August Books
Quick reviews of the books I read in August towards 52 books in 52 weeks. I’m trying to catch up on these before the year is over and I have to start all over again!
- From Bogus to Bubbly
This is a companion guide to Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series and while its not imperative to the ongoing story that you read it, I do highly recommend it. I love it when authors talk about their process and that’s exactly what Westerfeld does in this book. He describes how the entire series was born, where his ideas came from and even how he invented the slang that is so profoundly used in the series. While I wish there had been more historical references (even fictional ones) I still found that this book was a definite must read for any Uglies fan.
- Gamer Girl
I did a full review of Marni Mancusi’s Gamer Girl, check it out here. In short, awesome book for any girl who plays video games.
- Bad Moon Rising
I also did a full review of this book. Check it out here. Overall good, albeit a tad confusing. However, Kenyon is ever talented in keeping her universe neat and tidy.
- Glass Houses
I was intrigued by the universe of this book, its a little different than other vampire novels, and I liked it for that. However the writing style is a little choppy for me and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief a few times. For me, a great fantasy book needs to take place in my world with my rules. Those rules need to then be broken and twisted to accommodate the paranormal, but they still need to be there for them to be broken. I had too hard a time believing that a 16 year old would be allowed to live in a community house on a college campus. Other than that the book kept my interested and waiting for final resolution, which unfortunately seemed too contrived.
- Boys That Bite
I really wanted to like this since Mancusi did such a great job with Gamer Girl, but this book just lacked depth. In Gamer Girl she makes up for depth of character through layering and parallels in the story. This book just seemed a little flat in that regard. I also had issues with the whole twin thing. Maybe its because I’m not a twin, but they’re association with each other seemed forced. Other books I’ve read with twins went into more interesting aspects of being a twin, but this book just seemed to make them BFFs who don’t fight. Ever. Which I just couldn’t believe.
- Beg For Mercy
This had been in my to read pile for a while and man am I bummed I waited so long to read it! I’ve been following Toni Andrews on Twitter for a while and I just love her to death. I love her books even more. Her concept is pretty original and her writing style is fantastic. She took a great story and put great characters in it, flaws and all, and produced a very intriguing universe. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.
- Speak
I really must do a full review for this book, it definitely deserves one. But for now I’ll simply say that Laurie Halse Anderson is an artist with words and emotions. This is one of few YA books that really manages to capture the emotional turmoil that can occur in a teen. The book also enlightens a very real issue with very real consequences and becomes more than just a book but a survival story. The book is entirely fiction and you can sort of tell, but I don’t count this against the suthor at all. She wrote a fantastic book with a greater message. One that I hope women of all ages can really listen to.
- The Summer King
I accidentally read this book out of its natural order. In retrospect I get why some things felt weird in the book, because I’d missed out on some other plot points in the previous book. Oops! But as far as fairy books go this one was really interesting. The book is about a girl who stumbles into the land of fairies while searching for her sister. The amount of research done for the book was on par with Melissa Marr, but where Marr uses alegory for life, Melling adds layers of story and foreshadowing. She’s pretty good at it too, seeing asI’m unnaturally good at calling foreshadowing in books, and I only caught one of Melling’s big reveals. The surprise of her ending was both jarring and exciting. I enjoyed this book way more than I expected and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
- At Graves End
Another winner by Jeaniene Frost. I’m smitten with the series so I only have good things to say about it. But that affection blinded me from the ending! Frost did a good job covering up her giant plot bunny of the book, or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. At any rate, I fell more in love with the characters and wanted more books from her as I read this one. Overall I loved it and I can’t really complain about it… at… all.
Bad Moon Rising
I’m a devoted Dark Hunter fan, as many of my friends will attest. I own every book Kenyon has ever published and I swear that in no way influences my ability to review this book. My ability to resist buying anything with her name on it, yes.
At any rate, I overall loved Bad Moon Rising, but the beginning was a bit groggy. Part of the problem was that it had been almost a year since the last Dark Hunter book had been released and as always a good chunk of the book was dedicated to reminding me what happened in prior books. Kenyon is actually pretty good at doing this without boring readers to death, what ultimately bothered me is that I needed it. Not only had it been a while since I’d jumped around in the DH universe, but half the book takes place in the past. As in during book 3, Night Embrace. (BMR is book 14.)
The story is about Fang and Aimee, two characters who have been pining over one another for the last few years, and the past 11 books. The story opens up in the middle of Talon’s book, Night Embrace and finishes up at the end of current time line in the series. Even though I’d been waiting for Fang’s story to reach resolution since it began in back in Night Embrace I found it all very confusing at first. What I desperately needed was a time line diagram in the book to follow what the heck was going on in regards to the other time lines of the previous 11 books.
