Words, Words, Words.

I did a bad, bad thing on Friday. Something I'd tried to make a deal with myself not to do. But alas, and most woeful woe, I succumbed to wicked, wicked temptation . . . and I read the first three posted chapters of The Dresden Files Book 7. Damn my weakness and vulnerability for the written word, and damn the fantabulous jimbutcher for posting such a wonderfully riveting beginning that I must now wait until May to finish!

Not much to do except review, I suppose! *G* (Obviously, you won't want to read any further until you've finished the first 6 books and/or the posted teasers.)

( Dead Beat Teasers: In which I review a little, gloat a smidge, and bounce around a whole lot! )

Oh, man, am I teased! Teased! But happy and excited for the book's release! Best of luck to Jim as the release date draws near, as well as in his future work as he continues this terrific series!

Ooh, baby.

The cover art for Book 7 of "The Dresden Files" has just been released.

Qué sex-ay!

Finished "Blood Rites" today – which actually took me a bit longer to read than the others. But, then, I didn't have as much free time this week. (Thoughts of going back to work at the end of this month, niggling at the back of my mind, continue to force me to do responsible adult-type preparation things.)

General opinion of Dresden Files Book 6, I loved it. My only problem with that is, since the book's only in its first few days of release, who knows how long until the next one comes out. (Grr.) Of course, my musings are chock-full of spoilers, so read on only if you've finished the book . . . or if that's your thing, you spoiler-whore, you!

( 'Blood Rites:' I squirmed, I 'squeed,' I scrutinized! – Some random reflections in no particular order. )

All in all, another great book! (I miss reading it already!) I'll be eagerly awaiting news of the next one!

Got my copy of "Blood Rites!" And, wow, did my local Borders have a pile of them! Must be expecting lots of purchases. (Won't be available until the 3rd, my foot!)

I used my teacher discount on the calender that I also bought for my classroom. The checker kept telling me that my card was expired, but he was looking at the issue date (which was last October) rather than the expiration date (which is this October). *sigh, facepalms*

(Though I must remember to say all nice things to manager about employee Evelyn. What a sweet and helpful girl!)

Off to read!

I finished Death Masks, the Dresden Files Book 5, earlier this week and I must say that I get more and more impressed with this series the more I read.  Not only does Jim Butcher have a real talent for priceless snarky dialogue and unraveling a genuinely good mystery, but he also really knows how to sink his teeth into pop culture references while he’s at it.  (From Shakespeare to Star Wars to Young Frankenstein. *g*) 

Case in point, by the end of this series of books, I’m getting the feeling he will have referenced every character from Buffy at least once in addition to incorporating random quotes and giving shout-outs to various episodes.  ( Throughout the course of the books so far, I just couldn’t help pausing, giggling, or generally ‘squeeing’ over the following references, even if I am reading more into them than Mr. Butcher may have intended (Spoilers.):  )

( Then, of course, there’s my actual, spoiler-filled review of Book 5 and the series in general… )

Now the dilemma is: to read ahead, or not to read ahead. 

For as anxious as I am to get to the next book of the series, which comes out in August, I’m resisting the lure of the first 3 chapters that have been posted at Jim Butcher’s site.  While I’m happy to make my own speculations, I prefer to remain as unspoiled as possible, and, in all practicality, don’t want to have a month-long gap between reading the first 3 chapters and the rest of the story.

 

Guess we’ll see how long that lasts.

EDIT: Thanks to monkeyscorpion, I finally have Dresden icons! Thanks so much!

Just a few random things that have been beating around my brain these last few days while my LJ's been mostly idle:

• Made an honest attempt to watch TNT's version of Salem's Lot tonight.  Kept getting distracted, so now I haven't a clue about what's going on.  (Too bad, because I was in the mood for a good spooky flick.)  If anyone saw it and cares to share thoughts on whether or not it was any good, let me know.  It'll help me to decide if it's worth my while to try and catch it the next time it's on.
• On the upside, I'm squeeing over my new Wonderfalls collection!  I love, I love, I love Bit Torrent for making it possible for me to watch 4 unaired episodes!  (Epi. 5 is being cranky and, at 84% complete, seems to have decided that it doesn't wanna give me any more.  I'll have to try to reestablish a connection when I come back from the wedding on Sunday.  But I am the proud owner of episodes 1-4, 6-8, and 10!)  Yippeee!
• Jim Butcher is my latest obsession.  I'm loving his Dresden Files series and have finished the first 4 books during these past two weeks out of work.  (I'm saving 5 for my trip to D.C.)  ( No real spoilers, but just in case... )
    I'm looking forward to Book 6 in August and, of course, the upcoming series on Sci-Fi.  Surprisingly, I haven't found any fanfic for this particular series (surprising enough to make me wonder if it's discouraged, as with Anne Rice), though I did stumble across a vignette written by Jim Butcher to promote the books.
• Fencing level III ends this Tuesday.  I'm surprised at how well I'm doing -- not competitive, but fairly good.  I burst Val's balloon yesterday and, since she won the overall round-robin competition, I was quite proud of myself.
• Have to sing at Red's funeral on Tuesday.  While I'm more than happy to do it, and can't blame the bereaved for lack of music etiquette, I really wish if they wanted me to do something specific and special that I've never performed before, they'd get the sheet music to me instead of making me go out searching for it -- especially since I'm not going to be around this weekend.  If it were a wedding, I'd probably mention it, but since it's not, and they are friends, I'll just have to do my best.
• Round-trip to visit brother in Okinawa this summer will only run around $1200 for airfare.  I was impressed.  Of course, it means an 8-hour layover in Tokyo, but do you hear me complaining?  Now all I have to do is wait for bro to tell me when he has liberty.
• Bringing as-yet-untitled contribution to the post-Angel ficathon with me to D.C.  With any luck I'll have it finished soon.  (I really am having fun with that!)
• Fingers crossed that LJ has stopped hiccuping up my posts.  *g*