Nicole’s blog

50 Book Challenge : Books 8-17

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:10:29 +1200

Yeah, ok, as you could gather from the title, I suck at remembering to post here :-p So, 1-2 lines per book for this post instead of an all out review for each.

Book 8 : "Personal Demon" by Kelly Armstrong

50 Book Challenge : Book 8

Good book, some new characters, some returning characters. What was good was getting some background into some of the characters that had been more peripheral to the other stories.

Book 9: "Succubus Blues" by Richelle Mead

50 Book Challenge : Book 9

I'd tried to read this book once before, but then I got sidetracked with other books I really wanted to read (I'd never read this author before). I ended up really tearing through it once I got about half way through it and couldn't wait to read teh next one.

Book 10: "Grave Sight" by Charlaine Harris

50 Book Challenge : Book 10

I really like the Southern Vampire books so I figured I'd try this series by the same author. Interesting, different from the other series obviously, but I think I could get into it. I have to pick up the 2nd book in the series at some point.

Book 11: "The Devil You Know" by Mike Carey

50 Book Challenge : Book 11

Ok, I'd read book 3 before (it was the only one the store had and it sounded like a British Dresden files sort of thing). So, this is the 1st book. Interesting reading the first book. The second book is on order, but I really like Fix, and this book was just good.

Book 12: "Succubus Nights" by Richelle Mead

50 Book Challenge : Book 12

Yep, I didn't wait long to read the 2nd book in the series. And I'm anxiously awaiting the next book's release. Since I was familiar with the characters after the 1st book I simply love this book and how it added to it.

Book 13: "Coyote Dreams" by C.E. Murphy

50 Book Challenge : Book 13

Aside from this being one of my fav pictures so far, it was an enjoyable book. It seemed like the character grew since the last book, but still she's getting there. I have the next book of the other series (the Negotiator Trilogy) on its way soon.

Book 14: Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur

50 Book Challenge : Book 14

This is not even close to the first book in the series, so I'm probably missing a lot. So, the first 2 at least are on my "to read soon" list since this one was still pretty enjoyable even not being fully aware of the background of the story. So I'd say it was pretty good if I went out and bought 2 more in the series pretty much right away.

Book 15:"Blood Debt" by Tanya Huff

50 Book Challenge : Book 15

The last book in the series that was the basis for the show Blood Ties. I'd read the first 4 books before I'd heard of the show, I watched the show and thought it was ok (not at all bad for an adaption, but still). I was hesitant to read the last one in the series beause it was so different from the 1st 4, plus it meant the series would be over. Still, it wasn't too bad, it was definitely a good ending to the story.

Book 16: "Small Favor" by Jim Butcher

50 Book Challenge : Book 16

I love the Dresden Files. I was sad that they cancelled the show. I like it because it's set in Chicago and well, hell's bells, Harry is a great character! So is Bob. I'm anxiously awaiting the next book not due out until April 2009.

Book 17: "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett

50 Book Challenge : Book 17

It took me a while to get back into the writing style of the Discworld books, but it was still pretty good. Moist is an... interesting character. Of course, Death didn't have nearly a big enough role IMHO ;-)

Phew! That was quite the list to get caught up, but now I'm 17 books (and 2 months) into the challenge. Only another 33 to go. And if my book order doesn't get here soon enough I'm going to have to go to the book store! That or find the book that's gone missing somewhere in the house. :-p

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50 Book Challenge : Books 5-7

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:18:20 +1200

Ok, so I'm a little behind on the blog postings of my books, so let's start with book 5:

50 Book Challenge : Book 5

Book 5 was "The Outlaw Demon Wails" by Kim Harrison. I can honestly say I wasn't sure how this one would turn out after the previous book in the series. I mean, I expected it to be good, I just didn't know which way the plot would go. I was pleased. I can't say much about it because it would spoil the ending of the previous book and in all honesty, kinda spoil this one too. :-p So, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series very eagerly. I can't help it, but these books just end making me want to pick up the next one as soon as I possibly can!

50 Book Challenge : Book 6

Book 6 came next (as it does when you're counting). Book 6 was "Thunderbird Falls" by C.E. Murphy. I'd read reviews of this book, some of them negative, but hey, I was more than willing to give it a chance because I enjoyed the first one. So, I read it, and I spent a lot of the time feeling like it was predictable, and practically screaming at the character that she should've known better! But then, after thinking about it, maybe this was the way the book was supposed to be. Not that it was supposed to be cheesy, but simply that it was supposed to be about growth for the character. Just because the reader can see what's glaringly obvious doesn't mean that the character should know it. Least that's how I'm deciding to feel about it. So I'll happily keep reading. :-)

50 Book Challenge : Book 7

And last (for this post at least), but not least was book 7, which was "Blood Bound" by Patricia Briggs. This is the second book in Mercy Thompson series about a skinwalker mechanic who can turn into a coyote. Along with her, there are werewolves, vampires, and various other fae. You know, I almost wind up sick of reading books where I need to get the next one as soon as possible. But at least the next one in this series is out, so it's just a matter of finding it. Of course, the 4th book isn't due out for a few months still, but I'll deal with that when I get through the next one. This one was an enjoyable read. There's so much tension between her and 2 of the werewolves. The characters are really enjoyable though!

