Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb

Books Read: 26
Completion Date: February 16, 2007
Publication Year: 2002
Pages: 688
Owned Prior to 2007
Book 1 in the Tawny Man Trilogy

For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony--thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse. But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.

To travel over to Twisted Kingdom and see my review of this book, click here.

This is the first time I have read this author.

Authors Gender:
Male: 3
Female: 26

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

Quote of the Day:
"The biggest mistake you can make is to believe that you work for someone else.
- Unknown

Book Completed: 7
Completion Date: January 19, 2007
Publication Year: 1999
Pages: 274
Owned Prior to 2007


From Amazon.ca:

Hailed by critics as the debut of a major literary, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing has dazzled and delighted readers and topped bestseller lists nationwide. Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, and relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. With an unforgettable comic spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.

I had heard lots about this book before buying it one day at a second hand store. Since I bought it, I totally forgot what it was about, but I knew that it had been on the to be read pile for quite some time. I remember buying it, I just don't remember what year it was in.

I think this book was appropriate after completing Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, because both novels are a collection of interconnected short stories. In the process of this book, Jane Rosenal goes from a child to an adult, but not in a coherant story pattern. Sometimes the next short story happens before the one before it, one time the story is told by Jane's neighbour, but it is not confusing to follow.

The novel is really a coming of age book. This is not a book that I would have seen in a store and picked up, as it is not something I necessarily drawn to. It is the sort of book I read more because of reputation. I do not read very many short story collections, either, so it was a branch off in a different direction that way as well. I think the reason I did not mind this book is because Jane is relatable. She is not a character that I cannot see at least a little bit of myself in. She is struggling to figure out who she is, trying out different avenues in the hopes that it will lead her where she wants to be, and falling in and out of love.

My favourite story in this one was the last one, "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing". At the end of the book, Jane has lost hope with all the methods that she has tried before, and decides that she needs to read a survival guide on relationships to get what she wants. It is a comical story, and actually, I find most of the book funny. It is not a serious read, by any stretch of the imagination, but serious things do happen in it.

I enjoyed this book.

3.5/5

Author Gender:
Female: 6
Male: 1

This author was new to me.

Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb (Left over review from 2006)

This book was supposed to be my last G.I.F.T. post and my TBR challenge post, but I am a little late for both. Another joint review with Marg. I am in blue and Marg is in black.

No one likes to be alone during the holidays. For New York's most posh dating service, Personally Yours, it is the season to bring lonely hearts together. But Lt. Eve Dallas, on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer, has made a disturbing discovery: all of the victims have been traced to Personally Yours. Eve soon enters an elite world of people searching for their one true love - and one killer searching for his next victim. A world where the power of love leads men and women into the ultimate act of betrayal...

The next installment in the In Death series after Vengeance in Death finds Eve just returning to work after recovering from injuries sustained in the line of duty just in time for the holidays. The thing preying on her mind most though is what to get all of her friends for Christmas, especially Roarke in their first Christmas together. It is rather funny, everytime she runs into people she knows, she has to ask them if she should buy them a Christmas present. Christmas is a new thing for her, she has never had people to buy for before, so it is an experience reading her thoughts on the holiday gift giving.

Before she can even think about that, she has to deal with a serial killer who has decided to visit his victim dressed up as Santa Claus and who is planning to make each of his victims have some connection to the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. This means that before he is done, there will be twelve victims, one for each day of the song. The killer leaves behind his trademark on each victim, a holiday ornament pertaining to the days of Christmas.

Soon the connection between the victims becomes clear - they have all been clients of an exclusive dating agency. Now it is a case of trying to infiltrate the agency and work out who the perpetrator might be as well as who his next victim will be - even if that means putting one of their own on the line. This book has Peabody's first undercover mission, which is interesting to watch. She does not appear to do blind dates very often, because she leaves one guy out of the runnings for quite some time. Have to read the book to see exactly what happened, though, of course.

I really enjoyed the way that the author managed to infuse some humour into this book. The scenes where Eve had banned Peabody from going shopping and yet kept on finding things to buy for herself were laugh out loud funny. It certainly helped balance out what could have been a very dark book indeed. This book did have more humour than the others, and I also enjoyed reading it. Robb seems to be adding more comical characters at this point in the series, anyways, which is making for interesting reading.

