Unnatural Woman

My boyfriend is making me go shopping tomorrow. For clothes.

::shudder::

And yes, I am really a woman and yes, I really don't want to go shopping for clothes. Why? I have to buy new jeans.

::shudder::

I've always found jean shopping to be on the same level as swimsuit shopping. Both are experiences designed to humiliate normally self-assured, intelligent women. And ever since that skank Britney came along, jean shopping has only gotten worse. There are some of us out there who know better than to try to squeeze into low rise jeans. And those of you who don't know better (I've seen you in airports) - ::shudder::

Even during my painfully skinny days (what I wouldn't do to have that metabolism again!) I hated jean shopping. Why? I'm almost 5'10" and all legs. So I'd find a pair of jeans that fit in the legs only to have about 5 inches too much material in the waist. I bought a lot of jeans in the men's department. You know, clothes that are actually sold by measurements and not some arbitary number that makes no sense.

Nowadays the problems are my weight and the fact that I carry most of the extra around my middle. I've half-heartedly looked for new jeans for months now, only to want to commit harikari in the department store dressing room.

But the boyfriend is serious. Buy new jeans Wendy. Buy new underthings while you're at it. And don't come home until you make a concerted effort.

Bah. I'd rather go to the used bookstore. And maybe I will. Something tells me I'll need some cheering up.

Reason + Logic = Total Waste Of Breath

Thank gawd for the civil rights movement and MLK, because if I didn't have this long weekend off from work I think I might have done something drastic.

Like quit my job.

I mean, I probably wouldn't have - because well, I like having a place to live, food to eat and money to buy books. But still, by Wednesday my patience was sorely tested by the following:

1. Mentally ill homeless man who has the potential for violence scaring the bejebus out of my staff.
2. A belligerent man who drove to 3 different libraries in totally different areas of the county to bitch about a $2 fine he refused to pay. Lucky me, I was Library #3 and he interrupted my lunch break.
3. Another library who called to bitch about us (turns out me) checking in one of their notoriously ratty books and not noticing that the book was "obviously" water damaged and moldy. Why didn't we charge the patron? Well, maybe because all their books look like shit and I just can't figure out what the patron did as opposed to the condition the book was most likely in when they found it on the shelf.

Now this probably doesn't sound all that terrible - but man, that guy bitching about the $2 about pushed me over the edge. I have a hard time dealing with people who:

1. Won't take no for an answer
2. Won't listen to reason

That's my problem, I keep trying to reason with the general public. I need to stop trying to do that.

But now I get to enjoy a blissful 4 days off before I need to go back. By that time I might have run off and joined the circus - but it's too soon to tell. In the meantime, I'm soaking up Law & Order reruns, NFL playoffs, and hopefully more of Crimson Moon by Rebecca York.

Baseball Ramblings

I've avoided talking about baseball for a while now because I was afraid I'd just come off as excessively whiney.

I love my Detroit Tigers, I really do. And god bless 'em, they've put on a good show this off season. They've talked to all the right free agents and made decent offers - it's just nobody has ended up signing with them. My boyfriend tries to make me feel better by saying, "Hey! At least they are trying! Look at my team." He's still trying to come to terms with the rumors that Carlos Delgado will end up with the "bastard birds" - my apologies to any Baltimore Orioles fans reading this. His words - not mine.

And can someone explain The Mets to me? It's like they're trying to out-Yank the Yankees by throwing around ridiculous amounts of cash. I still think the Pedro deal will end up biting them in the ass - but Beltran! That one really sticks in my craw.

And now I have to hate Randy Johnson. Damn Yankees. I liked Randy Johnson. He's freakishly tall (just like my Dad), ugly as sin (better since he lost the mullet), and the best damn pitcher I've ever seen. But he's a dirty Skankie now. Drat.

Whine, whine, whine. At least we still got Pudge.

Reading Blahs

So much for that reading jag I was on - I seem to have stalled.

I was reading Talk Of The Town by Suzanne MacPherson, but after about 75 pages I just couldn't get into it. This is an instance where it wasn't the book's fault - it was all me. I just wasn't in the mood for it. So, it's sitting back on my desk, bookmark in place, for me to pick up some other time.

I have since received more review books, so I'm currently on a new western time travel (yes, you read that right - a western time travel!) called Stay With Me by Beverly Long. So far it's quite good - although the secondary romance is interesting me a bit more than the primary one (not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, I can't decide). But I'm still dragging my reading heels with it, having only read about 100 pages since Friday. Bah.

The only downside to reviewing is that your reading time is pretty much set. I know what I have to read next about 4 books down the line. Time in between review books is precious, but sometimes I find I have a hard time settling on one read. It's like I need TRR's editor to make my reading decisions for me - like how flaky is that?

It's probably just the new year blahs though. Here's hoping I snap out of it already.

Wendy, Football Goddess

It's been a while since I've told a library story that didn't involve me bitching about not having any money - so I thought I'd change it up today.

I currently have the two cutest little boys in who were looking for a sports biography on Eric Dickerson. My adult services librarian was a bit confused so she deferred to me. I, of course, was like "Yeah, retired running back for the Rams - let's take a look on the catalog." These kids were like, "You know who Eric Dickerson is?!" Since then they've latched on to me and have kept asking me questions.

I'm like the coolest librarian ever!

And for the record - our one book on Dickerson was "Lost" (code for "some a-hole checked it out and never returned it) so the tykes settled for Bo Jackson.

They must get it from their father because both Dickerson and Jackson are way before these kids' times. Who says the youth of America cares nothing about history?

