Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars (10/10)
Read: 17-11-10 to 21-11-10

Oh, I really liked this. I've had it sitting on my TBR shelf for months, and now I wish I'd started it sooner.

It was great to find a New Zealand book with both a wonderfully accessible heroine and Maori myth that wove so seamlessly into a contemporary narrative. I also thought that Healy did a wonderful job in explaining the mythology (most of which I knew at least to some small degree) to the reader without belabouring the point for those who already knew what she was talking about.

I haven't read much in the way of modern versions of my own homeland's mythology that isn't either historical or a retelling. I thought this was beautifully done and it's so great to have a wonderful New Zealand book to share with friends both locally and overseas. I have a good gift on my hands here.

I loved Ellie. She was wonderfully easy to like I think as much for her flaws as for her strengths. She's complex and very relatable and I would love to see her in another book one day. Kevin and Mark were also great characters, if less rounded than Ellie and I'd love to learn more about them too.

I'm not going to say much about the ending, because I don't want to spoil it, but I thought it was just perfect, which surprised me a little, as it wasn't at all what you might expect. In fact, it was the end that pushed my rating up from a 9 to a 10, because it just rounded off this wonderful, unique, unexpected book perfectly.

I'll be keeping my eyes of for Karen Healey's next book, also set in New Zealand and called The Shattering which is due for publication in September 2011.

Go out and find a copy of Guardian of the Dead and read it. I loved it and I hope you will too.

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Laura Hillenbrand on Today Show

Laura Hillenbrand is the author of the best-selling book, Seabiscuit, which I finished reading last week. She has now released a new book called Unbroken, that I have on reserve from the library and I’m looking forward to reading.

While I am attracted to both books because of their subject and because they are so well written, it is also because Laura Hillenbrand has severe CFS. She’s been ill for the better part of 25 years, much of that time spent in bed. Despite that, she’s written one best seller and it’s looking like this new book may well be one as well.

While I don’t know her and she’s never heard of me and never will, I respect her so much, to have achieved what she has. My writing, while probably never of publishable standard anyway, just faded away on me, dried up and vanished completely. I miss it, but there’s just nothing there in my head any more for me to work with.

Hillenbrand has managed not only to do the hard, physical and mental work of writing two books – she’s done all the research and work involved in preparing to write them as well (check out the enormous number of research books on her shelves in the video below). I couldn’t take in that information and collate it into anything coherent any more, let alone then write it all up so beautifully (and I’m not as sick as she is).

I’m very impressed (and I admit, a little jealous) and I wish Hillenbrand all the very best, both with her health and her career. It’s so good to see someone with this awful illness doing so well.

The video below is from NBC’s Today Show and talks mostly about the book, but also a little about the illness. It’s so nice to see something in the media that acknowledges how serious it is without being disbelieving, disrespectful or mocking.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 16-9-10 to 14-11-10

A friend lent me this book, and while I've been reading it very slowly, I've also been thoroughly enjoying it.

Hillenbrand made her subject come alive and I found myself cheering for this ungainly little racehorse too - and racing is not something that interests me at all.

So don't let a lack of interest in horse racing keep you from a great book filled with wonderful characters.

I was also interested to read the book knowing Hillenbrand suffers from severe CFS. I am so impressed that she managed to write this while often house-bound. In the interview at the back, she mentions sometimes needing to just close her eyes and write with her eyes closed. While I don't suffer the awful vertigo she does, I could totally relate to that.

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Indulgence in Death by J. D. Robb

Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
Eve and Roarke, Book 38
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 8-11-10 to 9-11-10

I really enjoyed this one. I always enjoy a new book about Eve and Roarke and this one didn't let me down. It has an interesting - if particularly twisted - mystery and Eve faces it in her usual fashion.

I've heard some people complain that they don't enjoy the interactions between Eve and Roarke as much now their marriage is settling down (they celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary in this book). I'm quite the opposite. Books are so often about people getting together and the drama and conflict involved in that (there's got to be drama and conflict for a story after all). I'm loving seeing the developing, calming relationship that is growing between two such tempestuous people. To have a good marriage - and Eve and Roarke certainly do - they can't stay in conflict. So the conflict is coming from outside now and it is their solid relationship that stands against it.

This very fact was used to great effect in this book, and how Eve exploited someone's outside view of their marriage compared to the reality of it made for a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.

Although, that said, if I have any particular issue with Nora Roberts' books, it is that I often feel they sometimes end about a chapter too soon. If the main issue of the book is resolved, she often stops it at that point. While I don't want the end of a book to meander on, I'd like a little more finish than she sometimes gives me, and I feel this book suffered from that.

I can't really go into more details without spoilers, which I don't want to do, but I felt it wouldn't have hurt to see at least one more police interview at the end, and maybe finish on the up note of a planned barbeque with friends that was constanly mentioned throughout the book but forgotten right at the end.

