End of Gaiman kick

After American Gods and Anansi Boys I read Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, which turned out to be a collection of short stories (which I expected) and some poems (which I did not). Gaiman's poems are lovely and creepy, like his fiction. Some pieces were interesting (like the one about an author trying to negotiate with Hollywood people wanting to make his book into a movie and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired pieces about the coming of Cthulhu and a werewolf) and some were too disturbing or confusing for me. I'd give it an average of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Next I read Neverwhere, which was just great. I wish I'd read it first of all the other Gaiman books; the other books seemed to be competing with it in my mind...? idk. It's a very familiar story: the hapless ordinary guy who get sucked into a fantasy alternate world he didn't even know existed because of a girl he helps (or wants to bang. Luckily it's the former in this book) and then finds out What He's Made Of and proves himself a hero or whatever. Neil Gaiman made it original and wonderful, though. The tone was slightly closer to Anansi Boys'. I believe I mentioned the style reminded me of Terry Pratchett? I think I meant Douglas Adams (A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books), but whatever, I love all of them. Great stuff. I'd give it 4/5.

Here are the Gaiman books I read (I bought them for $1 each at a yard sale benefiting the school where I went to kindergarten. Did I mention that?), in the order of first to least favorite:

1. American Gods (I can't help it; it's so haunting and just stays with you. It pushed too many of my buttons. Shame about the explicit stuff)
2. Neverwhere (yay alternate London! and history! and stuff)
3. Anansi Boys (more funny than anything else. Slightly less awe but still great)
4. Smoke and Mirrors (I cannot write or read or even think of the title without getting this song stuck in my head)

With the addition of the other Gaiman books I've read (most to least favorite, again):

1. American Gods
2. The Graveyard Book (slightly more original than Neverwhere's premise. Also, the only book to date that has made me feel sorry for a vampire. And in the whole book the word vampire is never used! Gaiman respects our intelligence and knows we can figure it out on our own! I love him.)
3. Neverwhere
4. Instructions (Gaiman reads it here in the book trailer)
5. Anansi Boys, Stardust (It's been a while since I've read Stardust. I may like it slightly more or less than AB; I'm not sure)
6. Blueberry Girl (sweet book trailer here)
7. Smoke and Mirrors

Basically I need to read everything else by him. Coraline looks too creepy for me, though.

I finished American Gods and it was so good. Horrifying and sad and violent and amazing. The title is a bit misleading because it's actually about all the gods brought over to America from the old countries, as well as (glancingly) the ones created here (the Internet god, the Railroad god, etc. We hardly hear about/from them but then I suppose we don't need to because we deal with them on a daily basis. Sort of). There was a lot going on in this book, tons of different plotlines that would have faltered in a less capable writer's hands, but Gaiman is golden. 4/5 stars
I followed it up with Anansi Boys. It's not a sequel but I would recommend you read American Gods before you read this one, just to get a good feel on Anansi. Its title is also slightly inaccurate. I wouldn't call Fat Charlie and Spider boys; they're grown men. This book was not as shocking or horrifying, more of a caper, and it actually reminded me more than once of a Terry Prachett book. It unsettled me less, but I'm not sure whether that's a good thing. For the most part it was, but there was less of that feeling one gets in the presence of things divine/not human. Still, there's 100% less god, uh, relations. 4/5 stars

So holidayish, my reading. I guess 2011 is the year I didn't read any of my traditional seasonal reads (The Penderwicks in the summer, Christmas with Anne [she of the Green Gables] Treasury, not even A Christmas Carol). I just didn't feel like it. Oh well.

I've been majorly neglecting this blog. I told myself I'd blog on winter break when I had free time, but now that I am/do I don't feel like it. And that's that I have this whole list of things I wanted to write about. I guess I only feel like blogging when I have schoolwork to do.
This last quarter has been the most difficult. I'm glad it's over. So far I've been able to do most of the things I wanted to do on winter break, such as hang out with friends, read books for fun, waste the day on the internet, etc. Good stuff.

Books I've read so far:
-Jane Eyre (4.5/5 stars. If you know me, even just a tiny bit, I don't even have to explain why I love this book so much. It's basically the favorite book of every shy, introverted quiet bookworm girl. I'd actually been reading this slowly throughout the quarter on my Nook.)
-Inheritance, the 4th book in the so-called Eragon Cycle by Christopher Paolini (3/5 stars. I knew I was in for a ride when as early as the second sentence of the preface I wanted to roll my eyes. This wasn't Twilight-horrible, just derivative like the previous ones. You're better off reading the originals [aka LOTR and such].)
-Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (3.5/5 stars. Rather enjoyable if you're the sort of person who likes style guides [I am]. Tim's voice is great in this but I get the feeling that he and his cowriter don't really get what it's like to be normal people who don't shop at Neiman Marcus.)
-The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop (3.5/5 stars. I remember loving this one when I read it at age nine or so. It was much shorter and basic than I remembered. The selfishness of the protagonist annoyed me.)

Currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Gahhh it is so good.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

Just finished reading Chalice. Lovely, lovely book. Much like her other books, from what I remember, everything is written and told in a rather calm, slow-moving way but everything that you read is of the utmost urgency and importance. You must keep reading to know what will happen. The tone reminds me of Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief books, where they are somewhat formally and calmly told and not much seems to happen but you keep turning pages anyway, and because a lot of the plot and urgency is political. It's more than political for Mirasol's demesne, though; her land cries out for unity and for healing.
Mirasol is a beekeeper who is chosen to be the Chalice, the second-most powerful and important member of the Circle, who rule and ensure the demesne's unity and wholeness. The most powerful and important member is the Master, but he had been sent to the priests of Fire long ago to learn their ways, and is no longer quite human... What can be done to repair the hysterical land when the Master is feared and inhuman, the Circle members do not trust each other, and the Chalice is inexperienced and has no idea what to do? Mirasol does her best with the help of honey, her bees, and lots of reading, but the members of the Circle must come together and trust the Master.

The story is, of course, more complex than this; the above blurb does not do it justice. The only not-great thing about this book is that it can be somewhat confusing. It's not told in a straightforward way, jumping forward and back in time, and it can be kind of hard to figure out what is going on and why things are important somehow. And the climax at the end is confusing as well. This is my second time reading it, and I think that I finally figured out what happened (highlight to read the spoiler): I was unsure how the would-be usurping Heir was killed. He was covered by Mirabel's bees but we hear him scream that he is on fire and being burned. I at first assumed that the Master burned him magically with fire (which he can control due to his fire priest status) in order to avoid being killed by the Heir's sword in the duel for the Master role, but that would be against the rules; they were only supposed to fight with swords. What I think, now, is that the bees that covered them gave up their life-source, their heat, to burn the Heir up and kill him. That's why the Heir was reduced to a charred corpse and why half the bees died.
This is a wonderful book, an original fantasy story with imperfect, complex characters and its own world and magic. Very much recommended.
P.S. This is a little thing, but I really like the cover. I feel it captures the tone of the book perfectly, plus it's really pretty.

Exorcise these lovely ghosts of days when I had prospects.
Leave me with the present truth and those with unknown objects.
Looking back is fine and all but memories won't leave me.
Only leave the lesson learned so no one will deceive me.

Possible Halloween costumes I can put together from the clothes I already own

• Snow White (drab cleaning version from the beginning of the Disney movie) (I just wore the dress I was going to use for this, though)
• Annie Edison from Community (I'd have to straighten my hair)
• Ugly Betty (my hair is too short though)
• ...Sixties mod girl? (I just wore that dress last week)
• Rachel from Glee (I'm the opposite of tan. Plus I would not be willing to sing in public)
• Tweedledee or Tweedledum armored for battle (It'd be best to do this with someone)
• lazy, broke college student with little imagination
• single

"Nunc Dimittis" by James Laughlin

Little time now
and so much hasn't
been put down as I
should have done it.
But does it matter?
It's all been written
so well by my betters,
and what they wrote
has been my joy.

I ended up buying the Nook Simple Touch. I also got this lovely case for it. I've read the quick-start guide, two books and two excerpts on it and I love it.
I've also started school. I've only had one class so far (I have class Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) so I can't quite tell how this quarter is going to be. So far it seems all right. I'm afraid I'm not that enthused about school right now. I like it fine; I just don't like all this responsibility about my portfolio hanging over my head. The thought of continuing and getting, like, a PhD or something makes me want to kill myself. I wouldn't mind doing another BA or something, but I have no money and I don't want to be any more in debt. Sigh. I'm going to do the best I can to get the most out of this year, but it's just so ominous to think this will be my last year in college.

Nook Simple Touch or Kindle Wi-Fi?

Things that are the same:

• 6-inch diagonal screen
• eInk Pearl display with no backlight for less eye strain and readability in sunlight
• up to 2 months battery life if one turns off the Wi-Fi
• free Wi-Fi access at hotspots, etc.
• can change fonts, text size, highlight, save and share passages (via Facebook or Twitter) and see what others have highlighted, make notes about text, etc.
• books delivered wirelessly
• if one has the corresponding ereading app on one's smartphone and computer as well as the ereader, it will hold one's place and notes and stuff on each device
• can lend ebooks to friends with the same ereader
• PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP files are supported
• I think you can play music on both devices while you read, but it's late so I don't remember exactly

Reasons to get the Nook Simple Touch ($139):

• touchscreen (zForce Infrared Touch), which I am used to thanks to my smartphone
• smaller and lighter than the Kindle
• over 2 million ebooks in the Barnes & Noble ebookstore (Amazon has over 900,000. That's less than half)
• I'm already a B&N member; possible discount on the Nook and ebooks?
• in-store Nook customer service with human beings you can physically see and talk to
• library lending now (Kindle will be able to do library lending later this year)
• ePub format supported = access to more ebooks from different places (Kindle's proprietary format means I can only get books from them)
• the Nook seems to have more text styles than the Kindle
• in-store bonus: can read books for free inside B&N stores and get special offers thanks to free in-store Wi-Fi
• Android operating system (I have an Android smartphone) (not sure if this is a benefit)
• can use my own photos for screensavers
• I like the rubberized contouring on the back
• good layout, navigation and home screen display
• faster page turns, less page refreshes
• can add up to 32GB more memory/storage with a microSD memory card
• reflows PDFs, so it's better reading them on the Nook than on the Kindle (you'd have to convert your PDFs into the Kindle AZW format in order to reflow them on the Kindle)
• more powerful processor (800 MHz vs. Kindle's 532 MHz)

