It’s Sunday so I’m not expected to be entirely coherent, right?

First, I went to the bookstore yesterday (2 actually) and picked me up some books. Got Emma Holly’s Strange Attractions (which I already devoured - loved it), Shelley Bradley’s Bound and Determined (which has an awesome cover until you look really close and then the girl looks like she might be 12 - a bit disturbing), and Kate Douglas’s Wolf Tales. I’m so excited to read them, but first I’ve got to put a dent in Jane Millionaire for Angie’s TBR challenge.

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So, I ended up getting those books at Borders but we also went to Barnes and Noble. Has anyone ever heard of Magic Carpet Books? They were all labled “erotic romance” and there were dozens of titles in my local (which actually if annoyingly far away) B&N. Anybody ever read anything by them? I was intrigued, but not enough to spend $10 on something I’ve never heard of.

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Since I read all day yesterday I’ve got to spend all day today on edits. Shouldn’t be too rough except for the fact that the reason I haven’t already done them is because I was battling with the whole “track changes” thing in word.

Sometimes I love that feature and sometimes it really blows. The other day it was really blowing.

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And finally, I’ll tease you by saying that I have some good news, but I can’t share it quite yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

I know that’s a bit of a trick question considering it’s only the 4th, but it’s recently come to my attention that I’m a bit concerned by the number of books I read last year.

I’d guess that my reading has decreased exponentially while my writing has increased. But like Stephen King says, “If you don’t read, you can’t write.” Or something to that effect. I’m sure he said it much better than I did because he reads more than I do.

Anyway, Over on my sidebar there, towards the bottom I’m starting a list of books I read this year. I’m already cheating slightly because I read half of The Night Before Christmas last year and just finished it this year. Hope that’s not a sign of things to come.

Oh, and I’m breaking it down into “Books” (which is easier to say that mass-market paperbacks, trade paperbacks, hardbacks, etc), “eBooks” and “ReRead.” My guess is that a lot of the books I read each year I’ve actually read before.

My husband and I have even discussed reading one anothers books (we have total opposite taste) and then trying to discuss them. Then I won’t look like all I read is romance.

So, does anyone else want to join me in making 2006 the year of reading? We can all support each other!! If you don’t want to keep track of the books you read for the world to see you can just do it on paper.

Come on, Read A Lot in 2006!

*Update* Angie has issued a TBR Challenge. Go check it out.

We went to the mall yesterday. The sales were okay, but not great. I didn’t come home with anything fun.

But, we did stop at Barnes and Noble. I didn’t buy anything because I already have a lot of books and I have a gift certificate that I didn’t have with me, but it was a romance section like none I’d ever seen before.

It was pretty much ALL erotic romance - and a lot of straight erotica thrown in.

I was pretty amazed. The new releases section had Jaid Black, Kate Douglas, Emma Holly and a bunch of erotic anthologies. There were a few historicals down on the bottom shelves but that’s about it for the new release section. It was a farily small romance section, only one row of romance books, and they were mostly contemporary and on the spicy side.

I thought it was very interesting.

Anyway, I got a $50 gift certificate for Barnes and Noble. I already have Wolf Tales by Kate Douglas, the new Dark Hunter book by Sherrilyn Kenyon and her new BAD book on my list.

What are some other books I should add to my wishlist?

I have to go drive across PA now. *sigh*

I’m not much on posting about books that I’ve read, mostly because I’m always way behind in my reading so the books I’m reading are already several months (if not older) old. Plus, I’m not so much good at the reviewing thing.

But, I’m going to break that rule (not so much of a rule as a guideline) and talk about Shannon Stacey’s Twice Upon a Roadtrip.

Like I said, I’m a few months behind the new releases but I was waiting to place a big order at EC and finally did it. This was the first book I read, ’cause I’ve been excited about it for a while now.

First of all, I’ve seen the cover serval time, on Shannon’s blog and on the EC website, but it’s much cooler when it’s bigger! It’s like - not cartooney, but digitized or photoshoped or something so it’s more than just a picture. I like it a lot! More even then when I thought it was just a picture.

