Mundane Mondays: Pack and Play

Tomorrow I leave for Maryland, a business trip. Ergo I stayed home today for prep and relaxation. Oh the joys of beauty chores; shaving legs, painting nails, and more. Painting nails? Some weeks ago my Mum convinced me that painting my nails was the pretty thing to do. Well pretty or not, it is tedious and now so ingrained in my subconscious that at the end of a week it is time to hunt down the new color. Painted nails means no trimming of the nails and no trimming means a nail file is your new best friend. Do you realize how hard it is to do menial tasks such as texting with long nails?!? I know, I know  . . . priorities Maddie! Every time I start to complain about the text issue the ever popular meme pops up in my head, "First world problems." I shut my mouth and move on, beauty is 'pain' after all, but why oh why do I continue with it?

I should be packing, but instead I'm sitting outside writing this post. However, in the back of my mind I am compiling my 'must haves' for this trip. We are driving and I have never been to Maryland. Thus I have no clue the number of hours I will be trapped in the car. This means go prepared! Right off I know I will be packing . . . books!

• Tam Lin by Pamela Dean - Poor thing, I've set it aside numerous times lately for affairs with other 'page turners'. It really is time to finish what I started.
• Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck - Book four is finally here! I let my friend Anna borrow it to read it first, as she introduced me to the series. After some of her comments/reactions to it, I'm as anxious as ever to read it!
• Non-fiction Nonsense - I've been basking in the arms of Fiction for . . . too long . . . I need to mix things up a bit. I'm not sure what I will grab yet.
• Kindle - Yep the soul sucker is coming along for the ride. After a comment from someone I am now the 'proud' holder of numerous reviewer eBooks. It is time to get busy! Of course the real books hold precedence on this trip.

After books, we have the bag of goodies we like to call at my house the "Keep busy bag." It is a treasure trove of attention diverters and time passer-by helpers.

• Journals - My soul and thoughts.
• Notebooks - "Notebooks are for notes, not for kissing." My writing and blogging.
• At least 2 issues of Snowboarder Magazine
• iPod - Let's face it, me without my music is like a zombie without the sustenance of fresh brains . . . not tolerable or fun to watch. Unless of course you are watching your mortal enemies (of whom I have many, we are sure) being chased down by the brain hunger buggers. Then we are cheering them on. This is not the case, however, with a music starved me. You will be the one screaming. (insert grin)
• Knitting - undecided
• Possibly an issue or two of Alt Press - It just depends if  I want the added flavor.

You never know what I might toss in the bag. A girl has to be prepared for anything! Oh yes, my camera will of course accompany me. He (Calvin) has a front row seat!

I will be in Baltimore for Expo East (Natural Products Expo). I'm told this expo is the size of 3 or 4 football fields. Bring on the samples! If you are there come say hello. I'm not going to tell you what booth I am working. That would take the fun out of it. Just look for the girl with crazy long curly hair. I'm told I look like Merida from Brave. Good luck!

I wonder if Expo East has a bookstore booth . . .

Waiting on Wednesday: Tigers and Mini Reviews

"Waiting On" Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases that everyone's excited about (created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.)

Perhaps I'm cheating by including reviews in this post along with my WoW, but I can't help myself. I think you'll understand why.

WoW: 

Tiger's Destiny (The Tiger Saga #4) by Collen Houck

Scheduled to be released:

September 4, 2012

My initial comments: One. Ms. Houck if you would like to publish sooner than September, you won't hear any complaints from me. I'm sure many of your fans agree. Two. If you want to publish 2 books in one year, I'm sure you'll find many eager and agreeable fans out there as well. Three. Hopefully Goodreads has it wrong when they list book four as having only 250 pages. That just won't do. Four. Cover art please?!?

Why I'm waiting:
Here is where the mini reviews come into play.

Tiger's Curse (book 1):

My friend recommended this book to me by saying, "You must read this! It will blow Twilight out of the water. It is so good." Okay. . . well here's the thing Twilight is not that hard to blow out of the water, especially when you don't find it well written to begin with. However, I'm a good friend (I think) and decided to read this book based on her ravings. 

