csquared's all around blog

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T00:44:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! RAWR!! ;-)

Happy MLK Day!

2012-01-16T15:26:00.003-06:00

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bad blogger says "Happy New Year!!"

2011-12-31T11:34:00.003-06:00

And Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! Jeez. My only excuse is that it's been busy. I'll do better!

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-10T23:13:00.005-06:00

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.
- G.K. Chesterton

Review up at TGTBTU - A Home by the Sea

2011-11-04T22:23:00.003-05:00

Go read it HERE!

Review up at TGTBTU - Heart of Steel

2011-11-03T21:16:00.002-05:00

Yay! So good! Go read my poor rambling attempt to say why! CLICKETY!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T17:53:00.001-05:00

I hope you get good candy! :-D

Review up at TGTBTU - Animal Attraction

2011-10-05T16:36:00.003-05:00

Go forth and READ IT!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Darkest Surrender

2011-09-27T18:38:00.002-05:00

Waddle on over and READ IT!

Happy Labor Day! And a whole lot more!

2011-09-05T20:58:00.004-05:00

First, a very belated Happy Labor Day to those who were lucky enough to have a holiday today. I do love long weekends! :)

Second, I've had some reviews post over at TGTBTU and I forgot to link to them so here you go:

The Bride Wore Scarlet review!

Canyons of Night review!

Once and Again review!

Go forth and read them, peeps!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Chase

2011-08-19T21:18:00.002-05:00

Zoooooooom on over and READ IT!

Review up at TGTBTU - Yours to Keep

2011-07-13T19:55:00.005-05:00

Go READ it!

Review up at TGTBTU - Demon Hunting in Dixie

2011-07-10T15:17:00.001-05:00

Swim on over and READ IT!

Review up at TGTBTU - One Magic Moment

2011-07-07T18:21:00.004-05:00

By one of my favorite authors! Go forth and READ IT!!

zoooooooom Fly-by holiday wishes!

2011-07-04T20:17:00.002-05:00

I've been on the road doing family stuff but...

Happy Fourth of July, American peeps!

And a belated...

Happy Canada Day, Canadian peeps!

Reveiw up at TGTBTU - The Sweetest Thing

2011-06-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

Click HERE!

Review up at TGTBTU - Just Like Heaven

2011-06-21T15:42:00.001-05:00

Go forth and READ IT!

Happy Father's Day!!

2011-06-19T12:52:00.002-05:00

Call your dad! Hug your dad!! Hug someone else's dad!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Darkest Secret

2011-06-18T19:20:00.001-05:00

Linkage here ---> CLICKETY CLICK!!

Review up at TGTBTU - Vampire in Atlantis

2011-06-06T18:47:00.002-05:00

You know what to do - CLICKETY CLICK!

Review up at TGTBTU - Dragon Bound!

2011-06-04T15:26:00.002-05:00

Have you read it?? No?! You totally should! Wanna know why? Go READ WHY!

Review up at TGTBTU - Guarding a Notorious Lady

2011-06-02T17:55:00.004-05:00

Go forth and READ IT!

Review up at TGTBTU - Kiss of Snow

2011-05-31T16:31:00.002-05:00

Check it out HERE!! SO GOOD!

Happy Memorial Day weekend...

2011-05-29T16:44:00.001-05:00

...to all the American peeps! Woooooo! Enjoy your long weekend!

Happy weekend to everybody else!

Vacay pics coming soon, I promise. :)

Review up at TGTBTU - Any Man of Mine

2011-04-25T19:31:00.002-05:00

Go READ it!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T19:37:00.002-05:00

I'm just...

No matter how you spend it...

or maybe...

No matter how old you are or how you look...

I'm wishing...

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Earth Day!

2011-04-22T19:45:00.002-05:00

Do something nice for Mother Earth this weekend, peeps!

Review up at TGTBTU - Sin Undone

2011-04-18T19:25:00.002-05:00

Go forth and READ it!

Review up at TGTBTU - Taken by the Prince

2011-04-04T14:43:00.002-05:00

Swim over and READ IT, peeps.

Review up at TGTBTU - Breaking the Rules

2011-03-22T17:09:00.004-05:00

So, for those of you who don't know, usually a new book release by Suzanne Brockmann is reason for dancing Snoopys here at zee blog. You may notice a lack of said Snoopys. :*(

Curious about why that is? Go forth and READ ALL ABOUT IT.

Review at TGTBTU - With Abandon

2011-03-19T13:18:00.002-05:00

Go forth and READ IT!!

The wearing of the green!

2011-03-17T19:49:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day, peeps!

Get your vote on!

2011-03-13T14:32:00.001-05:00

It's DABWAHA time, peeps! Head on over and fill in your bracket - CLICKETY CLICK!

It's finally that time of year again!