Reasons to get a Kindle ($114 or $139):

• $114 if I get the Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers. That's like $25 less than the Nook. However, I don't know exactly how annoying/intrusive the ads will be, or if the screensavers will be of ads instead of authors. I wouldn't like that.
• physical keyboard like a cell phone's. This might be faster/easier to type notes in etexts for class. Of course, I don't know how much typing I'll be doing. The toggle looks quite useful.
• more text sizes than Nook (8 vs. 7)
• everyone I know who has an ereader has a Kindle. 'Member of the club', can borrow ebooks from my friends, etc.
• already have Kindle apps on my computer and Droid (of course, I can easily download the Nook apps onto both)
• 4GB storage (3500 ebooks), twice as much as Nook (~1500 ebooks, although they let you add storage with a microSD card)
• Text to speech-computer generated voice (may not use this ever) as well as audible audiobooks (ditto?)
• Can read in portrait and landscape modes, which may be useful for PDF files especially
• better page-turn buttons
• am already somewhat familiar with the Kindle (borrowed a professor's for a weekend)
• has a web browser, which would come in handy if I don't have my computer or Droid with me. It would be easier to use either one, though, and I probably would. However: this argument in its favor. YES.
• PCWorld says its eInk display is crisper and clearer (the contrast is better)
• Amazon AdMash app lets you choose which screensavers you want
• real page numbers--not sure if Nook also has this
• worry-free archive--one's ebook library is backed up in the Amazon cloud (not sure if B&N does this with Nook ebooks)

 Sources:

• Nook vs. Kindle (B&N)
• Nook review (PCWorld)
• Kindle review (PCWorld)
• ereader comparison chart (PCWorld)
• Nook specs (B&N)
• Kindle webpage (Amazon)

So I'm 24 now...

How soon hath time, the subtle thief of youth,
    Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
    My hasting days fly on with full career,
    But my late spring no bud or blossom sheweth.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
    That I to manhood am arrived so near,
    And inward ripeness doth much less appear
    That some more timely happy spirits indueth.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
    It shall be still in strictest measure even
    To that same lot however mean or high,
Toward which time leads me and the will of heaven.
    All is, if I have grace to use it so,
    As ever in my great taskmaster's eye.
~John Milton, Sonnet VII


Milton apparently also looked way younger than his age. I feel this poem is appropriate for today. It doesn't matter what age I am or what age I look like, I'm just going to keep doing what I gotta do.

Siempre, siempre, Abuelita, yo recuerdaré...

In my earliest memory I am walking through the rooms in the Eagle Rock house, which we moved out of when I was two. The rooms are dark, but sunlight spills across the polished wood floors. I pass my little brother who is lying or crawling on the floor and see my grandma stuffing an old pair of jeans and an old red plaid flannel shirt of my father's with crumpled-up newspaper. She explains she is making a scarecrow to decorate our front stoop for Halloween. Later it will scare me whenever I pass by it, even though I saw it being made.

One of the most interesting things about life is how quickly one becomes used to things. When my grandma lived with us, it was like she had always done so. When she was gone, either to visit my uncles or live in her house in Mexico, it was as though she had never been. I remember thinking in the past that her frequent absences might prepare us for when she would be gone.
The woman I came home one day to find up in our eight-foot fig tree (which was at the top of a thirty-foot hill) sawing off its branches by hand became a frail little slip of a person who had to be lifted out of bed, enormous brown eyes and bones showing through skin much paler than it used to be. The woman who cooked and baked delicious food for us could no longer keep anything down. This was not the end we wanted for her. It was not the end she deserved.

It's strange not having her here. I'll forget sometimes and think, "oh, I should tell her hello/about the job I got/etc.", then remember I can't. We just sort of assumed she'd always be here, that she'd take care of our kids the way she took care of us. I miss her. We knew this was coming, but it's still hard.

The Rivals and Further Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

I read two books that are collections of short mystery and detective stories, written and set around the same time as Sherlock Holmes. They ranged from the mediocre (there were some where the mystery was solved but the person got off free, or where the ending was just "...oh." I hate that) to the awesome (a blind detective BAMF is put in a hostage situation because the villains know he's the only one who can stop them. He cuts the electrical light's cord, plunging the room in darkness and putting them all on equal footing. He has the drop on them due to his enhanced hearing and threatens to shoot anyone who moves. They all sit there in the darkness until his friends arrive to save him. The whole time he didn't have a gun). My favorite ones where the ones with lady detectives, because usually other people (men, mostly. These stories tend to be quite male-centric as a matter of course) underestimate them and they come out and solve the case like a boss. I think I liked the Sherlock Holmes stories more because Conan Doyle is better about explaining how he figured out the case. It drives me crazy when no explanations are given. The writing varied due to the different authors, but most of it was about as good as Conan Doyle's. I think the popularity of Sherlock Holmes is due mainly to his singular character. He's just so memorable and iconic. You think of mysteries and detectives and you think of Sherlock Holmes and his friend Watson.

