Filling in the Gaps Challenge

I'm still feverishly reading books to make my 100+ reading goal for this year (only 4 more books to go!), but I'm not going to let that stop me from going ahead and signing up for 2010 challenges!

The first one I'm going to commit to is actually a somewhat perpetual challenge. The idea is to list 100 books that you feel as if you should have read in the past but have never gotten around to reading and then read them over the next five years. You can find out more about this project at The Fill in the Gaps 100 blog and at MoonRat's blog.

Here is the list of books I've finally come up with (the ones in bold are already on my shelf - these are a few of the ones I hope to read in 2010):

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
3. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle
4. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
5. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
6. Animal Farm by George Orwell
7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
8. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
9. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
11. Beloved by Toni Morrison
12. A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
13. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
14. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
15. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
16. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
17. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
18. A Connecticut Yankee in KingArthur's Court by Mark Twain
19. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
20. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
21. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
22. Deliverance by James Dickey
23. Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
24. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
25. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
26. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
27. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
28. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
29. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
30. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
31. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
32. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
33. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
34. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
35. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
36. The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne
37. Howards End by E.M. Forster
38. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
39. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
40. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
41. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
42. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
43. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
44. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
45. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
46. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
47. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
48. Middlemarch by George Eliot
49. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
50. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
51. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
52. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 
53. Native Son by Richard Wright
54. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
55. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
56. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
57. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
58. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
59. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
60. Paradise Lost by John Milton
61. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
62. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
63. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
64. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
65. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
66. A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce
67. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
68. Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
69. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
70. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
71. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
72. A Room with A View by E. M. Forster
73. Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
75. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
76. Silas Marner by George Eliot 
77. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
78. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
79. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
80. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
81. The Stranger by Albert Camus
82. Stranger In a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
83. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
84. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
85. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
86. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
87. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
88. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
89. Tropic Of Cancer by Henry Miller
90. Ulysses by James Joyce
91. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
92. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
93. Underworld by Don DeLillo
94. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
95. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
96. Watership Down by Richard Adams
97. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
98. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
99. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
100. The World According to Garp by John Irving

Has anyone read any of these? Which ones were your favorites? Which ones should I start with?

Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge Completed

I've finished the Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days. My goal was to read 15 books between September 22nd and December 20th. 


Here are the books I read:

1. Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
2. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
4. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
5. Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson
6. Vision in White by Nora Roberts
7. From the Heart by Nora Roberts
8. Black Hills by Nora Roberts
9. Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster
10. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
11. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
12. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
13. Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart
14. Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis Whitney
15. Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts

Favorite book(s) of the challenge: I've had great reading luck this fall and I've read a lot of really great books! My absolute favorites were: Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan, Bitten by Kelley Armstrong, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning, and Vision in White and Black Hills by Nora Roberts. I'd highly recommend any of these books.

Least favorite book(s) of the challenge: Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart and Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis Whitney were my least favorite. They aren't bad books, in fact, they were pretty good, but they had a lot of stiff competition and they were the slowest of the bunch.

New-to-Me authors of the challenge: Nora Roberts and Nicholas Sparks were the only authors I'd read before. So that's 10 new authors for me! Many of which I'll read again.

Thanks for hosting the challenge again this year, Katrina. I enjoyed picking out and reading books for it!

Readers of Romance Winter 2009 Challenge

Yesterday I posted about almost finishing the Readers of Romance Fall 2009 Challenge and now I've listed my books for the Winter Challenge. Hopefully I'll get to all of them this time!

Here are the rules:

• Challenge runs from December 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010.
• Audio books are okay.
• Rereads are okay.
• You can change your list at any time.

Want to know more? Check out the Reader of Romance Challenges Blog.

Here are the categories for the Winter Challenge and the books I think I'll read for it:

