Flailing with glee

I just saw that there will be a new Vorkosi-verse book out next year from Bujold!  I had to do a flail-y happy dance!  (It’s a good thing today was a telework day, because my dancing would probably scare my colleagues.)

From Bujold’s GoodReads blog:

I am pleased to report that a new Cordelia Vorkosigan novel has been sold to Baen Books for publication, tentatively, in February of 2016.
The title is Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.
It is not a war story. It is about grownups.
And that is probably all I ought to say right now in a venue read by the spoiler-sensitive. It is, after all, a long haul till next February.
2016 will also mark the 30th anniversary of my first publication by Baen, which ought to be good for a little PR fun.
Ta, L.

On the reading front, a friend recommended Robert Dugoni’s My Sister’s Grave.  I enjoyed it, but as the end approached I felt pretty manipulated in a cheap way by the author.  I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to read other Dugoni books (he has another series and may be planning more for this one).

C

*dusts off cobwebs*

My reading has been a little thin for the last week.

I finished Blood of Tyrants, which I have mixed feelings about:  it’s better than some of the other installments, but includes a lot of telling rather than showing and its pace is kind of wonky.  The ending left me feeling as if the book is really half of the installment.  Look, I get cliffhangers, but when you drag me through Japanese politics, then Chinese politics, before getting to Napoleon in Russia?  And then leave in the middle of the Russian conflict?  Meh.

Laurence’s amnesia felt somewhat pointless in terms of plot, although it was a little entertaining if only to demonstrate how his own moral compass has shifted since he left the Navy and joined the Aerial Corps.

 

Other things of interest:

• Jordan Castillo Price’s next PsyCop book will be out on Aug 30th
• Lois McMaster Bujold has donated manuscripts to Northern Illinois University’s library (h/t Teach Me Tonight)
• Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, which I enjoyed very much, has been adapted for the stage and will be playing at New York’s Public Theater this fall

In the works

I have two reviews partially written:  one of the BDSM holiday anthology, O Come All Ye Kinky, and one of Tigerland by Sean Kennedy.   Maybe they’ll be finished this weekend?  My first winter cold is waning at last, so after taking care of some work stuff and holiday prep, there should be time to finish at least one of them…

Sunday evening

Sunday evening always seems like a wistful sort of stretch of time to me.  The weekend is ending, so no more relaxation, and it’s time to gear up for the week ahead.  Dinner made and cleaned up, lunches for the week planned and/or packed, wardrobe planned so I’m not staring vacantly at a godsawful hour in the morning and wondering what I ought to wear and do I have any meetings that make a suit more appropriate than business casual.

What I read this weekend:  not much fiction.  Did finish Gravitational Attraction by Angel Martinez, a m/m science fiction novel; the sci-fi worked well but the romance aspect was too tell-tell-tell and fated mate for me.

Saw on Twitter that New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction is available for Kindle at $9.99, which is a much more attractive price than the $40 paperback.

Oddly, Ahmed Rashid’s Descent Into Chaos is not available for Kindle…but the update to it *is* available for $2.99.  WTH, Amazon?  Rashid’s new book on Afghanistan and Pakistan is available, but I’d like to read the other one first, please.

The next K.A. Mitchell book, But My Boyfriend Is, has a page with a blurb and pre-order button already even though it is not due out until August.  Want!  *sigh*  So impatient.

Coming soon:  a review of Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S.Gina Choi.  In short: it was awesome.  Longer version later.

Check out Steve Tignor’s love letter to Madrid.  Between that and FortyDeuce‘s tweets, I’ve been wishing I was in Madrid this week, enjoying the tennis and Retiro Park and stopping for a tart or sweet from La Mallorquina in the Puerta del Sol.

The Dairy Queen commercial for ice cream cakes for Mother’s Day seriously squicks me — it’s the bubbles filled with kittens.  They remind me of a scene in Bujold’s Cetaganda, in which that idiot Ivan plucks fruit from a kitten tree, only to realize that since it wasn’t ripe, he’d essentially killed a fetal kitten.  Ick ick ick.  There’s a lot of subtext and ethical undercurrents to the Cetagandan genetic manipulation and scientific experiments, but that image of a dead kitten made me ill when I first read it.  I have to skip that scene when I re-read the book.

