Heading to RT!!

In a few hours,  I'll be on a plane headed to Chicago for the RT Booklovers Convention! The convention runs Wednesday through Sunday. I will try to post daily updates, but as busy as I was last year, I'm not making any promises. I will be posting to Twitter, though, so you can follow along with the hashtag #RT12 or just check out my feed @buriedbybooks.

Some highlights I'm looking forward to are attending a JR Ward panel, attending Zoë Archer's Mythology panel (it's for writers, but sounds cool) and, of course, going to the parties.

Review: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Format: Hardcover (also available as an ebook)
Pub Date: February 2011
Publisher: St. Martins
Length: 320 pages
FTC: Purchased myself

It's been a year since I first heard about author, Darynda Jones. My friend, Sandy, mentioned her on our joint first time trip to the RT Convention in LA last April. And then I promptly forgot about both book and author. When convention time came around again, I got more nagging reminding about how awesome this author was and felt reader-shamed into picking it up.

And this handselling is from a reader/bookseller who is not normally a paranormal romance reader. So I gave it a shot.

Hump Day Movie: Short Circuit (1986)

Yes, I've been on an 80s kick lately. I can't help it. So many movies are being redone from the 80s, they are making me nostalgic. Plus, who couldn't use a good dose of Steve Guttenberg. Whatever happened to him, anyway?

We watched Short Circuit so many times when I was younger. In fact, I sometimes catch myself saying "No disassemble Number 5!" when I want to keep the boys from taking something apart. Of course, since they haven't seen this yet (soon to be remedied!), they have no idea what I'm talking about.

This is really a sweet movie, even if does have the hit-you-over-the-head 80s staple of humanizing the 'alien' in it. (If you wonder where Wall-E gets many of his mannerisms, look no further) And it spawned a not-quite-as-good sequel, too. I'm betting that once you watch this one, you'll want to break out Cocoon and Three Men and a Baby, too. Steve G is just so darn cute.

Frog Cupcakes! From Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh My! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

In my cookbook review last week, I promised an update after I'd attempted one of the projects. Here are the results!

I think they turned out pretty darn cute. Not exactly like the photo (which you can see behind them) but with a special quirkiness all their own.

Even with a boxed mix and premade frosting, these are time consuming! Not counting the constant interruptions, I'd guess I probably spent close to 4 hrs making these guys. A lot of that time is spent waiting, though. Freeze, wait. Freeze, wait.  That's also counting the time I took to sort out the colors of M&Ms I needed.

Hump Day Movie: Willow (1988)

Warwick Davis has an impressive résumé, but this is the movie I will always remember him for.  It's also the first movie I saw where Dwarfism wasn't presented as a disability. All to the good.

Not only does Willow  have Val Kilmer in it at the height of his career and attractiveness (he did NOT age well IMHO), it also has the future ex-Mrs. Kilmer, Joanne Whalley (who I think is just stunningly gorgeous).

Willow is one of those movies that didn't hold up well in the special effects department, but it was one of those movies I've never forgotten. It has action, adventure, romance and heart all set in a fantastical world.

Review: Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston

Format: Trade Paperback (also available as an ebook)
Pub Date: March 27, 2012
Publisher: Kensington Brava
Length: 407 pages (ARC length, finished edition may differ)
List Price: $14.00
FTC: ARC courtesy of the publisher

I got my hot little hands on this ARC a few weeks ago and did a happy dance. I needed a funny book, and Shelly Laurenston never lets me down. And of all of Laurenston's shifter books, I love the bear ones best. They. Are. Hysterical. There's something about the bears that make me happy.

It begins with Jello-o shots. Or the aftermath of a few too many of them, to be precise. Lou Crushek wakes up at a friend's house, naked, with an equally naked woman he doesn't know draped over him. And Cella, the unknown woman, gets way too much enjoyment out of torturing the hungover, confused polar bear shifter.

Hump Day Movie: Innocent Blood (1992)

There's something about the horror-comedy genre that appeals to me. Maybe it's because I have an overdeveloped sense of the ridiculous, but Robert Loggia in Innocent Blood makes me happy. In a 'that's so wrong, but I'm laughing anyway' kind of way.

