Exhale, 2^nd book of the Just Breathe series by Kendall Grey.

I hate Kendall Gray. I just. I just can’t. My mind. Blown.

Perhaps hate is a strong word.

I had just consumed Inhale and was in a state of post good read bliss. Normally, I’m reluctant to read the second book of a series if the first book lived beyond expectations. Usually I give myself a little time – at least a couple days to contemplate, ponder, take a final drag out of the last remaining feelings of satisfaction from my happily ever afters. Sometimes I’m really good and manage to hold myself back until I’m sure the entire series is complete before embarking on days of sleepless kindle binges.

But I f'ing didn’t take my time. No, Kendall Grey is so gifted, her world so complex, her characters just so. just so damn full of life that I couldn’t help myself.

I read book two. And while I was reading book two, I could see the inevitable happening literally right before my eyes. I was powerless to stop it. I was powerless to stop reading it. And it happened. And now we wait for book three. Thank god it’s scheduled for a January release.

Read book two but only if you have read book one. Exhale picks up exactly where Inhale stops off. Also, know this is a trilogy which I decided to pointedly ignore before embarking on this journey. Like her previous book, Kendall Grey once again throws us into the Elemental World but if you’ve read book one, you will at least have some footing. But don’t worry, she still manages to keep us hapless readers off balance. You will predict some twists but Kendall Grey will definitely fling you off the ride with other turns. I get the sense that there is a bigger game at play in her trilogy and Kendall Grey has only just whetted our appetites. Here’s to 2013. 

Consequences, Book 1 of the Consequences Series, by Aleatha Romig.

I'm sorry Aleatha Romig... I couldn't finish your book. I got two-thirds of the way through and had to take a break and I haven't been able to come back since.

I could really tell that Aleatha Romig spent a lot of time researching into and weaving Stockholm Syndrome into her story. And it was those details that lost me. When I was given description after description of the mundane including Claire Nichols' shopping ventures, dining ventures, the drive to the those ventures, basically descriptions of the number of twigs on one branch of one tree in the massive forest of the blurring lines between domination vs submission and frank abuse, I got tired and couldn't continue the journey. Aleatha Romig does eventually venture into that formidable forest, but by that time I was so exhausted that I couldn't keep up.

I wasn't even really sure what type of story Consequences was supposed to be. Clearly this was not a traditional romance. Nor was it an anti-hero/heroine romance. Was this even a romance? Perhaps not. I'm hoping this might all turn out to be an epic story of Vengeance but the reviews of the second book have cast some serious doubt on that hope.

I might end up skipping the rest of the book and trying the second in the series since Truth has 5 stars. I'm not sure if I'm ready to throw myself into that world again.

Inhale, Book 1 of the Just Breathe Trilogy by Kendall Gray, was pretty fantasmic.

I am relatively new to the world of Elemental PNR and I was a bit wary at first. But then again, I was wary of Trolls and you know what happened when I finally read the Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking (I loved it). Plus, I couldn’t pass up a free book. I should have learned and I definitely did.

Like I said. Fantasmic.

No, this was not a erotica thriller with sex, raunchy sex, kinky sex and general smut smut thrown around for an extra good measure of good ol’ hedonistic sex. Of course, don’t get me wrong, Kendall Gray does not disappoint when exploring the relationship between Zoe and Gavin. Kendall Gray just adds so much *more* to her story.

I love how Kendall Gray threw us into the Elemental world with no lengthy introductions or overly long descriptive prose. I stumbled a bit since the terminology was unfamiliar and the players not fully revealed. In fact, even by the end, the author left us still treading in the Elementals world. While she explores the feelings between Zoe and Gavin pretty extensively, she is able to flesh out her secondary characters with delicious glimpses into their hidden backgrounds. Everyone is playing a game in this series and as readers, we still don’t know all the rules. And I love it. Can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy.

The Marann, Book 1 of Tales of Tolari Space, by Christie Meierz  was one of the best science fiction romances that I have read in a long time.

