This is my first post completely written post-arm-fracture. I’m trying out typing without my splint (I’ve been told I can start removing it occasionally), and if things go well (no swelling or pain) I’m hoping to resume regular blogging activity! ::fingers crossed::

There’s a lot written about “comfort reads”, and while I’m not a big re-reader, I do have one or two— Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are the ones that immediately come to mind.
However, I actually turn more often to audiobooks for “comfort listens” and I actually have more of them than comfort reads.  I will turn to these audiobooks when I want something that I can really relax to while listening. And, often, it’s not just the story that makes me return to these audiobooks: it can also be the reader, or even the way the words flowing over me make me feel.
These books aren’t even necessarily my Top 5 audiobooks. This is mostly due to the fact that more than a few of my Top 5 audiobooks are epic stories, like the series: Outlander, Harry Potter, and Temeraire. For comfort, I tend turn more to the personal stories with which I can deeply identify (paranormal elements notwithstanding ).

Here are a few of my comfort listens:

Sugar Daddy (Travis family series, book 1) by Lisa Kleypas

I’m an unabashed Kleypas fan-girl. And, while many of her books have made my Top 5 lists (and even more would make it into my Top 10s) Liberty Jones story just makes me feel good when I give it a listen. I’ve heard complaints about Jeannie Stith’s Texan accent, but honestly since I can’t tell if it’s authentic, it works for me. She also does a great job weaving this very intimate feeling between Liberty and the listener. It really feels as if Liberty is sitting down telling her story to a friend. Sometimes, when I need a little pick-me-up, I won’t even listen to the whole book. Just a few minutes of listening in to Liberty’s up-beat attitude lifts my spirits.

The Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris

This is actually one that’s on my Top 5 audiobook list as well as my Top 5 urban fantasy list. Johanna Parker’s narration takes it to the next level for me. Again, I’m no expert in regional accents, so I can’t really vouch for JP’s authenticity when it comes to Sookie’s northern Louisiana accent, but she really does capture Sookie’s self-deprecating charm and sense of humor way more than Anna Paquin ever has in the True Blood tv series. She also does a wonderful job with Eric’s deadpan (no pun intended) outrageous comments and Pam’s droll observations. After repeatedly listening to the first hour or so of Dead Until Dark whenever the mood hit, I finally decided to work my way through the entire series in audio format. Currently, I’m about to start my “audio re-read” of book 6, Definitely Dead.

Bitten by (Otherworld series, book 1) Kelley Armstrong

The Bitten audiobook is such a great blend of Kelley Armstrong’s incredible writing talent and Aasne Vigesaa’s moody, atmospheric reading. Unlike the Southern Vampire series, I first came across this book in audio format (in audiocassetes, no less!) So, in a lot of ways, AV’s voice really is Elena to me. Honestly, I’d read the phonebook is Kelley Armstrong wrote it, but not only is Bitten one of my favorite Kelley Armstrong novels, but one of my favortie novels, period. Fortunately, the audiobook version does it justice.

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

NBC is a new addition to my comfort listens. Again, I originally listened to this book rather than reading it, and I’m sure that has a lot to do with why this is going to be a regular visitor on my iPod. The late, incredibly talented Anna Fields has a lot to do with my enjoyment in listening to the story. I’ve been feeling the need to revisit Blue Bailey and Dean Robillard, especially after AnimeJune’s great review, and will probably load it up very soon.

Something I notice is that while only 1 of these audiobooks made my Top 5, they all are at the top of my genre lists for contemporary romance or urban fantasy, as the case may be.

You know, it’s funny, but until I was writing this post I didn’t realize how greatly the readers of these audiobooks impact the fact that they are my comfort listens. I guess when it comes down to it, a book isn’t going to even be considered for an audio re-visit if the story isn’t compelling to me, but it’s my ability to truly connect with the characters that take these stories to that next level of comfort listens. To me, the narrator is the facilitator of that deeper connection.

It’s been a lot longer than I thought between audio posts, but I’m really excited about this one. Mostly, because I’ve been playing with my Mac’s Garage Band podcast app, and this one can either be played through the audio player below, or saved (by right clicking on the link below) and imported into iTunes. The iTunes version will include images I’ve added to the post. For some reason (I’m still on a learning curve with this thing) I wasn’t able to add links for the images, so I’ve included them below.

Be sure to turn the volume way up or use headphones, as it unfortunately seemed to record at a low volume. After much hair pulling (and importing the audiofile six different ways from Monday) I have given up trying to fix it. I will make sure the next post is louder.

