Wordless Wednesday: The Oldest Library I've Ever Been To

This is a part of Create-With-Joy's Wordless Wednesday, which is a blog hop of photographs.

3 1/2 years ago, I went on my first family vacation with my in-laws and we took a cruise of the Mediterranean.  We left from Rome's port, Civitavecchia, stopped in Messina, Sicilly, cruised on over to Athens, Greece, (Side bar1: I ran into a college ex-boyfriend on this cruise.  He was on his honeymoon. True story.) stopped in the port of Kushadasi, Turkey and lastly, hit up Heraklion, Crete.

It was while in Kushadasi (Side bar2: it's actually spelled Kusadasi, but the first s is pronounced sh. I also learned that Turkey is pronounced tour-key-yay.) that we took an excursion to the ruined city of Ephesus (EFF-eh-suss).  Ephesus was originally a port city.  It now lies several kilometers from the coast, thanks to plate tectonics.  It was an active city for the Greeks and Romans, but its claim to fame is that John of biblical/disciple fame lived there and the Virgin Mary died there.  The city was buried and abandoned, but archeologists are working to excavate it.  They predict that only 10% of the city has been excavated so far and it seems like a LOT, so this must have been a huge city.

Main road in Ephesus

We saw baths, a brothel, an amphitheater, wagon tracks, columns, Greek and Roman god statuary.  But the thing that wowed me most was a two-story library.  A library!  In that era!  It was beautiful and amazing.  So, without further ado, here is the Ephesus library:

and 

*hint: click on the images to make them bigger

Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself Blogfest

Well, so many of you are doing this blogfest, and I must say, they are just too fun.  So I had to join in!

First, and I said this on Krystal's page, but I read "Please allow me to reintroduce myself" and what I hear is the second stanza to the Humpty Dance.

You are SO welcome for that.

So here we go, stuff about me.

Well, I suppose I should start with my name.  I technically don't have one on my birth certificate.  My parents fought over it (my mother wanted Susanna or Ana Lisa; my dad wanted something normal) for 6 months after I was born, when my dad finally relented.  Then 3 years later they bothered to contact the birth certificate records people and have my name put on.   Anyway, with that, I am Susanna.  However, I dislike my name: it's too old fashioned and it's my alter ego of the girl with no self confidence.  So I became Susie.  Which I totally love.  But everyone ends up calling me Sus, thus the blog name.

 This is me.

I can play the piano and I can sing, but not at the same time.

I ran track and cheered in high school.  This is good for two reasons: 1, if chased by the police, I can totally hurtle over fences and 2... Ok, there's only 1 reason.

I never delete emails, so I have 2,000 in my personal email.

I could probably spend an entire day speaking only in movie quotes.  Everyone has to have a super-human talent, mine is memorizing movie lines.  This is good for absolutely nothing in life. 

I got my degree in Spanish, but haven't used it in at least 10 years, with the exception of vacations to Spain and Mexico.  I still like to think I'm fluent but I'm totally not. :(

I have two dogs, Benny Blanco and Riley, who rule my house.  Benny only wants to play with toys and Riley just wants to lay on the couch and fart.  He's a stinky boy.

Benny left; Riley right

Finally, I love to read.  Which, I assume you've figured out, what with the whole book reviewing blog and whatnot. 

My Perfect Day

My day started innocuously enough.  I could do the dishes, or I could take the dogs out for their morning walk.  The walk won. The sun was trying to break through the clouds, so it was bright out, but a few fluffy snow flakes were gently falling.  My boys (dogs) and I tromped around in yesterday's snow, reveling in the white powder, which had been absent the previous year.

Cheeks red (me) and bladders empty (the boys), we head back inside where the sink and its pile of dirty dishes stare at me accusingly.  I could do the dishes.  Or I could call my mom.  Calling mom wins. She woefully tells me how she is now responsible for shoveling the driveway since my dad's cardiologist told him he's not allowed.  I look back at the pile of dishes and I make my decision.  "I'll do it. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

It took me only 30 minutes to do their driveway; the powdery snow was easy to move off the driveway.  I chatted with my parents and then went on my way.  Shoveling their driveway had empowered me with a drive to get more done, so I did the unthinkable: I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike.  I showered, blow dried my hair and decided to run "errands".  I didn't have anything I had to do, but I wanted to see if my local used book store had any books that I needed to buy to have in my collection.

