Category Archives: books

The Best Dover Coloring and Paper Doll Books

I was browsing a thread on Ravelry and was tipped off to these wonderful Dover Books.

Vampire Nights Stained Glass Coloring Book

“Vampires of today don’t just want blood — they crave friendship and romance, too! These 16 stained glass images portray hip, young party animals of the night in dramatic, contemporary situations: dancing at raves, rocking with guitars, driving sleek sports cars, and more. Each page is perforated for easy removal and display.”

DANCING AT RAVES is a contemporary situation!

Life’s a Drag! Paper Dolls

For the person who has everything, but doesn’t have paper dolls of Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman in drag.


Celebrity Parents, Celebrity Kids paper dolls

“This paper doll book proves that talent can run in a family! Featured celebrity parents and children include Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight, Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner, Jennifer and John Aniston, plus four other famous families. Dolls come with extra costumes, faces, and wigs from their movies and television shows.”

Voodoo Paper Dolls

“Enter the spirit world with this authentic but tongue-in-cheek interpretation of the voodoo culture of the Louisiana bayou. Five stylish dolls, each with a colorful extra outfit, include a voodoo priest and priestess, a pair of tourists who’ve been transformed into zombies, and a Gran Ibo, or swamp witch.”

Glamorous Movie Stars of the Eighties Paper Dolls

Books Read, March 2012

Books

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdoch – We were debating what to read next for April YA book club, and when I saw that this book was blurbed by the author of Feeling Sorry for Celia I said “That one!” Having a first person narrator with an intriguing, funny, and unique personality can be tricky to pull off, but Murdoch’s story about a girl named D.J. who finds herself running her family’s farm and training the quarterback of her rival school’s football team was one of the most entertaining YA books I’ve read in a long time. This book even managed to make me care about football when I was reading it! There are two sequels that I’m very interested in reading. I’ve been happy to stop with the first book of many of the YA series I’ve tried recently, but Dairy Queen really hooked me.

Succubus Series (Books 1-5)
by Richelle Mead – Good paranormal romance series by the author of Vampire Academy

Inside out and Outside in by Maria Snyder
– The Poison Study series is my favorite of Snyder’s works. I was less of a fan of the Glass trilogy due to some questionable sexual politics. This is sci-fi for a change, and I enjoyed these books but I probably won’t be rereading them.

May Day by Jess Loury
– This murder mystery features a library worker, so is nice if you are a librarian and like reading abou
t random corpses turning up in libraries.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White – YA paranormal romance for March’s book club. Author owes much to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Book was entertaining, but not enough to make me want to seek out the sequels.

The Other Guys Bride by Connie Brockaway

The Goblin King by Shona Husk

Manga and Graphic Novels


Daredevil Volume 1 by Mark Waid, Marcos Martin, and Pablo Rivera
– I read the first issue of this and decided I’d wait for the trade, because don’t tend to be very good at keeping single comics issues in good shape. It was nice after seeing Daredevil being the misery king of the Marvel Universe for so long to read a series where he actually seems to be having fun. And the art is so innovative in portraying Daredevil’s blindness and super senses. This is one of the best comics that I’ve read recently.

House of Five Leaves Vols 4-6
Otomen #12
Oresama Teacher #7
Library Wars #7
Stepping on Roses #6
Skip Beat #27
Dawn of the Arcana #3
A Bride’s Story #2
Tenka Ichi!! #1
Harlequin Manga: Avoiding Mr Right, The Celebrity Doctor’s Proposal, and Princess of Convenience

Books Read, Feb 2012

Books

Blood Red Road by Moria Young – This was a great post apocalyptic YA Romance that is essentially about a girl who goes into Thunderdome. Some of the storytelling conventions (written in dialect, no punctuation for dialog) were a little wearying at times, but overall this was a very compelling story. Great to recommend to people who want read alikes to the Hunger Games books, but also totally different. By far one of the best YA books that I’ve read recently.

Eye of Heaven by Marjorie Liu

Blue Dragon by Kylie Chan

The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockway

Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay (rereads)

Probably half a dozen Harlequin romances (bought on the cheap in Kindle bundle form)

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier (my YA book club selection)

Manga and Graphic Novels

Legion of Superheroes: The Curse

Hana Kimi 3 in 1 Edition

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon #3

Princess Knight Volumes 1 and 2

A Devil and Her Love Song #1

Story of Saiunkoku #6

Books Read, January 2012

Books

I still need to do my reading tally for last year! I will try to get to that soon.

Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt – This was the highlight of my January reading. A great, darkly humorous novel about a pair of sibling assassins during the gold rush era. Usually I tend to read books that are not very challenging or interesting from a prose styling standpoint, so it was nice to read some very good literary fiction for a change.
Mayhem in High Heels and Alibi in High Heels by Gemma Halliday
Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Chan – This was initially sort of interesting for a paranormal romance series because it incorporates martial arts and Chinese mythology. On the other hand, by the end the heroine has so many random superpowers it becomes fairly boring because there isn’t much suspense about any difficulties she will face.
Lord Scandal by Kalen Hughes
The Blue Devil by Melinda Beth Skinner
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier – This was my YA book group selection for Feb. Fun and quirky.

Manga and Graphic Novels

Legion of Superheroes: The Curse – Some great LSH stories in this collection
Sakura Hime 6
Skip Beat 26
Dawn of the Arcana #2
Kamisama Kiss #7
Basara #9 and 10

Books Read, November and December 2011

Books

God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake – Classic grifter novel!
Faefever series #1-5 by Karen Marie Moning – Very good urban fantasy series
Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch, The Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu
One Night in Scotland by Karen Hawkins
A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore
Undercover in High Heels and Killer in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

Manga and Graphic Novels

Dengeki Daisy #7 and 8
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon #2
Codename: Sailor V #2
Drops of God #1
Stellar Six of Gingacho #2
Oresama Teacher #6
Basara 3-10 by Yumi Tamura (reread)

Books Read, October 2011

I need to do a better job of tracking things as I read them, as I’m always tallying things up at the end of the month and forgetting to list things. Here’s (mostly) what I read this past month.

Books

Mostly lots of quick read romance novels, as that is what I tend to read when times are a little stressed out. Most of these I picked up on super sale in ebook format some time ago and am just now getting around to reading them.

One night in Scotland by Karen Hawkins
Once a Princess by Joanna Lindsey
I love the Earl by Caroline Linden
Noble Intentions and The Trouble with Harry by Katie MacAlister
Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Graphic Novels and Manga

Itsuwaribito #2 and 3
Urameshiya Volume 1
Sherlock Holmes Volume 1
Cross Game Volume 4
Twin Spica Volumes 4-6
Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Volumes 6 and 7
Library Wars Volume 6
Detroit Metal City Volume 10

Books Read, September 2011

Books

Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead – Pretty decent teen vampire romance series.
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride – This book had a funny and fresh (I thought that was impossible) take on the teen paranormal genre, and its protagonist is a fry cook/slacker who discovers that he can raise the dead. It had a good mix of horror and humor.
All Clear by Connie Willis

Manga and Graphic Novels

Wandering Son Volume 1
Black Bird #9 and 10
Kamisama Kiss #5
Sailor Moon #1
Sailor V #1
Skip Beat #25
Seiho Boys High School #8
Harlequin Manga: Acting on Impulse and Vengeful Seduction

Books Read, August 2011

I was on vacation for a good chunk of the month, so I got more reading done than usual!

Books
Bridgerton Series 4-6 by Julia Quinn – Fun historical romance series.
Vampire Academy Books 1 and 2 by Richelle Mead – This is decent YA vampire romance stuff, more interesting than usual since the heroine is basically a vampire bodyguard in training.
The Magicians – Got this in the bargain bin. Features unpleasant and unsympathetic characters and reads like a mashup of Harry Potter/Narnia fanfiction with literary pretensions.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare – Not all that great, I wonder if this series gets better.

Graphic Novels and Manga

Black Blizzard
Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus #2
Otomen #11
Butterflies, Flowers #8
Degenki Daisy #5
Ichigenme: The First Class is Civil Law #1 and 2
Ooku #6
Scary Book #1
Oresama Teacher #3 and 4

Digital manga:

3 Harlequin Manga on emanga.com
Ekiben Hitoritabi on Jmanga.com

Books Read, July 2011

Books
A View to a Kiss by Caroline Linden
Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Storm Born, Iron Crowned, Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead
Blackout by Connie Willis
Bridgerton Series books 1-3 by Julia Quinn
Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan

Manga and Graphic Novels
Kaze Hikaru #19
Library Wars #5
True Blood Volume 1
Story of Saiunkoku 3 and 4
Kamisama Kiss 3 and 4
Moon and Blood 1
Toradora 1

Books Read, June 2011

Books

Dead Reckoning and Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
The Importance of Being Emily by Robyn Bachar
The Fire Lord’s Lover by Katheryne Kennedy
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

Manga and Graphic Novels

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Blue Exorcist 1 and 2
Afterschool Charisma #3
Tenjo Tenge #1
Kaze Hikaru
Saiyuki 1-4 (reread)
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan #3
Arata #5
Knights of the Zodiac #27
Dengeki Daisy #4 and 5
Demon Sacred #4
Shinobi Life #7
Karakuri Odette #6
Ridge: The Avenger
Codename Prince
An Officer and a Princess
Kaze Hikaru 15-18