Charlaine Harris: Grave Sight

Well, it seems I will be doing more book reviews than just writer features since I'm participating in several reading challenges and I need to post reviews of books for them.

So, to start with my first suspense and thriller review, one of Charlaine Hariss' books. Honestly, I didn't know CH had another series besides Sookie Stackhouse. I accidentally stumbled upon them the other day in my favourite bookstore. I ended up going home with one, Grave Sight - love the name. :)

Anyway, Harper Connolly has a special gift, she can find dead people. And she goes around when people call her to find their missing/killed loved ones. Of course, since she can do that she is exposed to quite a lot of prejudice and you can find that in the book. I don't want to talk much about what happens but it's interesting how much CH has to say about injustice in our world (or the American South world).

I also understand that vampires are much more interesting reading these days so that might be the reason why this series progressed to 3 books, while Sookie is aroung book 12 or 13, I'm not sure. Not that I mind. I can hardly wait for the next one. :)

But I alse look forward to reading the following book in Harper's series. I wonder if that one will be as interestingly provocative and that I won't be able to find the killer before the end (or get the idea what is happening). :)

Pic by: http://www.amazon.co.uk/

What kind of a reader am I?

It seems I won't be doing much smelling this week. I have a cold (again) and it's been progressing so today I'm home (no work for me). I thought I might walk through this one like I did with last 3 this season, but I'm really feeling awful and I can't use my nose for nothing (that includes breathing as well).

So, while I can't sniff anything, I was reading today and I finished 2 books. And that I added them on the list of 100+ challenge, I realized that I don't know what genre can I put Sherrilyn Kenyon book into. I've finished the second League novel, Born of Fire and I'm wondering if I can put it onto the speculative fiction challenge since it has some science fiction and an action love story, so I guess it could belong there. But as I was wondering if that is where I can put it, I thought to myself what kind of a reader am I that I can't even say into which genre the book I just read belongs to?!

Is it just me or do the genres overlap more and more and get ever wider and wider? I mean, this paranormal, urban, romance something did not exist 20 years ago or did it? It feels like I can no longer say with any real feeling that I know what I'm talking about what exactly am I reading. It just makes me feel stupid. All other blogs I read don't seem to have that problem and I struggle with the feeling that I might be missing something and not talking intelligently about it because I'm not even sure what that actually is. :) Did I just lose everyone with my train of thought? :)

So, I thought maybe putting it into words might help me, and in the end I decided to put it into speculative fiction and if I'm wrong somebody will probably point it out to me (people tend to point to mistakes one makes so I'm counting on mine not going unnoticed).

While I already mentioned Born of Fire, just a quick rundown of the book. I actually liked this one better than the first (not that anything was wrong with that one). The female character is someone I can relate to more easily than the one from the first book. The principle is the same, wronged hero, a heroine on the side of good who doesn't initially recognize his goodness, bad stuff happening, love winning in the end. What better way to de-stress after a bad day? :)

And btw, what's with book 6 in the series?! Speaking generally. I finished book 6 of the House of Night and almost hurled it across the room. All other books ended with a some kind of closure. Not book 6. Book 6 ended with an unbelievable cliffhanger. Reminded me straight away of Harry Potter book 6. Anyone read that when it came out and you had to wait 2 years (or sth like that) for the last one? I hate it when writers do that. Thank god, it's only a few month until book 7 is out.

Now I've come up with a new rule. I'm not reading series with books that have number 6 out and 7 not. I'm waiting for book 7 and then reading.

Ok, that's it from me for today. I hope I'm better soon.

Picture by: www.us.macmillan.com

Quick sniffs this week

I didn't have much time for a proper review so I decided to just write down my thoughts on some of the things I smelled this week.

Generous Carol from WAFT by Carol sent some great things to try and among them, I found a decant of never before heard of line Damien Bash - and Lucifer. The one I got was Sin and well,

it deserves more than a brief mention because I like it, even though it's a sweet smell. The sinful idea I got from it is that it will probably make your male half want to stay close and smell you - it does have an addictive quality to what it smells like.