The used book shop is a labyrinth of book shelves, with hand written signs pointing out the various sections.  I wander around for at least 15 minutes before I come across the fiction section.  I zig zag through the aisles until I finally see the W-Z section.  I see The Book Thief first and fondly touch the spine. I push another book out of the way and there it is: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  I read this years ago but it is high up there on my list of favorite books.  I smile at my find (and at the price) and go purchase it.

I leave the shop and drive to one of my town's shopping centers.  The snow flakes continue to fall lazily, as if they have all the time in the world to reach the ground. The street and the happy shoppers passing me look like something out of a movie.  I decide to go into Target but get side tracked by Bath & Body Works.  After smelling so many candles and lotions that the smells have all melded together, I look at Target and just can't do it.  I veer off and enter Barnes & Noble.  I feel as if I've come home.  I pass the display tables of books.  I caress the cover of In Cold Blood.  I smile at The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,. I frown at 50 Shades of Grey. I laugh at the proximity of it and a book of erotic poems to the bible/religion section (they are perpendicular to each other).  I am on my way out when I pass the $5.99 or Under table.  I do a double take because I see this:

  and this

I stare at the cover, confused.  Richard Castle?  As in Castle, the tv show on ABC?  I've recently been watching all the reruns on TNT, so for a moment I'm convinced I'm hallucinating.  Ok, maybe the TV show is based off of a Richard Castle who is a novelist, like Bones is based off of Kathy Reichs' books.  I turn the cover over and see the smiling picture of Nathan Fillion claiming to be Richard Castle.  What the?  The "about the author" claims that Richard Castle lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother.  Like in the tv show.  But it's fiction!  It's not real!  I flip open the cover to Heat Rises and the dedication is to one of the characters (who died) on the show.  Now I'm REALLY confused.  It's fiction!  It's not real!  That is Nathan Fillion, not Rick Castle.  I'm starting to question my sanity.  I put the book down and back away from the display.  I move instead over to the mystery section and there, in the Cs is another Richard Castle book and Castle graphic novel.  The one I just saw the episode about.  It's like my two worlds collided and I could NOT comprehend.  Do not compute. 404: error.  I mean, I haven't been this confused since I watched The Commitments.  (A movie about a band who doesn't exist except in the movie, oh but they do tour IRL, but yeah, aren't real band? WTF?)  SO CONFUSED!

I quickly leave the store, but then turn back to buy a chai latte from Starbucks.  I mean, how can you pass up a Starbucks?  Anyway, I drive home, wash the salt and grime off of my car, wash the dishes (finally!) and call my bestie to tell her my ridiculous tale of the Castle book.  We laugh hysterically, and I decide to write it down here.

Now, as I watch the snowflakes gather speed into a full flurry, I sigh with contentedness.  What a perfect day. 

I wonder if there's a Castle repeat on?

Vlog!

Well, in my pre-vacation post, I had said that I would try to film a vlog from the ship.  Well...yeah, I didn't.  My apologies!  But apparently, my (empty) promise inspired author Krystal Wade to not only do a vlog, but do one where she reads my favorite chapter from her book Wilde's Meadow.  And she did it for me!  How cool is that?

So in the absence of a vlog from me, here is one from Krystal.  Watch it and then go get the book.  Because if this doesn't make you want to read it, then you're just bananas.

Here are the links to her books in the Darkness Falls Trilogy:
Wilde's Fire (book 1)
Wilde's Army (book 2)
Wilde's Meadow (book 3)

Try them out and let me know what you think!  Personally, I love them.

Happy Friday to all!  May your weekend be warmer than mine - we're about to get snow and it's c-c-cold out there.

