Why would someone even suggest NOT stocking books in libraries?

This article from Jezebel is just a complete mindf*ck for me: "California Library May Stop Stocking Books".

I'm sorry - SAY WHAT?!

This is just unacceptable to me. Since the time that I was little libraries have been this center of my love for the book - how can we take away that experience from other people? 

From the article - "City Manager Dave Kiff remarked, "Shouldn't the modern library reflect what people are doing now, instead of reflecting what we might have done 20 or 30 years ago?"" Well how about we adapt in that we bring in more of a focus on the digital media that people are interested in without decimating everything libraries stand for?

What kind of places will libraries be with everyone sitting in their corners with their headsets glued to whatever the tube in front of them is showing? Libraries taught me to love books. Libraries allowed me to teach other people to love books. You know how that happens? By giving me the space and opportunity to talk to people. To recommend something. To bring someone to a section of books and show them how to browse and choose what's interesting to them.

How the hell is that going to happen at a 'library' where you can only get books through interlibrary loan?!

My heart hurts.

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.

Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passanger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.

A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

~~

First, for anyone who's wondering, I do not consider Pale Demon a stand alone. At all. There has been way too much back story and too much emotional baggage in this series for the new reader to pick up Pale Demon and appreciate it fully. The part of the story that we're shown in this one novel isn't bad, definitely not, but it's very complicated. There's a lot of back and forth and assumed knowledge that for a newbie I think would really distract from truly enjoying what was being portrayed on the page.

Essentially what we see in this book is a road trip. A long, dangerous, HUGE CONSEQUENCES having, road trip. With all the familial bonds and bad food that those words bring to mind, lol. Rachel is desperately trying to clear her name and to get to the West Coast on time is sucked into Trent's world again - this time though because he's on some mystical 'elf quest'. The whole crew goes with and we get a sh*t ton of action along the way. That's almost what I noticed the most. That the action made things seem to be going so fast but at the same time so slow.

It's like the action can be so enthralling in times I almost forget that people are saying and doing very important things while it's going on. Does that make sense? Either way it's breakneck pace and when I reached the 'conclusion' it kind of felt like I'd hit a brick wall. Which resulted in this ugly scene:

"What do you mean it's done? I want to know what happens next! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" (there was a temptation to throw my book at the wall but really - I just couldn't do it)

It's not a cliffhanger in the traditional sense (*cough* Jim Butcher *cough*) but a feeling of WOW. Harrison has a lot of material to play with in the next book and I can't wait to see where she goes!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - ...6) The Outlaw Demon Wails 7) White Witch, Black Curse 8) Black Magic Sanction 9) Pale Demon

Movie Sunday - Hits or Misses

Apparently the only time I'm going to actually stick around and watch any of the DVD's I own will be on days where I feel icky and don't want to leave the house. Yesterday I managed to watch 2 whole movies and parts - big parts - of 2 more.

Which probably sounds like nothing to those people who buy movies and watch them the same day (or the same week at least) but for me it's totally a BFD. And so accordingly I feel it deserves a little space on the blog - to hopefully some other lost soul when they're flipping through channels or searching their shelves for something to watch.

1. Hellboy - HIT

I have to admit I've seen this one before as I did in fact watch it soon after I bought the movie originally. Still - doesn't matter -  because I ended up watching most of it again yesterday, which reminded how cool it really is.

2. Save the Last Dance - HIT

Oldie but a goodie. And I don't care how much of it was done by a double because that last Julliard audition scene? LOVE it!

3. My One and Only - HIT

I picked up this up as a random 4/$20 from Blockbuster and I've gotta say it wasn't too bad. Renee Zellweger as an aging Southern Belle trying desperately to hang on to her way of life while it's falling down around her? A+ entertainment.

4. Monsters vs Aliens - MISS

Unfortunately this one was not so great. I couldn't really put my finger on anything specific, it was just a bunch of a 'blah'. I'd definitely save the money and watch it when it comes on TV.

