A Local Habitation, Seanan McGuire

A Local Habitation
Seanan McGuire
Copyright 2010

Yes, I read the second book in the series!  Even though I dogged the first book for being flat and dark because of the main character's self loathing I'm glad to say that October is becoming more likable.  She didn't lead the pity parade in this book like she had done previously.  This time around she was definitely more confident and appealing.

In this installment of the October Daye series our heroine, Toby, and Quentin, a foster from Sylvester's court, go on a road trip to Tamed Lightning aka Fresno.  Sylvester's neice, January has failed to contact him or return his calls and he wants to make sure everything is okay.  We soon find out that all is not right in Tamed Lighting, a small county wedged between two rival fiefdoms and the people there are not very forthcoming with the 411.  Apparenlty the fey that work at January's company, ALH (note acronym for the title of book), are dropping dead and a mystery is afoot, a weak and slightly transparent mystery based on the who and the why...  Is it a rival fiefdom or someone on the inside?  Is it political, financial or personal?  The choices are slim and as the characters get picked off in the book the options become even more limited.. 

Unfortunately, this book was not as action oriented as the first one.  It attempted to be more cerebral and it kind of drug itself out a little.  I think part of the problem is that the story was basically contained within one environment, ALH, so space and characters were limited.  There was a lot of hall walking, cafeteria sitting and people dropping dead.  Plus, Toby tried to perform two different blood rituals that caused her to sleep a lot.  The book did start out well with engaging conversation and humor but once they reached ALH the story took a darker turn and the plot started to drag.  The mystery had an unsurprising resolution and at points you wanted to bang your head because Toby had a tendency to be a little dense.

AND!  I did not get my full fix of Tybalt.  Again, there are allusions to a romantice relationship from the beginning of the book, but then it goes flat and there's not a sense of closure between the two.  I know they pair back up on the third book based on the teaser in back, but, this book left me wanting. Not in a 'can't wait until the next book' kind of way either.  There wasn't any character development with regard to Tybalt and I found this disappointing. 

Actually, there really wasn't any character development in this book.  Toby's character, although more likable than in the previous book, remained weak.  The author brought back Connor, someone Toby grew up with and, if I remember correctly, is an ex-boyfriend but they can't be together because Connor is married to Sylvester's mad as a hatter daughter.  So it would appear that McGuire is trying to build two connecting love triangles with Toby, Connor, Tybalt and Toby, Connor, Crazy Daughter.  Not a Connor fan so I hope the author strays from that in book 3.  Yes, I intend to read book three.

There was also a cyber-dryad who was a wierd combination of War Games meets Tinkerbell that I was neither impressed nor interested in.  I get the idea that Fairy is odd and full of possibilities, but to let an inanimate character who lives in a server that needs to be re-booted to stay 'online' rule a county?  Hello?  Fairy and SciFi do not mix well in my mind.  Something about a cominbination of something older than old and something modern.  Then there were the lovebird twins.  Male by day, female by night and emitting pheremones like crazy the whole time.  One dies but Toby is able to resurrect the twin.  hmmmmm.... 

For all my complaining, I did enjoy the book and read it mostly in one sitting.  I can also say that my views are tainted slightly because when trying to remember some of the character's names I read other reviews that reminded me of issues I had when reading the book.  Even though I found October to be a dark and unhappy character in the first book I did notice improvements with this one.  I get that this is supposed to be a noir style series, but typically you will find something indearing about the character.  I have not yet found that in Toby.  What I do like is some of the supporting cast.  I really like Tybalt and wish that McGuire would develop him better.  I also like Quentin and his back and forth banter with Toby as well as Toby's relationship with the Luideag.  As I mentioned before, I will be reading the third installment in this series.  After reviewing the author's website I see that it has to potential to go up to 8 books.  Not sure she can keep me engaged for that long, but we'll see.

