I took a break from reading Kate Ellis mysteries to read a Kitty Norville werewolf paranormal on my kindle. I started reading them last winter at the suggestion of someone here and ran out of energy along the way but when I ran into them in th e library I checked the next one out. This one was quite good. The story kept moving and I read it really quickly. The previous one dragged a bit as I remember. This one was titled "kitty and the Dead Man's Hand" by Carrie Vaughn and didn't have a single zombie -- plenty of other things but no zombies. ;) The main plot of the series is Kitty is a DJ who hosts a late night call in radio show which evolves into a show about paranormal s where they can discuss their problems. Eventually she gets outed to the world at large and the series and her adventures take of. They all have pretty silly titles but are actually quite well written. I vote for the s*xyz librarian too!

The problems with the fire started the day before we left the States so Dh picked up a new one at the same time he had Dd on her TI 84 quest. I have the cheaper, $80 I think, version. The dc's have the same model. I use mine mainly for reading and surfing. The dc's use their fires tons. Everything from Coursera courses, including the papers, to basic programming. Lots of games and programming for games. Dd chooses to use her pretty exclusively and has been submitting some pretty technical chemistry and calculus problem sets successfully. While we do watch things on our fires but Dh has an hd that is a bit larger and nicer for viewing imo. In terms of streaming they work great assuming decent internet. My old one had some serious problems with that aspect always. The hd may be a bit more responsive in general but I seem to have an incredible number of " did not mean to touch that " moments when I use it so far happier with my older new to me technology.

I actually really liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer :blush: :blush: Apparently I can do emoticons on my new fire. Fun! :hurray: I prefer the old one but it won't let me post on WTM anymore although everything else works. Anyway after I got used to the vampire additions it was a good. I have thought about some of the others but have stayed away because of zombies. The concept is something that I would need to adjust to in mass. An occasional necromancer scene I can handle. ETA I see my slayer as opposed to hunter slip. :lol: I loved Buffy which explains it!

That's why I love to put my paranormal s on kindle. No one knows what I am reading. :lol:

I would love reading your reviews if you plan to add them to Goodreads etc. I am also having sleep issues so I understand. It is odd because I am frequently the first to bed in our house due to exhaustion. I sleep a couple of hours and wake up when dh comes to bed. For awhile I thought it was due to my being disturbed but I don't seem to fall asleep at all when I stay up later so I miss the two hours of good sound sleep I might have had. Can't seem to win. I spend much of the night trying to quietly entertain myself. I am so thankful for kindle library books but I try not to put anything too compelling on it lately.

I have one that is close to 13 X 9 from IKEA without handles. It is several years old.....

Looking forward to your review of Asleep in the Sun. None of my libraries have it .....they don't seem to have many South American authors in general. Makes the continental and geography challenge more of a challenge! :lol:

There is also the question of which form to even request the book in -- ebook , where no one else will know exactly what I am reading ;) or traditional, where chunky books may "look" great but are very heavy.........These are the problems that can be discussed on BaW that no one else will ever understand. Also the fact that I can't tell someone else that I spent an utterly satisfying 20 minutes or so sorting the 30 or so physical library books that I have on hand last night into many categories like: part of a series and waiting for the first , probable hold by others so should seriously read, preread for Dd or Ds and need to stay ahead, and finally an " oooh! can't wait" pile. Here the question is more apt to be "what is in your ___ pile" not "why do you have 30 books checked out." Love being able to talk to other compulsive library people. :)

During the early hours of the morning I finished "World Without End" by Ken Follett. After reading "Pillars of the Earth" I knew the book would not live up to the expectations that are placed in my mind from the title of peace and serenity conjured from my connecting this title instantly with favourite prayers like the Magnificat. This book had I title that called to me on many levels. One thing that struck me almost from the first page was that it was almost a copy of Pillar reworked for the 14th century. The changes in the world were shown very clearly when set against the lives of the descendants of the characters from Pillars. Construction of the Church and village were still focal points. Manipulations through the Church hierarchy and Monarchy reigned. Wool and fabric trade a mainstay. Then there was the plague sweeping a cross Europe and brutally rearranging this world repeatedly. Still present were some pretty violent r*pe scenes. Were these scenes necessary to the book this time through? Probably not, which I am sure affected my attitude while reading. Plenty of icky moments which didn't have to be that icky. For all my complaints I still gave it a 4* so good overall simply missed the mark set by expectations. So my 14th century read is done although a couple alternative choices are still moving their way through the library's system of holds. Maybe another will be read when they finally arrive. A brutalized France was visited and Italy in the aftershock of the plague has been experienced during the unfolding of the story which are not needed for my geography challenge since those countries are complete but can be added.