Yikes! I hate to be mean, but it is painfully obvious this is the author's first book. Lots of plot holes and character development is extremely lacking, not to mention what there is of it is too quick to be considered normal. Kelsey is so naive and trusting that I just have to wonder, do people read this and think this would be someone's true reaction? I can't imagine any foster parents (Kelsey's real parents are deceased) not caring as much as these people don't seem to care that she just met this old guy, suddenly is an "expert" when it comes to Tigers, and is leaving for India. I'm not being kind, I realize. I didn't like reading it and feeling as though I was hitting myself in the head constantly thinking "Duh!" or "That would never happen!" The book is fantasy, yes, but even the most far-fetching fantasy story out there has a level of believability to it. 

Tiger's  Quest (book 2):

Intentionally reminiscent of New Moon or just a coincidence?

Kelsey and Ren (sigh) find themselves separated at the end of the last book. (spoiler sorry) COMMUNICATION folks it works wonders! However, the reason I like this is because reactions seem truer to nature (unlike another teenage girl whose life seems about to end when sparkle boy leaves her). This also gave Kelsey and Ren the chance to develop a relationship on more than physical attraction. 

I'm a big fan of poetry and quotes and enjoyed how the author sprinkled these throughout; especially when she uses them as a bantering competition between Kelsey and Ren. I do not like Kishan and he needs to leave. Love triangles have these maddening affects on me; I tend to want to bash a character on the head over and over until they wake up. Typically it is the girl, because she throws around this nonsense "I love you both." Although that comes into play more in the third book than in this book.

Perhaps it is the place I'm at in my life, relationship wise, that brings many of the themes to the forefront and connect me so strongly, but I couldn't get enough of this book. I will admit (DON'T JUDGE ME) that I did cry at the end of this book. I saw it coming and my heart kept teetering on the edge begging that it wouldn't be so, but it was. I will not tell you what happened; you will have to read it yourself!

Tiger's Voyage (book 3):

While this book kept me reading, it was solely because I had to know what was going to happen. Otherwise this book drug on a bit and didn't keep me occupied as well as book 2. My library didn't have book 3 yet, so I was "forced" (a little too willingly) to purchase the book in order to read it. 

I think it is extremely evident that the author has done her homework. There is so much culture and history and research thrown in, that I can imagine she worked hard to write these books. I mean they learn how to deep sea dive and she describes it in great detail. I've never been, but I can assume she knows what she is talking about. If not, she is good at pretending.

Kishan leave already! When he first comes into the books, he seems macho and just the least bit narcissistic. Suddenly in this book he is a love sick, pushover, and a wimp. Love does not become him very well. I feel only the least bit sorry for him, because dumb Kelsey can't seem to make up her mind. I will sympathize with her some, in that even in real life you come to the point where you are so confused and lost, you just want for someone to tell you straight and clear, "This is what you are so supposed to do!" None of this cryptic nonsense that constantly gets thrown at us and we have to do the "adult" thing and decide ourselves. Humph not fair . . .


Favorite parts are the moments of jealousy. I don't know about you, but a hot guy + obvious signs of jealousy = HOTTIE. . . for me anyway.

You might at this point, be asking yourself than A. Why is another book in the serious your WoW? and B. Why did you finish and read the other books?

Surprise! I've got an answer!

Hot Indian guys aside (sigh), Ms. Houck has a knack for entertaining her readers, regardless of the other downfalls I found in the books. I appreciated how clean the books are compared to the majority of YA fantasy out there, but there was just enough to keep the "ole" romantics at heart satisfied. I kept turning the pages because I had to figure how these poorly written characters were going to finagle their way out in a manner that seemed half plausible. These books suck you in! At least if you are a sucker for love triangles (which seem to be in every other novel written these days) and for shape-shifting hot guys! 

I find it encouraging (wanting to be a published author myself someday) that Ms. Houck was able to get her books published, mostly, due to a huge fan following that supported her by crying out for MORE. It is amazing she was able to publish 3 books in 1 year! I hope she continues to write and that by writing more, she may hone her skills and encourage other up and coming authors that, it is possible.

A side note, according to her website her books have been optioned for the big screen by Paramount. Now Paramount, do you think you can do a better job than Summit has done with Twilight? 

This was a long post, sorry. I hope you enjoyed it and that it made sense. Perhaps these books have affected me more than I realized. :)