Bad, BAD Zim!

I've gone and bought books AGAIN. After paying off credit card, it's seriously the first thing I do as soon as I get paid. At least, this time, I didn't go overboard like I did last month. So, these are what I'll be expecting in the mail this month:

Lover Avenged (#7) and Lover Mine (#8) are the only books of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series that I don't have. I'm on book 5 right now (Lover Unbound), and I'm pretty sure I'll be done with that and book 6 by the time these arrive.

I'm also rather excited about Hush, Hush since everyone I know kept saying I'll love it. I wish I could have a week or two all to myself to just read. Dream on, no?

P.S. I've just realized I lied. I don't have The Black Dagger Brotherhood Insider's Guide either, but my friend Kathy --who got me obsessed with the series by sending me the first book-- said she'll get it for me, so I'm good.

Contest! Books!

Leanna at DaisyChainReviews is giving away a free copy of this book! And it's open to international contestants as well, so you can all enter! ENTER HERE.

Funny Girl.

Watched this last night/this morning 'cos JuJu told me to. I can't believe I haven't seen it before, considering I do know the songs.

Lazy Sunday bow

It was time I finally knit something for myself. It's a free pattern from A Common Thread Blog, easy to make and fun to wear.

Movie night.

But what's the point of breathing if somebody already tells you the difference between an apple and a bicycle? If I bite a bicycle and ride an apple, then I'll know the difference.

Book #14 of 2010

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard living, ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He's got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. If he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers...

When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead but found by a miracle, the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him...

All I'm going to say about this one is that it seemed to drag for too long. Maybe it's because Butch was always a character I didn't really care about. Sure, he's fun, but I could do without having to read his story. Anyway... Still, bonus points for some great Rhage moments.

Men Who Hate Women

I've started watching this last night, but I couldn't finish it. I really, really liked the book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, so I want to like the movie, too, but eh... The places, including the towns and the houses, are just like what I've pictured. But the characters I liked a lot in the book are so not working for me in the movie: Mikael Blomkvist has no charm, Lisbeth Salander doesn't look way younger than she is, and Erika Berger isn't fierce at all.

I'm going to finish watching it just so I can say I've given it a shot. For those of you interested, here's the IMDB link to the movie.

P.S. I find that my brain is automatically filling the blanks while watching the movie, which makes me wonder what the people who haven't read the book will think about it.

Book #13 of 2010

Even within the vampire brotherhood, Zsadist is feared. Still bearing the scars from a tortured past, he is renowned for his unquenchable fury. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society. 

***SPOILER ALERT***
This one brought me to tears at least three times. In the first two books, whenever I read about Zsadist, I had a "what the hell is his problem?!" kind of attitude toward him. You know he was a slave and all and probably went through hell, but you still don't understand why he's so cold and very killer-like all the time.

In Love Awakened, though, you get the whole story behind this "tortured hero," which instantly makes you feel for him. Although I wanted to strangle him when he kept denying love and happiness to himself, I did understand the reasons why.

As torture-filled as they may be, I enjoyed reading about Zsadist's past, and what his twin had to go through to free him. This also lead to my sobbing hard when Phury shaved his hair off and scarring his face to go meet the lesser in his twin's place, and their bonding at Haver's when Zsadist hugged him.

Time for a few bullet points:

• Zsadist eating with Rhage to gain weight = *melt*
• I'm still very curious about why Vishous made Butch drink his blood, and I'm hoping it will be revealed in the next book.
• John Matthew is such a cute character. I was so sad when both Wilsie and Sarelle were killed by the lesser and Tohr disappeared.

That's all I can think of right now, but whoever said these books keep getting better is damn right. And no, I'm not sick of their listening rap music and walking around in shit kickers all the time. 

Onto book four...

Phew!

I took my external hard drive to the shop today because even though it turned on, it wouldn't show up on my computer. The guys at the store pronounced it dead and said they would give me a new one 'cos there's still time on the warranty. I said I didn't want it. I don't care about anything else in it, but all my writing and interviews were in it, and I really didn't want to lose them-- why I was stupid enough to let an external drive store them, I don't know. Anyway... My amazing friend Barkin saved it! He took it out of its box and hooked it up to his desktop computer, and now it's safe and sound in there. PHEW.

* * *

On a different note, I'd really like to say that this woman knows what she's talking about. I'd started the 3rd book of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series yesterday, and I'm almost done with it. Looks like I'm going through this box set pretty fast and will need the rest of the books very soon.

Book #12 of 2010

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetite. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin.

Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him. When Mary Luce is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world, she must rely on Rhage's protection. Knowing that Mary feels the same intense animal attraction, Rhage must make her his alone...

This is the second book in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I liked the first book a lot, and I loved this one. This was mainly the story of the brother Rhage, and he made me *swoon* from beginning to end, which made me finish the book in two days and left me wanting more.

50 Books in a Year: 2010 list is updated.

I'm off to start the third book now.

Book #11 of 2010

The electrifying follow-up to the phenomenal best seller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ("An intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller" –The Washington Post), and this time it is Lisbeth Salander, the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker, who is the focus and fierce heart of the story.

