Books For The Road

Hola Readers!  It's road trip time again!!!  This time I'm doing double duty with a quick Chicago/Rockford trip to see G-man and L-bud, then down south to meet up with K-dude and R-boy.  Totally excited to all my babies (who are no longer babies...sniff).   I've been packing all day...which pretty much means perusing my bookshelf trying to decide what to bring.  Here is what  I came up with.

Cosmic Powers edited by John Joseph Adams - My go to editor, especially for sci-fi collections that for some reason always seem to fit my summer/road trip mood short story collection book.

Street Magics edited by Paula Guran - The alternate short story collection for in case I finish my primary short story collection and want some more short stories book.

Spellcast by Barbara Ashford - The summer stock theatre, magic, new town book that not only seems to sum up so many of my younger summers but just sounds like the perfect summer read book.

Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez - My humorous yet well written and kind of weird yet makes total sense 'cause you know book.

One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey - The I need a fantasy book  in a series I know I like and I've been slacking book.

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip - The wildly atmospheric and dreamy and worst case scenario it's got an amazing cover to look at book.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi - The one of my favorite books and requisite ocean book 'cause it's summer books

The Last Treasure by Janet Anderson - My middle grade story 'cause I love these books when I'm in a nostalgic mood especially with the little boys book

Alice by Christina Henry - My WTF is going on her, but it's and Alice in Wonderland book so it will be awesome or horrific but either way I'll get a great rambling out of it book.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex  - The I'm really sick of Hubbin asking me about this book so I'm gonna read it so he'll shut up book

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - The firehouse book club recommendation and loan and also it sounds pretty cool so why not book.

Boneshaker by Cheri Priest - The this has been on my TBR pile forever and I've been dying to read and just haven't yet book

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund - The OMG I totally forgot I had this on my bookshelf and dude killer unicorns awesome book

Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie -  The I love a good mystery especially in the summer and might as well read the queen of mystery book

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - My I'm obsessed with the classics at the moment and also I need at least one high fantasy and do I really need a reason for Tolkien book.

The Masterharper of Pern by Anne McCaffrey - Dragons!!!!!!!!!  Also I always need at least one Anne McCaffrey book with me on vacation book.

Since I'm gonna be gone there will be no posts next week :-(  BUT my rambling pile is growing pretty quickly so be prepared for that.  Also I'm working on a couple other ideas.  Happy Reading Everybody!!!

14 Hours Of Reading Time

I'm off on another road trip and look forward to 14 hours of reading YAY,  Hubbin of course has other ideas...something about me taking my turn driving or something...Anyways it will be a few days before I get another post up.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, get lots of reading in and some good fall weather soon.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Leaving On A Jet Plane!

Alrighty folks,  I'm off on another trip, this time through the puffy clouds.  I am super stoked and have a bag full of books to get me through my journey.

That being said, posting will be spotty at best until I get back next week, but when I do, so much good stuff!!!!!  Happy Reading Everybody!!!!

I'm Home!!!!

Hello all my readers.  How was your long weekend?  Did you do anything fun?  Did you read any good books?   I had a fabulous time down at the pepper farm working Pepperfest and my anniverssary with my amazing Hubbin.  I got tons of reading done (four whole books!) so be ready for some epic rambles.  The Hubbin kept me full of coffee and let me run amok in a bookstore as an anniverasary present.

It rained and thundered and lightininged the whole time, which was the perfect excuse to curl up with a good book.  Hubbin even drove the whole way home so I could finish my last book.  I crammed in a couple last summer books and bought a couple new fall books, so I'm excited about that.  Ok now I have to go and try and snag a couple hours of sleep before I head back to work so off I go.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Road Trip Book List

Hola Readers, it's that time of year again.  Time for me to hit the road with a change of clothes and about three suitcases full of books.  Here is the line up for the current road trip (in addition to my current reading now list).

Code Name Verity - The been on my list forever, feel mentally ready to take on a heavy book with potential for much mental angst book.

One For The Money - The need an antidote for the aforementioned heavy book and this one seems nice and light and highly recommended book.

Federations - The short story/sci fi combo that seems to work so well for me in the summer time in case it stays hot.

Death Watch - The random book of cool cover that also sounded potentially interesting and fall like in case it gets cold.

Elemental Magic: All New Tales of the Elemental Masters - The I am excited to see the take of other authors on the Elemental Magic series book.

Here There Be Dragons - The I've been dying to reread this book of literary awesomeness so I can do an epic ramble on it book.

The Fairy Godmother - The need to always have a fantasy book handy book.

To Ride Pegasus - My required Anne McCaffery book.

Storm Front - The Oh yeah I forgot I had this book and have been wanting to start this series forever book.

Half-Off Ragnarok - The so far this series kicks butt and I can't wait to read the next one book.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey - The middle grade book that usually calms me down when the adult and YA books piss me off.

The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy - The be all end all of road trip books.

I of course reserve the right to switch these ups, change books mid drive and add too my book bags as necessary.  Now lets see how many of these I actually get through shall I?   Happy Reading Everybody!

