In honor of Banned Book Week, I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye at work this week. I wasn't forced to read it in high school the way a lot of people my age were, and now that I'm out of college, I'm sort of trying to catch up on some of the important works of fiction that I somehow missed during my formal education.

Anyway, today one of the men who works in maintenance told me that after I read it, I can go shoot somebody, because loads of assassins have been obsessed with it. "The guy who killed Kennedy was really into it, and the guy who killed Lennon was really into it, and . . ."

. . . sigh. I was hoping that by reading it in the break room, I could explain to people about Banned Book Week and the importance of avoiding censorship . . . but he was too interested in what he had to say about the association between the book and murderers to hear anything I said about censorship.

Ah well.

Actually, I guess I'm not much better. I associate The Catcher in the Rye with the Five Iron Frenzy song "Superpowers" (which has the line, "I sometimes feel like Holden Caulfield").*


* This song has even more complex associations, because a month or two ago, I was in Goodwill, and was shocked to hear it on the radio. Usually the Goodwill radio plays oldies--lots of Beach Boys and Elvis, that sort of thing. So, it was really damned weird to hear FIF in there. REALLY.

Despite the fact that I was very intellectually exhausted after that honors degree of mine, this summer's reading efforts were actually fairly productive. I don't read as fast as most people in my peer group (intelligent young nerds), and I'm very bad about rereading things instead of finding new books. (I've read Ender's Game and all the sequels about eight times since I discovered them early in high school. And that's a lot of sequels.)

So, all things considered, the fact that I have five books to share with you guys at the end of the summer is doing pretty well. I read a few other things, including a reread of the last three Harry Potter books, but here's the good stuff. Since I'm in the process of refining my worldview, and since I'm falling back into my homeschooler habits (reading to edify as much as to entertain) now that college is over, I'm going to try to give a sense of what I got from each book, as well as just offering my recommendation.

( Five books I loved this summer )


What's the best book that each of you read this summer?

Today, I finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, on the (very enthusiastic) recommendation of kaykopelli. I find I have a lot to say about it, mostly reading it was very much a journey.

Here's the thing: I was rather wary going into it. Despite everything that kaykopelli said about what an amazing--essentially life-changing--book it was, I was a little put off by my initial impression. The book is the story of a concierge in an upscale Paris apartment building, who hides how well-read and intelligent she is, in order to seem like an ordinary concierge, and an intelligent twelve year old girl (one of the tenants), who has decided to commit suicide, because the world is such an ugly place.

( Part book review, part introspection, all long-winded )

How on earth do people deal with concept-based science fiction?

When I tell people I'm interested in sci-fi, I often end up in a conversation during which I have to explain that, no, I actually haven't read much of anything by Asimov . . . or, actually, any other of the greats. I try to explain that it's just that I prefer something character-based, like Orson Scott Card, but I always end up feeling a little embarrassed.

So, a little while ago, I checked out Starfarers, by Poul Anderson. I'd heard of him, and cover quoted USA Today as calling him, "One of science fiction's most revered writers," so I figured it would be a decent place to start reading some 'hard' sci-fi.

. . . I tried, people. I really did.

I sifted through the first few pages of unconnected vignettes that didn't actually introduce any of the characters who had been listed in the dramatis personae helpfully provided at the front of the book, but had several talking heads setting up the stage for the ideas to come. Then I suffered through a long and very technical account of a television interview with a physicist which was clearly just as much an attempt to introduce the concepts the book was focusing on as it was relevant to the plot.

Finally, the scene jumped again, and I saw several repair men watching the plot point soaring through the sky. They talk about how they'll brag to their grandchildren about seeing the sight. And then, one of them says to the other, "That is what they are lately calling the quantum field gate drive. Have you not heard? A ship springs from the energy state normal in this universe, what they call the zero level, to the superhigh energy level it gets from below the universe, and then falls back to down again to normal, over and over."

