Category Romance Reading

I've been exhiled to the computer room. The boyfriend is currently hollering and cussin' at the Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh basketball game.

I love this man. I really do. But sometimes it's trying to live with his passions for Notre Dame football and Syracuse basketball. I mean is it really necessary to holler at the TV. It's not like the players, coaches, and/or officials can hear you dear.

But he lives with my dorky librarian tendencies, excessive book habit and my addiction to Law & Order - so there you have it.

I'm currently on a reading frenzy. After struggling to finish The Challenge by Susan Kearney, I've zipped through two category romances. I finally read Too Hot To Handle by Barbara Daly - a Harlequin Temptation that has been in my TBR since I went to Denver for RWA back in July 2002. I love that Daly uses New York City as a setting, and I loved the plot of a woman who runs into an old flame who unceremoniously dumped her 12 years earlier (essentially he vanished off the planet without reason or even a goodbye). There's some idiotic behavior towards the end that dampened my enjoyment a bit - but I read it in one sitting, so what the heck am I complaining about?

I just wrapped up Contract Bride by Susan Fox, a Harlequin Romance from 2003. I have several online buds who adore Fox, and while this was my first by her, I have several more waiting in my TBR. This book features the good old marriage of convenience plot - hero weds dead wife's best friend in order to protect his infant son. The heroine is one of those annoying never-been-kissed virgin heroines, but I still liked this book a lot. The hero seems so determined to not fall in love with her, that it's fun to watch the author make it happen. Plus, there is some really good dialouge in this story. My favorite bit was uttered by the hero's best friend:

"A jealous man gets jealous because he knows he's done wrong, so he uses jealousy to cover his guilt. That way, it's the woman's fault, not his."

No truer words have been spoken. I'm convinced.

Errand Day

It's just after 9AM here on the west coast and I've already had a full rich day.

1. I'm working on my last load of laundry
2. I've set up my first post for Romancing The Blog - look for it on January 31!
3. I've installed Turbo Tax software on my computer. Now I just need to wait for my student loan interest statement and I can get my taxes done. Fun, fun, fun.
4. I've decided to finally dismantle my neglected web site. I've kept a few pages though, and added them to the links section to the right.
   
5. I've infused my blood stream with a pot of tea. Ah, sweet blissful caffeine.

In a bit I need to make a post office run (I've been a selling machine over at Half.com), the video store, and I think I may go shopping. I have a $10 off coupon for J.C. Penney burning a hole in my pocket and I really need a new bathrobe. I've been commandeering my boyfriend's. It's not like he wears it - but it looks like a guy's bathrobe. I'm hoping to find something more girly.

I need to think about cleaning this apartment, but more importantly, I really need to finish The Challenge by Susan Kearney! It's not a bad book - really. I mean, I do have some issues (most involving the Neanderthal Alpha hero) but generally speaking it's quite entertaining. I promise a more in depth report once I stop being lazy and finish it.

Sick Day

I'm sick. Well sort of.

I was whipped yesterday. I'm talking so exhausted that I was ready to burst into tears. Ever get like that? I do - and it only makes me feel worse and confuses the hell out of my boyfriend.

It wasn't that yesterday was a bad day - just busy in a mind-numbing sort of way. Lots of problems to deal with. I'm sure administration is ready to lynch me. I also know that I'm tired of dealing with people who won't take responsibility for the fact that they checked out 25 books from the library and never returned them - so golly why did we sic the collection agency on them? You know, I want to say to these people - does the electric company just forgive you if you don't pay your bill and let you keep your electricity on for free?

Bite your tongue Wendy.

So back to the exhaustion - I literally passed out last night. My head hit the pillow and I was out. Gone. La-La Land. Only to wake up at 2:30AM with the sensation that I was going to hurl and with a headache that is still here. It's like a hive of killer bees is buzzing around my frontal lobe.

So I'm home today. I'm going to rest, relax and think about reading. I really have been neglecting The Challenge by Susan Kearney - not the books' fault, I'm being lazy. I also totally reworked my first blog entry for Romancing The Blog - which Katie MacAlister officially launched today. I was going to write a rant about the whole "mate" concept in werewolf romances, but opted instead to address the current rise of the paranormal genre in general.

