Thursday Thirteen (Photo Essay)

Doing my part to go green!

I've had this Trek 800 since 1985! It's traveled up and down Highway 101 between Carlsbad and Del Mar (CA), out to Fiesta Island from Kearney Mesa (CA), around Fort Worth, Texas (not too often since it was far too hot to ride!) and on many of Lincoln's wonderful bike trails. And now it's my current mode of transportation to work (weather permitting). I can make it to work (roughly 4.5 miles on the bike path) in just about 25 minutes. When I drive (3.5 miles), it takes me about 10-12 minutes, depending on the traffic and signals.

This is the view from the top of the hill on my street,
heading down toward the bike path.
It's a nice coast down to the bottom of the street,
but it's the last stretch when I'm coming home
and it's enough to make my heart pound.

Rock Island Trail

Highway 2 and 27th Street

Fellow commuters, stopping for their breakfast treats.



Make way for ducklings.

Merging traffic.

Williamsburg Lake


Look, Ma! No gas.

I love my new mode of transportation! It's so peaceful in the morning. The only sound I hear is the wind rushing past my helmet and birds chirping. No iPod for this ride. I prefer the quiet in the morning. There aren't too many people out on the trail at 6:15 am. Maybe a half-dozen cyclists, a few walkers and the occasional jogger. It's much busier on the weekends! I'm not sure how late in the year I'll be able to ride, but I'm already looking forward to cooler temps this fall!



Thanks to Sandy & Rick, I was inspired to start biking to work. They enjoy weekend rides, in addition to their daily ride to work. Thanks, guys, for the fun ride this past weekend. I had a blast!

When the spirits are low,
when the day appears dark,
when work becomes monotonous,
when hope hardly seems worth having,
just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road,
without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.
-- (Sir) Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes),
in the January 18, 1896 issue of Scientific American Magazine

Win This Quilt

I don't usually go so far off-topic with contest announcements, but this quilt is too beautiful to miss out on!! Go here to enter the contest. Good luck! (But not too much, as I want it!!)

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Nonfiction - Current Affairs
2006 Penguin Books
Finished on 7/14/08
Rating: 2.5/5 (Average)




"If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else," Mortenson argued to Parade's readers, "then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs."

Publisher's Blurb:

In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is a story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools -- especially for girls -- in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.

I received this this book for my birthday last year and was excited when my face-to-face book group chose it for this month's selection. The friend who gave me the book loved it, so I couldn't wait for the opportunity to dive in. Well, as you can see from my rating, I can't say I share her enthusiasm for the book. Not only that, but from what I've heard from some of the women in my book group, it hasn't been their favorite either. I wouldn't be surprised if only a few of us actually finish it, which is a shame, since the last third is really the most interesting. I'm not sure where the problem with the book lies, whether it's my history/political/geographical ineptitude (thank goodness the authors provided two maps at the front of the book!), specifically pertaining to the Middle East region and the conflicts between various tribes and sects, or a lackluster writing style that failed to draw me into Mortenson's story.

And, yes, in spite of my overall reaction to the book, it's a marvelous story. As I finished the book, I realized I was glad to have read it, but what a shame it lacks any literary finesse. From the very first chapter, I found myself nodding off, quickly flipping to the table of contents to figure out how many chapters I'd need to read each night in order to finish in time for the book group discussion. I plodded along, marking pages with sticky notes (over two dozen), hoping that I wasn't the only member in the group struggling through the book. I enjoy reading nonfiction, as it never fails to teach me something, but at the same time it can be intimidating and can sometimes (especially when history and politics are involved) make me feel like a complete idiot.

So, I came away from this reading experience with a little more knowledge about the conflicts in the Middle East than I had going in, but I certainly wouldn't want to be quizzed on any of that information! I have a strong admiration for Greg Mortenson and all he's done as a humanitarian. His passion to help educate the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan is truly heroic. And I don't use this term loosely. The man sacrificed years with his wife and children, traveling alone to Pakistan at least 27 times for months at a time, taking only a meager annual salary of $28,000. But it wasn't just the financial burden and time away from family: Mortenson was kidnapped, probably by mujahadeen, and held captive for six days. He was also caught in the crossfire of a turf war between opium smugglers. I'd like to see a sports hero try to do accomplish all Mortenson has done, while facing life-and-death obstacles such as these. If you still aren't sure of his heroic worthiness, just take a look at all the awards he's won:

Humanitarian Awards:

