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Friday 29 September 2006

BAITED


Man, this book is so cool... it grabbed me instantly. The characters were engaging, though the suspicion kept building for all of them at one stage or another. This was like a thrill ride through someone's worst nightmare.

When Katsu Espinoza agrees to go sailing with the family of her good friend and mentor, Duke, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. To make matters worse, her ex is the yacht’s captain... and if that wasn't bad enough, she ends up on a deserted island where the survivors are disappearing one after the other.

The premise had me hooked instantly. As the story built up and the tension got dense, I just had to keep reading. I hated putting this book down, honestly did. The mystery was so engrossing that I would've loved to read this in one sitting... so I did it in three instead. But I swear - the answer, the reason and the killer were a huge surprise. A true bombshell I didn't expect... and Crystal throws you off-course so many times, it's brilliant!

Kat is such an honest character too. She reacts like any real person would - horrified, scared but trying to keep everything and everyone together. Her flaws and insecurities stem from her mixed background and I loved her point of view.

Anyway, I could go on and on about how excellent this book is but would end up giving something vital away. And that would wreck the whole experience. So, if you enjoy a great mystery with a wicked revelation and horrid turn of events, check it out!

But in the mean time, check this little trailer out.

Monday 25 September 2006

Happy Anniversary!

To the hubby and me! Yay. It's our seventh wedding anniversary today... very exciting! We're not doing anything out of the ordinary. Just being together has always been the best present of all. Can't wait until he gets home!

So, how was everyone's weekend?

Ours was pretty good. The weather sucked a bit yesterday, though. We went for a walk and it was very uncomfortable. The wind kept whipping things into our eyes. Ugh! But anyway, let's back it up a bit. On Saturday we went to a little girl's 6th b-day party. Totally boring, but at least my daughter had fun.

That night we caught up on some shows:

DOCTOR WHO: what an excellent ep! Creepy kid. Looks like we're almost at the finish line for season 2 and I'm gonna miss it when it's over in a few weeks. :(
JAMIE'S KITCHEN AUSTRALIA: A lot of 'loser' kids in the final 30, but I think it's so cool that he's trying to help these troubled teenagers. It's just annoying when you see them get an opportunity like this and they stuff it up!

JERICHO: Okay... I enjoyed it. I think. The mushroom cloud's always a morbid thing to see, isn't it? Though I enjoy post-apocalytic stories, there's something missing. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Might give it another week, see what I think. But so far I'm kinda leaning towards the meh-factor. :/

THE SOPRANOS: Wow! This show always goes off with a bang and the latest season is no exception. OMG! These people are so f'ed up. I love it! Now, this is a show that I'm totally hooked on.

Yesterday was a nice, slower day. Got DMR finished. Cool book... then I started eyeing the TBR pile. Have already started another book. BAITED is very interesting so far and I've only just started. The Prologue got me -- I gotta know how she got into that situation!

Which brings me to another show:

ROME: Okay, this is another one that's up in the air for me. Uh, it was interesting but it just didn't grab me. I heard that it gets better as it moves along, does anyone know that for sure? Once again, might give it one more go and decide yay or nay from that. Man, I can't remember her name but there's this hussy in it who's a totally annoying bitch!

And now we're at today. The last week before my daughter's 2-week holiday break.

What am I doing this week? Well, the main thing I wanted to do today was write the first SCRYbe short story. I got the first draft done at just over 1,400. Gotta do some cut, cut, cutting. Then got a new story started. 1,010 words written. Not too bad, and gave me a sense of direction for the character's journey and motivation. This is going to be another smaller story, probably within the 10-15k word range. These are a lot of fun to write -- trying to pack in an intense story and interesting character tales into a compact story.

I enjoy doing that.

Okay, better get going now. My daughter's trying to have a conversation with me as I try to type... not the most comfy thing in the world to do.

DEAD MAN RISING


Danny Valentine's first book was awesome! I loved the dark, future world Lilith walked us into... and this one expands on not only the world, but Danny herself. I really enjoyed it! It's very dark and haunting. Danny's changed, she's mourning her demon lover - Japhrimel - and there's something killing psionics. She relunctantly agrees to help her friend Gabe in the case and falls back into her thick and haunting past at Rigger Hall.

Her adventure is terrific, sad and melancholy. I loved every page and can't wait for the next one. There's so much going on in Danny's life and world, and wow - looking forward to the next one!

