I have a cold

It really sucks. I feel so out of it. So today was mostly spent sleeping and reading and watching tv. And man, I stink despite having taken a shower last night. At least the new couch is comfy. And Gambit likes it since he can see out the front window better.

It's really not my fault at all

Ay yi yi....this trying to post more thing isn't really working well.

Nick's been not feeling well lately, which sucks. At least he's really good about it, but I still feel bad for him.

I have been reading, but haven't finished something in awhile. Just have a bunch of books going at once. Hmm...what are they? Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (surprisingly good and not something I ordinarily read), Aunt Dimity's Death by Atherton, Demon in the City by Liz Williams (started just today after a B&N trip and impulse-buying), edited by Esther Friesner, and I think something else. I had also been reading Chicks in Chain MailGil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez, but I finished that today.

Also had my second allergy shot today. Went well, although the nurse almost didn't do it since my peak flow was down from the other time. Well hell, I don't exactly know what my numbers are supposed to be in the first place, so maybe that one time before was some freak thing. Anyways, guess I'll start knowing those numbers since I have the check it each visit.

Oh, and besides the Liz Williams book (it's all Michele's fault), I got The Electric Church by Somers (and that one's all Lili's fault) and then the first C.L. Wilson book (and THAT one is all Jane's fault). So really, I can't be faulted for plunking down close to $40 on an unplanned Barnes and Noble trip on only THREE books. Really, I can't. See, Nick?

Concert tonight

Going to a concert tonight featuring Seether, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace and Skillet.

Fake It by Seether:


Pain by Three Days Grace:


Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin:


Ahhh....can't wait. Oh...had my very first allergy shot today. Or rather, my first three since I get two in one arm and one in the other. Ooph. And this goes on for about 9 months, then to every two weeks for who knows how long.

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas



When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan. Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter….


Ahhh.....I really enjoyed this one. I liked Amelia and Cam and thought they did well with each other. I read some other reviews that complained about the number of characters in here that seemed like sequel bait, but I honestly liked it all. I suppose I just like family romances as I really liked the scenes with Amelia and her family. The romance here is also great, at least it was to me. Now, there's no way Cam can avoid being attached to people as Amelia comes with quite the family. It'll be good for him.

I also liked some of the mysteries that were started here and also, I supppose, started in previous books, such as Cam's tattoo of a Pooka and what it will mean. And Merripen was quite the interesting character and I loved his scenes with Win. Honestly, I liked reading about all the characters. And the scenes with some of the Wallflowers coming in was great, too.

All in all, a great romance from Lisa Kleypas once again.

a fuzzy tailed tree rat



Snapped this pic in my front yard when I got home from running errands.

You know you want one





It's Shirt Yeti!
I've got the Godvila one and the Shirt Yeti one. Very cute. It's a small company that some guys at work started. And today, for Columbus Day, the shirts are only $14.92.

Weregirls: Birth of the Pack by Petru Popescu



When sixteen-year-old Lily Willison and her friends Nikki, Arielle, and Grazia start up a girls’ soccer club and name their team the Weregirls, they soon find themselves drawn into a battle between good and evil. Lily’s father, a supernatural guardian, makes contact with Lily after his death and reveals that she has magical powers—as do her friends.

As the girls learn more about their powers, they inadvertently awaken the Breed, sworn enemies of the Weregirls. To fight the Weregirls, the Breed Master calls upon Lily’s soccer rival—the rich, conceited, and arrogant Andra Hewlit. Desperate for powers of her own, Andra will do anything she can to destroy Lily and the Weregirls….


Birth of the Pack is a rather fast-paced YA fantasy. I found it quick to read, although perhaps a bit shallower than I'd hoped. The name the girls pick for their soccer team is from stories that Lily's father told them. But those stories were not just fables, but instead were real and very relevant to the girls' lives. Then we have Andra, whose parents are quite rich and thus she's a spoiled brat and wants Lily's power for herself.

I don't really want to give any spoilers away, but will say that this is not a werewolf book. More magic than anything. I found it to be rather average, but it's a quick read and not a bad way to spend an evening.

The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen



Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. . . .

Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.

To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the next victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his next lethal opportunity.


The Bone Garden is much different than any of the previous Tess Gerritsen books that I've read. Most of the action and mystery are set in the past, making this more of a historical mystery than the usual police procedural/medical thriller that one usually expects of Gerritsen. Yet I think she really got it to work. It was fascinating to see how truly bad medical conditions were at that time. I had known about a lot of the information that is shown, but Gerritsen brings it to life in a way that the few medical history books I read failed to do.

There's also more romance mixed in than usual and it adds to an interesting touch at the end of the book that sort of truly connects the past to the present.

If you've liked Tess Gerritsen in the past, I think you'll like this one. it's definitely different, but I liked it. And of course, I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next.

Oh, Maura Isles makes a cameo appearance, but that's the only link between this book and the Isles/Rizzoli series.