Anyone who reads a lot becomes a lover of books. Some of us become surrounded by books and those books are like old friends. My Beloved and I have a huge amount of books, probably enough to start a small town library scattered in many of the rooms of our house. And I'm collecting more in my Nook because there is literally no more room in my house.
And give away my books? Sell them to a dealer or Half Price Books? Do we sell our children? Oh no. There are so many memories tied up in the books in my home. I can pick up a book and the memory of reading that book can come back, when I bought it, when I read it and it reminds me of the emotions of the time. Even the vast history book collection has that feeling for me.
I picked this video off of Facebook. One of my friends who loves books posted it. I watched it and it touched me to the point I want to share it. This is one of the animated short films nominated for the 84th Academy Awards and I can see why. And yes, they did pay homage to several people and events in it if things start feeling familiar to you.
Watch this and see if it touches your heart like it did mine. Enjoy!
The fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
My Good Reads review of Aimee Laine's Hide and Seek
bookshelves:
paranormal-romance
bookshelves:
paranormal-romance
Read from January 22 to 27, 2012
Magnets and Romance. Two people who have to find a way to
pull together to have their forever instead of push each other away.
Tripp and Lexi have to find away to go against what seems to be their
destiny-to be apart by decree. The mythology of Zeus' Fox and Hound has
come alive with these two characters. Tripp cannot be caught and Lexi
can find anything. Those two things would naturally go together and
that's why they were never supposed to meet. But they have and so the
story starts.
The story has many twists and turns and just about the time I would begin to think I knew what the characters were going to do, something would happen to totally change what I was thinking. Predictable it is not. With many different threads of storyline being pulled along at the same time, there is enough to keep a reader busy and engaged. While I can read some books in a couple of hours, this one I slowed down and savored for a few days, delighting in the rich characterizations and Tripp's antics. I was even so interested in the story that I stopped and went to my mythology books to read up on the Zeus mythology on Lailaps, the Hound and the Teumessian Fox, Laine's inspiration for the main characters "gifts."
The last chapter and Tripp's plans are enough to make the book worth it, all by itself. This is one of those books to settle down in a wonderful chair with music and a sweet dessert and savor.
The story has many twists and turns and just about the time I would begin to think I knew what the characters were going to do, something would happen to totally change what I was thinking. Predictable it is not. With many different threads of storyline being pulled along at the same time, there is enough to keep a reader busy and engaged. While I can read some books in a couple of hours, this one I slowed down and savored for a few days, delighting in the rich characterizations and Tripp's antics. I was even so interested in the story that I stopped and went to my mythology books to read up on the Zeus mythology on Lailaps, the Hound and the Teumessian Fox, Laine's inspiration for the main characters "gifts."
The last chapter and Tripp's plans are enough to make the book worth it, all by itself. This is one of those books to settle down in a wonderful chair with music and a sweet dessert and savor.
*********************************************************
And yes, I tried hard not to put spoilers in that review. The book is really fun and when I go looking up stuff connected with History and Mythology during a book, that means I'm seriously interested in the book. This wasn't as "paranormal" as many of the books I read and it's not as "romance" as I read either (to quote my daughter, it's not vampire porn), but it is a good read that I'm telling my friends and readers to pick up.
Details From Good Reads and the publisher:
Hide & Seek (Games of Zeus #1)
by
Aimee Laine (Goodreads Author)
Lie, cheat or steal, no one can catch Tripp Fox. Except one woman.
Lexi Shepherd’s knack for finding whatever is asked of her isn’t sheer luck. It’s a gift from the Greek god Zeus. That Lexi doesn’t use her ability to search for “Mr. Right” comes from one of many personal rules she has set for herself. Number one is not to let fate dictate her futureFalling in love with Tripp breaks all the others.
Despite her principles, Lexi’s unable to stay away from the bad boy, and she finds herself toeing the grey line of the law for him. Zeus, though, didn’t give Lexi and Tripp their talents to make their relationship a simple, easy alliance. He designed it to be exactly the opposite. Impossible. Always.
With their separation, Lexi expects Tripp to forfeit love in favor of destiny. He, on the other hand, intends to beat Zeus at his own game. With a plan in place, Tripp challenges Lexi to take the one action no one else can.
Find him. The question isn’t can she ... but will she?
