What I Read on My Summer Vacation Part 1

You know blogging is a habit that must be nurtured.  I thought blogging would be an easy habit to acquire since I have a well established habit of writing my journal.  Every morning I get up, make the coffee, take the dogs out and then feed them and then I settle into my chair with my morning music and write.  I also thought this would be an easy thing to do about books since I read so much.  I read so much I don't remember all I do read.  I have audiobooks on my ipod, ebooks on my nook and a stack of books in print.  I don't leave my house or go to the bathroom for that matter without something to read.
SO blogging should be a snap, right?  Nope, it doesn't work that way...at all.  When I journal it is completely stream of conscious stuff.  Blurting on the page all my feelings and experiences.  I don't think about it, I just write it. Reading is a completely compulsive activity.  I am therefore I read.  Blogging is premeditated.  I have to decide which book I want to share my opinion about.  Most of the time a book has to hit me hard either positive or negative for me to want to say anything about it.  So I can go weeks without posting. That makes me feel guilty like I am letting the blogosphere down because I am not posting on a daily or at least weekly basis.  How truly egocentric and silly am I!?  I appreciate anyone who visits my blog and reads what I am writing and if anything I post here helps you to buy a book or go to the library then Woo Hoo!!!!  That is awesome.  But really my little blog is for me so I can track and share with my friends what I am reading these days.  Now the question remains what do I really want to do with this blog? 
While I ponder the big question here is a list of books I have read this summer.....so far.

 1.  Dead in The Family by Charlaine Harris - It was a decent read but I miss the humor that was in the earlier books.  It seems like most people get darker and deeper as the series progresses.  Maybe it was lighter in the beginning because Sookie was innocent then and isn't any longer.



2.  Fantasy in Death by J D Robb - The mystery in this installment was lame.  It was more than I could suspend my disbelief over.  Ms. Robb has tried before to incorporate a touch of the paranormal or unexplainable in Eve's world.  I don't think it works. The Eve Dallas series is science fiction not paranormal.  In the end it all gets explained but I just didn't like it.  I did like A LOT She-body and McNAb at the cyber-con event.  That was really cute and funny.  This series, for me, is made by the secondary characters.  Ms. Robb has really got a great cast and even after 20 some odd episodes they are still fun to read.


3.  The Lion by Nelson Demille - I have to tell you I couldn't get past the first 3 chapters of this book.  Not because it was poorly written or boring but because the initial tragic incident is a plane coming into New York with all passengers dead.  It was an act of terrorism by a Middle Eastern bad guy and I just couldn't read any more.  I have actually become very sensitive to espionage and graphically violent novels in recent years.  I don't want to fill my head with stuff that reminds me of real tragedies.  I find Mr. Demille as a hit or miss author for me so I didn't feel any great loss by not finishing.

4.  Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton - Ms. Hamilton Penthouse Forum is looking for its letters!  I would love to see what you could do with a story that doesn't include an orgy.


5.  Dark Road Rising by P N Elrod - Mix one part vampire story with one part hard boiled detective novel and one part 30's gangsters stories and you have one heck of a fun read.  Dark Road Rising is the 11th installment in the Vampire Files series and Ms. Elrod is keeping it interesting and page turning.  In this story Jack Flemming, newspaper reporter turned vampire detective is trying to fix a big mess he made out of his best friend Charles Escott.   One of his enemies is now a reluctant ally when he finds out the other guys is a vampire too.  Evidently it isn't as easy as you would think to spot each other.  This series is a really fun read that harkens back to Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade and Elliot Ness.  Definitely on my always pick up list.

6.  Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs - I have to say this installment of the Mercy Thompson series was tough to get through even though it was packed with stuff.  Maybe that was the problem.  I would just get going with one person and then another situation would come up.  I felt scattered.  Sam is in trouble.  He is giving up and damn near kills himself.  The pack isn't happy with Adam making Mercy his mate and there are saboteurs in the pack.  Then to top it all off Mercy has a nasty Fey on her trail for a book she borrowed from a friend.  While I appreciated how Ms. Briggs pulled the three stories together each plot line could be on its own and be a great book. 

Well there you have it.  The books of my summer vacation.  I have a whole other stack waiting for me to tear into it so I will be back to tell you what I thought about them. In the meantime get yourself to a bookstore, library or an internet bookseller and get reading!