Notes: black pepper, black currant, cedarwood, fig, orange, Persian amber, bourbon vanilla.

You get hit by bourbon sweetness straight away and but before you even start considering it might be too much, it evens out into a sweet, slightly spicy thing. I barely caught whiffs of black currant so I'll be trying this some more soon.

I recently received a package from Divina over at Fragrance bouquet and her package had some nice suprises in it (I'll write more on those when I give them proper smelling time) but one I had to try straight off, was Patchouli Noir by Il Profumo. I usually don't give much thought to sillage and longevity but this one has both in large amounts. :) Not that I mind. I thought I might but no, I enjoyed it quite much. Don't know about the rest of people around me, I sprayed it on and then realized that it is going to be noticeable by people not standing right beside me. As I read the notes later, I realized I wasn't giving it enough time because the mint went right past my notice.

Notes: mint, cedarwood, patchouli, poppy, vanilla.

It is definitely dark and not easy wearing but I really like it. I plan on giving it a full review soon.

I found on my table among hordes of other perfume samples, Michael Kors edp. Initially I thought I might like it, it started with a flower burst and I actually recognized tuberose and freesia (yey for me) and then it started emitting this harsh note that burns my nose and throat which I'm starting to recognize as a type of musk (at least that's what I think).

Notes: freesia, incense, tuberose, blue orris, peony, lilies, cashmere woods, musk, vetiver.

I had high hopes for it at the start, but then it just went downhill. I think it would make a great floral for someone on whose skin musk behaves.

One more for today and that's it.

Ambre de Cabochard by Gres. Oh, this one has some potential. :) As I always try to write what I smell before actually reading the notes, I thought I was smelling flowers that were slightly honeyed but not in that "strange" honey way but more like having the atmosphere of honey. You know, the amber from the name should have clued me in. ;) You can actually smell it - the ambery embrace of the notes of the scent.

Notes: cardamom, cinamon, tangerine, blueberries, ginger, lily of the valley, cyclamen, tuberose, patchouli, amber, tonka bean, musk.

I smelled more flowers than fruits but since I didn't have time to smell it properly after a while, all I remember now is a really nice drydown. But although I mentioned flowers and amber, I wouldn't really say this is exclusively feminine.

These are my quick sniffs of the week, I do plan on giving more time and blog space to them soon. :)

Picture by: Richard Stanley © 2005

www.goeasteurope.about.com

L'Artisan Parfumeur: Vanilia

I think the time has come to give this a proper review. After all, I do have a bottle now and I've been wearing it for some time. And it never ceases to amaze me.

I tend to skip it when I'm deciding what to wear in the morning, it's just that I always think of it as a warm, comforting scent that kind of makes you blend in. Like wearing something that makes you look like just one more face in the crowd.

Today I concluded that I'm both right and wrong. It does smell warm and comfortable but I don't see (smell) many people around me who actually smell this addictive. :) And that is what it smells like to me - addictive.

When I first spray it on, I get a large dose of wet and lush tropical-smelling vanilla. And I realized that I would definitely term this as a gourmand smell but without any foody connotations. It never reminds me of anything edible. Anyway, I was thinking how there must be a lush smelling (probably tropical) plant in this together with vanilla and while enjoying the ride, I started getting hints of warm spices. As I was considering the fact that I seem to smell clove everywhere these days and that I shouldn't jump to clove as soon as I smell spice, I went in search for notes.

I don't know how many of you were looking for Vanilia notes, but they tend to differ. :)

So first I got: ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber and sandalwood. Aha! There WAS some tropical lushness in this.

So I looked some more thinking how come there is no spice listed and I found another list: ylang-ylang, vanilla and vanilla flower, nutmeg, clove and sandalwood. No amber in this. And then one more list without ylang-ylang in it and listing only spices.

I'm not sure about the amber but everything else seems to be there. Of course, I don't really know what vanilla flower smells like but my guess is really harmoniously with ylang-ylang. After I read nutmeg, I got that as well.