This has the same sick, twisted humor of other John Landis films, but gets ignored in favor of his more famous ones. The sex + vampire dynamic made many of the critics uncomfortable, which is one reason this was widely panned. Worth seeing if only for Robert Loggia's show stealing performance.

Innocent Blood is available on Netflix or on Amazon.

TBR Challenge Review: Lover Unleashed

Format: Hardcover (available as a mass market paperback, ebook
Pub Date: March 2011
Publisher: NAL
Length: 489 pages
FTC: Borrowed from Mom

I've had Mom's copy of this book sitting in my TBR for nearly a year now. Which, in terms of TBR Guilt, is a pretty long time. I don't think she's read it yet, either. There's a new Black Dagger Brotherhood book coming out this month, and this month's TBR Challenge theme was series catch up. Coincidence? Maybe. But it worked to make me get off my duff and read this book.

Part of my reluctance about reading this book was the hero's name: Manuel Manello. DUMBEST. NAME. EVER.  Sorry, was I shouting? But seriously, in a world where superfluous Hs dominate and everyone's name sounds angry, this name takes the prize as the worst name ever. And that's not even counting that a diminutive of Manuel is Manolo...which makes his name Manolo Manello. *snicker*

These books are silly. There's no getting around that. Ward's writing style is so over-the-top that I find myself guffawing over the word usage, product placement, or WTF dialog. But they are also angsty and addictive. And every so often Ward writes a paragraph or three that really hits me in the gut with its simplicity and power. When you strip away the trappings of the BDB world, Ward can write emotion so well you feel like sobbing ugly, heaving sobs. (Not that I can find any quotes right now, because my kids removed my bookmarks. *growl*)

The saving grace of this book is that it really isn't about Manello or Payne, our supposedly kick-ass but really quite passive heroine. It's V's book, part II. And I'm fine with that. He got screwed in his own book, so I'm fine with him getting another one. There's some interesting relationship stuff with Butch and V, too, and we get a few emo scenes of the Qhuinn, Blay drama.

I'd say this was the worst of the series, but that honor will always belong to Phury's book (Lover Enshrined) thanks to the whining. As long as you ignore that this book was supposed to be about Manello and Payne, it does just fine. The gaping absence of the other Brothers seems a bit weird, especially when they pop in midway through the book all beat up, only to disappear again. Lover Unleashed is just not as good as the first few in the series, and I'm deducting points for the wimpy ass heroine even if that is a Ward tradition.

My Grade: C

Cookbook Review: Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My!

Format: Oversized paperback
Pub Date: 2012
Publisher: HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
List Price: $17.95 (available for around $12 on Amazon)
FTC: received as a gift from my husband ;)


UPDATE: I made the frogs! You can see how they turned out here.


I love baking. Usually from scratch. But for the kids, I admit I'm a box mix kind of gal. They really don't appreciate the difference in from-scratch baking when it comes to cupcakes or cakes. Cookies, yes. Cupcakes? No. But they do appreciate when those baked goods are cute, funny, or cool. And that's where this book comes in.

Most of these decorating ideas work best when you don't use from-scratch items. The canned frosting is microwavable and turns into a glaze! Many of the appendages of various critters are simply store bought items jazzed up with some sugar or colored frosting. This may send shudders of horror through the ranks of the scratch baking crowd, but honestly? Who has the energy to bake then spend all day decorating? Not me. I can do one or the other. Not both. If you can, more power to you! :)

Recipe: Soft Pumpkin Cookies

These are my favorite cookie to feed the kids. Yes, they're full of sugar and fat, but they also have pumpkin. It's sort of a vegetable, right? And anytime I can sneak veggies into something and have the kids not complain, I consider it a WIN!

Originally from a Libby's recipe, I've only changed one thing: I use a rounded teaspoon instead of an exact teaspoon of cinnamon because I like my cookies on the spicy side. If you want less spice, you can always reduce it to the exact teaspoon. Also, my cookies never look like theirs do (as you can tell by the photo), and I use the criss-cross method of icing drizzle. (Basically, gently swinging the icing-coated whisk back and forth over the cookies instead of very precisely drizzling with a spoon.)


