Vacation Report and Book Review

It's been a very long time since a book has sucked me to the point that I wanted to do nothing but READ for days on end (well, except for my friend Ali's book, but that's another story). When Gary and I decided to go to the beach for our anniversary trip, I told him I didn't want to rent a car. I didn't want to spend the time running from place to place, trying to get all the sight seeing in before we left. The only thing that would accomplish was to send me home more tired than I was when we left. I wanted a truly relaxing vacation doing absolutely nothing.

So that is what we did! We spent our days lounging around in the condo or on the beach. We walked to the 7-11 for bottled water and basic supplies and eventually walked two miles to the closest grocery store and another two miles back. It just about killed me but I loved (nearly) every moment of it. It was awesome finally stepping back long enough to breathe and watch people, to notice my surroundings.

After a while I started looking for more ways to relax and picked up my kindle2 for a good read. I'd found a book a while back that I'd read a sample chapter from and was very intrigued. Not only was it a fun urban fantasy with a great main character, but the voice of the writer was just the kind of thing that resonates with me--and the story takes place in a city close to my heart as my grandfather homesteaded there back in the 40's and my mother graduated from high school there. It's one of those places that is more home than most because of the family history. I started school there as well. It was a place of refuge after my father passed away.

It's the Mercedes Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs (Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, and Bone Crossed) and takes place in the Tri-Cities, Washington. It's a world full of werewolves, vampires, Fae magic, and one half native american woman who is also a shapeshifting coyote. They call her a "walker."

Briggs is brilliant with chracterization. She has a way of making these people alive, more alive than many people I walk amongst. She creates individuals I want to be friends with, who I'd invite into my home and stand next to in a fight. People who make a difference.

If you're looking for a rip-roaring ride through an alternate reality, check out Patricia Briggs. She'll be sitting on my shelf next to my other favorites that I'll read time and time again. Mercedes Thompson is definitely someone I want to share more time with.

Quote of the Day: "A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.

Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937)