I couldn't take it. I snapped the book shut. Setting aside the fact that the 'interview' (read: thinly veiled exposition of the science behind the story) already covered this ground--and I could forgive it more easily there, because it was a physicist being asked to explain his theories--people don't talk like this. Not in casual conversation. And the fact that these are yet more throw-away characters makes it even more annoying. Their purpose is to appear, convey information, then never be thought of again.

My creative writing teacher last semester had a quote she loved, and I'm kicking myself for forgetting the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of, "The worst purpose of dialogue is to convey information. 'You know why we're on this space station, Caruthers--to save the world!'"

I can see that if I'd hung on one more page, I would have started to meet the real characters of the book. But that's no good for me--you don't get 23 pages to win a reader over. The fact that only the ancestors of the main characters appear in the first chapter, plus all that emphasis on technical detail, makes it clear that this book has very different priorities than the kind of books I read. I'm sure it's a great book for the kind of book it is, but I want to read books about people. I like science fiction and fantasy because they provide vehicles for exploring things about people. I don't read for the spaceships.

Likewise, I don't read fantasy for the swords and elves. As far as I'm concerned, Tolkien and all the millions of cheap imitations he spawned fall into the same category, only in this case the author is saying, "Look at this cool culture I made up!" instead of, "Look at this cool science I dreamed up!" So, instead of having a first chapter full of characters espousing scientific theory, you have a first chapter that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Hobbits. (Incidentally, though, that chapter was the only thing I liked about that book.) And I know I shouldn't criticize these books, because they're doing what they set out to do, and I can't try to make them do what I want them to do.

But it frustrates me, because speculative fiction has so much potential. Creating an alternate reality is a tried and true method of exploring human nature in our own world. Sometimes this can be overdone to the point of preachiness, which is also distasteful--see Ursula K. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness. Actually, I just read her Gifts, which is much more subtle, and is, unsurpisingly, classified as young adult. I love young adult fantasy. It does such a better job of saying something that means something than most adult fantasy or sci-fi. If I ever do get around to becoming an author, that's what I'll write.

Anyway, I'm guessing this is a side-effect of my being in humanities instead of science--I feel like the only stories worth telling are about people first and concepts second.

I've been making amigurumi like crazy since I got home. I'll be opening an Etsy shop within the next couple of days--stay tuned!

So, I recently managed to somehow end up reading three books in a row about alternate worlds/parallel universes/other planes. And it gave me an idea: I want to do a kind of informal reading of books with that kind of theme this summer. It'll be a little like my speculative fiction class last semester, only more focused.

I want recommendations! What are your favorite books about parallel universes, or what books do you think a person must read if she wants to read in that genre? (I'm talking sci-fi/fantasy, here, not physics. Humanities major, remember?)

So far this summer I've read: The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones, Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves, and I'm halfway through Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin.

I've already spent quite a while with Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and of course I'm already very familiar with Narnia. Other than that, I'm pretty wide open--don't be afraid to suggest stuff I may have already read, because if I have, I'll just say so. I'm also going to be limited to what I can get at my library (or ILL), because I don't have the money to buy a bunch of books this summer.

. . . I also need a good course for learning Vietnamese. You know, on the off chance that one of you knows of one. I've been looking on Amazon, but it's hard to choose one. (And the Rosetta Stone course is, of course, way too expensive.) I'm leaving for Vietnam in about a month, and I want to have some of the basics down.

Actually, a good guide book would be nice as well.

I've been meaning to write a post about the bittersweetness of speculative fiction, particularly my favorite kind of speculative fiction, the kind that combines the fantastic with the real world. I love it, of course, but part of the reason I do is that when I read it, I'm filled with this aching longing to be part of it.

It's been like that since I was a child--I wanted so badly to stumble across another world like Narnia that I used to carry around a kit of essentials that I would need if I did magically get transported to another world. (For all my fantasizing, I was a practical kid, and I knew that an adventure would be less fun if I didn't have a toothbrush.)