Though a tad on the confusing side, Kenyon used her ability to write damn good drama to distract me from trying to find holes in her time line (of which the current count is ZERO, and the pessimist in me cried.) Before Bad Moon Rising we only knew that Fang was comatose, Aimee kind of liked him and when he woke up they couldn’t be together. After reading Bad Moon Rising we learn that Fang wasn’t technically in a coma, their story spans many more books than previously thought and they do get a happily ever after (its a romance novel, did you expect any less?) Along with finally laying out how they get to be together and how Fang and Aimee have interacted with past characters, Kenyon also introduces a whole new slew of characters and mythologies. Fodder, no doubt, for the continuation of the series (yes!)
The book is pretty much on par with Kenyon’s other work and her ability to keep track of time lines and characters still manages to astound me. I talked out the plot a few times with another fan to figure out where in time the characters were and how their actions were effecting the past and future. Kenyon manages to remember every weird little detail in the past stories and weave them seamlessly into Bad Moon Rising.
DIY Corset Tutorial Part 2
Constructing Your Corset
Part 1, Measuring and Drafting Your Pattern is located here!
What You Need
You will need the following for this half of the tutorial
- Your customized pattern
- Chalk or fabric pencil
- Scissors or rotary cutter
- Pins
- Needle and thread for hand sewing
- Something pointy
- Closures (rivets, buttons, buckles, etc.)
- Lacing (ribbon, leather cord, long boot laces, etc.)
- Boning (see below)
Boning
You can buy boning at most fabric stores or online. I use plastic store bought boning but a lot of people have been re-purposing plastic bottles and jugs as well. You can also use steel boning if you can find it! If you know of a vendor who sells this online, or any other helpful vendor links, please leave them in the comments. You will also need casing for the boning. I don’t use the store bought stuffs casing because it always falls apart on me. I make it out of bias tape or other thin pieces of fabric. Do whatever pleases you. 
Onto the construction! (more…)
Books books books
Got this from my friend Lisa over at Tie Me In Words.
What books are your comfort reading–the ones you slink back to in times of stress?
I like to read my girly manga when I’m super stressed. They’re quick, funny and I’m always guaranteed a happy ending (for the most part). My current favorites are Absolute Boyfriend and Chibi Vampire (Oh I am so a girl…)
What was your favorite book as a child, and why?
Harold and the Purple Crayon, because everything he drew came to life. Art has always been a part of me, but when I look back its this book that stands out as the one that helped me know this is what I wanted to do.
What was your favorite book as an adolescent, and why?
Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block. In the explosion of the new young adult genre, this one has sadly been left out. Its a collection of five books that contain all the things of which the “new” young adult genre consists. Fantasy, romance, coming of age, dealing with peer pressure, same sex relationships, wish fulfillment, and the list goes on and on. But because Block doesn’t bother adhering to our rules of reality, her book has gotten lost in the fray. I gave this book to all of my friends in high school to read, with the understanding that they had to write in the margins, underline passages and make commentary if they read it. My copy is much loved and has ink on almost every page. It’s probably my most treasured high school possession.
What is the most unread category of books gathering dust on your bookshelf–the books you’ve bought but just never get around to reading?
Zombie genre! And that’s really because my husband is interested in them and I’m not. The books I buy and don’t read have no collective genre. I started to list some examples but the amount of books I just haven’t gotten to yet is almost embarrassing. And yet I’ve almost doubled my 52 in 52 challenge.
What kind of books would you like to say you read, but never do?
If there’s a book I want to read, I’ll read it. There’s really little discretion. If a book sucks, I wont read it. Or I will and I’ll hate it. But no genre is safe from my eyes!
What’s the oddest book you’ve ever read?
Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar would have to be the oddest book I’ve read. It teaches philosophy by telling jokes. I wish I’d had it before I took the class in college, it may have been a more entertaining experience. I’d recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor and any slight appreciation of philosophy.
What book were you never able to get through,despite the recommendations of people you respect?
A book has to be pretty ass-tastic for me to not finish it. I never got through Dark Lover on the first three attempts. I think I’ve mentioned before that I threw it against a wall many times. Then about 6 months later I picked up the third book in the series, Lover Awakened, the best according to the author and many fans. Then I was hooked and eventually read the other books. I’m now a big fan of the vampire smut. 
(If you take issue with romance novels, I suggest you hit up Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and rethink your previous assumptions about the largest genre in the publishing industry.)