1. Read a book that was read in the Fall Challenge -- Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber (read by Marie T)
2. Read a book with a cheesy cover -- Does She Dare by Tawny Weber (2008 HQN Blaze)
3. Read a Julia Quinn Book -- What Happens in London by Julia Quinn
4. Read a romance that starts as a friendship Suggestions -- Black Hills by Nora Roberts
5. Read a book with “ICE” or “FIRE” in the title -- Familiar Fire by Caroline Burnes (1998 HQN Intrigue)
6 Read a book that is a Cabin/Road Romance Suggestions -- Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson
7. Reader’s Choice (Author last name A-K) -- Dying Scream by Mary Burton
8. Reader’s Choice (Author last name L-Z) -- The Gift by Nora Roberts
9. Read a book with a color in the title -- Blue Bayou by Joann Ross
10. Read a book that has a setting other than the U.S. or England -- River of Eden by Glenna McReynolds (Brazil)
11. Read a book with a "magic" element (time travel, miracles, magic, psychic, angels...whatever this means to you!) -- Between Light and Dark by Elissa Wilds
12. Read a book that is a stand alone (not part of any series) -- Genuine Lies by Nora Roberts
13. Read a new to you author -- Danger in a Red Dress by Christina Dodd
14. Read a book that has a three word title -- Big Sky Dynasty by B. J. Daniels (2009 HQN Intrigue)
15. For Winter, Read a book that has a “W” word in the title -- Whisper My Love by Gayle Wilson (1998 HQN Intrigue)

I'll come back and cross out categories and/or link to reviews as I finish them. Happy reading everyone!

Readers of Romance Fall 2009 Challenge Closes

The Fall 2009 challenge from Shefari's Readers of Romance group ends today and I was sooo close ;o). I was able to get 13 out of the 15 books read between September 1 and November 30. And the two I didn't get to fit into the Winter Challenge, so I'm happy ;o). If you're interested in joining the Readers of Romance Challenges, check out the Readers of Romance Challenges blog that Cindy takes care of for the group. She does a great job!


So here are the books I read for the challenge:


List of categories:
1. Read a Beta Hero -- didn't get to this one
2. Read a debut author OR an author that has LESS than 4 books published -- Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
3. Read a book that was read in the Summer Challenge -- Vision in White by Nora Roberts (read by Janon)
4. Read a book with an “F” word for Fall -- From the Heart by Nora Roberts
5. Read a book you’ve borrowed from a friend or the library -- Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
6. Read a book by Lori Foster -- Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster
7. Read a book that less than 300 pages -- The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
8. Read an author that has a pseudonym -- Crazy Hot by Tara Janzen (aka Glenna McReynolds) 
9. Read a book to catch up on a series you are reading -- Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell
10. Reader’s Choice -- didn't get to this one
11. Read a book set in Ireland -- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
12. Read a Romantic Suspense -- Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson
13. Read a book by an author you've "given up" on (call it one more try) -- Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart
14. Read a book with "Dream" in the title -- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis Whitney
15. Read a book from the backlist of an author you enjoy! -- Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts


Favorite books of the challenge: I loved and would highly recommend Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan, Vision in White by Nora Roberts, and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. I also enjoyed Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell and Crazy Hot by Tara Janzen.


Least favorite book of the challenge: Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart was a bit slow. In the end, it was a pretty good story but it was far from a page-turner. 


New authors discovered in this challenge: Hank Phillippi Ryan, Karen Marie Moning, Lisa Jackson, Lori Foster, and Tara Janzen were all new authors to me that I'll be reading more of. Mary Stewart was also a new author.


I enjoyed picking and reading books for this challenge. I'll be signing up for the Winter Challenge shortly (it starts tomorrow).

Review: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Title: Eat, Pray, Love

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

# pages: 331

Date published: 2006

Genre: memoir


Rating:


 Very Good

First sentence: 

"I wish Giovannni would kiss me."

What is it all about? This book is about the year in Elizabeth Gilbert's life following her divorce from her husband. In that year, she traveled to Italy searching for pleasure (or, in other words, eating every Italian delicacy in sight), to India searching for God, and to Indonesia (Bali, specifically) searching for a balance between the two. In what amounts to 108 essays, Gilbert shares her journey, thoughts, and observations.

Random thoughts: After I finished the book, I cruised the reviews on Amazon and -- Holy Cow! This seems to be one of those books that people either love or love to hate. So let me start out by saying that this book did not "change my life," but neither did I find hate-worthy. It was just an interesting, and sometimes funny, account of one woman's journey through her life and her pain. Was it self-centered? Well, yes, it was about her life and her pain! Come on, people...what exactly did you expect?

For whatever reason, many of the reviewers seemed to be upset that Gilbert financed the the trip with her book advance. Um...she's a writer...that's how they make a living. How else was she supposed to finance it? Would it have made them happier if she were independently wealthy? I think not. 

Another reviewer, while criticizing Gilbert for being selfish, made the remark that there are a lot of people who would like to chuck all of life's responsibilities, travel around the world, and make money from it. But, here's the point: all those people? They didn't do that. And. She. Did. So what? Cheese with that whine, anyone? 

