changeless and Blameless books 1-3 of Alexis Tarabotti/Parasol Protectorate series. I have no regrets buying these books twice (one in paper twice - the first copy which went out on a happy journey around the metro DC area; the second two in ebook; then all three in paper) because they were just as enjoyable in a second reading. And I suspect, will be whenever I go to read them again - as I am sure I will. Gail Carriger crafts a highly enjoyable group of characters and breaks what could be just another bland supernatural fantasy novel by blending them in the moral.. dangers of Victorian society; with just enough steampunk elements to keep it interesting.

30. For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink from China and Changed World History by Sarah Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very well-written an interesting narrative that explores the surprising role that tea had in international commerce and international relations - particularly its ties with the East India Company, and the British Empire.


While it is difficult for anyone with even a passing knowledge of history to NOT know that tea played an defining role in the British Empire, this book explores how complex tea helped fuel the Opium roles, create some of the fastest clipper ships to ever sail, and ultimately, help finance - and eventually help cause the downfall - of the largest and most powerful corporation in the Western world. And how one extraordinary gardener led one of the most world-changing acts of industrial espionage known - and reshaping tea cultural as we known by transplanting out of the control of China and into India, directly into the control of the British Empire.

Fascinating story - and I have been looking at the all my loose leafs teas a bit differently now. (Ah-ha Assam! You are quite not what you seem, are you?)



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24. A Discovery of Witches: A Novel by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I think I was expecting far more going into this book. The writing was a mix of both decent and overly explanatory and disjointed - the latter traits which interrupted the flow of the prose.

The plot was...nothing all that great. It would have been better had it stuck with the premise that it originally opened with - that there was alchemical text that held the secrets of all four species of humanity, and she was the one with the power to open it for the first time in hundreds of years.

Instead, the plot meanders off into a very bad attempt at a romance. I won't go as far to say its inconceivable if you want to believe in a storyline that lays out a fate thousands of years in advance - there is something sort of creepy about that anyway - but the dialogue and the attempts at working the romantic angle in is just not well done; and reads like a 4.99 seasonal romance special.
This is a book that can't decide what it wants to be - a mystery with a romantic subplot; or a supernatural romance with a mystery subplot. It ends up not managing at either well.

25. Grimrose Path: book 2 of the trickster series by Rob Thurman. (3 stars)

26. After Hours: Tales of the Ur-Bar. (4 stars). Edited by Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier.

16. Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Storm Front vol 2 Maelstrom HC by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It is difficult to take a novel and translate it into graphics well - they did an admirable job here, managing to catch the crux of the story and the dialogue and keep the action moving nicely. Mostly, the illustrations serve to keep the story moving along nicely and support it well, as opposed to distracting any reader who might be familiar with the characters already.

17. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some of what is in here might be a revelation; some of it might just be confirming what was already suspected. But either way, this is a very enlightening book how the food industry - including restaurants and advertising - have changed our eating habits for the worse. Not only what we put on our plate, but just as importantly, how much.
Wansink shares in a very readable - and at a times - humorous - way the findings of his food lab (and others across the nation) - that study why people choose to eat (and not to eat). His point is clear - our waistlines expand because we often eat without thinking. Once we are aware of this behavior, we can use to our advantage and start eating thoughtfully as well.

18. 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jane appears to be on the verge of starting a great new life - after a chance meeting in Paris, a fabulously wealthy american sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind romance and takes her back the US to live with his family in the ancestral home.

Some difficulties are to expected, surely. After all, even though Jane, even though being as US citizen, hasn't lived in the US since she was a baby. And living with your inlaws is likely to have some tensions. She underestimated the tensions when she realized she was marrying into the family that is being watched by every social page in higher society.

And her mother in law seems to want to control everything she does - and is determined to keep her as isolated as possible from anyone not in the family. Included bizarrely, her husband to be.

Complicating things is the recently revelation that Jane seems..to have a knack for having all sorts of things go haywire when she gets upset. Being told that she is a witch doesn't really help things.

Good writing and strong characters save this from being a book easily lost on the shelf. Recommended as a good winter pick me up or to place in TBA as a beach read.

19. Burn Notice: The Fix by Tod Goldberg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A surprisingly well done tv adaption - it captured the feel and the characters of the show very well. Some of the internal dialogue provided a bit more insight into Michael Weston as well, which is good touch.



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8. Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Hiasssen spins a tale of spoiled celebrities and mistaken identities, ending with an amusing and adventure filled novel.

Ann, an aspiring actress, spends many of her nights (and some days) posing as Cherry, a post-Disney-esqe manufactured pop star. Well, at least on the many occasions that Cherry is far too stoned or drunk out of her mind to walk or talk herself. The pay is at least decent and the life is not that bad, even if her role is largely unacknowledged.

