...oh yeah, it was my youth passing me by (okay, some would say it has already passed; to which I say: "Shut up!"). The proof that tipped me off to this sad state of affairs??

Well, I'm a Harry Potter fan...I believe I have mentioned before. Not a scary, psycho fan. Just a fan. More of the books than the movies but, all the same, I enjoy the movies. To keep up on all thing Potter-ish, I occasionally surf by The Leaky Cauldron (a repository for Potter-dom). Anywhoo, from previous visits, I knew Daniel Radcliffe was going to be appearing in a stage production of Equus in London's West End - but they had publicity photos in their galleries, peeps! OMG!!

Remember when Harry was young?



So when did this happen????



I'm just...speechless. Discuss amongst yourselves.

ETA: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be in stores July 21st!!

Labels: cuties, entertainment, pictures

I wasn't tagged but I've been a bad poster and I currently lack inspiration so I'm doing the latest MeMe. :-D

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?
I love them all but I'll admit paranormals hold a special place in my heart.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
MM if I can...but, since I lack patience, HB if I have to. TS just annoys me (although I have a few of those too).

Heyer or Austen?
Well, neither, really...but, if it has to be one or the other, I have actually read a Heyer (The Grand Sophy) and it was okay. I love the movies based on Austen, though. Am I showing my shallow roots if I say I prefer books to have sex? ;-) Traditional Regencies don't seem to have the same pay off as other romances set in the Regency period. Yup...shallow, that's me.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
If it is a bookstore, I'm there. Although, I will say I prefer BN.com to Amazon for books.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Well, we don't have Borders, exactly. Ours is still a Waldenbooks, so it would qualify as a Borders Express, I suppose. But I go to both...any bookstore, anywhere!

Woodiwiss or Lindsay?
Both, back in the day. Now?? Neither, really. Does Woodiwiss still write or has she passed away? I'll check and update. And the last few Lindsays I read were disappointing.

First romance novel you ever remember reading?
Gypsy Lady by Shirlee Busbee. Yikes! But before that there had been countless, unremembered Harlequins. :o)

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
In a perfect world, with plenty of space and time to maintain? Alphabetize by author. In my life? Originally alphabetized by author then crammed onto shelves so they don't fall off (as I add to my Keepers or re-read old faves).

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
Keep - if I love it or if I enjoyed it and it is part of a continuing series. Sell - everthing else. Throw away - never!!! Well, maybe if it was damaged beyond repair. But that's the only time!

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Remove it.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?
Neither. I made it to Blue Moon with Anita but I had to stop. I read the first Sookie book and enjoyed it...but not enough to read the rest, apparently.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks - and wow do I hate it when authors break a chapter right in the middle of a scene! Or scene breaks if I'm really tired or if it a book by one of those annoying authors I mentioned. ;-)

“It was a dark and stormy night?” or ?“Once upon a time”?
Once upon a time. :o)

Crusie or SEP?
LOVE them both! But SEP wins by a smidge.

Buy or Borrow?
Buy, almost always. My reading tastes don't coincide with my friends' very often so borrowing isn't often an option. And my library isn't convenient.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Yup. Reviews from people with similar tastes, recommendations from trusted sources and browsing in case anything fell through the cracks.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy!! A cliffhanger is okay for the (very rare) mystery I might read but that's it.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
In a perfect world (can you tell I don't live there??), any time is a good time! However, in my life, nighttime.

Series or standalone?
I'll admit, I loves me some series. But sometimes a good standalone is just the thing.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
I think everyone has heard of most of my faves. :o) But, a very old, early, early fave was a Harlequin (before they had all different kinds, even) called Every Wise Man, written by Jacqueline Gilbert.

Anybody else want to play??

*ETA* Ms. Woodiwiss is still alive and well. :o)

Labels: 2 cents, book stuff, meme

...for just a small





If you notice over to the right, under the "Patience is a Virtue" header, you'll see that the cover for Suz's next book Force of Nature is up! W00t!! You may recall that I am soooo looking forward to this book.






Okay, as you were. :o)

***Updated to add: Roll your cursor over the Cute Overload link on the left to see the cutest little kitty face ever to wear a knitted hat. :-D

Labels: book stuff, covers, squee, Suz, upcoming

Now, sure, you know I just was in the Mediterranean (not literally!) last fall (check the October archives if you haven't seen the pics)...but what's a girl to do when someone calls and says "Are we doing Hawaii this year or not?? I need to do Hawaii!"??? She starts planning a trip to Hawaii! I'll admit, at first I was kinda MEH about it but now I'm getting more excited. :o) We're cruising over - roundtrip from LA. Wheee! Has anyone done that? Tips and advice are welcome!

Maybe we'll see stuff like this:

Labels: meme, vacay

> What were the first items referred to as gadgets?