As I've grown up, I've been struck more and more by the sobering realization that nothing fantastic will ever happen to me. I'm never going to visit another world (like in Narnia). I'm never going to witness an encounter with aliens (like in Doctor Who). I might do interesting things with my life, but never something fantastic. Never something with magic.

That ache has been particularly bad lately, because in the past few months, I've been introduced to Doctor Who, and The Golden Compass. It's The Golden Compass I want to talk about here, and the concept of daemons. I feel like I should clarify the concept briefly to avoid confusing people who haven't read it--the daemons in the trilogy have nothing to do with what we call demons nowadays. They hark back to the original meaning of the Greek word daimon, a little spirit. In the trilogy, every person has one, and in the world of The Golden Compass, a person's daemon is sort of semi-embodied--it takes the form of an animal.

A girl in my speculative fiction class commented on how lonely reading these books always makes her. The concept of these daemons, that are always with you, so you're never alone. And when I read the books, I can't help but picture myself with a daemon of my own. (I'm even fairly confident of what it would look like.) And I ache.

Orson Scott Card once said that speculative fiction is the last surviving realm of religion fiction. This isn't what he meant, but it makes me think that perhaps this ache I get when I explore speculative fiction is exactly the ache that has driven people to religion for all of human history. It occurred to me in the shower yesterday that if Philip Pullman's trilogy were a religious text, I would convert in a heartbeat, just so that I could believe that it was really true, that people had daemons and everything. (Given that Pullman is infamously atheist, it's a strange impulse on my part, but there it is.) Over and over, growing up, I was exposed to the idea that everyone on Earth is looking for something do believe in. I wish I could believe in magic.

I've been home since Monday, but I only just got the Internet working here at my mom's house. I was a little surprised at how little my Internet craving has been since I got here. I spent the past several days working on my costume for the Harry Potter release, hanging out with my friend Keiko (mostly in reference to said release), and knitting my first pair of socks. The idea of getting back online and having to struggle with the crappy dialup to catch up on all the things that need to be caught up on (friendslist, webcomics, and blogs) wasn't much of a motivator, nor was the fact that I had to call customer service to do it. (I hate making phonecalls.) But, now I am online, slow as it is, and I'll be working on catching up on everything.

Cicero's acting a little funny. I think he's just sulky because this is the first time he's been turned on in four or five days. (Probably a personal record.) Right now I'm trying to get my pictures from the Tattered Cover uploaded, which is complicated a lot by the way the phone cord falls out of the computer every time I look at it wrong.

But, oh my gosh, you guys, the Tattered Cover release was AWESOME. There were so many cool costumes, and . . . it was just great. I went as Luna Lovegood, like I said, and my costume was awesome. My mom sewed robes for me (at the last minute and at great personal stress--my mom is amazing), and I had a Ravenclaw tie (book colors, of course), a wand behind my ear, and a bottle cap necklace. I was a little troubled about the necklace--the description of Luna in Book 5 clearly says butterbeer caps, but in Book 6, it's called a necklace of butterbeer corks, twice. I went with the caps, mostly because I'd already bought them and I think they look cooler.

The trip was organized by my friend Keiko, who is as big a Harry Potter nerd as you could ever hope to meet. You start throwing trivia at her--obscure stuff, too--and she just shoots you down. There were five of us--Keiko went as Draco (and her costume was perfect). Her sister Emily went as Tonks, and one of her brothers did the wizard-as-a-Muggle thing, while the other didn't bother with a costume. Keiko worked really hard on her costume and on Emily's. (We were actually patching Emily's jeans in the car on the way there.) I mean, she learned how to sew just to make her robes! (Which will give you even more appreciation when you see them.)

I uploaded a TON of pictures, which you can find over here. You should at least go long enough to admire my costume, and Keiko's.

