Late Christmas Present

I did it.  I finally broke down and bought a Nook, which I'm considering as my late Christmas/early just-because gift.  I've even got John interested in trying it out once he saw a few freebie Winston Churchill books.  The version I bought is the simple Wi-Fi base model, but now I'm wondering if I should've gotten the Wi-Fi/3G since I have to have a Wi-Fi connection  to download any purchases I make while home here on the computer.

While I won't pretend to be all that is smart and techno-savvy, I have successfully bought, downloaded and (get this!) transferred two Carina Press books over to Veronica (my Nook's name - it fits her personality).  And while I was at B&N today to get them to help me register the blasted thing (yeah, I threw myself at them and cried Uncle.  Again, I'm not the smartest geek out there.), the cute clerk showed me how to buy and download anything I wanted while in-store.  So, yeah -- now I have the new Jill Shalvis, Animal Magnetism, and An Invitation to Sin, the new antho with Jo Beverly, as well as Fatal Affair by Marie Force and The Bartered Virgin by Chevon Gael from Carina.  I even have a small list of freebie Nook books "purchased" so I can see if they'll download at work tomorrow night on the hospital's Wi-Fi.  I finally get to see if all the hype about RJ Silver's The Princess and the Penis measures up (bahahaha!  Yeah, I went there).

Stay tuned for further Adventures of Amy and Veronica...

A Royal Pisser

So, yeah...  There's no love in Staple-ville.  *sigh*  John and I trekked out today for my doctor's appointment and subsequent staple removal, only to be met with a sign on the office door that the Office Was Closed, Open Thursday and Friday.  Umm?  No phone call?  No, 'hey, Ms. Amy?  Your appointment for this morning is going to have to be rescheduled for later in the week because the entire office staff lives wayyy out in the boonies and therefore cannot be expected to be into work because We Can't Get Out Of Our Driveways'.  Well, ain't that a real mood killer.  These bastards (the staples, not the office staff - although they were temporarily on my shit list) are driving me crazy, itching, and I want them out NOW!  But I'm nowhere near as inconvenienced as the two other patients who each drove over 45 minutes from outlying towns, braving the "Bad Weather", to make their appointments.  Oh, have I mentioned THAT THE SNOW IS NEARLY MELTED AND OUR ROADS ARE CLEAR??  School is even back in session...

But I'm not bitter... 

Anyway, the appointment is rescheduled for tomorrow and now I'm back to pacing the apartment, wringing my hands, trying to pick another book to read.  Last night I finished up Lisa Renee Jones's SANTA, BABY, which means I read an entire book in one day.  Go, me!  If you count back from last Wednesay, January 5th, I've read FOUR FREAKIN' BOOKS (well, 3 books and a short story) and I'm totally rockin' this reading upswing.  It's about time.  Santa listened.

I'll have to write up a review for SANTA, BABY because I was pleasantly surprised by it.  It didn't start off good for me because I felt zero connection with the heroine at first.  And, if I'm honest, I feel like there could have been more oomph to her characterization.  But the hero rocked my socks and really saved the book for me.  I mean, seriously, hawt!    

So if I do the math, I can delete one book from my ebook TBR and I've already added the three completed paperbacks to my Paperbackswap trade list, but I'm coming in heavy on the incoming list.  Y'all, besides that trip to BAM last weekend for my birthday, the one in which I got 5 books, I also placed an eHarlequin order over the weekend, AND I just carried in two bags of categories that one of the girls at work gave me so I "have something to do while I'm recuperating".  Bless her heart.  She's a great friend, but she's never seen my Mt. TBR.  But there's some reissued Betty Neels books (never read her before), as well as some December '10 Silhouette Desires and Harlequin Romances in there.  Normally I would've put those back in the UBS trade sack, but I really got a taste for them after finishing Jessica Hart's UNDER THE BOSS'S MISTLETOE.  Maybe I need to mix in some more CEOs and sheikhs into my reading to jazz things up.

Hmm, maybe a CEO or sheikh would've MADE the doctor come in today to remove my staples, instead of just blessing him out on the phone.     

And Then He Kissed Me...

