And now, a multinational book roundup!

March 10, 2012 in Books | Permalink

Purchased in print at the Chapters in Vancouver, on my and Dara’s Grand Four-Day Weekend of Marriage and Music:

  • The Rose Garden, by Susanna Kearsley. Historical/romance. And because she’s Susanna Kearsley!
  • River Thieves, by Michael Crummey. Grabbed this because it’s fiction set in Newfoundland, and because The Doyle Himself tweeted about it. We’ll see if it’s good!

Also purchased in print, once I got back from Canada, from my local B&N:

  • Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire. Because, well, userinfoseanan_mcguire is in general awesome. Looking forward to starting this new series, along with getting caught up on the Toby Daye books!

And, picked up as ebooks:

  • The Rose Garden, again by Susanna Kearsley. Yes, I bought it twice. Because the paperback is large and I’ll be better able to read the ebook on my commute, and also, B&N had it on sale for 2.99!
  • Crucible of Gold, by Naomi Novik. Because TEMERAIRE.

Up to 30 for the year.

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Great Atlantic Canadian Trainventure!

March 8, 2012 in Me | Permalink

As I posted on the social networks earlier tonight, Dara and I will very soon be commencing the formal planning of the Great Atlantic Canadian Trainventure! We are looking at a rough range of dates from July 21st through August 7th, as that’s about as much time off as I can spare and still account for Norwescon and for the minor oral surgery I have to have in May. (It’s a dental thing, and no real big deal, but I need to take a day off for it.)

We will be targeting arriving in St. John’s in Newfoundland on the 2nd so we can be there in time for the festival to start on the 3rd, and we’ll come home on the 6th, and I’ll take the 7th to get over being jetlagged and to decompress from OMG 2 1/2 weeks in Canada. :D

And that, O Internets, means that depending on when Dara and I can catch a train from Vancouver to Toronto, we will be arriving in Toronto somewhere between the 24th and 26th of July! We want to visit people in the Toronto area (including userinfocow and possibly also userinfoeeyorerin), but also to make bonus stops in Montreal and Moncton! So if you’re in any of these places OR within shouting distance of St. John’s, and you’d like to meet a couple of friendly and musical Cascadian elfchicks, I want to hear from you! Let me know if I should factor you into my plannings!

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Festival du Bois in Maillardville, BC, 3/3/2012

March 6, 2012 in Music | Permalink

Day 3 of my and Dara’s Grand Four-Day Weekend of Marriage and Music was Festival du Bois!

I wanted to go to this pretty much as soon as I found out that there was an entire festival of French Canadian and Acadian music going on the very same weekend we were coming up for Le Vent–and, of course, it made utter sense that the concert was being held in conjunction with the festival in question! We wound up only going on Saturday instead of both days, but nonetheless, the one day turned out to be quite fun indeed.

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Anna and Dara get Canada-married, 3/2/2012

March 6, 2012 in Me | 5 comments

This being Part 2, and the biggest part by far, of my and userinfosolarbird‘s Grand Four Day Weekend of Marriage and Music!

Though that said, it was also actually one of the simplest days of the entire weekend. Here’s the thing, O Internets: if you’ve read Elfquest, you’ll know what I mean when I say that Dara and I got as close as you can get in real life to Recognition, and we went from 0 to lifemates in pretty much no time flat. For us, there’s no particular difference between that and being legally married. This entire affair therefore was a lot more about just reinforcing the legal status as far as Canada (and hopefully soon by extension, the state of Washington) was concerned, as opposed to any real change in status between us as far as we are concerned.

So I hope I won’t disappoint any of you all when I say that this was the most relaxed and groovy wedding ceremony ever! We didn’t dress up, and we didn’t exchange rings–though we probably would have done the latter if Dara didn’t have an issue with rings that keeps her from wearing them (she gets a mild claustrophobia reaction off of them).

Here’s how the whole thing went!

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Le Vent du Nord at St. James Hall in Vancouver, 3/1/2012

March 5, 2012 in Music | 2 comments

As you know, O Internets, I was extremely eager for my first Le Vent Du Nord show. I’ve been getting ridiculous amounts of glee out of listening to their albums and watching their YouTube videos, and of course, I had the challenge laid down by fellow Le Vent fan Susan that in her considered opinion, Le Vent gives much better concerts than Great Big Sea! Which, of course, is a mighty challenge indeed to issue to this passionate Great Big Sea fangirl. And so, the question of the hour is: how did Le Vent do?