My mom has been a member of 3 different red hat groups and has enjoyed them all. They seem to all have very different personalities depending on the members so I would try to be a guest once or twice before formally joining. The age range in the groups seems to vary also . One of her groups meet during the day because they were all retired while another was in the evening because most worked during the day. She has done everything from vacations to lunch with red hats. I no longer live in the US so no red hat groups here but have recently joined a similar woman's group and am enjoying it. Not so much because of the age difference with my home ed friends because most are 50ish but because I wanted to expand my social circle a bit.

Amen! :grouphug:

I think many of them have a necromancer involved in some way. Since I have never read a just zombie paranormal not sure beyond that. I have read several in this series http://anitablake.wikia.com/wiki/Anita_Blake which has everything paranormal I think. ;) Anita Blake is a necromancer but is involved with series vampires and........ ETA well not much of an answer Stacia(I mean my answer not yours!) Zombies are not main characters in these books either. She normally is paid to raise people from the dead to have questions answered regarding wills etc. There are other complications with her abilities but can only vaguely remember. This series is on my reread list.

I have to admit Raising Stony.....does sound intriguing. I am not normally a fan of zombies although they sometimes end up being in my paranormals. I generally only read vampires, weres, and witches. ;) I did find it in the ebook library and added it to my wish list (dangerous, I know) but am hoping someone else will read it first!

I finished "The Raphael Affair" by Iain Pears and am starting dd's new pile (hmmmm stack probably sounds nicer) with it. Before I was distracted by reading Kate Ellis much of my planned reading in terms of non kindle were things that Dd might enjoy. Trying to give them a bit of a prescreen because she hasn't had much time to read lately due to Coursera classes. They finish in the next couple of weeks and she hopes to relax a bit. The Raphael Affair was highly enjoyable. It managed to be a great mystery without too much of anything that is disagreeable (extreme violence , super descriptive romantic scenes, etc) so Dd (and many of you -- aggieamy comes to mind) should like it.

Nm

Shukriyya -- Happy Birthday!!!! It sounds like you are having a great celebration. Robin -- I am glad things went so well at the memorial service. Enjoy today's birthday festivities! My reading plans for the next couple of weeks have been slightly hijacked. I have an opportunity to attend a tea with a couple of mystery authors. I had never read either but was assured they write books that are my type. Being the compulsive soul that I am.... trying to get some of their books read. ;) I read the first one in Kate Ellis(one of the authors) series "The Merchants House" really quickly. I barely set it down until it was finished. My type definately! The lead police detective Wesley Peterson also has a degree in archeology. In the first book he solves a historical crime involving skeletons found at an excavation while at the same time solving a present day crime that is somewhat similar. They each provide clues for solving the other. I am also reading World Without End and The Raphael Affair. Loving both.

We are home and awake! Just need to put everything away. The only book I finished on the plane was Mr and Mrs Anonymous by Fern Michael's. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6225116-mr-and-miss-anonymous?from_search=true It was highly readable but a bit horrifying from a science gone bad/ruthless drug company /not realistic point of view. I tried to read The Name of the Rose. Not sure I am going to finish it. About 20 percent through and not really connecting with it. It returns on the 23rd so may just let it go.....

You might want to look at Galore Park before you order. We used elementary Greek but I love the look of Galore Park which has recently been updated.

Stacia's link led me to David Bowie's 100 favorite books. I don't know why I looked but I did. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10347410/David-Bowie-reveals-his-favourite-100-books.html I was surprised but feeling a bit ????? Maybe because I have only read one of them, 1984 which I don't like much. I am off topic again but.......surprising list. ETA Stacias link worked fine.... at the end I was offered three more links which led me to David Bowie.

Happy Birthday Negin! I hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday!!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/books/the-expats-a-thriller-by-chris-pavone.html?_r=0 The Expats by Chris Pavone is one of those books that I have checked out a few times , read a couple of pages and returned. This time I got hooked and finished it. Some of the truths about life as an expat in Europe(probably anywhere) made me laugh because true. I get to add Luxembourg to my geography challenge -- Switzerland and France are also featured. Wasn't great but readable, gave it 3***. I did like the end.

I hope all goes well! :grouphug:

Part way through calc and has been using an online one. Would like her own. Needs one really. Plans to do Statistics too. Looks like the TI84 plus is the one for her if dh can find it. Notice it is now his job...yeah! Thank you so much Jane and Ali. Can't tell you how much I appreciated returning from other errands and seeing really helpful responses.

Jane and anyone else who knows about graphing calculators...... This post does not belong here in BaW and I know it but I know all of you and my search on the main boards led me to our Jane as "knowing" something about them. Dd needs a graphing calculator and we need to buy it tomorrow. Very last minute. She forgot and mom did too. Much cheaper in US. Please give me some idea of which to buy. One that will see her through the AP and hopefully some university. Any suggestions appreciated. There are about 50 recommended by college board. Help!!!