The Misadventures of Super_Librarian
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Thursday, May 29, 2003Back into the swing of reviewing and I have to say - I didn't realize how much I missed it. Sure it was great to take a long break. I could read anything my little heart desired and I didn't have to think about it. I could say to myself "Self, I liked this book" or "Self this book blew monkey chunks," but I didn't have to analyze my feelings any further than that. Turns out I missed the analyzing - who would have thunk it? I'm currently working on a mystery - Dying To Meet You by Jennifer Apodaca. This is the second in the Samantha Shaw series and features a very interesting heroine. In the first book - Dating Can Be Murder - Sam found out that her deceased husband had been cheating on her with multiple women. Our fair heroine gets revenge by dumping her soccer-mom image, losing some weight, getting a boob job, buying a sexy new wardrobe and buying the dating service where she met her husband. Unfortunately for Sam the revelations keep coming when she finds out that scummy-boy left her and their 2 sons broke, and was involved in some sort of illegal activity. In book 2, Sam has that little mystery solved, but she's still reeling from her husband's betrayal. She doesn't entirely trust her judgment about men - including the sexy former cop, now private investigator in her life - Gabe Pulizzi. However she starts seeing a lot of Gabe, and a new cop in town, Logan Vance, when a former client of her dating service is founded murdered. All this in between reviewing romance novels, being a mom, and having her dating service smeared in the local newspaper - what's a girl to do? I'm having just as much fun reading this second installment as I did when I read the first - I can't wait to get back to it this evening. Tuesday, May 27, 2003Back to work after a long relaxing weekend. The boyfriend and I went and saw the Matrix sequel this weekend and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I was sort of indifferent on the first movie - while I admired the concept and story I was wholly annoyed by the dialouge. Every time the character's opened their mouths a big hunk of cheese fell out. I still crack up laughing every time I think about Lawrence Fishburne reverently muttering "He Is The One." Now with The Matrix Reloaded the screenwriters hit upon a nice formula - lots of cool action sequences, little dialouge. There was one highly impobable moment that had me choking back giggles, but generally speaking it was well worth the price of my matinee ticket. Also went out to the bar with my best friend Sunday night and had entirely too much fun. Needless to say I was nursing a bit of a hangover Monday morning - nothing a pot of tea and a 3 hour nap couldn't fix. I also finished up Point of Honour by Madeleine E. Robins, which I ended up really enjoying. Sent a review of it off this morning and it should be posted within the week over at The Mystery Reader. Thursday, May 22, 2003WooHoo! Long weekend coming my way! One of the perks to this whole public librarian gig is definately the holiday time. General rule of thumb - when there is no mail delivery I typically have the day off. And let me just say how happy I am to have the long weekend. I have hardly been reading at all lately, and it's beginning to annoy me. Why? Because I'm reading a rather intriguing historical mystery - Point of Honour by Madeleine E. Robins. The heroine, Miss Sarah Tolerance, is a "Fallen" woman in Regency London. The daughter of nobility, Sarah has the nerve to run off with her brother's fencing instructor. When her lover dies - Sarah is left with nothing. Everyone figures she should just get it over with and become a prostitute (young noble women tend to have no other marketable skills), but our fair heroine is too smart for that. She instead goes into business for herself as an "agent of inquiry." Think private investigator and you'll get the idea. Her wealthy clients come to her because she gets the job done while being painfully discreet. Miss Tolerance is hired to track down an antique fan that was once given to a courtesan. Seems like a simple enough task, except her client isn't being entirely truthful with her. For one thing what is so blasted important about a fan? And for another, why are so many people interested in finding it? Sarah appeals to me as a heroine because she is very intelligent, unconventional, and is great with a sword (thanks to her lover). She kicks butt, deduces with the best of them, and isn't afraid to lurk about in darkened, slimy corners. This story is also oh-so-proper English in tone, which appeals to the Anglophile in me. Nobody actually comes out and says what they want or feel because good lord - what of their reputations? The Victorians always appealled to me because underneath all those manners I get the feeling they were quite "naughty." Robins is depicting Regency London in much the same way. Monday, May 19, 2003Another Monday. Where oh where are my weekends going? I'm currently housesitting for my sister and brother-in-law who took my darling niece to visit family in Ohio. They have 2 cats and a very large dog (he's a 130 lb. mutt) they prefer not to board - so yours truly is holding down the fort. This isn't so bad because, while their furniture isn't nearly as comfy as mine, they have the world's largest TV sitting in their living room. Katie Couric's head looked