As for the book itself? I enjoyed it a lot, but I'm much too tired just now to put my thoughts into order. I'll probably post about it tomorrow or something. For now, I should probably start catching up on my friends list, but I think I'm going to go to bed instead.

I'm having one of those days where I wanna LJ about at least half a dozen different things, but don't have the time, energy, or attention span. So, I'm a little afraid of even starting a post, because I suspect it will turn into one of those laundry lists of half-developed ideas, and who wants to read that? But, I need to get a few of them out, so I'm going to, despite my apprehension.

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented about Aidan. I really appreciate your support . . . it means a lot to me. We're doing better now . . . my mom's still sad, but more resigned now. We'll be recovered soon, though we'll probably miss her for a long time.

I got my mom to trim my hair today. It was getting thin towards the bottom, and she ended up taking off six or seven inches. Now my hair is shorter than it has been in several years. I really don't mind, though. The only reason I have long hair is for the sake of convenience--to have short hair, I would need to style it daily for it to look presentable, and I don't want to. When my hair is long, it requires only shampoo and conditioner (though copious amounts of both), and once it's dry, to be combed out. Wash and wear. It'll be the same at this length, and it'll require less shampoo and conditioner, and it'll be easier to comb. So, I'm content. It'll grow back, and in a year or two I'll trim it off again. That's just how it goes.

My part of Colorado is due to get hit with some pretty major snowstorms any time now. So far, the blizzards have been mostly confined to the Eastern Slope, but this one's supposed to hit us, and it's supposed to linger. I'm getting on the train to go back to school on Sunday, so I really hope that the delays aren't too bad. I guess I should just be grateful I'm not flying.

Speaking of heading back to school, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I have to sort through all the junk that's accumulated in the month I've been here, and pack what needs to go back, and put away everything that doesn't. Also--and this is going to sound silly--I'm in the middle of reading Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series, and I'd really like to finish it before I leave. Since they're library books, I can't take any with me, and I just hate dropping a series midway, even though it's a reread, not the first time. Right now, I'm about halfway done with the second to last book, so there's still a chance I'll finish the series, but I have to cram it around packing and cleaning. Not to mention the fact that I really want to spend time with both my parents before I leave on Sunday.

Reading the Homecoming series has been educational for me. It's not one of Card's most celebrated, but it's held up very well to this second reading. The first time I read it, I was unaware that it was based on the Book of Mormon, and I enjoyed it just fine. This time, I do know that, but since I know nothing about it, the only new insight I have is, "You know, this does read kind of like a religious text. And, by golly, it makes more sense now!" I'm also trying to read as a writer this time, to pick out how Card uses the tools of writing to accomplish his purpose. Whatever you think of his writing, or his religious or political views, it's hard to argue that Orson Scott Card isn't a significant author in his genre, and since that happens to be my genre as well, I'm sure there's a lot I can learn from him.

And, speaking of writing, I may post later about my progress on Story Year. I don't really want to lump it into a junk drawer post, since I have some thoughts I'd like to work out.

Just got off the train in good old Colorado. I'd rather wait to post for when I'm not so tired, but I have a feeling if I do that, I'll never actually make the post. So, in no particular order, some things from the trip:

On the train to Chicago, I was munching on some Cheez-it crackers in a bowl (this was my main form of sustinence for the past three days), and a lady walked by and said, "Awww, little snack-ums! That's the way to travel!" When she walked away, I made eye contact with another lady who was sitting across from me, and raised my eyebrows: wtf? The lady across from me raised her eyebrows in agreement: wtf.

I finished reading Anansi Boys. I read the first two thirds over Thanksgiving Break, but then finals hit. Up until the end, it was a really good book. After the end, it was a great book. Neil Gaiman is so amazing.

