Monthly Archives: March 2006

March 31, 2006

Book #22 for 2006

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Rated 7/10
Published in 2004, St. Martin's Press
432 Pages
Started March 24, 2006
Finished March 30, 2006
Owned

Comments: This book was a pleasant surprise. It was what I was expecting, light, fluffy, easy on the brain, but it also surprised me by being more. Great dialogue, great characters, a plot that has more twists and turns than the Danube river (not that I have any idea what I'm talking about there!) this book when down smooth and easy.

This book reminded me a lot of Good in Bed, in that our heroine is on the heavy side and she's been burned by a guy and is decidedly NOT looking for love. But in walks Mr. Right and she's knocked for a loop she wasn't expecting. And he's just as surprised as she is, since he wasn't exactly looking for her either. Misunderstandings, bets, chicken marsala and lots of laughs insue as these two do everything in there power to stay away from each other. The sexual tension is hot, the love scenes hotter, and with a wicked cat named Elvis with a penchant FOR Elvis (as in Presley) this novel definitely seems to have it all. Highly recommend for a great distraction from the real world.

8 Comments

Filed under Book Reviews

March 30, 2006

Show Me the Money $$$$$

At last, NC has a lottery! Now the rich can get richer and poor can get poorer.  Hoorah!*

*note the sarcasm?

 ————————

This has to have been the longest. day. of. my. life.  And it's only 3:00.  I have only had one, ONE, job ALL DAY LONG. 

But hey, it's been like the job I always wanted today, I'm getting paid to read! 

I think I'm going to go beg someone for work.

1 Comment

Filed under Miscellaneous

March 28, 2006

Great Expectations

I've been slogging through Dicken's Great Expectations in my spare reading time to refresh myself on it.  I loved it in high school, but found when thinking about it, I couldn't remember much.

I do not remember Pip, that good old chap, being quite so annoying the first time I read it.  I mean it, he is really getting on my nerves.  I just left him in London, to be a big "gentleman" and quite frankly, I'm disgusted by his ingratitude to Joe and, well, general stupidity.  And, I can't remember if he gets any smarter or not.  So, I'll have to finish it.

It does help that Dicken's was a brilliant writer.  Despite my displeasure with the insufferable Pip, I am delighted by the wonderfully wicked Miss Haversham.  Love her!!

4 Comments

Filed under Books

March 27, 2006

Gross!

The guy who sits next to me at work flosses his teeth everyday after he eats.  At his desk.

I think I'm going to go throw up.

4 Comments

Filed under Miscellaneous

March 27, 2006

Worried, worried, worried…

I'm probably making a moutain out of a molehill, but I'm a worrier.  And, couple that with the things I have gone through the last few months, I'm an even BIGGER worrier than I have ever been.

Aaron, who's father died of a heart attack, has been having chest pains.  For a few weeks.  He says it's not bad, but Aaron is the kind of guy who is never sick.  When he is, you don't know it because he doesn't complain.  So, for him to call me on his way home Friday to call the doctor and make him an appointment…well…it scared me.  If he is actually that worried too…  I'm terrified.  I know he's not on his deathbed or anything, he's only 28!  But God forbid, but I just can't stand the thought of him being sick.  I'd just started feeling…safe…secure…after the deaths of my grandmother and my mom, but now I feel like my life is going all to pieces again. 

His appointment is at 11.  I just pray it's nothing.  A pulled muscle.  Or something like that.  I'm on pins and needles. I'll post with the news, I just hope it's good.

Needless to say, I've put Vanity Fair on hold for the time being.  Too much brain power involved.  I'm reading Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie instead.  I'll go back to VF after my insides settle down a bit.

***UPDATE***

Everything is okay.  The doc said that it was an inflammation of the *edit* cartlidge that attaches his rib cage to his sternum (again, wtf??) and to take Motrin for the swelling. His heart and lungs sounded great.  I am SO relieved.

Edit again: Incredibly, his brother has the exact same thing at the exact same time.  I hope it isn't catching!

I'm about 50 pages into Bet Me and I'm really liking it.  Crusie is surprising me.  Everytime it seems like she's going to take a stereotypical turn, she turns it again and makes it different than I was expecting.  This will be a nice quick read and hopefully a new favorite author.

5 Comments

Filed under Books, Miscellaneous

March 23, 2006

Wow…

I am lithargic.  I have sat here staring at the screen trying to think of something interesting to say, only to find that nothing very interesting has happened to me this week.  I’ve worked.  I’ve played with the girl.  I’ve cooked, not very well ;) I’ve read some more of Vanity Fair and I’m still loving it.  I went to the library yesterday.  Paid bills. 

