Tanya Dziahileva in iD winter 2009, One Day I’ll Ride A Big White Horse And Wear A Gown And Crowns Of Course.

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Magic Bites (2007)
Written by: Ilona Andrews
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 260 (Mass Market Paperback)

The premise: plucked from the authors' website: Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic . . .

One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.

In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy . . .

My Rating

Give It Away: close to worth the cash, but I've been told the second book is better, so maybe I was predisposed to read with caution. And don't worry, I'm reading the second book whenever I get my hands on it. Despite some of the odd plot problems and some confusion on my part regarding the world-building (and a heroine who needs lessons from Miss Manners), I was entertained by the story, which moved at such a fast pace that I pretty much finished the book in 24 hours. One note of warning to potential readers is that this urban fantasy is more dark fantasy than not, and if you're more in the paranormal romance camp, you'll probably want to stay away from this one, because it is NOT paranormal romance, and has more horror than you may care for. It didn't bother me, but after reading some reviews on Amazon, I learned it bothered others. The world-building is pretty solid and original, and I hope later books get into it more. There's a lot of promise here, so I'll be happy to read the second.

Review style: As far as plot goes, it's a rather simple story and for that matter, a short book. Spoilers are inevitable for this one, so if those bother you, then there's no need to click the link to my LJ below. But if you've already read it and/or spoilers don't bother you, then swing on by! As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Ilona Andrews's MAGIC BITES

Happy Reading! :)

Hello, I just recently discovered this comm and wonder why I hadn't looked for it sooner! My favorite book genres are horror and suspense and I haven't really found any good books lately. Does anyone know any good books from these genres to recommend?

Lara Stone in Vogue Paris December 2009, La Tentation du Diamant.

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Recipe for both the gingered carrots and mochiko chicken are included in the hapa bento post!

cranberry buckle
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Poo.. LJ's scrap book thing is still down. So for once I'll try with the pic from my other source. No fun in posting invisible pictures...

Anyway.. still counting the days to Christmas. Now it's becoming a challenge *L*


Christmas heart-apple on top of banana stars. Fish nuggets. Corn cob. Broccoli. Tri-colour spaghetti with ketchup, decorated with cucumber and bell pepper.

Dree Hmingway in Vogue Nippon January 2010, The Day She Saw The City.

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...at least in my apartment, anyway. I'm sure they're still rolling in leftovers at my parents' house.



Top: red bell peppers, beans and rice
Bottom: turkey salad sandwich

I was reluctant to do a sandwich bento, since part of the reason I got into bento-making in the first place was to pack more of a variety of foods in my lunches, but I still do like sandwiches. I think this one came out okay, but as I was packing it, I wished that I had something green to stick in between the sandwich pieces. I think that really would have made it pop. Alas, no green veggies in my fridge. But perhaps this means I'm starting to think like a bento artist?

Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch him, he's the Gingerbread Man!

My awesome breakfast this morning!

Cinnamon French toast and rainbow cupcake

Black tea with two slices of lemon and bread and butter and red caviar

 
wild strawberry tea, toast with my mums homemade jam and peanut butter, oatmeal, kiwi & nuts.

Buckwheat muffin + Earth Balance + apple butter, sliced banana, cup of soy nog + coffee, Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man.

( Recipe for these surprisingly delicious fat-free healthy muffins. )

The deadline is Dec 31st for comments to the NY DEC (Dept of Conservation, or as I'd rather refer to it, Dept Enabling Corporations) on their draft regulations for new gas drilling in NYS using hydro-fracking technology. Their "regulations" are no more than suggestion that industry will hopefully follow. Please, pretty please, won't you follow these suggestions? We'd be awfully grateful if you would...

Frack that! These regs need to be withdrawn, scrapped! President Obama signed a bill calling on the EPA to restudy hydro fracturing to see if it was safe, since the 2004 Cheney tinkered EPA study was a political ploy that allowed fracking to be deemed "safe" and thus exempt from the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. This has to change.

There is a petition online calling on Governor Patterson to withdraw the draft regs and wait for the EPA to do their study. Even if you are not in NY, you can sign this petition. Please do so, and please pass this on to friends and family to sign. This is critical to protect our most critical resource: clean drinking water!

Petition: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale

For more info on the dangers of hydro-fracking: http://www.shaleshock.org/drilling-101/

THANKS!!!