Warm Bodies

 

Warm Bodies, by Isaac Marion

Genre: Horror, Romance

Rating: 4 stars

This is the story of R.  He doesn't remember his name anymore, but he's pretty sure it starts with an R. R is a zombie, but considering he's a walking corpse, he's in pretty good shape - still in the early stages of decomposition.  He lives in the airport with other zombies and "boneys", which are skeletons who seem to rule the zombies.  The zombies have families (of a sort), friends (if they can remember them), and a training area to teach children how to attack the living.  One day, while out looking for some living to eat, R comes across Julie, a living girl, and he starts to feel and to change.  He wants to keep Julie safe.  He brings her back to the airport and the two become friends.  Together they have to find a way to help the zombies heal themselves, and convince the living and the boneys that they can find a cure.

In preparation for the Warm Bodies movie coming out, I picked this up to read while I was on my vacation.  The movie looks hilarious (see trailer below) but the book was less so, it was more sweet.  It's a fun love story of people from two different walks of life trying to mesh their worlds together.  But one of those people eats brains. :) Despite its love story undertones, don't think that this won't have blood, guts, gore and brain eating, because it will.  It's about zombies, after all.

Warm Bodies is a quick read and a fun one.  You root for R and for Julie and their friends and the ending is satisfying, but you're left with so many questions.  Who are the Boneys?  Why did they stop fighting?  Why were people turned into zombies? What happened with her father at the end? Because even after rereading that, I still don't totally get it.  But hopefully all this will be answered in upcoming books, since this is labeled "Warm Bodies #1".

And here's the movie trailer - it's coming out February 1!

This post is part of a blog hop of book reviews:

Family Vacation Ahoy!

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, my husband and I are embarking on our second family cruise with his side of the family.  His parents *very generously* are taking us on a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas.  Awesome right?  Totally. However, it's a Disney cruise.

I've heard great things about Disney cruises, but as DINKs (dual income no kids), being on a cruise filled with families involving small children will be...interesting.  My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have two girls: 5 and 1 1/2, so the cruise was planned around them (as is almost everything).  My 5 year old niece and I decided to have breakfast with a Disney Princess months ago, so I've got that to look forward to.  And the alcohol.  Lots and lots of alcohol.  And sun, although considering my continuing states of sloth and gluttony, a bathing suit doesn't sound all that appealing right now. There's no gambling on the boat, so my husband is at a loss of what he's supposed to do.  He also gets an allergy from sun/sand, so he won't be hanging out by the pool.  And he's not a reader.  So there's that...

Anyway, on to the fun! Back in October, on my birthday, no less, my sister-in-law told me about the great idea she had.

SIL: I thought it would be so cute if we all wore matching Levine Family Cruise t-shirts on the first day of the cruise.
Me: *crickets chirping*
SIL: I talked to our mother-in-law and she loves the idea.  Would you and Matt wear the t-shirts?
Me: Um. No?  I mean, what kind of t-shirts?  Are they going to be like the crappy cotton ones we get at charity races?  Or will they be nicer ones?
SIL: No, the cotton cheap ones.
Me: But YOU hate those!  You're always complaining about them and rolling up the sleeves because they don't fit.
SIL: Well, I just thought it would be cute for all of us to match.
Me: I really don't think that Matt will go for this.  In fact, I can say in confidence that no, he won't.  And I'm not a huge fan, either.
SIL: Ok, well talk to him about it.

Later that night, after explaining the situation to the husband...
Husband: Hell no! What the hell?  Is this a family reunion for 40 people or 6 adults and 2 kids on a boat?
Me: 6 adults and 2 kids on a boat.
Husband: Yeah.  Hell. No.

I heard nothing else about the shirts for months, but then my husband mentioned that he had brought it up to his mother.  Apparently she said, "FINE. If you don't want to wear them, don't wear them."  [Enter Jewish Mother Guilt here].  So he thinks we're screwed and will be wearing the shirts.