Here’s the audio link:

RBA post 10-26-9

Here are the podcast links:

New and Recycled Romances bookstore

The Spare by Carolyn Jewel

Book Rack in La Verne, CA

The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens

Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel

Cover Me by LB Gregg

Montana Creeds: Tyler by Linda Lael Miller

Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas

The Thrillionth Page blog

Have a great week!

OK, so in an effort to keep blogging while I’m limited by “Big Blue” I’ve gone ahead and completed my first audio post!

Hope you enjoy it . . .

If you would prefer to download this mp3 to your own audio player, right click on this link: 10-5-9 post, and save it to your computer.

A couple of the books talked about in this post:

I’d love to hear from you, letting me know what you think about this format, and of course, what you think about these books!

Big Blue

So this is my new uninvited guest. “Big Blue” will be a part of my life for approx. 6 weeks. Believe it or not, I only have a very small fracture in one of the bones in my left forearm, but since it’s located at my wrist joint, they had to give me a full arm cast to immobilize my elbow as well. This totally bites.

The only good thing that I can say about this situation is that at least my ankle is only sprained, and seems to be recovering nicely.

Oh! And that I’ve gotten LOTS of reading done. In the last week and a half, I’ve read: Tempt Me at Twilight by Lias Kleypas, Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara, Mine till Midnight by Lias Kleypas, Set the Dark on Fire by Jill Sorenson, His Convenient Husband by JL Langley, Out of Bounds by TA Chase, Cover Me by LB Gregg, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, and Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James. Phew!

Of course, I have lots to say about these books, but typing is really slow. So, I’ve been thinking . . .

A Question for You

I can make audio posts with not much more work than a written post would require. The mp3 could be embedded directly into the page with an audio player. Now, I’m not much of a public speaker nor do I have fancy recording equipment, so they definitely wouldn’t be “professional” quality. However, it could be a way I can alleviate some of my posting angst.

What do you think?

I’m briefly coming out of stealth mode, because I’m just so dang excited that
Cover Me by LB Gregg is now available (in ebook format) over at Aspen Mountain Press.

Lax. That was the initial conclusion enigmatic security specialist Max Douglas had drawn of Michael “Finn” Finnegan—Dalton Prep’s beloved English teacher. When Max arrives at Smithfield’s exclusive boarding school to protect a high profile student against a mysterious stalker, he’s hell bent on enforcing his style of leadership on students and teachers alike. Warring tempers turn to passionate lovemaking between the former marine and the easy going drama coach. But danger is closer than either man expects and all too quickly violence rocks the homey campus—putting both men at risk.

I love this smart, funny series which takes place in the rural New England town of Smithfield. LB’s men are hot (Tony from Gobsmacked, anyone?), some are off-beat (I LOVE David from Happy Ending,) and often do the unexpected (Mark’s opening scene in Gobsmacked is priceless.) Cover Me is book 3 in the Men of Smithfield series, but each book stands alone well.

::whispers::Did you know LB Gregg has a super sekrit hidden identity? She’s also known as Lisabea of Nose in a Book blog. Head on over to Nose to see the shennanigans she’s got going on over there to celebrate Cover Me’s release.

Here are my reviews of Gobsmacked and Happy Ending.

• LB Gregg’s site.
• Cover Me excerpt.

Now, I’m going to settle down with some tea and my copy of Cover Me, and relax while I wait for my (long overdue) appointment to get my cast on my wrist. ::ninja vanish::

For the reason below, this will be a brief (for me!) post:

The Expected:

I had a WONDERFUL time on Saturday, with my book blogging sisters, cruising the aisles of Borders in Pasadena. It was great to catch up with Lori, Tracy, Wendy, Rosie,  Nikki (who left before the picture below was taken),and to finally meet Rowena! After buying a few lovelies: On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman, and The Prince of Frogs by Annaliese Evans, we had lunch and mucho conversation. Favorite topics included plans for Nath’s upcoming visit and anticipated book releases. Lastly, we had more book fun at our parking lot book swap, though as usual, I walked away with more books than I showed up with. (Will power is not my strong suit. )

The Unexpected:

On the way to my car this (Monday) morning, I stepped off of a curb wrong, fell, and —long story, short—wound up with a badly sprained (but, luckily not broken) ankle and a fractured wrist. Of course, it had to be my left wrist, since I’m a lefty. As a result, I’m reduced to the 1-handed hunt-and-peck method of typing.

SO, I will be a little scarce this week. I’m going to let my sidebar  and other pages be for now (they are already out of date, anyway.) I’ll probably mostly hanging out this week in other blogs’ comments, since a comment box is nice and small.