Have I mentioned how much I like Panic’s The Ballad of Mona Lisa?  Also, I have a ticket (via The Biochemist) for their show as part of the DC101 cook-off/festival at RFK in a couple of weeks…but it turns out I have a graduation party at the same time 😦

SBD?

It’s Monday, and thus time for SBD.  But I’ve got nothing.  Spent all day talking — doing training for new employees.  My voice is gone and my feet hurt.  So instead of the SBD, my dear readers (all 2 of you) get a whine.

And a plug — K.A. Mitchell’s Not Knowing Jack is out tomorrow!  So I’ll have something for SBD next week.

And now I’m off to drink wine and eat chocolate.  Or maybe just to lapse into an exhausted sleep. 

My crush, let me show you it

My crush on Nathan Fillion grows ever larger.  Between the hammy reading of Richard Castle’s book at Comic Con; the whole Mal Reynolds Firefly/Serenity thing and now this?  I’m all *hearteyes*.  Read this bit of information over at ALA’s website and then tell me that he isn’t a thousand times sexier for being a supporter of reading.

The first few chapters of Bujold’s new Vorkosigan novel, CryoBurn, are available at Baen.  If the direct link doesn’t work, click on the Webscription link at the top of the main Baen page, which will take you to CryoBurn‘s ARC page, where there is a link to the chapters.  I haven’t read them yet, but am somewhat intrigued by the book summary.  Of course, it’ll be an autobuy for me just because it’s a new Miles book.

I ordered a case/cover for my refurbished Kindle (known as The Hairball, because for some reason my cat loves to lay on it, which leaves it covered in cat hair).  Anyway, it’s been more than two weeks since I ordered it, so I poked the vendor.  Oh, sorry, busy.  Okay, but if it was going to be delayed, just say so; yes, you risk losing a sale, but with adjusted expectations, I would be much more inclined to leave positive feedback for you as a seller.

The Legg Mason Tennis Classic is on.  Have tickets to the Round of 16 on Thursday.  Don’t need to go to the semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday, right?  Right?

Picnic at Mom’s yesterday.  Her deviled eggs are the best ever.  Something about the ratio of bacon bits to relish to seasoning just rocks.  Nana’s Chocolate Cake, too, yum.  And steamed crabs.  Brought some home and picked them this evening.  Crab cakes for dinner tomorrow 🙂
 

Miles sighting!

Check out the blurb for the next (last?) Miles Vorkosigan book, Cryoburn, over at Simon & Schuster’s website.  (Via LMB’s myspace RSS feed)

Query:  what relationship does Baen have with S&S?  I thought Baen was an independent publisher.  No?  Do they distribute/sell through S&S?

Books I’m looking forward to in 2010

The TBR is huge, but I still look forward to adding to it! Here are some of the books I’m looking forward to in 2010. March, April, June and July look to be exceptional months for reading at Chez JMC.

January

Two January releases actually arrived on my doorstep in December, so I’m no longer looking forward to them.  [Scoundrel’s Kiss by Carrie Lofty and Proof of Seduction by Courtney Milan] That leaves Seressia Glass’s urban fantasy novel, Shadow Blade, to anticipate later this month.  I’ve read a couple of her older contemporary romances, and this new release has gotten some good buzz online.

February

Lessons in Seduction by Charlie Cochrane 

Sixth in the series, the Cambridge Fellows take a high profile case, investigating the death of the king’s ex-mistress.  There’s no excerpt up yet, but the blurb is here.

I love the cover art for this series, btw.  The color tones and the consistency across books.  I believe the same artist has designed all six covers, but am too lazy to check the credits at the moment.

March

March is going to be a happy reading month for me, it seems!  Urban fantasy, YA adventure, gay romance and mystery.  Who could ask for anything more?