2011-03-11T19:20:00.003-06:00

Welcome, welcome, Daylight Savings Time!! How I've missed you! :-D

Spring is right around the corner, peeps! I am SO ready!

Review up at TGTBTU - Animal Magnetism

2011-02-21T17:26:00.002-06:00

I gave it an A! Go READ WHY!

Happy long weekend, US peeps!

2011-02-19T23:14:00.002-06:00

Happy Presidents Day!! Enjoy your long weekend, if you get one. :-D

Review up at TGTBTU - Dreams of a Dark Warrior

2011-02-16T15:17:00.001-06:00

Go forth and READ IT!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T02:49:00.001-06:00

I hope it's fabulous and you get lots of chocolate!

Review up at TGTBTU - Call Me Irresistible

2011-02-06T18:51:00.002-06:00

I had been waiting and waiting for Teddy's book. Wanna see what I thought?? Go READ it!

MLK Day

2011-01-17T14:04:00.002-06:00

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

SnOMG

2011-01-11T00:35:00.005-06:00

So most of you realize I live in the Sunny South where we mostly get cold rain or, occasionally, icky icy stuff. However, holy snowballs, peeps! Take a look:

So it begins...this is about 8 pm. Pardon the ugly curbie - he's actually a good frame of reference.

This is around 11 pm!

And Monday morning!

This is on my back deck as far out as I could reach, so the snow was actually deeper out in the middle. Yikes!

Officially the total was 8.9 inches, according to the airport. O_O

I have a couple of reviews up at TGTBTU, btw...

2011-01-04T17:59:00.003-06:00

I have been remiss in linking. Sadness and woe!

Go check out my review for Whisper Falls HERE!

And go check out my review for Eternal Prey HERE!

Oh! And go check out my review of Storming the Castle HERE! I almost forgot about that one. LOL

Wooooooo! See how productive I am sometimes?? It won't continue, of course. Heh.

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-31T21:05:00.000-06:00

Woooooooo! \o/

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T10:04:00.002-06:00

There are two Rs there, I promise.

Happiest of holidays, peeps! We have a white Christmas and everything is jolly - I hope yours is the same. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-24T21:57:00.004-06:00

Pffttt...don't pay attention to those guys. Rabble-rousers!

Ignore him, too...trying to get the sympathy. He's fine, obviously.

The cats might bear watching...

Wherever you are, whatever's on the menu - have a great day!

Hey, it's me again over at TGTBTU...

2010-11-19T17:17:00.004-06:00

Look at me, being all productive and stuff. :o) I reviewed Susan Mallery's The Best of Friends and you know you wanna GO READ IT!

Look! It's a review at TGTBTU...

2010-11-16T19:04:00.002-06:00

...by MOI! Go forth and READ IT, people! Oh, it's a review of Suzanne Enoch's newest - Rules of an Engagement. :o)

In remembrance...

2010-11-10T21:11:00.006-06:00

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Veterans Day!

And Happy Remembrance Day!

I don't talk much about my job (because it is so incredibly uninteresting) so you may or may not know I work with a lot of military folks - both current and former - so there is always a lot of discussion about supporting the soldier and a lot of gratitude for their service expressed at every opportunity. However I know that isn't the case for most people so, for those of you who don't have a lot of interaction with people in the armed forces, let me say that the majority are extremely dedicated, hard-working folks who are doing jobs most people would never sign up to do. So take some time this weekend to hug a veteran or two, peeps! And another minute or two to remember all those who have served that aren't around to hug.

Boo!!

2010-10-30T19:40:00.003-05:00

Did I scare you? Huh? Did I??? You can admit it... Never mind. I know you were scared. You can't fool me. :D

I love Halloween! Any holiday that focuses on candy is FULL OF WIN, says me. It could be that I have already sampled a bit of my candy cauldron's contents... *bounces from sugar high*

And, if Halloween is here, that means that the holiday season is about to kick in big time! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and then CHRISTMAS!! Suddenly I feel behind...

Where has the summer gone??

2010-10-10T22:24:00.005-05:00

My goodness, peeps, the holiday season is upon us. How did that happen?!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian peeps!

And Happy Columbus Day to my American peeps!

My mother is visiting this week so we will be spending Columbus Day touring around the local Parade of Homes. Then, later this week, we will stuff ourselves at the local "Taste of" extravaganza. Wheeeeeeee!

What have you been up to?

Hey another review posted at TGTBTU - All I Ever Wanted

2010-09-16T19:34:00.003-05:00

Look at me and my brief productive spurt! Woo. ;)

You know the drill, peeps! Surf over and READ IT!!

Review up at TGTBTU: One Reckless Summer

2010-09-14T14:40:00.003-05:00

Go forth and READ it.

Also, I am resolved to be a better blogger...because, really, could I be a worse blogger. I'll try to post more often, honest! Coming soon - Fall TV post. :o)

Review at TGTBTU - A Kiss at Midnight

2010-07-27T20:31:00.002-05:00

A twist on Cinderella, peeps! You know you wanna go READ IT!!

Review up at TGTBTU - Sugar Creek

2010-07-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Go READ IT!! :o)

Review up at TGTBTU - One Dance with a Duke

2010-07-16T21:40:00.003-05:00

Go forth and READ IT, peeps!!

Happy Fourth of July!!

2010-07-03T23:00:00.003-05:00

Today we had our big family get together and, along with the usual family fun, we had a baby shower for one of my cousins and his wife. Yay! Lots of cute baby stuff all over the place. :)

Also, to my Canadian peeps - a belated Happy Canada Day!! I was on the road and didn't get to do an on-time post.

Enjoy the holiday weekend, peeps!!

Review up at TGTBTU

2010-06-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

My review of Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake is HERE!! Go forth and read it, peeps!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T00:07:00.002-05:00

My dad doesn't read my blog - he's a technophobe - but he's the best daddy in the whole world! :o) Happy Father's Day to him and all the rest of the dads out there!

Critter pictures - finally!

2010-06-19T13:24:00.007-05:00

Yup, I'm forgetful. If Holly hadn't commented, who knows when I would have remembered. *sigh*

First up - moose! We saw lots of moose when we were in Denali National Park. Mostly grazing along near the side of the road. :)

Here's a picture of the state bird of Alaska - the ptarmigan. It's the only state bird that changes colors based on the season - white in the winter and brown in the summer (although some that live way north stay white). This one shows about where we were, season-wise. He or she was still mid-change. LOL

We saw several caribou, as well. They were less cooperative, photo-wise...they insisted on staying further up the hillsides. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

We saw several black bears while we were in the park, too. But they were much too far away to get decent pictures of. Even with binoculars they were hard to see unless they were moving. Also, they weren't actually black - the ones we saw were blonde. :) We didn't see wolves, darn it. But we did see snowshoe hares - they were too quick for me to get pictures but, wow, their feet are HUGE! And we saw some kind of special squirrel...arctic squirrel? I don't remember the name but they look more like chipmunks.

In my earlier post, you saw the grizzly we spotted and the whales and our seal. We saw several bald eagles, too. They're fast! And mostly kept their distance. Still, I like this picture - the sky is beautiful and Mr. Eagle is nice and clear. :) I think you'll see a bigger version if you click.

This concludes our wildlife tour of Alaska. Oh, peeps, you really should consider a trip there. So amazingly gorgeous! The pictures don't come close to capturing it.

Vacation pictures - finally!

2010-06-04T22:02:00.004-05:00

Did I mention that vacay was fabulous? Because it was! My expectations were low...I wasn't so enthused about going to Alaska. My mom picked - and the only reason she chose Alaska is because it was the only state she hadn't visited. LOL But it was sooooo beautiful! We were very, very lucky with weather, thank goodness. It was sunny every day and in the mid-60s/low-70s every day ashore. Everywhere we went locals kept telling us how lucky we were and what a good time it was to visit. :o)

So the beginning part of the trip was a few days on land at a couple of different lodges - one south of Denali National Park and one just north of the park (like right outside the park's gate, practically) - and then a (very long) train ride to our ship. We were told that Denali (or Mt. McKinley, if you prefer, both are acceptable...locals mostly just say The Mountain) is only visible about 20% of the time. It is really tall, you know...20320 feet tall. Whoa. So it makes its own weather and is usually wrapped in clouds. What did we see during our three days nearby?

Day 1:

Day 2:

It was really sunny and mostly clear this day too but it was hazy in the distance...there was a forest fire somewhere not too far away.

Day 3:

Awesome, right? Odds of seeing The Mountain three days in a row?? Really slim.

Next up, Hubbard Glacier:

It was chilly and breezy on deck but I didn't need a coat, just fleece and a scarf and I was fine.

Then Glacier Bay:

Again, fleece and scarf were all that I needed to be comfortable on deck. In fact, we ate lunch outside while we were sailing near the Marjorie Glacier.

There was a naturalist on board that was narrating from up on the bridge. She spotted a harbor seal floating on a small iceberg and told people to look for it by trying to spot something that looked like a sausage. LOL

Do you think her description worked? Do you see him? I think he looks like an eyebrow. :-D

Then we arrived at our first port: Skagway. We took a bus ride over into the Yukon first - gorgeous!

So there we were, cruising along on our way to a barbecue lunch, looking at all the pretty scenery when our bus driver/tour guide slams on the brakes and yells "Bear!" Yup, right along the roadside was a teenage grizzly. We scared him and he ran away but I managed to catch one picture of him. Yay! (Pardon the window reflection. I didn't have time to avoid that.)

After our bus ride and lunch, we rode a narrow gauge train over the White Pass back into Skagway.
The train:

A sample view that includes the engine!:

Next up - Juneau!

