Saturday, January 3, 2009

Newsy updates that are possibly only interesting to me

Egg Timer update
This technique is REALLY working out! I'm so excited. I've never made a New Year's Resolution before that I even remember a few days later. However, this is more than a resolution, it's a system.

Renee from Renee's Book Addiction turned up an even better egg timer - behold. When the time is up, a chick appears in the bottom half of the egg and a voice says, "Time to check the scrambled tofu." You can change it to say something different, but Renee is keeping hers as is, and so am I, because it's kooky! Find it here.

What I have learned from people's New Year's Best of Lists
I am such a slow reader. People have read way more books than I have and they all look wonderful. Scroll 2 posts below for a running list of these lists or click here. Anyway, thanks to the generosity of certain lovely gift certificate gift givers, I am going to do a haul at Barnes and Noble, including:

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione - It seems like everybody has this on their list.
Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas - Even more people have this.
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase

And possibly:

Scream for Me by Karen Rose
Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare
Also, but not from lists:
Lessons of Desire by Madeleine Hunter - recommended by Joanna Bourne
Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrian - I LOVE this hot series!
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas (OMG, I had by Derek Craven before. But that's why I'm reading it, to see what all the Derek Craven fuss is about! I may read this next.)

I may do the haul in 2 chunks, because I HAVE to get the newest from Kresley Cole, Kiss of a Demon King, which is out in February.

Related question
I am giddy to think of these books! Hey, on Scream for Me and Unlawful Contact, am I starting in the middle of a series when I shouldn't?

What I learned from a Wall Street Journal article today
Bookgirl, a woman I follow on Twitter, alerted her followers to this interesting Wall Street Journal article on publishing industry. It's sort of about blockbuster psychology, but one of the things I got out of it was how reading is a social experience, and people always want to read books other people have read.

I think I am totally guilty of that, so I'm going to try to read lesser read books now and then. So, two unknowns, at least to me I may include in my haul:

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn reviewed here by Brie. This is a historical mystery suspense with the best first sentence ever:

"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husbands dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

Mélusine (Doctrine of Labyrinths, book 1) by Sarah Monette reviewed here by Renee. It's about a court magician and a thief and assassin in a magical city. That's a bad description, but my egg timer already went off!

Vote!
Don't forget to vote for Book Binge for best review blog! Vote here.

25 comments:

RfP said...

Glad the egg timer works for you. If it stops working, set it for shorter periods and take a brief walk, then go back to work until the longer period's elapsed. ... Er, that's clear as tofu. Instead of work work tofu play tofu work, try work tofu walk work tofu play work. ... Okay, that didn't help. Just experiment.

I enjoyed the Deanna Raybourn. Keep meaning to see whether she has another book out.

Carolyn Jean said...

RfP: Ooh, I don't understand that walk idea. Can yo elaborate? Bc I do want to know. And Raybourn does have another out! Brie reviewed it quite positively somewhat recently. That's actually what led me to the first.
Okay, turning egg timer on!

Katie Reus said...

Interesting article. About half the books I read this year (maybe more) were from recommendations, usually from bloggers.

RfP said...

I've been leaving the most incoherent comments lately!

OK, I'm caffeinated. Maybe that'll help. The idea is that even with set breaks, I still go stale because I'm sitting at the computer all the time. So I make some of the breaks a short walk instead of more computer time. I also sometimes go work at a coffee shop for a set amount of time; being in a different place puts my head in a different place :)

Renee said...

I love my scrambled tofu timer! It almost makes me want to go back to work just to play with it (I'm off till Monday.)
OK, not really. I'll wait till Monday. :-P

I listened to the audiobook of Silent in the Grave, and the narrator was so awful. However, I figured was her and not the writing, and I read Silent in the Sanctuary, and I was so glad. Silent on the Moor, book 3 comes out March 1. I'll definitely be reading it.

Yes, CJ! Come over to the Cravenator-side!

Have you read Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas, yet? While not necessary to BED, it gives good background. (Of course, I'm sort of OCD about reading things in order.)

Recommendations have definitely played a big role in my reading choices. I don't spend a lot of time walking around bookstores or the library. I would rather check things out from the comfort of my laptop, then armed with my list, hit the bookstore/library.