New laptop!

I bought a new computer and I love it. My old Macbook is about five years old and is way too slow, has far too little memory/storage space, and runs very hot and loud (not to mention, it's dirty, the part I rest my wrists on is splitting into pieces, and the keyboard's full of crumbs). My new Macbook Pro has a backlit keyboard, a fancy glass screen, cool new features, and tons of hard drive space (and it's cooler and lighter, even). I'm really happy with it. The only hassle has been with transferring all my old stuff onto the new laptop (and that's just because of me. I keep getting distracted). My iPhoto library has been transferred, but now I feel like I need to go through it and correct the tagged Faces, delete/fix blurry pics, etc. I just installed Mozilla Firefox and transferred all my Firefox bookmarks (no small feat; I really need to go through all my bookmark folders and delete what I don't need), as well as my iTunes library (I think. I'm pretty much relying on my Computer Engineering major brother to make sure I'm doing everything right). Oh, I also figured out how to make my screensaver display an RSS feed of my LibraryThing books; in trying to find the instructions, I discovered how to put a LT widget on this blog (in the sidebar thingie. Now you can see what books I have, and it links to my LT profile so you can stalk friend me). I need to make sure my iTunes library is complete and install Office for Mac 2011, set my Desktop to rights, and eventually I want to start using the Apple money I got due to their Back to School promotion (I can use it to buy music, iBooks, and apps. So excite). My little brother bought a new laptop at the same time, and it's so cute to see him all excited about his own brand new computer since this is his first one. He's bought some bright green accessories for it. I can't believe he's going away to college! Sniff.

Book Review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Ahhh this book was SO GOOD. I liked it so much it's a new favorite. It includes a lot of my favorite things to read about: secretly sneaking around inside of city walls and buildings, mysteries that might change people's destinies, people who are geniuses at something awesome (in this case, putting together mechanical things), lock-picking (I really want to learn how to do that), dreams, gorgeous black and white illustrations, etc. Oh, it also includes an old-fashioned key with a heart, which is featured prominently on a teaser poster for the movie (I really wish they had kept the original title because it's way more awesome and old-fashioned-sounding and mysterious. "HUGO" does not inspire me to go see a movie. Plus, the font they used is too childish and whimsical). I hope they sell necklaces with the key as a pendant for movie merchandise because I rilly rilly want one.
Anyway, Hugo is a mechanically talented boy with many secrets. What happens when he runs into an old man with similar mechanical talent and just as many secrets? Literary dynamite, that's what. Also, the man's goddaughter Louise is awesome and has just as many skills (the lock-picking with a bobby pin among them) and she's a bookworm so I love her. The story is told with tons of gorgeous black and white pencil drawings as well as photographs from old movies. TIOHC won the Caldecott Award that year, which caused an uproar since that award is for picture books and this book is a novel. However, the pictures are just as important to the story as the words are, so I'd say it counts. This book was fantastic and everyone should read it immediately, especially old movie buffs. 5/5 stars

"I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

I don't feel like doing proper book reviews, part deux

These are the books I've read so far that I didn't do 'real' book reviews for. Sometimes* I am lazy.