I have yet to hear anything more, but if I do end up in a family vacation t-shirt, I promise to post a picture of it.

Anyway, since this is a book blog, here are the books I plan on reading on my cruise:

Warm Bodies
Be Careful What You Wish For
Midnight To Sunrise
William & Lucy
Visions Of The Revolution
Unnatural Habits

Be prepared for reviews!  And hopefully (if I can figure it out) a vlog from either the ship or the Bahamas!

Opinions please!

I need everyone's opinions!

I have a page up top there on my blog called "Book Reviews" where I (obviously) post the reviews I've done.

Currently they are listed in the order of which I've reviewed them.  Oldest at top, newest at the bottom.

Should I change the order?  Alphabetize them by title or author?  Categorize them by genre?  What do you think?  Please help me by taking the poll on my page.  It's right there ---> to the right of this!

If you have any other ideas, leave a comment. Thanks!

The Space Whiskey Death Chronicles

 Genre: Science Fiction, Horror

Rating: 5 stars

Usually when I do reviews, I summarize the plot. But how do you do that for an anthology of short stories? The Space Whiskey Death Chronicles are a collection of 14 very different stories: The Dangers of Field Work, On The Rocks, Bodily Harm, Smalley's Smirk, Urban Decay, Hell of a View, The Boneyard, The Thing In The Tunnel, The King Lives, Jack the Ripper Savior of Humanity, I Voyager, Janitors of the Cosmos and Best Friends Forever - Whether You Like It Or Not. Many of these stories have very sad endings. Some of them are hilarious. Some of them are just really fun and scary. I've picked out a few of my favorites to summarize:

The Dangers of Field Work Sisters working in a field, looking for food, are suddenly attacked for no good reason. Can one of them stop the attack?

Hell of a View A food vendor is waiting for the late-night crowd to come out of the club when suddenly the streets are filled with creatures killing everyone and an apocalypse begins. Can he get back to his family in time to save them?

Urban Decay A bloody murder causes a NYC detective to look for the person behind the attack, but he may not be ready for what he discovers.

Jack the Ripper, Savior of Humanity What if Jack the Ripper wasn't just a mindless killer? What if the purpose of the killings was to save humanity?

The Thing In The Tunnel Something lives in the tunnels underneath NYC. And it's not nice...it's hungry. So hungry.

At first I thought the stories were all science fiction, and some of them are, but then they started to take a turn to the horror side of things. And that's when a light bulb went off in my head. The stories reminded me of the movies Gremlins, Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside. I absolutely loved those movies when I was a kid! And I've missed them! They just don't make movies like that anymore. But here was this book that was reminding me of how much I missed and loved this genre. And then the gargoyle story, Urban Decay, was next and OMG there's a gargoyle story! I loved the gargoyle story in Tales from the Darkside and now there was another. Not sure what my obsession with gargoyles is, but I love them.

Anyway, I generally don't like short stories (they're too short) so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. And I really did. It's so well written. The stories just flow effortlessly. However, I will never look at ants the same, though, that I promise you.

So, to anyone who enjoys Science Fiction, Horror, the movies I referred to above and good writing, pick it up. It's worth the read.

Kissed in Paris, Juliette Sobanet

Genre: Romance

Rating: 4 stars

Chloe wakes up in a Paris hotel with all her possessions stolen and almost no memory of how it happened. It's a week before her wedding back in DC, and now she's being investigated for fraudulent activities on her banking account. When a gorgeous french man says he's working with the government and will help her get her passport back and catch the man who stole them, she grudgingly agrees to go along with him on a race around France. Neither of them expected to end up liking one another, let along falling in love.

A cute, sweet book. Being a Washingtonian, I wished more of it had been set in this city, but I did appreciate the shout-out to a good restaurant on the DC/MD line. Clearly the author knows the area. I can only assume the same can be said of France as there was much detail and affection in the descriptions of the country.

There were a few minor plot points that didn't seem explained well enough, but I was willing to overlook them because it was still a nice, easy read. The book makes me want to go to France and visit Giverny, drink some wine and relax. This is a fun read - particularly good beach read since it's set in the summer.

