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Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong is third in her Women of the Otherworld dark fantasy series. Paige Winterbourne was supposed to take her murdered mother's place as the leader of one of the most powerful covens of witches in the US. She is also supposed to be the foster mother and guardian of a powerful young orphaned witch named Savannah Levine. The girl's father is unknown, and her mother a notorious witch of dark powers. But her coven considers Paige to be too young and unconventional to lead them - and powerful people wish to take Savannah from her by any means necessary, to turn her to the service of evil...it will be all Paige can do to allow both herself and her young charge to survive, when nearly every hand is turned against them other than the werewolves and one young and untried idealistic sorcerer named Lucas Cortez.

Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong is the fourth book in her Women of the Otherworld dark fantasy series. Paige Winterbourne, her lover Lucas Cortez, and their young charge Savannah Levine, are trying to make a new life for themselves in Portland, Oregon. But Lucas's past is about to catch up with them. He belongs to the family that runs a Cabal - a supernatural circle of families so corrupt and powerful that they make the Mafia look like child's play. An unknown person is brutally murdering the children of Cabal employees for unknown reasons. Paige and Lucas decide to solve the mystery to save the lives of innocent youngsters, though they must work with the evil and corrupt Cabals to do so. Lucas and Paige both have a lot of growing up to do, if the two idealistic young adults are going to survive both the savage murderers - and the Cabals Lucas and Paige are trying to aid.

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong is the fifth book in her Women of the Otherworld series. The first two books featured Elena Michaels, a werewolf. The next two featured Paige Winterbourne, an idealistic young witch. Armstrong takes a big leap with this one, and takes a dead dark witch as her main character. Eva Levine was murdered and is now in the afterlife. But she is obsessed with constantly checking up on  her living daughter, the young witch Savannah Levine. The Fates take a hand when they give Eva a job - tracking down a demon who has been spending the last couple of hundred years possessing a series of living women, and using those women to create mayhem and murder. Along the way, Eva must learn how to get over obsession and addiction and must face some gut wrenching decisions, if she is to complete her mission.

Broken by Kelley Armstrong is the sixth book in her Women of the Otherworld dark fantasy series. Elena Michaels, a werewolf, is pregnant and being coddled to death by her pack. She is an active tomboy sort of woman, and this is driving her nuts. So when a half-demon commissions the pack to steal a letter supposedly written by Jack the Ripper from the grandson of the thief who had in turn stolen the letter from British authorities, Elena talks her way into joining the mission. But the letter contains a portal to the past, and Toronto is quickly being filled with diseases such as cholera, killer zombies, and a vicious murderer from the past. Elena, her packmates, and their friends must find a way to seal the portal before the murderer and his zombies find what they are seeking for - which appears to be Elena. Fun story about the complications of what happens when a wish for a more interesting life come true.  ;-)

Tags: Kelley Armstrong, Women of the Otherworld, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken

more books read

Someday I will catch up with this, though probably not this weekend, as Steven has a soccer game tonight, and a soccer tournament near Lansing all day tomorrow...

Dark Prince by David Gemmell is the second half of an historical fantasy duology that began with the wonderful Lion of Macedon.  Prince Alexander, young heir to the throne of Macedon, is kidnapped to the Greece of an alternate Earth, where he is intended to be a very special human sacrifice. On this alternate Earth, mythological creatures such as centaurs still exist, and the ruler is a very evil version of King Phillip. The Greek general Parmenion must travel to the alternate world to save Alexander and return him to this one. But even if Alexander is saved, who will save his soul from the evil chaos spirit which wants to rule and possess him - and through him, the entire world? Gemmell is a master (if not THE master) of historical fantasy, and this is a well written conclusion to a very satisfying duology about the origins, birth, and life of Alexander the Great.

Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer is a sweet tempered, high spirited Regency romance. When young Lord Sheringham is turned down by the woman he has been courting, he vows to marry the first woman he meets. (He wishes to marry so he can break the trust that holds his fortune until he either marries or turns 25). The first "woman" he meets turns out to be his childhood playmate, Hero Wantage, only 16 years old, and looking to escape an unhappy childhood where she was orphaned and taken in by relatives who use her as a servant. The two of them see marriage as a means to him gaining his fortune, and to her making an escape from an unhappy life that does not involve marrying an elderly parson or having to become a paid servant. They think that he can go on like nothing has changed in his life, and that she can have fun tearing around London. After many innocent spirited but dangerous escapades, they both have to mature, and learn to take responsibility both for themselves and each other.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong is the first book in a dark fantasy series called Women of the Otherworld. Elena Michaels  seems to be a happy and well adjusted young woman living in Toronto. She is a reporter, and lives with her kind architect boyfriend. But she has a huge secret - she is a werewolf trying to pass herself off as a human. When her former pack finds itself at war with rogue werewolves, she is called back by her former alpha, Jeremy Danvers, to help out. While in upstate New York, while in great danger as a result of a werewolf war, she has to confront the reality of who and what she now is - and confront her feelings about the beloved and hated man who had deliberately bitten her, as a horrible and unforgivable act of love. How can you forgive and/or forget something that is literally unforgivable? How can you move on from something that has such a huge impact on your life? How can you get past a profoundly life altering event filled with so much love, hatred, rage, and passion?