– The Hunger Games books** (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins: AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHHH. I sort of wanted to make a gif post on my tumblr of how I felt about THG, but that would basically entail all my weeping, mindsplosion and "MY EMOTIONS" gifs, so yeah. 4/5
– The Attolia/Queen's Thief books (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings) by Megan Whalen Turner [all from the library]: If you haven't read these, you're missing out. Flawed, real characters; intelligent, unanswered questions; so much badassery; TONS of political intrigue and machinations... I'm not sure why they're considered Young Adult; everyone should read them. They're set in a sort of alternate universe much like medieval/early Renaissance Greece. Fantastic. 4.5/5
– Love Poems (Every Man's Library): such an adorable little red cloth hardcover book, with its own red ribbon bookmark (I love that). Great poems, perfect size. 4/5
– Lyonnesse Abbey by Jill Tattersall: it's a sort of Regency romance/mystery, I think. Too many improper references (minor spoiler: someone in the book has a mistress!) to be a true Second-Generation Austen Book, too tame to be a bodice-ripper (nothing onscreen. Our Heroine will occasionally remember she's doing something Improper For A Young Lady, but it's usually, like, going about with muddy stockings), too obvious of a mystery to be a good mystery novel, etc. It was ok. I put it up on Bookmooch. We're told Tessa is like a tomboy or something, but she acts like every romance novel heroine ever, so. There is swooning, if I remember aright. I'd give it 3/5.
– Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur: A Mythological Dating Guide by Francesca Lia Block [library book]: Oh, man. I saw this while shelving and had to check it out. It's tailor-made for freaks like me who love mythology and personality quizzes. I had so much fun figuring what types everyone (family, friends, favorite TV characters) was.  I'm an Urban Elf/Giantess hybrid, if you're wondering. I loved this both ironically and unironically. 4/5
– The last two Princess Diaries books, since I needed something light and fluffy after The Hunger Games (PD IX: Princess Mia and PD X: Forever Princess) [library books]. I used to be obsessed with these when I was younger, but became irritated with them about the fifth book or so (coincidentally, I think I was about nineteen). Most series go downhill after that. In reading them I was reminded simultaneously of why I liked them (fun, enjoyable characters and their interactions, humor) and why I became impatient (too superficial, and Mia is denser than everybody except for Lyonesse Abbey's Tessa and Bella Swann). I was unprepared for this weird feeling I got when I finished Forever Princess, like a chapter of my life had finished. ~3.7/5
– The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís [library book]: I already sort of wrote a review for this. Lovely book, although I'd have liked to know more of what his life was like after childhood. But I suppose that is for another book. Y such huge font, tho? I did like that it was green; Pablo Neruda wrote using ink that color, saying it was the color of hope (that's why that post of mine is in green). The illustrations were very dreamy and nice. The cover was lovely, as was the storytelling, but this wasn't *quite* as wonderful as I hoped/thought it'd be. Still, 4.5/5
– Lady of Palenque, Flower of Bacal (The Royal Diaries) [library book]: I used to inhale these when I was younger. This one I'd been meaning to read because it's about a Mayan princess. Highborn women were sometimes taught to write in that time and often acted as their husbands' scribes. Awesome stuff. I feel an affinity for Mayan and Mesoamerican cultures since I'm Hispanic; I do have some Mexican Indian (probably not the right term but oh well) in my genetic material somewhere, although it doesn't show at all. I'm sure the Lady of Palenque was an interesting person, especially since she could write, but we don't know much about her. This 'diary' was on the boring side and the writing was stilted, although I did like reading about the beliefs, customs and animals (we weren't given nearly enough of those). My name is very close to the pronunciation of a Mayan goddess's name, Ixchel (Lady Rainbow in English). I think it's pronounced 'eesh-chel'. This is the sort of thing that excites me. You can just call me M'lady Rainbow from now on. 3/5
– The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry [library book]: Lois never disappoints, but I enjoyed this book (a sort of satire on Old-Fashioned Books, especially those about Children In Dire Straits, which I usually love) rather less than I thought I would. The oldest boy is a sexist bullying prig and never gets the comeuppance he deserves (is it too much to ask for one oh-snap lecture from Nanny the BAMF? No, I do not think so.). Still, it was wryly funny and had a quip about Peter the Goatherd from Heidi (a childhood favorite) from the prig, no less, that made me laugh for about five minutes straight. I would recommend it but don't expect too much. Oh, Lois's author description of herself as an old woman hunched over a desk muttering to herself about commas sealed the deal: I really do want to be her when I grow up. ~4/5
– The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittany Ryan [library book]: The cover of this has lovely, intricate, glittering old-fashioned paintings, as well as wonderful black and white illustrations, and I love fairy tale and myth reinterpretations, so of course my inner twelve-year-old begged me to read this story about Santa Claus' daughter. It was good but I found the ending rather flat and too easy. I probably would have loved it when I was younger; I'm not sure if I spoiled it for myself by reading the (similarly lovely, from the same illustrator) picture book abrigement. What I liked best was the land of Forever, where the people from legends and myths and fairytales live and Santa Claus is king. I wanted to know more about it, and more about Victorian New York City, but alas. God only knows when authors will stop doing the "angelic, innocent girl and Byronic, brooding hunk drawn to one another" thing; I am mightily sick of it. Still, I liked this book. ~3.9/5

Wow, this was long. I really need to just force myself to write book reviews as I read the books and do one post per book.

*Most of the time.
**I would really like to use 'trilogy' here, but a friend of mine has made me paranoid about using the word wrong. You see, you're not supposed to call The Lord of the Rings books a trilogy because they are all one story cut up into three books because they were published during the wartime when they were rationing paper. This is one of that friend's pet peeves, and since The Hunger Games books are all basically one story cut up into three, similarly, wouldn't it be wrong to use trilogy here too? So I'm afraid to call any group of three books a trilogy for that reason. I have issues.

Adventists are the original hipsters.

