I find myself visiting Amazon.com every time I come online. Why? Because I like to look at my Wishlist and see all the books that I want to buy and will eventually get around to it when I have the money.
It's terrible.
I have this itch to buy books ALL THE TIME. There's always a book out there that I want to buy or I look for a book to buy. It can be a bargain book found at Borders or it's a book that catches my eye on the shelves. It doesn't matter as long as it's a book.
I really think I am addicted to books and book buying. Going to the library and checking out books no longer satisfies my desire to get my hands on books. I have to own them. I really can't help but buy books. It's totally impulsive. I'll just be sitting at my desk, surfing the Web when I get slammed with an urge to buy books. The next thing I know I'm on Amazon.com adding books to my shopping cart.
How do I break this addiction??
...Do I want to break this addiction?
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
New books
Borders had a coupon so of course I find myself driving to my local Borders instead of napping or something equally productive.
After browsing for almost two hours, I left Borders with four paperbacks and the intent to buy two more books online.
I usually purchase only mass market paperbacks at Borders because if I have a coupon, it's cheaper than Amazon, where they price their mass market paperbacks at retail value. For trade paperbacks and hardcovers, I go to Amazon. After all, the more money I save, the more books I can buy!
I picked up the Caitlin Kittredge's second book in her Black London series, Demon Bound, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel and Kelly Meding's debut novel Three Days to Dead.
Obviously I spent most of my time in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookstore, although I did wander over to young adult and romance for a little while. Unfortunately I could not find anything in romance that I didn't already have or wanted. I am trying to find two books from Gena Showalter's Alien Huntress series but it's been near impossible to find in-stores.
Actually, it IS impossible because I haven't found it.
Anyway! I am definitely looking forward to reading these books rather than my Contracts or Torts assignments. Of course I really should read for school before I read for leisure...Or so I tell myself ALL THE TIME.
Reviews for these novels will come as I burn through them as quickly as possible to make time for all the other books I've told myself I would read but still Have. Not. Gotten. To.
After browsing for almost two hours, I left Borders with four paperbacks and the intent to buy two more books online.
I usually purchase only mass market paperbacks at Borders because if I have a coupon, it's cheaper than Amazon, where they price their mass market paperbacks at retail value. For trade paperbacks and hardcovers, I go to Amazon. After all, the more money I save, the more books I can buy!
I picked up the Caitlin Kittredge's second book in her Black London series, Demon Bound, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel and Kelly Meding's debut novel Three Days to Dead.
Obviously I spent most of my time in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookstore, although I did wander over to young adult and romance for a little while. Unfortunately I could not find anything in romance that I didn't already have or wanted. I am trying to find two books from Gena Showalter's Alien Huntress series but it's been near impossible to find in-stores.
Actually, it IS impossible because I haven't found it.
Anyway! I am definitely looking forward to reading these books rather than my Contracts or Torts assignments. Of course I really should read for school before I read for leisure...Or so I tell myself ALL THE TIME.
Reviews for these novels will come as I burn through them as quickly as possible to make time for all the other books I've told myself I would read but still Have. Not. Gotten. To.
Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance
It took a while for me to really get into this series but I was determined to finish as much of it as possible before admitting defeat. Why?
Because I fell in love with one of the characters.
John Pritkin.
War mage. Possibly criminally insane. Completely adorable.
He became the only reason why I was still reading the Cassandra Palmer series after the first book, Touch the Dark. The book is narrated by the series' namesake, who sort of reminds me of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan: new to her powers, something of a klutz and deals with vampires in her personal life while trying to make sure the rest of the world didn't blow up on her shift. This is actually why I picked up the first book in the Cassandra Palmer series because I love Harrison's The Hollows series and the similarities were a big sell.
But what kept me reading after Touch the Dark was Pritkin. He is a crazy war mage who defects from his Circle and becomes Cassandra's bodyguard because she really needs one in order to stay alive long enough to make sure the world did not explode into chaos. But just because he voluntarily defected and became her bodyguard does not mean he's very nice to her and in fact, he's incredibly prickly and trigger-happy - which is something of an understatement - and does not see anything wrong with tossing Cassandra around to make sure she stays alive.
He's amazing.
He also has a rather interesting family background that would shock the readers because wow, you totally would not have expected that considering how grumpy he is. But then again, this family secret is probably why he's so grumpy.
Now that I'm done gushing about Pritkin, I can go on to say that after struggling through books 1-3, I am now happily reading book four because it's finally gotten interesting.
And Cassandra's grown on me.
Oh, and okay, Pritkin is getting more scene time.
While I was iffy about this series in the beginning, I can happily say that I really do like the books now and am anxiously waiting for the next one - which won't come out till summer 2011.