Now, onto the book itself. This book is freaking hilarious!! It’s got the humor in it that I just really like. Kind of reminicent of the old Duets (which I actually liked as opposed to Flipside which were usually not funny).

And, (and I don’t mean this as a complaint ’cause I really liked the book) the sex was good (well written I mean) and hot, but I almost didn’t want to get to the sex parts because that meant that it wasn’t going to be the funny parts.

So, like I said, I’m not so great at reviews, but this book was great and you should all go out and read it. And I’m kind of excited for Shannon’s first Samhain release, but it sounds like an emotional, rip-your-guts-out book and those aren’t really my favorite. But I’ll read it anyway.

Oh, and just in case my review moved you so much thatyou need to read it right this second, click on the picture and it’ll talk you straight to EC. And I guess I better read that article on reviewing in the latest RWR ’cause I suck at it.

So, the other day I was craving a good Xmas read. I happened to be in Target and I flipped through some Xmas anthologies but I was having the same reaction to all of them. Eh.

But then, I remembered! Elf Gratification by Cat Marsters came out on Friday. So, I had to wait a few days, but lucky me, I got my good Xmas read.

And to make it even better - totally HOT and SEXY.

Buy it, read for yourself.

Calascien, keeper of Santa’s reindeer, isn’t too happy to hear that his boss is about to be replaced. For one thing, he likes the old Santa. For another, the new Santa is the silliest, sexiest, most irritating young blonde he’s ever met. How’s an elf supposed to concentrate when his boss keeps dressing up like Santa’s Little Stripper?

Candy Kane isn’t particularly pleased to be abducted from her life as a Hollywood makeup artist and dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Lapland. For a start, everyone seems to be really stoned: Santa? Elves? What are they smoking? Then there’s the guy assigned to keep an eye on her: the most arrogant, annoying, deluded man there’s ever been.

But if he could just get it into his head that he’s not an elf and she’s not Santa, then she might start to find him mildly attractive. In a lunatic sort of way…

And for those of you who like your Xmas reads a little less, uh, spicy. Yesterday I re-read Nora’s The Gift, which contains the stories, “Home for Christmas” and “All I want for Christmas.” Puts me in the lovey-dovey Xmas spirit.

Even though I didn’t get many positive responses on my last post on how to be organized, I’m asking another one.

This one is for the e-book readers (readers of e-books, not the gadgets). How do you organize your ebooks?

It’s to the point that I have A LOT (and even more on my TBPurchased list). Since every e-book publisher seems to be slightly different in regards to how they format their ebooks and name them and stuff, there’s no easy way to do it. At the moment mine are all in a folder called “Ebooks.”

But if I’m looking for something specific, it makes it hard to find. I am terrible with book names so when that’s what I have to look for, I end up waisting a lot of time.

I suppose when I purchase it, I could automatically rename it with Title/Author or something, but that just seems like too much work when really I just want to read the book.

Or am I the only one that has this problem? Am I the only one who likes to read my ebooks over and over again? Probably even moreso than print books?

Once again? How do you organize these things?

I suck at reviews, but I can totally say, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

All right, I said I was going to talk about it today, but that’s really all I have to say about it. It was great…go read it.

I didn’t find Riley qute as wounded as Kieran (from The Beast Within) but I still wanted to take him home and kiss it all better. And I loved to anthropology angle and the stones (was anyone else channeling Indiana Jones, like me?) mostly because I’m a dork and I like stuff like that.

I think my least favorite part of the book was the cover. It looked great online, but it person, the guy’s nose really creeps me out. Is he supposed to be made of stone? Right now he’s staring at me from next to my computer and he’s giving me the shivers. Have to turn him over. Or put The Beast Within on top.

But, oh my. Check out the cover for the third PAX book? Can anyone say YUMMY?!?!?! February suddenly seems like a very long time away.

So, last night the Hubster and I got talking about Desert Island books. You know, the five books that you could take with you if you were going to be stranded on a dessert island.

He started in on how rather than picking five books, if he knew he’d be stranded on an island, he’d take something that would get him off the island. I say he ruins the point of the game.