Okay, this has turned into more of a rant than a review of the book, but I will never understand the venomous reviews on Amazon. Okay, you didn't like the book. I get it. But there are civil ways to express that and they do not involve calling readers who loved the same book naive idiots. Step away from the book. Read another or go do something else. Sheesh... (climbing down from the soapbox now)

Favorite quote(s):

"...I don't blend. Tall and blond and pink-complexioned, I am less a chameleon than a flamingo. Everywhere I go but Dusseldorf, I stand out garishly." (p. 40)

"The Bhagavad Gita--that ancient Indian Yogic text--says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection. So now I have started living my own life. Imperfect and clumsy as it may look, it is resembling me now, throughly." (p. 95)

"You're wishin' too much, baby. You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be." (p. 150)

"Religious ceremonies are of paramount importance here in Bali (an island, don't forget, with seven unpredictable volcanoes on it--you would pray, too)." (p. 226) 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I picked this book to help me complete the following reading challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Pages Read Challenge, Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge, Read Your Own Books (RYOB), 999 Challenge, Countdown 2010 Challenge, Raved-About Reads Challenge, and the Around the World in 80 Books Challenge.

Read Your Own Books (RYOB) Challenge Complete

Another 2009 reading challenge bites the dust. The rules for the RYOB Challenge, hosted by MizB of MizB's Reading Challenges, were simple: Choose the number of books to read off of your own shelves between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 and then read them ;o). My goal was to read at least 50 of my own books in 2009. I'll get a few more in before the end of the year, but since I've reached my goal of 50 books I'm calling this challenge complete. Here are the books I read (the bolded ones were my favorites):

1. Silent Night by J.D. Robb, Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, Claire Cross

2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

3. Shadow Game by Christine Feehan

4. Undercover Stranger by Pat White

5. The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts

6. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B. J. Daniels

8. I'm Watching You by Karen Rose

9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

10. Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

11. Willing Spirits by Phyllis Schieber

12. The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez

13. Platinum Cowboy by Rita Herron

14. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

15. Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

16. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

17. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

18. In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell

19. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

20. Shimmer by Eric Barnes

21. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

22. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

23. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
24. Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose
25. You Can't Hide by Karen Rose
26. Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire
27. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
28. Dirty Little Secrets by Julie Leto
29. Count to Ten by Karen Rose
30. Crazy Hot by Tara Janzen
31. Islands by Anne River Siddons
32. The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates
33. Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson
34. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
35. From the Heart by Nora Roberts
36. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
37. Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
38. Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster
39. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
40. Marley & Me by John Grogan
41. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
42. The Vigorous Mind by Ingrid Cummings
43. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
44. Leilani Zan by Barbara Casey
45. Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts
46. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
47. Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell
48. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
49. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
50. Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart


Thanks for hosting the challenge, MizB. I very much enjoyed getting these books off of my overburdened shelves. I'll be signing up for the 2010 version very soon!!

Book Awards III Challenge Complete

I've recently finished a couple of reading challenges. One of those was the Book Awards III Challenge hosted by Michelle of 1 More Chapter.

The Book Awards III Challenge ends December 1, 2009. The challenge was to read 5 books that had won 5 different awards. Here are the books I read to complete the challenge:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009 Newbery Award)
2. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (1998 Alex Award)
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2008 Boeke Prize & 2009 Galaxy British Book Award)
4. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award)
5. Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (2007 Agatha Award for best first novel)

Favorite book of the challenge: Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan - great start to a new-to-me series.

Least favorite book of the challenge: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman - I was just so over this series by the time I got to this book. I think this is the reason I don't read more SF/fantasy type books, by the umpteenth battle or newly-found world I just don't care anymore.

New authors discovered in this challenge: Stieg Larsson and Hank Phillippi Ryan were both new to me and I'll read more work from both authors.

What I learned: While I enjoy some SF/fantasy books (The Graveyard book was excellent) I much prefer reading mysteries with an occasional ghost, witch, or other paranormal element thrown in there.

Thanks for hosting the challenge, Michelle! I enjoyed picking and reading books for it.

Winner of Judi Fennell's Books

Thanks to everyone who stopped by Passion for the Page while I was out sailing and playing with Judi's friends ;o). I did see LOTS of dolphins (a couple of manatees, too)!

And, without further ado, the winner of the book giveaway is:

Christina 

from Readers of Romance Book Challenges!

Congratulations, Christina! I hope you enjoy reading In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under as much as I did.