What’s the book it took you a couple of tries to get into, but was as good as promised once you finally made it?
See above. >.< To back up in time though, I would say Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. That’s right, when I got this book as a gift I absolutely refused to read it. I started it a few times, never getting past the first three chapters. Then one day I sat down and read more. Holy crap! It was so good! It’s now listed among my favorite books of all time.
What’s your favorite short story–or do you even have one?
Melissa Marr wrote a short story called Love Struck in the YA anthology Love is Hell. I read it before I picked up her novel Wicked Lovely and instantly fell in love with her writing style and her ability to make strong themes interesting enough to read about. Marr does a fantastic job of writing not just a great story, but she touches on things that are really important, while making it enjoyable at the same time. Love Struck was a great story, as is her Wicked Lovely series. If you haven’t read them yet, I strongly urge you to do so.
The desert island. Three books (and collected works don’t count. If you want the Lord of the Rings it’ll cost you all three slots). Go:
- Ink Exchange – Melissa Marr’s second book in the Wicked Lovely series. If you haven’t read what I had to say about it back in April, go read it now. It’s all the way at the bottom of the post. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Melissa Marr even responded, saying I’d made her day. Well… she pretty much made mine too.
- Lover Awakened – This is one of my favorite vampire smut books and if I only get three books to read forever this one is going in the mix. This book broke my heart, but it also has a fantastic resolution in the end. JR Ward has broken a lot of the romance rules in her series, and this one is a great example. It’s not exactly a happy ending… not at first anyway.
- Plato and a Platypus – I’m going to go ahead and throw some humor in here, since I can’t just say Terry Pratchet’s entire Discworld series and I could never ever pick just one to show favoritism to. If I need a good laugh I’ll know where to find it, and I can philophize my predicament at the same time.
FTC’s New Review Regulations aka CYA
On December 1st, 2009 the Federal Trade Commission will mandated some new regulations regarding bloggers, journalists and other reviewers across the board to disclose any payments or compensation made for endorsements. The penalty for not doing so is pretty harsh with fines up to $11,000.
If you’d like to read the 81 page guide regarding the new regulations, it can be found here in PDF form. If you want to get your panties in a twist, read the document first rather than just look up every “sky is falling” blog post about it.
I wonder how many bloggers who have posted about this have actually read the new regulations. The old guide, written in 1980, addressed the same concerns of endorsements, but with the advent of the internet, certain types of endorsements were slipping through the cracks. Hence the re-write. If you read the new guide you’ll see that the original re-write was drafted in 2007. The FTC revised their guide based on comments submitted to them in 2008. If the original guide had been adopted, the concerns I’ve found across the internet would have more validity. We spoke and the FTC listened. But no one seems to be talking about that…
The FTC wants anyone who received compensation for a review (which makes it a paid endorsement) to state that. Seems pretty simple, huh? The reason people are freaking out is that they don’t know who is at risk and who isn’t. And no one bothered to read the guide to find out.
Here is what the FTC states:
Thus, a consumer who purchases a product with his or her own money and praises it on a personal blog or on an electronic message board will not be deemed to be providing an endorsement. In contrast, postings by a blogger who is paid to speak about an advertiser’s product will be covered by the Guides, regardless of whether the blogger is paid directly by the marketer itself or by a third party on behalf of the marketer.
If you’re like me and you buy books yourself in order to review them, you are not the target here. And yes, you can get books from the library and review them too. However, if you receive a book from a publisher, like an advanced reading copy, you need to state your endorsement status. A popular book review site, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, has recently done just that by adding this to their site:
Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, please presume that any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author or publisher to Smart Bitches Trashy Books, LLC, as a review copy.
This seems rather extreme doesn’t it? Well the original guide was even more so. There was little to no difference being stated about who was and who wasn’t at risk of violation. Even though the two extremes are defined more clearly, the FTC maintains that every case will be examined individually.
Ian Paul of The Huffington Post has a great article about the issue. Specifically, he points out the FTC’s stance on these new regulations:
While these new rules may seem confusing and perhaps even excessive, the FTC says it is not that interested in hitting individual bloggers or prominent social network users with heavy fines. Repeat offenders may end up being punished, but the new regulations are really about keeping corporations in line. – Ian Paul, The Huffington Post
While Smart Bitches, Trashy Books receives free copies of books to review, they aren’t being told how to review, nor are they being compensated in other ways for good reviews. This, in the eyes of the FTC is not the issue. The FTC has stated that the real issue that spawned the new regulations are companies who provide reviewers with money or other compensation with the prior agreement that a good review would be produced. Skewed reviews can lead to a skewed sense of quality in a product, leading consumers to buy items under false pretenses. The FTC doesn’t like that. As a consumer, neither should you.