Soft Pumpkin Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (rounded) teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets (I just use parchment paper).

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

You can leave these unglazed, but they really are better with the icing.

FOR GLAZE:
Combine 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

Hump Day Movie: Overboard (1987)

During the Oscars, they had those interviews that featured actors talking about their favorite movies.  And Reese Witherspoon's was Overboard. I *loved* that movie when it came out. Even though it has some elements that would NOT be considered even close to okay now.

My favorite parts: Goldie Hawn's ridiculous eyelashes and her catatonic blubbering after spending all day with the boys. I know I feel like that on rainy days when I'm trapped inside with the kids. Buh, buh, buh, buh...

I really miss Kurt Russell movies. He was a huge star in the late 80s and early 90s, but we don't see him very much anymore. He had this smarmy charm that really worked when he had the right co-star. And his long relationship with Goldie Hawn, which began just before filming, makes the chemistry in Overboard smoking hot!

Read Across America: March 2, 2012

Today is Read Across America Day!! It's also the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Our area had a Family Reading Night last night, and most of the students this morning were toting in blankets, pillows and their favorite books to have a read-a-thon in their classrooms.

This is one of my favorite days in the whole year. Grab a book and a few minutes to celebrate reading today!

You can find out more about Read Across America by going here and here.

Review: Taking a Shot by Jaci Burton

Format: Trade paperback, ebook
Pub Date: March 6, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Heat
Length: 336 pages
FTC: review copy courtesy of the author

I've had mixed results with Jaci Burton books. Some I've loved, some just didn't click with me. Thankfully, Taking a Shot clicked just fine.

I'm not a sports person. At all. I know nothing about hockey (or any other sport, really) except a very basic understanding of the rules. So I can't make a comment on the accuracy of the hockey information. But for someone who isn't into sports, this book doesn't overwhelm you or make you feel as if you're left out of the loop because you don't know the ins and outs of hockey.

Hump Day Classic Movie: The Sea Hawk

After trying and failing to resist an Errol Flynn 4-movie pack at Costco, I fired up the DVD player when I got home to watch The Sea Hawk. It's one of the few Errol Flynn movies I hadn't seen yet, but I wasn't surprised by how much I liked it. There's just something about Errol that makes those old movies so fun.

The special features on the disc were surprisingly informative. Normally, they skimp on those with older films or bargain packs, but not here! Apparently, they reused most of the sets (and even some of the costumes) from a Bette Davis movie called The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, also starring...Errol Flynn. Even the composer was the same, but the movies ended up being nothing at all alike. Truly amazing considering how formulaic so many of those company films could be.

They just don't make movies like this anymore. The scale, the larger-than-life adventure...it's just not possible with today's inflated budgets unless you're talking about CGI. It's not rated, and there is some violence, but nothing beyond a mild PG. Very, very fun if you're in the mood for some swashbuckling, Elizabethan style!

TBR Challenge Review: Immortal Champion by Lisa Hendrix

Format: mass market
Pub Date: January 2011
Publisher: Berkley
Length: 316 pages
FTC: Purchased myself at the RT convention book signing

I remember hearing about this book on several blogs early last year. Lots of good reviews, but the main reason I picked this up last April was because it featured a bull shape shifter. Which I thought was sufficiently weird and unusual.

What I did not realize (for some unknown reason, since it's pretty obvious if you glance at the blurb) was that this was a late medieval romance...a genre I'm really not that fond of. Blame it on the history classes or the medieval lit classes. Blame it on my own reading shallowness. Medieval stories just aren't my cuppa. But I read this one anyway.

Recipe: Streusel Blueberry Coffee Cake

Streusel Blueberry Coffee Cake


I'm not sure why, but streusel is one of those words I can't spell without looking it up. Spell check wants to change it to strenuous, which it's really not. It's quite easy to make.  

This recipe originally came from Land O Lakes and uses their brand of fat free half and half. I haven't tried it with regular half and half, but I imagine it'll probably work just fine. The cake is a little on the dry side, but if you bake it the day before and wrap it tightly, the blueberries will moisten the cake right up. Or you can just make sure to have a big glass of milk or coffee to go with its nutmeg-y goodness.