The book that I've just started is Kelly Armstrong's most recent, Personal Demon. Interesting so far, it's a new character with plenty of old, familiar characters showing up so far, even in the first 50 pages.

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50 Book Challenge : Book 4

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:25:08 +1200

50 Book Challenge : Book 4

Ok, so I didn't say that it wouldn't be long until I posted book 4.

What happened was that I went to bed last night thinking I'd read a few pages before going to sleep. Started at 11:30, finished around 2. So, that's another book down.

This one was interesting. I wasn't expecting a lot of what happened, but then again, the book before it ended on a rather tense note, so it's not surprising that this book felt like kind of a turning point among the characters. There were several storylines to the book it seemed like, but they didn't feel particularly incomplete. They felt more like needed resolutions of certain things and bringing up different uncertainties. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book since I really like the Sookie Stackhouse series.

I'm also really looking forward to the show that's in the works for this one, and I've got my fingers crossed that it will be up on iTunes (TruBlood on HBO).

Ok, next book up is going to be... Kim Harrison's "The Outlaw Demon Wails"

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50 Book Challenge : Book 3

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:16:27 +1200

50 Book Challenge : Book 3

Ok, so book 3 got minorly delayed because I decided to read a book for some background and hopefully some insight into my thesis topic. So, I figured, since I was reading the whole book, this would count for book 3. So, book 3 was "CyberShock" by Winn Schwartau. It was really quite interesting. It didn't give me a whole lot of information to use in my writing, but at the very least it made me think about some things and made me look at some things a little differently. The book made a lot of good points. Unfortunately it's also about 8 years old now, so while a lot of the basics can remain true, there are other things that are slightly different. All in all, it was a very interesting read though.

So, coming up in my next post is what was originally meant to be book 3, but turned into book 4 instead.

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50 Book Challenge : Book 2

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:17:36 +1200

50 Book Challenge : Book 2

Ok, I keep doing something wrong and clicking on pictures or books and screwing up my post. :-(

So, book 2 was "Undead and Unworthy" by MaryJanice Davidson. I really enjoy this series of books. It's hardly a serious sort of book, in fact, that's the reason I like them, and it's also the reason I picked up the first book to begin with (it is called Undead and Unwed). The title was just too entertaining not to pick it up and at least read the back, and when I read that it was about a woman who is obsessed with shoes and becomes the vampire queen, well... now how could I possibly resist! Betsy is such a fun character, and in fact, the books are just that, fun to read. I've read some mediocre reviews of this book, but I have to say that I enjoyed it just as much as the previous ones. I love it when I read books that I just don't want to put down. Now, if you notice, there's a pair of shoes in that left hand picture, and those are the newest addition to the collection, while I'm not sure if Betsy would be proud or not (seeing as they're hardly big designer shoes), I think they're cute, so that's good enough for me ;-)

From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8)

And look at that, I'm 2/2 for my photo project to go along with the book challenge. Of course, I'm only 2 books in, and there's another 48 to go, but if I keep at my current pace, I'll be at book 50 probably around Christmas, but we'll see how many I'm up to come July 2009. So far, it's been fun to keep up with the challenge set for myself.

And last but not least, book 3, which I'll probably start on Monday is: "From Dead to Worse" by Charlaine Harris. Yet another series of books that I was initially drawn to because of the entertaining title.

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50 Book Challenge : Book 2

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:10:10 +1200

50 Book Challenge : Book 2

Well, book 2 was Undead and Unworthy by MaryJanice Davidson.

I can't help but love a book where the main character is a vampire queen who loves shoes! And to go with the book is my newest pair of shoes (on the left, obviously). I've read a lot of kind of mediocre reviews about this book, but I enjoyed it just as much as the others in the series. Betsy is just a fun character, and the books are a great way to pass an evening. Nothing too serious, and all in all just a great deal of fun to read. And so far, I'm 2/2 for doing diptychs with my books. So, 2 down, another 48 to go... or however many I get to in a year. If I keep up at the current rate, well, I'll run out of bookshelf space unless I reread the ones I already have!

So, book 3 is going to be: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris.

From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8)

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50 Book Challenge : Book 1

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:33:51 +1200

50 Book Challenge: Book 1

Well, it didn't take long to finish the first book, "House of Cards" by C.E. Murphy.

I don't intend to write long elaborate reviews of anything, but I'll say a few things about the books I'm reading. I really enjoyed this book (which is probably something that will get said far too often, but hey, I like reading, and I often find books that I really enjoy). So, I enjoyed the book. The biggest "problem" if you will, is waiting for the next one to come out! I got to the last page and just wanted to keep reading. Unfortunately, the next book isn't out until later this year, so I guess I'll have to wait and read some other books. I love the characters, and the story just keeps the pages turning. I'd only been planning to read 100 or so pages a night for the rest of the week to finish it up. I'd gotten about 100 pages into it over the weekend, then read another 100-ish pages on Wednesday, Thursday I got through 100 pages in between getting home and watching some TV, and as soon as the show I wanted to watch finished, back into it, and finished it up.

