Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Depressed and Reading!

I am so in the mood for old English mansions and stuffy manners and biting conversations! Yeah, been reading a lot of Victorian and Regency era English novels! Just finished “The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy” by Maya Slater. Loved it although at the end cool Mr. Darcy ends up love sick. But this different view on my beloved “Pride and Prejudice” was delicious, witty and amazing.
The Moon Opera” by Bi Feiyu was a sad little story. I’m not in the mood for sad and I didn’t enjoy it. But it is a well written story.
My so awaited “Branded by Fire” (Psy-Changelings, Book 6) by Nalini Singh was great. The story has so many twists and so many groups are competing for power that the love stories are losing the spotlight!
My best read this week: “Secondhand Spirits” by Juliet Blackwell was lovely, low key and entertaining. As I’m discovering the joys of vintage cloths and accessories, this book was the best thing I could read! A witch and the owner of vintage clothing store Lily Ivory is new in San Francisco and is trying to establish herself by finding new friends and her business by matching the right vintage to her customers’ aura. There is a demon loose and a child goes missing and a male witch is asking a lot for a little… loved the story! Only thing bad about the book was that the second one is coming out next year… I mean a whole year from now! Who can wait that long?!!
Visit Ms. Blackwell’s website and her weblog.

I have two psychology books but am not in the mood to finish them. Also a presentation for Friday which have to prepare power point for! And yes, I had two weeks to do it and still…

It’s summer for Christ's sake, who cares about presentations?!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Best authors ever

Remember how I loved “Hand of Isis”? Well, Jo Graham’s first novel, “Black Ships” is as good as her second or maybe even better (had a happy ending!). Gull is a slave-born girl in ancient Greece and she becomes Pythia or Oracle of Persephone the Lady of Death. It is twenty years after the fall of Troy and the remaining Trojans are looking for their enslaved kin, revenge and a new land to live. The story is enchanting, the characters strong, believable and lovable, and the plot is based on Aeneid by Virgil.
The second author I very much admired last week is Jude Morgan and I read her other three books as well. I wasn’t in the mood for sad and unhappy stories so I couldn’t enjoy “Symphony”(the story of an Irish actress in Paris) or “Passion” (three famous poet, four strong women, lots of heartbreaks). But “Indiscretion” was very much to my liking! England of Regency era, Caroline Fortune is a Captain daughter whom his father has bankrupted them by his gambling and bad investments. She seeks an employment as a companion to a very unpleasant lady and her adventures begin.
With or without you” by Carole Matthews was a humorous novel of self-discovery. But the whole time reading the book I had a feeling that the story is very familiar to me!
Playing James” by Sarah Mason was funny and happy and light, exactly suitable for a hot summer afternoon. A lady reporter is assigned to shadow a sour police detective and write a diary about day-to-day happenings of police life. The detective is to be married in six weeks and the reporter has a star athlete boyfriend but when photos of their assignments are published beside the diary people start to have much more different opinions about their relationship!
The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life” and “The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood” by Jane Buckingham were a waste of time. I had read much better guide books!
Am reading “The Last Standing Vampire” by Nancy Haddock. The previous book was “La Vida Vampire”. Francesca the vampire princess is living her life, enjoying her new house and her time with her boyfriend when a new vampire come into town and asks for help. Also Triton her childhood friend is somewhere in the neighborhood but is being very secretive and there is a slight chance that another childhood character is going to show up! What Cesca can do is keep herself from being shot at or staked.

I have to start looking for more books for the rest of summer. These days I can do nothing except find somewhere cool and read!