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong is the second book in her Women of the Otherworld dark fantasy series. Elena Michaels is now living with her werewolf pack. While on a mission for her pack, she is told that a mysterious organization is stealing away members of supernatural species. She herself is kidnapped and hidden away at a top secret base, to be the subject of scientific experiments. While trying to escape, she meets and befriends (or makes enemies of ) a variety of supernatural people also being held prisoner. Whenever a subject is considered useless, or whenever someone manages to escape, they are hunted down and killed with guns and dogs as a form of sport. But the evil multimillionaire who owns the base has met his match in Elena...

Tags: David Gemmell, Dark Prince, Georgette Heyer, Friday's Child, Kelley Armstrong, Women of the Otherworld, Bitten, Stolen

continuing my project (getting caught up with books read)

A couple of busy, bad nights at work and home...I will try to make a more in depth post tomorrow...

In the meantime:

The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert

This little novel was originally published in 1968, three years after the classic Dune. And it shares a couple of big ideas with that novel, though this one is set in current (1960's) day rural California. A researcher from U-Cal Berkeley named Gilbert Dasein travels to a very isolated community in rural California called Santaroga. He is being payed to do research there, but his real motive is to meet the girl from that community named Jenny, whom he once knew at college, and with whom he is deeply in love. Santaroga is a very independent place, where they produce their own food, where outside food and drink is not allowed in, outsiders are not allowed to buy homes there, and researchers seem to have a way of ending up dead. And anyone who leaves to join the military or go to college ends up going back.

It turns up that there is a naturally occurring substance that gets into the food that alters the body and mind, and is ridiculously addictive.

Like Dune, here Herbert explores the effects of a community wide addiction to a naturally occurring super drug...

Tags: Frank Herbert, The Santaroga Barrier

I have the house (and computer) to myself!

And since I have the house and computer to myself, I think I will try to get started on getting caught up with the books I have read in the past couple of months. And thereafter, I will try to type up things as I read them...

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn

This is a Regency romance set in England in the 1810's...Miranda Cheever is only ten years old in 1810, when she falls in love with her best friend's older brother. The years are not good to Viscount Turner. He falls deeply in love and marries a woman who is not kind to him (to say the least). By the time Miranda is old enough to try to engage his affections and romantic interest, Turner is an angry and embittered widower. It takes everything Miranda has to redeem Turner, and not only capture him, but to eventually turn him into a thoughtful mate.

While I have enjoyed many of Julia Quinn's books, I am not so sure about this one. Turner was a little too bitter and nasty for me to even understand why a woman would want him, even if she has had a crush on him for years. I also did not find his redemption completely believable. I think she made him into too much of a jerk...in a romance you have to root for the hero and heroine to get together, and in this book, I was hoping Miranda would find a nice man (any nice man) to hook up with other than Turner.

A Lady of Expectations by Stephanie Laurens

A Regency romance, set in England. Jack Lester (newly and secretly financially enriched) is looking for a wife. She has to be beautiful, kind, and be a good conversationalist. She also has to overlook Jack's supposed poverty, and want him for himself. When Jack meets Sophie Winterton, he knows that she is exactly the perfect mate for him. But there is one catch - Sophie believes that Jack is poor, and refuses to marry him so that he can go out and catch an heiress. Sweet and cute story about a man who loves a woman who perhaps loves him a little too much.

Sleeping With the Fishes by Mary Janice Davidson

Fred is a mermaid who has a degree in marine biology and works at the huge New England Aquarium in Boston. She is also hilariously cranky. When a pollution problem presents itself in Boston Harbor, she becomes involved in finding the source of the pollution, helped by a gorgeous human marine biologist, and a gorgeous merman prince. I am getting increasingly weary of love triangles in paranormal fiction, and was pretty happy that this triangle was not what it first appeared to be!

The Green Brain by Frank Herbert

This is a science fiction novella first published in 1966, one year after the classic Dune. One of the big themes of Dune is, of course, ecology. In The Green Brain, Herbert explores ecology in another setting - the jungles of a future Brazil, on Earth. In this future Brazil, the humans are trying to eliminate all insects in an effort to decrease disease and increase food production (they will keep some bees around to pollinate the crops). Needless to say, this is an ecological disaster in the making. And the bugs find a rather unique way to fight back - they develop a group brain that is every bit as bright (or brighter) than the humans. But the Green Brain does not want to fight a war with humans - it wants to find a way to communicate with them, and get them to stop the destruction of the ecosystem that all life depends upon.

