If it weren’t for the fact that I absolutely abhor crowds, I could have had the last Harry Potter book in my hands right now.
However, I hate crowds, so Amazon will be sending it to my house tomorrow.

So my original plan was that once the book arrived I would remain incommunicado until I finished it. Unfortunately for me, plans were thrown awry, and I must instead head out to my parent’s house at 5, bringing my Dad’s surprise birthday dinner with me. (He’ll be really surprised, since tomorrow isn’t his birthday.)

I was thinking today about all the Harry Potter mania, and why I’m going to read the book tomorrow. It’s not as if I’m absolutely in love with the series. I think it’s good, and I really like some of the things JK Rowling as done with the story and the characters, but it’s by no means my favorite series (See Garth Nix,Lian Hearn, and Runaways for some other excellent series for younger readers)

So why have I fallen victim to Harry Potter mania? It’s simple: I don’t want to learn the ending before I get a chance to read it myself. So the only way to do that is to finish reading the book before going anywhere on the Internet or listening to any news other than NPR (they already promised they wouldn’t discuss any details.)

Plus, if I don’t read it right away, Michael will read it first, and I hate that.

That said, there are a couple of things that will make or break the last book. If Snape isn’t redeemed, will be more than sorely disappointed. I’ll be pissed off. I don’t believe that there are many people in the world that are beyond redemption, and I will be royally pissed off it she makes him evil for the sake of being evil.

I’ll also be unhappy if the door is left open for sequels. To that end, I won’t even be unhappy if Harry dies, because then she won’t be tempted into write more about him. Sometimes it is important to end while you’re still on top.

Other than that, I don’t care what happens, as long as I find out by myself and don’t hear it from anyone else.

If you haven’t been reading my book blog, then you haven’t seen me raving about how much I love Runaways.

I love Runaways.

So I was shocked to discover that Brian K Vaughn will no longer be writing Runaways but that Joss Whedon will be taking over. (For those who weren’t going to click through, that’s a link to an interview with both Brian K Vaughan and Joss Whedon talking about Runaways.)

That’s right. Joss Whedon.

(Pardon me while I squeal.)

Not that I don’t adore what Brian K Vaughan has been writing, but if he’s going to leave, maybe adding Joss Whedon will finally get Runaways some of the recognition it deserves.

Right now you can see a preview of Runaways #25, but I don’t recommend viewing it if you think you’d like to go back and read the entire series, because the first several pages recap much of the last seven graphic novels, giving away most of the big story points of the earlier stories (like who lives and who dies), but if you’re not sure if you’re interested, this is a great place to check out the series, as (previously mentioned) you get a recap of their previous history.

So many thanks to “Charles” at The War on Folly for making note of that. I can hardly wait for the next graphic novel to come out!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

taffy • noun (pl. taffies) [mass noun]
1. N. Amer. a sweet similar to toffee, made from brown sugar or treacle, boiled with butter and pulled until glossy.
2. US informal insincere flattery.
— origin early 19th cent.: earlier form of toffee, ultimate origin unknown.

Mind you, I grew up reading books set in England, so it’s not like the word is unfamiliar to me, but I have always found the word treacle to be completely unappetizing. My brain processes it as something oily and sticky–something that you might use to caulk the seams of an old ship. As in, “Cap’n! Thar’s a leak on th’ port side–th’ bos’un’s applying treacle to seal ‘er off!

What a complete asshat.

See SmartBitchesTrashyBooks for a longer refutation.

As previously mentioned, between episodes of Babylon 5 we’re watching with my grandmother, I’ve been reading a lot. Some recent recommendations:

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, where I finally get to stop being so annoyed with Harry Dresden.

Unshapely Things by Mark del Franco, which is an excellent urban fantasy that isn’t cluttered by with boinking.

I had mixed feelings about Shadows in the Darkness which scored very high as a mystery, but also managed to do some of the things that really annoy me.