Its all pretty good until a crazed photographer kidnaps Ann, thinking she is Cherry - and Cherry becomes increasingly out of control of her handlers.

Through in the mix some parents who refused to admit that their daughter has a drug problem at all; a bodyguard with an unique way of handling those same problems; and an ex-governor who might either be the most insane person in all of Florida - or perhaps just very sane - the celebrity set of Florida may never be the same.

9. A Fountain Filled With Blood: A Mystery by Julia Spencer-Fleming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


At the start, this unfolded with much of the same promise as the novel in the series. It opens up a few months later, with the relationship between Clare and the Police Chief unsettled. The town of Mills Kills is unsettled as well; with a new resort being built on the outskirts of town corresponding with a rise in PCB levels in the water supplies.

And then there is a beating of the towns' medical examiner. And quickly after that, another. It appears that there is someone who is attacking gay men in the town.

****

In the first book, Clares' role in the investigations was somewhat plausible - there was a reasonable explanation for her getting involved, for staying involved, and her emotional attachment that pushed past any reasonable judgment was reasonable.

In this book, the line of being pushy/involved and really crossing the line to "interfering the investigation to the point it would get thrown out in court" is crossed very early on. And she pursues it to the point that the reader is left to wonder why, precisely, she is still keeping her robes and just not joining the force. And at the end of the book, she moves into full superhero mode - in a way that is only slightly believable, and again, shows an amazingly lack of judgment on her part.

The relationship between her and Ross also moves forward at a fast forward pace - for a man who is worried what the townspeople think about their relationship, he does incredibly odd things; such encouraging her to meet his mother.



10. Thicker then Water (Felix Castor, book 4) by Mikey Carrey

11. Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


A cute read about the typical teenage angst - a new stepdad, moving away, trying to fit into a new school, social cliques, and cute guys.

But the whole thing is just a lot messier when everyone at school happens to be descendants of gods, with the powers that go with it, except for you.

Not any big surprises or twists here, but probably a nice read for any tween interested in mythology.

12. Angel: The Crown Prince Syndrome.

13. Spike: The Devil You Know by Bill Williams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


My gosh, sometimes the illustrations of this - especially of Spike - rendering him completely unidentifiable, which is a shame because the storyline was great.



Unfinished Reads

14. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I wanted to enjoy this book, since the plot is a classic and when it is well done it often a rich and complex read.
The characters' had potential, I admit, but the writing was awful. It was so dry and ponderous that even skimming it, I was wanting to fall asleep.

The author seemed to be unable to understand that points can be made and even driven home with endless repeating. Instead of underlying obsessions with sex and desire and sin, it made me feel like I was reading a self-published novel about the dangers of porn.




15. Madame Bouvary Gustave Flaubert.

7. Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book did have Martinezs' trademark humor laced throughout, but there was something fundamentally disturbing about the basic premise - that gods (all gods) have basically went corporate and commercial; and all relationships between gods and humans are policed by the Divine Affairs Agency.

Phil and Terry, a typical suburban couple, get fed up at what they missing out on without a god to back them so after hours of going through the god dating site they pick a god.

Who moves in with them. And neglects to them that he is in a centuries old war with an off-the-book god of death and chaos, putting them right in the cross-fire.

On one hand, it is great humorous book; and on the other hand, the book makes you think a bit about our relationships with religion.

8. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Claire Fergunson, a newly ordained minister, takes her post an hour north of Albany - and less then a month on the job, she is confronted with a newborn infant left at her church steps.

Her problems that she was dealing with - trying to serve a closed and conservative community - are quickly compounded as she is faced with a wall secrets as she tries to determine who the child belonged to and what connection they had to her church.

Personally, she struggles with a growing attraction to the towns' married police chief; and struggles with trying to acclimate to the harsh winter - and the sometimes less then friendly locals.

What makes this story; even more then crimes involved is the details that Fleming places in creating her environment and characters. It adds texture and and depth to this story that elevates it to a fantastic read.


9. Body Work by Sara Paretsky

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was...disappointed, which surprised me, because I normally really enjoy the V.I. novels. It failed on three points:

* The plot was simply implausible. There ended up with three distinct storylines that came together on one central character; and it was simply a stretch.

* There was way too much moaning and groaning about her aging. I appreciate it when an author acknowledges that a character is aging; it adds a nice touch of realism to a long-running series. But this was just boarding on morbid. Think the latter Lethal Weapon movies.

* There was a fair number of misspellings/grammer/factual and continuity errors that showed both that author and editors were simply sloppy. Inexcusable. I don't care how strong of an author Paretsky is; you don't let stuff like that slide. It annoys readers.

