Thursday, December 2, 2010

Monthly Tally: November 2010

From the To-Be-Read Journal
  1. Cookies! Good Housekeeping's Favorite Recipes- Good Housekeeping is my favorite publisher for cookbooks. 
  2. A Bewitching Bride, Elizabeth Thorton
  3. Rules of an Engagement, Suzanne Enoch
  4. Somewhere Along the Way, Jodi Thomas
  5. Living Nightmare, Shannon Butcher
  6. Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here, Christine Warren- I bought this & then returned it when I realized it was a mainstream printing of the Ellora's Cave ebook. Bah.
  7. In the Company of Vampires, Katie MacAlister- I was a little disappointed by this. I loved Fran & Ben so I had high hopes that weren't met. 
  8. The Whales' Song, Dyan Sheldon
  9. Beneath the Thirteen Moons, Katherine Kennedy- Featuring the one & only Date Rape Drug flower
ARCs
  1. How to Wed a Baron, Kasey Michaels, out now
  2. The Guy Next Door, Lori Foster, Susan Donovan, and Victoria Dahl, 03/2011
  3. Call Me Mrs. Miracle, Debbie Macomber, out now
  4. Enchanted No More, Robin D. Owens, 01/2011- I loved this book. It's not quite Holy Shit worthy and I'm biased 'cause Owens is one of my favorite authors, but I thought it was excellent. Which is why I was baffled that Romantic Times gave it two stars. WTF?
  5. Once Upon a Scandal, Delilah Marvelle, 02/2011- Way, way, WAY better than the first one
  6. Promise Canyon, Robyn Carr, 01/2011
  7. The Wolf Prince, Karen Kelley, out now
  8. Archangel's Consort, Nalini Singh, 02/2011
  9. Dragon Bound, Thea Harrison, 05/2011 - Pretty obvious how I felt about this one!
Trust me when I tell you that this is pitiful. I've kept track of my TBRs since '06 and this is my worst output. I was on track with ARCs, but good Lord, only 9 TBRs? I double-checked too. Like, maybe I missed something and, no, just the 9. I know I've been very restless lately and watching a lot of TV on DVD.  I also re-read some Shelley Laurenston and Dragon Bound like five times. Still. I'm ashamed. Bad Lady Lioness.

Twitter Thursday

This week I chose to follow @SmartBitches. This twitter account belongs to Sarah Wendell, one of the founders and current headmistress of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog. The tag line is "All of the Romance, none of the bullshit." That should give you an inkling of what the tone of the blog is like.

I found out about the Smart Bitches via word of mouth. I believe it was BEA 2007 and I went with a friend who I met through Bookstore. She was working in a public library by this time and she introduced me to some wonderful ladies she'd met through her job. We were all hanging out on the lower level of Javits, waiting for the show to open. We'd gotten there early to snag tickets for the 'big' signings.  When N and I discovered we shared a mutual love of romance, the recs flew fast and furious. Then she said, "Do you know the Smart Bitches blog?"  I believe I was a little hesitant at first, but she made it sound so fabulous, I googled it when I recovered from the BEA daze. Now it's one of my daily sites.

This is not a serious blog. No, this is a blog that offers a tongue-in-cheek perspective on romance-related issues, topped with a hefty dose of snark. One of their regular features is Caption that Cover. The person who comes up with the snarkiest & funniest caption wins and Sarah usually has a prize for them. There's also Help a Bitch out (someone's looking for the book, but all they remember is the plot) and Friday videos (a humorous or touching you-tube vid). Sarah does cover industry-related issues, but they tend to be strictly romance related (Judith Griggs debacle aside) and from a layman's perspective. She also uses quite a bit of colorful language so it may not be work-safe, strictly speaking. Her professional website, Smart Bitch Sarah, is more, y'know, professional, but it's a good reference for Sarah's appearances & publications. Her professional website is, like, her day job, and the Smart Bitches blog is Sarah kicking off her heels & curling up on the couch with a glass of wine for a good gossip. Her twitter is snippets from that conversation.


The tone of her twitter is very true to who Sarah appears to be. Sarah shares glimpses into her personal life, talks about the book she just finished reading and what she's writing now. She doesn't tweet much about industry happenings unless she gets excited or riled up. I've "met" Sarah twice now. Once was at BEA 2009 when she signed my copy of Beyond Heaving Bosoms (an academic look at romance that's not very academic. With man titty). The second time was at RomCon 2010 where I was bold enough to ask if I could sit at her table at what turned out to be a rather bad panel. Jane from Dear Author was there as well and I was an absolute stuttering idiot from intimidation. Sarah basically told me I was crazy and then did her best to put me at ease. Her twitter account sounds exactly like she does.


I leave up to you to decide whether @SmartBitches sounds follow-worthy or not, but I'd put her squarely in the entertainment category.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Laydowns for 11/30/10

The Most Scandalous Engagement - Gayle Callen (in my To Be Read journal)

The Duke's Night of Sin - Kathryn Caskie (Started out pretty good, but kinda crapped out towards the end)

Treasure of the Sun - Christina Dodd (Reprint)

Stay a Little Longer - Dorothy Garlock (QP release)

Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman - Lorraine Heath

Wicked Nights with a Lover - Sophie Jordan

Taken by Desire - Lavinia Kent

Shield's Lady - Jayne Ann Krentz (Reprint. One of my favorites.)

In the Dark of Dreams - Marjorie M. Liu (I teared up at the end of this book. There was no sense of time passing, nothing but the story. You need to have a passing familiarity with the Dirk & Steele books, but it's not really a continuation of anything. This was a story about a young boy who meets a young girl for minutes before they are separated for years. They share dreams and grow together until he is affected by a trauma eight years ago. Now he's found her again and together they have to save the world. The fact that she's human and he's a merman is certainly crucial to the plot, but it feels almost extraneous. The point is their journey to find each other and their struggle to stay together. Loved it. Highly, highly rec'd.)

His Christmas Pleasure - Cathy Maxwell

Duchess of Sin - Laurel McKee

Tempted by Fate - Kate Perry (The latest addition to an interesting paranormal series that has a twist on Chinese mysticism. I went back to get the first 2 books after reading this one. Rec'd.)

The Other Side - J.D. Robb (in my To Be Read journal)

Hungry for You - Lynsay Sands (Was the same old, same old. Okay if you liked the previous books, but don't expect anything new.)

Lover Mine - J.R. Ward (MM release)