Review: Love is a Battlefield by Tamara Morgan

Format: ebook
Pub Date: Feb 14, 2012
Publisher: Samhain
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the author

I have to say, Love is a Battlefield has one of the most intriguing hooks I've read in a long time: a battle of the sexes story between Highland Games athletes and a Jane Austen Reenactment Society. How could I resist?


This book is hilarious. I found myself highlighting funny lines throughout the story. Genuinely funny sections that had me snorting out loud.  But what kept this book going for me was that for all of the larger than life antics here, this is a story about two characters who are utterly believable and easy to root for.

Hump Day Movie: Demolition Man (1993)

Ok. I'm really not a Sylvester Stallone fan. Never have been. But unlike the rest of America, I liked his comedies. And I sometimes liked the movies where he got to show off his sense of humor. Demolition Man is one of those movies.

It's a sci fi action film. Most would say a mediocre one. But it has some strong sci fi commentary as well as some terrific humor. Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, and Dennis Leary are just part of the supporting cast.

The stand out scene for me is Stallone swearing at the ticket machine to get enough paper to use as toilet paper because he couldn't figure out the three sea shells. That, and the look on his face when Bullock's character explains about a constitutional amendment allowing Arnold Schwarzenegger to become President of the United States.

Some Political Ranting Ahead...

No, not the GOP vs. Democratic Party kind of political ranting. Not even the Susan G. Komen vs Planned Parenthood debacle. This is about a local issue. It's about schools. Rural schools in particular.

You see, here in the mountains we've had a bit of a decline in school populations. Some have left the area. Some have moved to the private, Christian school. And some are in the charter school. The local district has half of the population they did back in 1995. Half.

And the same number of schools.

Which means we're now talking about school consolidation. That's euphemism for school closure. Shuttering schools.

Ordinarily, that would make sense, right? Why have schools open if you don't have the students to fill them?

Here's the problem: these are RURAL schools. We're not talking about areas where the next elementary school is a few blocks down the road. We're talking about, in some of the worst case scenarios, busing kids on curvy mountain roads during the winter for 45 miles one-way.

45 miles.

In the winter, with chained buses, that equals a 1.5 hr bus ride each way at the minimum.

We're also talking about pushing school capacities over their maximum to squeeze two schools into one--to save on the utility and janitorial bills.

What this means is that class sizes are going to go up dramatically. It's possible that we will no longer have room for our school library. Never mind that we've had bare-bones staffing for that library. There may not be  a physical place for it because it is needed for classroom use.

It costs a lot more per student in rural areas than it does for urban areas, just in overhead. Partly due to transportation costs, but mostly because we need more schools than other areas due to the geography of where we live. This added expense used to be supported through the sale of timber on USFS land. Changes in federal law resulted in the Secure Rural Schools Act. Essentially, a plan to exchange the idea of cutting down trees equaling money for schools to a plan that reimburses counties for the lost property taxes due to high percentages of federally owned land.

That bill was not reauthorized and this year is the last year for any additional money from the feds.
Given the financial reality in California, this has resulted in a huge hit for schools everywhere, but especially in the rural areas of Northern California. 

The situation is grim here in the West. I know education is suffering everywhere, but in this county, we'll have several vacant schools to serve as visual reminders of where our priorities as a country seem to be.

Hump Day Movie: The Black Hole (1979)

When I was younger, The Black Hole scared me. A lot. After watching it as an adult, I think the reason is the super creepy music. It's pretty freaky.  I hadn't seen Psycho yet, so it wasn't the fault Anthony Perkins.

The Black Hole has one of the most boring opening sequences ever. Minute after minute of nothing but space images followed by several minutes of opening credits with primitive computer graphics.  Then we get lots of radio chatter. It isn't until 5 minutes in that we see our first actor on screen. With a really cheesy robot.

But I have to say, once the movie gets going, it is either action-packed or full fledged creepy. Mostly creepy. Even though it came out two years *after* the first Star Wars film, the effects are often not up to snuff. There's some that work fine, others that are as bad as anything done in the 1950s.

As sanitized as Disney is these days, it's hard to imagine they used to put out movies with a bit of an edge. This is one of them. There is peril! And the occasional bad word!