And I didn’t much like Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth. It has lots of glowing reviews, but I’m not quite sure why, since I found the book to be very uneven.

deus ex machina \DAY-us-eks-MAH-kih-nuh\ noun
: a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

The New Latin term “deus ex machina” is a translation of a Greek phrase and means literally “a god from a machine.” “Machine,” in this case, refers to the crane that held a god over the stage in ancient Greek and Roman drama. The practice of introducing a god at the end of a play to unravel and resolve the plot dates from at least the 5th century B.C.; Euripides (circa 484-406 B.C.) was one playwright who made frequent use of the device. Since the late 1600s, “deus ex machina” has been applied in English to unlikely saviors and improbable events that bring order out of chaos in sudden and surprising ways.

The reason today’s word is appropriate is that it’s the working title for the story I was writing. Was, because a bout of depression threw me out of it, and I haven’t been able to get back in. So here’s a reminder for me to try and get my ass in gear.

And now for something completely different.

I’ve actually had a hard time finding a book to keep my interest recently.

My current bed time books are Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan, Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, and The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history by John M. Barry. All three are good, but none of them have yet engrossed me (though Labyrinth is getting there.)

I’ve also started and put right down several other books, including:
Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8) by Jim Butcher (Harry was really annoying me), The Coffin Dancer (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel) by Jeffery Deaver (I wasn’t really in the mood for reading about people getting gruesomely killed), Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries) by Dorothy L Sayers (I read a forensic thriller last week–all I could think was “he is totally contaminating the crime scene”), and Shadows in the Darkness (Changeling) by Elaine Cunningham (Is there going to be boinking in this book? I don’t want to read any boinking right now).

So none of these were what I was in the mood for. Which meant I was all the more impressed that Mister Monday pulled me in immediately, since nothing else has seemed to be doing that right now.

Now I have to see if any of those will pique my interest, or if I’ll I should pick up another book on the pile: Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy (Bloody Jack Adventures) by L.A. Meyer, 30 Days Of Night: Three Tales (30 Days of Night) by Steve Niles & Jeff Mariotte, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and The Banquet of the Lords of Night and Other Stories by Liz Williams.

Unless of course I pick up one of the other unread books lying around the house…

BTW, there’s a new addition to the Fables series, Jack of Fables.

That, Ex Machina, some supernatural fantasies, and a Victorian mystery are some of what I’ve been reading.

By the way, I’m still writing reviews over at the Random Reading portion of this website. I’m just not cross posting those reviews here. So if you were wondering where the book bits were, they’re over there.

That said, if you’re looking for something to read, I highly recommend:

Night Watch and Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Snake Agent by Liz Williams
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
and
Fables: 1001 Night of Snowfall by Bill Willingham

I’ve read a lot more, but those of some of my favorites from the past couple months.

The Library Thing Unsuggester

Yes, I pretty much didn’t read for the two or so months while we were working on the house, but now that we’re finally getting settled into a routine again…

Fables: 1001 Night of Snowfall (2006) Bill Willingham

If you haven’t read Bill Willingham’s Fables series, then you have really been missing out. Fables is the story of the fairy tales who have escaped the lands of fairy tales after they were drive out by the adversary, and are now living in New York. However, anything you need to know about the Fables before reading 1001 Nights of Snowfall is explained in the one page introduction.

Read More about 1001 Nights of Snowfall

Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens (2003) Jane Dunn

I read the occasional history book, to pick up on all the bits I missed in school, and a book about two queens who reigned in the 1500s seemed particularly interesting.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth & Mary was to be a serious disappointment.

Read More about Elizabeth & Mary

Tripping to Somewhere (2006) Kristopher Reisz

Gilly and Sam are looking to escape their lives, and opportunity knocks when one of the city’s better known street people tells them that the Witches Carnival is in town, and if they move fast they can catch it. As Gilly and Sam run after the Witches Carnival, we learn what they’re running from, as well as what they mean to each other.

Read More about Tripping to Somewhere

Easy.

From the OED, which almost never sends words I recognize:

phishing
• noun [mass noun] the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, online.
— origin 1990s: respelling of fishing, on the pattern of phreaking.

Six word stories written for Wired.

I am particularly fond of these:

“I couldn’t believe she’d shoot me.”
– Howard Chaykin

Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
– David Brin

I’m dead. I’ve missed you. Kiss … ?
– Neil Gaiman

(via Smart Bitches who Love Trashy Books)