November Reading

I have been reading a lot the past few months.  So this seems to be my slow month.  Just reading slowly and listening to books on tape.  But still very enjoyable.

No Shoes, No Shirt No Spells

 

This was a free download book that I got on a whim a few weeks back.  I have been reading so much from the library that I had not even looked at it until now.  I am glad that I did download it.  It is turning out to be a cute and quirky story.  The characters and the story are a bit simple but still enjoyable and somewhat believable.  I just enjoyed the story and really enjoyed the character development.

Timeless (Parasol Book 5)

 

Book 5 of the parasol protectorate.  This book has Alexia getting into her usual trouble but this time in one of my favorite literary backdrops of Egypt.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  This book takes place 2 years after the last book and the "infant inconvenience" is now Prudence and just as much of handful as her mother.  This was the first time that I have listened to one of the books in this series.  After  the first few chapters I became a fan of the reading. (audiobook)

The Killing Dance (Anita Blake #5)

 

 

This series is defiantly my guilty book pleasure.  Actually, I think anything by Laurell K Hamilton falls under guilty pleasure.  This one goes back to the love triangle arc between Anita, Jean Claude and Richard. Then  throw in a hitman, zombies and the werewolf power struggle and I am in heaven.   I was not loving the end of the book, but man was this a steamy book.  I already have the next book checked out and looking forward to reading that one as well. (audiobook)

 

Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake #6)

 

 

This was in simplest terms a bridge book.  But that is not to imply was bad, boring or anything else negative.  I enjoyed this character building book and that is really what it was.  A chance for characters to react to their new status and relationships.  It is a good stepping stone book that even ties up some old loose ends from a few books ago.  I am not sure why I ever resisted this series so much.  I am enjoying it far more than the Sookie series.


And this month's book art:

 

Convention fun in Tallahssee

Jason and I went to a Steampunk convention in Tallahassee this weekend.  Ok, I went for fun and Jason went for work (he is part timing at Tandy Leather).  This was the first year for the GLI Expo and it showed, sadly.  It was a convention that consisted of only a vendor room.  They did have to panel "rooms" curtained off but still felt too vendor-ie.

Likes:

1. Good city with loads of places to explore.
2. Super friendly vendors.
3. The film room played Castle in the Sky, but I missed Steamboy :(
4. Costume contest with great entries.
5. The crafters and artists!  Mostly local people to Tallahassee but some good talent there.
6. The cake-pop truck!!
7. Panel on a Steampunk Christmas

Dislikes:

1. The venue.  I am so use to having cons attached to Hotels that allows for more socializing.
2. Lack of food and beverages.  Aside from the cake pops there was nothing.
3. More creative and prepared panels.  The panels were nice but most felt too last minute.
4. Lack of costuming vendors.  This seemed lack of forethought.  A costume vendor would have made a killing.  There were some vintage vendors there but they were missing key elements or had too much non-steamy goodness.

The turn out was small, as expected for a first year, but it felt smaller due to the venue size.  This is a sub-set con and I think would have been much nicer and felt bigger in a smaller space.  I felt very underwhelmed by the panels, it was all good information but just too casual.  I would have loved to have seen more and experience more but there just was not much.  I am use to the Con community in Chattanooga which is very strong and pulls in people and help from other areas.  I would love  to see this Con get some advice on panels, extra vendors and venues from Convention groups in Atl.

All in all it was a valiant first year con that was fun to see and priced very well for what it was.

Linkage: http://www.gli-expo.com/

Will be adding a picture post later this week :)