Manic Monday: The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod & Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Each Monday (or the closest I can get to Monday) I will be posting a Past/Present/Future Reading Post called Manic Monday. Don't hate me if I post it on a Tuesday - it just indicates how "manic" my Monday really was! If you want to see more of what I have been reading, I try and update my Goodreads account with each book I am reading.

What I just finished reading

Embrace The Night Eternal by Joss Ware
Stars: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Everything they knew is gone.

From the raging fires, five men emerge with extraordinary new powers. They must learn how to survive this dark, ravaged world . . . but they cannot do it alone.

Simon Japp will never forget his violent past. But when civilization is all but destroyed, he sees his chance for redemption. Blessed with a strange "gift," he's determined to help the resistance against the Strangers, the mysterious force that stalks them at every turn. He can't afford to get distracted, even by the stunning, soft-spoken woman fighting by his side . . . Sage Corrigan has learned to be careful where she places her trust. But she sees something good in Simon, even if he can't see it in himself. Posing as lovers to infiltrate a group key to their fight, they find that their staged affection soon develops into a desire that will leave them fighting for their lives in the night eternal . . .

Why I picked it up: Rosie (@fangbooks) got me onto Joss Ware, and I loved the first book in the series.
Why I finished it: A mix of dystopian fiction and paranormal romance - what is not to like! Did I mention there were zombies?
I'd give it to: Friends who like PNR and dystopia.

What I am reading now

The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod

My friend @my_lheage gave me this for my birthday last month.

Blurb from Goodreads:
Genevieve Taylor is a sidhe - one of the noble fae - and she's unusual even in a London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and scheming lesser fae mix freely with humanity...

Genny is a rising star at Spellcrackers.com, where she finds the "M" in magic - which can mean anything from mischief to malice to murder. The spellcrackers are run by the Witch Council, whose ancient tenets prohibit any contact with vampires. And that's just fine with Genny, who wants as little to do with the bloodsuckers as possible.

But when a sinfully sexy vamp is accused of killing his lover, an old debt forces Genny to help prove his innocence, risking her job, her safety - and the exposure of her own dark secrets. Genny soon realizes that she and her client are both unwitting pawns in a centuries-old power struggle. And it's not just her own neck at stake but the lives of all of London's supernatural beings.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Blurb from Goodreads:
The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club.
Chuck Palahniuk's outrageous and startling debut novel that exploded American literature and spawned a movement. Every weekend, in the basements and parking lots of bars across the country, young men with white-collar jobs and failed lives take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded just as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter, and dark, anarchic genius, and it's only the beginning of his plans for violent revenge on an empty consumer-culture world.
This is for book club and I am really liking it’s writing style so far. I wish I hadn’t seen the movie, because I know the twist already. This does not detract from the story as much as you would think, as I am noticing how the twist is catered for through the entire book, word by word.

What I am reading next

I am not sure. I have a big pile of books and I am having trouble choosing. It is the opposite of the problem I was having four months ago. I wanted to cry then and I want to cry now. I just received my Galaxy gift voucher too, so I have another $35 to spend on books (even though I spent about a third of 2010 on a book buying ban!). I really want to get the new Nalini Singh and the new Tracey O'Hara, so I may get those and bump them to the head of the queue. A book addiction is a very very nasty affliction. Trust me!

I want to concentrate on a dystopian novel in the next month. I tell myself I can either read them all at once or pace them out... I have to buy I am Legend for book club, so that will be on my list for February.

What do you want to see on my blog? Advice wanted!

BTT: Heavy

Booking Through Thursdays asks:
What’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?