Win Books or a Trip to the Beach!!

I'm out sailing this weekend, but please welcome Judi Fennell, the author of In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under to Passion for the Page.

Thanks so much for having me today to talk about the second book in my Mer series, Wild Blue Under. This was the first book I wrote under both contract and deadline—a completely different experience from pre-publication writing, when I was essentially writing for myself at my own pace. If I didn't make my word count for the day, it only meant that my submission process was delayed, not that the Marketing Department's schedule would fall behind schedule, or I'd miss the Fall catalogue, or the printer's schedule would get out of whack.

But with Wild Blue Under, I was suddenly writing to an entire corporation’s (Sourcebooks, Inc.) time frame. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I had input into my delivery dates, but it's one thing to want to finish a book by a certain date; it's another thing entirely to have to finish by that date.

So whatever writing process I had prior to selling, I now had to take into consideration that this was a job. I could no longer wait for the Muse to visit. I didn't have time to cajole her out, to offer her tea and shoot the breeze with her before she decided to impart maybe a scene or two. Now I had to drag her out, kicking and screaming, tie her to the desk top, and make her spit out her words.

Have you ever tried to reason with a recalcitrant three year old? That's what Muse-wrangling is like. And when the deadline is looming, you don't have time to bargain with candy.

So, I set goals for myself each day. Two thousand words a day is ten thousand a week. Forty thousand a month, and eighty thousand in two months. Then another month for revisions and voila! A book in three months.

Yeah, and then real life skews to the left, the characters go right, your mother comes to visit and a kid gets sick. Then you're scrambling to make up lost word count, you dig through the piles of manuscript pages on your desktop to find which one the Muse is hiding under, only to find she's taken off with a leprechaun someone let loose and you're on your own, your house is a disaster, the sick kid isn't heading back to school any time soon, and the bills need to be paid.

Sadly, that's not an exaggeration. We all know how life intervenes in the best laid plans, but when it's your job to get the story written, you have to work at it like a job.

That's what's been different since becoming published. Oh, the kids still haven't totally grasped the idea that when Mom has her earphones in and her head buried in the computer it means she's working and does not want to answer the question of what's for dinner four hundred times. That just because Mom is working from home does not mean she can drive you and five of your friends to the mall/paintball/movies/take your pick of teenage venues just because you're bored. It doesn't mean that she can run the gym clothes you forgot after she reminded you SIX times the night before to school so you don't have to make up the class (which, no, she can't pick you up from after school because she's - hello? - working!)

Where was I? Oh, yes, how do I write?

I write like I did when I worked in an office. I have a routine where I say goodbye to the lovely children, go to the gym, come home, shower, eat, go through email/blogs, then start writing. I give myself a lunch break. Since my husband also works from home, this is when we chat about our day because he's learned that just because I'm sitting there, looking off into space does not mean I have free time. It means I'm working through plot problems, or listening to the Muse (who's returned from wherever she and the leprechaun ran off to, thank goodness!) Then I'm back to work. I push myself to make my word count. Sometimes I go above and beyond (13,000 words in one weekend was a very nice treat - the Muse must have gotten lucky that weekend), and sometimes I don't hit it, but the point is, I work with that goal in mind. I also don't beat myself up if I don't make it. Life happens, but the idea is that this is now my job and I have to treat it as such. There are way more people than me counting on this story.

I wish I could say that along with my daily word count, I have the story outlined in my head or on paper, so hitting those two thousand words is only a matter of putting the words on paper. I should be so lucky. Nope. I generally know where I want the story to go. The characters have some flesh to them, but one of the best parts of being a pantster writer, in my opinion, is discovering the characters and their story along with them. Yes, this means that I have to go back once it's written and add in elements earlier in the story, but when that "Aha!" moment hits of why a character is s certain way, or does a certain thing, it's so much fun!

I also wish I could say that I know when I get my best ideas. I have some tried and true methods, but sometimes a scene, some dialogue, or an opening line or black moment will just hit me. The shower is always a good place for ideas to flow (pun totally intended) and I've talked with a lot of other authors who say the same thing. There's something about water flowing over you that encourages ideas. I also awakened with scenes (usually at 5 am, an hour before I have to wake up, because my Muse is a trickster). I once woke up with the first 20 pages of a story that have barely changed since I wrote them down.

So, while I'm now writing under deadline as a business, and while I've developed some methodology to approaching this "job," there's still a lot of serendipity to the process. Does that help anyone with their writing? I have no idea. You'll have to let me know.

