Massive Brain cramp!!! and book reviews

I had to laugh at myself at work today, it was either that or cry while banging my head against the wall. :P I bake buns at a restaraunt for a living. I don't know if any of you have ever baked in a commercial setting but it can be a bit complicated in the steps. Takes about an hour and a half just to bake one batch of bread and I do at least 6 a day. So anyway I get to my last batch do the first couple of steps and when I get to the second to last step I just randomly spaz out. We have this machine called a humidifier that we use to rise the bread for a second time before putting them in the oven. the machine uses water and heat to create a warm humid space to rise. Instead of putting them in the humidifier I put them in the oven.. Talk about PANIC!! I quickly grabbed them out of the oven and prayed it was quick enough.. luckily the owner let them pass cause I didnt really didnt want to spend another 1 1/2 hours at work.. It was kinda funny yet definately severly panic inducing.

On a different note I've finished a couple more books since my last post, I'm steadily working my way through the utter chaos that is my book collection. When I say my collection is unruly I am putting it mildly :) I've always been a reader. unfortunately with the discovery of computer games and the internet I don't spend as much time reading as I use to. Last time I actually counted my books i had just a little over 3000, its been about 13 years and tons of book sales since then.

the first book I finished is one from a new author (Delilah S Dawson) called "Wicked as they Come" here's a link to the blog of this author http://delilahpaints.blogspot.com/p/books.html .This book falls into the paranormal romance genre. In case you haven't noticed I have a fondness for suprenatural/fantasy/horror type books. This book is a vampire/steam punk/ dimension traveling story and is the first part of a new series. In the story the heroine Tish Everett wakes up in an alternate dimension after accidently stealing a locket. Turns out the locket had a spell on it to bring the heros perfect lover to him. the hero criminy stain is a blud man which in the other world is basically a vampire that can either be made or born (criminy was born). This other world use to have a balance use to have a balance between the blud (there are also blud animals) and the non blud often called pinkys. The locket takes her from world to the other till someone steals it from her while she was sleeping. the two set out on a quest to get it back and end up uncovering a plot to kill all the blud in the world. Of course being a romance in the end she falls in love with him. But during their journey they meet many other characters including ghost that save trish, then tries to trap her in the ghost place of death because she was lonely. The steam punk bit comes in with moving vehicles (the old kind that you have to crank the engine) dirigables, and clockwork animals that act as guards, messagers and companions. this was definately and interesting read and I hope to see more from this author.

The second book I read was Grave Witch by Kalayna price. this book is a fantasy book. It was an excellent book I picked it up when I got home from work yesterday and finished it the same day. Its a bit reminiscent of the anita blake universe but not enough to be a unimaginative. this book is the first in the alex craft series and I will definately be getting the next few soon. In this book the Fae were declining and so decided to come out to the world.soon after witches come out also. The story is about alex craft who is a grave witch, someone who call shades (not ghosts) and see the world of the dead. shades are more just the memory of the person who died, the soul isnt actually present. Alex starts the story by losing a client to death, whom she can actually see and is on good terms with (apparently death is a good looking man who looks fantastic in jeans). Then she agrees to a job for her estranged sister, gets shot at and saved by death. The police believe the attempted shooting is in connection to a case in which she will raise a shade for court (which she hopes will get her a permanent consultation with the police). this starts several days of kidnapping attempts, run ins with fae out to kill her and much time spent with a detective who acts like he hates her but keeps trying to keep her safe. the case for her sister ends up getting her involved with a body snatching fae, the ghost of the body he was in when he was murdered, the detective who turns out to be fae who is an undercover FIB (fae investigation bureau), and a fae that tries to enslave her. I was really intrigued by her grave sight, which is how she sees the shades she raises. basically its a second sight type thing where she can magically look into the land/realm of death. When she uses this she sees everything as a dead decayed world, but she can also see under fae glamor when using it. Unfortunately using it comes at a price of her normal sight, any time she uses it afterwards she has trouble seeing and if she uses too much power she can be almost blind afterwards. here is the website for this one
http://www.kalayna.com/alexcraft.html . If you enjoyed the anita blake, sookie stackhouse or merry gentry series you will most likely love this book. Its very well written and once I started reading it I just couldnt put it down till I finished, and it left me wanting more. the world was very vivid to me.

I also finished reading two smaller books but they are part of a trilogy and I'll most likely review them when I read the 3rd one. Its anne mccaffery's harper hall trilogy that I've always loved. I was wondering if I should continue reviewing the books as I read my way through the collection? and is anyone interested in pictures of how unruly the collection is?

darkborn and new kitty

Still no stitching done by me but lately I've been trying to read through my book collection.. :P I currently have 3 going ( I think, its entirely possible that i have other going that I will remember when I find them) but I just finished one called "darkborn" by alison sinclair. This was an unexpected find, was one of those dollar store impulse buys. The story is apart of a trilogy and now I must get the next two. The story takes place in a world divided by a curse. the curse called Imogenes curse has divided the people into two kinds Darkborn who are blind and will burn and die in the sunlight and the lightborn who can see but sicken and die in the darkness. Before you think its about vampires cause of the burning in sunlight thing its actually not. the darkborn are born sightless and use something call Sonn to "see" their environment I guess sonn is kinda like a magical version of sonar(they can actually see colors and such), their other senses are stronger. The lightborn are sighted but their other senses aren't as strong as the darkborns. Darkborn fear and shun magic while the lightborn use it freely. Instead of magic darkborn use preindustrial technology. the book takes place in a city where the two live side by side. the hero of the story is a darkborn doctor who one morning takes in a pregnant darkborn woman from his past just before sunrise offering her sanctuary from the sun. this action leads him and his family into danger when people come seeking the babies born. there is kidnapping, attempted murders, and other dangerous happenings. In the end the doctor and his wife are drawn into saving not only their own family but part of the darkborn nobility uncovering a danger to everyone darkborn and lightborn alike from the shadowlands. I actually enjoyed this book even though i don't usually enjoy books set in the preindustrial or victorian type setting. On a more personnal note I took in a stray that was hanging around our laundry room. I've never owned a female cat before but she was just so sweet and loving for a stray that I just couldnt let her starve. She was all bones when I took her in. I named her Aki (the japanese word for autumn) because her coloring kinda reminds me of fall, falling leaves and halloween. this is her in this picture : She adores me apparently. she has to scent mark me anytime I've been out of the house, tries to pull me out of the shower (apparently the shower scares her, she cries and tries to pull anypart of me that gets to close to the edge out) She also likes to lay on my chest and stare at me from the end of my nose when I try to sleep. Although I have to admit my favorite thing that she has done to bring a smile to my face so far is one night I woke up and she was using my knee as a pillow. Woke up with a stiff knee the next morning but it was the kinda thing I missed about having a pet. book total currently at sell/get rid of 6 and keep 15 (collection not really getting smaller)