I'm still sick.  What kind of person gets a head cold in July - in southern California?  I'm used to being afflicted with this sort of thing in January in Michigan.



The good news is I finally scheduled a spa appointment to spend my birthday gift certificate.  On August 13 I can look forward to a whole day of pampering.  An oil wrap, a full body massage, a facial, manicure and pedicure.  I normally have little patience for primping (Make-up? What's make-up?), but I have to say I'm really looking forward to it.  Just once I'd like to have "cute feet." 



I wrapped up Somebody Wonderful by Kate Rothwell on my lunch break yesterday, and I largely enjoyed it.  I bought this book for a couple of reasons:

1. The interesting time period (19th century New York City)
2. The hero - who was an Irish immigrant police officer, as opposed to the ubiquitous cowboy or blue blood.

For those reasons I really enjoyed this debut novel.  Unfortunately I found the heroine and her family baffling.  Here's a prime example - after her older brother learns that she is "living in sin" with an Irish cop he tells the hero that "he'll do" and he "rather likes him."  Huh?  Our heroine, while raised unconventionally, comes from money and privilege. 

Normally I'm not a stickler for historical accuracy in my fiction novels.  I figure the author is writing fiction and can do as he/she pleases - but really this was too much.  The Irish in 19th century America were about half a step up from the freed slaves.  No one from money or privilege would have allowed their daughter to marry an Irishman - let alone an Irishman fresh off the boat and working for the corrupt NYC police department.

Next up is an interesting looking mystery novel I scored here at work: I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason by Susan Kandel.  Our heroine is working on a biography of Erle Stanley Gardner (the creator of Perry Mason) when she discovers correspondence between the author and a convict proclaiming his innocence.  Hoping to cure a case of writer's block, our heroine goes to visit the convict and ends up becoming embroiled in a 40 year old murder investigation.

Dammit - I'm sick.



I started feeling punky last night and woke up this morning with a full-blown head cold. All the classic symptoms are here - sinus headache, stuffy nose, yucky taste in my mouth, and the drainage. Blah. So I called in sick to work today, mainly because I have to be there later this week. I foolishly said it was OK for one of my employees to take time off. What the heck was I thinking?



I finally got around to finishing The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning this morning. My final verdict? Fans will love it, I liked it. High praise since I intensely disliked this author's last book.



Next up is Somebody Wonderful by Kate Rothwell - a debut that has me befuddled at the moment. The heroine makes no sense to me. She's rescued from a band of ruffians by our hero (a New York police officer) and when she comes too she decides she's going to find a way to marry him. Huh? There's also some business about her hobby of photography and her eccentric father, none of which has been fleshed out to coherency. But the history is good so far (19th century NYC) and the hero is fantastic. Dreamy sigh - I love those nice Beta men.



I've already made a run to the grocery story for Aleve Cold & Sinus (about the only thing that works on my sinus headaches) and plan to spend the rest of the day reading and/or napping. Then it's back to the salt mines tomorrow - regardless of the state of my health.

I know I've been posting a lot lately, so in the event that I've created any blog junkies out there, I apologize for my absence since Tuesday.  I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in meetings for work, and frankly they left me so depressed that I spent most of my Friday off in various bookstores cheering myself up.  Call it retail therapy.



I'm not sure what I was thinking by moving to California.  I was obviously not thinking, because it has become apparent that this state is incapable of running itself.  For those of you not familiar with California outside of what you read/see in the media I'm here to tell you - it's all true!  Imagine a dysfunctional family getting together for a holiday meal and you'll have a basic idea of what California state government is like. 



We still don't have a budget.  And Arnold calling the Democrats "girly men" hasn't exactly helped matters (yes, the whole thing really is that stupid).  Since the state doesn't have a budget - neither does the county - and neither does the library. 



This whole not having money thing eventually trickles down to my service population.  I cannot offer them the services and materials I would like to.  I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to be the sole supplier for my library's romance collection, so I guess it's a good thing most of my read paperbacks look like new (I'm anal about the condition of my books).  I do see a few donations, but most of them are in such a state that I cannot add them to our circulating collection.



Luckily our mystery paperback collection looks fairly decent thanks to a local bookstore that went out of business and donated much of their leftover stock.  However, the general paperback and romance collections had to be actively weeded due to falling about books.  Obviously these collections are used, but with no consistent way to keep them replenished I predict I'm going to be apologizing to a lot of library patrons.



Either that, or I'm just going to have to read a whole lot faster.

Wacky news item of the day courtesy of my children's librarian.  Gawd, I'm homesick for Michigan....