It's a minor complaint, but has left me feeling a little disappointed at the end, after having had a great adventure.

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This is cool too

But go and watch in on You Tube itself as my blog template doesn’t show the full width of the clip and you need to see it all.

This is delightful

This is the most delightful, gorgeous thing to watch. Look at the happiness and joy on that little boy’s face.

Everyone else looks and sounds pretty happy too.

My October Reading

I got more read than I expected this month, so I’m pleased with that. I’m still loving The Wars of Light and Shadow and they are still taking up most of my reading time (and a lot of my available energy).

1. Son of the Shadows – Juliet Marillier (608pp)
   Sevenwaters, Book 2; Fantasy; 9/10
2. Whisper of Sin – Nalini Singh (unknown)
   Psy-Changeling, Book 8.5; Short Story; Paranormal Romance; 8/10
3. Here, There Be Monsters – Meljean Brook (unknown)
   The Iron Seas, Book 0.5; Short Story; Steampunk Romance; 8/10
4. Anatomy of an Epidemic – Robert Whitaker (416pp)
   Non-Fiction; Library Book; 6/10
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot (369pp)
   Non-Fiction; Library Book; 10/10
6. Warhost of Vastmark – Janny Wurts (576pp)
   Wars of Light and Shadow, Book 3; Fantasy; 10/10
7. Tea with the Black Dragon – R. A. MacAvoy (176pp)
   Fantasy; eBook; Reread; 7/10
8. Cryoburn – Lois McMaster Bujold (345pp)
   Vorkosigan, Book 14; SF; 10/10
9. How to Fossilise Your Hamster – Mick O’Hare (256pp)
   Non-Fiction; Library Book; DNF
10. Ten Things I Love About You – Julia Quinn (377pp)
    Bevelstokes, Book 3; Romance; eBook; 7/10

Best book of the month = Warhost of Vastmark (Cryoburn was a very close second)
Biggest disappointment of the month = Tea With the Black Dragon (because it wasn’t as good as I remember, not because it was bad)

October Reading:
Books read this month = 7
Short Stories read this month = 2
Total reads this month = 9

10/10 reads this month = 2
DNFs this month = 1
New reads this month = 8
Rereads this month = 1
paper books : eBooks = 5 : 4 = 56 % : 44 %

Pages read this month = 2867

October Challenges Progress:
Flashback Reading Challenge = 1
Big Book Challenge = 1

October List Progress:
eBooks read = 4
SFF books read = 6
Library Books read = 2
Audiobooks listened to = 0

Post it Note Update

I finished Warhost of Vastmark today (just as brilliant as the previous two books). While I keep telling myself that if it’s too much effort, I can stop marking/making notes as I read this series, there’s so much that I want to mark that I can’t stop myself. So here’s the book pile as it is now.

From top to bottom, that’s my son Marcus in the background, then The Curse of the Mistwraith, The Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark (all read and with their attendant post-it notes) and at the bottom Fugitive Prince and Grand Conspiracy waiting for me to get to them.

Oh and that’s today’s book loot in the very background.

Book Loot

We drove over to Barbara’s Books today for me to pick up my copy of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cryoburn, which had come in for me. They had a good selection of near-new books at reduced prices, so despite my good budgetary intentions, I came home with more books than I had planned.

While perhaps bad for one’s bank balance, engaging in book loot is always a satisfying experience.

• Cryoburn – Lois McMaster Bujold
  I’ve been hanging out for the new Miles adventure and can’t wait to start this. It also contains a CD-ROM that includes the book as an ebook (along with nearly all the other Vorkosigan series books, although I had already bought those) and a selection of interviews and essays.
• From Black Rooms – Stephen Woodworth
  I’ve read the first two in this series and liked them. The third is in my TBR pile. This is the fourth book, which I’d been holding off buying until I’d finished the one before it. But when it’s sitting there for $5 (instead of nearly $25 new), well, it needs to come home with me.
• Servant of the Empire – Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
  I read this (and Mistress of the Empire) when they came out, but for some reason I never had my own copies. I think I must have borrowed them off a friend. So naturally, at a reduced price, they came home with me too.
• Mistress of the Empire – Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
  See above. Besides, I’m on a major Janny Wurts kick at the moment as I read my way through her Wars of Light and Shadow series.
• Firebird – Mercedes Lackey
  For some reason I never read this one in my Mercedes Lackey reading days. But I’ve joined Erica’s Women of Fantasy 2011 Book Club and this is one of the selections, so a $15 hardcover (instead of nearly $50 new – which is what I paid for Cryoburn) was a no-brainer.

So all in all, I’m a happy book buyer. I also got Warhost of Vastmark finished, so I can even start Cryoburn this afternoon without any lingering feelings of guilt.

Wars of Light and Shadow - Quick Update

Just a quick picture of the state of my books in Janny Wurts' wonderful Wars of Light and Shadow series.

This is Curse of the Mistwraith and The Ships of Merior finished, with Warhost of Vastmark ready for me to start tomorrow.