I was reading some of my older notes on Vanilia and saw that I wrote about a salty undertone. I would have missed it this time, I was preoccupied with lush-tropical vanilla but it's there. It is the exact thing to make this adhere to non-foody road of development. Where does it come from - I'm not sure but my guess is that ylang-ylang brings it out from vanilla.

Now, that I've re-read my post I'm not sure you got the idea of what it smells like. :) I realize I sometime have a problem with expressing coherently my thoughts on things. ;)

Picture by: expat21.wordpress.com

WoW: P.C. and Kristin Cast, House of Night

Ok, finally to say something about the House of Night series because I'm already at book 4 and I haven't yet talked about the writers.

Since I'm already at book 4 after some 10 days of owning the books, it does seem pretty obvious I like them. :) I'm always surprised with myself when I get hooked by a young adult series. Since I'm not one. ;)

Anyway, the hype is on for quite a while and I'm pretty late to thise series but that makes me happy since I got hooked on book 1 and there are 5 more to read after it. In my case, that's only 2,5 more but still, it's more than waiting for all of them to come out.

I've been wondering though, how can mother and daughter write together?! I mean, I never did get those collaborative novels. I do wish someone would explain that particular process to me. Isn't the idea for a novel an individual's idea? I know that a mother-daughter relationship can be extremely deep but it's still a relationship between different people. I will be giving this more thought in the future. or, I might get lucky and stumble upon an interview with them where it's explained. :)

To tell you a little about the books - it is a vampire series. :) As you could have probably guessed from the series title and the whole vampire mania happening around the world. I have no idea why it happened now and not when Anne Rice's series was coming out, but I guess the world takes time to recognize the trend. ;) I got hooked on vampires with Anne Rice who any vampire-stuff reader worth his/her salt should never miss. And after that came Buffy and Anita Blake. And my future in the vampire world was set. I know I'll be reading more vampire novels as they will probably keep coming out, but you know, there are so many now, and I honestly don't think they are all good. I've read some that are just not worth following up on. And I'm not going to be naming them. :) Find for yourself if you're interested but as with everything else, tastes differ and you never know who might just get addicted to some of those.

This went the wrong way - I was supposed to tell you about the books. :)

Ok, vampired here are not your typical vampires (which is kind of a given, typical vampire myth is kind of exhausted by now). You get marked and no one knows how or why it happens that you become a vampire fledgling in your teens. Then you get to go to a vampire "school" - that being the House of Night. All vampires worship the goddess Nyx who is practically a night embodiment of a typical goddess myth. Only she's no myth and our heroine is the vampire fledgling to help her get the vampire population back on the right track. This is as little as I can say without spoiling the series - it really is worth reading. You can always start as I did - I bought book no. 1 and started reading it that evening and then the next day I went back to Algoritam and bought all other books in the series. :)

Picture by: www.pccast.net

Lagging behind

I'm seriously lagging behind with writing about what I'm sniffing these days. So, I'm not going to review anything today but go through a list of things I tried and my thoughts on them.

A big thank you to Rita from The Left Coast Nose for a lovely package filled with new things to try and notes to learn (I didn't manage a proper thank you email, but just so you know, the musks have opened my eyes). :)

Also in the package were 3 Tom Ford Private Blends. Finally! :) They all smell full and rich and my favorite of the 3 is Bois Rouge which did smell like a masculine but I don't have a problem with that and it got mellowed with some leather and vanilla.

I thought I might like Tuscan Leather the best of the 3, but never mind - it was ok too. It transported me to my teenage days when summer evenings at the seaside smelled similar. Have no idea why. I smelled the leather and smoke and fruit and thought of guys. :)

The only one of 3 I though is a masculine of such order that I would never be able to wear it is Oud Wood. Oh, but I definitely wouldn't mind my boyfriend wearing it.