Mikael Blomkvist—crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium—has decided to publish a story exposing an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

On the eve of publication, the two reporters responsible for the story are brutally murdered. But perhaps more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander.

Now, as Blomkvist—alone in his belief in her innocence—plunges into his own investigation of the slayings, Salander is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

(I've updated my book list for 2010.)

I'm not even going to bother reviewing this one-- it was as great as the first one of the series, if not more. This time, though, the subject was more interesting: sex trafficking. Larsson really has a way of keeping the reader hooked, and he can easily juggle so many characters, providing many details while building their personalities and actions.

The only problem I have is with the ending, and not because it's bad, but because I cannot wait for the third and last book now, which will be out in English in May.

P.S. I wouldn't recommend reading this one before reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo first.

Now I'm back to vampire novels. What a shock!

I've got mail!

Whenever I shop for books (which would be ALL the time if I could afford it), it ends up looking like this. It doesn't matter whether I'm buying them online or at a store, I always end up wanting more more MORE.

I'm still reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson. After that, I'll have to decide which one of these two series (The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward or The Night Huntress Novels by Jeaniene Frost) I want to start with. Decisions, decisions... Life's so tough when you're a bookworm, ha!

Rain is love

Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.

It's that day of the year again.

<3

50 Books in a Year: 2010

I use the GoodReads 5-star rating system for the books I've read, which is as follows:
1 star: I didn't like it
2 stars: It was okay
3 stars: Liked it
4 stars: Really liked it
5 stars: It was amazing

50 Books in a Year 2009 is here.

I'm doing 2010 in pictures this year, and they can be viewed at my Flickr.

1. The Other Woman by Jane Green - (1/5)
2. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - (5/5)
3. Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk - (3/5)
4. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - (3/5)
5. The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes - (5/5)
6. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - (5/5)
7. Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #1) by J.R. Ward - (5/5)
8. Halfway to the Grave (A Night Huntress Novel - #1) by Jeaniene Frost - (3/5)
9. Vampire's Seduction by Raven Hart - (4/5)
10. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - (5/5)
11. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - (5/5)
12. Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #2) by J.R. Ward - (5/5)
13. Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #3) by J.R. Ward - (5/5)
14. Lover Revealed  (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #4) by J.R. Ward - (4/5)
15. Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #5) by J.R. Ward - (4/5)
16. Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #6) by J.R. Ward - (5/5)
17. One Foot in the Grave (A Night Huntress Novel - #2) by Jeaniene Frost - (3/5)
18. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - (4/5)
19. Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood Book #7) by J.R. Ward - (4/5)
20. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell - (2/5)
21. Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James - (5/5)
22. Singletini by Amanda Trimble (1/5)
23. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer (2/5)
24. Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8) by J.R. Ward - (5/5)
25. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead - (3/5)
26. At Grave's End (A Night Huntress Novel - #3) by Jeaniene Frost - (2/5)
27. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce - (1/5)
28. Kimine Şampanya Dokunur -  Alphonse Allais - (5/5)
29. The Missing Rose / Kayıp Gül - Serdar Özkan - (2/5)
30. The Hunger Games (Hunger Games #1) - Suzanne Collins (4/5)
31. How the Whale Became & Other Stories - Ted Hughes (4/5)
32. Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) - Suzanne Collins (4/5)
33. Secret Lives of Great Authors - Robert Schnakenbger (3/5)
34. Piç Güveysinden Hallice - Sami Hazinses (3/5)
35. Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) - Suzanne Collins (2/5)
36. Küçük Aptalın Büyük Dünyası - Pucca Günlük (1/5)
37. Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) - Charlaine Harris (3/5)
38. 101 Dinosaur Jokes - Phil Hirsch  (2/5)
39. Mason - Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitter's Guide - Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne (4/5)
40. Toe-Up Socks in a Box - Wendy D. Johnson (5/5)
41. Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) - Charlaine Harris (4/5)
42. Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #3) - Charlaine Harris (4/5)
43. The Glimmer Palace - Beatrice Collin (5/5)

Book #10 of 2010

An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (originally titled "Men Who Hate Women" in Swedish) combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

When I first started reading this, I had a "oh, no!" moment because of all the financial, business-related talk in the beginning. I must admit that it took me about a week to get through the first 100 pages, reading it on and off. After one of the main characters (Blomkvist) starts working for Henrik Vanger, though, it really picks up, and it becomes very hard to put the book down.

There's a Vanger Family Tree chart at the beginning of the book, which is very useful since all the Vangers get mixed up in your head from time to time. I also had trouble keeping up with the real names and nicknames and everything, but you get used to that after a while as well. There's also maps of Hedeby by the author himself, which would be helpful to understand what events took place where.

I really liked the fact that there's more than one mystery going on in the book, and it's both event and character driven. While reading you might think you have solved the mystery, and even if you guess correctly who the murderer is, your jaw is pretty much gonna drop when the whole truth is revealed.

This is one of the few books I've read that really lived up to the hype. (5/5)

My 50-Books-in-a-Year photostream is on Flickr.