October reads

When September ended, I was in the middle of  Rita Mae Brown's first in a new series,  A Nose For Justice.  I enjoyed it just as much as her other two series.  Different setting, same type of situations, maybe more of an emphasis on environmental concerns.

As for the rest of the month:

Misspelled - Julie E. Czerneda, Ed.  - This had me absolutely in hysterics.  Funniest thing I've read in a LONG time.  It's a collection of short stories, about what can happen when a spell gets mis-cast.  5 stars, highly recommended.   Not necessarily cozy though.  If you don't like magic in your reading, skip it.

Loose Ends - Terri Reid.  One of my friends on Goodreads was looking for this.  It caught my eye because it's set in Freeport, IL...which is about 30 miles from where I live.  I contacted the author, and she not only wrote about Freeport, she lives there.  We're planning on a meetup one day.   Anyway, aside from the familiar setting, it's a REALLY good book.  5 stars, highly recommended

Tree of Life - Elita Daniels:  Not cozy.  This reminded me of Lord of the Rings.  It's what I call "high fantasy" where there's another world, and elves, and magic.  Found this one through Mobile Read.  Excellent read for fantasy lovers.

Mama Does Time - Deborah Sharp.   Midnight Ink (publishers) made my month when most of their titles finally showed up at Books on Board.  I had been wanting to read this series FOREVER, but refuse to buy Amazon's Topaz format, and also didn't want to buy the paper book.   So when it showed up, I grabbed and devoured.  Just as funny as I thought it would be... another highly recommended. 

Fundraising the Dead - Sheila Connolly:   This one has an intriguing backstory that I found out about after I read the book.  The author actually worked in a historical institution in Philadelphia, while a janitor was making off with some of the artifacts.  The FBI agent on the case has written his autobiography titled "Priceless"  that mentions that case.   Anyway - loved this,  loved the history involved... my husband said the way I described it reminded him of "National Treasure".   Highly recommended. 

Plaster and Poison - Jennie Bentley:   I've enjoyed all of this series, this is the third book.  Looking forward to the next one.  Highly recommended.

Pinned for Murder - Elizabeth Lynn Casey:   Again, third in a series.  Tori and her sewing circle have gotten to be old friends, and I was anxious to see what they'd been up to.  I wasn't disappointed. Highly recommended.

Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders - Peggy Webb:   A hoot, as always.  LOVE this series!  Highly recommended.

Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen:  Not cozy.  More magic - so if you don't like it in your books, skip it.  This reminded me of Practical Magic. 

And this brought me to the 26th, when three anxiously awaited titles were released. I dropped everything, and read:

Side Jobs - Jim Butcher:   Collection of short stories about Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard.  Contains a followup to the cliffhanger in the last book, Changes.   I needed a Dresden fix, so I was pleased with the book, but if you're hoping for answers about Harry's fate.... you won't find them here.

Cat Coming Home - Shirley Rousseau Murphy.   I adore this series.  Matter of fact, the first book I bought for my first ereader was one of this series,  Cat Deck the Halls.   Anyway, another excellent entry; but if you don't like "woo-woo" in your mysteries, you won't like this.  The whole series is based on cats that can both understand and speak English, due to being descended from an ancient Welsh tribe of cats with this ability.  Suspending disbelief is essential.  But again, I LOVE them, and highly recommended.

Currently reading Soulless by Gail Carriger.  Not cozy -  would you believe steampunk/paranormal?   It reads like Amelia Peabody with werewolves and vampires... good stuff!! 

Will they or won't they?

The rumors are, Barnes and Noble are unveiling a color Nook on Tuesday.  The evidence I've read has been pretty convincing, not to mention a post at Mobile Read from a B&N employee that lays out his reasons for thinking a color Nook is in the works.  Now CNET has posted a link to a page on the B&N website for a screen protector for a color Nook with an image. 
The buzz at MR is mostly positive, although for the rumored price, the screen almost would have to be LCD, which is bad in terms of battery life.  No one even has rumors about that, though, so I guess B&N could pull a rabbit out of a hat and surprise everyone.  Amazon is apparently worried, since they announced their version of B&N's LendMe feature this week.
Now here's MY take.
If the picture at CNET is the real deal, or even an artist's rendering of the real deal, it's a pretty gadget.  But it's not going to be, nor is it intended to be an Android tablet.  That, in my opinion, has been the reason for the epic fail of both the Pandigital Novel and the Augen The Book.  Everyone expected them to be a mini iPad, and they were never intended to be that. They were intended to be ebook readers, and only ebook readers. Period.  I myself love the brightness and color when reading on an LCD screen.  Not to mention the eye candy of having my cover art in color, but even I will admit that LCD battery life is definitely not optimal, especially since those of us who have e-ink devices have gotten used to a week or more between charges. That being said, I'd love to see B&N pull a rabbit out of a hat and shock everyone, especially Amazon.  I don't know how exactly that's possible, but I would really love to see it.  Amazon left standing with their pants down, holding out their version of LendMe...well....for the record here:  
LendMe is useless.  You can loan the book ONCE, and only ONCE, EVER, for a period of 14 days.  And that's it, for your lifetime.  
LCD or not, there will be some takers.  Even though I'm thoroughly in love with my Sony, and now don't even want a Nook (at least not without a hefty list of changes),  I'm intrigued to see what happens on Tuesday. 