Arctic Monkeys 3/11/2010

Arctic Monkeys
The Pageant

This is the second time I've seen the Arctic Monkeys.  The first being Lollapalooza '09.  They are definitely a bed better seen indoors.   They have a high stage energy and complimentary light show.   My Lolla experience left me a little flat since I did not really know the songs, even though I did have their 2006 release, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.  This show offered more familiar songs, plus the ability to see the band in person and not on the jumbotron.

It has been a few weeks since the show and this blog posting, but I do remember that they liked to drag out their songs out.  You know how every concert you go to the band will do one song that at one point you think has ended and then all the sudden they cut right back into it?  The crowd will be doubly excited because that kick ass song didn't actually end.  Well the AM's like to do that a lot.  By the third time it was like 'Enough Already'!  Learn a little from the Kings of Leon.  Do your three minute song and get to the next one.  I also didn't get what the deal was at the end of the show with the singer running off stage and the roadie bringing him back on.  Seemed a little staged and kind of 'eh'.

Seriously, although I do like to complain I really did enjoy this show.  Like I said previously, the band was energetic and seemed to really enjoy the crowd, which I'd also like to say was quite large considering it was a Sunday night show.  The sound was clean and I got to hear some personal favorites including  'I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor', 'Potion Approaching', 'The View from the Afternoon' and a cover of  'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  Thoroughly enjoyable show!

Two For One Book Review

Mark of the Demon (2009)
Blood of the Demon (2010)
Diana Rowland

So today we get two books for the price of one.   I read both of these books back to back. It took me a week to read the first book, but I inhaled the second book in one day.  For all the reasons I can nit pick the books I also like the characters enough to keep reading.  I look forward to the third book in the series to see what happens between the main character, Kara, and her love interest(s).

First, let me get my bitching over with.  The first book didn't interest me until about half way through the book.  For those of you who know me, you will find this funny.  I think the main character cussed too much.  It was almost like the author used 'fuck' and 'shit' repeatedly to give Kara more street cred since she is a member of Beualac's finest.  The language was not used for emphasis as much as it seemed a little thrown in here and there.  My other complaint is that the author is repetitive.  Not only in the use of 'fuck' and 'shit', but in certain phrases.  She liked to measure the passing of time in the passing of heartbeats and she completely abused the word 'arcane'.  It seems to me that there are some alternate ways to phrase that without re-using the same word over and over and over.  This was more obvious to me in the second book because I did read it in one sitting.

Okay, that over with, I obviously like the series enough to have read two of the books and look forward to the third.  I think I will refer to this as my current guilty pleasure.  The books have no great redeeming value, but they do deal with a newer subject for my current urban fantasy fetish.  Kara, the main character, has the ability to summon demons that reside in a different realm.  There are 12 levels of demons.  The lower the level number the lower the demon.  In the first book Kara is summoning a lower level demon when what she later finds out is the demonic lord, Rhyzkahl, shows up instead.  She expects him to kill her for summoning him but instead he ends up seducing her and they have hot, steamy mortal on demon sex.  I never said this was classic literature.

Not understanding how she could addicentally summon a demonic lord she stumbles though most of the book questioning her ritual.  We later find out that the accidental summoning actually crosses paths with the murder investigation she is in charge of.  Can I say that for a detective she sure does a lot of sleeping?  Anyway, the murder investigation revolves around a serial killer who leaves arcane traces on his victims.  Since Kara is the only person she knows, besides her Aunt, that is trained in the arcane she is able to use her skills to help her solve the case.   In this book she meets her main love interest, Agent Ryan Kristoff.  She soon finds out that although he is not trained in the arcane arts, he is sensitive to them and can see some of the things that she sees.  Thus providing them with common ground for a blossoming frienship.