I finally got a sample of Fifi Chachnil and I would have sworn there was some almond in it but notes (listed underneath for all the scents I'm talking about) do not list it. I did like it, despite the almond idea I got, I liked the sweet rum-fruity opening and it somehow reminded me of both Chinatown and New Harleem by Bond no. 9 (which are my two Bond favorites) and that tells you I like it. :)

Party in Manhattan - I'll be giving this more wrist time, it's a learning experience like the musks. I seem not to have reached the level where Mitsouko-like fragrances do anything for me. I read the reviews for this and thought, Ok, I'm definitely missing something, it just reminds me of ladies of old (as in the past and not young). Like I said, I need to learn more.

Lorenzo Villoresi Donna and Alamut. Well, that was fun. :) At the beginning, I thought I'll be liking Alamut more (due to the opening notes and what they smelled like). Donna started soapy but not the way soap smells but the way soap tastes when it accidentally gets in your mouth. Then after some 30 minutes it turned into a seamless, slightly soapy floral that actually smelled fine.

Alamut started as a nice leathery-floral thing that turned into an aldehydic monster with musk jumping off my skin and attacking me.

I'll finish today with Sushi Imperiale, by Bois 1920. It started with a blast, a spicy cologne (and for some reason I thought I smelled lavender?!) that turned into a happy, playful thing that is really a rare feeling I get when smelling something. And for the life of me, I just couldn't find cinammon of all things in it. Very strange - but I'll give it another go.

Bois Rouge: citrus, spice, cedarwood, patchouli, jasmine, muguet, sandalwood, vetiver, amber, leather, vanilla and tonka bean

Tuscan Leather: saffron, raspberry, thyme, olibanum, jasmine, leather, black suede, amberwood.

Oud Wood: rosewood, cardamom, Chinese pepper, oud, sandalwood, vetiver, tonka bean, vanilla and amber

Fifi Chachnil: citrus, fruits, coriander, powdery rose, amber, oriental notes, tabacco

Party in Manhattan: Bergamot, tangerine, clary sage, carnation, carrot, jasmine, May rose, ylang ylang, iris, vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, gray amber

Donna: rose, coriander, clove, star anise, blackcurrant, carnation, rosewood, rose, jasmin, iris, ylang ylang, violet leaves, sandalwood, musk and narcissus.

Alamut: osmanthus, aldehydes, rose, jasmine, powder, rosewood, narcissus, tuberose, ylang ylang, labdanum, amber, sandalwood, musk, patchouli, and leather

Sushi Imperiale: citrus, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, Madagascan vanilla

Notes by: http://www.luckyscent.com/ , http://www.theperfumedcourt.com/ , http://www.nstperfume.com/

Picture is mine: Les 2 Alpes, France

Anita Blake Reading Challenge 2010.

This is the only one left. I already read the whole series but I was thinking of re-reading it because it's been some time I read the beginning and would like to enjoy it in complete order. So, I joined this one as well. Hosted again by Book Chick City.






Here are the rules:

Timeline: 1st Jan 2010 - 31st Dec 2010
Rules: The goal is to read or re-read the entire Anita Blake series in 2010.


Details:
• At present there are 17 books in the series (if you include Micah), with a planned novella, flirt and the novel, Bullet, in 2010. If you don't want to re-read the books you have already but would like to join in the challenge then start from where you left off. It's that easy!


• If you decide to participate in this challenge please use the links Book Chick City has set up with the buttons to post on your sidebar, this way others can find their way back to the original post and join in the fun.



• If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others, please make sure you add a link back to the original post so others can join in.


• You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.



Here is where you can join: Anita Blake challenge.

I'll be listing books underneath as I read them.

1. Guilty Pleasures

2. The Laughing corpse

3. Circus of the Damned

4. The Lunatic Cafe

5. Bloody Bones

6. The Killing Dance

7. Burnt Offerings

8. Blue Moon

9. Obsidian Butterfly

10. Narcissus in Chains

11. Cerulean Sins


12. Incubus Dreams

13. Micah

14. Danse Macabre

15. The Harlequin

16. Blood Noir

17. Skin Trade

18. Flirt

19. Bullet

100+ Reading Challenge

Ok, this one is hosted by J. Kaye's Book blog.



Here are the rules:

1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

Here is the link where you can join: 100+ Challenge.