Let’s put it this way. I ain’t saying I’m throwing over The Doyle for Simon Beaudry, when it comes down to Most Favored Bouzouki Player Who Isn’t Dara–but I will say it’s a damn fine thing that I have room in my heart for all manner of joyous music. And love my B’ys as I do, they better be bringing their A game when they go back on tour next year, because the show Le Vent put on for us in Vancouver shot straight up to stratospheric levels of awesome, and it will be extremely hard to top.

I hadn’t been to a GBS show that tiny since they stopped playing the Showbox in Seattle, and the level of energy they let loose was every bit the rival of those earlier GBS shows. Le Vent might not have the same sheer physicality that the B’ys do; they don’t bounce around the stage the same way at all. But that’s every bit of quite all right, because all the energy they didn’t spend bouncing came right out their instruments. They were charming and funny, especially Réjean Brunet. Simon’s singing is a direct threat to the structural integrity of my knees. Olivier Demers does amazing things with his fiddle, especially given the amazing things he does at the same time with his feet. And Nicolas Boulerice? That man commands a room with his voice, and when he unleashed a solo that caused Dara to use the phrase “bitchin’ metal hurdy-gurdy solo”, he was channelling lightning.

But that’s just the picoreview! This being a patented Anna the Piper In-Depth Concert Squeefest, let me get into the details!

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Le Vent du Nord concert sneak peek

March 2, 2012 in Music | Permalink

The full extended play by play concert blog post is on the way, O Internets, but until I get back to my computer and can write it up properly (with pics because OH MY YES userinfosolarbird got some), let me share with you some prominent highlights!

  1. Dara being stunned to be able to use the phrase “bitchin’ metal hurdy-gurdy solo”
  2. Serious La Danse Verticale once the second set started and the show’s host and the band themselves started encouraging people to come up and dance
  3. Dancing with my girl, and singing along, while Simon Beaudry sang “Écris-moi”!
  4. I had a Cunning Plan come to fruition when the band came back out for the encore, and sang “Vive l’amour” for me and Dara and userinfomaellenkleth and userinfosiestabear! And Dara was all “what did you do?!” and I chirped “Surprise!” and then OMG champagne showed up, because fellow Le Vent fan Susan is made ENTIRELY OF AWESOME.
  5. And because M. Olivier Demers is also made entirely of awesome from his mighty fiddling hands down to his stompy, stompy feet, I made a point of going over to thank him to his face for the band’s participation in the aforementioned Cunning Plan! And he gave me and Dara and maellenkleth all hugs and the very French air kiss to each cheek!

Stand by for the full report in technicolor glory on Sunday!

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2012 Book Log #9: Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm, by Brian Michael Bendis and Kelly Sue DeConnick

February 27, 2012 in Book Log | Permalink

Richard Castle's Deadly Storm: A Derrick Storm Mystery (Derrick Storm, #1)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As any good fan of the TV show Castle knows, Nikki Heat is by no means Richard Castle’s first famous character. The show starts off with his concluding his long-running Derrick Storm series, and the particular explosive ending he gives those books is a nice little character development point for Castle since it leads right into why he tags along with the NYPD. And given the success of the Nikki Heat tie-in novels, it was pretty much inevitable that additional material involving Derrick Storm would be eventually made available to us fans. This time around, though, they’ve elected to give us a graphic novelization of the “first Derrick Storm novel”.

It’s a clever choice, and certainly provides some nice variety for the Castle tie-in material as well as general versimilitude–since quite a few well-known authors in SF have graphic novelizations of their work going, such as Jim Butcher and Richelle Mead. But the important question is, as a graphic novel, does Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm work?

Art-wise, it will probably surprise no one who glances through this work that Derrick Storm comes out looking suspiciously Nathan-Fillion-esque. Other than that, I vacillated between quite liking several panels and being indifferent to several others, so I ultimately came out uncertain if I liked the art style. Story-wise, I was definitely ambivalent. It read like a truncated version of a meatier story–certainly, given the overall style of the Nikki Heat novels, this seemed much jerkier of pacing by comparison. And while this might only add to the versimilitude of a “graphic novel adaptation”, it nonetheless left me wishing I’d actually gotten a novel version of this story instead.

All in all if you’re enough of a Castle fan to be a completist, you might want to pick this up. Otherwise, for now, the Nikki Heat novels are actually more amusing. Two stars.

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And now, a Books Released by Awesome People roundup!

February 21, 2012 in Books | Permalink

Acquired because I supported its Kickstarter YAY!:

  • Matchbox Girls, by Chrysoula Tzavelas. Because Willowholt writers FTW! I have no idea what it’s about and I’ll look forward to finding out, because Soula is Tribe. I have the ebook edition already, and the print edition should be on the way.