Lexi Shepherd’s knack for finding whatever is asked of her isn’t sheer luck. It’s a gift from the Greek god Zeus. That Lexi doesn’t use her ability to search for “Mr. Right” comes from one of many personal rules she has set for herself. Number one is not to let fate dictate her futureFalling in love with Tripp breaks all the others.
Despite her principles, Lexi’s unable to stay away from the bad boy, and she finds herself toeing the grey line of the law for him. Zeus, though, didn’t give Lexi and Tripp their talents to make their relationship a simple, easy alliance. He designed it to be exactly the opposite. Impossible. Always.
With their separation, Lexi expects Tripp to forfeit love in favor of destiny. He, on the other hand, intends to beat Zeus at his own game. With a plan in place, Tripp challenges Lexi to take the one action no one else can.
Find him. The question isn’t can she ... but will she?
Paperback
Expected publication:
March 1st 2012
by J. Taylor Publishing
ISBN: 13781937744007
edition language: English
original title: Hide & Seek
series: Games of Zeus #1
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
And then Life Interupts
We all have our intentions when we work. And I approach my reviewing as my job. I get up and dress like I'm going to work, I just do it in my living room. And I spend time reading online things involved in books and with my own writing as well.
Of course, there are times when we are supposed to go to work but things in life interfere and we have to call in. That's what's gone on in my life the past couple of days. Life Interuptis.
The first thing is having this ongoing, chronic disorder called Fibromyalgia. It's a neurological muscular thing that makes me hurt all over, makes me tired, sometimes makes me confused and makes me forget things. Put it this way, it sucks. It's like having the flu without the fever. And I hate having it. So I have to keep calm, take it easy, and try to rest when I need to. And life tries to make sure I have things to do, places to go, and people to see. It's a balancing act.
And the second thing was my daughter's father-in-law being involved in a really bad car accident this weekend in our hometown. He is in his 70's and had just picked up his beautifully restored 1968 Dodge Charger and was driving it when a woman in a new GMC SUV ran across a feeder road, a ditch, two highway lanes and hit his car hard. She had a medical problem that contributed to this. The man was airlifted to the hospital and is still in ICU. I've been working on prayers and on helping my daughter stay calm and help her family. So, I've been distracted so writing has not been happening and I have been reading when I can. I can become easily distracted by things like this and I should have been working when I could instead of surfing the net all day.
I am going back to work today and things will be going back on schedule. So, nothing new going on, except I am pulling out the novel and writing until I go pick up my Beloved and read while I wait for him.
Of course, there are times when we are supposed to go to work but things in life interfere and we have to call in. That's what's gone on in my life the past couple of days. Life Interuptis.
The first thing is having this ongoing, chronic disorder called Fibromyalgia. It's a neurological muscular thing that makes me hurt all over, makes me tired, sometimes makes me confused and makes me forget things. Put it this way, it sucks. It's like having the flu without the fever. And I hate having it. So I have to keep calm, take it easy, and try to rest when I need to. And life tries to make sure I have things to do, places to go, and people to see. It's a balancing act.
And the second thing was my daughter's father-in-law being involved in a really bad car accident this weekend in our hometown. He is in his 70's and had just picked up his beautifully restored 1968 Dodge Charger and was driving it when a woman in a new GMC SUV ran across a feeder road, a ditch, two highway lanes and hit his car hard. She had a medical problem that contributed to this. The man was airlifted to the hospital and is still in ICU. I've been working on prayers and on helping my daughter stay calm and help her family. So, I've been distracted so writing has not been happening and I have been reading when I can. I can become easily distracted by things like this and I should have been working when I could instead of surfing the net all day.
I am going back to work today and things will be going back on schedule. So, nothing new going on, except I am pulling out the novel and writing until I go pick up my Beloved and read while I wait for him.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Reading a pre-published book
I'm working as a reviewer right now. I've done it before several times so I know that this is final galley stuff and they are still working on doing final edits and I'm supposed to ignore what I find.
I've also been an editor.
This makes me crazy, like trying to have a split personality because, while I'm reading for content and not supposed to be reading for errors, my brain has been trained since 1973 to pick up errors and continuity mistakes in a document or publication. So, while I'm reading along, on page AA I'll find "she didn't leave the restaurant until after 2 a.m and tried to meet up with him" and then on page AG, I find the "where she dumped the ruined dress when she returned home before 1 a.m." Yes, I catch it.