And while you're pondering that, feel free to stop by my website, www.JudiFennell.com, and register to win one of two remaining romantic beach getaway weekends (the first has already been awarded), to either the Atlantis Inn in Ocean City, NJ (www.AtlantisInn.com) or the Hibiscus House in West Palm Beach, FL (www.HibiscusHouse.com).

WILD BLUE UNDER—book 2 in the Mer Series—in stores November 2009!

The underwater kingdom is his as soon as he claims his queen…

Rod Tritone has the looks and charm to snag any queen he wants for his Mer kingdom, but unfortunately, it's not up to him. As fate would have it, the one woman destined to rule with him is terrified of water…

She lives in land-locked Kansas and has no idea she's a princess…

Valerie Dumere thinks Rod is gorgeous and irresistible—but why does he keep insisting she has another side to herself that only he can show her?

Somehow, Rod has to prove to her who she really is. But when she finds out the truth, will she ever forgive him?

About the Author

Judi Fennell is an award-winning author. Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, as well as the third American Title contest. She spends family vacations at the Jersey Shore, the setting for some of her paranormal romance series. She lives in suburban Philadelphia, PA.

Don't forget to go by Judi's web site for a chance to register to win a romantic beach get away. And for a chance to win a copy of both of each of Judi's books (one copy of In Over Her Head and one of Wild Blue Under) leave a comment telling me the title of your favorite funny romance. I'll randomly pick and announce a winner on Friday November 20th. Good luck!

Review: Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell

Title: Wild Blue Under
Author: Judi Fennell

Rating: 


 Very Good


What's it all about? Wild Blue Under is the second book in Judi Fennell's Mer series. In this one, Rod Tritone, heir to the Mer throne, must lose his tail and travel inland to Kansas. He's looking for a Mer princess named Valerie Dumere. Valerie has no idea that she is half Mer (or that the Mer kingdom exists at all). In fact, she's convinced that she is allergic to ocean water. Somehow, Rod must convince her that he's not insane and to come with him halfway across the country to claim her destiny.

My thoughts: Wild Blue Under is a very cute story. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I have to say that I preferred the first book in the series, In Over Her Head. I think I liked In Over Her Head better because Ms. Fennell's  depiction of the ocean's inhabitants (think Finding Nemo and Shark Tales type characters) allowed her imagination and humor to really shine. My favorite scenes in Wild Blue Under, the ones that I thought really flowed, were also the underwater scenes and, overall, I found the story cute and charming. So, if you're looking for a couple of fun, light-hearted romances (or have someone on your Christmas list who needs some stress relief), I'd highly recommend both of these books.

I'm going sailing for the weekend, but Judi's graciously agreed to do a guest post about the way she writes and how the process has changed since she's been published. So check back in tomorrow to get a taste of Judi's humor, find out how to sign up to win a great romantic weekend on the Jersey shore or in West Palm Beach, Florida, and get a chance to win a copy of both of Judi's books.

A Well-Rounded Challenge Wrap-up

I'm steadily working my way through my 2009 challenges and have just finished  A Well-Rounded Challenge hosted by Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. I love doing this challenge each year because it helps me finish up other challenges. The idea behind A Well-Rounded Challenge is to pick 5 other challenges you are participating in and read one book from each challenge.


I chose to read books for these challenges:
1. Support Your Local Library Challenge - Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
2. Book Awards III Challenge - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. TBR Challenge - Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts
4. Raved About Reads Challenge - The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
5. 999 Challenge - Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning


If you click on Left to Die by Lisa Jackson or The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, you can see my reviews for those books. The others, unfortunately, I've been more lazy about reviewing. So here's a brief look at those books.

Nora Roberts's first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981 and introduced the characters of Travis Grant and Adelia (Dee) Cunnane. For Silhouette Book's 20th Anniversary, Roberts revisited the Grants and wrote Irish Rebel, the story of their eldest daughter, Keeley, and horse trainer, Brian Donnelly. It's a great little love story that has all the elements I've come to love in a Nora Roberts romance -- characters you can care for, believable dialogue, a fast-moving plot, and a sweet, happy ending.


The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, picks up where The Golden Compass left off. In this book, Lyra meets twelve-year-old Will Parry and, together, they move from world to world searching for Will's father and a very powerful and magical knife. I liked The Subtle Knife, but I thought The Golden Compass was much better. I'm slogging my way through the last book in this series, The Amber Spyglass, now and, I have to say, I'm losing interest quickly. Sad, because I really enjoyed the beginning of this series.