1975 US Army Commendation medal
1998 American Alpine Club David Brower Conservation Award
2002 Peacemaker Award from Montana Community Mediation Center
2003 Climbing Magazine "Golden Piton Award" for humanitarian effort
2003 Vincent Lombardi Champion Award for humanitarian service
2003 Peacemaker of the Year" Benedictine Monks, Santa Fe , NM
2003 Outdoor Person of the Year - Outdoor Magazine
2003 Salzburg Seminar fellow, sponsored by Microsoft "Closing Gender Gap with Education"
2004 Freedom Forum "Free Spirit Award" - National Press Club, DC
2004 Jeanette Rankin Peace Award - Institute for Peace
2004 e-Town Achievement Award – NPR radio (Boulder 12/2004)
2005 Men's Journal 'Anti-Terror' Award by Senator John McCain
2005 Red Cross “Humanitarian of The Year” Montana
2006 University of South Dakota Alumni Achievement Award (Graduation Commencement Speaker)
2006 Golden Fleur-de-lis Award from Comune Firenze , Italy
2007 Medical Education Hall of Fame Award, Toledo , Ohio
2007 Brookdale Community College (NJ) - Global Humanitarian Award (Feb)
2007 Rotary International - Paul Harris Award
2007 Mountain Institute - Award for Excellence in Mountain Communities
2007 The Dayton Literary Peace Prize
2007 Kiriyama Award - Nonfiction book contributing to Pacific Rim peace and awareness
2007 Mountain Institute - Excellence in Mountain Community Service Award (Nov)
2008 Citizen Center for Diplomacy - National Award for Citizen Diplomacy
2008 Courage of Conscience Award
2008 Graven Award - Wartburg College, IA
2008 National Award for Citizen Diplomacy - Citizen Center for Diplomacy
2009 Academy of Achievement Award

Mortenson doesn't just build schools. He has also created Women's Vocational Centers, as well as working to bring clean water to the villages. It came as no surprise to read that Mother Teresa was one of his heroes.

I can't write about the wonderful aid Mortenson has provided without mentioning another hero, whom I happen to know personally. My uncle has been helping Guatemalan refugees in Belize for at least the past ten years. He has helped them build a complete village (Selena): church, school, houses, cook house, laundry and latrines. He and my aunt live in Southern California and during the summer they'll sit in the church parking lot on busy weekends and holidays and rent parking spaces to beach-goers to raise money for the Belize project*. They take people from their church and other churches down to help with the building, but my uncle will often go down on his own. He has built a soccer field, and this last trip in May took a big suitcase filled with soccer uniforms. They leave the suitcases there for the people to use as dressers.

It's people like Mortenson and my Uncle Brian that make me wonder what I've been doing for the past 46 years!

Mortenson lingered at the new dispensary, where Zuudkhan village's first health care worker had just returned from the six months of training 150 kilometers downside at the Bulmit Medical Clinic CAI had arranged for her. Aziza Hussain, twenty-eight, beamed as she displayed the medical supplies in the room CAI funds had paid to have added on to her home. Balancing her infant son on her lap, while her five-year-old daughter clung to her neck, she proudly pointed out the cases containing antibiotics, cough syrup, and rehydration salts that CAI donations had bought.

With the nearest medical facility two days' drive down often impassible jeep tracks, illness in Zuudkhan could quickly turn to crisis. In the year before Aziza took charge of her village's health, three women had died during the delivery of their children. "Also, many people died from the diarrhea," Aziza says. "After I got my training and Dr. Greg provided the medicines, we were able to control these things."

"After five years, with good water from the new pipes, and teaching the people how to clean their children, and use clean food, not a single person has died here from these problems. It's my great interest to continue to develop myself in this field," Aziza says. "And pass on my training to other women. Now that we have made such progress, not a single person in this area believes women should not be educated."

"Your money buys a lot in the hands of Greg Mortenson," McCown says. "I come from a world where corporations throw millions of dollars at problems and often nothing happens. For the price of a cheap car, he was able to turn all these people's lives around."

The women and children weren't the only ones learning valuable lessons:

When the porcelain bowls of scalding butter tea steamed in their hands, Haji Ali spoke. "If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways," Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortenson's own. "Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."

That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortenson says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them."

I found the following quotes from one of Mortenson's speeches especially powerful:

"I supported the war in Afghanistan," Mortenson said after he introduced himself. "I believed in it because I believed we were serious when we said we planned to rebuild Afghanistan. I'm here because I know that military victory is only the first phase of winning the war on terror and I'm afraid we're not willing to take the next steps."

