so far

Posted on May 7th, 2010

You know how I was lamenting over there being not much good anime to watch in the past year or so?

Well, Spring 2010 season is here and I have this massive list to sample that actually beats my ‘to-watch’ jdrama list for once. Of course, how many I will actually continue is yet to be seen. And I still have yet to clear my backlog anime as I have been solely watching dramas and not to mention playing with my shiny new Playstation 2 which I bought as a Christmas present to myself last December as JB HIFI had brand new slim ones for sale under $100. So far I have played Dynasty Warriors 5,6, Samurai Warriors 2, Orochi Warriors 2, Final Fantasy X and Okami, although I have not completed any of it as I’m not a regular gamer. As it is I stare at the computer screen long enough so I don’t really want to stare at the TV screen for too long too. Not to mention there’s also the DS which I play from time to time. It’s pretty hard to choose which to do. Lately I’ve been trying to catch up with my reading as well, as once again I am trying to complete the 50 book chellenge. I tend to have spates of reading where I’ll read a book a day, and weeks in between where I don’t. So during those ‘power reading’ periods I try to get in as much as I can, otherwise I will not hit the target in December, considering it is already May.

Speaking of reading, my amazon.com wishlist is now around 30 pages long on full-view mode with the pictures turned on… so much for trying to reduce it. I basically just dump anything that sounds interesting there, so not all the books there are stuff I must absolutely get. My own ‘must buy no matter what list’ is pretty easy to remember. That said, so far this year’s reading list has been quite enjoyable, and I’ve read things out of my comfort zone, or plan to read some anyway.

Notable authors for the year thus far would be Naomi Novik (probably the best first book of a series I’ve read), Dennis L McKiernan and Anthony Piers. I also have the urge to continuing collecting some of Stephanie Lauren’s Cynster series even though it has been a luke warm experience with the first book I read, and a not bad for the second. Having met some character who have appeared in previous books, I want to know their stories, at least just for some, so I may not read all of it (it is really long anyway), but I’ll definitely try to get my hands on the particular ones I want. Just for memory’s sake, last year’s notable authors new to me were Moria J Moore, Lisa Kleypas, Walter Moers, Allyson James, Lian Hearn, CL Wilson, and Jim C Hines. I wish I could afford more books as I’m not so keen on borrowing from the library but both money and space are constraints. I have also found some hard to find titles from the BookMooch website, which I highly recommend if you have money to pay for shipping your books to people around the world. Although in-demand titles disappear faster than you can mooch them, due to time differences. I use BookMooch for either outofprint/hardtofind books or books on the Amazon Wish List I would like to read but might not be so willing to pay full-price for. The best books I’ve gotten from there are harder to find hardbacks that would’ve cost around $30 to buy at stores.

Hm, off to watch me some Hakuoki Shinsengumi Kiten now.

Filed under: ** books, Uncategorized | No Comments »

To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts

Posted on January 23rd, 2010

To Ride Hell’s Chasm – Janny Wurts

Summary:
There is foul play running amok in the court of Sessalie and the Princess suddenly goes missing. Mykkael, the Captain of the Garrison, a war-hardened foreigner held in contempt by the court for the little understood shamanic practices of his desert tribe origins, gets begrudgingly caught up in the investigations as he finds himself a suspect. He works together with the uptight and nobel Commander of the Royal Guard, Taskin, who cannot deny the Garrison Captain’s skills. However, Taskin is hardpressed to believe Mykkael’s theory that the Princess was not actually kidnapped but was actually fleeing from an evil power, the same dark force that is slowly taking over the court members one by one.

Thoughts: Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: ** books, fantasy | No Comments »