Misc. Monday: Cat Tales

For your Monday enjoyment, a quick update or two on my kitty.

Max has grown, and is harassing penguins all over the apartment. He doesn't really harm them, he just drags them from room to room. Especially the little ones. Cats=Bullies.

Max seems to hate the color red, and will attack things that have the audacity to be that color. Last time I painted my nails red, he clawed my hands until I looked like I'd been in a fight with a lawn mower. Or taken up self mutilating. Or punched my way out of a glass cage. Cat's hurt.

Even though Max is larger, he has no awareness of his size. He keeps knocking stuff over because he doesn't fit in places that he used to go. He also keeps trying to mount the hamster cage, and knocks over the stuff around it. Dwarthy has zero survival instinct, and climbs right up on the bars of the cage to sniff him. I've had to build an anti cat jumping barrier to prevent hamster harassment, and even that is only 90% effective.

Max is a piggie. We feed him twice a day, and every time he acts like he's starving. He also tries to steal my cheese. Not cool, dude. Cheese is for people.

Max is a super hero of cuddling. He's started growing his winter coat, which means he's extremely warm and fuzzy. And he's got a lion mane.  He likes to share my pillow, and lay on my chest in the morning. Cats are adorable.

Miscellaneous Mondays: Collectable Penguins

Last week's poll asked whether or not you collect things. Most of us do, but none of the voters admitted to being heavy collectors/pack rats! Very interesting.

This question came to me after helping my fiance move his childhood stuff out of his mother's house. Now, when I was a teenager we moved twice in the span of a year or so, and in that process I donated/sold/threw away most of my toys and things to make the moving process easier, so I just don't have very much of it anymore. Certainly nothing compared to his collections. He's got tons of toys--Sesame Street, the Muppets, Rugrats, Marvel action figures, the list goes on...plus books, games, movies, posters. Basically my reaction was "Holy crap!" I felt both envious and pitying, but my primary reaction was panic as to where we're going to keep it all--because apparently we're keeping quite a bit of it.

Now, I've collected a few things over the past few years--things that I particularly love. I have the penguins, of course, and I have my books. Even with the books, though, I only keep the good ones. They still overflow the shelves, but that's because I read so many good books! I have these guys--

--who I feel look really nice along side all of my fantasy/paranormal books. Who doesn't need a vampire doll and her werewolf boyfriend? So I guess I'm just as guilty of wanting to keep a few pointless objects, but I try to be sane about it.

What sort of things do you hold on to? Sentimental stuff? Knickknacks? Every book/movie you've ever read/watched? Nothing at all? Share your collections in the comments!

Miscellaneous Weekly Updates:

I finally got Josh to watch Tangled--and he loved it! A good Disney movie is a wonderful thing.

In TV news:

• I watched the newest Supernatural and LOVED it, even though I could call the end just from the previews. Dean seems to always be the one to fall in neck deep with the monsters.
• I'm still keeping up with Grimm, and enjoying it alright, but my GOD the overarching plot is moving slow. I hope it's building toward something climactic and awesome, because right now it's a B show for me.
• I've been watching Merlin online, trying to catch up with it. I tend to multitask when I watch this show--I don't feel too attached to it, but it's nice to have on it the background. I'm not a huge nerd when in comes to Arthurian/Camelot legends, but I used to be. I think if your in an Arthur phase at present you'd really like this show, so I do recommend it. 

Don't forget that the 300 followers giveaway is still going on!

Lastly, the new poll is up--we're asking what types of movies you enjoy! Don't forget to vote! Happy Monday, and Happy Reading!

Miscellaneous Mondays: Bored Penguin Edition

I'm not the sort of person who likes to give up on books. Just like I'm not a person who walks out on movies or turns off the TV in the middle of a show--I really like to finish what I've started. That's why it's so very hard for me to NOT finish a book.

Last year I noticed that my ALWAYS FINISH rule was really holding me back. If a book is boring me to tears, it takes twice as long for me to finish it. That just isn't ok anymore. For one thing, I'm supposed to be a reviewer now, so I need to get books read and reviews posted on a regular basis. For another, reading is supposed to be something I do for fun. If it feels like torture, something is wrong.

Now I've come up with an out-clause to my ALWAYS FINISH rule. I can stop if the book is really boring, or really stupid, or horribly offensive in some way. Usually it will be because of boredom, because I'm not that easily offended. This is a major concession to myself, but I'm hoping that it's made me a better, more efficient reader.

This gives rise to a new issue, which was the topic of this past week's poll--should I still write a review, even if I didn't finish? Even if I'm explicitly honest about how much of the book I read, it still feels a tad unfair to cast judgement on the whole book based on the slice that I read. More importantly, are DNF reviews actually helpful to potential readers? 60% of our voters said that they sometimes find DNF reviews helpful, and NO ONE said that they never find DNF reviews helpful. I guess the general message is: Yes, I should be writing DNF reviews.

What about you? Do you ALWAYS finish books, or do you let yourself give up if you want to? Do you write DNF reviews? I know we've all been bored by a book at some point! Share your experiences in the comments!

This week's poll question asks: Where do you get your books? Take a second to vote on the right side of your screen! Multiple answers are allowed!

And for those of you bored with your current read, have an adorable penguin video. Happy Reading, everyone!

