Aloha again from sunny Waikiki, dear readers! Just wanted to check in, make you all a little jealous (kidding!), and generally say hello and all.

We’ve been here in Hawaii for almost a month and I’m not sick of it yet. ;) Our first two weeks were on the Big Island, which I really enjoyed. The main reason for that? VOLCANOES. I spent a good chunk of my teenage years wanting to be a volcanologist, and even though I ended up with an MA in English instead (not even close!), I’m still fascinated by volcanoes. So, as you can imagine, it was a big freaking deal to me to get to stand on Kilauea and watch the gas plume rise out of Halema’uma’u crater. SO COOL. Stargazing on top of Mauna Kea was pretty damned awesome, too.

We’re finishing up our two weeks on Oahu, and will be leaving for Maui on Thursday. I’m excited to report that this afternoon, I’ll be going on a Lost tour. We’re going to be driven around in a Hummer to see a bunch of filming locations. I’m imagining stops like, “And here is the log that Hurley rested on in episode blah blah blah,” but we’ll get to see the big valley where they jump started the Dharma van (which is also the valley in the gallimimus-running-from-t-rex scene in Jurassic Park). I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and imagine Sawyer standing in those places with his shirt off. Maybe I’ll even photoshop him in for you.

In bookish news, I just finished reading Anne Bishop’s Belladonna (see my review of Sebastian here) and hope to have a review written soon. I’m currently in the middle of Yippee Ki-Yay Moviegoer! by Vern, one of Ain’t It Cool News’s movie reviewers, and I will definitely have a review of that for you all as soon as I finish it up. I’ve got to say, it’s making me want to write more movie reviews, heh.

Hope everyone’s enjoying their summer and reading like maniacs! I will leave you with a pic of me and a Dharma Beer, taken at Daniel Dae Kim’s hamburger restaurant in Kalaha. :D

Related posts:

1. Aloha from the Fangirl!
2. Quickie Update
3. Would rather be at home…

Whoa, I am really late on this one. In my defense, I’ve been running all over Las Vegas and Southern California, and this is the first day I’ve really had a chance to sit down at my computer and do more than post a quick tweet or make sure there weren’t any earth-shattering emails in my inbox.

Anyway! Thea and Ana of The Book Smugglers asked me to guest-post for their Smugglivus event, and my post can be found here! I’m a day late with the announcement, but hey! Better late than never. :D

I haven’t had time to write up those reviews I mentioned the other day, but I’m adding a couple more books to the review pile: the On The Prowl anthology (3/4ths of which I loved) and Karen Chance’s Midnight’s Daughter (which I’ve almost finished). So, to entertain you all while you wait with baited breath for my reviews (ha.), I’ll link you to my Flickr photostream. At the moment, most of the recent uploads are from the Vegas part of my trip, but I’m uploading California pics as I type. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Weekend Book Haul
2. Reading, reading, reading!
3. On Vacation!

Run for your lives!

My family’s first holiday party was yesterday. The second is today, and the third will be on Wednesday. And then on Thursday, the boyfriend and I are flying to Las Vegas to visit his brother.

Not much of a winter break, is it? But it’s going to be cool; I’ve never been to Vegas or to San Diego, where we’ll probably drive to visit the boyfriend’s parents.

DumbLittleMan has links to ten websites you should visit before you travel, and I’m going to take full advantage of Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, a website with a very handy travel list. I love lists.

I’m already trying to figure out which bag I’m going to take to carry books. I want to finish reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book before we leave, as it’s a hardcover and I don’t want to carry a ton of heavy books. I will, though, carry a ton of light books, heh.

Related posts:

1. Smugglivus!
2. The Fickle Reader, or What The Hell Should I Read Next?!

A brief vacation, anyway. I’m going to the Bay Area for the weekend! I’ve never been, so I’m really looking forward to seeing San Francisco.

Not that I’ve been posting regularly lately, but there won’t be any posts until at least next Tuesday. I don’t think I’ll have really regular internet access while I’m there, but even if I do, I don’t think I’ll have time to post! It’s a whirlwind trip, and I’m determined to do as much as is humanly possible. :D

I did pack a couple of books to read on the plane, though. I’m in the middle of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I’m sure I’ll finish on the plane tomorrow (though I should be reading stuff for class, heh), and so I tossed in Patricia Briggs’s Cry Wolf to read when I finish PoA. Werewolves, woo hoo! I’ll post a review when I finish it up.

Related posts:

1. Literary Woobies
2. Upcoming Reading
3. The Real Magic of Harry Potter Giveaway!