I've always been an avid reader and a television watcher, which sometimes seems to be a mutually exclusive thing, and while I certainly do not get to read as much as I would like, I usually find myself reading stuff by the same writer, especially if it is a series. I suppose the reality is that it is often times hard to pick up a new book and get instantly hooked, and when you do not get a chance to read every night, that hook is important, witness the stack of books on my nightstand, most of have been started all have not been finished.
Sue Grafton is probably my favorite mystery writer, and I highly anticipate every entry in her alphabet series. She is up to letter T (working on letter U), and the thought of her finishing up the series is not a happy one. I'm sure she's probably tired of Kinsey Milhone, her protagonist/doppleganger, but I'm certainly not. I'm also pretty sure when she started with "A is for Alibi" she never thought she'd actually make it to Z.
Anyway, Grafton was my first mystery series, and my second was Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels, which, ironically, are numbered
One for the Money, etc. An ex of mine turned me on to these, and since I was starting mid-series, I tried to catch up, and where as Grafton is a pretty meticulous researcher and planner, Evanovich is more of a book factory, putting out what seems like two or three books a year. So, I found a lot of repetition in the novels. While these books will never be first day buys like Grafton's, I found reading on on the plane back from Vegas and now reading one right now pretty awesome. Seriously, these books are laugh out loud funny in parts, and it is just constantly hilarious to see what Stephanie and Lula (a big black girl who is a former ho, who I just see as Monique if they ever make a movie) get into while they try to be the most inept bond enforcement agents on the planet. Hell, in this book there was an exploding stuffed beaver. I howled!
I'm kind of bummed that I'm almost done with the book, but I do have one more to get to (numer 14) before I am completely caught up with the publishing. I may wait for that to be a Christmas gift, but who knows, I may just go pick it up.
The other thing I'm lovin is the return of
Gossip Girl. For the record, I never got into
The OC or even
90210 for that matter, so I really do not have a history in liking shows set for the teeny bopper set, though I suppose my love for
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Veronica Mars, probably precludes it. Also, I've never seen an episode of
The Hills. Anyway, I LOVE
Gossip Girl, and I was thrilled to see the season premier last night. Seriously, while these are supposedly kids in school, there is enough sex and drinking to make this
Dynasty 2008, and Blair (Leighton Meister) really does give Alexis Carrington-Colby a run for her money along with being a much more three dimensional character. It's just a fab show, and the cinematrography (yep, I said it) was just top notch last night. It was like the cameramen were just excited to be out of NYC to show the sundrenched locales of summering in the Hamptons. LOVE IT!
sitting around and making fun of archival Martha Stewart footage - Mystery Science Theater style! Sure, Martha is in on the joke, but the show is absolutely hilarious! I watched it after succumbing to the incessant commercials on HGTV. It is on the Fine Living Network on Tuesdays and Wednesday, and oddly, the clips I have below for "Face Painting" and "Painting the Porch" are on the two shows tonight. For me though, the funniest part of the show is when Alexis and Jennifer try to keep up with Martha while doing crafts. Check it out!