Ms. Meierz writes about Ms. Marianne Woolsey, a young hyperpolyglot fluent in seventeen languages and teacher of foreign language in twenty-sixth century Iowa, who has been forcibly requested by Earth’s government to teach six foreign languages to the heir of the Sural, leader of a distant uncannily human like race called the Tolari.

I loved how the author introduced us to the Tolari mostly through Ms. Woolsey’s perspective. Her description of the complex culture of the Tolari is water to the world building thirsty soul. Her attention to detail from initial encounters, hierarchy, foods, clothes and even language is impressive and without contradiction. Clearly Christie Meierz has spent an extraordinary amount of time researching and piecing together her Tolari world. Her work reminds me of the efforts of Ilona Andrew husband and wife team and their own detailed world building which makes Meierz’s efforts even more impressive as she completed all this work on her own.

I immensely enjoyed how the love story that plays between Marianne Woolsey and the Sural is sweet and evenly paced. Their relationship plays out over years instead of a few days or even a few hours as some other romance relationships in the same genre tend to do. And their story is not over as The Marann is only the first of the series.  

The Marann is one of the few thought provoking and beautiful science fiction romances out there in an otherwise seemingly smut smut filled world.

If you loved The Marann, I would recommend reading Eden by Louise Wise and Starkissed by Lanette Curington.

The Barista's Smile

It’s pretty disarming. I find them pretty damn intimidating too. Every time I wander over to the local coffee shop, I have to steel myself for this inevitable addition to customer service.

After perusing the displayed assortment of confections, I will approach the cashier with my order. Sometimes I’m lucky and the barista will just look at me in a distant stony like fashion that I find oddly comforting at times.

Most times, there will be a smile. A blinding smile with a friendly, “How’s it going?” to which I can only sputter, “Uh.. How’s.. I mean.. um I’d like the orange chocolate scone… and.. a small tea?” I can feel my shoulders slumping as my ears start reddening. And then as I wait in line for my order, I give a sigh of relief. One more encounter down, an infinity left to go.

What is it with smiles? I can’t handle them. Maybe I don’t have enough of them in my life. Maybe the years of angry patients have taken their toll on me. I can tell you one thing. Smiles, I just don’t like them.

Seduction and Snacks

I’m laughing alone in my apartment and realize I must look ridiculous. Curled up on my couch with a blanket over my lap and my kindle in front of me, I’m reading Seduction and Snacks by Tara Sivec and I’m loving it. So I keep chuckling.

I’ve decided to depart from my usual paranormal romance/fantasy and have been foraging in the realm of “normal” romance for the last few weeks. I have been pleasantly surprised. I’ve come to the conclusion that magical feats, fanging necks and displaying super alpha prowess through super alpha powers are not absolutely necessary to good ol’ romance (excluding my paranormal favorites of course).

Exploring farther and farther out of the realm of paranormal, I’ve finally discovered book #1 of the Chocolate Lovers Series by Ms. Sivec this past week. Seduction and Snacks has incidentally shot up to become one of my top 10 favorite books of all time.

Ms. Sivec writes the story of Claire and Carter, two young lovers who had a brief affair which led to a more prolonged adventure, a son named Gavin. Unfortunately, since Claire and Carter never really exchanged names, Gavin became Claire’s solo adventure. Thankfully, fate brings them together 5 years later and hilarity ensues. Literally.

I mean belly laughing, tears falling, I’m feeling a little embarrassed for laughing so much on my own while reading a book hilarity. Ms. Sivec’s writing is smooth with natural dialogue and natural interactions between her cast of characters. The next book Futures and Frosting is already out but I find myself reluctant to read it since Book #1 has already set such high standards.  But with 135 five stars for Book #2, I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed.

Just finished The Restorer by Amanda Stevens.

Wow. what an amazing book. The first book of a series with a name like The Graveyard Queen, how can you not be intrigued.