Fun stuff.

I guess this is a good thing as I’ve had enough excitement the last few months to last a lifetime.  It wasn’t even the good kind of excitement. 

Hang on!  One thing, I applied for a library job at my alma-mater the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.  Keep fingers crossed!  The money starts out at less than I make now but goes much much higher ($35,000) than I’ll ever make here.  Well, at least until I’m about 40.  I might make over 30 by the time I’m 40 if I wind up staying here.  Which I probably will.  I’m the least motivated person I know. 

I find it surprising, that even though I am extremely bored with my job (I sit around all day running copies, big whoop!) I do sort of enjoy it.  I occasionally get down time to relax and sometimes I’m really busy and can barely breath.  I work with pretty much great people.  We’ve worked together so long we’re like family, even the fighting.  My customers are fantastic, I love them all, and would miss them tremendously if I were to leave. 

But leave I really think I need to do. As great as it sounds I really am very bored with my job.  I can do it with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. It’s repetitive and mundane and boring. 

Sigh…but I’m also stuck in a rut and ruts are hard to get out of.  At least for me they are.  I’m stuck in a comfort zone and it will take a lot of effort to get me out of it.

1 Comment

Filed under Miscellaneous

March 20, 2006

UBS

I went back to the UBS today.  This is a sickness, a disease I tell you!  And I hope I’m never cured.

I got:

Burning Your Boats: The Collected Works of Angela Carter
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

They had a Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature I almost snapped up but it was $40 and they wouldn’t take credit on it.  :(

I might go back and get it anyway.

4 Comments

Filed under Books

March 20, 2006

Book #21 for 2006

Magic for Beginners
by Kelly Link
Rated 6/10
Published in 2005 by Small Beer Press
Started March 8, 2006
Finished March 17, 2006
Genre: Short Story/Fiction/Fantasy/Strange
Library

Ms. Link lives in a very strange world.  Zombies walk amongst the living in her world.  The dead and the living marry and have dead children in her world.  Big corporations are trying to figure out the best market to sell things to the dead/zombies on their way to the next world.  Rabbits, rode by tiny men, guard haunted houses.  And whole nations live inside a faery handbag made of a dead dog’s skin.

There were a couple of stories I really liked in this collection; The Faery Handbag and the title story, Magic for Beginners.  One reviewer says, ” Link is the purest, most distinctive surrealist in America, and she doesn’t stop at prose-poem length. Ray Olson.” I’m not totally sure I agree with this.  While she is distinctive and very surreal, I came away feeling like I’d been beaten over the head with her brand of symbolism.  I would definitely say that Ms. Link has a quirky, original (if strange) voice that, at times, I found hard to stomach, but on the whole entertaining.

How is that for strange?

Definitely check out The Faery Handbag though, it’s by far the best.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Book Reviews, Books

March 20, 2006

Which book am I?

Stole this from Amanda cause I hadn’t done it in awhile! 

Hadn’t taken this quiz in awhile. I’m pleased to see I’m not the fucking rabbit book this time!


 

You’re Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!
by Mark Twain
With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in black and white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the less it makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard time understanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, your adventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books

March 19, 2006

Lovely day!

First, isn’t this new design beautiful?  They added more designs today and this, by far, is the best. I absolutely love it and it is my best.  Will keep forever.  Or at least until the next best thing comes along. 

I had a very lovely day today.  Went to Old Navy, got the man and girl some clothes, and I got a groovy new bag!  Isn’t it beautiful??  Just perfect for hiding a book or two in.

 bag.jpg

After that we went to Zaxby’s for some tasty chicken!  I had a Zalad and it was damn good.  Theeeen we went to the UBS where I took about 4 boxes full of books and got over $100 in credit back!  I also picked up Jhumpa Lahiri’s two books Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake.  I also got The Tattoo Girl by Joyce Carol Oates.  Yum!

I started William Makepeace Thackery’s Vanity Fair tonight and have amazingly devoured 50 pages.  So far it is soooo good.  I’m really taking a liking to Becky Sharp.  I already want to see the movie with Ms. Hotness herself, Reese Witherspoon.  Will have to wait until I finish the book though, and at over 800 pages, that will probably be awhile! 

Now I’m off to bed.

8 Comments

Filed under Books, Miscellaneous