I'm no military expert," Mortenson said, "And these figures might not be exactly right. But as best as I can tell, we've launched 114 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Afghanistan so far. Now take the cost of one of those missiles tipped with a Raytheon guidance system, which I think is about $840,000. For that much money, you could build dozens of schools that could provide tens of thousands of students with a balanced nonextremist education of the course of a generation. Which do you think will make us more secure?"

This may not be a great work of literature, but it's an incredibly inspiring book. Thirteen-year-old Jake Greenberg of Philadelphia was just one of many inspired by Mortenson's efforts, after reading Parade magazine's April 6, 2003 cover story:

...was so fired up by reading about Mortenson's work that he donated more than one thousand dollars of his bar mitzvah money to the CAI and volunteered to come to Pakistan and help out himself. "When I heard about Greg's story," Greenberg says, "I realized that, unlike me, children in the Muslim world might not have educational opportunities. It makes no difference that I'm a Jew sending money to help Muslims. We all need to work together to plant the seeds of peace."


Maybe more young people will read this book (it happens to be one of five nominees for our One Book, One Lincoln this year) and feel compelled to volunteer, make a monetary contribution, or begin their own project to help the people in Central Asia.

Apparently, I got a lot more out of this book than I originally thought. I would even feel safe in saying that it's worth the effort. In spite of my strict reading schedule, I managed to read all 23 chapters (plus the introduction) in 14 days.

I make it a point to avoid reading reviews about the book I'm reviewing until after I've finished and posted on my blog. This time, however, I decided to see what others had to say about Three Cups of Tea. The majority of Amazon reviewers gave it high ratings, yet there were quite a few who thought it was lacking. Their comments ranged from "tedious," "poorly edited," "lacks focus," to "egocentric," "hagiography," and "hero worship." I had to laugh in agreement when I read one reviewer's statement that the biographer never met an adjective he didn't like. And many felt that Mortenson was selfish to leave his wife and children for such long periods of time, only to return home to hole up in his basement, talking on the phone with associates in Pakistan in the middle of the night. Mortenson may be a hero, but his wife is obviously a saint!

I agree with many that this would have been a fabulous magazine piece rather than a 300+ page book. Or maybe it should've been told by Mortenson in the first person, with a ghost writer like Rick Bragg or Anderson Cooper rather than Relin. It's too bad the poor writing (and lack of editing) detracts from the actual story, as I still believe what Mortenson has accomplished is worthy of recognition.

I'm looking forward to hearing what my book club has to say about Three Cups of Tea. Did any of you love it?

For further reading, check out these sites.

Mortenson's Blog

Central Asia Institute

Greg Mortenson in the Media

*4 the World Organization

Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini
These Streets
2006

From Amazon.co.uk

19-year old Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini sounds older than his years on his debut album, These Streets. It's not just his careworn, smooth-as-sandpaper voice, either (although, admittedly, it does help). It's more to do with the maturity of the lyrics, and the casual soulfulness of his delivery. "Last Request" is more the work of a vintage Motown singer than a teenager from Paisley, and it's to Nutini's credit that he carries it off with aplomb. And rather like the soul singers of previous generations, he manages to sing without a hint of hypocrisy about his own sexual exploits ("Jenny Don't Be Hasty") while also questioning his girlfriend's fidelity ("Alloway Grove"). It's the fact that he's so frank, and even a little bit naive, that he manages to get away with it. And though the stripped-down tunes on These Streets don't always immediately grab the listener (the title track, in particular), the songs where Nutini is accompanied by a full band often manage to evoke sunny-day American soul ("New Shoes", for example). This is a strong debut, and considering Paolo Nutini's tender years, bigger things can be expected of him in the future. --Ted Kord

I first heard about These Streets over here and here on Nan's blog. Speaking about New Shoes, Nan says, "It's a lose-your-blues, dance-around-the-kitchen kind of song. Just wonderful." After listening to it and a few other songs on his MySpace site, I couldn't agree more. I rarely buy cds anymore, so I was very happy to receive it from my daughter on Mother's Day. It's definitely one to own! I've had it for just over two months and I can't tell you how many times I've listened to it. Maybe 3-4 times a week. I love each and every track.

As I commented on Nan's blog, I think Paolo sounds a bit like Martin Sexton and Peter Himmelman. He has a soulful voice that I just love. I hope he releases a new album before I wear out the one I own!

Thank you, Nan, for sharing yet another great artist with me. I love the world of blogging. I may never have learned of this talented young man, had it not been for your post.

Summer Reading

To enlarge, click on photo.

Last month I shared a list (and photographs) of the books on my Coming-of-Age display. Here's my latest endcap at work. These are some of my favorite light, fluffy reads, as well as a couple of heavier novels. Perfect for lounging by the pool or lazy days at the beach.