My first thought is to write down all the mistakes I catch and send out the list to the editors but then I remember that this is NOT MY JOB! I'm not supposed to be doing this, my job is to read the book and comment on it. Do I like it? Do I not? Why? How does it flow, how is the character development, is it keeping my interest or does it drag in spots? I'm supposed to talk to the readers about the book, not to the editors about the mistakes.
And that is making me have to lock the editor side of me into the closet in my mind in a straitjacket and tell her to be calm and not bother me while I'm working. And she's sometimes not a happy patient at times.
Oh, but yeah, so far the book is good. I'm enjoying it.
I've also been an editor.
This makes me crazy, like trying to have a split personality because, while I'm reading for content and not supposed to be reading for errors, my brain has been trained since 1973 to pick up errors and continuity mistakes in a document or publication. So, while I'm reading along, on page AA I'll find "she didn't leave the restaurant until after 2 a.m and tried to meet up with him" and then on page AG, I find the "where she dumped the ruined dress when she returned home before 1 a.m." Yes, I catch it.
My first thought is to write down all the mistakes I catch and send out the list to the editors but then I remember that this is NOT MY JOB! I'm not supposed to be doing this, my job is to read the book and comment on it. Do I like it? Do I not? Why? How does it flow, how is the character development, is it keeping my interest or does it drag in spots? I'm supposed to talk to the readers about the book, not to the editors about the mistakes.
And that is making me have to lock the editor side of me into the closet in my mind in a straitjacket and tell her to be calm and not bother me while I'm working. And she's sometimes not a happy patient at times.
Oh, but yeah, so far the book is good. I'm enjoying it.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A Starting Place
Hello Everyone, let me introduce myself. I'm Charlayne Elizabeth. I'm a 54 year old grandmother of 9, mother of 4 and wife of a beloved man who is my soulmate. I have a bachelor's degree in History and a minor in English.
And, I have a passion for reading. And a passion for writing. Now I'm putting it to use by writing about reading and writing about writing.
I will be talking about books, doing reviews of books I'm reading, books, I've read already, my "to be read" list and why it's so darned long. I will probably talk about my Nook Tablet and the Nook Color and maybe review some of their apps.
I am also working on my first novel and that will probably crop up as a subject from time-to-time as I get deeper into the story, teasers as it were.
My interests right now are mainly in Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. I do still read some non-fiction History (so don't be surprised if I come up with a review of a history book) and I really love vampires and werewolves. My absolute favorite series of books is J.R.Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, and I'm a huge True Blood TV series fan. What else do I watch? Criminal Minds, Glee, and probably most things on Discovery, History, H2, National Geographic, ID, C&I, Bio, Science, Travel, and A&E. On occasion, we do watch our "redneck TV" guilty pleasures like Cops and World's Dumbest.
My beloved and I met at a Houston Science Fiction convention in 1993, a total surprise for both of us and a case of love at first sight. We married in six months and have a wonderfully happy marriage. We still do conventions, mainly in Texas.
Otherwise, we read a lot, watch TV, play World of Warcraft (on Argent Dawn server), and play with the grandchildren. All but 3 of them live close and we are surrounded by love. We get up to see the other three as often as we can.
Come along on the adventure of reading and writing, and see what I'm reading.
And, I have a passion for reading. And a passion for writing. Now I'm putting it to use by writing about reading and writing about writing.
I will be talking about books, doing reviews of books I'm reading, books, I've read already, my "to be read" list and why it's so darned long. I will probably talk about my Nook Tablet and the Nook Color and maybe review some of their apps.
I am also working on my first novel and that will probably crop up as a subject from time-to-time as I get deeper into the story, teasers as it were.
My interests right now are mainly in Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. I do still read some non-fiction History (so don't be surprised if I come up with a review of a history book) and I really love vampires and werewolves. My absolute favorite series of books is J.R.Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, and I'm a huge True Blood TV series fan. What else do I watch? Criminal Minds, Glee, and probably most things on Discovery, History, H2, National Geographic, ID, C&I, Bio, Science, Travel, and A&E. On occasion, we do watch our "redneck TV" guilty pleasures like Cops and World's Dumbest.
My beloved and I met at a Houston Science Fiction convention in 1993, a total surprise for both of us and a case of love at first sight. We married in six months and have a wonderfully happy marriage. We still do conventions, mainly in Texas.
Otherwise, we read a lot, watch TV, play World of Warcraft (on Argent Dawn server), and play with the grandchildren. All but 3 of them live close and we are surrounded by love. We get up to see the other three as often as we can.
Come along on the adventure of reading and writing, and see what I'm reading.
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