Tag: Books a Million

What I Read Last Week and My Vacation

Posted August 4, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 11 Comments

Hello again!

I hope you’re all doing well and that you had a good week. My plans to be on the computer a lot last week fell more than short but I had a wonderful vacation anyway.

I told you a little about the day we got there. After that we managed to make it to the KC Zoo where my oldest, who was in charge of the camera, managed to get lets of pictures of animal butts. WTF? lol She couldn’t quite explain that one but luckily she got their faces as well and the camera was digital so the delete button came in handy! 🙂 My sister, her s-i-l, my mother and my youngest and I all went out for my youngests birthday (my sister wasn’t around for her actual birthday so it was a delayed celebration) and went to the Webster House in KC which is a beautifully restored school house that was built in 1885. They have dining, antiques and a multitude of other things. My youngest thought she had died and gone to heaven. It was a fun day.

My father took us all out (and when I say all I mean there were 10 of us) to a Brazilian grill called Em Chamas which is in the town that my sister lives, Parkville. It is a fabulous place that offers incredible cuisine from southern Brazil (I of course thought of Ana who is from Brazil while I was there). It was pretty much a 2 course meal which starts with a buffet of 30 items: green salads, cold salads, seafood, cheeses, breads, mashed potatoes & steamed veggies, among other foods. Then when you are ready you flip over this little disc that is placed at each place setting and they start bringing the meat out: lamb, beef, pork, chicken – and 14 different kinds/flavorings (if you have a minute click on their menu). It’s amazing and so damned good! I’d have to say the Alcatra com Queijo (sirloin with provolone), the House Specialty (I can’t remember the name but it was the top of the top sirloin), and the pork ribs were my favs. Then when you’re done with the meat or just want to take a breather you flip your little disc over to the “no” side and they stop until you flip it back. Let’s just say we pretty much waddled out of there. lol

A lot of the time the kids just wanted to stay home and play pool in the basement. I seriously thought we were gonna have to start a 12 step program for my youngest since she was addicted to pool but since she’s been at my other sisters house (in Alabama) she’s calmed down (and yes they have a pool table as well).

My sister and her s-i-l run a Decorating Den Interior Designs business and though they run it out of the basement office they had a couple of installations while I was there and so I got to help with those. She said she’d email me a couple of before and afters of the rooms we did so I’ll be able to show you…later. My camera, for some crazy reason, is choosing to act up right now and so I can’t show you pictures. Bummer.

The other wonderful I did while I was there was meet fellow blogger and DIK lady Sarai!!!! We met at Cheeseurger in Paradise and talked for 3 straight hours. She is just so wondefully funny and so stinking nice! I loved talking to her. Then of course we made our way over to Books-A-Million (yes, I know I had just been there! And yes, I bought more books!) and talked more books for a while. Unfortunately the night had to end but I’m so very happy that we got that time together.

That’s about the extent of my vaca. It was fun and relaxing and it was so good to just sit and talk with my sister for hours – and play with the kids without having to worry about chores, etc. Just fun stuff.

And now I’m home and getting kind of another little mini vacation. My hubby has gone to Sturgis for the bike rally and won’t be back until Saturday and the kids are with my ‘rents at my sisters house in Alabama so I’m home alone for the week. I don’t have to cook, or clean (did that before I left) or get kids in bed at a certain time. Like I said, a mini vacation! lol

I didn’t get much reading done last week but what I did read was pretty good. And I just realized with all the new and new to me books that I’ve gotten recently that I’ve completely crapped out on my Tracy’s TBR Challenge the past two weeks. So – I’ll be better with that this week…at least I’ll try to be better.

First was Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh. No, I didn’t read the other books in this series but after reading Tumperkin’s post about this book I just felt compelled to buy it and read it. And I’m so glad I did. I really liked it a lot! There was a time when I was getting altogether too frustrated with the heroine because she was being unbearably rude, but overall it was just fab. It was one of those where you really can’t see the hero and heroine coming together but yet it happens and in such a realistic way. 4.5 out of 5 (thanks Tump!)