Because I fell in love with one of the characters.
John Pritkin.
War mage. Possibly criminally insane. Completely adorable.
He became the only reason why I was still reading the Cassandra Palmer series after the first book, Touch the Dark. The book is narrated by the series' namesake, who sort of reminds me of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan: new to her powers, something of a klutz and deals with vampires in her personal life while trying to make sure the rest of the world didn't blow up on her shift. This is actually why I picked up the first book in the Cassandra Palmer series because I love Harrison's The Hollows series and the similarities were a big sell.
But what kept me reading after Touch the Dark was Pritkin. He is a crazy war mage who defects from his Circle and becomes Cassandra's bodyguard because she really needs one in order to stay alive long enough to make sure the world did not explode into chaos. But just because he voluntarily defected and became her bodyguard does not mean he's very nice to her and in fact, he's incredibly prickly and trigger-happy - which is something of an understatement - and does not see anything wrong with tossing Cassandra around to make sure she stays alive.
He's amazing.
He also has a rather interesting family background that would shock the readers because wow, you totally would not have expected that considering how grumpy he is. But then again, this family secret is probably why he's so grumpy.
Now that I'm done gushing about Pritkin, I can go on to say that after struggling through books 1-3, I am now happily reading book four because it's finally gotten interesting.
And Cassandra's grown on me.
Oh, and okay, Pritkin is getting more scene time.
While I was iffy about this series in the beginning, I can happily say that I really do like the books now and am anxiously waiting for the next one - which won't come out till summer 2011.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Unpaid Internships Illegal?
The number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading officials to worry that employers are illegally using interns for free labor.
This is an interesting article about unpaid internship and how some poor students are being exploited. While students apply for a scholarship hoping to gain some real professional work experience, they end up just learning how to make the perfect cup of coffee for Supervisor A.
As a student who definitely takes advantage of the opportunities offered by internships, this is something to worry about. After all, if I wanted to be making someone's coffee every day I might as well apply for Coffee Bean - at least I'll get paid!
Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh
The second book in Nalini Singh's very popular Psy-Changelings series, Visions of Heat was very difficult to get through. I have hopped around in the series and enjoyed the other books following Visions of Heat, which was why it was so disappointing to read one of the first books and find it coming up short of the other novels. But then again, this is probably a good thing because it means her writing got better as she continued to work on this series.
Why didn't I like Visions of Heat? My biggest problem was with Faith, the female lead. She's boring. Rather bland and difficult to empathize with. Of course, she's Psy, a member of an emotionless psychic race in this world, so naturally she's difficult to relate to; she doesn't feel anything. But maybe it's because she's too good of a Psy - compared to the other Psy heroes and heroines in this series - that makes her so difficult to relate to. I love Sascha from the first novel - but she's an empathic Psy so of course she feels things despite initially trying not to.
Also, I was rather unimpressed with Vaughn. Too much "Rawr, I am Animal and Confused!" to be a really great hero. Although, yes, while it is rather sexy when heroes walk a fine line of control, Vaughn is...not so much. He's rather crippled by the fact that Faith is a Psy and therefore unfamiliar with his needs and desires. He treats her like glass one moment and then decides that it's time she submit to his desires the next. It's rather disconcerting. He can't make up his mind. Which is probably the point of the story but it was not very endearing.
So although I did not like Visions of Heat, I do like the rest of Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling universe. I definitely plan to continue reading; I just didn't like this particular novel in the series.
Why didn't I like Visions of Heat? My biggest problem was with Faith, the female lead. She's boring. Rather bland and difficult to empathize with. Of course, she's Psy, a member of an emotionless psychic race in this world, so naturally she's difficult to relate to; she doesn't feel anything. But maybe it's because she's too good of a Psy - compared to the other Psy heroes and heroines in this series - that makes her so difficult to relate to. I love Sascha from the first novel - but she's an empathic Psy so of course she feels things despite initially trying not to.
Also, I was rather unimpressed with Vaughn. Too much "Rawr, I am Animal and Confused!" to be a really great hero. Although, yes, while it is rather sexy when heroes walk a fine line of control, Vaughn is...not so much. He's rather crippled by the fact that Faith is a Psy and therefore unfamiliar with his needs and desires. He treats her like glass one moment and then decides that it's time she submit to his desires the next. It's rather disconcerting. He can't make up his mind. Which is probably the point of the story but it was not very endearing.
So although I did not like Visions of Heat, I do like the rest of Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling universe. I definitely plan to continue reading; I just didn't like this particular novel in the series.
Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge
I love a good gritty urban fantasy novel and Caitlin Kittredge's Street Magic definitely fills the order. The first novel in what is called the Black London series, Street Magic is fun, fast and very engaging. I could not put it down.
Pete, a female London detective, and Jack, a heroin addict and powerful mage, are fun, flawed and endearing. It's incredibly touching how much Pete cares about Jack, a childhood friend, despite the fact that Jack is a pain in the ass responsible for one of the most traumatic events in her life.
The story moves very quickly and major events unfold at a pretty good pace, thus making it difficult to put down because you always want to know what's going to happen next. The interactions and dialogue between Pete and Jack are also priceless. The world that Kittredge builds is scary and dangerous yet fascinating. There are so many questions about the Black - a world that mirrors our own but populated with creatures that live only in our nightmares - that keep the reader hooked.
I really enjoyed this novel and definitely cannot wait to nip over to the bookstore to pick up the next one in this series. Unfortunately she has only released two books for Black London so far so I might find myself picking up a book from her other series, Nocturne City, to tide me over.
Pete, a female London detective, and Jack, a heroin addict and powerful mage, are fun, flawed and endearing. It's incredibly touching how much Pete cares about Jack, a childhood friend, despite the fact that Jack is a pain in the ass responsible for one of the most traumatic events in her life.
The story moves very quickly and major events unfold at a pretty good pace, thus making it difficult to put down because you always want to know what's going to happen next. The interactions and dialogue between Pete and Jack are also priceless. The world that Kittredge builds is scary and dangerous yet fascinating. There are so many questions about the Black - a world that mirrors our own but populated with creatures that live only in our nightmares - that keep the reader hooked.
I really enjoyed this novel and definitely cannot wait to nip over to the bookstore to pick up the next one in this series. Unfortunately she has only released two books for Black London so far so I might find myself picking up a book from her other series, Nocturne City, to tide me over.
Beastly by Alex Flinn
Beastly by Alex Flinn is a modern re-telling of the Beauty and the Beast - I'm sure the title sort of gave it away. It is also one of the best Beauty and the Beast re-telling I've read since Robin McKinley's Beauty and Rose Daughter.
The beast in this re-telling is a spoiled rich son of a famous TV anchor and the beauty is an intelligent poor girl from a rough neighborhood. For anyone who watches Korean dramas, this is a rather typical set up for a fairy-tale story of romance and love conquering all. But Flinn's writing takes this cliched story to another level which makes Beastly a stand-out novel from all of the other fairy tales being revamped out there. Also, this time the story is from the Beast's point of view and not Beauty's, which is a nice twist.
The best thing about Beastly is that the Beast's change from a spoiled, rich boy to a humble and thoughtful human being is natural and believable. The reader is absolutely convinced that the Beast is a better person by the end of the novel. This was done rather well for a short, young adult novel, which is why I was so impressed with it. It did not take the Beast 500 pages to become a better person but it did not feel rushed either.
The one complaint I have about Beastly is how two-dimensional Beauty was. Yes, the book is about the Beast - he's the narrator - but at the same time it was disappointing how bland Beauty was. She's neither spunky nor fun or amusing. Instead, she's boring and something of a crybaby. While I wasn't expecting her to be amazing, she wasn't very impressive.
Otherwise, Beastly is a touching and romantic book - or at least the Beast is romantic - to read that tugged at the heartstrings. There's also a movie based on this book being released in July of this year, so that's something to look forward to while reading this novel.
The beast in this re-telling is a spoiled rich son of a famous TV anchor and the beauty is an intelligent poor girl from a rough neighborhood. For anyone who watches Korean dramas, this is a rather typical set up for a fairy-tale story of romance and love conquering all. But Flinn's writing takes this cliched story to another level which makes Beastly a stand-out novel from all of the other fairy tales being revamped out there. Also, this time the story is from the Beast's point of view and not Beauty's, which is a nice twist.
The best thing about Beastly is that the Beast's change from a spoiled, rich boy to a humble and thoughtful human being is natural and believable. The reader is absolutely convinced that the Beast is a better person by the end of the novel. This was done rather well for a short, young adult novel, which is why I was so impressed with it. It did not take the Beast 500 pages to become a better person but it did not feel rushed either.
The one complaint I have about Beastly is how two-dimensional Beauty was. Yes, the book is about the Beast - he's the narrator - but at the same time it was disappointing how bland Beauty was. She's neither spunky nor fun or amusing. Instead, she's boring and something of a crybaby. While I wasn't expecting her to be amazing, she wasn't very impressive.
Otherwise, Beastly is a touching and romantic book - or at least the Beast is romantic - to read that tugged at the heartstrings. There's also a movie based on this book being released in July of this year, so that's something to look forward to while reading this novel.
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