BOOK #88

Amanda Quick is in my top favorite romance authors of all time. She also writes as Jayne Ann Krentz. Majority of Quick's book are set in the turn of the century when women were courted and men were gentlemen. I just love that era.

And her stories are always of psychical nature. The baddies are indeed bad, the women are strangely independent and the men are always tormented.

I just love her work. This was a four hundred pager and I read it in a couple of hours. Nothing like getting lost in a story to waste a day.

I suppose one of these days, I'll get back to some serious reading. Ha!

BOOK #87

Once I start a Nora Roberts series, I always have to finish all of them. I almost didn't with this one, though. Loved the first one, but wobbled badly on the second and third. Thankfully though, the fourth one made up for the last two.

This series is set at Vows. The private estate of Parker Brown that she has turned into a wedding/reception venue. She and her three closest friends are all key components of Vows: a photographer, a florist, a baker and Parker runs it all. And of course, there are the Nora Roberts men. All strong and capable. Each book in turn is about one of the girls, her romance and inevitable engagement.

The fourth installment is Parker's story and it's just more interesting than the rest. Mostly because her story is a bit more complicated than the others and the man she tangles with is equally mysterious.

This series is not really Roberts best writing but good enough. And even her good enough is better than most.

BOOK #86

The author's life was in the shitter. Failed marriage, long custody battle, never ending lawsuit, running out of money. So he simply decided to put more good out into the universe than complain about the bad. He started writing thank you notes. To everyone. His kids, his employees, his fellow lawyers, his ex-wife. And slowly his life turned around. Not necessarily from the thank you notes but from his attitude change. I believe all the notes actually made him stop and think what was good in his life versus what was bad.

And attitude is everything.

BOOK #85

Without a doubt, Patton Oswalt is one of the funniest smartest comics working today. If you don't know him from stand up, you might know him from "King of Queens" or more recently, the voice of "Ratatouille".

His essays are brief but true to life and very very funny.

I highly recommend this book. But only if you HAVE a sense of humor.

BOOK #84

I should really make a point of starting to write down why and where I find a certain author. It's usually a link off a link from goodreads.com or sometimes even a review. I honestly cannot remember how I found about this author. But I'm glad I did.

This book is kinda sorta like "The Help" but in modern day Texas. And the kinda-sorta is a long stretch. Set in a fictional Texas small town that sounds like someplace I would live. I actually think it's based on Austin, only way smaller.

The characters are funny and believable. The horrible ex-husband is way horrible and I found myself saying out loud 'kill him!' and 'stab him!' more than once. Thank god I was tucked in bed in snowbound Wisconsin when all this killing was going on in my head.

Another fun ride of a book.

BOOK #83

I'm still on my quest to figure out why I'm retarded when it comes to love, intimacy and relationships. I discovered Dr. Berman from the OWN Network. She has a terrific sex/relationship show and I never fail to miss it. She's a very very good therapist. And the show only proves that a lot of relationships and sex lives got jacked up somewhere in the person's past. Dr. Beran is very good at untangling the couples and putting them back on a strong path.

But, this book wasn't anything new or revealing for me. One of my previous posts talked about a book called "Attached" that was a way bigger help for me than this one. But it was encouraging to know that everything she talked about in this book, I've already incorporated into my life. So I must be getting close.

But if you are not a reader of these type books, I still encourage you to either read this book or find her show on the OWN Network. She's worth it.

BOOK #82

In one of my earlier posts, I reviewed Crosley's first book of essays "I Was Told There'd Be Cake", which I loved. Next to David Sedaris, Crosley is rapidly becoming one of my favorite funny writers.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel the funny, humanity or warmth from this book as I did in the first one. Which is funny as a lot of other reviewers feel the opposite. They didn't like the first book as much as they did the second. So who knows.

But remember, any artist's first published work - whether it be writing, poetry, photography or music will be a culmination of years and years of work. It's always going to be the second body of work that shows whether they can hang tough. Crosley can. I hope she writes again.

BOOK #79, #80 & #81

Now, THIS is my favorite series of Vicki Lewis Thompson. The entire series centers around a banished witch & warlock couple to a small town in Indiana called Big Knob. Get it? Get what this series is filled with? Yup, hot sex along with magic spells. I love all of them.

There's also a iPod loving magic dragon that lives in the forest, a Loch Ness Monster that lives in the local lake and a town that only has internet service at the local cafe. How far fetched can it be? And the townsfolk have no idea this couple exists as a witch and warlock.

The books are actually funny most of the time but I get a big kick out of all of them. I hope she continues this series as they are too much fun to put down.

BOOK #78

Hold on because I'm thinking I read alot of Ms Thompson's books in a row. This is one of the books in the series of 'love and nerd' books that she did a few years ago. Of course, the titles of this series always tickle me as does the cover.

For some reason, her writing with this series is a bit off for me. There seems to be a lot of writing that goes nowhere and I find myself wandering off the story a bit. This is my least favorite series of Ms. Thompson's.

Although I have to say that this book actually kept me occupied and I never wandered off. I believe I read it in abou two days. And I think I have about six of them stacked up here somewhere. Perfect for the summer!

BOOK #77

By now, you must know I love occult romance novels. Werewolves, warlocks, witches, vampires, soul-less creatures - love it all. Vicki Lewis Thompson has numerous series of books but this is my second favorite series. Her characters are all vibrant and funny and bigger than life. This book was no exception.

Using only her imagination, the heroine of the story is an author who writes about werewolves. And very well, apparently. So well that the REAL werewolves of NY are a wee bit concerned about her. And of course, they send in their best werewolf to check it all out. And it so happens he's handsome and the knight in shining armor type. And the story follows the course you expect it to be. Fall in love, get married and very carefully she continues to write about werewolves.

But it's the way Ms. Thompson writes that I enjoy. It's just a rollicking good ride. She also has written the entire 'love and nerds' series which tickles me to no end as well.

With summer coming up, she's perfect for the beach bag.

BOOK #76

Another book in my reading quest about turning 50. Most of have been inspiring and uplifting. Not this one. I didn't find it particularly funny or even amusing. Well, of course, fifty is NOT the new thirty. Thirty-five, maybe.

Perhaps, I didn't like this because it was a little more truthful than the other books. Once you hit this age, in order to stay vibrant and alive, it becomes a battle. Everyday I have to fight the urge to want to work less but get paid more. Who doesn't?

This author insists on having a career after a career. Umm.....why? Not for me actually. I'm looking forward to living in a retirement community filled with vibrant men my age that can play tennis and golf and still wine and dine me.

That's my future. I see it all so clearly now. Even if my glasses are rose colored.

BOOK #75

The 'over hyped book' jinx kicked in for this one. All the previews I had read of this book led me to really believe it was gonna be something else. Sadly, it was not. It was even a pick for book club and ironically, almost everyone felt the same way with the book.

Started out good. Was interesting reading. And then I waited. Waited for the magical underworld part to kick in. It didn't. The story just went south into a very weird dark territory. The writing wasn't bad, it was actually entertaining. I'm just not thrilled with a book promising one thing and being something altogether different. Somehow that's not fair.

This is a common reader's dilemma. With each new book, you're never QUITE sure. Of where the book will take you. Of how you will react. And therein lies the adventure.