Looking for ways to make it better

So, while I'm still sick--I currently sound like an eighty-year-old smoker--I've been trying to find things to cheer me up as I wait to get better.  

One of those things--danger signs approaching--is on line shopping; it's so easy to go "oh! I really want that" and then three seconds later I'm typing in my credit card information, clicking the button for expedited shipping.  However, there are sales abounding, which makes the damages a little lighter.  

Book sites are the most dangerous places for me to shop on line at, although I have to say that the massive sale at ENC Press, where book prices are down twenty percent, is making it a little less scary.  It's also making my birthday/mother's day/father's day/Christmas shopping just that much easier.  (Note: Everyone is getting a copy of $everance this year.)

Plus, how can I not love a site that's currently advertising their sale as the "best depression special ever?"

Still coming soon

Haha, of course I managed to get sick yesterday, because not only do I have today and Saturday off, but today is also my 30th birthday and really, being sick just makes it that much more fun.

Posting on all topics to come; I promise. Right now it's all I can do stay awake and drink more water.

Happy Birthday to me.

Coming Soon

• My epic battle with FedEx to get my ARC of Magic Strikes by Illona Andrews.  FedEx decided that what I really needed was to wait 11 days to get this book.  (One day, FedEx will feel my wrath!)
• My review of Magic Strikes will be up soon (but just so you know, awesome is going to be my first word).
• My review of Mother's Milk  by Andrew Thomas Breslin and my ongoing struggle to avoid dairy for the next little while.  I'm not going to let the aliens screw with my brain!
• My exciting news about interviewing an author and more details to come.
• More exciting reviews (Headlong and Lament).

Once Upon A Time III

Is it Spring already? It must be, because Carl has posted his Once Upon A Time III challenge. While there are more details at his site--including the different levels of the challenge--it basically boils down to reading one book from each of the below category:

fan⋅ta⋅sy: a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting.(Wiki)

fairy tale: a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events. (Wiki) (The Faerie Queen's Deception: Lament)

folk⋅lore: the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people; The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally. (Dictionary dot com)

my⋅thol⋅o⋅gy: a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person; a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered. (Dictionary dot com) (Magic Strikes)

Fantasy, fairy tale, folklore and mythology. The definitions above are a jumping off point, but those of us who have unabashedly reveled in between the pages of these genres know that each is so much more.

I can't join this challenge--much like I haven't joined the other challenges I'm participating in--but I might read-along. I do have "White Witch, Black Curse," "Pretty Monsters," and "The Faerie Queen's Deception" all on hand. Fantasy and fairytale are covered with these three options, so that just leaves mythology and folklore to consider.

ETA: Hmm, Magic Strikes was full of Indian/Hindu mythology, so I've got that genre covered... now to find a book on folklore.

Where was I?

Have I had my head buried in the sand?  Because I had absolutely no idea about this:

Under the CPSIA, which was passed by Congress in August, children’s products are required to undergo stringent testing for lead and phthalates. Currently, the General Counsel of the CPSC is interpreting the law to apply to ordinary, paper-based books for children 12 years of age or younger, so that all such books and product would have to be tested for lead content. Therefore, public, school, academic and museum libraries would be required either to remove all their children’s books or ban all children under 12 from visiting the facilities as of February 10.

More information can be found in a whole host of places, like at the ALA, or here at Publishers Weekly.

Living Dead Girl

Giving myself a break from the mad, mad milk conspiracy, I picked up and read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott and it was heartbreakingly sad.  Poor, little lost girl; she's been bent and broken and bled until the only thing she can be is Alice.  

While it was another excellent book by a favorite author of mine (Perfect You, Bloom), it was not the mental break book I needed.

The sheep are going to have to wait

Because I have a great deal to get done tonight before I can even think about counting them.

But first...I won one of the book giveaways over at A Book Blogger's Diary.  Yay me!

Interests

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, sounds really, really good.

Stephen Colbert is a genius.  Heh, the Rand Illusion.  (For those that haven't watched it, it's basically a plan (written by Ayn Rand in her novel "Atlas Shrugged") that calls for all the "important" people to stop working because they don't want to share their profits with the poor money-grubbers.  