We visited Mendenhall Glacier first. It's, like, right in town or the suburbs, anyway. So weird!

Then we went on a whale watching cruise. What?! We went on a boat ride when we were on a cruise to start with? Yup. :-D There was a money-back guarantee that we would see humpback whales. And we did!

We even saw a whale face or schnozzle, at least!

Doesn't he look like he's smiling?

We also saw bald eagles and Stellar seal lions. And killer whales! The on-board naturalist said they only see killer whales about 1 of 9 trips out. And we saw two different pods!

We took SO many whale pictures, peeps! We all had cameras and the whales popped up so randomly and quickly that none of us were ever sure what kind of shots we were getting. I have to say we got a lot of pretty good ones. Lucky!

Our final port was Ketchikan. We did some shopping and went to a lumberjack show. The lumberjacks were disappointingly non-cute. :*( Then we went to Totem Bight State Park.

And did a city drive-thru tour. Here is a picture of what used to be the red-light district:

Isn't it cute?

And that was it. We sailed off into the sunset. :o)

If you're considering a trip to Alaska, I highly encourage you to go, peeps. Pictures can't compare to how amazing it was in person.

ETA: Crap! I was going to post pictures of the wildlife we saw in Denali National Park. We saw moose, caribou, more bears, and more. Have I pictured you out, peeps?

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-31T00:07:00.003-05:00

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In other news, I'm back from vacay and will do a trip post soon. Alaska was beautiful! Stay tuned, peeps. :o)

The worst blogger EVER!

2010-05-18T23:44:00.002-05:00

That would be me, peeps! I haven't even done a post about going on vacation. *sigh*. Well, I'm leaving today and I'm off to Alaska - my mom picked it because it's the only state she hasn't visited. :o)

I will be checking in over on Twitter when we're ashore. Otherwise check back in a few weeks for pictures and a full report.

Later!

Review up at TGTBTU

2010-05-12T13:18:00.003-05:00

I have crawled my way out of the SLUMP OF DOOM *ominous music and thunder* enough to write up a review of Rachel Gibson's Nothing But Trouble - go forth and read it, peeps!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-09T00:56:00.001-05:00

I spent Saturday shopping with my mom and my favorite aunt. :) My mom needed new luggage before we go on vacay in a couple of weeks so that was our main focus. We shopped from noon-ish til 9 pm...wanna guess when my mom found the luggage she wanted? Did you guess 8:45?? *ding ding ding* Then you are a winner! It's a good thing she's the best mom ever.

Give your moms a hug today, peeps! :D

Which should go in the "Patience is a Virtue" section??

2010-04-21T20:45:00.003-05:00

Take a gander at the fabulousness:

or

So, which should go in the "PiaV" section over on the right, peeps? The official cover (on the right, in case you were wondering) or the super-cool version on the left (from the creative mind of Bree)??

Also, if you haven't already read Skin Game by Ava Gray aka Ann Aguirre - why haven't you?? That's where you meet BatPunisherMan and get intrigued by his BatPunisherManliness.

You know you're curious, peeps. Go check it out! Do eeeet!

Most excellent news!

2010-04-14T21:29:00.005-05:00

So, according to a post I saw on Karen Marie Moning's Facebook account, it seems that ShadowFever's pub date has been moved from December 28th to December 7th. Yay yay yay!!!

Do you know how long I've wanted this book, peeps?? Since I finished DreamFever right after I got back from vacay last fall. All the Fever books are cliffhanger central, for those of you who don't know.

Wo0t!!

Guest post over at the Book Binge

2010-04-13T20:13:00.005-05:00

The ladies over at the Book Binge are spotlighting Suzanne Brockmann and you know I loves me some Suz, don't you, peeps. So, of course, when Rowena asked me if I would do a guest post the answer was a great big YUP.

Go forth and read my ~~brilliance~~ silliness, if you dare (LINKAGE). And check back in all month for other Suz spotlight stuff.

Maybe if we all think positive and clap our hands, Holly will change her opinion of all things Suz? Okay...nah, that isn't gonna happen. But the rest of us can enjoy ~~and torment her with~~ the fabulousness of Suz! :-D

Hoppy Easter!!

2010-04-02T22:53:00.006-05:00

Greetings from ye olde homesteade (aka The 'Rents house)! I hope everyone is having the same gorgeous weather we're having and has a fabulous Easter weekend.

I know I've been missing in action - you know how things build up because they have been put off and put off and put off? Yup, that's where things have been at my house. *sigh* However, things are slowly getting taken care of - take that To Do List - so I should be able to get back to semi-regular blogging (and review-writing, Sybs, I swears!) soon.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T11:39:00.005-05:00

An Old Celtic Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you—
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

More Irish blessings and prayers HERE!

A quick update

2010-03-14T12:33:00.005-05:00

I've been missing in action, I know. *hangs head* I'm still slumping, dang it. I have managed to read a little bit but still NO historicals. Grrrr. Mount TBR continues to grow, though...the slump can't last forever. Right?!?