Oh, and Paretsky? On NCIS: Timothy McGee would be the one going through the paperwork and financial, not Abby. Geesh.




10. Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Hodder does a great job in twisting historical characters into something different in this alternative-universe, time travel, historical fantasy. It is full of adventure, and certainly full of nice steampunk elements.

But frankly, the writing and overall plot was just sort of messy, and there wasn't enough there to keep the readers attention.



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We just finished watching the second season of Leverage - and we are on pins and needles for the next season to come out on DVD. Its such a damn good show. The season finale was very good - not only because it finally had both Sophie and Nate admitting that they actually needed each other, but the dynamic between Nate and Sterling is always interesting (and both actors are fantastic). It was particular gratifying to see both Nate and Sterling come to completely different places in their realizations over what Nate is.

Now, if they would only go back to the Parker/Harder dynamic.....I am hoping they do in season 3.

Anway, I just have some reading news to catch up. Then its back to the exciting world of homework! Wheeeee!

Recently Read:

84. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is a pretty good read for fans of his Percy series, or for fans of Greek and Roman mythology in general. As the book opens, Jason finds himself on a bus full of kids from a Wilderness School, all who clearly know him, but he is painfully aware that he has no clear idea who he is or what he is doing there.

As the series progresses, a pattern rather familiar to those that have read the Percy series emerges - an attack by monstrous foes; saving by a satyr, and the revealing of of his god-heritage (along with his friends, who of course, go on the Oracle-reveled quest with him). Since the book opens up a mere few months after the Percy series ends, many familiar faces appear in this series as well - and they are well woven in, as opposed to making jarring pops in at out.

Despite some of the similarities with the Percy series, The Lost Hero provides enough unique twists and turns along the way to keep readers interested. The blending of Roman and Greek mythologies along the way provide an interesting layer of reading as well, but might be a bit confusing for younger readers.



85. Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Well, this book certainly covered a great bit of territory - zombies (multiple types!), porn stars, Slims' parentage, and what it means to be human.

Oh, and lets not forget lots of Lucifer face time - including his future. Yes, that Lucifer.

It was, perhaps not surprisingly, a bit darker then the first book. But still, a great read.

86. Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Butchers' short stories are just as fun to read as his full novels, and this book provides a good range of his writing - some of the stories are action packed, good fillers between the novels (his latest, Aftermath, is a good example). But most have a great sense of humor that runs through them.

All of them are well worth reading for any Dresden fan

87. Ghost of a Chance by Simon R. Green

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


With this book, Simon R Green has proven, without a doubt, that he is unable to right contemporary urban fantasy that does not extend beyond his Nightside and Hidden Secrets series. I applaud him for trying to create a story line that is distinctly more realistic then the above...but in the end, he resorts back to his same horrors that lurk in his other better known, and much better written series.

The concept has some potential, I admit. But the characters lacked any development and were horribly flat; the dialogue could have been lifted from any of his earlier books; and the dangers they faced were...well, see the above.

Simon, you hit an area you can't write in - please stick to your other series. Or go back to straight fantasy. Just don't inflict this on us again.

88. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight by Brad Meltzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Wow. This was...interesting. To say the least. I don't think too many people can say they honestly F&%^$# their way into creating another universe. But you know, Buffy has always been special that way.

So, let me see if I can sum this up, because I think I have the story outlined thus far:
*Zander is now with Dawn. Buffy has came to terms with it. Willow had an "thank goddess they finally realized they were in love with each other" moment

*Twilight had launched an all-out military war against the Slayers, who had given up all their magics to stop the same from following them. The war was not going well. Then they called up three very large primordial goddess up to kick ass. They didn't really stop to think if the said goddess would listen to anyone.

*Riley was serving as a double agent in Twilight to help the slayers.

*Oh, by the way, this was all happening in Nepal. With Oz and his wife and baby. Cuz Oz rocks it.

*Powers came back to everyone. Somehow. Buffy ended up with superpowers. Well, super super strength and speed and...she can fly. Dude. And so, her and Willow kicked the goddesses back underground.

*Eventually, Buffy figured out that she was not gaining superpowers as much as she was gaining the powers of all the dead Slayers. Minor freakout.

*Then she got in a fight with the major player of Twilight. Who was....

**drumroll*

*Angel

*Who was doing this all - starting a worldwide war against all the slayers so that Buffy could gain superpowers because if she reached supernovaSlayer level then somehow the two of them could create a Twilight/new world era of their own. (See Twilight is a heaven type place!)

*Which they proceeded to do. By having sex. By flying. Through a mountain. And causing major weather pattern disruptions. And earthquakes.


*But when they created their twilight, they created hell in their reality by allowing *all* the demons to come through.