Herbert has some really interesting ideas here, but the short length of the work prevents him from fully developing them. He also does not fully develop the three main characters (a Brazilian who fights the bugs on the front line, a beautiful Irish entomologist who also acts as a seductive spy, and a Chinese scientist who helped eliminate insects in China with very bad results). I was particularly puzzled on what the Chinese man's motivations were, as he knew what happened in China was a disaster, yet still pushing for the destruction of insects in Brazil.

Tags: Julia Quinn, the Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Stephanie Laurens, A Lady of Expectations, Mary Janice Davidson, Sleeping with the Fishes, Frank Herbert, The Green Brain

the last few days

Bill did not come home for the weekend. I think he is off with his friends from college having fun, so that is fine, though I do miss him! But Parent's Weekend will be coming up later this month, so I will be able to see him then.

On Friday Steven had a soccer game in Monroe. Dan and I followed the directions on the high school web site, and the directions took us to St. Mary's Catholic Central - but the soccer field is not at the school, as the school is in the middle of the city of Monroe, and there is no room for a field there. So Dan and I drove around Monroe for nearly three hours before giving up and coming home. When Steven finally got back, we asked him where the field was, and he said it was out in the country in the middle of nowhere, and was very hard for even the bus driver to find.

So that was frustrating, but...at least we tried. Took Steven out for dinner after he got back, so hopefully that made up for it a little bit.

On Saturday I took Steven school shopping. We got him some clothes, a backpack, and basic school supplies like pencils.

Yesterday I worked, and will also work today. This is one of my major holidays to work this year.

Weirdness happened last week at work, and I still do not really comprehend what happened. A few weeks ago a shirt vanished from my locker. At the time, I felt a bit violated and annoyed that someone had gone into my locker and helped themselves. I put in an email to my department asking that the shirt be returned to my locker, no questions asked or identities needed. Well, on Thursday night, a MALE friend and coworker of more than ten years admitted he had my shirt. Needless to say, I find it more than a bit creepy, and I am still in shock and have no idea of what to think or do about it.

Joanna Carl's The Chocolate Jewel Case

I've read a few books I should blog about as soon as I have time, but I will do a quick entry about this one, as it was lent to me by a friend and I will be returning it tomorrow.

The Chocolate Jewel Case is the seventh book in Joanna Carl's mystery series called Chocoholic Mysteries. You can find the author's website at http://www.joannacarl.com.

I really enjoy this series of little mystery books set in a little Lake Michigan resort town somewhere near Holland (I always think of a combination of Saugatuk, Douglas, and Grand Haven). The stories are pretty enjoyable, and they are short enough to read in a couple of days, even when you are busy (I believe they are all under 250 pages).

The main character is Lee, a woman raised in Texas who moves to Michigan to live with her aunt and help her aunt run a gourmet chocolate shop, following Lee's divorce. So Lee is out getting a second chance at life, and tries to make the most of that chance. And - she solves mysteries when they arise at the shop or in the small town.

In this particular book, Lee has been married to her second husband for some three months. They are living in the long time family farm house, about 100 years old, old fashioned, and rather small.

And - most horribly for a pair of newlyweds - they have no privacy, because they have been inundated by long term house guests. There is an older aunt in one spare room, and two teenaged girls in the other. They have a guy staying on their porch. They have another guy staying in the yard in an old camper. Only one bathroom. They are having a bad heat wave, with very high humidity, and no air conditioning. The house has no soundproofing, so if anyone in the house moves or talks, everyone knows it. There is even only one television, and everyone wants to watch different things.

And then the mystery begins with a man who has been dead and buried for decades knocking on the front door. And then it goes on to include murder and jewel thieves! All sorts of crazy stuff happens - and most of it a lot of fun for the reader!

Tags: Joanna Carl, Chocoholic Mysteries, The Chocolate Jewel Case

lost week

Most of the last week is lost in a cloud made up of "tired".

I left work a couple of hours early on Wednesday night, and slept about twelve hours, and slept a lot on Thursday and Friday nights, too, and am finally starting to feel better.

The one thing that sticks out was getting a mammogram on Tuesday morning, and that went well. Thankfully, those are nowhere near as unpleasant as gyn exams.

Oh, and the weather. We had a lot of rain and wild storms this past week. Last night there were a lot of tornados and flooding in the greater Detroit area, but nothing too bad in the immediate vicinity. Most of the tornados were in the counties to the north of us.

Bill seems to be fine down at Ball State. Steven had his first high school soccer game canceled on Wednesday, as the field was too flooded for them to play on it.

Dan and I were both tired most of the week. I am hoping when Dan and Steven get home, we can go out to dinner tonight. I got a lot of house cleaning done today, and as a result am in no mood to cook tonight.