Not Quite a Confession: Biweekly Update

I must confess the Confessions of an Insomniac Book Devourer grow hard to write, especially when I am having a relatively uninspired week and it rains ceaselessly (no joke) and that causes my pain to flare. So instead of forcing myself to write five to six paragraphs about a bookish subject, I will entertain you with my recent acquisitions, what I've read (admittedly not much since the rain), and dish out some of my favorite blog posts of the two weeks. And also... random things. Kind of like Weekend Update on SNL, with books and fewer corny jokes.

Note: Confessions of an Insomniac Book Devourer will still be an active feature, for the times when I'm feeling inspired and willing to discuss bookish things. This is a fill in for times when my brain malfunctions.

Recent Acquisitions (or the Piling of the-Piles):

(Kindle Daily Deal)

Walker Paper Series

Both the Night Huntress and Walker Papers were Kindle Daily Deals, and I have low resistance to Kindle Daily Deals, so I bought all of the Night Huntress and the first four of the Walker Papers.

I hadn't heard of the Walker Papers but as soon as I heard Irish/Native American I was forced to buy. Because that's sort of my ancestry- a large part Irish slash Norwegian slash German slash Scottish with a distant dash of Native American. I know, you could call me David Sawitzky. Also, I'm cozying up to the idea of Urban Fantasy.... but just those without the Boobs Debacles.

Night Huntress I had heard of, but I'm usually unwilling to pay full price for a series, so I waited for it to become a Kindle Daily Deal. Anything with a half-vampire heroine who hates vampires has to be more than a little bit interesting.

I also found this- Citadel by Kate Mosse, a book I've been scouring thrift shops for two years to find. Oddly, it was either a monthly deal for the Kindle or a countdown deal, but either way I'm glad I found it. It's the third in the Languedoc series, which is a past/present historical thriller type of series. My favorite was the first, Labyrinth, but it appears I'm one of the few who actually liked these books, so I'll have to review them soon.

Currently Reading:
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) I'm about halfway through and a bit worried. The characters are likeable enough, but it's really more Paranormal Romance than Urban Fantasy. The covers are actually an accurate depiction of what she wears while hunting, which is somewhat disturbing to me.

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) I haven't read that much of it yet, but I expect it to be good. And hopefully no lingerie as battle attire.

Finished These Books:
The Curse Giver was recommended to me by both Amazon and Goodreads because I liked Entreat Me. However, it dragged on for me due to multiple POVs, frustration over no good information given about the curse, and a few other things that irked me. I marked this as not-my-cup-of-coffee because not everyone is as critical as me, and the little things that irk me may not bother anyone else.

The first three books of the Dark Hunter series: I'm glad I didn't buy more of them because they were again, not my cup of coffee. I found the Dark Hunters easy to bait, too perfect (and probably more pretty than the girls, if that's possible). On the third book the only characters I liked (or believed may be actual people) were Acheron and Simi (his demon).

In the Blogosphere:
  Book Blogs:
   Book Reviews:
     The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of WWII (Cute Peach)
     Ebony Rising (Nessie at Innocent Smiley)
     The Fault In Our Stars (The Hardcover Lover)
   Other:
     Update aka I'm Back! (Book Dancer)
     Adults and YA -- Should There Be A Cut Off Age (This Girl Reads a Lot!)
     Mid-Year Book Freakout! (Anatea's Bookshelf)
  Fashion and Lifestyle:
     The Happiness Project: Day 5 (Bearika Rose)
     Simply Be's Secrets to Summer Confidence (The Human Mannequin)
     6 Must-Have Sweaters For Fall (I AM A FASHIONEER)

In My Life:
So, if you've seen my monthly updates, you'll probably know I've been scraping off five layers of wallpaper in my bedroom. Being that the house I live in was built in 1903, I was surprised I didn't find more wallpaper layers- all the one's I've found are Union-made and therefore from about the 70's, but I think the base layer was from the 40's to 50's.

One night I was scraping away and came to a loose patch. A very loose patch. As if there were nothing beneath the wallpaper. I found this:

What is it, you ask? Why, my room used to have a coal or wood-burning stove- and wasn't dependent on the radiator I have now for heat. It makes a lot of sense, because there is an unaccounted-for space in the hallway that isn't part of either bedroom. It was a chimney.

And so, instead of closing the chimney-outlet off, a former owner decided to wallpaper over it. And now my plans include closing that hole off in addition to texturing the room. I hope dearly there will be no more little surprises beneath the other wallpaper I have yet to scrape off.

So if I seem grumpy at all lately, it's probably because I got the black lung from breathing in all that dusty, disturbing chimney smoke.

Until Tuesday,