Undead and Unworthy (Queen Betsy, Book 7)

You know, I swear reading is addictive. I hadn't picked up a book in a month or so, and now that I finished one off, I'm actually barely able to wait to pick up the next one. Sooo...

Book 2 : "Undead and Unworthy" by MaryJanice Davidson

Oh, and hopefully this is also the start of a photo project to go along with the reading. I'm thinking a diptych per book. :-p

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dusts off blog

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:23:37 +1200

House of Cards (The Negotiator, Book 2)

C.E. Murphy

So, after reading a post on Flickr about the 50 book challenge, I thought this might be the right time to dust off my blog that I all but abandoned last year as the assignments started piling on.

According to the Washington Post , 25% of people didn't read a single book last year, and the average number of books that people read in 2007 was 4 books per person. Well, I haven't been reading as much as I usually do in the first half of this year, so maybe it's time to make up for that. I've been meaning to anyways. So, I figured, why not go with the "Book a week" version of the challenge, and try to dust off the old blog.

So, let's start with the book that I started over the weekend (seems as good a time as any to start).

Book 1: "House of Cards" by C.E. Murphy

I read the previous book "Heart of Stone" a few months ago, and really enjoyed the new set of characters, so this is the second book in the "Negotator Trilogy". In my list of "Books to Read" there are also 2 other books by Ms. Murphy, the 2nd and 3rd book in the Walker Paper series. So, here's to reading 52 books over the next year (and maybe creating a photography project to go with it). :-)

Oh, and as a side note: I'm going to keep track of my books on Shelfari and also in Delicious Library 2 (a program I absolutely adore for keeping track of my growing library).

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Why my weekend sucked

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:30:06 +1200

I didn't enjoy last weekend at all. It was kind of a matter of what was going to go wrong next. All things considered, pretty much everything has been fixed, but up until yesterday, crawling in a hole sounded like a good option.

My Weekend

Thanks to lots of rain over the weekend, my roof sprung a bit of a leak. Thankfully it wasn't the dripping into a bucket kind of leak, more the "Look, my wall has a boil on it" sort of leak where there was water sitting under the paint, and when I touched the paint, the water decided to come out. Well, all things considered, better the water was on my kitchen floor where it could be soaked up than in my wall getting absorbed into the drywall. The "boil" as it were, was approximately 40cm long. There was a small crack above that which was approximately 5cm long. Today they came and found where it was leaking on my roof, so if it keeps raining, it shouldn't be a problem.

Then, on Sunday I was cooking a lasagna, well, trying to cook it at least. I made everything, put it together, and put it in the oven. I thought it seemed to be taking a tad long to preheat, but my flat was pretty cold, so I just put in the food and set the timer. I come back to the oven 35 minutes later, go to pull out the lasagna, and find that not only has the cheese not melted, but the food was actually colder than when I put it in, because although the fan on my oven was running, the heating coil had died. Well, at least that's what the repair people told me today. So, that's also been fixed, so now I can eat food that's not prepared in the microwave or on the stove again :-)

And to top the entire weekend off, I caught a cold. Thankfully I'm feeling better now, but it just topped off what was an otherwise totally crappy weekend.

Here's to next weekend being better... I'd say it couldn't get any worse, but that'd just be asking for trouble :-p

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Automator & Photography

nobody@vox.com(Nicole) — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:00:29 +1200

Automator

Today I finally got Automator to work (ok, I finally figured out how to use it correctly), and I managed to make a workflow for downloading my photographs from my camera.

Basically, what the workflow does is:
1. Downloads the photos
2. Creates a new folder
3. Renames the folder based on the date
4. Separates the jpgs out into a separate folder within that folder (get the action at Complete Digital Photography)
5. Ejects the disk (Now working thanks to an additional step)

So, my goal is to have this run automatically when I plug my camera in, then once it's done everything, eject the camera. I've saved it as a folder action, but it hasn't quite worked yet.

Still, this is the furthest I've gotten with getting a workflow to work correctly, so it's definitely made me happy :)

Edit: My workflow now actually works! When I plug in the camera it downloads the pictures, puts them into the right folder, separates the jpgs and raw files, then ejects the disk. I was just missing a step between separating the jpgs and ejecting the disk where I specified the volume that I wanted to eject.

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Nicole’s blog

50 Book Challenge : Books 8-17

50 Book Challenge : Books 5-7

50 Book Challenge : Book 4

50 Book Challenge : Book 3

50 Book Challenge : Book 2

50 Book Challenge : Book 2

50 Book Challenge : Book 1

*dusts off blog*

Why my weekend sucked

Automator & Photography

dusts off blog