Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

Number 69: Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

I do believe this is the first in a new series featuring Pepper Martin. Publisher's Weekly described it as a cozy mystery mixed with a bit of paranormal romance, which seems fitting enough for me. Basically, Pepper hits her head on a mausoleum and begins seeing the ghost of Gus Scarpetti, a Mob boss that was murdered 30 years ago. He asks Pepper to solve the crime and she agrees to help the spirit. (Ugh. Great! Now I have that Fall Out Boy song stuck in my head. "Lie in the grass next to the mausoleum/I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song". Honestly, how many songs have the word mausoleum in them?)

Okay, here's my one big issue with the book. We are introduced to a character, Dan the brain man, and we NEVER learn anything important about him. We learn he has a serious lack of fashion sense and that he's fascinated with Pepper's brain, but not why he's so interested in Pepper or what he's doing in the story. I hope that he is in the next installment and that we learn a little more about him and why he's so fascinated with Pepper. He seems interesting, but I don't like how little we know of him given how often he is involved in the story. That just irritated me, especially when I got to the last page and found the set up for the next book without the kind of resolution I was looking for. I really wanted the author to explain him in more detail before ending the book, but I did not get my wish.

Overall, though, I liked it a lot. I've become a big fan of cozy mysteries recently and I love trying out a new series. I'm very adventurous in my reading tastes, even if that sense of adventure doesn't carry over into my real life. :) The premise intrigues me and I'm looking forward to reading more about Pepper in the future. Generally speaking, I find the first book in a new cozy series to be the weakest and I hope that book 2 will be even better than this one.

Passion, Betrayal, and Killer Highlights

Number 68: Passion, Betrayal, and Killer Highlights by Kyra Davis

I must confess that I have a weakness for Red Dress Ink books. RDI is chick lit headquarters in my world. I've read a LOT of RDI books. I'd be embarrassed if I weren't their target demographic. But, of course, they know me and what I like. :)

Anyway, I read the first novel in this series, Sex, Murder & a Double Latte, when it first came out and thought it was great. I knew this was going to be a series I'd enjoy. I'm happy to say that I found this second installment in the Sophie Katz series to be a very enjoyable story. I kept waffling over who the bad guy was and exactly how all the characters were involved with one another. I really had a hard time deciding who was behind what and how much each person was involved with the mystery. Good stuff. I like that Sophie has a bit of a mouth on her, but I am sometimes surprised at her inability to keep it in check when the situation calls for it. However, I know people like that in real life though, so I guess I can't judge that too harshly, eh? Some might even imply that I'm similar to the main character in that regard. But, I honestly believe I would have bit my tongue a few times when Sophie didn't. Oh well. It's not a big deal and it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the story. I love this mystery/chick lit series so far and I can't wait to read the next one, Obsession, Deceit, and Really Dark Chocolate.

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

I just finished Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie the other night. I'm not a huge fan of the romance genre, but I do like most of the books by this particular author. They aren't "bodice rippers" or full of that "I want (insert main female character's name here), but she's so wrong for me" and "I want (insert main male character's name here), but he's so wrong for me" crap. Those kind of romance novels make me want to hurt people. No, Jennifer Crusie writes contemporary romance novels that are generally enjoyable. I'm not a big fan of the sex scenes, but I'm usually standing alone in that assessment. There's just something about reading a scene full of oral sex that just doesn't work for me. Personally, it's a turn off, but luckily, this book didn't go overboard in that department. I loved the dog, Fred, because he's got a lot of personality for a canine character. Plus, my parents have a basset hound, so it's easy to imagine how Fred behaves. Although Fred is considerably more quiet than Columbo will ever be! Honestly, Columbo sounds like a walrus half the time. But, I digress.

If I remember correctly, my cousin bought this book for me for my birthday last year. She picked a good one! It was brain candy-ish for sure, but sometimes I'm in the mood to read something light. Overall, I think I'd give it 4/5 stars. It wasn't quite as good as Welcome to Temptation, but it was good all the same. This was the 67th book I've read in 2007.

A new blog for me!

