Sims 3 - Late Night

In addition to being a bookaholic I am also addicted to PC games. My particular favorite is Sims 3. I love playing God (or Goddess if you will) with an entire town of unsuspecting sims. I grant wishes and I take them away. Last week I gave a sim the life goal of super hero firefighter, and then I forced him to be a stylist. He spent his days giving people make-overs when he really wanted to be rescuing other sims from life-threatening fires. He died old and unhappy. I had fun ruining his life. I recently discovered that this game has a new expansion pack being released this fall. Here's the trailer:

I can't wait. I think the first thing that I want to do is turn a sim into a vampire. Or maybe a celebrity who lives in a penthouse and hits all the hot spots in town after dark. Of course I'll have to skimp on groceries and eat nothing but ramen noodles for a few weeks so I can afford this expansion pack on the day it's released (and then I'll get no homework done for a few days), but it's worth it. Isn't it?

Cupid Cats - Review

Title: Cupid Cats
Authors: Katie MacAlister; Vicki Lewis & Connie Brockway

Synopsis: Three short stories revolving around the Cupid Cats Shelter. The cats at the Cupid Cats Shelter are not your average house cats. They’re magic. These cats bring romance into their companion’s lives, romance that leads to true love.

Review: I love cats. I did not love this book. I was disappointed because usually I am a huge Katie MacAlister fan, but in this anthology the only story I enjoyed was the second one. “Cat Scratch Fever” by Connie Brockway was witty and entertaining. The other two tales (pun intended) were flat and predictable.

Publisher: Signet Eclipse
ISBN: 978-0451230720

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Corset Diaries by Katie MacAlister (ISBN: 978-0451411129)

Chick with a Charm by Vicki Lewis Thompson (ISBN: 978-0451229366)

Top Ten First Lines

The most important part of a novel is its first line. This is the catch, the hook, what pulls us into the story. I’m always on the lookout for excellent first lines. This is a list of the top ten I’ve found so far.

10. “My mother was the village whore and I loved her very much.”
From: Pigs Don’t Fly by Mary Brown

9. “The air was warm, the summer day flawless, and Darian Firkin was stalling, trying to delay the inevitable, and he knew it.”
From: Owlflight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon

8. “Linderwall was a large kingdom, just east of the Mountains of Morning, where philosophers were highly respected and the number five was fashionable.”
From: Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

7. “I bet Hippocrates never stepped one foot into a dump like this, I thought as I peered through the tavern’s narrow entrance.”
From: Stardoc by S. L. Viehl

6. “Lest anyone should suppose that I am a cuckoo’s child, got on the wrong side of the blanket by lusty peasant stock and sold into indenture in a shortfallen season, I may say that I am House-born and reared in the Night Court proper, for all the good it did me.”
From: Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

5. “Doing an underwear ad on a New York rooftop when it’s blowing snow outside can get pretty hairy.”
From: Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel by Ronda Thompson

4. “At the corner of the window, a waxen spider spun.”
From: Dust by Elizabeth Bear

3. “The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive.
From: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

2. “There was dried chicken blood imbedded under my fingernails.”
From: Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton

1. “It was a dumb thing to do but it wasn’t that dumb.”
From: Sunshine by Robin Mckinley

Other - Review

Title: Other
Series: Other #1
Author: Karen Kiney

Synopsis: This YA paranormal novel is set in a world where Others exist and are acknowledged (imagine shopping for groceries alongside a centaur). Gwen is a normal teenager. She has a secret though. She’s only 50% human. Her biological father was a Pooka and she can change into any animal she wants. Fireworks begin to fly when Gwen reveals her secret to her boyfriend Zack, a new werewolf pack moves into the area and someone starts murdering Others. Suddenly Gwen and her friend Tavian (who is also Other) are targeted by the killer.

Review: ***Spoiler Alert*** I absolutely loved this book and was disappointed when I finished it. As I neared the end I kept trying to slow down my reading but because the suspense was building it was impossible. I loved Gwen’s slightly crazy family and her realistic breakup with Zach brought tears to my eyes (although I was happy because I thought Tavian was much better for her). The was a part in the book after Tavian and Gwen’s picnic where they are playing hide and seek in the woods as foxes that I found fascinating. I want to be able to shape shift into a fox and play hide and seek with a cute boy in the woods. This book was the perfect combination of paranormal, suspense, and romance. Karen Kiney’s novel, Other, has earned a place on the shelf of honor with my favorite novels, and I can’t wait for the book in this series.

Publisher: Flux
ISBN: 978-0738719191

If you like this book you may want to read:


Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (ISBN: 978-0441019274)

Bookaholic

I should not go to bookstores. Just like alcoholics should not visit the beer tent at the carnival. I'm a bookaholic. I've known it for awhile now. I own over a thousand books. The walls of my apartment are lined with bookcases and my brother refuses to help me move again unless I get rid of at least half of them. I spend more on books in a week than I do on food, and then I end up eating Ramen noodles because I can't afford to buy real food. I buy more books than I read. I feel the most relaxed when I am surrounded by books, they are my best friends. Today I went to Borders to buy one specific book. I ended up with nine books, and I had to force myself to leave before I picked up anymore. I'm not sure that this is an addiction that I want to give up. I can think of worse. But, since I have heard that the first step is acknowledging that you have a problem, my name is BookGirlR and I'm a bookaholic.

Touched by an Alien Review

Title: Touched by an Alien
Author: Gini Koch
Genre: Science Fiction/Romance
Series: Alien Novels #1

Synopsis: Katherine “Kitty” Katt thought she was witnessing a domestic disturbance as she left the Pueblo Caliente courthouse after her day of jury duty. However then the man she thought was about to get violent with his wife sprouts wings and turns into a superbeing hell-bent upon destruction. Instead of running away Kitty kills the monster with a pen. She is then whisked away by impossibly handsome Armani wearing men (one of whom has already proposed marriage five minutes after their first meeting) and is invited to join a secret, alien run, agency that attempts to eliminate these superbeings.

Review: I found Touched by an Alien to be a fairly entertaining story, although I did get tired of the clichés that popped up on every single page. The reader needs to be familiar with comic book characters. For example, if you don’t know who Daredevil is, or what cerebro does, you will probably be a bit lost at times. Most of the aliens were too perfect, making it hard to get lost in the story because their characters were not very believable. I loved Jeff’s character though and found it sweet that he wasn’t afraid to tell everyone he met, including her parents, that he wanted to marry Kitty and have lots of kids. The story was full of exciting action that kept me interested even when the clichés and flat characters were grinding on my last nerve. I will be reading the sequel when it’s released and I do recommend this novel for anyone looking for a light read.

Publisher: DAW Books
ISBN: 978-0756406004

If you like this book you may want to read:
Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley (ISBN 978-0446612029)
The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson (ISBN 978-0060898915)