At the end of the first book the killer is caught, but not without consequence.  Kara was basically eviscerated and taken away to Rhyzkahl's realm to heal.  She appeared two weeks after her 'death' and funeral much to everyone's surprise.  Kara's aunt is also left in a coma because she has lost her essence.  This carryovers to the second book where we have another murderer on the loose.  Enter Kara and Agent Kristoff trying to solve a case that involves people's essences being ripped from them.  The victims are all members of Beaulac's upper echelon and seem to have their own problems ala Wysteria Lane.

During her investigation Kara summons Rhyzkahl who is getting annoyed with Kara for not doing exactly what he would like.  He offers her assistance if Kara will agree to be his summoner.  He will allow her to summon him without threat to her if she allows him to wander freely in her realm.  This poses it's own risks and Kara is hesitant to agree to his terms.  This time arround we also get more of a friendship working towards something else when it comes to the relationship between Kara and Ryan, which I actually enjoy.  It's not one of these instant sexual attraction relationships but one more out of friendship.  Kara needs to get a clue though.  In response to one of her arguements with Ryan she decides to summon Rhyzkahl for nothing more than a revenge fuck.

What made this book more intersting was actually learning about Ryan's talents and the mystery of what he actually is.  We find out that the residents of the demon realm and Ryan do not respondly nicely to eachother with no clear reason as to why.  We also learn that Ryan has the ability to 'Men in Black' people and change their memories of an event.  Huh?  So Ryan has definitely become more interesting and no longer has the milquetoast vibe we got from him in the first book.  So, like I said, not classic literature, but a great way to spend a day on the couch.  The more I read the more I liked the characters, the more I became interested in seeing what direction she takes them. 

Heartless Bastards 3/12/2010

Fifth time seeing the Heartless Bastards, third time at the Duck Room @ Blueberry  Hill.

As it would happen, this show was the same day as the Cardinals Home Opener.  Nothing can put a taint on a fantastic show like assholes.  There were two guys in the crowd who were so drunk and obnoxious that I know several people besides myself were disturbed, mostly the people they fixated on.

This is the best performance I've seen by them.  The crowd enjoyed them and they enjoyed the crowd and the vibe was great, sans drunken assholes.  It made for a great show with a balanced mix of songs from each of their three cds.  "All This Time", "Into the Open", "New Resolution" and "Onions" being personal favorites.

If you are not familiar with the Heartless Bastards I highly recommend checking them out.  The singer, Erika Wennerstrom, has a great vibe and an edgy deep voice.

http://www.myspace.com/heartlessbastards

hmmmmm

I bought a music festival ticket a couple of weeks ago and after reviewing my credit card statement I found that I was double charged.  One charge went to the actual festival and one went to some place I'd never heard of.  I looked them  up on the internet and left a phone message for them.  Here's the reply I got back via e-mail.  What's wrong with this picture?

Jennifer - I tried to return your call but must have missed you with the time difference. You bought some tickets for a music festival and somehow the credit card processing company messed something up. We didn't get your money but I've had about 20 calls in the last 3 days about this. If you'd call XXXX Processing at XXX-XXX-XXXX and ask for Heather they will take care of this. I am so sorry for the incontinence this has caused everyone - but I hope you enjoy the music festival.

Silver Borne (Book Review)

Silver Borne

Patricia Briggs

Copyright 2010

This is the fifth installment in Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson Series.  I love the characters Briggs has created in these books.  I was little girl giddy to dive into this book.  I started it the day I got it not caring that I hadn't finished the book I was currently reading.  I inhaled this book over the weekend and although I enjoyed it immensely I think the series may be straying a little from its original intent. 

Mercy is a were coyote that was raised by a pack of werewolves. She lives in a small town in Washington where she owns a auto repair shop specializing in VW's.  She also lives next door to Adam, the local werewolf pack alpha.  Through the books she has developed a romantic relationship with him and in this book the author emphasizes the mate bond that the two have and how they relate to each other because of it.

