WWW Wednesday (October 17, 2012)

Again, this meme is from shouldbereading:

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

As I said Monday, I’m reading The Casual Vacancy, and blogging my reactions, section by section. Guess what, the further I get into it, the more I like it. This is not magic, it’s not “nice,” it’s not fun, it’s not kid stuff. And I finally got far enough into it to see that it’s a timely subject, the needs of the haves vs the have-nots. Or at least that’s how it seems right now. Join me here if you want to start the ride with me. I look foward to your reactions, whether you hate it, love it, or are somewhere in between.

I am also reading a book that is classified as the “New Adult” category. Easy, by Tammara Webber. This is another one of the self-published books that became a huge success on Amazon, and now is being picked up by Penguin and published in print. I wanted to see what it was like. So far I like it and can see why it’s popular with its target audience.. What it’s like is… hmm, a young woman gets almost raped in the opening, and doesn’t call the cops because she’s at a house where a lot of her underage friends are drinking and she doesn’t want them to get in trouble. I have a feeling this will come back to haunt her, don’t you?  She’s a college sophomore which is where the “New Adult” theme comes in. I don’t know how explicit it might get, but so far we know that she has been sexually active with her longterm ex-boyfriend, she drinks on occasion, and her friends toss around profanity a bit. I’ll let you know what I think when I finish.

Also, I’m listening to a medieval thriller, Martyr: A Novel of Tudor Intrigue, by Rory Clements. It’s the first in the “John Shakespeare” series.  I don’t yet know why the hero’s name is Shakespeare. So far, no references to Will that I’ve picked up on. This has some graphic violence against women (alas that seems to be a defining characteristic of most thrillers, including the one on my own back-burner). So far I like it. The story, not the violence against women. Just in case I needed to clarify that.

• What did you recently finish reading?

I finished The Ringed Castle, the fifth of six books in the Lymond Chronicles. So many things happened in this book that I wanted to happen and now I want to see what happens next, but–I’m postponing the sixth book because it is the last and I want to savour it. I also think I’m going to start buying this series in hardcover for my personal library which (other than research materials) is a collection of books I want to possess and caress, not just any book I happen to buy. Those days ended when I bought my Kindle and started using it for those kinds of reads. Building my library is becoming a truly enjoyable hobby.

 

 

• What do you think you’ll read next?

I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll move onto the last of the Lymond books or if I’ll grab something else. Only time will tell.

Warning: My notifications aren’t working. If you leave a comment, I will reply to it! But you won’t know unless you check back to see. Sorry. I’m having wordpress issues!

NOTE: I am running another contest to reward reviewers on Amazon. If you’re interested, here is your chance to win a $20 Amazon gift certificate.

One more reason to love Hermione's Handbag

I’m very slow to get around to this, but wow, I just checked three books out from the library.  The local public library.  They will load onto (into?) Hermione’s Handbag automatically (and if I understand this process, will also vanish automatically, which means — no late fines!)!

I checked out The Book Thief, The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great and A Dangerous Love (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 1).

You’ll hear what I think about them, it’s safe to say!

[Speaking of library books, I have exciting news that I will reveal later.]

And speaking of books and libraries also reminds me–

As you may recall, by eliminating a ton of books from my life and now using my Kindle for most new ones, I’ve freed up space to “build my library,” meaning, buying books I love, usually hardcover, and creating a library of special books rather than just any book I have ever purchased at any time in my life.

I’m loving the process.

And a new one is on the way to me.

A reread is definitely in my future.

Have you checked books out electronically from the library?

Which books would you want in hardcover that you don’t have now?

 

 

WWW Wednesday and March Madness for Readers

WWW Wednesday is at the end of this entry, if you’re here to see what is currently in Hermione’s Handbag.

But first, March Madness for Books!

For those of you who prefer indie bookstores to the big monster Amazon, you will love the Mothership of all Indies, Powell’s.

While you’re there, check out their March Madness Tournament in which, “A ridiculously small and poorly informed group of TMN editors and contributors have chosen 16 of the most cherished, hyped, ignored, and/or enthusiastically praised books of the year to enter into a month-long tournament, NCAA-basketball-madness style, beginning March 7, 2012.”

That’s today!

There are so many books on that list I already want to read, including The Marriage Plot, State of Wonder and The Sisters Brothers. I wish there were more hours in the day. If there were, I might download a bracket and…

Who am I kidding? I just might download one anyway.

AND NOW WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR — WWW WEDNESDAY!

From shouldbereading:

• What are you currently reading?

Finally, Ha’penny, the sequel to Farthing. It won the Prometheus Award in 2008, and I really do want to know what is happening to those characters now. This is the fascinating alternate history series in which the English negotiate a truce/peace with Hitler instead of continuing the war, and they are left to their own devices whilst Hitler controls Europe and continues banging away on the USSR. There is interesting use of voice and pov, and the characters are cleverly chosen to illustrate several kinds of prejudice in a suspenseful tale of “might have been.”

• What did you recently finish reading?

Nothing, but I finished listening to the second audiobook in the Flavia de Luce series, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag and have downloaded and begin the fourth in the series, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel. Damn, I am loving these books, and see that the next four in the series are now under contract. Yay!

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Timeless (The Parasol Protectorate, No. 5)
Last week I said I was sneaking peeks at this book, but I actually haven’t started reading it yet.  It might be next! But I’ve also begun reading the sample download of Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America, and it is really fascinating so… time will tell.

[If you want to see what else is in Hermione’s Handbag right now, you can click here.]

 

So, what about you?

Do you prefer independent bookstores to Amazon?

What have you been reading lately?

Have you succumbed to the digital age, yet?

Spill!

 

Summer's coming! Does your e-reader need a coverup?

Were you expecting a Nook or Kindle in a bikini, needing a drape to cover up its [lack of] curves?

A week or two ago I mentioned my new Kindle cover, and now I can show you how gorgeous it is because I finally borrowed the Resident Storm Chaser’s camera cable and downloaded my pics.

I am so much in love with this cover! It fits the Kindle Touch, although Verso, the manufacturer, makes covers for various other e-readers, as well. It’s not just more like holding a “real” book, it’s like more like holding a lovely old leather-bound book, which is totally the best of both worlds. If ever there was a way to make reading an e-reader an example of “both” rather than “either/or,” this is it.

But what if you want something fun and flirty? Something to slip into when you need a bit of soft padding and protection from scratches rather than the formality of [fake] leather?

My friend Lanetta to the rescue!

Whether you want leopardskin or sparkles or pink or camo, she’s got the stuff (at great prices)!

And finally, THIS JUST IN! Maybe it should get its own post, and maybe it will later, but for now–my script Redemption is on a fabulous producer’s desk right now, under consideration for getting made into a movie.

Yes. That’s right. The very same story as La Desperada–the same script that is available in the La Desperada download–is once again drawing attention to itself and spreading its wings in an attempt to soar into the celluloid skies.

Everybody together–fingers crossed!

 

 

 

Speaking of Valentine's Day…

Isn’t this just the most perfect gift?

It’s red.

And it fits my Kindle.

How much more perfect could it get?

Verso makes really great covers, I’ve found. They look like leatherbound books.

 

 

I loved the green one but it’s for a Kindle Fire, alas.

 

 

 

Still… red. Valentine’s Day!

Ssssh! Don’t tell the Resident Storm Chaser but he got me this very Kindle cover for my Valentine’s Day gift.

Isn’t he the greatest?