Which leads me to . . . after I finished Anansi Boys, I was a little bummed, because I had realized that I actually had less reading material than I had thought for my three day trip. And I was all, "Woe is me!" Then I happened upon one of those shops you get in airports and train stations, the kind that sell packs of gum and magazines and overpriced souvenirs. Usually the books in those places hold no interest for me--it's basically all romance novels and war novels. Oh, and Sudoku. I swear, I was in an airport this summer that had no less than six different Sudoku books, and not a single science fiction novel. So, anyway, I definitely didn't expect to find anything of interest, but it was worth a shot.

They had Good Omens.

Not just, "Oh, hey, an author I like!" No, this was, "Omigosh, I'vewantedtoreadthisbookforages and NOW IT'S MINE!" So, I read that all the way from D.C. to Colorado. It was also very good. I'm redoubling my determination to write over break. (Although, reading the masters like Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett can be a little discouraging . . . except, it's so good that you mostly manage to forget that you will never compare.)

But you're probably interested in things that happened that don't involve me buying geeky books. Well, when I got on my last train in Chicago, the lady sitting in front of me turned around and said, "You're awfully young to be traveling all by yourself!" I told her, actually, I was 20. She said, "Honey, you don't look it." I'm going to hope that this was because I had been wearing my hair pulled back in a French braid. But, seriously--airlines stop treating you as an unaccompanied minor when you're 15 . . . so how young did she think I was?

Taking that Biology class has altered the way I look at the world. In Virginia, there are lots of deciduous trees shedding lots and lots of nice yummy dead leaves, which decompose into nice soil, from which spring yet more deciduous trees. It's self-perpetuating. Here in the Rocky Mountains, though . . . well, okay, there's a reason they're called the Rocky Mountains. We went through a canyon that had walls of solid granite going hundreds of feet into the air. But here's the thing--there were still trees growing there. One way or another, these trees--I think they were either spruces or firs, but my bet's on spruces--managed to scrape together enough soil on this solid rock cliff face to grow. I've always been aware of how much plants out here have to worry about water, but it hadn't occurred to me until just then that just finding dirt to grow in was also so hard. Plants are pretty amazing.

There were lots and lots of small children on my car from Chicago to Colorado. Believe it or not, I enjoyed this. Kids on a train really bring things into focus for me--they're so into everything. There was a family with four kids under the age of six. Apparently their minivan had gotten hit by a careless driver in Chicago and the insurance companies were putting them through some ridiculous rigamarole. The thing is, though, they seemed like they really had things under control. I mean, if I was traveling cross country with four kids--one of them a toddler--after having my vehicle destroyed and not knowing if I'd be getting the money I needed, I'd be pretty scattered. They get lots of bonus points, even though I'll never see them again.

I need sleep. Remind me to post my list of Goals for Break sometime.

Yesterday was a good day. I slept late, woke up from a very interesting dream that was structured like a sci-fi tv show. It had this sort of rogue group of people trying to avoid the government in this secret base thing. It had spaceships, and camo gear, and a post office, and families with a ton of kids, and some creepy blonde chick who probably would have ended up being one of the main characters if the dream had kept going--all we got was her dramatic introduction to the group. There were also some teenish characters that gave the whole thing a sort of teen novel vibe. But, all in all, it was really cool. It's the sort of thing I would write, if I had the discipline to write a novel.

So, after I managed to get up, I had a late lunch, and I didn't really get any work done, because we went shopping! (Come on--homework, or shopping?) We went to Goodwill first, and I looked for a new coat. I found a few things that were almost right, but nothing that was quite good enough. I did pick up a lot of books, though! My haul:
The Best Love Poems Ever (hee!)
Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting
Sound of Crying: a ghost story (children's novel)
The Cricket in Times Square
The Arcanum (looks interesting--one of those "I'm so factual but novel-like!" books, about alchemy. Has a pretty cover.)
The Tao of Pooh
Goodnight Moon

So, good stuff. All for about five dollars, too.

Then, we went to Dollar Tree, and I got snacks, and cheap headphones for my computer! And they had Andes mints! For a dollar! Rock! And then at Wal-mart I got more good food--Sunchips, and canned soup, and honey for my tea, and raspberries (because I felt like splurging--I just finished them, and they were very good). Also, I picked up a few school supplies. It was a good trip, and I only spent $26 there, which is pretty good for me on a Wal-mart run.