Musings From Atop the TBR Pile

Here with *Duff the penguin to discuss our ongoing mission: concurring the TBR pile. This is only a small representation of my collection, but I didn't want to stack Duff to high (he tends to roll).

My pile is born from many sources. As penguins on a budget, we do what we can to cut costs. That means second hand stores, sales, coupons, borrowing, and trading. Paperbackswap has been a particular life saver. I can't recommend that site enough. With their give a book, receive a book system I satisfy my book cravings without taking up more space (which is definitely an issue).

The selections range from random to systematic. Sometimes I pick up a book simply because I like the cover art. More often I'm encouraged by positive reviews from trusted sources. And when I find a book I like, I compulsively search out every book in that series or by that author. This happened with Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books, and of course Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books.

My main problem is deciding what order to read in. I try to mix it up, not read to many urban fantasy or historical romances in a row. I used to have a strict system, but I cheated so much that it wasn't worth it. These days I kind of select at random. Spontaneous reading is happy reading



*I feel obligated to mention that Duff (Dougal Ulfric Fergus) was a random gift from my sweety. He was left at work for me with a very nice love note. Five years and he's still a sweetheart. I'm one lucky girl!

Myself in a Hat

Behold, a picture of myself and Stewie the Penguin, checking out Blameless by Gail Carriger. This picture is something of a lie, since I have only just finished Soulless and have yet to start Changeless, but I like this cover the best. I am very much looking forward to catching up with all of Alexia's adventures.

On Green Penguins and Werewolves

Miss Rosemary Glacier has at long last accepted her existence as a rare pink penguin. Most of the other penguins are black and white, and pink is a most conspicuous and unexpected quality in a penguin. For a long time she refused the acknowledge her condition, insisting that she had merely eaten too many strawberries and would return to "normal". But over time, and through many tribulations it became obvious that pink was the way she would always be, and so she accepted all of the special powers and privileges that went with it.

Rosemary, and most of the Council of  Pink, insisted that they were alone in their uniqueness and that all other penguins must of course be black and white. Until Rosemary was contacted unexpectedly by a green penguin, known simply as Pickles.

...Which of course must lead her to wonder what other kinds of penguins might be out there.

Something similar happens to Elena in Stolen by Kelley Armstrong. In Bitten, the first book, Elena takes steps toward accepting herself as a werewolf and her place in her pack. Then in Stolen she is contacted by a witch, who explains to her that there are in fact many types of supernatural creatures and that they require her help.

Now, Bitten is easily my favorite shapeshifter book, and ranks pretty highly among fantasy books overall. First and foremost, this is because it has such a strong female narrator who's story evokes empathy in a way that few others in the genre manage. Secondly, because it addresses everything associated with being a werewolf--from blood-lust to pack structure--on a very personal level. And finally, because Armstrong addresses Elena's relationships, romantic and otherwise, with so much honesty and realism. Given all of this, it might seem like Stolen has impossibly big shoes to fill. How does it measure up? SPOILERS AHEAD!
  
Well, as I said this book is still focused on Elena. So it has the advantage of her wit, sarcasm, toughness, and deeply buried emotions that surface unexpectedly. In the books initial chapters I thought I just might be in for a pleasant surprise, because not only did we have Elena and her fantastic supporting cast--namely Clay and Jeremy--but a whole new intriguing group of characters. Paige the witch, and her Aunt Ruth, invite the werewolves to a council of supernatural creatures to address the recent kidnappings of many of their kind. Turns out there are also half-demons, shamans, vampires, and...who knows what else. The werewolves are naturally unaccustomed to playing nice with others, and so it doesn't exactly go perfectly.

In any case, if the opening was a treat of paranormal politics and character establishment, the middle was a kind of torture. Elena is kidnapped and it quickly devolves into a capture/escape story. Which brings me to my main complaints. The kidnappers seem to want the supernatural beings in order to study them (among other things). This happens often enough in urban fantasy that I'm starting to think that Murdered by Evil Scientists in Research Related Endeavors must rank somewhere in the top 10 causes of death for supernatural creatures. For her part, Elena spends her time in captivity feeling kind of sorry for herself, meeting the researchers and other captives, and half-assedly thinking up escape plans. I was very bored by this process.

Then there's the none to subtle nod to The Most Dangerous Game . Ty Winsloe, the money behind the research operation, has a thing for hunting supernatural creatures. I had an itch in my brain telling me that I'd read something like this before and I realized that Keri Arthur did her own version of "werewolves= the most dangerous game" in her book Dangerous Games. Note: I'm fairly certain Dangerous Games was published after Stolen. Regardless of this, while I have to acknowledge that being hunted like prey (or even doing the hunting) does make for an exciting plot line, it isn't the most original thing in the world and it didn't add much to this book.

Now, I'm fairly certain that this capture/rescue research facility plot was designed to force the various supernatural creatures to work together. I can respect that and I admit that I enjoyed it. In fact, the last several chapters in which everyone's strengths and powers are utilized in a team setting is fantastically well done.

In sum, this was a book with a very strong start and a satisfying ending, but a pretty lackluster middle. It was extremely difficult to assign it a grade. It doesn't at all compare with Bitten and if I were to rate it based on that comparison it would be pretty low. It lacks all of the things that made Bitten great--the pack dynamics, the romantic conflict, all of the character development. But ignoring this comparison it actually is worth reading. All things considered I'm giving it a 3.5.