I still have several days to tear both entries apart however. My first post isn't set to appear until January 31.

Little Old Ladies

I love little old ladies who come into the library. I especially like it when my idiot savant tendencies make them happy.

At my former job we actually had money. I got to spend it - a lot of it actually. I bought fiction for 7 different libraries. You know how many book reviews I read? A lot. You know how much reader's advisory you can fake just by reading reviews? A lot.

Reader's Advisory for those of you who don't know goes a little something like this:

Little Old Lady: Gee can you recommend a good book?
Librarian: What sort of books have you enjoyed in the past?
Little Old Lady: I like mysteries.
Librarian: What are some authors you've enjoyed in the past?
Little Old Lady: Author X, Author Y and Author Z.
Librarian: Do you like your mysteries light? Does violence in books bother you? Etc. etc. etc.

And so it goes until the librarian cooks up some suggestions in her happy little brain. Today the little old lady was trying to remember the name of an author she enjoyed in the past. She wanted to read more of her books. All she could recall is that they were mysteries, herbs played a part in them, and the stories took place in San Antonio. Trust me, that's a lot of information to go on. I can do something with that - unlike the "I read a book ten years ago and the cover was green" type of questions. So here is the answer I found, and the lady was so happy she must have thanked me 10 times before leaving the building.

On the other hand, another little old lady came in 10 minutes before closing looking for book suggestions. She wants something of substance dontcha know. That Barbara Kingsolver book she checked out and tried to read was too fluffy.

OK, what the hell am I supposed to do with this? Kingsolver is too fluffy?! I was half tempted to give her a book of funeral dirges. I hastily grabbed 3 books off the shelf (Oprah-esque type fiction picks) and told her to give them a whirl. Something tells me though that she'll be back very soon. Maybe I'll have an epiphany by then.

I Believe I Learned That In My Library Plumbing 101 Class

It seems I never run out of library stories. Most of the time, around here at least, when it rains, it pours. Such is the case lately.

Today was storytime day, and while this one mother was checking out books for her kids she said to me: "I'm sorry to tell you this - but my daughter went to use the ladie's room and discovered the toilet is clogged up with toilet paper." I said: "Thank you for telling me."

So I trapised off to the janitor's closet to dig out our plunger - normally the hardest part about this job. It always seems to get wedged back behind the sink, which means I have to get on my knees and move cleaning supplies to fish it out.

Sure enough the toilet was full of TP - but that's not all! Someone was obvisously not feeling well. I'm glad I've lived places with bad plumbing. Library school certainly doesn't prepare you for toilet duty - but crumby pipes sure do!

Bet you weren't expecting toilet humor when you visited my blog today did you?

Then we had a deadly spider encounter. I need to get my ass back to Michigan - the mosquitos suck, but there are no spiders the size of my fist. This one was back by the reference desk, with my adult services librarian yelping for help and looking in my direction.

I am deathly afraid of spiders. I'm talking major phobia here. The little brown house variety I can handle - but these monster California spiders scare me spitless. Luckily my circulation clerk isn't a wimp and beat the hell out of it with a cooking magazine.

I consoled myself by going to In 'N Out Burger for lunch. So much for that New Year's resolution....

Shopping And Invitation

So I bit the bullet and went shopping today. Picked up new unmentionables, 4 new blouses for work and ::drumroll please:: two new pairs of jeans! Now I just need to clean out my closet and today will have officially been a full rich day.

In other news, I've been invited to join Romancing The Blog as a columnist. I'm still slightly in shock over being asked because - let's be honest here - I'm not a terribly good writer. I know this. You know this. I've always been more of a muser than someone who "works" on writing as a craft. But I am a reviewer, a librarian and a blogger for almost 2 years now - so maybe those factors came into play here. Also, this columnist thang will be another unpaid gig. I've been an unpaid reviewer for almost 5 years now. Word has apparantly spread that I'm an easy mark.

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.