What I'm Currently Reading

Don't worry folks! This doesn't mean I'm not writing!

But I don't like bring my laptop or my Kindle to the Day Job since we've caught a couple of people in the employee area. (Yeah, right, sure you were looking for the bathroom.) So I only bring paperbacks for my breaks since people are less likely to steal them.

I finished L.A. Banks' Conquer the Dark over New Year's. You can tell Ms. Banks rushed to finish this before she became too sick to write. Still, the story has the depth, humor, and passion that all her books have. It saddens me that this is the last new books of hers that I'll ever read.

I also finally had time to read Stephanie Bond's last book in her Southern Roads series, Baby, Don't Go. The beginning of the book with its militant feminism was a little too '70's for me, but once you're past the first five chapters, the story rolls with Ms. Bond's usual humor and charm.

I'm still working my way through Jim Butcher's Side Jobs, an anthology of his Harry Dresden short stories, most of which I've read before. The story The Warrior has my all-time favorite quote: "Harry Dresden. Saving the world through one random act of destruction at a time."

I finally pulled Urban Legend by Erica Orloff from the TBR pile. This one was published in 2004 as part of Silhouette's Bombshell line, and yes, I'd bought it new. Shows you the size of my TBR pile. LOL I'll report on this one once I get into it.

Have a great Valentine's Day, my readers! I wish you lots of chocolate and love!

Why Reading Is Like Vegetables

Like a lot of parents, I had trouble getting my son to read. Things were clicking along until he hit five and started to school. Then we had the Kindergarten Teacher from Hell. The one who told my kid when he stumbled over one word that if he couldn't read he was stupid. What didn't help was the shift (at the same time) in our neighborhood from parents who encouraged education to parents who viewed the public school system as free babysitting.

Around the same time, GK decided he hated vegetables because all the other kids at school hated vegetables.

*sigh*

Threats do not work with GK. They never have. I've had to use a lot of stealth techniques in the areas of both vegetables and reading to maintain his appropriate growth rate.

The Bait and Switch


I pretend I can't find X vegetable or book. "Why don't you do Y instead to fulfill your requirements?"


The Bargain


If you eat X number of vegetable pieces (read X number of pages), you can play X minutes on the Xbox.


Reverse Psychology


We take GK to see X movie ("Hey, there's a book about X movie, but don't read it"). Or we order X vegetable at a restaurant and say he can't have any. GK will partake because thinks he's getting away with something.


Substitutions

Since GK loves the Halo video game and Strawberry Pop-Tarts, I'll say, "Why don't you read a Halo novel while snacking on fresh strawberries."

So, what do y'all do to interest your kid in things they need but hate?

What I'm Currently Reading

With home school, the Day Job gearing up for the holiday retail season, and editing the next two Bloodlines novels for release as well as writing the next Seasons of Magick story, my personal reading time has been limited.  That doesn't mean I haven't been reading at all!

I recently finished the first two books in Stephanie Bond's Southern Romance trilogy, Baby, Drive South and Baby, Come Home.  Baby, Don't Go will be out November 15th (and will probably be my Thanksgiving quiet time before the insanity that is Black Friday). For more info (and a free prequel story!), go to Stephanie's website.

Last Thursday, I finished Bone Magic, the seventh book in Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld series. Not a good place to hop on if you're new to the series. But for long time readers, I've got two words for you--Trillian's back!

The book currently in my bag is L.A. Banks's Surrender the Dark. I've already bought the sequel, Conquer the Dark. I'm very sad that these were the last two books Miz Leslie completed before she passed away this summer. Her stories will be sorely missed by her fans.

The current couch book is Jim Butcher's Side Jobs, a collection of previously published Dresden Files short stories along with a couple of tales never published.

Last night though, I downloaded Crazy Emma by Brandie Buckwine. It was a cute, erotic short, just right after the store re-vamp at the Day Job.

So, let me know what's on your reading plate. Any good recommendations out there?