Checking In

Sorry I've been awol from the blog. Reasons for doing so are a mix of good and bad.
Good: going to the gym more, spending time with friends more, watching tv/movies more, staying on top of the housework, taking an evening course 2 times a week. And, er, writing. Yeah. sure... writing. ::coughcough::

Bad: Sick. Been sick for almost two weeks now. Stress, primarily from working with one particular primo beyoitch. Plus dealing with some other bad stuff.....

Anywho, I bought some books today. Only two. First book purchases all year, so I'm still on track to keep things under control this year.

I found Sylvia Day's Bad Boys Ahoy smack dab in the front of store display as part of their Valentine's Day Promo (along with a bunch of other romances.)


I snatched it up, considering it was marked down by 20% plus an extra 10% off if you had membership (which I do). Sorry Sylvia, as much as I was looking forward to this release, $20 (plus tax) was a little more than I was interesting in paying (for any tradeback, not your book in particular.)

Next I picked up my first Tom Holt book: Nothing but blue skies.


From the Publisher
There are many reasons why British summers are either non–existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, mad, or both — but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones. The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st (incl.) is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons. Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, nearly indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as a real estate agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time. But now things have changed, and Karen’s no longer irritable. She’s furious.

Sounds like a hoot.

Lastly, I've been having a dickens of a time getting into a book. I've started and stopped more books than I can remember. And I've gotten quite ruthless about pruning the TBR pile. I used to put a book back in the pile for a later try, but now I really think hard on if it's just my mood, or if this book really just isn't going to work for me and/or isn't going to be a keeper. A lot of books aren't making the cut. I'll be making some nice change at the UBS this year.

I did manage to hit the jackpot with this book, though: Denise Hamilton's The Jasmine Trade.



From Publishers Weekly
When a young Chinese bride-to-be is found dead at the wheel of her Lexus at the start of this solid debut thriller, plucky Los Angeles Times reporter Eve Diamond's compulsive curiosity and professional instinct for good copy lead her into the unfamiliar and intersecting worlds of Asian gangs and Southern California's "parachute kids," wealthy Asian teens living unsupervised in San Marino mansions while their parents manage businesses on the other side of the Pacific. By quickly befriending a parachute kid "dancing with the dragon" of gang membership and just as swiftly falling in love with Mark Furukawa, a counselor for troubled teens, Eve ensures herself a role in the investigation that is both complicated and personal. Add in the murdered girl's secret diary, her shady fianc‚, a corrupt bank, a racist cop and the "jasmine trade" (smuggling girls out of Chinese provinces and forcing them into prostitution), and it's not surprising that Eve's entanglement in the case becomes life threatening. First-time novelist Hamilton, herself a former L.A. Times scribe, might be accused of "dancing with the dragon" of common mystery novel tropes, but she, unlike many of her characters, escapes essentially unscathed. In addition to a gripping story and keen observations about contemporary Los Angeles, she also offers an undeniably winning narrator: intelligent, impulsive Eve is sharp on the outside and vulnerable on the inside, willing to cogitate with equal intensity on issues private (a lost love, a dead brother) and public (racial and socioeconomic politics, "the media's scorching glare"). And Hamilton hints, ever so gently, that her heroine might return.

Very enjoyable read so far, it has a nice/steamy, inter-racial romance subplot (asian/caucasian) and I'm glad to see there's more in the series--Sugar Skull, Last Lullaby, Savage Garden--to check out.

I think there's some NSFW joke emails sitting in my inbox that I'll try and post later this weekend. Until then, be good.