I definitely recommend this series. Very cool...

Monday 18 September 2006

Shows, shows, shows!

Okay, something strange is happening downunder... our rating season usually starts sometime in February and ends maybe in late October/November - not 100% sure on that, so don't quote me! ;) But anyway, there's the usual influx of new American TV shows and then when they're over, they're over and there's crap on the tele until the next year.

This year's a little different.

With SUPERNATURAL and MEDIUM finishing several months ago... yet, HOUSE is still lagging on. :/ That was going to be it for us. BUT, y'know what's happened now?

Gosh.

We just found out the latest season of THE SOPRANOS is starting this week. Late at night, but who cares? I can't wait to watch it. I love, love, love this show. I remember being a little skeptical when we started borrowing the DVDs. I thought: a bunch of overweight mob guys, who the hell wants to watch that? But a few episodes and I was hooked! Hooked, hooked, hooked. It's such a cool show, and very in your face with the violence and bad language. I love HBO stuff.

Speaking of which, ROME premieres in Oz the same night! On the same channel. I've read heaps of blogs claiming this show is super cool. Is that right, guys? The hubby and I are going to give the first ep a go, see how we like it.

Oh, and speaking of insane stuff that Australian TV never does - we're getting the premiere of JERICHO at the same time as the US! OMG! What's going on? I'd love for this to be a trend, I hate being so behind on all the cool American shows. Any of you guys planning to watch this? A nuclear thing happens and some town doesn't get affected, or something. Sounds interesting to me. Apocalyptic stuff, I can't help myself.

Of course, we've still got about 3 HOUSE and 3 DOCTOR WHO episodes left...

Plus we're alrady hooked on JAMIE'S KITCHEN AUSTRALIA! I love watching Jamie Oliver, he's so cool and really gives a shit about things. He's got a soft spot for kids and teenagers who are having (or have had) a tough life. He's trying to change the world via his cooking. You've gotta love a guy who used a huge chunk of his money (and more!) to fund his restaurant FIFTEEN.

Speaking of DOCTOR WHO. Wow. This show just gets better and better. This week's ep was from the POV of a guy called Elton. It was excellent!

So... here's to some new, cool shows...

Friday 15 September 2006

FIRESTORM


Well, I just finished reading book 5 in the Weather Warden series... and wow, what a wild ride!

Jo's thrown into one huge mess after the other, again! The bad things just don't stop coming, the impending doom chases her across the country. And I'm not just talking about the serious weather issues, or the crazy Djinn that just keeps popping up. Hell, I'm not even talking about the huge fire! How about Mother Nature waking up and deciding she's pissed off with the way humans have mishandled the world?

How scary is that? But a wonderful, horrifying topic.

The action hardly lets up in this novel. It's so fast-paced, with so much packed into it that I felt exhausted just by reading it. Poor Jo, her life just gets worse and worse by the minute. And the way the book ends! OMG, I can't believe it! I am totally hanging to find out what happens to Jo and everything else.

Awesome addition to the series! I love this series, and I love Jo. I was cheering for her all the way. And of course, I was hoping she'd run into David. Everyone's favourite Djinn!

If you haven't read it, I think you should! :)

Wednesday 6 September 2006

80s Wednesday

Today, I'm talking about the VCR. The Videocassette recorder wasn't actually invented in the 80s. Hell, it was invented way before that... but most of us got familiar with it during that decade.

And what is it? According to Wiki:

The videocassette recorder (or VCR, more commonly known in the British Isles as the video recorder), is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable videotape cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. Many VCRs have their own tuner (for direct TV reception) and a programmable timer (for unattended recording of a certain channel at a particular time).

Ah, I remember the first time we got one in our house back in the mid-80s, after some family friends let us watch First Blood on their Betacord. We were blown away. Our one kinda popped open at the top so you could insert the tape, then push it down to close. Genius! Anyway, after that we would go to the video shop almost every single day. At first there really wasn't much to choose from, but it didn't take long for a huge selection of movies to be available.

We started out by borrowing every Bruce Lee movie ever made. And then followed it up with Chuck Norris. Gosh, who could turn their backs on all that action/karate stuff with so many revenge storylines. Gotta love it! And the taping stuff off the TV! It was all so exciting...

Anyway, today I'm giving the VHS VCR we first purchased the honour it deserves.
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