Well lookie here - Blogger has added text color and other goodies.  It also appears that I can now post images on my free account, although it looks like I need to download software to do so.  That little experiment will have to wait then until I blog from my home computer.

 

It's Monday so that means back to work.  I actually wandered into work in a good mood today, although that was quickly dampened when I realized I don't get paid enough.  The realization hit me when a young boy came to the library today with his mother and had an "accident."  In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't too bad - but yours truly had to clean it up the excess.  Thank heavens for rubber gloves is all I got to say.  The stains on the carpet and one of our chairs is going to have to wait for our cleaning crew though.

 

I also finished a good western today.  The Courting of Widow Shaw by Charlene Sands features a fabulously delicious Beta hero, although the heroine takes some time to warm up to.  Glory Shaw's home is in flames, her worthless husband has been stabbed to death, and she's been beaten to near unconsciousness.  When Steven Harding happens upon this scene he also notices Glory holding a bloody knife in her hand.  Having always admired her from afar, he also feels indebted to her since her preacher father died saving the life of his mother - a madam who owns a local brothel.  So he spirits Glory away and hides her in the one place no one will ever look for her - his mother's brothel of course!

 

Glory is naturally dismayed to discover that Lorene Harding's son rescued her and stashed her in a brothel.  Glory has been working to shut the brothel down, blaming it's existence and Lorene Harding on her father's death.  But she's in a tight situation given she cannot recall the night of the fire.  Did she murder her husband?  And if she didn't, who did?

 

Steven is so sweet and caring I wanted to rip him out of the pages and take him home to meet my mother.  While he doesn't realize he's doing any such thing, his wooing of Glory is tender to the point of being painfully romantic.  Glory starts out a bit shakier because I had issues with her behavior early on, but her transformation over the course of the story won over my cynical heart.  A nice read.

 

Next up is The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning.  I should state up front that I loathed the previous book in this series, The Dark Highlander.  The hero had one emotion (erection) and the heroine was as dumb as a sack of bricks.  TIH has won me over thus far though because in the first chapter the hero is annoyed by the insistent crying of the the heroine from TDH.  Since I was annoyed with her as well, I could relate.  And so far the heroine of TIH sounds promising - a law student who can "see" mythical fairies.  I just started it though, so the jury is still officially out. 

As promised, here is the link to my review of Hot Pink by Susan Johnson. Consider yourselves warned.



Looks like my very mini Kathryn Shay reading fest will come to an end when I wrap up The Man Who Loved Christmas. I got a notice yesterday that there is a package of review books waiting for me at the post office. I'll pick them up tomorrow after my scheduled doctor's appointment and work on those next.



I have to say the best part about reviewing is getting books in the mail. It's like Christmas all year around.



As for other news, I was ready to quit my job this week. But then I thought about how much I would miss living in my apartment, eating, and buying books - so decided to stay on. Most of my annoyance stems from the sheer challenges of working in an older city in an older building. Our air conditioning keeps going out, I'm finding used condoms in the parking lot, and yesterday someone hopped the wall to one of our patios, retreived a bag and took off (which just smells of drug dealer don't you think?).



So needless to say I'm more than ready for my long weekend off of work - even if I do have to spend time at the doctor's office and getting my car's oil changed.

I never dedicate blog entries, but I'm breaking form here to acknowledge the fabulous Paula Danziger who passed away last week. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit was one of my favorite books when I was in junior high, and while published in the mid-1970s, it's still widely read to this day. Brava sister!



Now onto leftover birthday news - Gawd, I love my boyfriend. I really do. You know what this fabulous man did for me? Not only did I get a big bouquet of a flowers and a dinner out at a fancy restaurant - I got a gift package to a local spa! Yours truly gets to soak up a body wrap, full body massage, a manicure and a pedicure. I can hardly stand waiting, but my schedule won't free up for a couple weeks still.



I also just finished the most wonderful book - Feel The Heat by Kathryn Shay. A Harlequin SuperRomance from 1999, it tells the story of a female firefighter and the handsome businessman she rescues. Our hero is instantly captivated, but our heroine is more wary. She's blue collar and he's blue blood. However he ultimately wears down her defenses and a very realistic romance ensues. But will they be able to overcome their baggage and her dangerous profession to find their way to happily-ever-after?



Shay has this knack for creating believable characters - not just her main protagonists, but an entire cast of players. When I read one of her books I feel like I know these people. I also like the fact that she tends to write her stories with Western New York settings - damn if it doesn't almost make me homesick for my college days.



Next up is book two in this series (America's Bravest) - The Man Who Loved Christmas.