*Buffy was a little pissed Angel left that part out. So she went back to kick demon ass. Angel went with her.

*In the middle of the battle, Spike showed up to save the day.

And so, vol 7 ended. You bastards! Right when Spike showed up!

89. All Clear by Connie Willis

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book suffered terribly from the "muddle in the middle" syndrome. The beginning was ok, the end wrapped up everything up fairly nicely; and middle was a fairly painful mess of competing story lines and way too much going back and forth about time travel theory that was all pretty badly explained -- or just simply whined about. The end saved it some what, but only if I tried really hard to forgot a large part of the rest of it.

It was a frustrating read because the first book was so well written.

90. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale by Joss Whedon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was well worth the wait - while the tale in some ways is sparse, it provides just enough back story to solve the big question - what did Book do before he became a Shephard?

The set up of the book - starting from when the ship attacks Haven and going backwards to the earliest years of his life - allows the story to unfold for the reader slowly, with each page providing a new surprise.

I have always thought that Book was one of the more interesting characters in the Firefly universe - not only because he provided a moral compass without often bringing a higher power into the equation to the Serenity crew - but because he was written with clear caring and thoughtfulness by a man who is a stated atheist. It takes talent. ( spoilerCollapse )



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80. Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Oh dear. I was really hoping that given a slightly different universe, Evanovich could manage to actually produce a decent book again. Instead she took one of her few fun characters left and plopped him into an entire remake of Plum's universe, complete with a supporting cast of characters that was an exact duplicate of Plum's.

81. Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn. Excellent, as always.

82, (private title)

83. Dexter Is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a refreshing jolt to the Dexter series - it had a humor and energy that has been lacking in the last few books. It was also fantastic to see Dexter starting to acknowledge that his attempts to move around as a normal human is not working as well as he thought it was.




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78. Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Griffin continues the story of Matthew Swift with just as much spark and drama as what was in the first book. The book opens with Swift being knocked down - left for dead, really - when he picks up a randomly ringing phone on a streetcorner in London. One would think a greater sense of self-preservation would prevail over the electric blue angels in the matter of answer phones, but...

And before he can really figure out what is going on, he has spectres after him, the city Alderman accusing him of murdering the Midnight Mayor, and apparently, has been made the Midnight Mayor himself. Much to his surprise and the obviously disappointment of the Alderman and pretty much everyone else in the city. And all of this because he chose to walk in the shoes of a missing kid. Swift just wanted to find the kid, and help his mother, who he viewed as a friend.

Griffin once again weaves a fantastic and complex story that captures how alive a city can be - and just how much power such living brings with it. This story also begins to explore a bit more how the sorcerer names Matthew Swift has begun to make piece the electric blue angels that also lives in his body, and how he not only has an appreciation of the power they bring, but also the price that he pays for that power.

This series and its weavings around what makes London leave and breathe really brings a whole new layer of urban to the genre of urban supernatural.




79. An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How many ways to Bablyon?

The exploration of childrens' rhymes, old myths, and songs having truth and power to them in literature - particularly when it comes to the fae - is not new. But I can not remember any story that weaved that theme into a dark tale quite this well.

Toby, changeling PI and Knight, knew it was going to be a bad day when her own Fetch showed up at her doorstep. I mean, its not like any of the tales her mother ever told her really explained the etiquette of dealing with the being that is supposed to walk you through the Neverlands when you die, did they?

Then when she finds out in quick order that fae children have gone missing through the night, and it is clear that they were taken to ride the Hunt - it seems pretty clear that this one assignment that she will not come back from.

It is with the help of one of the FirstBorn - the fearsome seawitch herself that still promises to kill her - and a candle that Toby must make it to the realm of the Lord of Hunt. It is her faith, and recall of childrens' rules and games that will let her win the children of fae back. For the Lord of the Hunt, Blind Michael, rules in the realm of children, and uses their terror against them. Most difficult for Toby, she must learn that the rules that she learned as a child may not apply for her, because she is only an adult playing their games. She must do the hardest thing of all for her - relying on those that love her on the other side of the fae realms.

This book picks and tears at childhood fears, and challenges readers to remember what seemed to protect you as a child and keep you from harm.

This series has been, from the start, a well crafted series that introduces the fae realm in a modern setting a very fresh and interesting way. It fantastic to see that as the series progresses, layers of depth and growth keep getting added to it, instead the characters getting stagnant.



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Ebrary starts an open access databases on breast cancer: http://bit.ly/cWjAu0

Because I know that there are far too many folks here that have been (or will) effected by this. The more you know...

Accessibility and ebooks: http://bit.ly/dkeXbY. Everything you ever wanted to know - particularly for those in academics.