Oh, we were vegetarian/vegan before that was trendy.
We knew smoking was bad for you before it was widespread medical knowledge. We knew it all along thanks to Sister White.
I grew up on Arthur Maxwell's children's stories. Oh, you've never heard of them? Non-Adventists usually haven't.
Jewelry/coffee drinking is too mainstream worldly.
POTLUCKS LOL AMIRITE. Yeah, it's an Adventist thing; you probably wouldn't understand.
My favorite food is wheat gluten/Ceder Lake products/Fri Chik/Special K casserole/etc. Mmmm, Roma. I'm totally craving carob chips right now!
We live longer than everyone else because of our awesome lifestyles. My grandma is 134 years old and still goes to church 3 times a week/volunteers everywhere/lifts weights/runs marathons.
Kellogg's has Adventist roots. That's right, breakfast exists because of us.
Round Communion wafers and wine are so mainstream. We have square crackers and grape juice.
What am I listening to? They're the Heritage Singers; you've probably never heard of them.
You're eating a bacon sandwich at McDonalds??? Bourgeois sheep BADVENTIST!!!
Going to church on Sunday is too mainstream. Saturday church-going is where it's at. Everyone else is wrong; we have the TRUTH.
We did that whole "JESUS IS COMING ON THE 22ND!!!!! Oh, psych, He didn't come after all... It's because we didn't count right/a spiritual judgment not visible to us here on earth happened instead!" first, before Harold Campbell and all those other posers.

What Seventh-day Adventists believe
Hipster definition from Urban Dictionary

For Pablo Neruda

And the words are all the more sweeter

Because you fought for them.

You never closed your heart,

Despite the rage of the father

And silence of others

And death of dreams and swans and things you loved.

You with your scientist's mind

And artist's eyes

Dreamer's heart

And poet's soul

Are one of the riches of the world:

Take all of God's bounty–

Nature, love, beauty and the rest–

And help us to see it again.

In you the circle is complete.

My first reader's advisory reference interview!

I've been volunteering at my local library this summer shelving books, and while I've answered patrons' questions about things like the age level of books and where to find books about America/the States/etc., I had my first real... I'm not sure what to call it, hence the long title. It's sort of a reference interview, I think, but the person asked me to recommend a book, so reader's advisory? I've learned the terms in library school but not quite what counts as which. Anyway.
I had some books in my hand and was frowning at a shelf trying to find the right place to shelve the book when this girl, about eleven or twelve, who had also been looking intently at the shelf asked me, "Do you know any good books? I'm looking for a good book to read."
Aha! I thought, this is exactly what we've been prepared for in our classes. "What sort of books do you like to read?" I asked her.
"I like Artemis Fowl, mythology, stuff like that. Adventure books!" she answered, smiling in that excited way children do.
"Well, let's see..." I perused the bookshelf, muttering, "Adventure books..." until I found something. "Have you read The City of Ember?"
"No, I haven't. Is it good?"
"Yeah, I really liked this one. Ember, the city, is the only bright spot in a world of darkness, and two kids have to figure out how to save it."
"Ooh, that sounds good! [...] Do you know if this book is good?" She held up The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
"Ooh yeah. I haven't read that one myself but I've heard it's really good. I've read some other books by her and I really liked those."
"Me too, I read Inkheart by her and really liked it, and Inkheart 2."
"Me too! I liked those."

I helped a child find a good book by putting my librarian training to use! *happy dance* I hope she likes it.

Last night I dreamed of things that are not real.
I was in Prague with my sister,
peridots could be purple as well as green,
zoo animals were kept in water like fish,
and I sat in a train while you walked past outside,
your eyes searching for my face.
My dream was accurate in this:
your eyes were piercing, serious,
and I both wanted and did not want
you to see me.

"Song of One of the Girls" by Dorothy Parker

Here in my heart I am Helen;
I'm Aspasia and Hero, at least.
I'm Judith and Jael and Madame de Staël;
I'm Salomé, moon of the East.

Here in my soul I am Sappho;
Lady Hamilton am I, as well.
In me Récamier vies with Kitty O'Shea,
With Dido, and Eve, and poor Nell.

I'm of the glamorous ladies
At whose beckoning history shook.
But you are a man, and see only my pan,
So I stay at home with a book.

I love this poem. Dorothy, who is kind of a bad girl and totally fun and wry, picked a lot of courtesans and bright, learned women who were people's mistresses. I find that interesting yet totally see why she would identify with them. "Pan" in this case means "face", in case you were wondering.

I don't feel like doing a proper book review

I have finished the following books:
-The Ancient Myths by Norma Lorre Goodrich
-Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
-Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker

The Ancient Myths was a'ight. It's just such a product of its times. It did help remind me of myths I'd read long ago and introduced me to ones I hadn't yet, such as Rama and the Monkeys. There were way less Eastern myths compared to the standard Classical ones; I detect a bias, mainly because I didn't really like this book or its style of writing. I did like the summarization of The Aeneid, mainly because of its usefulness in letting the reader know what happened in which book. The geneological charts and maps were helpful, although not located very practically. The drawings were crude, as if the publishers had contracted third-graders to attempt to copy classical Greek drawings. The whole thing was so male-centric. There's no getting away from that in ancient myths, to be sure, but it just struck me as odd that the female writer of the book would plunge into it headfirst, while relating it in such a hilariously euphemistic style for the naughty parts. This book is probably out of print, and that's a good thing. A more faithful, unobjective, modern approach would be better. A resounding Meh from me. C or C+, maybe.

