Bloodhound (Legend of Beka Cooper) by Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound is the story of Beka Cooper, and her adventures in the city of Port Cayn in Tortall. She and one of her partners, Clary Goodwin, go to investigate a counterfeit ring - one that's been more prolific than normal. They're hoping to shut this ring down before even more damage is done, especially with winter coming on and little to no food due to a bad harvest. They meet the Rogue of Port Cayn, a most lovely character by the name of Pearl, Beka meets a dashing young chap by the name of Dale, and things of many derring-do are done.

I rate it 10/10 stars. Tamora Pierce is amazing, as always. Her characters are real, not two-bit caricatures fantasy (a genre where the world itself tends to be the main character) novels can have. The issues are real, the way the characters deal with them and their environment are real, and I'm not left feeling like anything in the story had to bend to fit the plot. The dialogue is witty, and clever. And just because Beka and her friends have had some hard knocks, doesn't mean they don't have a sense of humor. Tamora Pierce's writing has made me literally giggle with joy. I can't wait for her next book to come out.

Swords for Hire by Will Allen Review

This book perfectly demonstrates why I love adventure, fantasy, humor, and all the combinations in between. All the characters are realistic and completely themselves - there's no sense that at any moment the main character might decide to something frelling stupid that you know only serves to further the plot. Rather, the frelling stupid things they do are funny, and firmly driven by who the characters are and the situations they find themselves in. I admit to having crushes on Sam, and especially Rigby, and I absolutely admire Melinda. The story is well under 200 pages, and is well-paced and packs a powerful punch. I felt like it was the perfect length, even though I very much wish to read more of the characters in Swords for Hire. It's extremely unfortunate that the author, Will Allen, died before he could see Swords for Hire in print. I'll be looking for more of his work, published posthumously by his brother. 9/10

Conglomeration

I, previously, had two other blogs besides this one. One, which I used for my knitting exploits, the other primarily for book reviews. I've decided to combine those two into this one. Thus, I have imported all my previous posts on those blogs (which are not many), into this one.

I chose to incorporate all three into one, because it just got too complicated trying to think in three different blogs. And then there were the posts I wanted to make, that didn't seem to fit anywhere. Now, I'm just going to write whatever I feel like, right here. 

Now that that's taken care of, I may or may not get some actual blogging done.

Sometimes I'm a Little Slow

Amount written today: 0 words

Satisfaction level: 0%

I'm starting to think these two things are somehow related. Huh. I think I'll get on that right now.

Cracks in the wall

Sometimes, the writing is like seeing the story on the other side of frosted glass wall. It's there, you know it is, and you can see the general shape of it, but no matter how much you try to reach it, you just can't. The only way to get to it seems to be banging your head repeatedly against the wall in the hope that you can break through, or otherwise get a spectacular enough concussion that it doesn't matter any more.

But then, sometimes you break through. You have a moment of perfect clarity which manifests itself into a sledgehammer. The glass wall receives a hole the size of Godzilla. The story and characters are there, clear and wonderful and in more detail than you thought you'd get to see them.

Guess which days I'd been having lately? But then guess which day I had on Thursday. I'm feeling good.

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

Beginning this book, I was a little skeptical. I had a little bit of reverse psychology working on me - I'd heard some great things about this book, but I didn't really think it could be good as all that. And besides that, it just didn't grab me. It has a lot of the things I usually enjoy in a book, like kick-butt princesses, action, adventure, and clever solutions to confusing problems. But having read the Young Warriors anthology including the short story by Friesner that preceded/inspired Nobody's Princess, I really wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the direction she'd take Helen of Sparta. I liked the short story, but for me it left a lot to be desired. I didn't want to be disappointed if Friesner didn't answer my expectations.

But lucky for me, she did. Helen is smart, driven, realistic, and so completely herself that you can't help believing in her. The story is fast-paced and intriguing - it took some turns I completely was not expecting - and Friesner's writing was fresh and to the point. What was abrupt in short story form is expanded, but still lean and without excess - perfect for a princess of Sparta.

I definitely recommend Nobody's Princess, and I'm looking forward to more of Friesner's writing.