In this story Mercy ends up in danger because of a book she borrowed from someone in the third book in the series, Iron Kissed.  The 'book' is a focus of power that an evil doing fae really wants to get their hands on.  More drama is added when there is dissension among pack and weaknesses are taken advantage of in an effort the challenge the alpha for his position.  Her ex-boyfriend/best friend/roommate also has a crisis and is in danger of losing himself to his inner wolf, which would mean that he would die. 

Missing in this installment of the series is Stefan.  Mercy's Scooby van driving vampire friend.  It has been hinted at previously that Stefan is in love with Mercy and I'd be interested to see if the author tries to take that anywhere.  I think that it may be hard to do considering the time spent discussing Mercy's pack status and mate bond in this book.

In the first couple of books we learn that Mercy is unaware of her full power as a were coyote since she knows nothing about them having grown up in a werewolf pack.  Her father, the source of her 'power' died before she was born.  Historically they hunted vampires and Mercy seems to have some immunities to their powers.  Non of Mercy's 'unknown powers' were hinted at in this book and I'm a little bummed by that.  

Yes, I know I'm nitpicky and I cannot just enjoy something without finding the faults.  I think that by the time you get 5 books into a series you have your own expectations and wants for the characters.  I always enjoy being pleasantly surprised, unfortunately this book didn't offer any 'YaY' surprises for me.  I was 'meh' about the love re-connection encountered by Sam.  It seemed too easy and a little 'gooey and romantic'.  Brigg's lack of emphasizing the love was one of the draws to this series.  I also question this books characterizations of Warren, the homosexual werewolf, and his boyfriend Kyle.  I honestly don't remember Warren being sooo country and Kyle being so flamboyant.  

Oh well.  For all my mewing I really did enjoy this book.  As I said in the beginning I did inhale it.  I loved getting to hang with all my friends mentioned above, sans Stefan, and get to experience another adventure with them.  If I had started in on a different day it would have been a one sitting book.  I'm sad that this book done and I  look forward to the next installment with the same hand clappy giddiness I awaited this one with.

Dinner

I am the self proclaimed Queen of one pot cooking.  I'm not really a fan of all the chopping, measuring and stirring involved in a lot of recipes so when I can just throw a few things together and let them take care of themselves, and it results in something tasty, I'm happy.  Tonight's dinner is an experiment, which is how most of my meals start out.  

One Tilapia Fillet

One can Full Circle Italian Style Diced Tomatoes

Put the two in a casserole dish, cover and bake for 30 minutes at 375.

Side dish:  couscous

I can't give a YaY/Nay because although it smelled fantastic the fish tasted more fishy than it should have.  I'm not sure why this happens but every once in a while the fish doesn't taste right.  My garbage disposal had a yummy meal.  I ended up eating the couscous with Parmesan  and pepper.


recycled can and couscous box.

Roadkill (Book Review)

Roadkill

Rob Thurman

Copyright 2010

This is the fifth book in the Cal and Niko Leandros series by Rob Thurman, a pseudonym for Robyn Thurman.  I have LOVED Cal, half demon-half mortal, his brother Niko and Robin (Puck) since 'Nightlife', the first book in the series.  It was the first Urban Fantasy genre book, besides for the Sookie Stackhouse books, that I read and I have inhaled the series.  'Roadkill' was highly anticipated by myself and I was giddy the day it came out.  Urgh, sooo disappointed.

Compared to the previous 4 books in the series, 'Nightlife', 'Moonshine', 'Madhouse' and 'Deathwish' this book is by far the weakest.  First, it didn't have the humor I've enjoyed in the last books.  I didn't find myself laughing like I have in the past.  Secondly, it was an annoying and overly drawn out re-hash of the main characters and their relationship that spanned the first three chapters of the book.  Yes Cal, you love your brother and he loves you.  I got that over the first 4 books and a one or two paragraph remembrance of this relationship would suffice.  Not a paragraph every three paragraphs.  This made the first few chapters drag for me and a lot of it seemed repetitive with Thurman reminding us that the villain in the book was the Plague of the World, Abelia-Roo was a hateful bitch and that my beloved whoring Robin was trying to partake in a monogamous relationship.  Third, the lack of 'Puck'.  Yes, he was in the book and along for the ride but his main storyline revolved around his attempt to be an an uncharacteristically exclusive relationship with his new partner which, again repetitive, was so boring by Puck standards.  Puck can be so much more!  Lastly, I don't like Delilah.