I actually don’t pay attention to this. I remember getting into an argument in year six with Phoebe over who read bigger books. She was new at the school and was encroaching on my biggest book nerd crown. It was silly when I look back, but social status is really important at that age, and she was already beating me in class – at least I had her beat with books *snickers* but no, that was a silly twelve year old fighting for her place in the world. I don’t pay attention to the thickness of books any more. I think the story is more important than how many pages it flows over. I've probably read about 20 or so books over 1200 pages, but I couldn’t tell you exactly. A lot of them are epic fantasy, others are classics. I have never had to read a book over 400 pages for school or university. I read purely for pleasure, and even at school and university I enjoyed most of the books I had to read (although don’t get me started on Voss or Fringe of Leaves). I am the sort of girl who loves the play of words on the page. Even if I don’t like a book, I can usually find something I like about it. I wasn’t a fan of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, but I loved his descriptions. I could really get lost in some of those passages. I quoted some of them for Teaser Tuesdays because I was having so much fun with them. I think my ideal length for a book is about 700 pages. I read fast (when RL doesn’t get in the way) so short books end too quickly. It is one of the things I hate about not reading as much epic fantasy as I used to. One thing I do hate about reading thicker books is the weight. I have had wrist injuries, and I have problems with heavy books. That is one of the reasons I refuse to buy hard covers! Thick books can be heavy and unwieldy – I am sure that is okay if you read a few pages a day, but when you read for hours it bloody well hurts! It will be interesting to see how I go with the ereader. It is so small and light, so it will make longer books easier to read.

What about you? What is the largest book you have read?

What do you want to see on my blog? Advice wanted!

I have a question. What do you, my reader’s want to see on my blog? I had a period where I wasn’t posting, and now I have fallen into the habit of answering weekly memes. I met Neil Gaiman last night, and I realised I haven’t been writing about what is happening in my little nerdy life. Do you want to read my memes? Do you want to know what I am buying? Do you want to know what I am reading? Do you want to know my thoughts on issues and subjects raised on twitter? Do you want me to share all the amazing links I come across? Do you want to know more about my favourite illustrators or authors? The news items I find and the videos and pictures related to books that I come across? I haven’t been reading blogs for about three months and I have found that if I am not reading blogs that I am not thinking about writing my own entries. I have calendar reminders for my weekly memes (which are still quite late at times due to RL) so they happen fairly regularly. I love blogs, I love reading and I love writing. I love Book Bites, but I just haven’t dedicated enough time to her lately. Mostly when I get the urge to blog these days, it is random crap that isn’t worth sharing. I have been posting that to twitter instead! ;-p I think that is the biggest problem. I spend so much time talking books on twitter that I feel like I have covered the bases and don’t have much more to say on a topic. I forget not everyone is on twitter… I need to change my attitude, and I think 2011 is the year for a blogging overhaul! In fact, it is one of my New Year Resolutions! So, what are your suggestions. What content should I be posting to Book Bites? What do YOU want to hear from me?

Keep an eye out. I am writing a guide to ebooks in Australia. I am just putting the finishing touches on it and will post it soon! You can find out more about my plans for 2011 [here].

I really do want your input on my blogging. I need a push to get back on the blogging wagon, and to find some inspiration again.

Teaser Tuesday: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser: 

"This isn't really death," Tyler says. "We'll be legend. We won't grow old."
I tongue the barrel into my cheek and say, Tyler, you're thinking of vampires.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

BTT: Periodically

Booking Through Thursdays asked:

“Even I read things other than books from time to time … like, Magazines! What magazines/journals do you read?”


I don’t real all that many magazines. I read a lot of archaeology and anthropology journals when I was at university, but without a current university library login, I can’t afford to access journal articles any more. I receive the Australian Archaeology Association journal a few times a year, and I am planning on saving up and getting a subscription to the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. I sometimes buy Gothic Beauty and Fiend magazines, and I buy Metal Hammer when I can afford it. If I want to read articles I turn to the internet. It caters to more of my needs than any mainstream magazine might!

Teaser Tuesday: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

(Yes, this is two days late. So sue me! I need to get back in the habit of blogging on time LOL)

My Teaser: 

Up on top of the Parker-Morris Building with Tyler’s gun in my mouth. While desks and filing cabinets and computers meteor down on the crowd around the building and smoke funnels up form the broken windows and three blocks down the street the demolition team watches the clock, I know all of this: the gun, the anarchy, the explosion is really about Marla Singer.
Page 4 of Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Manic Monday: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Each Monday (or the closest I can get to Monday) I will be posting a Past/Present/Future Reading Post called Manic Monday. Don't hate me if I post it on a Tuesday - it just indicates how "manic" my Monday really was! If you want to see more of what I have been reading, I try and update my Goodreads account with each book I am reading.