For me, this was the best book in the series so far. Same here! I really enjoyed this installment. I think that Robb has gotten more confident in the series at this point. I also read the other holiday story, Midnight in Death, which carries on the interest. I think I will enjoy the series even more if all the future ones are like this one.

Marg's Rating 4.5/5
Kailana's Rating 4/5

Challenge Organization

As I posted in December, it is my goal to try and read more books that have been sitting on my to be read pile, so I divided all my books up. Today I chose what I would like to read off those piles for January. These are not set in stone, because I am bad about not reading what I am supposed to read, but here are my proposed books:

For the Classics Challenge, the five books I would like to read in January and February are:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton or Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott (meant to read them last year, but did not, so they are not on my original list.)

TBR Challenge
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

12 Months of Fantasy Challenge
The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky

O'Canada Challenge
The Time in Between by David Bergen

Back to History Challenge
The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Chunkster Challenge
I have three chunksters that I started, so I suppose it could be one of the three, or in a dream world, all three of them:
Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Then, I want to read a teen novel. I am reading Inkheart right now, but it did not come off my to be read pile. I have too many good ones to pick from, but I will read something! I also want to read a Jean Plaidy novel, the next Robb.... and about 500 other books!

Making up for lost time!

I hardly posted all of November, and now here it is December, and I have a lot to say! So, I was going to wait and post this tomorrow... but, then I found this!
I know that the G.I.F.T. challenge does not have an art category, but I am still absolutely in love with that picture! And, since we are getting our first decent snowfall of the year, I figured that I would tie the two together. I love snow. I am like a little kid. Friends that I haven't seen for years and years will ask me about it, they remember that snow is one of my most favourite things in the world. So, I am pretty excited about the snow that is falling outside right now. And, it gives me a chance to talk about some Christmas (or close to Christmas) memories.

One was relatively recent. I was the talk of my (ex) boyfriends neighbourhood two years ago because I made a snowman on his front lawn. It just confused people because their own children were locked up inside wishing for the snow to go away, and I was outside building a snowman! The woman that lives above from him thought it was her daughter, which baffled her because it is not something she would sporadically do. It was me, anyways, but it was a very fun thing to do.

Another memory involving snow was actually New Year's, but close enough. I was really little, so New Year's did not mean a lot to me, but at like 9 at night my whole family went outside in the snow and walk for a moonlight walk. It was the only New Year's of my childhood that I remember not ending in disaster, so I enjoy that memory entirely.

My other favourite memories of snow is me and my friends. One afternoon at lunch, before the Christmas holidays, me and my friends had just been downtown for lunch and on the way back I somehow talked some kids into a snowball fight. It was actually bad, I got them in trouble (oops) and some of my friends were rather mad at me, but man it was fun. I cannot help it if I like snow more than them. In the town I lived in up until the 11th grade, my friends used to look at me like it was my fault that it was snowing. Meanwhile, I was walking down the street singing Christmas carols. I really am a little kid sometimes, but it's fun!

Anyways, there are just a few memories of snow. Here's another picture:

The pictures come from here. I found them while browsing one of booklogged's blogs.

Lastly, I have to post my books for the TBR Challenge that is being hosted next year. I posted twenty-four. I know, it is only supposed to be 12, but I find that if I have some choice, I am more likely to finish! To learn more about the contest, click here.

1. Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
2. Surrender the Pink by Carrie Fisher
3. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Ice Station by Matt Reilly
5. The Other Side of the Sun by Madeleine L'Engle
6. Nadia's Song by Soheir Khashoggi
7. The Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
8. Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
9. It Sleeps in Me by Kathleen O'Neal Gear
10.Hawke's Harbour by S.E. Hinton
11.Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg
12.Bitter Harvest by Susan Bowden
13.White Teeth by Zadie Smith
14.Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
15.Empire Falls by Richard Russo
16.The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
17.The Attack by Yasmina Khadra
18.The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
19.The Family Orchard by Naomi Eve
20.Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
21.Map of Bones by James Rollins
22.We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
23.Snow by Orhan Pamuk
24.Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver