Lovely, lazy Sunday morning...
I know a book is good when I put off making coffee - the elixir of life, the magical brew of sanity and joy - to read. I am loving The Summer Tree. Really beautiful prose, classic good/evil, light/dark conflict, mages and prophesy and a volcano... what more could a girl want? It's definitely the first in a trilogy, in that it's setting the stage, giving all the background, but manages not to lose the reader in all that. Nice not to be lost.
I had a discussion with a poet / law student friend of mine about the line between beautiful and florid prose, and the conclusion we reached is that it's a hard line to see but a far too easy one to cross. (That's not much of a conclusion, is it? More like, obvious answer is obvious, and the answer.) Maybe it's like pornography, or ugly: I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. Kay stays on the good side of the line, and it's delicious.
Reading something like this also helps when I write - except when I'm torn between wanting to read and wanting to write, and I end up having my time sucked down the YouTube...
Going to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians this morning, because before noon it's $5 at the theater we go to, and that's about all I will pay to see this movie. But it looks cute, and at least the special effects will be better on a big screen.
ETA: However, if I were a character in The Summer Tree and my best friend went off to be a sacrifice, I might have a reaction stronger than "Yeah, that sounds like something he would do..." But that's my only big complaint so far. And, to be fair, it is HIS DESTINY ;)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
:)
I had a great day and just want to gush about it.
It started with reading The Summer Tree. I'm about a quarter of the way through and I really like it so far. Several different stories going on at once, but not too many, and there is actual progress, not just continually introducing new elements. Then a hot shower, coffee, and off to school. Reading for Adoption and then for Sexuality and the Law - both excellent classes, and I actually look forward to doing the readings. They're back to back in the afternoon, though, so I have class for 5 solid hours.
Then acrobatic pole dancing class, which is less titillating than it sounds, since the focus is on the acrobatics. We do lifts and spins, all of which requires a lot of strength. It's sort of like vertical yoga, with some dance elements. I finally did a lift! You have to hold on to the pole and pull yourself off the ground using just your arms - which is hard if you have NO upper body strength. And it's not like just hanging from a bar, since you have to actually pull yourself up a vertical pole. This class really is making me stronger!
Drove home listening to loud music (30 Seconds to Mars), and now I'm going to waste some time poking around the internet before crawling into bed with my book and a somewhat early bed time. Mm, sleeeeeep....
It started with reading The Summer Tree. I'm about a quarter of the way through and I really like it so far. Several different stories going on at once, but not too many, and there is actual progress, not just continually introducing new elements. Then a hot shower, coffee, and off to school. Reading for Adoption and then for Sexuality and the Law - both excellent classes, and I actually look forward to doing the readings. They're back to back in the afternoon, though, so I have class for 5 solid hours.
Then acrobatic pole dancing class, which is less titillating than it sounds, since the focus is on the acrobatics. We do lifts and spins, all of which requires a lot of strength. It's sort of like vertical yoga, with some dance elements. I finally did a lift! You have to hold on to the pole and pull yourself off the ground using just your arms - which is hard if you have NO upper body strength. And it's not like just hanging from a bar, since you have to actually pull yourself up a vertical pole. This class really is making me stronger!
Drove home listening to loud music (30 Seconds to Mars), and now I'm going to waste some time poking around the internet before crawling into bed with my book and a somewhat early bed time. Mm, sleeeeeep....
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Banquet Has Defeated Me
A friend of mine made a fantastic Spanish food banquet on Saturday night, and it was epic in its amazingness. Amazing in its epicness. Delicious.
I can hardly move. I only have one class this afternoon, but it's unclear if I'm going to make it. So much rich food (Sunday night leftovers, too) that my body isn't used to, and my entire system is rebelling. All I am capable of is curling up in bed and sipping water. I managed some toast about an hour ago, but that's it.
At least The Summer Tree is off to a good start, and we're past the whole "Strange guy shows up claiming to be a Mage or something, and skepticism is required, so I am skeptical!" part, and now they have traveled ("crossed") to Fionavar. I'm enjoying it so far, and Kay can have a beautiful turn of phrase. (I wasn't sure quite how to structure that sentence, but some of his descriptions are lovely. There.)
I agreed to give a friend a ride in half an hour, so I should probably get dressed. And move...
I can hardly move. I only have one class this afternoon, but it's unclear if I'm going to make it. So much rich food (Sunday night leftovers, too) that my body isn't used to, and my entire system is rebelling. All I am capable of is curling up in bed and sipping water. I managed some toast about an hour ago, but that's it.
At least The Summer Tree is off to a good start, and we're past the whole "Strange guy shows up claiming to be a Mage or something, and skepticism is required, so I am skeptical!" part, and now they have traveled ("crossed") to Fionavar. I'm enjoying it so far, and Kay can have a beautiful turn of phrase. (I wasn't sure quite how to structure that sentence, but some of his descriptions are lovely. There.)
I agreed to give a friend a ride in half an hour, so I should probably get dressed. And move...
Friday, February 19, 2010
2 down
Fifty to go! Finished Death on the Nile during a very lazy morning. I was right about the guilty party, but only in a vague way. Anyone else would have been less satisfying. Nice little mystery, classic Agatha Christie. And it was fun that it was set in some of the same places in Egypt I've read about in the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.
I love Fridays. No class, but it isn't really the weekend yet, so it feels sort of like stolen time, a happy limbo between weekdays and weekend, with nothing I'm "supposed" to be doing. I can do crazy things like actually finish a novel! Dinner tonight with my grandparents, which is always nice.
I had a very normal but somehow very good week. I never really realized - as obvious as it sounds now - how much my mood colors my day until the mood changes. It helps that things are beginning to settle. I have a job for the summer, finally completed a long project, and finished two books! Yay me! The job part is great, especially since I have friends who are still interviewing. Schadenfreude? Nah... They'll all be fine. I just like being finished.
On to The Summer Tree!
I love Fridays. No class, but it isn't really the weekend yet, so it feels sort of like stolen time, a happy limbo between weekdays and weekend, with nothing I'm "supposed" to be doing. I can do crazy things like actually finish a novel! Dinner tonight with my grandparents, which is always nice.
I had a very normal but somehow very good week. I never really realized - as obvious as it sounds now - how much my mood colors my day until the mood changes. It helps that things are beginning to settle. I have a job for the summer, finally completed a long project, and finished two books! Yay me! The job part is great, especially since I have friends who are still interviewing. Schadenfreude? Nah... They'll all be fine. I just like being finished.
On to The Summer Tree!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Book 2
Half way through Death on the Nile. Someone finally died - time to exercise the little gray cells! I got this copy of the book from a great little book store that specialize in mysteries: Big Sleep Books http://www.bigsleepbooks.com/. My favorite part is the used book corner with $1 paperbacks and $5 hardcovers :)
I'm so glad it's Thursday. No class tomorrow, plenty of time to read and finish my second book of the project. And catch up with Glee. My friend introduced me to it and now I'm hooked.
I think my next book with be The Summer Tree. It's the first in a trilogy, but the other two have been published, so no worries about being able to continue if I like the first one. Which is more than I can say for other things...like Name of the Wind! Curse you, Patrick Rothfuss. CURSE YOU! Ahem. By which I mean, I love you and want nothing more than to read your next book.
But SERIOUSLY.
I'm so glad it's Thursday. No class tomorrow, plenty of time to read and finish my second book of the project. And catch up with Glee. My friend introduced me to it and now I'm hooked.
I think my next book with be The Summer Tree. It's the first in a trilogy, but the other two have been published, so no worries about being able to continue if I like the first one. Which is more than I can say for other things...like Name of the Wind! Curse you, Patrick Rothfuss. CURSE YOU! Ahem. By which I mean, I love you and want nothing more than to read your next book.
But SERIOUSLY.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Requested!
I requested three of the books on my list from the library. Love this system of not having to pay for new hardbacks!
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series)
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse series)
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison (Rachel Morgan series)
All three are the latest installments in ongoing series that I like - fun, easy reads. I'm also planning to reread some of the books in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, who died recently. RIP
I'm about a third of the way through Death on the Nile. I was reading on Valentine's Day morning (aka Singles Awareness Day), and this girl stole her best friend's fiance and married him, and now the ex-friend is stalking the newlyweds on their honeymoon. Seemed appropriate for the day!
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series)
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse series)
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison (Rachel Morgan series)
All three are the latest installments in ongoing series that I like - fun, easy reads. I'm also planning to reread some of the books in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, who died recently. RIP
I'm about a third of the way through Death on the Nile. I was reading on Valentine's Day morning (aka Singles Awareness Day), and this girl stole her best friend's fiance and married him, and now the ex-friend is stalking the newlyweds on their honeymoon. Seemed appropriate for the day!
Friday, February 12, 2010
I had such plans...
I finished my first book of the project, and it only took 4/52 weeks. In all fairness, it was one of the longer books on the list and I was getting used to a new semester, but still - a month to read one novel?? Ugh
AND Glass Books of the Dream Eaters ends on a cliffhanger! Literally! Well, he's hanging by a rope from a dirigible, but STILL. It's functionally the same, and equally as annoying. Though I liked the book overall, it was frustrating in the sense that it raised a number of questions and answered almost none of them, so there was very little satisfaction. But I suppose that's what you get for reading book 1 in a series.
On to Death on the Nile next - the little gray cells!
AND Glass Books of the Dream Eaters ends on a cliffhanger! Literally! Well, he's hanging by a rope from a dirigible, but STILL. It's functionally the same, and equally as annoying. Though I liked the book overall, it was frustrating in the sense that it raised a number of questions and answered almost none of them, so there was very little satisfaction. But I suppose that's what you get for reading book 1 in a series.
On to Death on the Nile next - the little gray cells!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
So close...
to finishing my first book of this project. And about time, since I'm now pretty far behind. It's made even worse by the fact that I bought 7 books from amazon (thank you, birthday gift cards!) that are sitting on a shelf of my new bookcase. It took me and another law student 3 hours to assemble this lovely tower of particle board, but now it looks great - especially full of books!
I'm excited to finish my first book and move on - probably to something short and easy so I feel like I'm making progress...
I'm excited to finish my first book and move on - probably to something short and easy so I feel like I'm making progress...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Books
The List:
1. Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
2. Gardens of the Moon
3. Tigana
4. The Summer Tree (Fionvar 1)
5. Fionvar 2
6. Fionvar 3
7. Wuthering Heights
8. Dreams Made Flesh
9. The Meaning of Night
10. The Historian
11. Mistress of the Art of Death
12. Les Liaisons Dangereuses
13. Catch 22
14. Left Hand of Darkness
15. Farwell to Arms
16. The Once and Future King
17. The Book of Air and Shadows
18. Sense and Sensibility
19. The Girl Who Played with Fire
20. The Forgotten Garden
21. The Poe Shadow
22. Shadow of the Wind
23. The Angel’s Game
24. The Book of Lost Things
25. The Book Thief
26. The Firm
27. Death on the Nile
28. The Beautiful and Damned
29. The Dangerous Affair
30. Concrete Desert
31. The Secret of Lost Things
32. The Archivist
33. Snow
34. The Forgery of Venus
35. The Last Dickens
36. The Glass of Time
37. The Name of the Rose
38. Shelf Monkey
39. Dracula
40. The Somnambulist
41. The Big Sleep
42. Belle Canto
43. Against Love
44. The Art of War
45. Laughter of Dead Kings
46. Witchlight
47. The Hours
48. Tipping the Velvet
49. The Sonnet Lover
50. New Kim Harrison (February 23rd)
51. New Elizabeth Peters (April 6th)
52. New Charlaine Harris (May 4th)
Alternates
- Guns of August
- Man and His Symbols
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces
- House of the Seven Gables
- Portrait of a Lady
- The Anatomy of Deception
- New Patrick Rothfuss
- New RBP (Spenser)?
- The Secret Garden
- Emma
The alternates are for 1) if I finish early or 2) if I really can't stand one of the books and decide to abandon it, though I have to give each of them at least 50 pages. The books do not have to be read in the above order. The project is to be completed by January 18, 2011. Those are the rules.
This is on top of all the reading I will need to do for my second and third years of law school. With any luck, by the end, my new bookcase will be full and I will still have a chance of getting my JD.
1. Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
2. Gardens of the Moon
3. Tigana
4. The Summer Tree (Fionvar 1)
5. Fionvar 2
6. Fionvar 3
7. Wuthering Heights
8. Dreams Made Flesh
9. The Meaning of Night
10. The Historian
11. Mistress of the Art of Death
12. Les Liaisons Dangereuses
13. Catch 22
14. Left Hand of Darkness
15. Farwell to Arms
16. The Once and Future King
17. The Book of Air and Shadows
18. Sense and Sensibility
19. The Girl Who Played with Fire
20. The Forgotten Garden
21. The Poe Shadow
22. Shadow of the Wind
23. The Angel’s Game
24. The Book of Lost Things
25. The Book Thief
26. The Firm
27. Death on the Nile
28. The Beautiful and Damned
29. The Dangerous Affair
30. Concrete Desert
31. The Secret of Lost Things
32. The Archivist
33. Snow
34. The Forgery of Venus
35. The Last Dickens
36. The Glass of Time
37. The Name of the Rose
38. Shelf Monkey
39. Dracula
40. The Somnambulist
41. The Big Sleep
42. Belle Canto
43. Against Love
44. The Art of War
45. Laughter of Dead Kings
46. Witchlight
47. The Hours
48. Tipping the Velvet
49. The Sonnet Lover
50. New Kim Harrison (February 23rd)
51. New Elizabeth Peters (April 6th)
52. New Charlaine Harris (May 4th)
Alternates
- Guns of August
- Man and His Symbols
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces
- House of the Seven Gables
- Portrait of a Lady
- The Anatomy of Deception
- New Patrick Rothfuss
- New RBP (Spenser)?
- The Secret Garden
- Emma
The alternates are for 1) if I finish early or 2) if I really can't stand one of the books and decide to abandon it, though I have to give each of them at least 50 pages. The books do not have to be read in the above order. The project is to be completed by January 18, 2011. Those are the rules.
This is on top of all the reading I will need to do for my second and third years of law school. With any luck, by the end, my new bookcase will be full and I will still have a chance of getting my JD.
First
The goal is 52 books in a year. Novels - nothing read for law school counts. I started blogging about this at another site, but, well, I wanted to reserve the blogspot name. The first book, which I have almost completed after 2 weeks, is Glass Book of the Dream Eaters. Very weird and very fun and very much not about jurisprudence.
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