What I just finished reading

On The Edge by Ilona Andrews
Stars: 3.5/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
The Broken is a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale.
The Weird is a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.
Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between both worlds. A perilous existence indeed, made even more so by a flood of magic-hungry creatures bent on absolute destruction.

Why I picked it up: I really got hooked on the Ilona Andrews Magic series. Luckily I used birthday money, because I wasn’t too impressed with it. Interesting but not as addictive as the other series.
Why I finished it: I’d paid for it and was flooded in. It was an interesting book, I just wasn’t riveted.
I'd give it to: People who love urban fantasy, particularly Mercedes Lackey’s urban fantasy novels.

What I am reading now

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Blurb from Goodreads:
The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club.
Chuck Palahniuk's outrageous and startling debut novel that exploded American literature and spawned a movement. Every weekend, in the basements and parking lots of bars across the country, young men with white-collar jobs and failed lives take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded just as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter, and dark, anarchic genius, and it's only the beginning of his plans for violent revenge on an empty consumer-culture world.
This is for book club and I am really liking it’s writing style so far. I wish I hadn’t seen the movie, because I know the twist already. This does not detract from the story as much as you would think, as I am noticing how the twist is catered for through the entire book, word by word.

What I am reading next

I won’t be buying books for a while (ebooks don’t count, right?) because of my massive backlog. I really am not used to having a TBR pile with more than 3 books, and at the moment it is probably more like 30 or 40, maybe even 50. I am too scared to count. I want to get started on my reading challenges, so will probably read a dystopian book set in Australia? Or maybe the Jennifer Estep one I have sitting buy my pillow? Or the Kelley Armstrong sitting next to my lamp? Or the Joss Ware sitting on my pillow? Or the Serressia Glass sitting under my pillow? TOO. MANY. CHOICES!

Hello Two Thousand and Elevenses!*

I need to apologise for my 2.5 month absence. I spent November concentrating on NaNoWriMo and took a planned hiatus from blogging, as well as other activities like reading speculative fiction. In December I was recovering from NaNo, glutting myself on spec fic, and dealing with the real world (hectic end of year schedule at work, Christmas parties, etc). I had planned to start 2011 with a BANG! However I spent the last two weeks at my family farm just out of Toowoomba. We didn’t have internet access, and the one week holiday was turned into two when we were flooded in. I have a LOT to catch up with now I am back in the land of Interwebia and rather than doing a large post here, I am going to just mention the challenges I am doing this year, and catch up with my Manic Monday post I missed yesterday.

Get Steampunked! Challenge
I am doing the lowest level “Geared” where I read 5 steampunk books this year. You can find out more about the challenge at Dutchie’s challenge blog.

The Dystopia Challenge
Again, I am doing the lowest level - “Asocial” and committing to read 5 dystopian books this year. I will probably read more, but I don’t want to overtax myself. You can find out more about this challenge here.

The Stephen King Challenge
I am going to give this one a go. I've read a few of his books in the past but I am trying to spread my reading wings again and head out into different genres. I loved Talisman and Nightshift and have read a handful of others. I am aiming to read 6 Stephen King books this year. You can find out more at Book City Chick.

I am also attending two book clubs again this year. One is the Paranormal Romance book club at Galaxy, and the other is a general book club in Sutherland. I had discussions with an online friend about maybe starting a speculative fiction book club, but I don’t know if we’ll go ahead with that or not. I am planning on attending ARRC for the first time this year, although I still have to scrape up the money to buy my admission. Last year I sat by twitter and my phone hearing all about it. This year I wish to be in the midst of the action! ;-p Anyone want to help me rob a bank???

Anyway, I don’t want to make this too long. I just want to say that I have really missed blogging, I've missed hearing about all the gossip in the reader’s world, and I have millions of blogs to catch up on… I am planning on writing more reviews this year, and to be a better blogger. It is a New Year’s resolution after all :)





*Because it is nearly eleven o'clock and I am getting hungry. I may also be quietly wishing I will be reincarnated as a hobbit in my next life.