Azhrialilu Dot Com

What is one thing you’d really like to accomplish in 2008? Will you do it?

Here’s hoping!  I’d really like to write a book - I’m not greedy - a short novella will do.  I’ve actually set a challenge for myself to write a 10-15,000 word short story with the next couple of months.  I’m not going to give away any information on it as yet, but once I have got a couple of chapters down I will let you know how it’s going. 

Will I do it?  I think so, yeah.  I’ve already started, in fact.  They say the first sentence is the hardest and I’ve got that written down!  I even have the beginning, middle and end figured out.  I just need to get it down into writing. 

Go me!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Just looking back over the past year - below are just some of the books I read (listed in no particular order).

1. Stolen - Kelley Armstrong
2. Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
3. White Night - Jim Butcher
4. My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding - Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lori Handeland, L.A. Banks, Jim Butcher, Esther M. Friesner, Susan Krinard
5. No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong
6. Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong
7. Dates From Hell - Kim Harrison, Lynsey Sands, Lori Handeland, Kelley Armstrong
8. My Favourite Witch - Annette Blair
9. The Kitchen Witch - Annette Blair
10. Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong
11. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
12. Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs
13. Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
14. Dead Beat - Jim Butcher
15. Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
16. Cursor’s Fury - Jim Butcher (read twice this year)
17. Death Masks - Jim Butcher
18. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
19. Grave Peril  - Jim Butcher
20. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
21. Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong
22. Last of the Wilds - Trudi Canavan
23. Priestess of the White - Trudi Canavan
24. Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher (read twice this year)
25. Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
26. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher
27. Lover Beware - Christine Feehan, Eileen Wilks, Katherine Sutcliffe, Fiona Brand
28. Academ’s Fury - Jim Butcher (read twice this year)
29. The High Lord - Trudi Canavan
30. The Magician’s Guild - Trudi Canavan
31. The Novice - Trudi Canavan
32. Claimed By Shadow - Karen Chance
33. Touched The Dark - Karen Chance
34. The Taste of Night - Vicki Pettersson
35. Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson
36. Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher
37. Magick in the West End - Kala Trobe
38. Windfall - Rachel Caine
39. Chill Factor - Rachel Caine
40. Heat Stroke - Rachel Caine
41. Ill Wind - Rachel Caine
42. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
43. Blood Ties (Book One) - Jennifer Armintrout
44. Blood Ties (Book Two) - Jennifer Armintrout
45. The Scot, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Annette Blair
46. Confessor - Terry Goodkind
47. Captain’s Fury - Jim Butcher
48. Dragonswan - Sherrilyn Kenynon
49. On the Prowl - Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Sunny, Eileen Wilks
50. A March Into Darkness - Robert Newcomb
51. Savage Messiah - Robert Newcomb
52. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
53. Firestorm - Rachel Caine
54. Memoirs of an Exorcist - David Devereux
55. Hunter’s Moon - David Devereux
56. Adobe Creative Suite 2 - Classroom in a Book
57. Adobe Photoshop CS2 - Classroom in a Book
58. Ancestral Trails - Mark D Herber
59. The Genealogists Internet - Peter Christian
60. Photoshop Finishing Touches - David Cross
61. The Photoshop Channels Book - Scott Kelby

This is by no means the complete list as I didn’t start to record what I was reading til midway through the year.  This year though I intend to keep a track of what I’m reading and when I read it.  You will find 2008’s reading list HERE

Popularity: 21% [?]

We picked up a copy of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series on Saturday afternoon and I began reading it almost straight away. Taking time out to eat and sleep, I finished the book Sunday afternoon after approximately 12 hours reading.

I was dubious before I started as to how well JK Rowling would do, considering the amount of hype that has been spread about this last book and, with the amount of supposed spoilers around the internet it was difficult not to miss reading something about it somewhere. Somehow I managed to avoid all spoilers until Friday 20th July and then I flicked onto a site to find a whole mountain of them. I admit I read them – not because I wanted to know how the book ended, but because I was curious to see how many they actually got wrong and, oh boy, did they ever get it wrong!

To say the book was good would be to belittle the writing talent on JK Rowling. She has excelled herself with this final novel in the Harry Potter series, answering most, if not all, questions posed throughout the series. Yes, there are deaths – and while some may say there was little emotion showed about them, people need to remember that this is still a children’s novel and not an epic fantasy written for adults. There were some instances were I disagreed with the reasoning for a death, but I didn’t expect to be in 100% agreement with everything – and why would I be.. we each have our own opinions on what should have happened.

Overall I thought this book was a spellbinding ending to the series and I was pleased to find that the ending was not written in such a way that leaves it open for a million other books – although there could well be a story or three in the offing but not related to the main story of this series.

Wonderfully written and well worth the time taken to read it. A must for anyone’s bookshelf!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Book Description

Sexy new romance from the national bestselling author of My Favorite Witch.

To restore his clan to glory, Rory MacKenzie must reclaim a beautifully carved unicorn. His search leads him to Victoria Cartwright, whose untapped magical power reveals a long-hidden treasure in her wardrobe.

OH MY GODDESS! Having read the amusing The Kitchen Witch and My Favourite Witch by Annette Blair, I pre-ordered this expecting more of the same – an easy light-hearted read that takes little in the way of effort but with a nice storyline. Unfortunately what I got was a series of pages which I’m sure was a play by the author at becoming the Terry Pratchett of the romantic witch genre.. and failing miserably. The constant sexual-related jokes were cringe-worthy, the characters shallow and uninteresting. The story dragged itself along and when Vickie’s sisters showed up it just got worse. What person on the planet is going to open their house to three sisters they never knew existed after having spent all of two-minutes in their company? Not only does she allow them to move in straight away, but she has them run her shop for her too with no questions asked.

This has got to be the worst book yet by Annette and god only hopes that the next in the series will be better…… but I remain unconvinced!

Popularity: 8% [?]