As with 'Deathwish', the author split the chapters in the book into two perspectives.  In 'Deathwish' it was between the two brothers, Cal and Niko.  In 'Roadkill' the perspective was split between Cal and Catcher, a 'sick' werewolf stuck in wolf form.  I am not a fan of this style of writing because the characters tend to mix together in my head.  In 'Deathwish' it was easier to differentiate the two characters because they tended to be in different places at the same time.  In 'Roadkill' Cal and Catcher were everywhere together.  They were also similar in personality which made it harder keep the two separate.

Minus my nitpicking the book did have a good storyline.  It brought back a character from the second book who is apparently more hateful than I remembered. It dealt with the repercussions of Cal enjoying  some of the perks of being half demon.  It answered some questions that were opened in the first book about Rafferty and Catcher, although I'm not sure they needed to be answered.  It also dealt with Kin politics what happened after the Kin found out about the relationship between Cal and Delilah.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to highlight about 'Roadkill' because nothing really 'stood out'.  The more I think about it the more I am left flat when it comes to this book.  I won't scream bitter disappointment because I did get my Cal, Niko and Robin fix although in an unsatisfactory form.  I will gladly read the next installment when it comes out and hope that Thurman redeems herself.

Robin Eggs

I picked up my first bag of Robin Eggs a few weeks back because it was the cheapest of the bagged holiday candies at Walgreens.  Little did I know.....  Harmless Easter Candy?  I think not!  I waged my three week war with the mini Robin Eggs and LOST.  Over that three week period I managed to ingest 7 (yes, seven) bags of Robin Eggs.  Sad, laughable and wholly enjoyable.

Why my love affair with this little candy coated treat?  I have pondered this because I can honestly say that Whoppers are not my candy of choice.  I'm more of a peanut M&M kind of gal.  But, for some reason, if you shape a Whopper like an egg, thin out the chocolate and cover it with a pastel candy coating, it's the best stuff on the planet.  It's the texture of the malted milk center.  You bite the piece of candy in half, then you keep that piece in your mouth long enough for the malted center to dissolve.  Heaven.  Another way to eat them is to not bite it in half but let it dissolve in your mouth.  You can also just throw them in  your mouth and chew, but that's just not as pleasurable.  

Now that it's done and I will hopefully not be seeing another bag of Robin Eggs for another year, I can look at the nutritional information and figure out exactly what the hell I ate.

One bag of mini Robin Eggs contains 7 servings at 190 calories for each serving.  That's 1330 calories per bag or 9310 calories for the whole kit and caboodle.  Oh My! So, 9310 calories stretched out over 21 days equals an extra 440ish calories per day.  That's 4 beers on top of what I may have already drank (roughly one bottle wine per day if that's the way your tastes sway)!  Thankfully, there is one gram of protein per serving so I did get 49 grams of protein from the whole debacle.  I'm not even going near the carbs.  There are 33 per serving, you can do the math.

So, what can I do about it now?  Not much.  Focus on high protein, lo-carb, not my forte.  I did eat half a grilled chicken breast for dinner tonight, but the glass of red wine I washed it down with didn't help much. The gym I go to has a new rowing machine which I believe will become my new best friend.  According to http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc if I 'moderately' row for 30 minutes I will burn 262 calories.  Given that I ingested 9310 unwanted but oh sooo delicious calories I will need to do 35-half hour sessions of rowing on that fancy piece of machinery in order to balance out the negative effects of the Robin Eggs.  I take a 'Power Pump' class at my gym twice a week which I will classify as 45 minutes of vigorous weigh lifting.  Which burns 341 calories.  So, if I continue with my two classes per week and burn the standard 682 calories and I incorporate 5-half hour sessions of rowing to my weekly work out regimen, I will burn 1468 calories per week.  I will have to continue this daily work out schedule for 6.34 weeks in order to ensure I completely burn off the calories I ingested over that glorious three week period.  Had I known this before I'm pretty sure I still would have eaten them.  I purposely didn't consider the calorie content every time I picked up a bag.  :)  

Urgh.  I guess you'll be seeing me at the gym.

