I am pleased: Robin McKinley's Sunshine is getting a little of the recognition it so surely deserves.

She writes on her blog (she graduated from LJ to A Real Blog) (sensibly located at RobinMcKinleysBlog.com) that she wants to write the sort of books "that people take to bed with them, read in the bath till the bubbles are all gone and the water’s ( Read more... )

Taking inspiration from
( Read more... )

Booklist update, in a very horrible format, sorry.  That is the number it is on this year's list, the autho, the date I finished it, number of pages, and then category.

94.   Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie (8/29/2007, 283 pages).  I like her female characters and their "unconventionality" - in this case the female protagonist is older than her ( Read more... )

81.    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (7/21/2007, 765 pages). I read this in one sitting, the day after it's release. I picked it up about 10:30 and finished by 5 pm, which was killer because no one else was done at the same timeand I couldn't talk to anyone about how it ended. I have some friends that don't read HP, so ( Read more... )

Rough Harry Potter and Redzils chronology:

Friday -

7 pm - drive by Barnes and Noble on the way to dinner, realize the line to get wrist-bands WINDS AROUND THE PARKING LOT.

8 pm - redrive by B&N, see TV station trucks, realize it has only gotten WORSE.  Call Panda and bag on the midnight celebration because I Dont Do Standing In Line.

Midnightish - ( Read more... )

78. Memory by Lois McMaster-Bujold (7/7/07, 345 pages). Miles Vorkorokojsdfajdisfjaodsfafdn returns! I enjoy these books very much, and appreciate the nuance with which Lois navigates what is essentially a space opera.

79. The Owl & Moon Cafe by Joanne Mapson (7/14/07, 368 pages). This is a novel focusing on the relationships between four ( Read more... )

75. Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick (7/3/07, 408 pages).  A fun mystery about a slightly alternate New York, where we learn magic actually works when a series of magic acts actually disappear the beautiful assistants - including a tiger named Alice (much to their magicians' dismay).  This was a fun romp, and the characters were human enough ( Read more... )

63. Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin & Catherine Johnson (6/2/2007, 348 pages). A very cool book about an autistic woman with a Ph.D. in animal behavior using her autistic brain to "translate" things most humans are incapable of perceiving. I liked it muchly.

64.  Women and Thru- ( Read more... )

I skipped out on fishing this weekend, since I have been fighting the plague.  Instead I am - theoretically - helping my mom get the house into reasonable shape to host company.  They use their upstairs as an unmonitored storage facility, since they never actually come up here, so it needs some work.  It actually needs a bunch of decisions which I ( Read more... )

58. Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong (4/28/2007, 414 pages). Pleasant, I like how she wrapped it up.  Warning: the first book in this series about Paige actually falls after the second book about Elena (Stolen, see below) in the chronology of this world, so it will make more sense if you read them in that order. I am looking forward to reading ( Read more... )