And, last but not least, Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning was one of my favorite reads for this challenge. Darkfever is the first book in the Fever series. In it, MacKayla (Mac) Lane travels to Ireland to hunt down her sister's killer. The only clue Mac has to go on is a mysterious message her sister left on her voice mail just before she died. As she tries to unravel what happened, Mac finds out that she and her sister had the unusual ability to see into the world of the Fae--a gift, or curse, depending on how you look at it, that could very well get Mac killed, too...  


So my favorite reads for this challenge were: Darkfever and The Graveyard Book, both paranormals and read in the month of October...hmmm...


The only new-to-me author in this challenge was Karen Marie Moning. I plan to continue reading the Fever series with book #2 - Bloodfever.


Thanks for hosting this challenge again this year, Teddy. I enjoyed choosing and reading books for it!

RIP IV Challenge Completed

The Readers Imbibing Peril (RIP) IV Challenge, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, ended on October 31.


Books read:
1. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
2. Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson
3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
4. Prime Time by Hank Phillipi Ryan


It's hard for me to pick a favorite book for this challenge. They were all so different and good in their own way! I had read one book by Neil Gaiman before this challenge (Stardust), but all the other authors were new to me. I have several more Gaiman books on my shelves already and I'm looking forward to reading more books by Jackson and Ryan. 


Thanks for hosting the challenge, Carl! I enjoyed picking and reading books for it.

Stick a Fork in Me...

...I'm done. The Read-a-Thon was a blast, but I'm packing it in for the night. I did manage to finish one book and I'm 3/4 of the way through another one. Altogether, I racked up 13 hours of solid reading and 441 pages.

I have a full day planned tomorrow, but I hope to get back and write up a wrap-up post sometime tomorrow night. Good luck to all the night owls out there still plugging along. Happy reading!

Half Way!!

OK, we're at the half-way point in the Read-a-Thon and I'm doing pretty well. For the last hour and a half I switched over to a young adult book called Leilani Zan by Barbara Casey. I'm glad I did; it was a great pick-me-up and my first finish of the Read-a-Thon.

Now for the mid-event meme:

1. What are you reading right now? I think I'll pick up Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts next. This is one of her older Silhouette novels and it's pretty short at 250 pages. Or maybe Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Decisions, decisions...

2. How many books have you read so far? 1

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Oh, I have a whole stack of books that I'm looking forward to reading. But I doubt I'll get to most of them. Other than the ones I've already mentioned, I also have Black Hills and Visions in White by Nora Roberts that I wouldn't mind at least starting.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Yes. There's a lot of stuff going on in Florida this time of year. The weather has finally turned awesome! So to convince DH that I really want to sit inside and read all day is a tough sell. But he's been really good about not bugging me ;o).

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not very many considering DH is cleaning out the garage all by himself. He's only asked for help once and it was really short. Thanks, honey!

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How slowly I read! Before I picked up the YA book I just finished I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. I'm really enjoying Gone With the Wind, but it's a really slow read! And at over 800 pages, it's going to take a while.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I think you guys are doing a marvelous job. I know you're doing a great job on Twitter, too, but I'm trying to stay off of there or I'll never get any reading done!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Next year I'll make sure I have a better selection of short, lighthearted books to read when I get frustrated with my slow progress on densely written books.

9. Are you getting tired yet? Not yet!

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? I don't think so. Everyone seems to be doing great and having a good time!

OK, back to reading for me! Have fun everyone!

Read-a-Thon Update

I was planning to do an update before hour 10, but my internet's been down all day! Oh well, more time for reading ;o).

Currently reading: Leilani Zan by Barbara Casey

Pages read: 159

Amount of time spent reading:  7 hours

Books completed since I started: none

Comments: The reading isn't going nearly as fast as I'd like. I've mainly been reading Gone With the Wind and Eat, Pray, Love. I haven't even cracked open The Amber Spyglass today as I had planned. But I'm going to switch to Leilani Zan, a young adult novel that's been sitting on my shelf for years. It's only about 100 pages long so I'm hoping to polish it off before my next update. I hope that'll give me a nice feeling of accomplishment to help keep me going!

And speaking of helping to keep me going: I want to thank all the cheerleaders and other readers who have visited and left comments. They really help! Hopefully my internet connection won't flake out again and I'll get a chance to go visiting others later on tonight. But, for now, I'm back to reading!