In other news, I hope everyone remembered to SPRING FORWARD! I love Daylight Savings Time...once my system adjusts to the loss of that hour.

And I've been watching a good bit of basketball and will continue to do so, now that March Madness is upon us. Wheeee!

If March Madness is here, can DABWAHA be far behind? The bracket goes live this afternoon, peeps! Maybe this is my year?

See you on Twitter for the trash talk!

And still more!

2010-02-16T13:27:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I ignored President's Day since it fell right on top of Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. But today is Mardi Gras, peeps! Wooooooo! Show us your...LOL cats?

Please remember to party responsibly...think of the LOL cats.

:-D

Two for one!

2010-02-14T00:42:00.002-06:00

We've got a double holiday happening today, peeps! Woo hoo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

and

Happy Chinese New Year!!

It's the Year of the Tiger, if you didn't already know. Rowr!

Get out there and celebrate!

Groundhog Day!

2010-02-02T00:58:00.001-06:00

Think SPRING, peeps!

iWonder...

2010-01-28T19:32:00.006-06:00

So, unless you live under a rock, you know that Apple announced a new tablet computer they are calling the iPad. Umm...really?? iPad??? That's the best name some of the most creative minds in computer-dom could come up with? Fellas, I have two words for you marketing fail.

Anyhoo, poor naming aside, it's a beautiful thing:

Now, many in the media and the blog-o-sphere have been less than impressed with the iPad (bleh). And no I'm not linking to any of them...jeez, peeps, haven't I told you to embrace the Google? I think some people are focusing on it as a direct competitor to the Kindle a little too much. Apple never said they wanted to sell an ereader...yes, they are setting up the new iBooks store. Because, of course people will use the iPad to read ebooks - just like they use their Macs, MacBooks, etc. - and Apple does love to sell stuff to people so why force people buy their books elsewhere? Apple is all about ease of purchase. :-D Also, anything that opens up more people to reading ebooks is a good thing, says me. I mean, honestly, before the iPod came along, how many of us regularly downloaded music?? The possibilities...I seez them.

Anyway, back to iPad vs Kindle - I have no real desire for a Kindle. I'm sure it is an excellent reading experience and Amazon has made it very, very easy for people to buy books for their Kindles. However, I am leery of anything with a proprietary format - which is why I only get the free stuff for the Kindle app on my iPhone. Until I have a way to have a book I can read wherever I like (on my iPhone or on my MacBook or wherever I choose), I think I'll pass. And yes I know they say they are developing a Kindle for Mac desktop program...I'm sure the announcement of the iPad moved that right to the top of Amazon's to-do list, don't you think? Heh. I also think someone might manage to develop a setting that will somewhat mimic eInk. I'm not a techie so I don't know that it's possible but it could be and those crazy Apple folks might just manage it.

Moving on - I think the iPad is for people who want something more portable than a laptop but bigger than an iPhone (or whatever other smartphone). Something that will let them play music, view photos and videos, read books, surf and play games - and hopefully do more than one thing at a time, for crying out loud. I think the iPad will be excellent for travel. If Apple does One More Thing (tm Uncle Steve) - I want a full blown version of iPhoto on the iPad. If they can manage to put versions of the iWork programs on there (and yay that they did that!), they can also manage to put iPhoto there soon. I know there is a Photos app but it seems to be geared more toward viewing and less to importing, setting up slideshows, etc. - things needed if you're vacationing and taking lots of pictures. And you know I love me some vacay, peeps. :-D I know there are other things people would like - an iSight camera, for example.

Well, there's my rambling take on the iPad (gah!), peeps. I will be waiting to see what the early adopters say about the iPad. I'm not rushing out to buy one but it's going on my Christmas list. By then, there should be an update or two that should make me a Happy Mac.

Still teaching...

2010-01-18T17:06:00.005-06:00

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

...and we still have so much to learn.

2009 - The Year in Books

2010-01-07T15:06:00.007-06:00

Doesn't that sound impressive? Like, all official and stuff?

First, a re-cap - in 2008 I read 115 new to me books. Maybe. I'm not convinced...I didn't do a good job keeping track of all my ebook reading last year.

