Sunday, October 5, 2008

Fall...


Well folks, there's no going back. Summer is winding down and autumn is here to stay for a bit. Today was really lovely though. The sun came out for a while this afternoon, and I took some time to just sit in the yard and enjoy a book. I figured it could be a while before I can do that again. Maybe we'll get another nice day when I'm not working, but the chances grow smaller and smaller every day.

The sky was full of crows and starlings flying here and there, calling and twittering. Twice a large flock of starlings flew over, the only sound the swish of their wings. Very cool.

I'm reading several books right now. Some for work, and some just for pleasure.


First up, Ratner's Star by Don DeLillo, recommended to me by Michael (who so far has hit the nail on the head with his suggestions). It's the story of a 14 year old math genius, who is brought to a surreal scientific compound to help figure out what is certainly a message from a distant planet orbiting Ratner's star. The characters are strange, and though they talk to each other it seems as if nobody really listens to what each other is saying. As I'm getting into the book, the people and conversations just seem to get stranger, and stranger...



Next up, Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. Yet another in a long, endless line of vampire books for teens. I've read the entire Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan, and those were good. I liked his take on vampirism - there are two types (those that feast on humans, and those that don't) - and the battles between them, between good and evil. I was really pleased at how the series ended, and yes, I even cried a bit at the end of it all. More recently I read Twilight, and not even half of the second book, New Moon, by Stephanie Meyer. I realize not everyone will know that these books are huge - right up there with the Harry Potter books. The hype and excitement over the series is massive. Teenage girls just looooooove Bella and Edward (though some of us prefer Jacob, the werewolf - I am team Jacob all the way, if I must pick a team). I should read the whole series, but I just don't know if I'll be able to stomach them. Bella goes on and on about how beautiful Edward is, and I want to slap her on just about every page. It is more than this girl can take! I've never been one for the mush. Anyhow. On to Sunshine - which I picked up because some of my fellow librarians liked it. Not to mention I figured I should be at least somewhere versed in vampire literature for teens! Ha. Just a mere 75 pages in, I can say I like it MUCH BETTER than Twilight. Did I say I like it MUCH BETTER?!! Just wanted you to understand that point. It is better written, the main character isn't a twit, and it's a little tough to tell where the story is going. I'm so glad I'll have something good to recommend to the teens!


Sticking with our seasonal theme of vampires, we have Sundays With Vlad, by Paul Bibeau. After a near marriage ruining honeymoon in which he takes his wife to visit the real castle of Vlad Tepish (which turns out to be nothing more than a pile of rubble up a very steep trail outside of a very dicey Romanian town), he decides to investigate the myth that has become the Dracula we know and love today. Bibeau's writing is hysterical, and I find myself laughing on every page. Oh yeah - this is definitely non-fiction. Though the stories Bibeau uncovers, and the people he encounters along the way are probably stranger than anything your imagination might come up with.



Right then - just a glimpse at my current reading list. Honestly, I wish I had an extra head and pair of arms, just for reading. There are so many books to read, and so many I should be reading for work. How on earth am I supposed to keep up?!!!

In other news, I am completely reloading the music into my iTunes. It had become a dreadful mess, and somewhere along the way it lost the pathway to a bunch of songs. I suppose it didn't help that I had my music spread between umpteen folders on two hard drives... Anyhow, I bit the bullet this morning and cleared iTunes. Now I'm loading everything back in, slowly but surely. It will be a chore, yes - but I will be able to decide what I really want in there and what I want to delete. And once it is done it won't be so messy. Much better.

Have a good one!

We Call Upon the Author - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

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