Speed Reading

I read The Hunger Games the weekend before the movie premiered and then watched the movie that Friday (nothing like leaving work to go catch a movie premier, eh Krystal?).  I loved the books - I read the first two in 2 1/2 days.  I would have had them all done in 3 days, but somebody *cough*Krystal*cough* kept forgetting to bring book 3 in for me to read. :)  Anyhow, I sped through them, as I am want to do with a series I love, and because of that, I feel like I've forgotten them.  I read them too quickly.

The movie for The Hunger Games was on this past weekend, so I watched it.  It was my first time since seeing the movie in the theater.  The first time seeing it, I remember being able to specifically identify the difference between the books and movie because I had just finished reading them.  However, 10 months later, I don't remember the differences so much.  Watching it did remind me of how wonderfully, horribly messed up these books are and I fell in love with them all over again.  So I skimmed through Hunger Games and a bit of Catching Fire last night.  I'm going to have to re-read them - slowly - and relive the horrifying, wonderful, gut-wrenching world that is Panem and its Hunger Games.

Have you had any books-turned-movies where the movies made you realize how much love you had for the book?  And maybe inspired you to re-read it?  (For the record, I do this with Harry Potter and Pride & Prejudice, too.)

I'm also super excited for Catching Fire.  I can't wait to see how they do the Quarter Quell...and if they can cut down on some of the tedium (imo) of the first half of the book.

Hera, Queen of Gods - Free on Kindle!

Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound, #1) by T.D. Thomas

Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Synopsis: The Fates are missing.  As in the Greek Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.  This means that the balance between Chaos and Order is disrupted, so 7 gods come down to inhabit human bodies to try to find them: Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Hermes, Zeus and Hera.  Hera has spent ages fixing things that go wrong and making tough choices, so, with her husband Zeus, she leads the pack of gods on their hunt. But none of them expected mortals to figure out something was wrong, or that mortals would be able to help them.  Especially Justin, a high school boy who is smarter than he lets on and Beth, a snobby girl who has more power than she knew.

In a race against time and a fight against monsters, the gods and their mortal allies must find the Fates and restore the Order/Chaos balance before the world ends...or die trying.

My thoughts: Having read the Percy Jackson books (including the follow up series, Heroes of Olympus), it was nice to see the Greek mythology story line take a different spin.  Instead of gods manipulating the heroes, this time the gods are the heroes.  Not that the mortals aren't heroes, they just have as much to do with the fight as the gods.  Having a basic knowledge of the Greek gods did help me get into this book.  I knew which gods had which powers and what their basic personalities were, their flaws and their strengths.  Thomas does explain this to you, but since I already knew, it just flowed easily for me.

The book is written from Hera's point of view, and while she can be depicted as cold and heartless, this lets us more into her psyche and reasoning for why she acts that way.  She's had the weight of the  world on her shoulders (metaphorically, of course - literally would be Atlas), and it's made her suppress her emotions.  It was neat to imagine how all that stress would effect someone, even a god.

Justin and Beth were wonderful characters, especially Justin.  I just loved him - brave, strong and hopelessly sweet.  Totally swoon-worthy.  The other mortals, Sarah, Stella and the witches, were great: brave and self-sacrificing. But not all of the mortals were great - don't want to romanticize things here!  Also, this isn't all sunshine and roses at the end.  Be prepared for some losses, and be prepared to be upset by them.


I really enjoyed this book and am really looking forward to the next book.  This one is fast paced (I was almost exhausted by how fast paced it was!), fun and exciting.  It keeps the pages turning and there's never a dull moment.  I recommend this for fans of the Percy Jackson books and anyone who likes a sweet romance set among gods, mortals and high school.