This book captivated me from the very beginning. Amanda Stevens descriptions of the Lowcountry and Southerners like the Gullah, her ability to turn a sunset and the fragrance of flowers into something mystical and otherworldly is stunning. Her characters were ones I couldn't help falling in love with. Her writing so deliberate and her plots so intense that I had to actually slow myself down when I was reading. I didn't want to devour this book in one sitting, I wanted this book to never end and I took my time getting to the inevitable.

I can't wait for book 2 to come out.

tonight i'm starting on night float.

my first real "day" of being a "real" doctor.

yea, i'm only freaking out A LOT. o_o and by freaking out, i guess i mean just a little bit nervous is all.

can't help but love my parents.

who else would help me move out of my apartment to the house, and while jetlagged from Korea, help repack boxes, drive 6 hours to Columbus, move all my heavy/bulky items up to my 3rd floor apartment, help me unpack, drive 3 hours the next day to buy new furniture from IKEA, assemble said furniture, and then drive 6 hours back home that same day.

dad still going strong after 9 hours of driving/unpacking/assembling in the past 24 hours and ready to drive 6 hours more.

mom as happy as ever. i learned that pots are very multifunctional.

my parents.

amazing.

and when girls get married at the tender age of 16, they in literal sense leave their families and follow their husbands. and sometimes they're even proud of the blisters they develop on their hips from the hundreds of pounds of wedding dress with skirts so big they can't get out of cars/carriages or even get through the aisles of the church.

yup still talking about the traveller people.

starting to sound a little ethnocentric/ethnicist myself with all the they's in the past paragraph. the dangers of the inability to empathize.

i am so lame.

watched my big fat gypsy wedding last night, and it was so surprisingly crazy good. call it my social anthropology self, but couldn't help but get engrossed by the lives of traveller people in the UK. so completely different from what i expected. aka a girl staying in school until 16 is an achievement and getting married at 22 is considered old, but getting married to a guy she'd only met twice before and was literally her first boyfriend is normal. makes me reappreciate my own life a little more.

also, i find it hard that a second grader won the google doodling contest with this photo:

when i was in second grade, i could hardly hold a pencil, much less draw oddly beguiling alien G creatures with perfectly proportioned and spatially appropriate space persons. parents kids these days.

les paul google doodle aka me playing the guitar on google

didn't know google was so interactive. i think i found my other calling. google strumming.

obbaaaaaa. fyi, not whiny, just american.

American English is surprisingly a very sing songy language. People don't usually believe me, but try speaking the last couple of sentences and I'll argue that your tone changed over 10 times. Could American English rival Chinese Mandarin in the amount of intonation changes, just not as formalized?? shockingly possibly yes? take that ethnocentricity.

But back to whininess, Korean, compared to English, is a pretty flat language. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until this past year, and as such my Korean undeniably sucks. My tones are all over the place. And after hearing your cousins and aunts giggling about how cute you sound while you try to bungle your way through some simple phrases like "thank you" or "can we please have more water," sounding American can get pretty tiring.

but at least i've figured out one of the biggest hurdles to korean fluency. hopefully in my quest to learn more about my heritage, I'll start sounding more Korean-Korean instead of Korean-American.

starting to gear up for another move, which makes me reminisce about my old apartment.

in the classic style of before and after:

"Before-ish" aka in the process of moving out

thank god for friends. while she may look very happy and energetic, it was probably around 1 am by the time we moved out the last few boxes.

and.. After!

chocolates courtesy of the boyfriend :) i believe they are german chocolates.

more gifts from the boyfriend!

one of my favorite sitting areas made.

i'll miss these views

aside from the smallness and the constant smell of smoke that permeated the air, this tiny furnished apartment did good for me for a little while. but i am oh so glad to finally move on!

goodbye chicago! hello columbus!

I. AM. DOCTOR.

only took 20 years of schooling to get here.

True Blood.

(pretty puny fang action if you ask me.)

Okay, I'll be honest, I've been avoiding this series for years. I know, I know, it's one of the most well known vampire romances out there. The television series is considered the X-rated, adult version of Twilight. And when you put together X-rated and Twilight, it's gotta be good, right??