So, John took me out on a late lunch date to our favorite restaurant right down the road.  It's been a gorgeous day, clear skies with not a cloud in sight, temps ranging in the 70s -- just perfect SC spring weather, right?

And then he proposed.

And once I picked myself up off the floor and stopped crying, I nearly screamed hell yes!

So, yeah -- it's been a good day, Tater...   

LONGING: Review - February YOTH Challenge

In a bid to thin out some of my TBR (*laughs hysterically* yeahright, like that will happen), I've resorted to reading some of the older titles that I've had for years. Yeah, we're talking books written back in the early 90s, and some even in the late 80s. I've reviewed two of them here on Ye Olde Blog. Now, since I am a child of the 80s and graduated high school back in '90, I never thought that I'd classify some of these books as old, or even older. But, hey...whatever, they're showing some age, and I've missed out on some winners with my hoarding tendencies. Some of Mary Balogh's older romances top that list.

For my February Year of the Historical challenge, hosted by Kmont, I chose LONGING by Mary Balogh. (and yeah, I'm still playing with how I want to type out book titles in the blog)

Sian Jones had been to Briain's finest schools, but manners and French lessons did not erase the stigma of being a lord's illegitimate daughter. Perhaps she would have been content among Welsh ironworkers, her mother's people, had not Alexander, Marquess of Craille, arrived to run the mine he inherited.

When the widowed Alexander came to live with his small daughter in turreted Glanrhyd Castle, the welsh poverty shocked him. But a greater jolt came from meeting Sian and the kiss he took before she could draw away. He asked her to be his daughter's governess. But neither pretended that was all he wanted. Even if Sian fought the desire between them, she could not stops the love that was drawing them together...or the passions that ignited beyond denial...

My first thoughts when I got through the beginning chapters of LONGING was that it was going to be a slow, dismal read, that maybe I should choose another historical romance for this month's read. I'm just being honest. But even back then, Mary Balogh had a knack for just making things work; it wasn't long before I was over half way through the book, eager to finish the book. The poor Welsh people under Alex's care may not have had wealth or possessions, but they truly had what was important -- family, strength, verve, and an innate talent for music. He comes to Wales as an obvious outsider, and it's not until he spends time with them that he realizes what he has been missing for years in England -- a sense of belonging. When he meets Sian - or actually, catches her spying on a Chartist meeting in the mountains -- he's at odds as to how to deal with her and is sure he'll never see her again. Erego the kiss...

And just like it usually happens in romance books, she turns up when he least expects it.

The title LONGING not only describes the Alex's physical pull for Sian, or the attraction she quickly denies for him. It's an apt description of what they have both done all of their lives -- longed to be part of something, community, family, love, whatever -- and never realized it until they spend time together. Sian has tried to carve a niche in the Welsh town of Cwmbran, always thinking she was an outsider due to her illegitimacy. It's not until it's almost too late when she realizes that most of her neighbors have always considered her as one of them.

LONGING is both raw and beautifully written, and once I was done with it I realized that I've done myself a serious disservice by not reading it sooner. Is it a keeper? Not sure since I'm not much into holding onto books when I'm finished these days. It's definitely a book that hallmarks the qualities in Balogh's writing that stand out today.

There is a smidge of violence in the book, although I'm sure it is nothing that will shock anyone's sensibilities these days. According to this version of Chartism (link provided above for just what that is), people would do a lot to force workers to join the Chartism movement -- even beatings and whippings. Scotch Cattle was one such group, and no, they're not the cute, furry bovines that I decorate my house with. I really truly wanted to believe that at first. And when I continued reading of the lengths they'd go to, my PC feminist hackles were all up. But it's a story, and one that depicts the desperation of coal workers in Europe back then for fair treatment, higher wages, and better provisions. Think 19th century Welsh Teamsters...yeah, Jimmy Hoffa would've been proud.

(I'm totally digging the links today...)

Sunday This and That

Not a whole lot going on around RomLand this weekend, or at least none that I've noted.  Well, I did hear of the whole shebang with some college hoosiwhatsit writing up an editorial about judging romance books by their covers, but I guess we just have to consider the source.  Immaturity rears its ugly head, as well as lack of finesse and a better idea for this infant's college paper website.  Seriously, was that all she could come up with?

