Initially books in review, but more 'bout Brothers

First off, Jared was not impressed that I hadn't mentioned the male counterpart of my family in being wonderful in my last posts.

Jared is wonderful! We IM every once in a while and I call him when I buy cool shoes like his (Adidas... he knew what kind of shoes they were as soon as I asked. I guess he must be smart like me). He tells me about the weather in Montana and asks how my exercising is going. Jared won't do a triathlon cuz he thinks he can't swim. I think all he needs is a little encouragement :-).

Nathan is also wonderful cuz he offers to "take care" of anyone that messes with me (can't be too specific cuz a couple people at work found my blog. Sad. Now I have to be nice). He also takes me to see a way cool Dam so I can have a Dam post. He's also always on the lookout for potential ECs. Always OK with that!

Aaron takes care of all my electronic needs and almost ALWAYS answers the phone when I call (cuz its strapped to his belt like all the nerdy engineers I work with... um... did I say that?). And my father. He calls every fast Sunday to make sure I have a current temple recommend and if I still love my car. He also worries when I road trip and calls often to make sure I am being safe and not talking on the cell phone while driving.

There... On to the books! This is gonna spill out onto another post. This post has gotten long.

Favorite Authors:
L.M. Montgomery - she is very predictable but still fun to read. My favorites: "Blue Castle", "A Tangled Web", "Rilla of Ingleside"
James Harriot - Gotta LOVE books about animals and their owners. People are so funny and I love the way he describes them. Nonjudgmental but definitely showing the humor.
Robin McKinley - Young Adult Fantasy. She used to be one of my all time favorites with "The Blue Sword" and "Beauty". Her newest YA book is called "Dragon Haven". But then I was at the bookstore and saw an adult book written by her in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section about vampires called "Sunshine". I was so excited to find a NEW book by her! Unfortunately, it was rated R in 2 places. I was so sad because I was so enjoying the premise and story. If anyone would like to read my edited book (with white out), I can loan it to u.
Garth Nix - Young Adult Fantasy. I like his new "Keys to the Kingdom" series with each book taking place in such a different environment, but its so hard to wait for the next one! I started the Aborson series but didn't like the first book as much as the rest that followed in the series.
Cornelia Funk - I hesitated to add her as one of my favorite authors because I haven't read all her books, but I very much enjoyed the Inkheart series and just read and enjoyed "Thief Lord". I've never felt the need to read "Dragon Rider" and probably won't until someone tells me they liked it. I've never been interested in the 'Yankee in King Authors Court' plot line.
Shannon Hale - YA Fantasy. I first discovered her as a Newberry Award Winner with "Princess Academy". It was so great that I read more of her books. I loved the ones I read so much that I keep forgetting I haven't read all of hers!
Allison Croggen - YA Fantasy. I loved her initial book of "The Naming", but the series is starting to get a little long.
For the younger set Angie Sage and her Septemius Heap series. Its so funny.. kind of like Sesame Street with the Adults getting most of the jokes.

There's a start. You may notice that these are all Young Adult Books. After Robert Jordan did me in with his long and never ending series (because he passed away!), I bounced through other Fantasy/Sci-Fi books but wasn't too impressed with the ess ee ex, dumb story lines, and poor writing. There are a couple of authors that I could tell u about that I liked (Tad Williams, Kate Elliot, L. E. Modesitt (obvious ex Mormon), Juliet Marillier, Orson Scott Card) but those certainly wouldn't be in my Favorites. Then I decided I wanted to see how many of the Newberry Award winners I had read. It sure was ALOT (we had tons of them in my home.. go MOM!), but there were so many I hadn't read. This took me to the children's area at the bookstore and all the good books there. I also started listening to books on CD while I exercised. This introduced me to Garth Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom" and the "Fablehaven" series by Brandon Mull. I also listened to Sharon Creech's "Heartbeat" and really enjoyed it, but I don't think I woulda liked it if I had read the book.

OK, I could go on and on and on, but I will save that for another post. I love books but tend to stick with the Fantasy/Sci-Fi cuz if u just pick up a book off the shelf the likelihood of es ee ex is much less than any other genre.

I'll need 2 go to the library 2 write down the authors NOT to read. And perhaps some movie reviews (for Eliza).