My new best friend...OneNote

...well, at least my new best friend in software!  My friend Danae kept trying to tell me that Microsoft OneNote was the best thing since sliced bread.  I never had time to really look at it, so I never got into using it...until the last week or so.  She was right. OneNote ROCKS!

I've now got all sorts of notes set up in a new notebook, with sections for book releases, new music releases, website logins, contacts, to-do lists, shopping lists, and a calendar. 
You can "tag" entries....for example, on my book release lists, I use the little checkbox icon. When I get the book, I check the box.  MUCH  nicer than the x's I was using at the end of the line.  What can I say, it satisfies my inner child - the one who loves eyecandy in her software!  Then if I've also read the book, I can double tag it with another icon - I'm using a star.
You can create "stationery" for your notebook pages as well. I made a customized page for my Music section, since there wasn't one in the predone page templates.

Here's some screen shots of the books, music, and to-do (calendar) pages:  As you can see, each section of your notebook can be a different color, and you get tabs in each section too, for pages.  I'm having fun with this!

OMG Someone IS Listening!

I have been griping and moaning for over a year now about Midnight Ink (publishing imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide) and their apparent ignorance of ebooks.  There were a few at Amazon, but ALL of them were in Topaz. (Don't get me started on Topaz...).  Then a very few started showing up at Barnes & Noble; which was great, but not ideal (.pdb STILL sucks, and regardless of the media hype, B & N has NOT switched everything to ePub).  I've posted pleading posts on their Facebook page, and I've mentioned it to the authors every time I've had opportunity.  Apparently, someone finally listened!

Because today, I was looking at my wishlist on Books on Board, and did a search for one of Midnight Ink's authors on a whim...and the books were there!  Very excitedly, I searched the author list from their blog, Inkspot..and found MOST of the titles!  This means I can buy that Vicki Doudera book that I've been lusting after for MONTHS but refused to buy in Topaz!  I can get decent copies of  Sue Ann Jaffarian's Odelia Grey series!  And the Joanna Campbell Slan scrapbooking mysteries! 

Now...if I can just find an email address for Laura Childs' publisher.... *evil grin*.

Found the boots!

While they're not precisely ankle boots, (they're midcalf),  they're cute, and a little kicky.  The heel is right (not stiletto, I have a horror of breaking those off), and not too high, but high enough to be dressy. 

Since the site uses Flash (so I can't lift the image and post it), and I'm too lazy to get up and go take a picture;  here's the link:
Rosa Strappy Boot

I came home and put my insoles and gel-pac ball-of-the-foot cushions in them and they're actually pretty comfortable.  I wouldn't want to run a marathon in them, but I think they'd get me through an out of town shopping trip without making me cry.  I'll count that as a success.

Feminine details

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm not really a girly-girl.  But I get in these moods....where makeup and nail polish, a new hairstyle and new clothes sound soooo good.  Been there recently, as a matter of fact.  Fortunately for my disposition, this time around I've actually been able to indulge.  Well, except for the makeup, which Chris hates and so I very seldom wear.   But I've started trying to keep my nails done - I love the "unusual" colors that have a hint of fun in them... like denim blue to match my work shirt, but I also love the more traditional coppery tones for autumn.  I've found the Pure Ice brand at Walmart has lots of luscious and fun colors!  And at 2 bucks a bottle, it's an affordable indulgence...

My hair and I have an ongoing battle going.  I like it long (I look completely stupid with short hair), but Chris likes it even longer, *laugh*   And while I like being able to pull it back for work, I also want to be able to wear it down and it not be completely boring.  I'm also really bad about just getting lazy and letting it go...and go...and go...before I'll get frustrated enough to do something, and then when I want it done, I want it done RIGHT THEN.  This doesn't usually work out so well, as my "RIGHT THEN"  usually isn't timed right with when salons are open or we have money!  However, this time it worked out and I'm sporting a pretty new hairstyle.  Still long, but added sideswept bangs and a side part.  Easy to maintain, and looks like I put some work into it, even though I didn't.  And the top is still long enough I can put it up.  Success!  Now if I can just keep it colored...

I was raised in Texas by a Southern mother.  She didn't go as far as the whole "no white shoes after Labor Day" stuff, but she had certain ideas of a bare minimum for a wardrobe.   I had let it get to what she would have considered desperation point: I owned two pair of jeans that fit, one pair of work pants, and one pair of ragged sweatpants that fit right.  And my t-shirts were mostly either stained or had a hole somewhere strategic.  Lucky for me, I have a husband who thinks that clothes are a necessity, not a luxury, and also knows that if left to my own devices, I won't buy anything. So, with his encouragement, I've fixed the wardrobe problem very nicely.  For example, I went to go remedy the sweatpants problem...and came home with not only two pair of sweatpants, but two long sleeved t-shirts to match, plus a grey ombre drapey cardigan - and that was only the first stop that day!  The complete haul, as of yesterday has been (besides the aforementioned):  two long sleeved thermal knit shirts, one in terracotta, one in a pretty sage-y green;  two pair of jeans that fit,one in black and one in faded stonewash, one pair of khaki cargo pants for work (and can also be worn for other things),   one black ruana, in crochet, and a new pair of work shoes.  I've also been trying to combat my Scottish soul's penchant for all black and gray stuff, because it doesn't stain and it all goes together...but I get tired of looking like I'm perpetually on my way to a funeral! 

Anyway, for a change I'm feeling rather well put together... still looking for a pair of ankle boots to go with weekend jeans though...