2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts. What doesn't count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible.

3. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them in advance, you can change the list if needed.

4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count.

I'll be listing mine underneath and can already start:

1. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Born of Night

2. Charlaine Harris: A Touch of Dead

3. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: Marked

4. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: Betrayed

5. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: Chosen

6. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: Hunted

7. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: Tempted

8. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Born of Fire

9. Raymond E. Feist: Rage of a Demon King
10. Charlaine Harris: Grave Sight

11. Rachel Vincent: My Soul to Take

12. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief

13. James Rollins: The Doomsday Key

14. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

15. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

16. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth

17. Laurell K. Hamilton: Guilty Pleasures

18. Kresley Cole: Pleasure of a Dark Prince

19. Laurell K. Hamilton: The Laughing Corpse

20. Laurell K. Hamilton: Circus of the Damned

21. Laurell K. Hamilton: The Lunatic Cafe

22. Laurell K. Hamilton: Bloody Bones

23. Laurell K. Hamilton: The Killing Dance

24. Laurell K. Hamilton: Burnt Offerings

25. Laurell K. Hamilton: Blue Moon

26. Laurell K. Hamilton: Obsidian Butterfly

27. Laurell K. Hamilton: Narcissus in Chains

28. Kelley Armstrong: The Reckoning

29. Patricia Briggs: Silver Borne

30. Matthew Reilly: The Seven Ancient Wonders

31. Kim Harrison: Black Magic Sanction

32. Charlaine Harris: Dead in the Family

33. Matthew Reilly: The Six Sacred Stones

34. Katie MacAlister: Playing with Fire

35. Lynda Hilburn: The Vampire Shrink

36. Stephanie Laurens: The Elusive Bride

37. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

38. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

39. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

40. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

41. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

42. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

43. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

44. Julia Quinn: Everything and the Moon

45. M. Reilly: The 5 Greatest Warriors

46. PC and Kristin Cast: Burned

47. Laurell K. Hamilton: Cerulean Sins

48. Laurell K. Hamilton: Incubus Dreams

49. Laurell K. Hamilton: Danse Macabre

50. Laurell K. Hamilton: The Harlequin

51. Laurell K. Hamilton: Blood Noir

52. Laurell K. Hamilton: Skin Trade

53. Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep

54. Laurell K. Hamilton: Flirt

55. Laurell K. Hamilton: Micah

56. Tess Gerritsen: Under the Knife

57. Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold

58. Keri Arthur: Moon Sworn

59. Amanda Quick: The Perfect Poison

60. Ilona Andrews: Magic Bleeds

61. Danielle Steel: Matters of the Heart

62. JD Robb: Fantasy in Death

63. Sherrylin Kenyon: Infinity, Chronicles of Nick

64. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

65. Laurell K. Hamilton: Bullet

66. Sabrina Jeffries: Only a Duke Will Do

67. Kresley Cole: Demon from the Dark

68. Danielle Trussoni: Angelology

69. Sabrina Jeffries: Beware a Scotts Revenge

70. JD Robb: Big Jack

71. James Rollins: Excavation

72. Gerard O'Donovan: The Priest

73. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Awakening

74. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Struggle

75. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Fury

76. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, Dark Reunion

77. Stephanie Laurens: The Brazen Bride

Speculative Fiction Challenge 2010.

Another Book Chick City challenge I decided to join. :) Here is the link to the challenge.


The rules for this one are as follows:



Timeline: 1st Jan 2010~ 31st Dec 2010. Only books started on January 1st count towards this challenge.


Details:


1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.


2. There are four levels:


• Inquisitive – Read 3 Speculative Fiction novels.
• Enthusiastic – Read 6 Speculative Fiction novels.
• Addicted – Read 12 Speculative Fiction novels.
• Obsessed – Read 24 Speculative Fiction novels.


3. Any book format counts.


4. You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront then you can change them, nothing is set in stone!


5. The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.


6. If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others, please make sure you add a link back to the original post so others can join in.



There is more information on the challenge if you follow the link.

