What happened to last month???

I think I had an entry I meant to post last month and never did. Oh, well. November was a month of transcribing, editing, and writing. And Thanksgiving. We had a fantastic Turkey Day, and it sounded like the rest of you did, as well. The almost-foot of snow on the ground for the holiday has long since melted, and now I'm not sure what the season is trying to be. It certainly doesn't feel like the holidays when it's been mostly sunny, occasionally rainy, and I've managed to ignore the existence of my jacket. We'll be paying for this in another couple months, I'm sure.

Work is work. Family is surprisingly crisis-free for the moment. The Husband of Awesome has been to DC and back (leaving me home alone for more than a couple hours for the first time in over three years of marriage). I auditioned for a staged reading of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and landed the role of Cecily. Two weeks later, we performed with a grand total of two rehearsals and a total lack of anything resembling a full run-through. With props and blocking. We killed it, received a standing ovation (it probably helped that no one really expected much), and now I'm just itching for another show.

Yesterday, I spent five hours volunteering with these lovely people and I go back again next Monday. They work with folks in Central America, giving them the resources to break out of a poverty cycle, as well as preserve their tropical forests. I even studied these issues of development and conservation in my anthropology classes. How awesome is that? My In-Laws of Awesome introduced me to this organization, and I'm so glad they did. Can't wait for Monday!

Last month was slow, reading-wise. I have to wonder how much my reading habits will change when/if ever I leave the Barn...

92. Don't Kill the Messenger, Eileen Rendahl
More urban fantasy than paranormal romance, but that line is so blurred now. This was a fantastically fun book, rife with the usual sexy vamps and werewolves (yet she sleeps with neither!), and complete with Chinese zombie-vamps, tai chi ninjas, and a rather irritating fertility god. Yep, it's that awesome.

93. Succubus Blues, Richelle Mead
I've been wanting to read her Vampire Academy series for a while, but I'm still waiting for someone to bring those into work. This book makes me want to get my hands on those even more, because I am officially a fan of this woman's writing. The MC is a succubus who falls into the prostitute-with-a-heat-of-gold archetype, and I want to read the next book to know what happens to her next.

94. The Japanese Mind, Roger J. Davies and Osamu Ikeno, ed.
Non-fiction. A collection of essays by Japanese college students about aspects of Japanese culture, written in English for a non-Japanese reader who may know little to nothing about Japan. If I ever teach (I know, I'm not a teacher, but if it were ever to happen) a high school intro to Japan course, I'd definitely be using this book as a touchstone.

95. Enna Burning, Shannon Hale
Yep. I still love this author. This book is in the same universe as The Goose Girl, and continues after that first book leaves off, only with a different main character. Very well done, and I wholly recommend anything by this woman.

96. The Wicked Duke Takes a Wife, Jillian Hunter
A return to Regency romance. He's a duke, she's a former thief who now teaches at a ladies' finishing school. Definitely fun with laugh-aloud moments, and a whole lot better than it has any right to be.

97. A Highlander's Homecoming, Melissa Mayhue
I generally avoid time travel romances, but this was another that was much better than it should have been. Fun and occasionally witty, and the dialogue written with the Scottish accent didn't slow it down enough to matter.