Today, I finished my September Re-read Challenge book, Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas , but posting my review on time will depend on how sick I’m going to get of typing so s-l-o-w-l-y.

I’m wrapping up Kim Harrison’s Once Dead, Twice Shy, which has been a fun, fast read. Also, today I picked up on impulse, Sarah McCarty’s Running Wild (courtesy of Saturday’s book swap) which is fun, shifter-y goodness. And, I can’t wait to crack open Jill Sorenson’s Set the Dark on Fire, in the next day or two.

While I feel like I’ve been pitched a bit of a curve ball—especially given all the kid taxiing I’ve got to figure out, but at least I’ll have plenty of books to keep me entertained.

For the last two days, I’ve been trying NOT to be sick. Sinus headache is making it hard to read (and write, for that matter, so this post will be brief.)

However, Suzanne Brockmann’s Force of Nature (Troubleshooters series, book 11) has been my companion, allowing me to lie in bed with my eyes closed and join Rick, Annie, Jules and Robin on their adventures in Sarasota, Florida.

It’s been so much better to be with the Troubleshooters than having to think about the fact that I MUST be better by Saturday, for the So Cal Bloggers get together.

Force of Nature is almost over, and I’m so excited that Audible had Lisa Kleypas’ Tempt me at Twilight available. It’s downloaded and ready to go and help me on my road to recovery.

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls series, book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater (YA) AUDIOBOOK

(Warning: book link automatically starts a book trailer with audio.)

Wow. What a beautifully written book. The prose was beautiful, poetic at times, but it never got in the way of telling the story of Grace and Sam.

I actually hadn’t planned on a review, but while listing this book on my Read Books page, I found I had too much to say about this book that just couldn’t fit on that page.

Here is the book description:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf — her wolf — is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human — or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

After a wolf attack when she was 11, Grace has always felt deeply connected to the wolves who live in the woods behind her house. Especially, the yellow-eyed wolf who watches her from the trees. Sam has always watched over the girl who survived his fellow pack members’ attack. When circumstances bring them together, both when Sam is wolf and young man, such a beautiful love story unfolds.

The chill of rural Minnesota is so evocative in Shiver, that it feels like it’s another character in the book. I loved how the chapters were identified with the current temperature. It gave an urgency to the romance and to Sam’s desire to stay with Grace for as long as he possibly could before returning to his wolf form.

With Grace’s yearning to be with her wolf, Sam’s almost obsessive devotion to Grace, and the small town, rural setting of Shiver, it’s hard not to make the inevitable comparisons to Twilight. And, while I enjoyed Twilight for what it was, it was hard not for me not to feel like Grace is what Bella should have been. They are both the responsible kid raised by flaky/checked out parents, looking for someone of their own to love. However, their similarites end there. While Bella latches onto her relationship with Edward in an unhealthy (imo) way, Grace’s strength and steadfastness become more when she’s with Sam. They now have a purpose, and allow her to discover why she has always felt so connected to “her” wolves. I loved travelling with her on her journey of self-discovery.

Sam, on the other hand, was a wonderful example of a beta hero: sensitive to Grace’s needs as well as others around him, artistic, and introspective, I loved how he communicated through his love of poetry and his songwriting.

Usually, I don’t miss having an audiobook instead of a print book. And, the readers for this book, David LeDoux and Jenna Lamia, were excellent. However, some passages were so beautiful that I know if I had been reading them, I would have lingered more, rereading here and there.

I had a few minor quibbles with Shiver: absentee, clueless parents (natch) and an amazingly convenient medical skill in a secondary character, an adversary who sort of faded away. However, in light of the beautiful story, it was easy to look past them.

I was so excited to hear in the author’s interview at the end of the audiobook that a sequel to Shiver, entitled Linger, will be out Fall 2010. Now, the hardest part for me will be deciding whether to get the audiobook or print book.

• Maggie Stiefvater’s site.
• Print excerpt at publisher’s site.
• Audio excerpt at Audible. Audiobook read by David LeDoux and Jenna Lamia.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve come to look forward to my beginning of the week blog posts. Because of time constraints, I’ve been reviewing much less. I miss writing reviews and hope to start writing some more regularly, but at least for now 3 or 4 a month is the most I can manage. In the mean time, the Monday or Tuesday check-in posts are a way for me to catch my breath, think a little about the books I read last week, and anticipate the books coming up this week.