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First lost tooth

First lost tooth
Originally uploaded by rocalisa.

It's been an exciting few days at our house. We noticed Marcus had his first wobbly tooth at the weekend, and he's been carefully taking a container to school each day to save it if it comes out there.

I picked him up this afternoon and he immediately started patting his pockets, and looked very worried when both appeared to be empty. We hurried back to the classroom and eventually found the container (with tooth inside) rolled under the next table over.

It is now safely at home and we're waiting to see if the tooth fairy comes tonight.

I can't quite believe that my tiny, scrap of a baby is big enough to be losing teeth. (I also have no idea how a full size adult tooth is going to fit in the tiny gap the lost tooth has left. I hope that doesn't mean there are braces in our future budget.)

We're All Fine

In reply to Christine's request, just a quick note to let everyone know we're fine after today's earthquake in Christchurch.

We live in Auckland at the top of the North Island, while Christchurch is halfway down the South Island. Dave tells me it's around 700km away in a straight line (and around 1100 if you drive; New Zealand has a lot of twisty, turny landscape and therefore roads).

Marcus and I were staying with my parents who live in Palmerston North, which is south of Auckland, but still a long way north of Christchurch. We flew back this afternoon and were about an hour late as our plane was one of the ones that had been grounded in Christchurch and had to wait for the airport to reopen to be able to leave.

We're now home again in Auckland and looking forward to a night in our own beds.

All our friends and family in the area are well and accounted for. Luckily there appears to have been no loss of life. Houses in New Zealand are built to earthquake standards (it was mostly old buildings and chimneys that fell it seems) and that combined with a fairly small population and the fact most people were asleep at the time rather that out and about seem to be the reasons we have been so lucky.

My parents are both from around Christchurch and recognised a lot of places that have been shown on the news. Things could have been much worse, but there's still going to be a lot of rebuilding to do.


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Just for Janny

Here you go, The Ships of Merior after four chapters:




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A new start

Having finished (and loved and highly recommend) The Curse of the Mistwraith, I've now started the second book, The Ships of Merior.

And yes, I'm letting loose with the post-it notes again. Here's Ships after on chapter.




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Pretty, pretty

Look what I got in the mail today:

Many thanks Theresa at Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin’ Blog for a wonderful giveaway and being willing to pay the awful postage to send it to New Zealand.

I’m looking forward to reading it – and I’ve got at least one friend I think will probably read it too – so thank you very much.

Catted on a Sunday afternoon

Current state of Curse of the Mistwraith

I’m up to Chapter 17 (two chapters to go!) and here’s what my copy of the book currently looks like:

Part of my knows I’m crazy doing this, but there’s so much in this book that I feel I’m going to either miss or certainly forget if I don’t mark it.

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks

These all-new paranormal romances from today's hottest authors feature a female werewolf who comes into her own; a Lord who crosses paths with a fiery mage; a mixed-blood Child of the Moon who faces an uncertain future; and a woman whose sixth sense proves to be a dangerous talent.

As I started Eileen Wilks' Night Season, the first two characters we met were the two from the story "Inhuman" in this book. Since I couldn't remember the details about them, I decided to go back and read the shorter story before going on with the full book.

It's a good little story and a good introduction to Kai and Nathan. It also is a good reminder of how much the world changed at the end of the previous book.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Kai and Nathan next as I move on to Night Season.

This is barely even a comment on the book, and certainly doesn’t count as a review. It’s one of those situations where a short story is written for an anthology that is a side-piece to a full series. It adds to the main story-line but isn’t totally essential. So this isn’t the place to start if you want to try Wilks’ world of the Lupi. For that, you need a different short story – Only Human in the Lover Beware anthology – or jump right into the first book in the series, Tempting Danger.

Inhuman (in the anthology On the Prowl)
Eileen Wilks 
World of the Lupi, Book 3.5
7/10
Read: 31-7-10 to 1-8-10

World of the Lupi

0.5 – Only Human (in the anthology Lover Beware) (Goodreads link)
   1 – Tempting Danger (Goodreads link)
1.5 – Originally Human (in the anthology Cravings) (Goodreads link)
   2 – Mortal Danger (Goodreads link)
   3 – Blood Lines
3.5 – Inhuman (in the anthology On the Prowl)
   4 – Night Season (Goodreads link)
   5 – Mortal Sins (Goodreads link)
5.5 – Human Nature (in the anthology Inked) (Goodreads link)
   6 – Blood Magic (Goodreads link)
   7 – Blood Challenge (due out Jan 2011) (Goodreads link)
   8 – Ghost (working title)

See Maru Jump

This is such a cool video. See Maru (who has a whole YouTube Channel of his own) jumping out of a huge box in slow motion. It shows just how agile and graceful cats are when they jump.

Lovely little ME/CFS joke

How do you identify the grocery list of someone with ME/CFS?

It's on the table at home.