I joined in the Addicted category and will be posting links to reviews under here (or just listing them, depending on how many from one series I read).

P.S. It seems I'm more obsessed than addicted so I'm changing to that category. :)


1. House of Night (6 books)

2. Raymond E. Feist: Rage of a Demon King
3. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Born of Fire
4. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and The Olympians, The Lightning Thief
5. Rachel Vincent: My Soul to Take
6. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters
7. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse
8. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth
9. Kresley Cole: Pleasure of a Dark prince
10. P. Briggs: Silver Borne
11. Kelley Armstrong: The Reckoning
12. Kim Harrison: Black Magic Sanction
13. Charlaine Harris: Dead in the Family
14. Katie MacAlister: Playing with Fire
15. Lynda Hilburn: The Vampire Shrink
16. Keri Arthur: Moon Sworn
17. Sherrylin Kenyon: Infinity, Chronicles of Nick
18. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
19. Kresley Cole: Demon from the Dark
20. Danielle Trussoni: Angelology
21. JD Robb: Big Jack
22. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Awakenin
23. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Struggle
24. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, The Fury
25. L.J. Smith: Vampire Diaries, Dark Reunion

Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge 2010.

Ok, I need to get this over with so I can get back to my regular blogging. Yesterday I accidentally stumbled upon a blog hosting several reading challenges (and since I'm an avid reader), I decided to join some. 4! I'll get to the others in other posts.
Anyway, here is a link to the challenge hosted by Book Chick City if anyone is interested in participating.






And here are the rules:

Timeline: 01 Jan 2010 - 31 Dec 2010

Rules: To read TWELVE (12) thrillers in 2010

Details:
• You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront then you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

• If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others, please make sure you add a link back to the challenge post so others can join in.

• You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.

Here is where you can join: Thriller and Fiction Challenge

I'll be doing reviews as I read the books and linking them below here as well. I have no idea yet what I'll read. :)

1. Charlaine Hariss: Grave Sight

2. James Rollins: The Doomsday Key

3. Matthew Reilly: The Seven Ancient Wonders

4.Mathew Reilly: The Six Sacred Stones

5.Matthew Reilly: The 5 Greatest Warriors

6. Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold

7. JD Robb: Fantasy in Death

8. Danielle Trussoni: Angelology

9. Tess Gerritsen: Under the Knife

10. Gerard O'Donovan: The Priest

11. James Rollins: Excavation

Never late to change my mind

This is going to be fast. :)

Up to now, I haven't tried anything by Keiko Mecheri that I liked enough to wear (or actually only like). But that changed today and I will definitely be trying more of her fragrances but first let me tell you of my new love - Iris Pourpre. Mmmmmm. The first association that came to me is this smells a lot like Very Irresistible by Givenchy (the original version). That one was a love/hate smell and I really liked it and went through a bottle ratehr fast (I'm not so sure people around me were grateful for me wearing it). ;)

So, the first thing I did is compare notes. And of course, there isn't a single one that is the same. Could have guessed that. :)

Notes for Iris Pourpre: white iris, orris, ylang ylang and chypre accord.

Honestly, if I had to guess the notes in this, I would never come up with iris because it is not the typical iris I learned to smell. And I always thought ylang ylang smelled more subdued and creamy. This is a loud floral on my arm but such a great one that I don't mind the fact that this will need to be applied sparingly in order not to suffocate people around. :) Who cares for them though if I can smell this all day long?!

I'm definitely getting myself a bottle of this. Soon! It will be my spring gift to myself (that's just about enough time to recuperate from Christmas spending).

In the mean time, I'll check my samples for some iris and ylang ylang thingies to widen my knowledge of those two notes and understand what happened with Iris Pourpre.

And a short side note, I tried November by CB I hate perfume. Very interesting. I got the forest, damp mushroomy feel and then the whole sweet foody note evoking childhood (don't know what pumpkin pie smells like and that is one of the notes) so I'm guessing that is the smell of pumpkin pie with the barest apple hints. It really is a happy scent. You can read more on notes and the story behind it here.