Then I read ePistols at Dawn by ZA Maxfield. This was the story of a man, Jae-Sun, who works for a tabloid who’s altogether pissed at the fact that someone has dared to satirize his most loved coming-out novel. He starts emailing the woman who has had the gall to do this but turns out she’s a he, Kelly. This was a good story but I’m not a huge fan of big misunderstandings and this had a couple. The writing was good but I felt an on again, off again connection with the characters which threw me a few times out of the book. I’m torn about my rating for this one so I’ll not say for now until I figure it out. 🙂

And lastly (I know, you’re shocked that there’s only 3 books) was Bengal’s Heart by Lora Leigh – book 19 in the Breed series – which I read for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts.

If you’re interested my review for Highland Obsession by Dawn Halliday posted today of at TBB. You can go here to read it.

Happy Reading!

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Tagged: Ana, Books a Million, Cheesebuger in Paradise, Dawn Halliday, Em Chamas, Lora Leigh, Mary Balogh, Sarai, The Book Binge, Tumperkin, Webster House, What I Read Last Week, What I've Been Reading This Week, ZA Maxfield

What I Read Last Week and Vacation Update

Posted July 28, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 12 Comments

Hi Everyone!

Did you think I got lost on my way to the blog? I certainly did! lol

So thanks all of you for the well wishes on my trip – that was very nice of all of you. The train actually ended up being quite fun except for the whole sleeping thing. On the first night I was sitting next to my youngest and I was in the outside seat. Well, there’s no side head rest so it was more than uncomfortable and I only got about 4 hours of sleep. The second night though we switched (because she could stretch out no matter what) so that I could lean against the side of the train/window. That was much better and I managed to get 6 hours of sleep the second night. The seats are nice and roomy but the 4 foot and under crowd really have it made. :0)

The most entertaining thing on the train was a looney woman who sat kitty corner to me. I shouldn’t say that I think it’s fun that she has mental issues but having to tell my sister about all the things that went on made for a few hours of amusement.

When we got to town the train was only 2 hours late which was nice. We got to my sisters house and showered and ate and then went out to see a Titanic exhibit that KC has going right now. It was really quite nice. We then went and got Sheridan’s Frozen Custard (ice cream) which was positively sinful. As I was talking to my sister I saw this big sign over her head on the next building and started drooling. It said Books-A-Million! I was so there! It was huge and I ended up buying 6 books – mostly new releases, which was great. This is especially nice since my mom is going through about a book a day and I’m her dealer. 🙂

Today we slept in. I never sleep in. I’m usually awake by 7 or 8am at the latest. Well even with going to bed at midnight I slept for 10 1/2 hours! Holy Magoly Batman! lol It was fabulous. We then went shopping in this amazing shopping area called Zona Rosa which was great. Now it’s time to finally sit down and try to catch up on my email, etc. I haven’t had much time to read but it’s all good. I don’t get to go on vacation very often so it’s worth the book neglect.

So I didn’t read much last week with preparing to leave and all but here it is:

First up was Running Wild by Sarah McCarty. This is actually 3 novellas in one book that all interconnect. In fact when you start the next story it’s like the story is just continuing but each story is about a different member of the family. It a werewolf paranormal book and it was pretty good. I liked the first story the best with the second following a close second. The third was good but felt a little rushed and the romance suffered I thought. 3.5 out of 5

Next was a book that was recommended to me by Kris. She really gives good book. This one was called Sindustry Volume 1 and it was an m/m anthology from Dreamspinner Press with 12 different stories in it about men who work as rentboys, strippers, hookers and porn stars. It was such a good book and I really liked all of the stories. 4.5 out of 5

Next up was A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole. I read this for my re-read challenge and will be posting my review of it on Friday.

My last book was another one recommended by Kris called Like Coffee and Doughnuts by Elle Parker. This was an m/m book about Dino, an old fashioned kind of guy who is a P.I. His best friend is his mechanic Seth and as great as they get along they are incredibly different from each other. When Seth starts putting moves on Dino he’s not quite sure what to make of it, but he’s willing to explore. Add in a little intrigue from Dino’s client and things get revved up. This was a good book when it came to dialogue – which is exactly what Kris had told me. It was an interesting story but when there wasn’t dialogue it kind of dragged a little. At the end of it I had a nice feeling. 3.75 out of 5