Interesting idea

Just read an article here about Erin Balser, a Twitter book critic.  She posts reviews of the books she's read, as well as interviews with authors, in 140 characters or less.  I have to say I'm impressed, because I don't think I could ever be that succinct with my words.

Also, I started a new book yesterday (Mother's Milk) and I started knitting a new pair of socks. Shall I place a wager on which new thing gets finished first?

ETA: It was Mother's Milk by a landslide (three days).  I finished the first sock today.

Failing time management

Oh, how I need thirty-six hours in a day!  I'd be able to accomplish so much more, like actually make it to the library before closing hours to pick up the seven books I have waiting for me!  And with thirty-six hours in a day, I'd definitely have time to actually read them!

I've just started a new book, Mother's Milk, and I have to say that the opening chapters have been very interesting.  Science, Latin, law, and the dairy industry, all wrapped up in one book.

Looking to the future

Sassymonkey has an excellent post on why she prefers buying paperbacks versus hardbacks and I have to say that I agree.  Partly the cost, partly the size factor, and partly the fact that it throws off the look of my books, I will almost always wait for the paperback when buying a book.  

(I almost want to feel bad about my decision to wait for paperbacks--I want to work in publishing--but I don't.  It's not that I don't like hardbacks, it's just that paperbacks have so many things going for them.)

Also, I've decided to stop reading The Orient Express by Graham Greene.  On one hand, it's not the book I thought I was going to be reading.  Also, it's boring as hell.  I can't find it in myself to care about any of these characters and I've managed to make it halfway through the story.   Instead I've picked up Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, a rather dramatic change, but I think one that I'll like better.  It's been on my to-read list for years and I'm hoping to enjoy it as much as I did The Screwtape Letters.  

New Reading Ideas

A few days ago I realized that I had nothing on reserve at the public library (how did I let that happen?), which I quickly rectified, but now I'm wishing I hadn't been quite so hasty.

Marg over at Reading Adventures recently posted her review of Briar Rose, a modern retelling of the Sleeping Beauty myth set against the Holocaust.  

Leila at bookshelves of doom wrote about The Running Man, which she picked up after reading The Hunger Games (LOVED) because she was on a dystopia kick.  I just finished Junk and while I wouldn't mind rereading The Hunger Games, maybe I'll pick up The Running Man instead.  It kind of sounds like Blade Runner, with the whole killing/chasing/finish line theme.

Of course, I could always continue reading Bleak House.  I've only got all of it to finish.

How is it possible that I've only read eight books so far this year?  I know I've been busy, but seriously?  Seriously?

Junk, by Christopher Largen

Junk was the second book I've read recently and I have to say that while I enjoyed it, it wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as $everance is.  It's more of a quiet, oh-no-they-didn't sort of book.  Like Fahrenheit 451, but without the burning people alive.  

Junk is set in a future U.S. where the WAR ON DRUGS has turned into the WAR ON JUNK.  In an effort to combat obesity, the U.S. government has outlawed all forms of junk food.  Bakeries are closed, eating red meat gets you thrown in jail, and a kid will kill himself rather than be found with a Twinkie wrapper in his pocket.  Gangs no longer sell drugs, instead pushing any and all forms of snacks, sugar, and salt on a huge black market.  Europe is in on the banning too, although Amsterdam has a thriving tourist industry, since that country isn't banning anything. 

It was a very interesting story, made more so by the fact that Largen included "mockuments" on the WAR ON JUNK in his story, taken from newspapers, court documents, and apparently, letters from prison; all chosen from actual drug-war documents.  

The interesting thing about this book is that I can already see signs of something like this happening here in the U.S.  Snack and drink machines are removed from schools and hospitals over health concerns, smoking indoors has been outlawed, chains are now required to post nutritional information on the menu board, and shows like "The Biggest Loser" are huge.  Note, I'm not saying that removing overly-sugary drinks from schools is a bad idea, or that I like smokers, but I am pointing out that rights and privileges are being removed and not everyone seems to care.  

I mean, who doesn't want the right to own salt?

$everance

So, $everance. Absolutely hysterical.

