The Bad Influence Speaks

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2011

For 2011, I am joining the Goodreads Challenge.  My goal for the year is to read 150 new books.  Most people will probably count all the books they read but I re-read favorites all the time.  For example, last weekend and the first part of this week I re-read the first 3 books of Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra series: Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight, and Cast in Silence.  I'll try to do reviews of books as I finish them.  If I read a whole series in one fell swoop, it will be one post for the entire series.  Madelyn Alt's Bewitching Mystery series is what is currently on my plate.  They're fun but quick reads. 

If you're interested in joining the challenge, visit Goodreads Challenge. You can view my progress here: Goodreads.com's challenge BIS progress page.

Bedside Table: Sin in the Second City

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a book by Karen Abbott titled Sin in the Second City. Yes, we're a geeky family like that.

It's a well written and engaging read about the two sisters who ran the most notorious brothel in
Chicago's Levee district at the turn of the 20th Century.  There must have been a massive amount of research done for this book.  Her bibliography was extensive (and has increased my reading list).  Even though the book is very factual, it is never dry.  If it hadn't been for family obligations associated with the holidays, I would have finished quicker than the day and a half in which I actually read it.

If you have an interest in American history and strong women, I highly recommend it.

Sin in the Second City on Amazon.com

Shadows of the Bedside Table

This week, even though I have library books to read, on a whim, I picked up a favorite to re-read.  While I'm at it, I will probably re-read the whole series.

Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff.

This is the first in her Smoke series with Tony Foster.  As those who have read her Blood Books (this week's hot lick is one of the stars of the series based on them) know, Henry left Toronto and moved to Vancouver and Tony went with him. In this book, they have ended their intimate relationship but remained friends as Tony has moved into a profession in his chosen field, a PA for a tv show about a vampire detective.

On the set, strange things start happening.  Tony and his friends end up in a fight against a shadow force from another world to save their own.

This is very much a favorite book of mine bad puns, dry wit and all.

Ok, I sleep on a futon so I really don't have a beside table so no shadows.  It still sounds better than "on the floor by the bed." 

Ok, and the Bedside Table doesn't actually encompass the entirety of my reading.  I have a 5+ book a week habit.

Current Bedside Table

This week's Bedside Table reading was a impulse pick from the library new book shelves.  It caught my eye and looked like it would be interesting.

Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea and One of the World's Most Dangerous Jobs by Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand and Malcolm MacPherson (Amazon link)

I'm almost finished.  It has been funny, informative and occasionally heartbreaking.  For the most part, it is Johnathan and Andy telling their story while Johnathan is missing on a boat alone salmon fishing.  To viewers of The Deadliest Catch, the people and some of the stories may be familiar but that does not make them any the less compelling. 

I highly recommend it to anyone.

The Bedside Table

I've decided to add something new.  Either on Tuesday or Thursday (what you expected consistency from me), I'll tell you what book is sitting by my bed and what my thoughts are on it. By the way, all the readers out there should check out the Never Ending Book Quiz on Goodreads.  I've answered over a thousand questions and am only about 16% through it.  I even added a few of my own.

Back to the point at hand, this week, the book by my bed is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

It's one of those that I've heard about for years but never gotten around to reading.  I'm a few chapters in and am adoring the way Wilde writes.  I'm in alt over it and I'd be in lust if he wasn't dead and gay.  I have noticed a few traits of Lord Henry which I share (which I find somewhat disturbing).  Dorian is charming and so very, very young.  I think Basil is going to be my favorite.