Image by : www.luckyscent.com

Gluttony is such a great sin

Before you all start thinking I'm referring to the eating and drinking of past days, you're correct :) but not completely. I'm also referring to the fact that these days, I'm also a glutton when it comes to scents. I can't seem to get enough of them. Which is actually not a problem since I still have so many samples I need to try (for the first time) that I can indulge in smelling as much as I indulged in drinking (much less in eating though).

Anyway, that is my excuse for not reviewing perfume lately, I just can't single out any, I have this need to smell and I just cannot concentrate enough on any of the smelling points on me to be able to discuss it in a coherent manner. Does that happen to anyone else?

So, while I'm enjoying my smell-related gluttonous nature, I decided to curb it when it comes to food and drink. I completely enjoyed days related to the turn of the year without being concerned about my weight (and that is one of the best choices I could have made) so now it's time to get back on track (the exercising and eating track) and concentrate on work and smell. Well, maybe more like smell and work. ;)

So, I hope that very soon I will have a review for you and I'm considering Chinatown. I'm wearing it today since it's snowy and cold outside and I'm eating less - and Chinatown fulfills my need for warmth and gourmand taste. I'm aware that this one causes a lot of fuss, you either love or you hate it so I want to tell you why I like it and what exactly is it that I like so much about it (I'm still having problems distinguishing notes in there on my own) - and I hope that soon I'll be able to do that. I just need a little more time with it.

Picture by: www.net.hr

WoW: Sherrilyn Kenyon, The League

First off, I have to say I hate her name, I never know if I wrote it correctly (the "y" place keeps bothering me). :) But that's about the only thing that bothers me in regard with Mrs Kenyon. Everything else is great and I hope she lives to see my death and keeps writing until then. So I have a lifetime supply of her novels.

I just finished her Born of Night novel, the first in The League series (there are two more at the moment). It turns out, she wrote this in a much smaller format years ago and it went out of print (if I remember correctly) and now it was re-issued and although I didn't read the original, I'd say improved. I don't see how something can be taken away from the story.

I wonder how many of you are familiar with SK, she is one imaginative and proliferate writer. Not that I mind. :)

I first started reading her novels with the Dark Hunter series, then some Dream Hunters and I think I did read one of the Were Hunters but can't say for sure. I've read so many of her novels, I'm a bit lost. It is very good that her site offers reading order for all the books and series, otherwise one would be completely lost. I'm not even going to go into all other series listed on the site.

What many of her characters have in common is that they all suffered through great injustice and usually a lot of physical pain as well, and in the end all of them turn out as fierce, loyal and positively good protectors sometimes because they find love (although they always had it in them) and sometimes just because that is what they are and they cannot go against themselves.

The good thing is there is always a love story (never an easy one) and even though there are typical things I already mentioned in all of these novels, the characters are always different and stories never feel the same (taking into account the amount of them SK has written).

The League combines a bit of sci-fi (which is something I like) and the hero who has been wronged so much it is sometimes hard to even read it and the heroine had some bad experience from her youth as well. Their story isn't an easy one but of course it ends positive. Otherwise I wouldn't keep reading her books.

It also makes me wonder if something like that would be possible in real life - to go through such an ordeal (that is a serious understatement for the character from Born of Night) and emerge as a person who can love and enjoy life - ok, not immediately and without some serious help, but still. I want to think so - that goodness can and will prevail.

While looking for a photo, I came across some reviews on Amazon of this book. It never ceases to amaze me how people come to certain books/authors expecting something completely unreasonable. Especially if they already read some of the novels written by that person. I know what I can expect from SK and that is why I read her stories. As you could have probably guessed by now, I'm not always in the mood for some of the things I read, so I read according to what I crave at the moment. People are so eager and so liberal with criticism. I think about it this way - could I have written it? No? Ok, then, I'm not going to be hoarding criticism on that author then. If I don't like it, I simply won't read it anymore and problem solved.

Has anyone here read anything by Sherrilyn Kenyon? What do you think of her novels?