Murder by Death and HaHa Tonka @Off Broadway. March 31, 2010

Let me preface this by saying:  I *LOVE* Off Broadway!

There was an opening band, but I missed them, so I cannot give them the credit they deserve.

This is the second time I've seen HaHa Tonka.  I own one of their cd's, Buckle in the Bible Belt.  Both times I've seen them I've been impressed by their onstage energy.  I love the bassist.  He's got this 70's disco porn look that reminds me of John Oats.  I also love the lead singer's voice.

I like their music because they have a great way of mixing genres.  They dabble in what I like to call 'campfire music' (more of a traditional folk, examples: 'Hangman') and combine it with more of an aggressive alt-country.  My favorite song of theirs to date is 'St. Nick on the Fourth With a Fervor' which I think is a great example of how they combine the 'campfire' style group vocals with the upbeat, more rockin' end of alt-country.  I also really like their newest single 'Walking on the Devil's Backbone' from their new disc, 'Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South'.

The last band of the night was Murder by Death from Bloomington, IN.  I have heard of them by name but I was not familiar with their music.  I will definitely be picking their new disc, 'Good Morning, Magpie'.  They had a great stage presence.  Loved the singer's deep voice, not as deep as The National, but sexy, gravely just the same. I would say they have more of a Gothic sound due to the deeper vocals and 'dangerous' lyrics.  I would put them in a grouping with the Drive-by Truckers and the Reverend Horton Heat, not in a rock-a-billy sense, but more of a Southern, dirty, Gothic kind of way.

I wish I hadn't gotten so into my beverages.  It was unseasonably hot for a March night, what can I say?  I would have had a better review of them otherwise.  Sorry kids.  But they do come with a big, fat, buzzed recommendation from me.  If you want to check out some of their songs I recommend 'Until Morale Improves, the Beating Will Continue' and 'Sometimes the Line Walks You'. They were definite die hard fan favorites and great examples of what to expect from them.

I don't want to forget the Cellist/Pianist, Sarah Balliet.  She was not visible from my standpoint, but she did a fantastic job. 

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ The Pageant, March 23, 2010

This was my third Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show, all of them at the Pageant.  This was also the most crowded of the three shows.  Although I'm glad to see them getting a bigger following I also miss the days of having a good view while leaning against the bar.   

My only real complaint about any of their shows has to do with lighting more than quality.  They do seem to like the dark, back lit lighting, which I like,  but they also like to kick on a strobe light that if looked at directly might cause a seizure.  But that's just when you turn around, stare at the bar and hope for a cute bartender to look at.

This show did get off to a slow start.  The first few songs seemed a little forced and 'off', but after the fourth song they seemed to find their groove and get a little more excited about the crowd.  They offered a good mix of songs from all of their albums, or at least the 4 I own.  I was glad to hear 'Spread Your Love', 'Ain't No Easy Way', '666 Conducer', 'Rifles' and 'Weapon of Choice', all personal favorites. They also incorporated a good mix with the new cd including 'Beat the Devil's Tattoo' and 'Aya'.

I read a lackluster review from the Riverfront times about this show.  My opinion differs greatly.  This was definitely the best of the three shows I have seen.   The only real negative was the two harpies standing behind us who wouldn't shut up.  They were drunker than me and I think they knew we found them annoying so they kept getting closer until we just moved.  Oh well, I hope they threw up.  :)