New Books on the Way

I've been busy online shopping the last few weeks.  With all this rain there's nothing better than curling up on the couch or snuggling amongst my doona on the bed, and reading a great book.  There are so many good books out these days, and buying online I can get titles sooner (and a hell of a lot cheaper) than I can in Australia.

So what do I have in the post you ask?  Well... I can't stay away from a few of the trashy para-romances.  I have to have my Patricia Briggs fix so "River Marked" is definitely on the list.  I should be picking up Eileen Wilkes new offering in her Lupi series today as the nice postman put a parcel delivery notice in my letterbox.  This should keep me occupied this afternoon.  Next to arrive should be "Archangel's Consort" by Nalini Singh.  Now I usually avoid the whole Angel genre, but I was drawn in by her characters.  She makes you just want to reach into the book and give Raphael either a kick in the butt or a hug.  Illium is wonderful and the angel that's fascinated with humans, and Elena sometimes breaks your heart as she struggles to embrace her new immortal life.  Darn, I've just made myself want to read it now.  Have to hold on till next week.

Then yesterday, I caved in and bought 3 - count them three - omnibuses ladies and gentlemen.  I had to have the Aurora Teagarden Omnibus (Vol 1 & 2).  PS - If your reading this in Australia DON'T get them from the major booksellers for $35.99.  Head over to Book Depository for Vol. 2 at $16.95, and Amazon UK for the other volume which with P&H works out to just over $20.  I also bought the Lily Bard Omnibus at Amazon for about £8.40!  That's dirt cheap compared to Aussie bookshops.  I mean what is a bookshelf without these wonderful books by Charlaine Harris?  And since I'm studying to become a librarian, I have to have a least one series with a mystery solving librarian at it's heart now don't I.

I did find one series that may take a little reading to get into.  Phryne Fisher is an independent wealthy woman (28) who solves murders in the late 1920's in Melbourne.  She's a gun totting, alcohol loving lady who seems to find more cases than Miss Marple.  I've got 2 of the books so far.  They seem okay, but I think I'll have to get the first one 'Cocaine Blues' before I truly decide that this is a new series to get.  Kerry Greenwood writes well, and you do loose yourself in the world of 1920's Melbourne.  One of the audio books I borrowed from the local library included an interview with her.  It turns out that these books are researched for about 4 months and only written in about 2-3 weeks!  I wish I  could do that.

So that's the end of my little buying spree.  I've got my next list up and running.  I'm over the paranormal hump and settling quite nicely into the police thrillers.  I've been following the Karen Rose books.  I absolutely loves "I'm Watching You".  I have read it about 10 times now, and it was the first book of hers that I bought.  If you like a little bit of archaeology thrown in with your detective work, then try the first of her trilogy "Die for Me".  The most of the characters found in the series end up with a book of their own.  The Reagan brothers (both detectives), the Ciccotelli's (Vito and Tessa), and co-workers of theirs.  They are wonderful books, gritty and the author is not afraid to make her characters vulnerable.  The next book out "You Belong to Me" should be great.  I'm waiting - not patiently either - for this to come out in mass market paperback (UK cover thanks) before I read it.  Wish me luck.

January Round-Up

January has been a bitch of a month here.  By early January it seemed like the rain would never stop.  There was no sunshine, no birds, just rain and wind.  Now, I love all that wet weather, but I found that even I have my limits on how wet it should be.  We've were housebound for a week.  The ground was so saturated that even walking on it was like walking on mud.  There was no way the cars were coming out of the shed.
As you would have seen on the news, January 10, 2011 was a horror day for Queensland.  I was at home watching the news when the wall of water swept through Toowoomba and down the Lochyer Valley towards Brisbane.  Unfortunately this coincided with more water released from Wivenhoe Dam (which was sitting at 192% capacity) and king tides to ensure that Brisbane would see it's first major flooding event since 1974.  Now, my mum lived through '74.  She lost everything but her cat, and I'm so thankful that we were nowhere near those areas.  I don't think mum could have gone through it again. 

heading south - on route to shopping centre

local shopping centre - shops actually built on raised ground!

Up till the 19th, we'd measured over 19 inches of rain.  That doesn't include the deluge we've had since November last year, or the storms since the 19th.  This is the wettest month that I can remember. If it continues like this everything will be damp and mouldy.... eww.  And to top it all off there is a cyclone - a hurricane to those in the US - that is set to hit around Townsville on Monday, and another forming off Fiji that should also head our way.   We just can't seem to get a break at the moment.  If it's not flooding here, and in Victoria, then it's bushfires in Western Australia and heatwaves in Adelaide!

Over the last week it seemed like the clouds had finally run out of water to dump on us.  It's been hot and muggy (thanks to the ground being waterlogged), but it was nice to have the sun on your face.  Now today, the 30th, seems to be a reminder that the weather can so easily change.  It was sunny this morning, now it's overcast and looks like more rain!  Geez, what am I.... a duck!