You know you’re Australian if…and other things
January 28, 2012 at 11:44 am | Posted in real life | 3 CommentsTags: real life
I’m not sure how it gets to be 3 weeks without a post, but there you go. I don’t know where the time goes.
Apropos of nothing, I bought a new bed. They delivered it today, and I was very much looking forward to it, because the bed I’ve been sleeping on I’ve been sleeping on for 19 years, and mattress technology has changed a lot in that time. And also I am old now, and I ache a lot. They have mattresses for achy people these days.
I bought a slat bed, which I’ve never had before, but putting it together was easy and I was preparing myself for a nice nap on my fancy new mattress (pillow top!) when I laid the first slat down…and it didn’t reach the other side of the frame. By about 5 cm. Now, I don’t know that much about slat beds, but I am reasonably sure that they are supposed to slot into both sides of the frame. Common sense tells me this.
Sad face.
So I called them and told them this, and they said they’d look into it and sort it out today. I am trying not to read too much into the fact that they’d said they’d call me back by 20 minutes ago.
So anyway. It was Australia Day a couple of days ago, but not living in Australia means that I don’t get a day off for that, alas. What I do get is email from the other Australians I know here. This one I thought was particularly amusing – some of these are so true it hurts to admit it!
You know you’re Australian if:
* You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
* You’ve made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden
* You understand that the phrase ‘a group of women wearing black thongs’ refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
* You pronounce Melbourne as ‘Mel-bin’.
* You believe the ‘l’ in the word ‘Australia’ is optional.
* You can translate: ‘Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas’.
* You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
* You think ‘Woolloomooloo’ is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
* You’re secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
Continue Reading You know you’re Australian if…and other things…
Equilibrium at Preditors and Editors
January 7, 2012 at 8:08 pm | Posted in Dreamspinner Press, Equilibrium | Leave a commentTo my astonishment, Equilibrium has made it onto the novels list in the annual Preditors and Editors readers poll for 2011. I have absolutely no idea how the books get chosen/nominated, but if someone reading this did nominate it, thanks so much! I am truly honoured.
The poll is open until January the 10th, and honour aside, God knows it’s not beneath me to give you the link in case you’re seized with a sudden desire to vote for it, not that I’m twisting your arms or anything. 🙂 You’d all be my most favourite people ever if you did vote for it, though. Internet hugs and kisses and puppies and kittens would abound, to be sure.
Books I enjoyed in 2011
January 1, 2012 at 8:16 am | Posted in Books of the year, Reading | 4 CommentsTags: books, books I enjoyed, reading
What better use for a rainy new year’s day (note to NZ: it’s summer, for god’s sake!) than to spend some time listing a few books that I particularly enjoyed this year. These are in no particular order, and just in case they seem like the kind of books you’d enjoy too, I’ve provided buy links for you. Be prepared for some not-very-insightful comments about each of them; there’s a reason why I don’t review anything.
The Table for Two series, by Scarlet Blackwell: Just Desserts, Second Helpings, and The Last Supper.
A famous chef starts a relationship with the food critic who slags him off in the press. Oh, how I adored these books. A lot of whether you like this series will depend on how much you like Luc, but I LOVED him. Highly recommended.
Mongrel, by KZ Snow
A young snake oil salesman meets the king of the half-breeds. Hijinks ensue. Unusual steampunk setting, great character in the form of the bipolar Fanule Perfidor, and Clancy Marrowbone the vampire is also worthy of much love. Very enjoyable.
Guardian of the Dead, by Karen Healy
YA paranormal set in New Zealand, using Maori mythology to great effect. Heroine is a chubby girl who doesn’t save the world on her own and gets the hot boy. Hot boy can’t fight for shit and is an ugly crier. I’m sold.
Spin Out, by James Buchanan
The story of Deputy Joe and Kabe continues. Those boys need their heads knocked together quite a lot of the time, but we love them anyway.
Dragon Bound, by Thea Harrison
A dragon shifter hunts down the girl who stole from him, and all hell breaks loose. I LOVED this. I think it’s probably my favourite of the books I read this year. It does suffer a little from the Nalini Singh school of manly masculine men of manliness, but I could overlook that because Dragos is a fantastic hero, and hilarious, and the worldbuilding is great. Highly recommended.
Come Unto These Yellow Sands, by Josh Lanyon
It seems that every time I do one of these lists, at least one book of Josh Lanyon’s creeps onto it. What can I say, I’m a fan. I know that some people are saying that Josh’s characters are kind of blending into one now, but I still find enough distinction between them to make me happy. This one includes an ex-junkie poet and the local police chief, and a murder. 🙂 I loved Chief Max, and how they called each other Chief and Teach. The scene where Max searches Swift’s house was intense.
Whitetail Rock, by Anne Tenino
You don’t even have to buy this one, because it’s being given away as a freebie at ARe. As the only person of colour in the small town where he was raised by his adoptive parents, Nik has issues. Jurgen, the blond, beefy motorcycle cop, doesn’t give a shit about Nik’s issues, he just wants him. This was funny, sweet and incredibly hot. Do yourselves a favour and go and grab a copy, because it is totally worth it.
Simple Gifts, by LG Gregg
A man runs into his old crush — the brother of his best friend — at the family Christmas party. This was funny, sad, and lovely. The origami motif and the way that wrapped up was really great.
So there you go, the ten books I most enjoyed reading this year. I’m sure there are a few good ones I missed, so feel free to recommend me some for 2012.
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Meredith Shayne 