Click on the title for my review (and in the case of one favorite new author, an interview):

Summer Blowout by Claire Cook

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Stone Creek by Victoria Lustbader

The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand

Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons

Table for Five by Susan Wiggs

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

Summer in Tuscany by Elizabeth Adler

Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray

An Ocean Apart by Robin Pilcher

Distant Shores by Kristen Hannah

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason

Sunday Funnies

Click to enlarge

Odd Hours

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
Fiction/Horror
2008 Bantam Books
Quit on 7/8/08
Rating: DNF



Product Description

Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one of those rare literary heroes who have come alive in readers’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the next with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is irresistibly drawn onward to a destiny he cannot imagine and to undreamed of places where the perils he will face and the stakes for which he fights will eclipse all that he has known.

The legend began in the obscure little town of Pico Mundo. A fry cook named Odd was rumored to have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the dead. Through tragedy and triumph, exhilaration and heartbreak, word of Odd Thomas’s gifts filtered far beyond Pico Mundo, attracting unforgettable new friends—and enemies of implacable evil. With great gifts comes the responsibility to meet great challenges. But no mere human being was ever meant to face the darkness that now stalks the world—not even one as oddly special as Odd Thomas.

After grappling with the very essence of reality itself, after finding the veil that separates him from his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, tantalizingly thin yet impenetrable, Odd longed only to return to a life of quiet anonymity with his two otherworldly sidekicks—his dog Boo and a new companion, one of the few who might rival his old pal Elvis. But a true hero, however humble, must persevere. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing red tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems. Now the forces arrayed against him have both official sanction and an infinitely more sinister authority…and in this dark night of the soul dawn will come only after the most shattering revelations of all.

Burnishing Dean Koontz’s stature as a master of suspense and one of our most innovative and gifted storytellers, Odd Hours illuminates a legacy of mystery and hope that will shine on long after the final page.

I quit! After 125 pages, I just couldn't get interested or come to care about Odd's latest dilemma. I loved Odd Thomas (read it twice), but was disappointed with both Forever Odd and Brother Odd. I really wanted to fall in love with this latest installment, but it kept putting me to sleep! I did, however, discover a couple of passages that were worth noting.

I love the dry wit in this one:

As I confronted the rat, I saw in my mind's eye a scenario in which I startled the rodent, whereupon it raced toward me in a panic, slipped under a leg of my jeans, squirmed up my calf, squeaked behind my knee, wriggled along my thigh, and decided to establish a nest between my buttocks. Through all of this, I would be windmilling my arms and hopping on one foot until I hopped off the beam and, with the hapless rodent snugged between my cheeks, plunged toward the sea just in time to crash into the searchers' boat, smashing a hole in the bottom with my face, thereupon breaking my neck and drowning.

You might think that I have earned the name Odd Thomas, but it has been mine since birth.

and

Fragrant with the cinnamony aroma of chocolate-pumpkin cookies that I had baked earlier in the afternoon, brightened only by the golden glow of string lights hidden in the recessed toe kick of the cabinets, the kitchen waited warm and welcoming.

I am no theologian. I would not be surprised, however, if Heaven proved to be a cozy kitchen, where delicious treats appeared in the oven and in the refrigerator whenever you wanted them, and where the cupboards were full of good books.

Maybe I'll have better luck with Koontz's fall release of Your Heart Belongs to Me. Or not. I just never know how I'm going to react to a book by Koontz.

Snow in July??

Update: Obviously, there was a glitch in the Weather Advisory on WeatherBug this morning! Here are the actual stats for the day, thus far:

Daily Weather Data

High Temp: 92°F
Low Temp: 64°F
Rain Total: 0.00"
Wind Gust: 26mph
Sunrise: 6:05 AM
Sunset: 8:59 PM

While I would have liked cooler temps, I really don't think I'm ready for winter weather!

I know we've have some unusually cool and damp weather this summer, but imagine my surprise this morning when I clicked on the WeatherBug icon to read this local warning!

ALERT 1 - Winter Weather Advisory
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT
UNTIL NOON CST TODAY
Issue Time: 5:03AM CDT, Thursday Jul 17, 2008
Valid Until: 1:00PM CDT, Thursday Jul 17, 2008
Back to summary

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT
UNTIL NOON CST TODAY THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY. PATCHY FREEZING RAINLIGHT RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR LIGHT SNOW THIS AFTERNOON
Urgent - Winter Weather Message

National Weather Service Omaha/Valley Ne

I'm fairly certain this is a bug in the system. However, we do live in Nebraska, so I guess anything is possible!