Then, after shopping and dinner, I got to talk to a good friend on the phone for a long time, and it was good.

Unfortunately, today I reaped the consequences of spending my weekend reading webcomics and shopping, and had to cram way too much homework into one day. But I did finish it all. Even the piece for creative writing. I don't know what it is with me, but when you plop me down with a writing assignment, I panic, and have to torture my way through it, even if it's just a little one, and even though I know I'm a pretty good writer (informal LJ posts excluded). That's actually a big part of why I signed up for this class--the more often I'm forced to write, the less I'll be able to be stressed out about it . . . theoretically, anyway.

Speaking of classes, they're going well. Biology is probably going to eat my entire life, between the class and the lab, but I am trying to save some of my attention for things like . . . Greek! Greek makes me happy. Seriously. I get happy when I go to Greek class. The language is also totally screwed up and confusing, but I'm going to love it. I can tell.

Latin, I also love, but we're still doing review. I'm now an official Latin tutor, though, which is very exciting. Now I just wish someone would contact me to asking for help!

I'm also reading a lot about Egypt, for my Egypt class. I wish my other classes weren't so time-consuming, because it feels like I'm really not getting enough attention leftover to spend on something so utterly cool as ancient Egypt. Sigh. I'm hoping that will improve once I find my rhythm for the semester.

What I really ought to be doing is going to bed. But I figure I can make a LJ post before I do that.

I survived the bluegrass festival! It was actually fairly pleasant . . . I'm not a big fan of festivals in general, because they involve both being outside and being around a lot of people, neither of which I like to do for very long. But, as festivals go, this one was fairly pleasant. Partly that's because it had a focus--it was a bluegrass festival, and by golly, those people were there because they loved bluegrass. Now, I have no idea why anyone would lay out $60 odd dollars to sit around for three days listening to bluegrass, but, hey, if that makes you happy, go for it. Other local festivals are usually more along the lines of "Cherry Days" which translates to "Our Excuse to have a Festival Days", so there it's more like people are there because they love festivals. Which is incomprehensible to me--I can understand loving bluegrass, but just loving festivals for the sake of it? Don't get it.

Also, bluegrass people are in general pretty pleasant and good natured, especially when they're all excited to be at a festival. And, while I wouldn't want to pay money to sit around listening to the music (I got in free), at least it wasn't obnoxious, most of the time. It all kind of blurred together to where my entire weekend had bluegrass music playing in the background, quite literally.

There was one band though that actually stood out. I'm not sure whether or not I should be worried that I've heard enough bluegrass to actually have an opinion, but I did actually sort of like the main headline band they had playing. That would be Adrienne Young & Little Sadie. Mom says that the reason I liked her is because the sound is more like Nickel Creek (upbeat but mellow, good vocals) and less like your other type of generic bluegrass band (all heavy banjo and tinny, obnoxious voices). She knows more about it, so I'll trust her. Anyway, if you're into that sort of thing, you could check out Adrienne Young, I guess. Apparently she won an award, not for her music, but for her cd packaging--I guess it's all organic, or something like that.

Had a crazy, crazy, crazy night at work, on account of the festival. I was running at full speed and multitasking like nobody's business, all night. I can still feel that running around in my ankle, which is hurting even when I don't stand on it, and my hip, which is quiet unless I abuse it. I tell you what, I can't go on like this--if I'm in this much pain after every shift, it's almost not worth working. (Well, okay, it is, because I absolutely have to have the money, but . . . good grief. Enough is enough, you know?) I keep meaning to get a doctor appointment, but so far I haven't gotten the chance. Especially since I'm not sure it'll do any good.