I may or may not be a liar

But I probably am. I hate making excuses for so many posts in a row, but I really haven't had the time or the energy to tackle a full-scale book review. And in the interest of actually doing what I set out to do - blather on about the books I'm reading - I'm just going to talk about what I thought about the books, and the things that particularly struck me about it. This way I'll actually probably get some posts up.

Not so much flaming out on re-entry...

... as being punched in the face upon landing. I had meant to get a review up right after the holidays, but obviously that didn't happen. My apologies. I still won't be able to get a proper post up for a little bit, but here's a little teaser for what I have in store:

1. Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

2. Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

3. The Naming by Alison Croggon

4. Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

5. Shelfari.com - how I found it and why there are now over 400 books on my bookshelf.

6. Policies and future practices of Kira's Bookshelf

7. The book fairy, and how I came to be in the possession of over twenty new books. Or, sometimes it does pay to spend book money on friends and family.

Have a good weekend.

So how's the weather over there?

I've kept meaning to do a blog about my knitting adventures over the break, but it just hasn't been happening. So I finally sat my butt down and am just doing it.

Vacation knitting: I finished a sock and started another. I was kind of burned out from the Christmas knitting, so I mostly did it during car rides and while watching TV. I'm following Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock, but substituting the short-row toe for Judy's Magic Cast-on, because I think it looks prettier, and I like the feel of it on my foot better. I'm also using helical striping, which I'm finding absolutely charming, and there's a wonderful explanation here. I'm using two colors, teal and tan. They're my Beach Socks.

I had a little adventure while binding off the first sock. To begin with, I've been a little worried about the yardage I've got left in the two balls I bought for this project. I figured 220 yards would cover a pair of ankle-high toe-up socks, with my feet being somewhat small in the bargain. So, I thought, to conserve yarn, why not just do my usual bind-off, which doesn't need and more yarn but what's on the needles? Well, first because doing it was a bitch. I don't mean to curse gratuitously, but I pretty much went cross-eyed while I was trying to do this bind-off with these tiny little stitches, in grippy yarn - and I'm a tight knitter, too. Then I tried getting the sock on my foot once I was done. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking, since I had long since realized while doing the BO that maybe it would be a little tight, and it had no elasticity whatsoever. But, I thought, maybe it will straighten itself out once I was finished. Right. I nearly amputated my own foot trying to get that &$&%8 BO over my big toe. So that was out. And I then had to undo all those tiny, tight, little stitches, in that grippy yarn, while realizing that I'm probably not as smart as I like to think I am. But now the sock fits like a dream, and it's oh so comfy. Now I just have to finish the other one. Here's hoping there's enough yarn left.

Here's a full list of all my Christmas gifts, since I'm still amazed I finished them all:

1. Slippers

2. Socks

3. Dashing wristwarmers, from Knitty

4. Fetching wristwarmers, from Knitty

5. Spiderman mittens, using a chart from the Yarn Harlot's blog that I am in no way trying to hunt up again

6. Thrummed mittens, using an old mitten pattern which I have no idea where it's from

7. An Unoriginal Hat, by the Yarn Harlot

8. Couvercle, from Knitty

Now that I'm not delirious from sugar cookies and coffee, I actually want to do it again. Something about marathon knitting, where you're trying desperately to reach a deadline you're not sure you can reach, while deluding yourself into believing that yes, you actually can...isn't that the extreme sport of knitters? For those of us who want a thrill? Normally, I wouldn't go for it, since my knitting is for relaxing, but once a year ... maybe. Plus, it's the one time a year where when I glare at family murderously while brandishing DPNs and caffeine, they back away, understanding. (My family is usually the almost in-your-face, 'Who do you think you're brandishing those at, anyway?', but they are accepting when they know it will get them pretty things. Also, they know that 'murder' and 'defending the stash' are almost one and the same during the holiday season. Smart, lovely people, my family.)

I have also finished a hat since you've seen me last. I used brooklyntweed's Turn a Square pattern, which I enjoyed very much. It's just tickling my pink that when you wear it, you have a SQUARE on your HEAD. Mayhap I haven't had enough sleep lately, but I still think it's pretty darn amusing.

That's all for now. I'll try not to let pass another millennia before I post again.