about 6 feet tall this morning. Taking care of the pets has been a mild adventure so far. The dog farted last night and scared himself. Heck, he scared me too since he reeked! Then the mentally challenged cat hacked up a hairball right in front of me yesterday evening. No lurking off to a secret location for Shadow - he prefers to be obivious. That leaves Misty - the little female who is, as always, perfect in every way. Do you think it's a coincidence that the farting dog and hairball-hacking cat are males? Hmmmm..... Thursday, May 15, 2003After a lengthy sabbatical I'm going to be dipping my toes back in the reviewing waters. I had wicked case of burn out towards the end of 2002 and desperately needed some time off. I had been reviewing steadily for The Romance Reader, and the sister site - The Mystery Reader, since 1999 with only the occasional short breaks in between. After over 160 reviews - some glowing, some dismal - I needed a rest. While my time away has been enjoyable, I do miss the exposure to new authors and books that reviewing tends to bring. TRR's editor has sent me some real gems over the years - most notably books by Kathleen Eschenburg, Susan Wiggs, and Susan Grant. I probably would have gotten around to Eschenburg and Wiggs on my own - but it's doubtful I would have stumbled into Grant's territory since she writes paranormal romance - a sub genre that I do not actively seek out on my own. I've long admired the concept of TRR mainly because print review publications tend to largely ignore romance - even though it is the highest selling genre of fiction. Whether this is due to the fact that romance is mainly still published in mass market paperback form, or pure snobbiness is hard to say. I say it's a little bit of both - althouth it still amazes me the depth of disdain romance seems to induce in the literary community - including librarians. I've long stood by my enjoyment of popular fiction - be it romance or mystery - mainly because I enjoy it so darn much. I do take life seriously, I do work hard - but honestly my idea of unwinding does not involve reading a book about miserable people, living miserable lives, and treating everyone who enters their world miserably. But I'm just a mild-mannered librarian - what do I know? Monday, May 12, 2003It's official. I'm living in Animal House. I had plans on Saturday to go visit my mother and to give her a mother's day present I picked up while I was on Mackinac Island last week. What awaited me once I got to my slightly rusty 13-year-old Honda Civic? Vomit on my windshield. That's right gentle blog readers - instead of yakking on the lawn, some drunken moron decided that my windshield looked entirely too clean and free of upchuck. I was unthrilled. Really, really, really unthrilled. Now I don't have any proof that it was the American beer swilling college morons upstairs - but honestly now, if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and acts like a duck..... Well it must be duck season. Thursday, May 08, 2003Back from the frozen Upper Penisula and glad to be home. In true idiot fashion, yours truly forgot to pack her winter coat (ok - I didn't forget. I just haven't washed it yet, and it's white - so it's really dirty and doesn't look so good) - but I made due with my spring jacket, long sleeve shirts and sweatshirt. Naturally, Mackinac Island warmed on Wednesday - the day all the librarians left! This conference I attended is always a good time because it's just for librarians serving rural communities. A lot of practical information that one can implement in their day-to-day routines. While the state and national conferences are nice, a lot of what is discussed is technology oriented and "theory." As in, this computer software will be available in a couple of years. I also like workshops that address the bulk of my job description. I am the back-up computer person where I work - which means most of day is spent on "little" things like collection development. I like attending workshops that actually talk about fiction. Picked up some world famous Mackinac Island fudge for some folks, got a Mother's Day present for my lovely mother, and picked up a new tea mug over at Monkey Business - a store one must see to believe. Monkey girls of the world unite! (Inside joke {g}) Saturday, May 03, 2003I haven't posted in a while because it's been one of those weeks at work. Nothing dire to report, I've just been super busy trying to get everything done. I'm leaving obscenely early on Monday morning for a library conference up in lovely Mackinac Island, Michigan. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days - even if it is a working vacation. This conference is just for rural libraries, which is always fun, since there are adult services oriented workshops on other topics beside computers. I am merely the back-up person when it comes to our library's computer issues - so to actually see workshops scheduled on fiction and collection development is fabulous. However, let us get down to the real issue at hand - what books am I going to pack? No clue yet. Shameful isn't it? Since I'll probably only have reading time in between workshops, I think I'm going to just grab a handful of Harlequins and call it good. I'd also like to go on a little series binge - if only to knock a couple of books off my ever-expanding to-be-read pile that is quickly turning into a small mountain range. See you all later next week! |