In regards to getting free stuff and reviewing it, that is still OK. The FTC doesn’t want to stop companies and publishers from handing things out for review, they just want you to disclose that information to cover your ass. It’s simply a device intended to stop shady reviewers from convincing you something is great based on the fact that they were paid to do so, not their actual thoughts.
As a society that’s supposedly built on freedom and a government that’s supposedly for the people by the people, I think the real concern should be why we need the FTC to regulate us at all. Sure, they’re protecting our consumerism at heart, but its just another notch on the belt that marks us as a capitalist society, not a democratic one.
Want some quick examples of what is and is not OK come December 1st? Keep reading…
July Books…
Quick reviews of the books I read in July towards 52 books in 52 weeks. Back to regular fiction! Paranormal is regular in my world. Yeah, yeah, I’m late.
- Kiss Me Again
A totally slow, boring and forgettable free e-book. Plot was slow, characters were stiff and motives were thin. I can’t believe I even finished it.
- Moon Called
I loved this book more than any other werewolf book I’ve ever read. It had the right amount of magic, mystery, suspense and reality. Patricia Briggs is great at keeping me glued to the book. I have book 3 waiting for me, but considering how fast I blew through books 1 and 2 I’m trying to savor some of the intensity from those and waiting a while before I dive into the rest of the series.
- My Soul To Lose
A short story by Rachel Vincent, a prequel to her YA debut novel, My Soul To Lose. I wrote a full length review about this one, so check it out.
- Blood Bound
Book 2 in the series by Patricia Briggs. Just as good as the first one but she’s added vampires into the mix. And not the campy, sparkly kind. The rip-your-throat-out-for-looking-at-them kind. Of course there’s an element of romance in this second book, but in no way the kind of romance I’m typically used to in vampire/werewolf books. This has more of the “oh shit” romance element, and I loved it. I’m looking forward to book 3.
- Halfway To The Grave, Night Huntress 1
I’m a sucker for anything with vampires and this book had been in my To Do pile for a while. When I finally sat down to read it I practically read the entire book in one sitting. The main character, Cat, is a half vampire vampire hunter. Yea, you read that right. It takes a lot of Buffy-esque qualities on, since she falls for a vampire and wackiness ensues. Even the government gets involved in the end (as usual). More on this one later, for a full review.
- One Foot In The Grave, Night Huntress 2
Jeaniene Frost really breaks a few book 2 rules in One Foot In The Grave. Rather than picking up where Halfway To The Grave left off we jump a few years into the future with a whole new set of OMGs and WTFs. Frost changes almost everything up yet kept me interested and definitely hungry for more. She managed to keep things light just in time for you to get comfortable and then she rips the rug out from under you with non-stop conflit/resolution until the end.
DIY Corset Tutorial Part 1
Measuring and drafting your pattern
(Part 2, Constructing your corset, is available here!)
I can’t take full credit for this tutorial, I used Cathy Hay’s notes on fitting from her free booklet and Roethke from Craftsers tutorial on corsets together to form my own custom pattern for a corset. What you find below is the process I took to get my own custom fit corset.
Why did I make a new tutorial when such awesome ones exist? Because I have a long torso. It means nothing fits me. I have to be careful when picking out dresses and tops with fitted waists because they never seem to hit me in the right spot, making my hips look about 2 sizes wider than they are in reality. I also have wider hips than underbust (don’t we all?) So a straight rectangle, like in Roethke’s tute, wont work for me. I needed something more customized and the notes on fitting from Cathy Hay were a really good resource for this. If you’re going to make a corset, you might as well go all the way!
Detroit Zoo Trip
Monday, rather than roasting meat over open flames or guzzling beer, my husband and I went to the Detroit Zoo. At 9AM. On a holiday. Turns out earlier IS better at the zoo. There was hardly anyone there when we got in. And the place was crawling when we left. We started out waking up two water weasels. They were just the first thing we stopped in to see.
The one on the right really wanted to go play in the waterfall. And the one on the right wanted to chew the others arms off and go back to sleep. Drew and I couldn’t help but feel like we were looking into a mirror.
Were you aware that the Detroit Zoo allows peacocks to roam freely on its grounds? Yup. They do. You can find them almost anywhere at the zoo. We spotted some females too with babies (!) but I didn’t want to spook them to get any decent shots. This one wasn’t feeling very opportunistic about my camera as it was. He plopped off right after this.