Seriously, I was reading it on the subway and I kept laughing out loud. The people around me no doubt thought I was insane. The author, Richard Kaempfer, really nailed the whole black humor he was going for in his novel, about a radio air jockey who just wants to be fired already, but of course the office manager won't fire him because then the company would have to pay him eighteen months' pay as severance. Zagorski, the disk jockey, actually goes so far as to send the most ridiculous e-mail ever to everyone in the company, including the CEO, thinking that of course the guy will fire him for all of these stupid suggestions...but instead the CEO thinks Zagorski is brilliant; the CEO implements one of the off-the-cuff idea and it makes the company millions! Instead of getting fired, Zagorski ends up getting promoted and eventually realizes that nothing he does is going to get him fired...unless he comes up with something that loses the company money. And that's when the fun really starts.

It's totally poking fun at Wall Street, the five media companies that run the media, and politics, while also pointing out that (hello!) there are only five companies (men) who control almost everything we read, watch, and listen too and maybe someone should pay attention to that? I honestly think that this book is going to be given out as a gift this year; I can't think of anyone who wouldn't get a kick out of reading it.

Adding one more thing to the to-do list

Or make that two more things, since I need to review Bone Crossed *and* $everance.

La la la...

Catch-up Post

Will be written later.

Haven't read anything in weeks.  Need to write about Korean texts, free book from Harper Collins, Bleak House (which hasn't been read in months), new internship(s), and things I want to read.

Note to self: post!

Read

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis has been one of my must finish books for years now.  I always get about halfway through before I inevitably put the book down because it's too dry/too serious/not what I really want to read.  This time though, I managed to push through those feelings, in part because I finally get dry, British humor.  (Thank you, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet, for Good Omens.)

The Screwtape Letters are just that, a series of letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew, Wormwood, on how best to corrupt Wormwood's charge.  It's a very short book, only 172 and that's including three prefaces and an epilogue.  Again, it comes across as a very dry book, but the humor is there, although so very British that it's easy to see why I missed it at ages seventeen, twenty, and twenty-three.  Screwtape is full of wisdom and knowledge on how best to tempt humans to their side, and how to fix things when Wormwood screws up and his charge leans more toward the "Enemy's" side.  I enjoyed reading this book, not just because I'm looking to expand my reading list or because I want to read more Christian literature, but because it was an interesting and thought-provoking read for me.

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen was another novel that I'd wanted to read for a few years but had never gotten around to starting.  Half of me is sorry I waited so long, while the other half is just happy that I read it, because damn.  This book was not what I expected, but so much better.

Fran Benedetto has just left her abusive, cop husband after years of being abused; she's grabbed their son and has fled via the underground railroad that's been set up for battered women and children.  Ending up in Florida, Liz (as Fran is now called) does her best to get on with her life, but it's hard, so hard, because she knows that Bobby is never going to let them go.  She's always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the phone to ring, for Bobby to be at the door.  

It's a gripping, compelling, time-stopping read and I was always mad when I reached my stop because I had to get up and stop reading!  Fran/Liz's voice is great, always jumping back and forth from the here and now to the then, as she remembers things from her past, or stops herself from thinking about them.  There are twists in the novel that I didn't see coming (although I think that with a second read I would) and the ending is not what you expect.  It's not a happy novel, but it's a gripping one, and I highly recommend it.

Filling my heart with glee!

There's a new trailer for Coraline out, this one featuring Neil Gaiman in his home.  It's delicious!

(I would embed it, it Blogger would let me.)

Excellent, Jellicoe Road won an award!  It really is one of my newest favorites.

Keeping myself busy

For Christmas my friend gave me a subscription to Bookmark and I have to say that this gift is going to be as damaging to my social life as crack is to people's health.  I've marked down eighteen books that I feel I have to read now, and this is only the first issue! 

I've seen two "must read" lists pop up in the past week, here at Editorial Ass and Sassymonkey and I have the feeling that at least one more is going to show up soon before the end of the month. 

I've started reading The Screwtape Letters on my way to and from work (I ride the subway, so I have at least twenty minutes each way to read) and while I'm enjoying it, I think that it might not be the right subway book for me.  The book is written in a very dry tone with bits of English humor popping up here and there.  (It's kind of like reading Good Omens, but even dryer.)  I find myself rereading passages each day as I try not to get lost in the tangle of Lewis' writing. The only other books by him that I've read have been the Chronicles of Narnia,  and I don't remember them being quite so densely written.