I finished Rakkety Tam, too, and maybe it's just because it's been so long, but I enjoyed it a lot more than the other later Redwall books I've read (that would be Taggerung, Triss and Loamhedge). It rekindled my desire to go live at Redwall Abbey. That life would be just about as perfect as it could get.

So, yeah. My life is still pretty much what it has been since I've been home--reading, working, and still in pain. No change, yet I still find ways to reword it all into more LJ posts. Go figure.

I've had pretty much constant allergies ever since I got home, so the fact that I'm sniffling and sneezing a lot today doesn't worry me much. And I was terribly congested this morning, but that happens all the time, so it's not a huge worry either. But there's that tickle in the back of my throat and down deep in my lungs that usually means the bronchitis cometh, and that, combined with those things above, combined with the fact that I've been coughing all evening, and the fact that I'm so tired today . . .

It's probably just allergies. It's got to be just allergies. I really hope it's just allergies. But at the same time, while things tend to be (a little) better in the summer (no wood stove burning in the house), frankly, my chances of not getting bronchitis at some point while I'm home are very slim. There's just something about this house. We'll see, I guess.

I joined the summer reading program for adults at the library, and it just started today. The theme is animals, and I need to read animal-themed books in ten different 'activities', and for every five activities I completey, I get a free book. When I was a kid, I loved the summer reading program, even though it wasn't really ever a challenge, because I loved reading. Well, okay, one year was a challenge, because that year all the books we read had to have one either Caldecott or Newbury awards, which significantly limited the choice of books and frustrated me to no end, especially since all the books that get those awards seem to be in this particular literary style I wasn't very fond of. Anyway, this year doesn't look to be any different, even though it's my first time with a summer reading program since . . . sixth grade? I was surprised to discover that each 'activity' only requires reading one book, for the most part.

Anyway, to start myself off, I got Rakkety Tam, because while I grew up on the Redwall books, I haven't read any of them since Loamhedge. This program is a nice excuse to catch up on the series, though I don't have huge hopes. I think the books lost some of the charm during the years when I didn't read anything else. I must have read each one of them at least ten times. I also got Spindle's End, by Robin McKinley, because she's one of those authors I've been hearing good things about for years but never got around to actually reading. The book isn't exactly an animal book, but it seems to be about animals at least as much as Alice in Wonderland, which is on the suggestion list. I'm enjoying it immensely, too. I'll definitely have to read more by her.

I taught myself how to french braid my own hair last night. I'm pretty proud of myself for it, too, because it's something I've wanted to learn to do for the longest time. Once or twice a year I decide it's time to learn how, but before I always got frustrated and quit. So, that's cool! Mind you, I don't have enough skill to make a french braid that looks very good, but it's a real start! My main motivation for learning was that for a long time I've been struggling with whether or not to cut my hair again--it's almost as long as it was before. The idea kind of scared me, though, because for years--most of my life--I've just kind of worn it the way that it grew, and the idea of getting a real haircut, with a style was intimidating. So, instead, I decided to see what cool things I could learn to do with my long hair. I like my old-fashioned look, so I'm hoping to get proficient enough with french braiding to be able to pin my hair up. Because, you know, as long as I'm looking old-fashioned, I might as well really get into it. (Except, I'm totally so lazy that within a couple of weeks, you know I'll be back to just coming my hair and sticking it in a scrunchie. But it's a nice thought!)

( Another note just for my own reference )

I went to the library this afternoon, and got a whole bunch of books. One of them is a Star Wars book that I loved when I was in junior high (during the period where I read nothing but Star Wars novels). I've been wanting to reread it for a while now, just to see if it holds up. I don't expect it to. I also got something by Eoin Colfer, because I enjoyed Wish List when I read it last year. I also grabbed a compilation of one year's Nebula awards, just out of curiosity.