Now, you know I love me some gadgets!! LOL According to the trivia book sitting on my desk at work (and I'm at home so excuse any awkward wording):

> Gadget was first used in France in 1886 in connection to small, metal replicas of Statue of Liberty that were being sold in Europe to commemorate the big version. "Gadget" came from the name of the originator of the miniatures - M. Gaget.


See, don't you feel smarter already? :-D

In other gadget news - how do you like the SNAP thing I put on the blog (roll over a link to see what I mean)? Cool?? Or annoying?

Labels: entertainment, gadgets, linkage, web stuff, widgets

...that are still relevant and still moving, even 40-odd years later.

...I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

...I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

...With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

To read Dr. King's entire "I Have a Dream" speech go here.

Happy Martin Luther King day (on Monday) to those in the US.

Labels: holiday

Since I'm starting a 4-day weekend (w00t!), I'm in a bouncy mood. Apparently, that means I want to be snarky. LOL

I think we should play "Remember When" and wax all nostalgic and stuff...and if snarkitude ensues along the way, oh well. }:->



I'll go first -

Remember when the possibility existed that Elizabeth Lowell would actually finish a series before moving on to the next one?

Now, before someone gets upset, she was an early fave of mine. I loved (and still love) her early category westerns (unfinished series) and her sci-fi stuff (unfinished series) and her medieval series (again with the unfinished!). Are we sensing a theme?? *singsong* I think we are. */singsong*

I have made my peace (mostly) with the fact that these series will never be finished but it still annoys me when it pops into the front of my brain. Perhaps I'll blog in depth about it someday. Hmmm...

Anyone else want to play? You don't have to be snarky. :o)

Labels: 2 cents, book stuff, meme

Wicked cool!!

Wanna try it yourself?? Go here! Coolness found via the ever fabulous Tech_Space blog at USA Today.com.

Labels: entertainment, linkage, silliness, web stuff

...I wouldn't want to be left out or anything. :o)

In 2006 I read:

131 books (although this doesn't include ebooks or re-reads...so bump that number up by a good bit)
13 new-to-me authors (including some that are now on my must read list - like Nalini Singh and Anne Gracie)
57 contemporaries (28 of which were paranormal/fantasy)
51 historicals (29 of which were set in the Regency era)
14 category romances (amazing - this used to be all I read)
36 paranormals (assorted time periods)
15 books that I rated as excellent (including The Devil in Winter, Passion, and Much Ado in the Moonlight)

Hmmm...I must be in Cindy S's boat with the other paranormal sluts. Of course, I knew that about myself already but seeing number that back it up is something else.

I'm going to do better about keeping track in 2007. I used to keep track of the ebooks and re-reads and I'm going to again. Honest!

So, best new-to-you author you discovered in 2006? Mine (I get two...because I can): Anne Gracie and Nalini Singh.

Labels: book stuff, meme

...admidst all the furniture assembly and techno-stuff, I did get a good bit of reading done. :o)

The list -

A Man in a Million - Jessica Bird - very good; I loved Spike! A bit melodramatic but that's okay with me.
The Duke in Disguise - Gayle Callen - also good; she's one of my new authors I found in 2006.
Blame It on Cupid - Jennifer Greene - interesting take on the "OMG I inherited a child" plot.
Only a Duke Will Do - Sabrina Jeffries - it was nice to see this dangling storyline tied up.
Irresistible - Susan Mallery - good
Sizzling - Susan Mallery - better
The Unexpected Millionaire - Susan Mallery - good but I liked the first one better (and I picked up the third one today at Walmart).
On the Way to the Wedding - Julia Quinn - better than I expected after all the reviews I read.
Santa Baby anthology - Jenny's story was the best; the others were just okay.

Why so many Susan Mallery books? It just happened. I'd had Irresistible in the TBR for ages so I took it. Just before I left I ran across The Unexpected Millionaire (wow, would I like to really run across an unexpected millionaire!) and I liked the first book in that series, so I picked it up. And then when we were shopping after Christmas, Sizzling was on the shelves so I picked it up, too. I actually liked Sizzling better than Irresistible, by the way. Although, throughout the whole series she seems to be trying to deal with darker themes than she usually does (the evil grandmother, the abusive boyfriend, the sister with liver disease and the alcoholic mother)and I'm not sure it always works...they feel a bit contrived, somehow.

Anywho, it was a pretty good reading break overall. I did start to read Must Love Dragons but it didn't hold my attention so I'm putting it back in the TBR for a while.

Labels: 2 cents, book stuff, holiday, vacay

I don't know about anyone else but WOW am I tired!



I was only online enough to check my mail but thanks for the holiday wishes...I'll be surfing around checking up on everyone in the next day or so. :o)

Wanna know how I spent my Christmas vacation?? Putting together furniture, rearranging furniture, re-connecting computers and cable boxes and explaining the iPod to my (not-so-technically-inclined) mother. Yowza, am I exhausted and sore!

Conveniently, tomorrow is a Day of Mourning (for Gerald Ford) and, therefore, a holiday for federal employees here in the states - and that includes me!

Later!

Labels: holiday, vacay