Licence Plate Game

Summer is coming to a close and everybody is cramming in one last road trip.  Even though reading is my time passer of choice, on occasion we like to play the licence plate game...with a literary twist.

We like to find any book related licence plates...or if we can't find any try and make regualr plates into book related ones.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Books And Donuts And Fireworks And Books!

Hello all, I hope you had a wonderful weekend like I did, it was so good in fact that it started and ended at the bookstore!  We packed up to visit baby sis up in PA, but my Hubbin insisted that we stop at the book store on our way out of town, and who am I to argue.  I picked up a book I had been looking at for a while and then wandered the stacks while Hubbin finished his shopping.  Lo and behold, just like some mysterious force guided me to the spot, a perfect road trip book appeared.  I know, I know I have a whole list of books I'm supposed to be reading, but this one was PERFECT, it's called Helen and Troy's Epic Road Trip by A. Lee Martinez,  but more on that later when I ramble about it.  After the epic book buying trip of

awesomeness we proceeded to the eerily traffic free road and made to my sisters in record time which was both good and bad as I couldn't wait to see her, but wanted more time to read my new awesome book.  The weather was amazing, warm, breezy, sunny, low humidity, everything you want a summer day to be. Greeting my baby sis's psycho dogs and amazing Hubby we unpacked and watched my baby sis freak out over my new book.  Apparently she had just put the book on the list and was dying to read it, it's 'cause we're book twins.  We let the boys sit up front while baby sis and I sat in the back and discussed all the books we had read recently, we had a rousing discussion about the Divergent series which ended with the boys shaking their heads and laughing over our semi-coherent sentences that only we could understand.  Taking a break from books for a wonderful outdoor dinner, only to discover that the firework show had been moved to the next day due to the epic storms we had just had.  Somehow we convinced the boys to buy us our own fireworks and proceeded to scare all the cows in Amish country by setting them off in between bouts of tear inducing laughter.  Next day dawned to two dogs sitting on my chest and a quest for donuts.  My baby sis took us to the oldest running market in the US where they not only served the bestest coffee, but the most amazingly creative and tasty donuts.  Seriously we shared a S'mores donut, a bacon maple donut, a caramel pretzel donut, a cookies and cream donut, a fresh coconut cream donut and a creamsicle donut, all of which were

stupendous and had the added bonus of making my Hubbin a very happy boy.  Took the puppies on a walk, grilled out and watched the World Cup and then went back to try the fireworks show again.  Can I just say it was so worth it.  The theme was Wizard of Oz...which is perfect since I just finished reading it, and Pink Floyd the show was...words cannot describe the sheer perfection of it.  Needless to say we were all very happy campers.  Got home, caught some sleep, had some coffee, exchanged books and said our goodbyes :-( and back on the road we went.  Of course we can't just go straight home like normal people, so Hubbin took us to one of our favorite spots for lunch (garlic fries for the win) and it just happened to be next to a book store sooooo...yeah.  That brings us here and me writing this as quickly as I can so I can finish my awesome book of road trip awesomeness so I can ramble about it in the next couple of days!  Hope everybody else had a great weekend. Happy Reading Everybody!

Road Trip Randomness

WOOOOHOOO I AM SO EXCITED PEOPLE!!!!!!  I HAVE THE BESTEST WEEK EVER COMING UP!!!!  Whew sorry about the excessive caps but I am so EXCITED!!!!!!  I get to see everybody and I mean EVERYBODY this week.  We start with finishing our wrapping and packing tonight (along with some liquid Christmas cheer if you know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink). Tomorrow we meet up with awesome friends K and L and co and head out for more Christmas cheer in the form of our favorite winery Cobbler Mountain Cellars which not only has the best Northern Virginia wines, but treats us like royalty, seriously if you ever get a chance stop in or look them up they are awesome.  Back home to do the most important part of packing...the books!  I have reserved two hours for this very delicate process.

 Up and at em early early early on Sunday to head to the Midwest where under one teeny tiny roof we shall gather the WHOLE clan.  Yep we will have Mamma, Daddy, Me, Hubbin, lil bro and wife, lil sis and family (including hubby, lil G and baby L), and baby sis and hubby and whoever else happens to stop by.  This is the first time the whole clan has been together since baby sis wedding years ago.  I am totally excited and a wee bit apprehensive as we tend to get very..um..loud when we are all together.  After an all to short visit we head south to visit Momma and Pappa J, the Hubbins folks.  Very excited to see them and have some quiet down time on the farm.  I haven't been to the farm in winter in forever and love the calm peacefulness it evokes.  As if all of this amazingness were not enough my sweet Hubbin goes and sweetens the deal by getting me what promises to be the coolest book ever for my trip. It is simply called S.  It is if nothing else a beautiful looking book that has an interesting and very cool sounding premise, here is what the back cover says.