Now for 2009 - I read (as near as I can tell) a grand total of 124 new to me books. Woo hoo! I actually read more this year, maybe (see note above). Still, a lot of those are ebooks that were a bit shorter than the average paper book. And I didn't do a good job of keeping track of re-reads (I will do better on that this year). Also I've been in a new-book-reading slump since early November so that kept the total down, too. It could have been an awesome reading year...sto0pid slump. *mutters*

Anyhoo, let me break it down for you. First my top ten (I'm too lazy to link to anything - embrace the power of teh Google, peeps). These are in alphabetical order by author, since that's the way they popped up after I sorted my spreadsheet:

1. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
2. Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann
3. One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl
4. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
5. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
6. The Dark Tide by Josh Lanyon (the first time an ebook has made my top ten, I think, so wo0t!)
7. The Host by Stephanie Meyer
8. Faefever by Karen Marie Moning (ZOMG ZOMG!!)
9. Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning (ZOMG!)
10. Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
11. Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh

The ratings breakdown:
10/9 books: 11
8 books: 34
7 books: 54
6 books: 21
5/0 books: 4

Contemporaries read: 68 (practically all of the ebooks I read were contemporaries) and if I add in the category books, the total goes up to 74
Historicals read: 42
Fantasy/futuristics read: 7
Time-travels read: 1

If I break down those numbers a bit further -

Paranormals read: 20
Suspense/mysteries read: 5

Number of new-to-me authors I tried this year: 19! Impressive, yes? Some of the newbies - Ann Aguirre/Ava Gray, Katie Allen, Lauren Dane, Sarah Mayberry and Sydney Croft.

Author with most books read by me in 2009: Victoria Dahl. I read 5 of her books. Heh. I know she's proud. :-D

ETA: I had my Fever books mislabeled...which happens when you do a post really late at night AND don't read it. So tis fixed now. And Faefever had to get a double ZOMG for the cliffhanger. O_O Those of you who have read it, imagine me onboard a ship bound for Iceland and reading that ending in the wee hours of the morning...do you understand the double ZOMG?? I think you do. LOL

Happy 2010!!!

2009-12-31T20:07:00.003-06:00

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, fabulous 2010!

:o)

Twas the night...

2009-12-24T00:37:00.007-06:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Merry Christmas to all my peeps! I hope you have a fabulous holiday! :o)

Festiveness!

2009-12-14T20:36:00.007-06:00

So last weekend I met my mom and her sisters in Nashville at the Opryland hotel for some holiday fun. It was my first time seeing the hotel all dressed up for Christmas - WOW! We are talking serious decorations, peeps. I also did a bit of location scouting for the RWA 2010 attendees and tweeted my findings. ;-)

Check out some of the pics:

Umm...a river runs through it. Didja know?

There were bunches of huge trees but this was the only picture that didn't have tons of people in it, too. ;-)

The big main inside nativity scene - there was a much bigger one outside on the lawn.

Included in our package were tickets to ICE! - which was very cool (literally and figuratively). LOL This year's theme was Charlie Brown (the last few years it has been the Grinch). Amazing!

Popsicle trees!

The doctor is IN.

OOOOOoooooooooo!

My sweet babboo! With the ice slide behind him. My mom chickened out so I didn't slide either. Booooo!

Yup, a nativity made of ice, too. You can really see how they put the huge sculptures together when the ice is clear like this.

Anybody else been doing fun holiday-ish things?

Happy Hanukkah!

2009-12-11T23:36:00.002-06:00

:o)

A quick giggle.

2009-11-29T21:49:00.003-06:00

Want more comics? Click HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T23:03:00.003-06:00

Ignore these guys...

...they're just cranky.

I'm at the 'rents helping my mom get ready for the family gathering. She has decided no one needs as much food as we're going to have tomorrow but I say, whether we need it or not, it will be yummy! ;-)

I hope everyone has a fabulous feast! And to the ~~poor suckers~~ peeps who are shopping on Friday, know that I will think positive bargain-finding thoughts for you as I sleep in and then put up a Christmas tree.

In remembrance and thanks...

2009-11-11T11:47:00.004-06:00

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Hug a veteran today, peeps! They deserve it - we owe them a lot. :o)

Another review up at TGTBTU - The Earl Claims His Bride

2009-11-09T18:24:00.003-06:00

This one was a D for me, peeps. Can you imagine?? I'm so nice and easy going. ;-) You know you wanna READ IT!

Review up at TGTBTU - To Wed a Wicked Earl

2009-11-06T16:48:00.002-06:00

Swim on over and CHECK IT OUT!

Boo!

2009-10-30T22:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween, peeps! I wish you much yummy candy! :o)

Vacay pictures!!

2009-10-15T19:44:00.005-05:00

Since I couldn't take you with me, here are a few of the highlights from the cruise:

We left out of Copenhagen and decided to go a couple of days early. This was the view from the hotel:

Here's the Little Mermaid. Doesn't she look sad?

This is one of the lovely waterfront areas:

Next up - Oslo! This is part of the old castle:

We went to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Amazing!

And then we drove up into the hills. Here's a view of the fjord:

Onward to Scotland. I love Scotland!

We went to Glamis Castle - childhood home of the Queen Mother. So pretty!

And then to St. Andrews - where Wills went to college and they play a lot of golf. ;-)

Next port - Dublin. First we went to Powerscourt Gardens. It might look familiar...it's used in a lot of TV and movies. Gorgeous!