I loved Franny and Zooey. It had plenty of Salinger's trademark curses and jerky, flawed characters' dislike of phoniness, but it was just so religious and spiritual and lovely. That sounds like an odd thing to say about a book, especially one by J.D. "King of Disaffected Youths and Hipsters, RIP" Salinger, but it's true. The nervously breaking down Franny is searching, yearning, desperate for something and thinks that perhaps in saying a specific prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me") over and over again, she can achieve "Christ conscienceness" and peace in her life. Zooey, her brother, tries to help her by getting to the root of her problem and explaining it to her. These characters are often jerks, especially Zooey, but there's just this underlying current of the search for truth, for meaning, for spiritual light. The only thing I didn't like about the book (other than Zooey being such a jerk to his mom, who just takes it in stride) was that there were no chapter breaks. There's "Franny", which was originally a short story and shows us Franny's collapse when out with her boyfriend, and "Zooey", which is a novella that shows us how Zooey interacts with his mother and sister and how he helps her. I just really liked this book. B+ or A-, perhaps.

Enough Rope has established Dorothy Parker as one of my favorite poets. She's a scream and everything I like in a poet: funny, relatable, rhyming and metered poems, etc. She writes mainly about boys and her lot in life. Dorothy is the one who came up with "Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses." I love her and I loved this book. I may share poems from it, if I feel like it. A or A-.

Book Review -- Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex

Spoilers will be in white from now on and will have to be highlighted to be read.

In the seventh AF book, Artemis comes up with a plan to save the world. Those closest to him are worried, however, because he's displaying symptoms of a mental disorder unique to fairies who are wracked with guilt. As it always does with Artemis and co., disaster and danger for the fairy world occur, but this time Artemis is deterred by his number fear/obsession and a personality named Orion who is the complete opposite of him and keeps professing his love for Holly, the LEPrecon captain.

I've found the last couple books, ever since the fifth which might be my favorite, to be on a decline. I somewhat disliked the sixth book (which is akin to my mild approval of any other book) and felt about the same with this one. I cannot for the life of me see why **SPOILERS** Eoin Colfer acquiesed to the horrifying and creepy Artemis x Holly subplot that exists among the sick, older fans of the series. I wish it had stayed that way, and now it is canon. Why, Eoin. Why. They're not even the same species! Artemis is fifteen and Holly is like in her eighties, which is like being in one's twenties as a human! Ugh. Oh, and I know, the villain fairy guy had a human wife. How? Humans are much bigger than fairies; what about mechanical barriers (yuck. Thanks, biology)? There is just no way this is a good thing. It's awful twisted for a kids' series.  **END SPOILERS**

Bellyaching aside, I do feel like most book series run out of steam around the fifth book. That's when the Princess Diaries books started to suck, for example. There's not much that's new about this, other than Artemis's mental issues. I found the depiction of OCD to be well done, although I'm no expert in anything medical. I could feel why he was afraid and fixated on the numbers. As always, I wish the series had shown us more of Artemis's home/domestic/family life; there's not much to make us care about his family (mildish spoilers: and his baby brother twins sound like such a riot, too. Why are we not hearing more about them?  MORE TWINS!) It's just always same old, same old. Some vengeful fairy mastermind or greedy rich human tries to take over the world/expose that fairies exist and Artemis, Holly, the Butlers, Mulch Diggems, and Foaly have to stop them; there are tons of near-death experiences and wacky banter, etcetera and so forth. Something so delightful should not become commonplace, and yet it sort of has. IDK. It's good there's only one more book, since I don't really see where else these could go.
I'd give this book a B.

"Chanson D'Adventure" by C.S. Lewis

I heard in Addison's Walk a bird sing clear
'This year the summer will come true. This year. This year.

'Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees
This year, nor want of rain destroy the peas.

'This year time's nature will no more defeat you,
Nor all the promised moments in their passing cheat you.

'This summer will not lead you round and back
To autumn, one year older, by the well-worn track.

'Often deceived, yet open once again your heart,
The gates of good adventure swing apart.

'This time, this time, as all these flowers foretell,
We shall escape the circle and undo the spell.'

I said, 'This might prove truer than a bird can know;
And yet your singing will not make it so.'

This is one of my favorite poems by my favorite author, C.S. Lewis. Not many people know that he wrote poetry. I love this poem because of the sense of hope and expectancy and magic it has; it's perfect for the beginning of summer, and by the time autumn begins I am always one year older (my birthday is August 29). I'm going to try to memorize this poem. Source: The Inklings blog.

Book Review: The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Peter Augustus Duchene wants to know if his sister lives. "She lives... an elephant will lead you there," a fortuneteller says, and the boy is not sure whether to hope, to believe differently than what he has been told all his life. In another part of the city, a magician summons an elephant instead of a bouquet of lilies for a noblewoman, and the lives of the boy, the magician, the noblewoman, and some others are forever changed.