And wouldn't you know it, but the book is free today on Amazon?  Lucky you!  So go download it.  And if it's no longer free, buy it. It's only $0.99 Hera, Queen of Gods

My 2012 in Books

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had happy, healthy, fun, safe holidays.  Mine were crazy and chaotic and so much fun!  However, they detracted from my blogging time and from my reading time.  But now that it is January, I am back in the swing of things!  I promise.  Anyway, here is my aforementioned Best of 2012 list, by month.  Let me know what your favs from last year were.

Best Books of 2012

January Admittedly, I didn't read much in January.  I had surgery on the 12th and then was on pain pills for the rest of the month.  Ever tried reading, or concentrating, on pain pills?  Yeah, it doesn't work so much.  However, in January, I discovered the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich.  Lighthearted and fun, they were perfect books for recovering from surgery.  Except when they made me laugh.  Laughing hurt.  Good for the soul, tho.

February - Um, according to Goodreads, I didn't read anything in Febraury.  I find this hard to believe, but I'm pretty good about updating my Goodreads account, so I can only assume this is correct.  Shocking but correct.  Yikes.

March My biggest fault is stubbornness.  I can be so bullheaded at times, and for at least a year, I was adamantly refusing to read The Hunger Games.  I know, I know.  I can only blame this on my stubbornness.  Anyway, while visiting friends in Atlanta, I was cajoled (read: nagged) into reading them.  And wow.  I fell hook, line and sinker.  LOVED.  And forced the books down everyone else's throats.

April The third in a series I just love, I just couldn't wait for The Strangers On Montagu Street.  It's a ghost story set in Charleston, but has some romance thrown in there, too.  I loved it and can't wait for book 4!

May May is always a big reading month for me, and last year was no different. I read 14 books that month (I guess I was making up for February).  But most exciting was a book I had technically read in 2011 (I beta read it) was released: Wilde's Fire.  I love this book, I love the author and was so happy to see its gorgeous cover for the first time.

June Also a big reading month for me, I'm choosing two books.  The second in the Darkness Falls series, Wilde's Army and When Maiden's Mourn, number 7 in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series.

July I had planned on reading a ton on my week off before my brother's birthday.  Little did I know that I was about to remodel my parent's kitchen for them.  Worst vacation ever.  However, I did manage to read some fantastic books, one of which being Divergent.  Love love love this book.

August Although it didn't get released until November, I beta read Wilde's Meadow in August.  Most of my month was dedicated to mystery series (the remaining Stephanie Plum novels and the Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond) but the most exciting thing was to read the ending to this fabulous series by Krystal Dehaba.   I cried at the end, and loved every second of it.  It was hard to say goodbye to Encardia, but the loose ends up were tied up nicely so I wasn't disappointed.  I also got to proof read Ever by Jessa Russo and ended up staying up until 2 or 3 am to finish it.  I loved it and can't wait for book 2.

September At the end of September, I finally started this blog!  I didn't read a ton because I was trying to figure out how to review books well, and have good content on here, but I did read a series I really enjoyed.  Even though book 1 was read in September as well as its sequel, it doesn't make the best of list.  That honor goes to Shadow of Night, book 2 in the All Souls Trilogy, the vampire-witch time travel romance.

October This begins my first Netgalley reads, as well as banned book month and a ton of book reading.  I had a hard time picking a favorite for this month.  In fact, can I skip it?  I read too many fantastic books!  Ok, I guess I'll give October to Anna Dressed in Blood.  But only because you're making me choose.

November I was a child in the 80s and all my favorite movies are from that decade.  Not a huge fan of the music or the fashion, but I still have such warm, nostaligic feelings for the 80s that reading Ready Player One was a fun trip down memory lane...while being set in a dystopian future.  It was fun and lighthearted and would have made an awesome movie in the 80s.  Right up there with The Last Starfighter.

December I would like it known that I read 2 fantastic books this month, but neither of them have been published, so I can't put them up.  But I would like it to be noted that I will review them eventually, so be prepared for awesomeness. Luckily, I also read some other great books, and my December pick revolves around Christmas is from one of my favorite series: The Twelve Clues of Christmas.  Seriously, go read about Lady Georgie.  They're such fun books with a hint of humor and romance.