Then back into the city for shopping and more sightseeing:

The next day we were in Northern Ireland. We went out into the countryside to the Giant's Causeway. Fascinating, geologically speaking. Very, very windy!!

We also went by Dunluce Castle. The kitchen (and some of the kitchen staff) dropped into the sea sometime in the 1700s. Eeek! It's scenic, though. :o)

Then onward to Iceland. Not icy - but again very, very windy. Here's part of Reykjavik:

And here is the Blue Lagoon:

Our final stop was in Greenland. It wasn't green, exactly, but it wasn't snowy either. The population of this town: 3500. The number of passengers on the ship: 3044. Whoa!

We only saw a few small icebergs, since it isn't really the right time of year for them. The visible part of this one was about the size of a car, I'm thinking.

We were supposed to stop in Newfoundland but a bad weather forecast caused the captain to cancel that stop.

Since we had to be out of our cabins by 8:00 am and our flight wasn't until 1:00 pm, we decided to do an Everglades airboat ride in Ft. Lauderdale. Look who swam up to our boat:

So there you go, peeps. My vacation in a nutshell. I'll do a post with a vacay reading wrap-up and overall impressions of the cruise - for example, holy moly there were a lot of readers on this boat! Everybody had a book (or Kindle or Sony) in his or her hand pretty much all the time. Heh.

ETA: Let's see if I can put some very short video clips on here. First up, remember I said we missed our stop in Newfoundland because of bad weather? Well, we didn't completely miss the bad weather...here is a little bit of video I shot from our balcony after I could get the door open (the winds had us sealed in for a while) - so really, it was worse than this overnight, etc. If your volume is up, you can hear the wind get much louder as I turn toward the front of the ship. Wheeee!

And I mentioned our airboat ride thru the Everglades - if you've never been on an airboat, you should totally go. It's cool! And loud! Check out a brief bit:

I'm back!!

2009-10-12T00:49:00.000-05:00

And I promise to post tons of pictures as soon as I crawl over the mountain of laundry awaiting me. :-D

In the meantime -

To my American peeps: Happy Columbus Day!

And to my Canadian peeps: Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am OUTTA here! Woo hoo!

2009-09-20T12:34:00.001-05:00

That's right, peeps - it's time for vacation! So I'll be missing in action for a few weeks. Since I'll be at sea, internet access is painfully slow. We check our email but that's about all. I know you'll carry on fine without me but try not to have too much fun...or take embarrassing pictures, at least. ;-)

Hopefully I won't run into this guy...

...and this won't be an issue

...or this...

...and we won't run into...

...but running into this guy might be okay...

If you want to follow our route:

I'll see you in around Columbus Day, peeps!

Review up at TGTBTU - Beauty and the Duke

2009-09-17T17:46:00.003-05:00

What are still doing here? Go READ it!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Infamous Rogue

2009-09-15T17:24:00.002-05:00

Swim forth and READ it, peeps!

Happy Labor Day!

2009-09-07T00:28:00.001-05:00

May you celebrate by doing absolutely nothing. :-D

And now for something completely different...

2009-09-01T21:01:00.007-05:00

...enough of this bookish-ness (not that books aren't important) and stuff about my boring life (except vacay is coming - WOO HOO!). Let's talk about something even more important:

the NEW TV SEASON!!!

Wow, summer TV is nothing but bad. Pleh. The only thing worth watching was So You Think You Can Dance, says me.

But those long sad days of bad reality shows and reruns are coming to an end, peeps. And I, for one, say YAY!!

Some TV linkage for my peeps:

TV Guide's full fall schedule can be found HERE.

A calendar of season premieres can be found HERE.

Now let's talk about what I'm looking forward to ('cause, you know, it's all about me)...I can't wait for GLEE to come back full time! The sneek peek that aired after the American Idol was such fun! :-D If you have an iTunes account, you can download the GLEE cast's cover of Kanye West's Gold Digger for free right now. You know you want to. Also, this Friday, they are re-running the pilot and the cast will be tweeting along over on Twitter. I'll try to find a link about that later...I read it somewhere online yesterday. Fox is also re-running the Fringe finale this Thursday, supposedly, and the cast will be tweeting along during that, too. Follow @FringeOnFox to read along. However, my cable guide says some football preview is on this Thursday. Maybe that's just local? Yup, I checked...it's a local game. Ah well, I'll be on the road anyway.

What other new shows am I looking forward to, you ask? (I'm not linking everywhere because I'm lazy and the TV Guide pages have done part of it and Google is your friend) FlashForward looks very good, I think. Both because it sounds interesting and because Joseph Fiennes and John Cho are in it. Heh. Lovessss Joseph Fiennes! And John Cho is a cutie. And I'll be checking out Vampire Diaries, although my expectations are low. That's it for the new stuff I'll be setting the DVR for while I'm vacationing.