I was going to wait until 2008 before starting this blog, but I guess I was a little impatient. Oh well. For a long time, I've wanted to keep track of the books I've read. I tried keeping note cards, a notebook, and a spreadsheet among other ideas but none of them really worked. Then I found Library Thing, which really helped. I liked the layout and simplicity of the site. But, after a while, I noticed that I was trying to keep my ramblings brief and it just wasn't what I was looking for anymore. Plus, I'm a member of PaperBackSwap.com which is a great place where I started keeping just a simple list of what I've read. It is great because I can just put the title and author in a list and it's easily accessible. However, sometimes I do like to ramble on about what I've been reading and I decided a new blog would be great.

I plan on posting at least once a month to talk about what I've read at that point. However, I may post after every book or just after the occasional crazy awesome book. We shall see. For now, I leave you with the list of books I've read so far in 2007. It should give everyone an idea of what I like to read. Mostly, it's chick lit, mysteries, and memoirs but there's a few other genres thrown in for good measure. Variety is the spice of life and I like my reading life extra spicy! (Yeah, that was lame and I know it!) Anyway, on with the list!

1. The Star Witch by Linda Winstead Jones 1/08/07
2. Look Closely by Laura Caldwell 1/10/07
3. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 1/15/07
4. Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton 1/19/07
5. Self Made Man by Norah Vincent 1/24/07
6. High Five by Janet Evanovich 1/27/07
7. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich 1/29/07
8. Undead and Unreturnable by Mary Janice Davidson 1/31/07
9. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running a Bed and Breakfast by Park Davis and Susannah Craig 2/7/07
10. Dead End Dating by Kimberly Raye 2/10/07
11. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan 2/15/07
12. Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp 2/18/07
13. Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton 2/23/07
14. The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell 2/27/07
15. Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber by Adele Lang 3/4/07
16. Bitter Is the New Black by Jennifer Lancaster 3/14/07
17. The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn 3/16/07
18. Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant 3/21/07
19. The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair 3/26/07
20. Double Down by Tess Hudson 3/29/07
21. Killer Hair by Ellen Byerrum 4/4/07
22. Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik 4/7/07
23. Little Earthquaked by Jennifer Weiner 4/14/07
24. Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis 4/25/07
25. Spin Cycle by Sue Margolis 4/29/07
26. Life Skills by Katie Fford 5/5/07
27. Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella 5/9/07
28. Lucy's Launderette by Betsy Burke 5/15/07
29. Inappropriate Men by Stacy Ballis 5/25/07
30. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella 5/30/07
31. Women and Money by Suze Orman 6/4/07
32. A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton 6/7/07
33. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen 6/9/07
34. The Initiation (Secret Circle Trilogy) by L J Smith 6/12/07
35. The Captive (Secret Circle Trilogy) by L J Smith 6/14/07
36. The Power (Secret Circle Trilogy) by L J Smith 6/17/07
37. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 6/20/07
38. Crossing the Line by Lauren Baratz-Longsted 6/27/07
39. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich 6/30/07
40. Alpine for You by Maddy Hunter 7/04/07
41. Code Name: Blondie by Christina Skye 7/06/07
42. Hard Eight (A Stephanie Plum novel) by Janet Evanovich 7/09/07
43. Undead and Unpopular by Mary Janice Davidson 7/13/07
44. Undead and Uneasy by Mary Janice Davidson 7/18/07
45. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling 7/21/07
46. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich 7/24/07
47. Mr. Commitment by Mike Gayle 7/31/07
48. Top O' the Mournin' by Maddy Hunter 8/4/07
49. Pasta Imperfect by Maddy Hunter 8/7/07
50. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld 8/16/07
51. Hula Done It by Maddy Hunter 8/19/07
52. Asking for Trouble by Elizabeth Young 8/28/07
53. Roommates by Whitney Lyles 8/31/07
54. Coming Clean: The Best and Worst of Dailyconfession.com by Greg Fox 9/10/07
55. No Place to Hide by Robert O'Harrow Jr 9/18/07
56. Spain Or Shine by Michelle Jellen 9/21/07
57. Eleven On Top by Janet Evanovich 9/25/07
58. Water in a Broken Glass by Odessa Rose 10/02/07
59. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich 10/07/07
60. Postville by Stephen Bloom 10/15/07
61. Kiss My Tiara by Susan Jane Gilman 10/21/07
62. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne 10/22/07
63. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich 10/25/07
64. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore 11/1/07
65. Westminster Abby by Micol Ostow 11/02/07
66. Death on the Flop by Jackie Chance 11/06/07