Happy New Year

I've started 2005 on a reading jag, having completed two single titles in 3 days. Trust me, that's very good for yours truly. Both were good reads with some issues, but they were still quite entertaining.

First up was The Legend Of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant. I had the pleasure of reviewing Grant's debut many moons ago, loved it, and vowed to follow her career. Then I met her at an RWA conference in Denver and dang if she just wasn't the nicest person. So I've been buying all of her books brand spanking new the minute they hit the bookstores. Of course, each of these books has been languishing in my massive TBR - but hey! I've been buying them! Since one of my resolutions for 2005 is to get through some backlists, I decided Grant was a good place to start.

This is the first book in the multi-author 2176 series. It's a really neat concept actually. In the year 2176 the USA is no more and is actually an imperialist empire called The United Colonies Of Earth. There are rebels who want independence and are agitating for democracy. Sounds vaguely familiar doesn't it? Grant's heroine, Bree "Banzai" Maguire has her F-16 fighter jet shot down over the demilitarized zone of North Korea in 2006. While searching for her wingman (who was also shot down) she falls into the hands of a scientist. She is soon doing the Rip Van Winkle act for the next 170 years. When she wakes up she doesn't know who she can trust - is it the handsome Prince Kyber of the Kingdom of Asia or her would-be rescuer, the UCE Navy SEAL, Ty Armstrong?

I really enjoy the way Grant writes heroines. They are tough women, but they never come off as carcitures. They are multi-faceted; tough yet feminine. The issue I had here was pacing. At times the book feels more like a set-up for the series than an self-contained story. This is further illustrated by the romance - our hero and heroine are separated for a long time, and when they finally have scenes together they're outrunning bad guys. Not a lot of time to fall madly in love.

Still, it's a very interesting premise and Grant is a skilled writer. I'm really looking forward to her follow-up entry in the series, The Scarlet Empress.

I also zipped through a debut western today, Loving Mercy by Teresa Bodwell. Besides having the sexiest damn cover ever (I'm not a big beefcake girl, but this mystery man is hot!), it's also a very good story.

The widowed heroine is driving her cattle to Kansas from Colorado hoping for a good price. In a calculated business risk, she imported bulls from England to breed with her cows. Of course, she had to borrow money from the neighboring rancher to do it, and now she has to pay him off in one lump sum. In Kansas, she gets her good price and also meets the hero - a former Confederate soldier turned gambler. He's working his way west playing poker to be reunited with his older sister in Colorado. The trouble is he needs to find a guide, and no one seems to be heading that way - until he learns about the heroine. Turns out she happens to live near the very town where his sister and brother-in-law run a store.

The conflict here is mostly internal. The heroine's first marriage, while a love match, was not without problems and she feels guilt over her husband's death. She also wants to be taken seriously as a businesswoman, but the opinion of the times suggests that women shouldn't worry their pretty little heads over such lofty matters. And frankly, she likes her independence. She can run her ranch how she wants, and doesn't have to defer to a man.

The hero is still haunted by the war (although he doesn't brood), and the lose of the family farm. He's hoping to start fresh out west, meet the widow his sister thinks is perfect for him, and start a family. Then he meets the heroine and is immediately intrigued and perpelxed. She's pretty as all get out, but man is her stubborn streak wide.

There's also some external conflict tossed in to keep the story moving, most it involving bad guys who want to relieve the heroine of her cattle earnings. It's a fine debut, although after a while the internal conflict begins to feel redundant. The heroine's desire for independence is understandable, but it takes her a long time to realize that true partnerships don't mean giving up your own thoughts and dreams. Also, while the hero is a sweet Beta guy with Alpha leanings for the majority of the novel, his stupid male ego gets in the way at the end. While the author explains it by saying the hero is angry (and understandably he is), it's still a bit annoying.

Still, it's a very strong debut. Bodwell writes her characters well, and by the end I had begun to think of them as real people. I'm looking forward to her follow-up book about the heroine's sister.

2004 - Book Year In Review

This being January 3, I figure it's high time I recap my 2004 year in reading. I read 79 books this past year, the exact same number I managed to polish off 2003. At least I'm consistent. Here is a breakdown of the highlights, and lowlights:

Worst Reads or as I like to call them "Oh The Horrors!" books:
Hot Pink by Susan Johnson
The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun - this pains me since I grew up reading this series.

Biggest Disappointments:
One Dark Night by Jaid Black
The Irish Devil by Diane Whiteside
Both Romantica novels that forgot the romance.

The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs - there was subplot in this book that didn't work for me at all. Also, I've found that Wiggs' contemporary voice just doesn't move me like her historical one.

Best Reads of 2004 - Various Publication Dates
Jane's Warlord by Angela Knight
Come To Me by Lisa Cach
Dream Of Me by Lisa Cach
I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason by Susan Kandel
Midnight Rain by Holly Lisle
Feel The Heat by Kathryn Shay (HSR 871)
The Man Who Loved Christmas by Kathryn Shay (HSR 877)
Cooking Up A Storm by Emma Holly
Light My Fire by Jane Graves
Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong
Leave It To Cleavage by Wendy Wax

Authors I "Discovered" In 2004:
Laura Levine
Tess Gerritsen (awesome!)

As far as reading resolutions for 2005 - I'm going to work extra hard to read 100 books. I'm a slow reader, so I might need to read more Harlequins to pull it off. I also would love to read through some of the author backlists I've accumulated. The biggest "offenders" being Kathryn Shay, Susan Grant, Pamela Morsi and Maggie Osborne.