Roadkill by Rob Thurman
Cal & Niko are back! I sort of wondered if the series was over, since Thurman left the brothers in a semi-safe and comfortable place at the end of the last book, so I’m glad to be able to read more of their adventures.

The Dark Farewell by Josh Lanyon There’s an excerpt up at Samhain, but no cover art yet. 

No Souvenirs by KA Mitchell 3/9/10 No cover art or excerpt, but description is here. 

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner 3/25/10
Sophos! Gen! Eddis! Attolia! At last!

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs 3/30/10

April

Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre 
Book #2 of the Corine Solomon series

A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin 
Book #3 of the Adelia Aguilar medieval forensic mystery series.

Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
Collection of novellas; have read early versions of some of them, when they were originally posted on Armstrong’s website. Looking forward to reading polished versions, along with additional new material.

Am feeling ambivalent about the next BDB book, which is supposed to be John Matthew’s. Haven’t read Ward’s angel spin off series, and am basically over the series, but may read this one (borrow from library? not paying hard back prices) to wrap up my reading of the series.

May

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews 
Ignore the boobs that are about to pop out of the push up bra and impede Kate’s swing; pretend there is no "sticker" on the bottom.  This book is going to be an adventure, I’m sure.

June

Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly 
There’s no information available on this book yet, other that the generic page at Amazon, not even on the Harlequin Historicals page at eharlequin.com. But I’m thrilled to read more by Carla Kelly, and am assuming this is the final installment of her naval trilogy. Is it too early to be wondering what Ms. Kelly will be writing next?

July

Demon Blood by Meljean Brook
More Guardians!  Probably I should read Demon Forged before this comes out.  Seven months, plenty of time…

Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik 
No cover art yet, but some info about the setting of the book here.

October

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
There’s no hard release date for this one yet, or cover art.  Am looking forward to Brooks’ steampunk debut.

November

CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold
This is the long awaited new Miles Vorkosigan novel.  TBH, I had sort of assumed that the Miles series was over, since it had been so long since Diplomatic Immunity.  Thrilled to learn otherwise 🙂  There is no cover art or blurb yet that I could find, and the only mention of a release date is at LMB’s website, not Baen Books. 

SBD: December ebooks I’m looking forward to

Beth’s away in San Francisco, leaving us to our own devices for SBD.

I don’t have anything to say about what I’ve read lately, other than to reiterate my irritation with typos and sloppy copyediting. (See below for a recent tally.)

What I do have is a list of December ebook releases that I’m awaiting impatiently. Paper books? Eh. When I skimmed a list of December releases, nothing really jumped out at me except the reissue of an old Victoria Holt romance.

On my e-TBB list:
December 1: An Improper Holiday by K.A. Mitchell, a historical holiday novella. Summary and excerpt available here.
December 15: Lessons in Temptation by Charlie Cochrane, fifth Cambridge Fellows mystery.
December 22: The Dark Tide by Josh Lanyon, the fifth (and final) Adrien English mystery. There’s no "coming soon" page yet, but an unedited excerpt is available here.
December 22: The Cadaver Client by Frank Tuttle. Book 4 of the Markhat Files. Probably I should read books 2 and 3 before book 4 is released. The first book of the series, Dead Man’s Rain, was a free Kindle book and got me hooked.

The running list of blatant typos/copyediting misses in last read — yes, all from one book!

• Waive and wave are not interchangeable.
• Same for human and humane.
• Diffuse and defuse not only do NOT sound the same, they have completely different meanings.
• One may be a nervous wreck, not a nervous wreak.
• There is no such thing as peppercini; there is peperoncini.
• They probably tried to help the slower kid, not "they tired to help".
• A baby doll tee is not the same as a halter top; having a character wear one at the beginning of the scene but the other at the end would only make sense if she changed clothing during the scene. But she didn’t.

Sentence that I read and loved in my current read: His hair was a marvelous haystack of auburn and orange. (A.M. Riley’s The Elegant Corpse.)