On the book front, I did NOT get to read Corambis by Sarah Monette, which was my biggest disappointment last week. I didn’t realize it was due back at the library quite so soon, and had to return it unread. Of course, I’ll be adding my name back to the requests list in a month or two, and hopefully it’ll find it’s way back to me.

However, I did get to read Lauren Dane’s Undercover, book 1 in her Federation series. And while I didn’t like it as much as Relentless (a little too much D/s for my personal taste,) her writing was excellent, and I loved Sera, Ash and Brandt (especially, Brandt. ::ahem::) I will be eagerly looking forward to book 3 in the series, Insatiable, which will be released July 2010. In the meantime, I’m hoping to work my way through her Cascadia wolves series.

In audiobooks, I listened to one of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ early books, Just Imagine (aka Risen Glory) which was a historical set in the post-Civil War era. It was ok, though I didn’t like the heroine, who was in the Scarlett O’Hara mold of strong but quite selfish heroines. The story was a little too hackneyed, but written well enough that I stuck through to the end. I’ve worked through all the SEP audiobooks in CD format (cassette is too much of a pain) in both the Glendora library and the LA County system. I will have to read the rest of her backlist, which isn’t a hardship, but I will miss Anna Fields wonderful readings.

Last week, a lot of my fantasy requests coincidentally came into the library at the same time. This included: Michelle Sagara’s Cast in Silence (Cast series, book 4), Kat Richardson’s, Vanished (Harper Blaine series, book 4), Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire (Hunger Games sequel) and Richelle Mead’s The Thorn Queen (Dark Swan series, book 2.) In light of my overwhelming haul, which has been added to the already full tbr shelf, I’ve stopped requesting any more library books until these are all read. I’ve been unable to read books I’ve bought, because of the pressure to read the library books before they are due. Of course, I still have a number of books still waiting to come in which I requested ages ago. lol

Speaking of due library books, I’m looking forward to Kim Harrison’s YA, Once Dead, Twice Shy. I haven’t heard too much about it, but it looks like a fun, quick read about a girl who is caught between the living world and the dead. Reapers, guardian angels, and cute guys are all a part of the fun!

Over here at Chez Renee, we’re finally getting our bearings. The kid will begin choir practice again this week. We attend a large, Episcopal church, and they have an incredible children’s choir. It was a struggle for the kid last year, getting used to new skills like paying attention and sitting still during choir practice, but hopefully now that he’s more accustomed to it, he will not be so squirrely. (Hah! Hope springs eternally in his mother’s breast. ) I will be there as a choir mom to help during practice, and he’s young enough that it actually helps him when I’m there. He also started chess lessons after school, which he LOVES. Who knew?

On Saturday, I was at an acolyte training. I co-ordinate a team of about 10 acolytes (altar servers) at our church. The kids are jr high/high school age, and a so much fun to work with. It did my heart good to see a room full (almost 100 kids are in the program!) of kids early on a Saturday morning, excited about being a part of the church services. One of the things I miss most about my present job (aside from it being too few hours) is working with kids. I get something out of working with them that I don’t get in any other kind of work. Luckily, I can volunteer at my kid’s class and choir, and at church to get some of that.

The thing I’m looking forward to most this week is Saturday’s So Cal Blogger’s get together. We’re meeting in Pasadena, for a tromp through Borders and lunch nearby. One of the really cool things about these ladies is that no matter who shows up, it’s always a guaranteed good time. I can’t wait to gab away about books with others who are as into them as I am.

ETA: OMG, I can’t believe I forgot to add Carolyn Crane’s (aka Carolyn Jean of The Thrillionth Page) amazing book cover for her upcoming book, Mind Games.

How awesome is that?

What have you got on your plate for reading this week? Any special reads last week that stood out?

This is September’s TBR Challenge review:

There was only one rule on the frontier — survival. So when a wounded, buckskin-clad stranger appeared at the door of her isolated cabin, Elspeth Stewart felt no qualms about disarming him and then tying him to her bed. Newly widowed and expecting her first child, she had to protect herself at all costs. And Nicholas Kenleigh threatened not only her safety, but her peace of mind. The terrible scars on his body spoke of a tortured past, but his gentle touch and burning gaze awoke longings she had never expected to feel. Bethie had every reason in the world to distrust men; the cruelty she suffered at their hands had marked her soul, though her blonde beauty showed no sign of it. But little by little she found herself believing in Nicholas, in his honor, his strength. As he brought her baby into the world, then took both mother and daughter into his care, she realized this scarred survivor could heal her wounded spirit, and together they would . . . Ride the Fire