Ghost of a Chance by Simon R. Green

Got ghost problems? You're in luck. The intrepid agents of the Carnacki Institute will investigate. They'll do whatever's necessary to take care of the problem, from convincing the ghost it's time to move on, to kicking its sorry ectoplasmic ass. Their best team is a three-person operation, capable of handling any problem. There's JC Chance, the leader; technogeek Melody Chambers; and drug-addled telepath Happy Jack Palmer. Between them, they have every eventuality covered.

Fresh off a job involving a haunted supermarket parking lot, the team is sent to deal with an extremely nasty incident originating in the Oxford Circus Underground station, an unprecedented event that's just the start of their worst adventure yet. Something ancient, alien, and powerful is threatening to break through down where the sun never shines, and it'll take everything the team has just to survive, much less succeed. And just to complicate matters, they have to deal with their evil counterparts from the Crowley Project, who believe the best opportunity is the one seized through force and blood. But when the chips are down and it's everyone for themselves, can the two teams work together? And who's going to tell JC Chance that falling in love with a ghost is a monumentally bad idea? (All of them, that's who.)

~~

I probably don't talk about it a lot, but Simon R. Green is hands down my favorite horror author. He writes these incredibly detailed and imaginative stories, with the type of world building that really lets you see everything with your mind's eye. In Ghost of a Chance I can see how the series is going to be another great creepy production. 

First let me say that this definitely has all the earmarks of a first book in a new series. There is a lot of explanation, a lot of character building. It's the kind of stuff that Green's already known for, but in this book you really get even more than usual. I don't think it's bad, this series just doesn't have the base that his John Taylor books do. JC, Happy, and Melody are new to us and what they do takes a bit more explanation. Though I do love the fact that it's still all taking place in and around the same world that we've been introduced to before. Something has to be going on in London outside of Nightside right? And this book shows us that. 

I know that doesn't tell you a whole but I do tend to prefer titles to stand for themselves. Take the blurb and my thoughts and go pick up this book from your local bookseller - it's a grand ride and a great beginning to a new series.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up. 

Series - 1) Ghost of a Chance

Patrick Rothfuss! For real this time

Hey Everyone!

So I didn't actual mean to dangle the prospect of Patrick Rothfuss spoilers over your head and then leave you hanging. Instead, as usual, there was some slight life implosion and then you know what happens? I get tired and don't want to do anything productive. Anywhere. I almost don't even want to read - which makes me feel guilty when I have NetGalley requests hanging around. 

Luckily I'm starting to feel better. I'm feeling the juices of actual motivation to get things done, which includes rereading Silver Borne so that I can finally move on to River Marked. I know! I know! I'm horrible - it's been sitting on my shelf for weeks but I've been reaching for old standards and leaving it unloved. 

Anyway...to get back to the point that I swear I started with, Patrick Rothfuss. His Q&A was almost more of a discussion and very reminiscent of popular fiction courses back from when I was in college. It is not at all a negative thought, just reflection. It's a lot of fun to hear one of your favorites authors expand on a topic like oral tradition and fantasy in today's world. Still there were some questions pertaining just to him personally and his series and this is what I gleamed from them:

*On Nathan Fillion/Firefly - yes Fillion did say something along the lines of if he won the California lottery and had $300 mill he would buy Firefly and give it to Joss Whedon. And yes Rothfuss would be glad to help with this project but that is it. It's not even near any sort of stage where it could possibly happen as many - many - more people would be needed ("30 to 50 geeks with more money than sense")

*He's tried to present a realistic world; a pre-industrial, pre-information age world ("a world that is filled with uncertainty")

*He spends a lot of time looking at how information would move in this world

*'Narrata' - the individual narrative unit (he said it, defined it, so even with no context here it is)

*A lot of stuff in the books  he's created from educated guess about what might/could happen. Sometimes those guess can turn out to be true, can be seen in real world examples from the past. (Eg - silk bras, the buggery (Library of Congress seriously used to de-bug books this way:  the books were laid out in a circle around a log dipped in honey. You close the door and come back later after all the bugs have left the books to eat the log))

*How literate are the people? World more akin to renaissance Europe than anything else; troupers are of course eminently literate but most people have enough learning to read signs and that's about it - reading/writing skills are available, just not very important

*Why does he change the things he changes? Rothfuss makes changes to make the story better. For example, without tension there is no story - you have to have problems if you're going have to something actually happen. 

And there you go people - out of a huge multiple hour long chunk of my life I ended up with 7  bullet points. But weren't those some fun bullet points? 

Yet I still think something is lacking....something...something. GOT IT! You know what this post needs? Some completely without context

Memorable Quotes:

-"I'm writing a realistic world which means...people are dicks."

-"The bar bet is dead"

-"You hear what Newton said?"..."He's high on mercury!"

-"Why are you ruining bouncing?"

-"Cognitive dissonance...then you stroke and you die."

Falke's Peak by Madison Layle & Anna Leigh Keaton

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Stressed out ad-exec Dakota wandered into Catamount Outfitters in search of a guide for a wilderness excursion. She didn't expect to be greeted by not one, but five of the most ruggedly delicious-looking men she'd ever seen. Not to mention a live cougar guarding the shop.

The Falke brothers have more than just good looks in their genes.

Eldest brother Axel agrees to guide Dakota on her mountain trek. In cougar form, Axel's twin, Gunnar, was there as a protection from predators—but he had his eye on the sexy client instead.

Into the wild...

While the rule with clients was "paws-off," both Axel and Gunnar couldn't resist Dakota's seductive Native American beauty and determination. As cold days led to hot nights in the cabin, Axel and Gunnar wondered if they'd finally found a woman strong enough to tame them...

~~

**I requested this title for review from NetGalley**

The ending definitely pulled this book into thumbs up territory for me. Not to say that any part of it was bad, and it could be a contributed a bit to my mood, but for awhile there I was just 'eh' about everything. I didn't mind Dakota I didn't dislike Axel or Gunnar but for some reason it wasn't clicking for me. Which is strange when you consider that this book has all the things that are right up my alley.

What gave it the home run hit right at the end? The realistic representation of how they finally came together. It's not unusual to just get a 'and they all lived happily ever after ending' even when it's obviously going to be more complicated than that. Dakota has a family. A family that knows nothing about shifters or needing two males to before she could ever have their children - no idea. And as poly relationships are still somewhat atypical, I think it's expected that not only would Dakota have reservations about telling them, but that they might have problems accepting it.

The best example of this though? After a few days snowed in with Axel and Gunnar Dakota doesn't magically decide to stay. In fact, she leaves. Leaves and attempts to go on with her life after her 'fling'. There's a great conversation between Axel and Gunnar and their fathers which pretty much amounted to the older generation saying 'well you expected her to give up her whole love and move in with you....why wouldn't you be willing to do the same for her?'. Loved it. Absolutely loved it.

So I think this is definitely a book someone could pick up for a quick read and enjoy. Fun characters, steamy sex, and a realistically satisfying ending. Wonderful!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None (?)

Thank goodness for other book bloggers

....they continually help me find fun random things to do when I'm bored. Or don't want to write a book review. Or really do much of anything because my teeth hurt and my office has already got me wanting to go home. 

Sigh.

Moving on - over at Fiction Vixen Sophia has written up a post on a couple fun book quizzes. First up is the What Kind of Book are You? quiz. My result?

You Are Humor
"You love to laugh at life, and if possible, get others to laugh along with you.
You believe there's always a humorous side to everything. And your sense of humor ranges from upbeat to very dark.

You are outrageous and very honest. You're often the only one willing to say what everyone else is thinking.
You are witty and verbally talented. You like to play with words and say things in interesting ways." 

Next is The Book Test. What I got:

You are a Dreamer
"You tend to have your head in the clouds. You love to be drawn in to a whole other world.

You are a sensitive person. You find it easy to be emotionally effected by books.

You are a person with a few deep interests. If you're drawn to something, you learn everything about it.

You are a person who loves to acquire possessions. You can't resist a sale, and you own a lot of things. "

And apparently Sophia and I have a lot in common because we got the same results! Hmmm...I am naturally suspicious of similar answers.

Have you taken these quizzes? What results did you get?