But, the book I started reading first was this funny little thing called Black Unicorn, by Tanith Lee. I've never heard of the author before, and I'm generally pretty skeptical of things involving unicorns--there's so much bad fantasy out there, and unicorns are right up with dragons on the overused and poorly done mythical beasts scale. (I would sure love to read a fantasy novel about something not unicorn or dragon--maybe a sphinx. Sphinxes are cool.) Anyway, I didn't have very high hopes, but it was a very thin volume, and considering the way fantasy novels tend to go, I considered that a definite virtue. And, anyway, since I have limited Internet access at home, I've been devouring books, so the more I came home with, the better.

So far, I've gotten about three quarters through it, and I'm actually quite enjoying it. Just as a light read, you understand, but it's fun. Lots of little shiny bits to keep me interested, and not so many of the long, detailed descriptions that bog me down in most fantasy. I'm not a big fantasy fan, really. Too many fantasy novels are less, "Watch my characters do exciting things!" and more, "Check out this awesome world I made up!" And, honestly, I don't give two bits for your world if you can't make me care about your characters. That's why I couldn't get through Lord of the Rings--great world, paper thin characters. Anyway, though, this book has avoided that for the most part, and the main character is interesting enough (though not half so interesting as her pet), so I'm enjoying it.

Behind the cut is a very, very long post describing my train ride in detail, because it was so bizarre and so intense and surreal that it deserved a good long post to itself. I wrote it yesterday, very late at night on a strange keyboard, so disregard any typos, please!

( The fish, crazy train stuff, too much luggage and The Last Unicorn )

I spent way too much money today. I bought a set of three Littlest Pet Shop animals (the birth of another collection--fear!), and then we went out for Chinese, and then I went to Salvation Army and found myself two pairs of jeans (all mine are too big, for some reason, and it's kind of embarrassing) and a very nice suit. Unfortunately, to be able to wear the very nice suit comfortably, I need to lose a little weight . . . but it does fit. The skirt's just a little tight. Anyway, I could really use to drop about five pounds. (If I wanted it badly enough, I'd actually exercise, but . . . between laziness, joint pain and asthma, it's hard to get up the urge.)

I've been doing some reading, since my Internet time is a lot more limited now that I'm home. I just reread HP6, for the first time since that frantic 8-hour scramble on release day. It was very good the second time through, and it was extremely enjoyable to take it at a more leisurely pace. I still got all excited or angry or choked up at all the right parts. And my impatience for (and speculation about) the next book has been refueled.

Now I'm breaking into my Ender books again. I'm started with Speaker for the Dead--this'll be the first time I've ever launched into the Speaker trilogy without first reader Ender's Game, but . . . I felt like it. Anyway, as far as that goes, I want to say that I love Novinha's children. All of them . . . but I've had a soft spot for Quara pretty much since I read it the first time. Not entirely sure why.

The bird's still coughing and it's still adorable. I'm still coughing too, and that's not nearly as cute.

"Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. Often when he was teaching me to write in Greek the Fox would say, 'Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or ather than what you really mean; that is the art and the joy of words.' A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about the joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?"

C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

I'm breathing again, but I'm still a tad dazed and all. I don't usually read books in one sitting like that.

My time, if anyone's curious, is eight hours. Before you start mocking it, no, I'm not a very fast reader, but I beat T-bone's time by an hour and a half, so there. And I barely stopped at all the whole time. Not for more than a minute or two to check my e-mail or stick food in the microwave. (I ate one meal while I read, but I also snacked on Cheez-its.)

And now, some thoughts on the book. Major spoilers ahead, you know the drill.

( SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS )

Now I'm definitely in 'recovery' mode, both from the content of the book and the physical act of spending eight hours reading it. Wheeeeew!

I'm coming up for air. The book is fabulous. This is the first new book I've had a chance to read with some background in the fandom, and it's really cause for much squealing.

But all that would be spoilerish. I was really just wondering if it seems to anyone else that there's more Britspeak in this book than the previous ones? It seems that way to me, but I can't be sure. If it is, that'd be cool. I've always wished they hadn't been Americanized.

Back to reading now!