But I thought I had already read most of it. And honesty, three's a company in the romance department for me. private investigator, vampire AND werewolf?? Hey, I may like my troll teenage romances, but even I've got to draw a line somewhere.

But then my boyfriend got me the True Blood box set for my birthday. And, frankly, that's one of the most thoughtful, heartfelt gifts I've ever gotten. Even after mercilessly teasing me about my slight obsession with the paranormal, he still went out to Amazon and checked out what other people with my.. condition were into.

So I decided to give it another chance. I tried reading the first book again. And failed. Apparently, taking the mystery and suspense out of mystery suspense paranormal romance is no fun at all.

But then I said, hey, why not, let's just start with the second book. See if I actually remember any of it.

And 1 day later, I have finished that entire second book.

True Blood is AWESOME. I love it!! I can't believe it took me so long to get to this series. Turns out I never even read past the first book. There isn't even a private investigator. The boyfriend chose his series well.

Next, an actual review of Book 2 in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Series, Living Dead in Dallas.

i certainly try not to.

while clearing away dishes after helping cook a steak dinner for my mom for mother's day:

mom: you know, even though amy's mom (family friend) is really fashionable, she cooks really well.

me: hey i could cook well too!

mom: ..... but, i mean, you don't have a lot of time to cook...

must exploding garlic haunt me forever?!?

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

and just fyi, the steak dinner was delicious.

while driving on the freeway today from cincinnati back to chicago, i saw a girl driving a car in the fast lane at 60 mph, with a cat walking on her dash.

a cat. walking on her dash.

o_o

after a year of hemming and hawing and researching and lusting, i've found the one.

I've had a small obsession with tablets since they first came out. I got my first tablet, a refurbished toshiba portege m400, for medical school. with a 12.1" standard display and weight of 4.5 lbs, it was actually one of the smaller and better tablets out there. unfortunately, it died a premature death after only a year.

I vowed to get a smaller, lighter tablet with a built in camera for my next computer. Instead, I got the non-tablet IBM thinkpad r61 with a 14.1" widescreen display, without a camera, and weighing in at a hefty 5.7 lbs. It was a behemoth of a laptop, but I enjoyed the huge display and the expansive keyboard. I did miss the tablet function. But honestly, the tablet was more for fun and games than work.

But then, third year came around, and after killing a small glen of trees with my endless printouts of pdf''s in order to present the best evidence based medicine for rounds every day, I started to miss the tablet again. Unless I scanned in every pdf, I basically lost all my highlights and notes. I wanted a lightweight portable computer that could not only save pdf's, but also allow me to highlight it manually.

So I did some research, and I thought I found the one. The ASUS Eee Pad Slider. This piece of tech was mine.

(the pseudo-one) (the keyboard slides out! how cool is that)

But then I realized that it was a Droid. And Droids don't have any pdf highlighting tools like pdf xchanger. And Droids don't have Microsoft Office. And I need Microsoft Office almost as much as I need air.

So I needed windows (ipad = same probs as droids). I was back to square one.

But then I really found the one. The Asus Eee PC T101MT. It's a tablet with a 10.1" widescreen display and weighs only 2.9 lbs. It's a little on the weak side for processing power and also has a smaller harddrive, but it's got everything else I wanted and MORE.

in with the new.

I. AM. TABLET. pc.

The best part is the Multi-touch feature. You can't use a stylus on an iPad because iPads use a capacitive display (you need electricity aka your body). And you can't use your finger on a tablet pc because tablet pc's use a resistive display (resistives recognize pressure = stylus).

The T101MT combines the best of both worlds. It created a whole new display. a Capacitoresistor one might say. Or multi-touch. With a touch of a button, I can go from flipping a book on my Kindle PC to highlighting text on a PDF with a stylus. In three words. HOLY FREAKING AWESOME.

Look Ma, I'm capacitizing!

Resistizing. No smudges while highlighting!

I love this tablet. iPads are all the rage right now. But I gotta say, for the working young urban professional, I predict these Multi-Touch interfaces will steal the market soon. To Asus!