Desert Island books aren’t necessarily the best five books you’ve ever read. You may absolutely adore a book like, for instance, Love Story, but would you really want to read it once a week until you were rescued? I mean, would you really want that pounding headache you end up with from sobbing so much at the end of the book? (Or is that just me?)

Anyway, the Hubster says that the point of a book is to read one, and then read another one. He doesn’t keep many books and there’s probably 5 on his shelf that he’s reread (although he does keep more non-fiction books).

But, I finally convinced him that it was a fun game and he somewhat relented (although not enough to actually answer the question).

So, I pose you the question. What books would you take with you to a deserted island (I almost wrote desserted island and then who would need books there? Mmm, cupcake land!)?

And since it’s my game, I say only popular fiction. No classics. This time you’ve gotta leave Shakespeare and Jane Austin at home.

My list:
1. The Pleasure Slave by Gena Showalter
2. Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
3. Captivated by Nora Roberts
4. Amber Beach by Elizabeth Lowell
5. Bet Me by Jenny Crusie

What’s yours?

I belong to the RWA Online Chapter and they have the coolest thing! I’m just going to post it here since they said it better than I could.

*Permission granted to forward*

As many of you know, RWA® Online has teamed with Author, Author! online booksellers to offer our authors’ and our workshop presenters’books in a virtual signing (hence “cybersigning”) during the month they are released. These books are available to everyone (yes, that’s EVERYONE).

Featured titles this month:

Anna Adams: Another Woman’s Son
Claire Cross: Third Time Lucky
Carly Phillips: Hot Number, Summer Lovin’, Brazen
CT Adams and Cathy Clamp: Moon’s Web, Hunter’s Moon
Lucy Monroe: Blackmailed into Marriage, Ready
Lori Avocato: The Stiff and the Dead
JoAnn Ross: Blaze

Previously featured and still available

A Dose of Murder - Lori Avocato
Loving Mercy - Teresa Bodwell
Sex on Holiday - Sylvia Day
Love Is All Around - Lori Devoti
Here Comes The Bride - Laura Drewry
Uncontrollable - Susan Kearney
Death Is Forever - Elizabeth Lowell
Shall We Dance - Kasey Michaels
Beach Blanket Bad Boys — Signed by Lucy Monroe
The Real Deal - Lucy Monroe
Finders Keepers - Linnea Sinclair
The Backup Plan - Sheryl Woods
Three Down the Aisle - Sheryl Woods

We hope you’ll take advantage of our cybersigning project to increase your personal library and to support the featured authors. Each book is personalized to the buyer so, get your signed copy today!

To place your order or for more information:

http://www.rwaonlinechapter.org/cybersigning.htm

http://www.author-author.net/

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Isn’t that cool? And check back every month as new ones are “cybersigned.” As if my book budget (and TBR pile) weren’t already out of control.

I’m here in lovely Norfolk Virginia. It’s hot as hell, but I’ll get to spend most of my day at the beach so I’m OK with that - even if the water is tepid at best, but more like bathtub warm. BIL and future SIL live a block away from the beach (if that) but it’s technically the bay which I guess is why it’s so much warmer than expected.

The 3 hours it should’ve taken us to get here yesterday turned into 6 with trouble getting out of DC and then into Norfolk. But, we got here eventually.

We walked on the beach for awhile, ate dinner at Red Robin (which we’ll be having for lunch, too - yummy). Then, last night we drove down to Virginia Beach for some of their nightly entertainment. They have this thing where the entertainers are brought to you by the Virginia Beach Parks dept so they’re not allowed to accept tips. Presumabely they’re already paid something. But because of this, there are A LOT of them - pretty much every half a block, if not closer and some of them are NOT good. But it was fun anyway.

Today The Hubster and I will hang out on the beach before heading over to the Naval Station this afternoon to get a tour of the BIL’s ship. Hopefully we’ll remember to take lots of pictures!

We’re considering driving home a more scenic route, that we know will take longer, but hopefully not the 6 hours it took to get here - but apparently it costs $12 to get across the Chesapeake bay bridge/tunnel!!