Renee said...

Oh! And Mélusine is awesome! But very dark. Man, I love Mildmay the Fox.

Carolyn Jean said...

Katie: Welcome back!

RfP: Wait, venture into the world beyond the compter? No, I like it. I might try it! Thanks for the clarification.

Renee: I did read Sugar Daddy, so I'm all set.

Jessica said...

I read Unlawful Contact without having read a previous book and I loved it. I think it may be one of the hottest books I have ever read, actually.

Glad the egg timer is working. I use mine for grading.

My other widgets? Whoopie cushions and lava lamps, courtesy of my kids.

wonderings said...

Ah, these end of the year lists are deadly - but I love them. I made a huge book haul too and got the best deals evah! (Your Scandalous Ways showed up as 99 cents. Srsly.) Makes me giddy to think of it!

Must try to find fun egg timer for Vista so I read more books and blog-surf (a little) less.

Jace said...

Whoa, that's a whole load of books, CJ. :-D Congrats! :-D

Leslie said...

Good to hear the timer is working.

Loved both of Raybourn's Silent books. Next one is supposed to be even better.

And Cole's Kiss of a Demon King is out on the 20th of this month. Lickable horns look out!

Amy C said...

Hi Carolyn Jean,

I'm also adding Blue Eyed Devil to my reading this year. I seen it on numerous lists as a top read.

I think most of the books I read are because they catch my eye rather than recommendations. I love trying new authors.

Tumperkin said...

I've just ordered Dirty by Megan Hart (your recc), Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair (Jessica's recc) and Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinsale (absolutely not recc'd by Little Alys but she did remind me it had been re-released and did not therefore probably cost twenty five quid from Amazon anymore).

I too am therefore giddy at the prospect of new books.

Carolyn Jean said...

Jessica: Well then! Good answer.

Wonderings: Thanks for visiting. I love your avatar!

Jace: Yes, I am SO excited.

Leslie: I hear Kiss is really hot, too.

Amy C: That sounds like a fun way to go. It seems like such a gamble, but you have more sense of discovery, too.

T: Oooh, Dirty and Games. I hope you like them! I don't know the Kinsale.

Katiebabs a.k.a KB said...

So glad the egg timer is working for you!
And oh yes, I need to know if there is some major horn licking in Kiss of the Demon King!

Marg said...

The egg timer is a great idea!

I loved Silent in the Sanctuary and have the second book on my TBR list.

meljean brook said...

I'd definitely read DIE FOR ME before SCREAM FOR ME. (I haven't read it yet, either, because I was waiting for paperback -- but I remember the Dear Author review mentioned that events in DIE FOR ME either set up or gave a lot of background to SCREAM FOR ME.)

Anonymous said...

Veil of Midnight was great! Okay, I'm retarded. I don't get the egg timer. Guess I should go down a few posts and figure it out.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I the dummy now understand the egg timer. Please ignore the stupid comment I made on the previous post. :)

Holly said...

1st - thanks for mentioning the P&E polls. That was awesome.

2nd - I'm jealous of your gift certificate. I want new books!

3rd - I think you should read Die for Me before Scream for Me. DFM really sets the stage for SFM. If you get them and read them soon you can be ready for when Kill for Me comes out next month. :)

samantha.1020 said...

Those sound like some great books :) If it makes you feel better, apparently I am a slow reader as well. I did read 73 books so I'm pretty proud of myself though :) Have a great new year!

Brie said...

The egg timer looks helpful, I think I'll give it a go.

I'm a slow reader too. I think I read 40 books last year. I'm aiming for 50 this year.

I have been wanting to read Mélusine since I saw the review on Avid Book Reader. Silent in the Grave was a great book and the sequel was just as good. Thanks for the link. :)

JenB said...

Mmmmmm...Pleasure Unbound...so nasty good. Dark, sexy, and dangerous. Yum.

K said...

I gotta get that egg timer or maybe the boring Apple thing. The good news is, it isn't just us. CLIENTS of mine are concerned about time lost to social media, web dawdling, email purgatory, etc. I think it's worse for us because we work at home without the threat of people popping into our cubicles.

Serena said...

I love reading books others have read, but I also like books that I can discover for others.

 
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