Books and Announcements and Notes (but not in that order)

I'm back in school, and have had to pack up all my books and leave them behind, so my read-through-the-shelves project is on hold until further notice. My coursework looks fun and interesting, but I'm totally going to miss not having novels as homework.  

Beyond the Highland Mist, by Karen Marie Morning. This is smut, which I chose because, requiring little thought and attention, it's easy to read on a plane. That reading was last week and, looking back, I'm having a hard time distinguishing it in my mind from various other crap. They are all the same.  

The Bondmaid, by Catherine Lim. I think this story could have been more powerful if certain aspects had been more strongly stressed, especially things like the year and historical significance. Still, this book did a good job of capturing the culture, and I enjoyed it.  

Desirable Daughter, by Bharait Mukherjee. This book was poorly written. The main story was not tied in well to the introduction, and the topic or time line jumped around randomly, with big gaps where transitions are commonly placed. I'm not sure how well the culture was captured, since it was difficult to understand what was going on some of the time.  

The Black Jewels Trilogy, by Anne Bishop. I'm counting this as one book, but it's really three books in one volume: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of the Darkness. The story moved along quickly, although I would have liked more background and back story, and, toward the final book, there got to be way to many characters to keep track of easily. I also didn't like how the author followed day-to-day life for a while, and then would jump ahead five years with no mention of intervening events.

The dining center in the basement of my building has pictures from How Are You Peeling? on the walls. I love it!