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire.A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.The book: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V.M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey.The writer: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world's greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumors that swirl around him.The readers: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they're willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears.S., conceived by filmmaker J. J. Abrams and written by award-winning novelist Doug Dorst, is the chronicle of two readers finding each other in the margins of a book and enmeshing themselves in a deadly struggle between forces they don't understand, and it is also Abrams and Dorst's love letter to the written word.
Only my Hubbin could find a book to intrigue me this much, seriously it is all I can think about and am debating abandoning (temporarily) the books I am reading now to dive into this unique book...or I can just use the 35 hours I will be in the car and the three days at the farm to read as much as humanly possible.  Ok enough rambling.  I will probably not be doing a whole lot of posting next week.  I will try and pop up some updates when I get the chance.  Other wise be prepared for an onslaught of ramblings, updates and some holiday goodness when I get back.  Happy Reading Everybody!!!!!

Poe Bowl

So I missed posting again yesterday (hanging head in shame), but I had a good excuse, I was recovering from watching my Ravens WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!  We couldn't make to New Orleans to watch in person, so we did the next best thing and went to Baltimore and watched with all of the fans there, had an amazing time. Hubbin and I stayed the night in room overlooking the Harbor, perfection.  Baltimore is also home to one of America's great authors Edgar Allan Poe

This man is one of the most recognizable writers in history, who's books and poems are a staple in many a high school classroom.  His mix of drama, suspense and imagery keeps his writings stuck in your head long after you have read them. I still remember reading The Fall of the House of Usher for the first time, every little detail driving you relentlessly to the tragic and almost foreseeable end.   He is also the inspiration for many a tale here in modern times as well, including the new TV show The Following in which a serial killer, bases his cult of killing on the life and works of Poe.

The Raven

Of course the perfect book to sum up both my Poe experience and my Superbowl experience is The Raven, which may be just about as suspenseful as that game!

Who were you rooting for in the big game?  Are one of those people who only watches for the commercials?  How cool is it that I can combine my love for the Ravens and my love for Poe in one trip?!?

Car Library

I need me one of these

I'm on the road and could really use this car!

On The Road Again

I'm off on another fabulous adventure so posting may be a bit haphazard for the next week, I will try and get something up on most days, but if I have to go rescue a dragon from an evil princess than I might have to adjust posting accordingly :-)  Here is a list of books that are coming with me on my grand quest into the great unknown.  I won't read them all, but I like to have a variety so I always have the right book to match my mood.

Book I've already started-Leviathan
Book I bought and started even though I have a huge stack already waiting-The Quicksilver Faire
Short stories fantasy/sci fi style-The Girl Who Heard Dragons
Short stories reread nostalgia style-The Faery Reel
Book with lots of awesome words-Fly By Night
Book in case it feels like fall and I need a good vampire read-Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Guilty Pleasure Book-Great Hexpectations
Classic I've been meaning to read forever-Wuthering Heights
Classic I will probably read instead-Emma
Classic that may sneak in 'cause I'm on a farm and it seems appropriate-Anne of Green Gables
Book I've been dying to reread-Wildwood Dancing
Book with an urban spin in case being out in the middle of nowhere gets to overwhelming-The Good Fairies of New York
Book I am really really really excited to read-The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making
Book to read to Hubbin while he drives-Feed
Book for in case it feels like a hot southern summer-The Peach Keeper
Book for in case I don't feel like reading any of the others for some reason-Water Song

Ok so that should tide me over for a couple days at least, of course this does not include all of the books I get to read and be read to by my nephews.  Let the good times commence.

Road Trip!

Heading out on a long weekend road trip tomorrow and as always the best part is when I don't have to drive and can spend hours lost in a good story while the ever changing scenery rolls by.  To this end I have been mentally packing my bookcase with everything I could possibly crave on this trip.  On road trips I always bring a variety of books with me because I never know what I will be in the mood for.  Here is my road trip list so far.

Short Stories Sci-Fi: The Starry Rift  (Nook)
Short Stories Fantasy: The Fairy Reel Tales From the Twilight Realm
Fantasy: Eldest
Classic: Wuthering Heights
Fantasy Series: The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles) and Darke (Septimus Heap)
Non-Fiction: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey
Mystery: The Spellman Files (Nook)
Humor: Curses! (Kindle)
Girly Book I Don't Admit To Reading: Great Hexpectations (Dulcie O'Neil series) (Kindle)
Not Quit Sure Which Genre: Garden Spells
Swashbuckling Tale: Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders) (Kindle)
Graphic Novel: Worlds End (Sandman Volume 8)
Backup Book: Wildwood Dancing
Backup Backup Book: Firebirds
Just In Case I Don't Want To Read Any Of The Above Books: Good Fairies of New York

I probably will not read all of these books on one four day trip that includes me driving through the mountains belting out the Newsies soundtrack at the top of my lungs until my Hubbin begs me to pull over so he can drive and I can go back to the blessed semi-silence of reading.  Still I always like to have a variety so no matter what urge strikes me I can pick up that particular book and get to reading.

What is your favorite road book?  Is your book bag bigger then your clothes bag?  Are you one of those pooooooor unfortunate souls who gets carsick reading ('cause that really sucks)?