A Month in Review (June '08)

Another light month! Summer is here and I've been busy at work, fishing, cooking, playing with my camera, pulling weeds and slappin' mosquitoes (gotta love all that rain we've had this year!). I figure I'll get more books read this winter when I can't play outside!

Click on the titles to read my reviews.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (4.5/5)

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (4/5)

Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts (2.5/5)


Favorite of the month: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Books Read 3
DNF 0
Male Authors 0
Female Authors 3
New-To-Me Authors 1
Audio 0
Fiction 3
Nonfiction 0
Historical Fiction 0
Classic 0
Poetry 0
Teen 0
Children's 0
Sci-Fi 1
Fantasy 0
Horror 0
Romance 1
Humor 0
Travel 0
Memoir 0
Culinary 0
Mystery/Thriller 0
Series 1
Re-read 1
Challenge 0
Mine 2
Borrowed 1
ARC 0
Gift 1

Note: Only books completed are counted in the above totals with, of course, the exception of the DNF category.

Made in the U.S.A.

Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts
Contemporary Fiction
2008 Grand Central Publishing
Finished on 6/29/08
Rating: 2.5/5 (Fair)





Fate sometimes thought that God was looking out for him and Lutie. The notes left for them, and the food they found on the hood of the car and in the library. All of that came from someone. And if it didn't come from God, then maybe Fate's mother was watching over them or maybe even Floy. But he felt pretty certain that it wasn't his daddy because he didn't figure Jim McFee had the status of an angel.

Product Description

The bestselling author of Where the Heart Is returns with a heartrending tale of two children in search of a place to call home.

Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind.

Made in the U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.


I had such high hopes for this new release by Billie Letts. I loved all three of her previous books (The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, Where the Heart Is and Shoot the Moon), each peopled with quirky memorable characters and situations. Unfortunately, Letts fails to deliver with Made in the U.S.A., which was nothing but a lot of simplistic plotting and one-dimensional characters. And, if the thin (and ultimately sappy) storyline wasn't bad enough, the depressing situations Lutie brought upon herself (shoplifting, fake ids, drugs, prostitution and pornography) were almost enough to make me give up on the book before I'd reached the halfway mark. I desperately wanted to root for these pathetic, homeless runaways, but found it more and more difficult to work up any sympathy. The only reason I finished was to see how it all turned out. I needn't have bothered, as it was pretty much how I guessed.

Early reviews have claimed Made In the U.S.A. is a heartbreaking, yet uplifting story. Maybe I have a cold heart, but I didn't feel anything other than annoyance and a sense of deep disappointment in this mediocre effort by Letts, especially in view of her previous literary accomplishments.

The Rest Falls Away

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
#1 in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles
Romance
2007 Signet
Finished on 6/19/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)




Product Description

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy of vampire slaying, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous, moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love.

I'm probably one of the last in my circle of blogger friends to read this series, but I finally picked up The Rest Falls Away last month and was immediately sucked in! (So to speak.) I had to set it aside for a little while so I could read The Sparrow for book club, but the short break didn't upset the rhythm of the narrative and I was quickly immersed back in Victoria's world of high-society balls and vampire slayings.

It's been years since I read Ann Rice's Interview With the Vampire (which I loved), and although I've enjoyed Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga, I'm not chomping at the bit to read Eclipse. However, after reading a couple of vampire books, I realized how much I enjoy the genre. I rarely ever read romances, though, so I have to admit that I was a little nervous about reading Gleason's debut novel (albeit, one of a paranormal nature), in spite of all the great reviews that I've read here and here and here. I won a copy of the second in Gleason's Gardella Vampire Chronicle series, Rises the Night, a few months ago from Booklogged and decided to buy The Rest Falls Away with a birthday gift card. (Thanks, Jen!)

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was very pleasantly surprised with The Rest Falls Away! This book has a greater level of sophisticated writing than the handful of romances I've read over the years. The pacing is even, maintaining the tension from start to finish, the dialogue is entertaining and believable, and I love the subtle humor. I'm anxious to see where the developing relationships lead and am eager to read more in the series to see who Victoria winds up with! I plan to read Rises the Night later this month, but I think I'll save The Bleeding Dusk (and When Twilight Burns, which comes out on August 5th!) for my trip to Virginia next month. I prefer trade paperbacks to mass markets, but now that the airlines are charging for luggage, smaller books are looking better. Hmmm, maybe it's time to buy a Kindle!