I'm hoping to finish up The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent today.  It's a review book, so I won't be able to post a review here until the site is updated.  It's suffice to say that I'm literally racing through this book now that I'm on the homestretch.  I don't know why it took me so long to get through it, honestly.  It's a riveting telling of a French woman who flees France for England and builds up a doll making business in her new country.  Since it's set not long before and leading up to and during the French Revolution, of course there's much drama and real history in between.  But the story's good!  Plus, the book also features Marie Antoinette, who I have a small fascination with.  (*mental note* Must check into some books at the library on her.)

On that same note, John and I have taken to going back to the library.  A couple weeks ago, I reupped my card since I'd lost my original one and John got his own.  We've only been there twice so far, but our last trip did net me The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner, Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown, and Hester Browne's Little Lady, Big Apple.  I'd provide links, but I'm just...well, lazy today.

Oh!  I almost forgot, one of my favorite Disney classics -- oh ok, it's probably my most favorite Disney movie -- Beauty and the Beast is being re-released to DVD and Blue Ray this fall.  It's supposed to hit iMax theaters sometime next year in celebrating it's 20th anniversary since Disney's initial release of it.  Since I've been trying to behave and stay away from eBay (cuz, really, I can do some damage there when shopping for Cows on Parade figurines), I'll definitely pick up my own copy as well as one for my sister since she's a Disney hussy fan.

Since football is over, I've had to relegate myself to watching the Olympics and classic tennis matches on the tennis channel.  No one has been more excited than me to see the Winter Games darling, Apolo Anton Ohno, claim his seventh medal with last night's bronze.  He's now beat Bonnie Blair's record as the American with the most medals during a Winter Olympics not on home turf.  Not bad, eh?  The summer games hero, Michael Phelps, was there last night to watch.  I also made myself dizzy when I got so excited that Evan Lysacek won gold in men's figure skating, too.  Tonight, it's USA vs Canada in men's hockey -- now that should be fun.

(how many months until football, again?)

(oh, and tennis is not just around the corner, but is here >;-D )    

This and That....

Folks, it's cold here in South Carolina. Damned cold! This morning we woke up to 18 degree temps, and that's just not right.

Lately I've been full of thoughts and ideas for what I'd like to accomplish in 2010. I'm already headed towards my big goal of reading more this year after finishing a book last night. My review boss will be proud of me - it was one of my last reviews for 2009! This book (FORTY-EIGHT X by Barry Pollack) forced me to step out of my comfort zone and read something different, something that I'd normally not pick for myself. It was so cool being totally engrossed in a book, enough that last night I couldn't be bothered to do anything more than reheat some cold pizza for supper. Doing anything more than that would've taken me away from a book that I just couldn't put down.

My other big goal is to take control of the clutter around here and continue throwing stuff out that I have held on to for years. Our loose rule of thumb around here is, if we haven't used or worn it in the past year, then it's gone. That led me to filling up three more outdoor garbage bags of crap from our office closet. Hell, I found a hand vac that I'd forgotten about. And it's a good Black and Decker one! John came running into the office yesterday afternoon, panicked because he thought I was ditching hidden treasures of his. Uh, no, honey... This is stuff that I've had since college. There, I've confessed it to the public at large. Hi, I'm Amy, and I'm a pack rat.

I've joined two challenges this year: Keishon's TBR 2010, and Kmont's Year of the Historical challenge. While I was working on cleaning up my blog yesterday and trying to fix labels so I could group '09's TBR challenge posts together (no luck) I discovered I dropped the ball three times. Not this year - if it hurts, I'm still going to keep up with these challenges. The book I'm about to finish up now qualifies for the historical challenge (SOMETHING WONDERFUL by McNaught), so who knows, maybe I'll use that. I've got a bit of time since that challenge requires posts in the last week of each month. I like the flexibility of it.

This year I'm also thinking about trying out Netflix after so many of my friends have vouched for it. This after John just showed me his latest trade...three Harry Potter movies. Oy vey. That's just a bandwagon I can't jump on yet...