But what about returning faves, you might be wondering...well, So You Think You Can Dance is coming back for a Fall season, so YAY! And I'm looking forward to Dollhouse's return, as well as Castle (Nathan!!), Fringe, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and a few more shows.

What about you, my peeps? What new shows are you excited about? Any returning faves you can't wait to see? Don't be like this guy...

ETA: This is what happens when you post while under the influence of cold medicine. Don't do drugs, peeps! Heh.

Review up at TGTBTU

2009-08-21T12:55:00.003-05:00

My review of Julie Anne Long's Since the Surrender is up.

:o)

I know it will be hard to tell...

2009-08-20T23:16:00.002-05:00

...since I'm the world's worst blogger, but I'll be missing in action for the next little bit. My mom is coming on Friday and will probably stay the week so I'll be distracted. And probably sore from playing Wii games - my mother is a cutthroat player, FYI.

Try to stay out of trouble while I'm away, peeps.

Review up at TGTBTU

2009-08-18T19:18:00.002-05:00

Wanna know what I thought of Stephanie Laurens' Mastered by Love? Sure you do!

I have the bestest cyber-friends in the whole world!

2009-08-11T21:14:00.004-05:00

Look what Ames gave me (and other really cool peeps) today!

Awww...I feel so special! ((((ames))))

Now, who shall I share the love with? I believe Stacy and Holly should be awarded, too. They're a couple of my favorite peeps! :o)

The countdown is beginning!

2009-08-10T16:21:00.004-05:00

Yes, soon it will be vacation time - well in a month and a half! Woo hoo!! \o/ The reservations are made, the excursions are booked and the packing lists are in progress. Say it with me, peeps: C2 must pack light! C2 must pack light! C2 must pack light! *sigh*

Anyhoo, if anyone has any must sees for Copenhagen or Dublin, let me know. Those are the only places we will have enough free time to seek out stuff on our own.

Help out a library!

2009-08-05T21:50:00.004-05:00

In case you haven't heard, the Louisville Free Public Library had severe flood damage earlier this week. Shiloh Walker is heading up a book drive to help them out. Surf on over to Shiloh's blog and find out more!

csquared's all around blog

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy MLK Day!

Bad blogger says "Happy New Year!!"

Happy Veterans Day!

Review up at TGTBTU - A Home by the Sea

Review up at TGTBTU - Heart of Steel

Happy Halloween!!

Review up at TGTBTU - Animal Attraction

Review up at TGTBTU - The Darkest Surrender

Happy Labor Day! And a whole lot more!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Chase

Review up at TGTBTU - Yours to Keep

Review up at TGTBTU - Demon Hunting in Dixie

Review up at TGTBTU - One Magic Moment

*zoooooooom* Fly-by holiday wishes!

Reveiw up at TGTBTU - The Sweetest Thing

Review up at TGTBTU - Just Like Heaven

Happy Father's Day!!

Review up at TGTBTU - The Darkest Secret

Review up at TGTBTU - Vampire in Atlantis

Review up at TGTBTU - Dragon Bound!

Review up at TGTBTU - Guarding a Notorious Lady

Review up at TGTBTU - Kiss of Snow

Happy Memorial Day weekend...

Review up at TGTBTU - Any Man of Mine

Happy Easter!

Happy Earth Day!

Review up at TGTBTU - Sin Undone

Review up at TGTBTU - Taken by the Prince

Review up at TGTBTU - Breaking the Rules

Review at TGTBTU - With Abandon

The wearing of the green!

Get your vote on!

It's finally that time of year again!

Review up at TGTBTU - Animal Magnetism

Happy long weekend, US peeps!

Review up at TGTBTU - Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Happy Valentine's Day

Review up at TGTBTU - Call Me Irresistible

MLK Day

Top ten of 2010 posted over at TGTBTU

SnOMG

I have a couple of reviews up at TGTBTU, btw...

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey, it's me again over at TGTBTU...

Look! It's a review at TGTBTU...

In remembrance...

Boo!!

Where has the summer gone??

Hey another review posted at TGTBTU - All I Ever Wanted

Review up at TGTBTU: One Reckless Summer

Review at TGTBTU - A Kiss at Midnight

Review up at TGTBTU - Sugar Creek

Review up at TGTBTU - One Dance with a Duke

Happy Fourth of July!!

Review up at TGTBTU

Happy Father's Day!

Critter pictures - finally!

Vacation pictures - finally!

Happy Memorial Day!

The worst blogger EVER!

Review up at TGTBTU

Happy Mother's Day!!

Which should go in the "Patience is a Virtue" section??

Most excellent news!

Guest post over at the Book Binge

Hoppy Easter!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

A quick update

And still more!

Two for one!

Groundhog Day!

iWonder...

Still teaching...

2009 - The Year in Books

Happy 2010!!!

Twas the night...

zoooooooom Fly-by holiday wishes!