Bought from B&N as ebooks to add to the “repurchased as ebooks” list:

  • Cry Wolf and Hunting Ground, by Patricia Briggs. Urban fantasy; books 1 and 2 of her Alpha and Omega series.
  • Indigo Springs, by A.M. Dellamonica. Fantasy (I think this is more fantasy than UF, anyway, but I don’t know for sure). Book 1 of the Astrid Lethewood series.
  • Instruments of Darkness and Anatomy of Murder, by Imogen Robertson. Mystery; books 1 and 2 of her Crowther and Westerman series. I’ve already read Book 1 and found it excellent! Book 2 just came out.

Bought from Carina Press, because they sent me a coupon code and because of general awesomeness on the part of Zoe Archer:

  • The Last Night, by Nico Rosso. SF/romance. Picked up because Nico Rosso is the husband of Zoe Archer, and I want to see if his writing is as fun as hers!
  • Chain Reaction, by Zoe Archer. SF/romance. See previous commentary re: general awesomeness.
  • Lesserblood Lies, by Ainsley Davidson. SF/romance. Detecting a general genre theme here, folks?

And last but not least, oh my no, picked up in print from B&N tonight:

  • Frenchman’s Creek, by Daphne du Maurier. Because 1) French pirate hero WOO! and 2) apparently, after reading Rebecca, I continue to need more du Maurier in my library.
  • Raven Calls, by C.E. Murphy. Because it goes without saying that I’ll be all over a new Walker Papers from userinfomizkit on Release Day. :D

36 for the year!

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2011 Book Log #46: The Thirteenth House, by Sharon Shinn

February 16, 2012 in Book Log | Permalink

The Thirteenth House

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I read Sharon Shinn’s first book in her Twelve Houses series, I found it a bit shaky in its initial chapters, at least till it got its feet under it. I was very pleased to discover that I had no such problem with Book 2, The Thirteenth House.

This book continues the adventures of the overall cast of characters established in Mystic and Rider as they pursue the greater plot arc of anti-magic sentiment sweeping their kingdom and threatening to plunge them all into outright war. However, the focus shifts now from Senneth and Tayse over to the shapeshifter Kirra, whose participation in the rescue of their king’s kidnapped regent, Lord Romar, leads to a stormy affair with said regent. The catch: Romar is married, and Kirra is impersonating her own half-sister. Between that and Kirra’s need to keep her true identify and her talents secret, the affair is perilous to them both. Kirra’s soon swamped in intrigue–and comes under the threat of the ringleaders of the growing potential rebellion.

Overall I liked this book quite a bit, despite the fact that as a character, Kirra is definitely more flawed than Senneth. She’s impulsive to a fault, and at first this is frustrating. Yet she did well riding the line between “I want to smack her for her choices” and “I am nonetheless sympathizing with her”, and she shows some admirable development when faced with the consequences of her actions. (Even as she’s ultimately forced into a difficult and ethically shady choice indeed, about which I shall not elaborate, because spoilers.)

I did also like Romar, and was relieved to see that Shinn did not go the too-easy route of making his wife unlikeable. Some readers may find the fact that Kirra’s carrying on with a married man ethically shady all by itself; if you’re one of those readers, this book won’t be for you. But for what it’s worth, I did appreciate that Shinn didn’t make it easy on either character.

On the bigger level of the overall story arc, I liked the advancements in this one quite a bit. After I finished this one off as a library checkout, I went ahead and committed to buying the series, and I’ll look forward to finishing them off. For this one, four stars.

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Book roundup time again

February 16, 2012 in Books | Permalink

Recently purchased in print from B&N, one in-store and the other by mail order:

  • Unbroken, by Rachel Caine. Urban fantasy, Book 4 of her Outcast Season series.
  • In the Dead of Winter, by Abbey Pen Baker. Mystery. This is a Holmes-universe novel that’s proposing that the daughter of Irene Adler is herself a famous detective, and has a loyal partner who helps her solve crimes and chronicles their adventures. So essentially, “gender-flipped version of Holmes and Watson without actually being Holmes and Watson”. Saw a review from Laurie R. King (who knows something about Holmesian novels, I daresay) speaking well of this, so I wanted to check it out. Ordering was my only option, though, since local libraries were for once not terribly helpful in tracking it down.

Meanwhile, picked up electronically from B&N, all re-buys of books previously owned in print:

  • All three books of the Sign of Seven trilogy, by Nora Roberts. Paranormal romance. Y’all may recall I was a little wibbly on how much I liked this, but I do like me some Nora in general and I wanted to keep these around even if I didn’t want to retain print copies.
  • The first three books of the Mercy Thompson series, by Patricia Briggs. Urban fantasy. Shifting Briggs over to electronic buying since she’s got a lot of work at this point, which translates to a lot of shelf space, and I think I want her electronically instead.

This brings me to 25 for the year.

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