Part 2: More things from 2005

In the spirit of kindness and semi-professionalism, I have decided to keep the things I really didn't like to myself. So here are some more pretty good things:

Author I never really liked that much but now can't wait for her next one: Kim Harrison. Lots of people love her, but I feel she really hit her stride with Every Which Way But Dead. I found the other books a bit draggy. I'm really looking forward to the next one due next summer.

Other 2005 titles which were pretty good: Much Ado About You and Kiss Me Annabel (Eloisa James), It Happened One Autumn (Lisa Kleypas), After Midnight (Teresa Medeiros), and Haunted (Kelley Armstrong)

Best Romantica:
So this year I discovered my inner perv at Ellora's Cave. I oh-so cautiously looked around the site, reading excerpts, looking over my shoulder the whole time. Then I finally got up the nerve to buy something. Why not, I told myself. You're a grown woman, a mother of two, and a feminist. Own your sexuality, woman! So, anyway, woo-hoo! Good stuff. Well, some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some baaaad stuff. And much to my surprise, it turns out I've got a particular fondness for the bdsm stuff. Who knew? So best of the bunch is definitely Natural Law by Joey Hill. Best written, best developed characters, most believable romance. I'll definitely have to get around to reading her other stuff. I greatly enjoyed Full Ride by Gail Faulkner, also. Caution: These two books contain D/S practices and lots of explicit sex.

Favorite new websites:
I perennially suffer from being the only one I know who likes the books I do. I love to discuss books (side effect from being a former English major, I guess), but I've got no one to discuss them with. So I was pleased to discover some sites where I could find information, suggestions, and some fun snark. I pretty much just lurk, and it's much more fun than reading reviews on Amazon:

All About Romance

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

It's Not Porn, Really

Squawk Radio

Books I'm most looking forward to in 2006:
Lover Eternal (JR Ward), Devil in Winter (Lisa Kleypas), Broken (Kelley Armstrong), Taming of the Duke (Eloisa James), The one by Sherrilyn Kenyon that's a takeoff on Arthurian Myths, the other one by JR Ward that's coming out in September,and the next Kim Harrison. I've got lots to look forward to. Whee!!!!

So I'm not really qualified to comment about music, because I barely listen to anything that's come out after 1998. And I can't really comment about movies because I saw exactly one in the theater (Wedding Crashers, hilarious!), but nothing I saw on DVD stands out in my mind, so I'm thinking it was a mediocre year. As for television, all I have to say is : Watch Veronica Mars!!!! Please!!! They've already gotten rid of Arrested Development. Don't let me lose another show.

Next up, we begin the new year with Sherrilyn Kenyon's tribute to the ouevre of John Hughes--Unleash the Night.