I read this book for a paper I wrote on the author, and read it for a second time last night. Like most of DiCamillo's other books, it is sad and beautiful, full of simple and insightful truths about the world and about life, extremely quotable and a bit difficult to properly blurb without giving away the ending. I liked this book very much, although not as much as The Tale of Despereaux or The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, two of my all-time favorites. Everything ended as it should, but my one complaint is that all the fuss was unnecessary: **SPOILER** if they had just thought to ask the midwife where she took Adele, then they could have found her right away. There was not even a proper reason given for not doing so; the midwife wasn't dead or missing, she was just entirely forgotten about except for the fact she took the baby away. Even if they had lost contact with her, any policeman worth his salt would have gotten the idea of looking in all the city's orphanages until a girl whose name and general age was known would be found. The elephant, I am sorry to say, wasn't necessary. The story would have been way less interesting, but it hurt my heart to read of what happened to the elephant and to the poor woman she landed on, and I feel I would have rather they not gone through that and the policeman just think of the practical way of finding a missing child. But then I am not the storyteller, and I suppose the magician and the beggar's dog and the ex-stonecutter wouldn't have gotten to do their heart's desires. So there's that. **END SPOILER**

I would recommend this book and would give it an A-, perhaps. I'm bad at grading books.

Book Review: E.L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone

Thirteen year old Conner's best friend Branwell is in a correctional facility because everyone thinks Branwell injured his baby half-sister. The situation is more tangled than it seems, with fractured parental relationships and a seductive au pair. The only one who knows what really happened is Branwell, but he's not talking... It's as if he can't. Inspired by the story of the paralyzed author who communicated by blinking, Conner tries to help Branwell tell him the truth and sets off to solve the mystery.

I've read a couple of E.L. Konigsburg's books before, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (excellent, one of my favorites since I read it in elementary school) and The View From Saturday (also very good; I read it for a children's literature class in college). This one was also excellently written, and the characters, even minor ones (with the exception of the villain) were well-rounded. They didn't quite feel like real people, except for Connor and Branwell, probably because Connor is our narrator and he and Branwell are the people he knows the best. Silent to the Bone was a bit of a page-turner, but the villain was rather obvious and felt somewhat flat. I pretty much knew how it was going to end, but Konigsburg at least doesn't let you know quite how she's going to get there. A good read, and recommended. I'd give it a B+, perhaps.
p.s. This is random, but I find this sort of thing important: the cover was just perfect for this book.

Lists for this summer

Actual, concrete things I need to do, preferably tomorrow or within days:
–mail a book someone Mooched from me
–go to the bank to cash a check (refund from trying a new Kellogg's cereal, holla. I am cheap and a broke college student besides)
–go to the library and fill out a volunteering form Done! Halfway through composing this post my brother decided to go to the library, so I went and filled out the form (yayyy, public library experience. That place is practically a second home to me)
–go to a different library at a nearby university and try to volunteer there as well (have never been there before. If I have, it was years ago. I'd like to rack up some academic/special libraries experience as well)

More abstract list of things I want to do this summer:
–read all the books I haven't gotten to yet that are in my LibraryThing to-read list. There are currently forty-two. Heyyy, the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything!
–finish the YA books series I started ages ago: Artemis Fowl (I just bought my little brother the latest one for his birthday and he's almost done with it), Princess Diaries (I have to reread the ninth and read the tenth), Georgia Nicolson (ninth and tenth), Queen's Thief/Attolia (maybe reread them all, then read the last one). Initially I had wanted to read all the Anne of Green Gables books but with everything else I'm planning to do that would be impossible
–read The Hunger Games books (my brother bought and read all three of them. I've been specifically waiting until summer)
–Clean my room, get rid of stuff (between my sister and me it looks like we were robbed. Clothes are everywhere and it will only get worse when I bring all my stuff home from my apartment)
–Bring all my stuff home from my apartment. I have to figure out when they can inspect it. Also I have to clean the kitchen and my room and stuff
–go shopping. I want to buy white sandals and a silver purse, among many other things
–visit/hang out with my best friend and see her baby
–movie night with bosom friend
–figure out how to join a ballroom dance club or something with her
–get my drivers license (aparently they are vertical now. Mind blown)
etcetera...

I do love a good pun

Which is not to say my blog's title is one. I'm just way more tolerant of the puns I make than of the ones made by others. As are we all, I'm sure. The tagline ("Random thoughts from my mental hard drive") comes from a book my grandma gave me some years ago. It was the title of one of the chapters and just perfect, I felt, for what my writing usually is.

I've been wanting to start a Blogger account for a while, but I waited until I was on summer break. I have this compulsion to write things down, and while I do have a Tumblr (I haven't figured out how to link to that yet in my Meta post), I find it's best for pictures and other such snapshots of a person's life instead of long rambling text passages, which is what I often feel like writing. I have many thoughts that weigh heavy on my head. (This is the sort of thing I will sometimes write. Consider yourself warned, possibly nonexistant reader.) Writing is one of the best ways, I find, to explain things to myself and to figure out what I really feel or think about something. Thinking long and hard about something is the best/main way I do so, but what I think so often changes; writing it down in words creates some distance that one can use for better examination or analysis. Writing organizes my miscellaneous, random thoughts.