I wasn’t joking when I said we’d gotten there early. The deer weren’t awake.
Neither were the tigers. They remind me of my cat.
But the lions were awake! I’m pretty sure they had just finished their morning coffee though. Awake but still out of it. Did I say lions? I meant lionesses. They don’t like to be generalized in with the males. Wait… where’s the lion?
Can you see him? Me either.
Still nothin’. He was shy.
The rhinos were shy too. They were also waiting in line for their morning belly rubs. I’m not kidding.
And bears! Ok, I went a little out of order. But bears! I’ve seen a black bear with no wires and fences between him and me, but never a brown bear. They are a lot bigger.
And bison! I suddenly fail to recall how many they have there… I know he wasn’t the only one, but he was munching happily away at some grass at the perfect angle for me.
Speaking of bears…
You can stand next to the pool where the polar bears relax.
There’s only a 4 inch piece of pyrex between you and them.
This bear weights 1100 pounds. I think that’s more than my car.
He’s playing with a box. He really loves this box…
Ok maybe not…
The polar bears are always my favorite place to stop at the zoo. They got a brand new habitat a few years ago. There’s another part of it where you walk in a glass tunnel under their tank.
And they like to stand on it.
And that was most of our trip! I have more pictures here, lots more of the polar bears
If anything this trip to the zoo has taught me one important thing:
I need a telephoto lens.
new camera
I finally recently bought myself a digital SLR camera. I’ve been wanting one since my first year of college, but I never had the cash together. In the last few years the prices for digital SLR’s have become somewhat reasonable and entry level DSLR’s have flourished on the market. I spent days pouring over reviews and information trying to decide which camera to buy (that wouldn’t leave me scraping together grocery money for months.) After a while of researching and talking to other photographer friends of mine, I decided on a Nikon D40. It’s not a super fantastic camera, but its going to serve my needs beautifully.
I’m in love. Simply in love. With a camera. That’s probably illegal in most states.
I had promised my husband he would be the first thing I took a picture of with it, but he wasn’t home when the camera was. So the cat got the honors. (Actually the first image was a very blurry looking blob of my cat, I had Manual selected on the lens. Figured that out pretty quick though.)
This shot was taken with the flash. Don’t ask me what the aperture and speed was… I didn’t write it down. Pretty damned good for the one it came with. SOOC, aside from retouching my cats demon eyes. Its like red eye. Only demony. And green.
A friend told me to grab this flash when I could, because it gets incredibly better coverage. My first extra purchase will probably be a telephoto lens, but I will keep the flash in mind for the future.
See? I did take a picture of him later on when he was home and looking damn fine as always. SOOC.
Then I added some actions from Pioneer Woman. Free Photoshop actions!! I tweek them when I use them, but they’re a great start.
I know, right?! Now you know why I married him. I should have spent more time retouching, but honestly, its late, Greek is on at nine and I have to finish reading Jeaniene Frost’s At Graves End before I explode with anticipation.
Here’s my adorable cat again for the road. Pink cat tongue! I love it. My old point and shoot’s got nothin’ on this baby.
More soon. I’m restarting Project 365 – Self Portraits again for… maybe the third time. Let’s see if I can get a whole year this time.
Drying Herbs
I planted my first herb garden on our balcony this summer and it’s been flourishing faster than I can cook with it! The time has come to cultivate some of the herbs for some early drying.
The only problem is that I have a tiny kitchen and a cat. There was no place to put the herbs without destroying the kitchen and the cat is ever curious.
I ended up with these herb bags pictured above. I strung all the herbs I snipped onto some thread, stuck the clump in a bag and fished a chop stick through the bag for the string to rest on, keeping the herbs dry, away from light and suspended in the bag.
Now I can stash these anywhere! They’ll probably end up on the top of my desk since there’s ample room and the cat has become disinterested with my side of the office.
I was going to do a tutorial for this but it seemed sort of self explanatory after I laid all the items out on the table. My only trick is that I put scotch tape on the bags where the chopsticks poke through so it wont rip. Ever do that with a balloon and a pin? Wicked fun.
I hope this inspires some of you to do the same or come up with your own herb drying remedy!
And in case you’re wondering, my herb garden contains Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Sage, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano and Marjoram. The Cilantro didn’t make it, not that I mind. I discovered that neither myself nor my husband really like it. The Thyme isn’t playing nice with… anything else. >.< Notes for the future: Plant all herbs in separate pots.
I have been cooking with these herbs since I planted them. Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats fresh herbs in home cooking. Nothing.
