What I'm Reading - 10/21 Edition

Previously.

Since last week, I finished The Hunger Games, and right now I'm reading Scat. I have also picked up the following books:

• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
• Memories of the Future, Vol. 1 by Wil Wheaton

And before you ask: yes, it is the same John Hodgman who is the "Resident Expert" on The Daily Show and who also stars as "The PC" in those adorable/annoying commercials for Apple (whether you, personally, find them adorable or annoying depends, I suppose, on how much you like John Hodgman, Justin Long, and Apple products); and yes, it is the same Wil Wheaton who was on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO OH MY GOD I AM OLD and who has since made a career out of being geeky and all-around awesomesauce in between acting gigs.

Anyway.

As I mentioned last week, I really dug The Hunger Games, even though it is a bit darker and edgier than what I am used to; asking 12- to 16-year-olds to outlast each other in a gladiatorial arena controlled by mysterious Gamemakers who are puppets of a horrifying government in some dystopian future is some heavy shit. But it was well-written, with excellent characters, and so I have also picked up the second book in the series, Catching Fire. I'm also passing these books along to G to read, because I think he will like them.

The other two additions are "grown-up" books that I added because I wanted something a little different. I read mostly fiction, and I make no excuses or apologies for that, but I do like to try some non-fiction now and then. Usually I read what is probably classified as "chick-lit memoirs" to scratch that itch: Laurie Notaro and Hollis Gillespie, mostly. Before the adoption was final I read Dan Savage's excellent The Kid, which was pretty damned awesome (and also, in its own way, convinced me that what we were doing was the right thing, although I could not then and probably still could not now explain to you why or how it did).

I picked Hodgman's and Wheaton's books primarily because they are funny. Hodgman literally just makes shit up and turns it into a book, which is a very powerful and fascinating form of alchemy that I hope to learn someday. And Wheaton's book is a sort-of-memoir-slash-sort-of-snarkfest about his time on "Star Trek: TNG" all those years ago. He does a podcast that goes along with the book, his Memories of the Futurecast, which is outstanding if you like podcasts (and if you would consider this book, I recommend you check out the podcast to see if you would like it).

When I get home tonight, I'll finish packing my bags for the trip to Chicago this weekend, and at this point, I think that Scat from last week and this week's three new books will make the cut. But this is always subject to change at game time, so we'll see.

OH! And also: November is National Novel Writing Month. Over on the 'riffic blog, I have put up a badge indicating that I am going to be participating again this year. Last year I didn't get very far, but I am hoping to do better this year. I have a better idea to work with this time, I think, so we'll see. As always, my goal (as well as the other participants') is to finish a novel in 30 days -- maybe not a good one, but a completed one. You can follow my progress here. I might even post some excerpts, if any of them are worth posting.

2010 Cupcake Calendar: September

OK, so give me your opinion on this one, seriously. Do you like it? I used some different techniques here (photomasks, for starters), and I do like the effect, I think. But I'm not sure if I'm 100% sold. Since I did "fancy" pictures, I went really simple with the other elements: like, yes, that is the same leaf, turned different ways. Thoughts? (G likes it, or he says he does anyway, but he could be lying -- he was in the middle of a Ulduar run when I showed him the final draft.)

What I'm Reading - 10/14 Edition

It's "Wordless Wednesday" over on the 'riffic blog, but this poor little thing is feeling all neglected, so I thought I'd throw her a bone.

So: I'm a voracious reader. Like, I am always reading something. I don't go anywhere that is further than my parents' without taking a book with me (and sometimes, I even have a book with me for that trip). I've always been this way. I love to read just about anything and everything I can get my hands on. If I had a million dollars, I'd probably spend half of it at the bookstore.

We're just about packing for our trip to Chicago next week (9 more days! whoo!) and so last week I ordered some books from Amazon. Picking out books is a process that can take up to 3 hours, even when I do it online -- in fact, when I buy books online, it's even worse than when I'm in the store, because of the research. The internet is dangerous for hypochondriacs and info-holics. In the store, I just pick up what looks good.

Anyway, here is what I ended up ordering:

• Syren by Angie Sage
• Scat by Carl Hiaasen
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (which I have already started reading)*
  

SPOILER ALERT! These are all children's books. Well, at least one of them is technically "young adult," but the point is, I am not the target market. Yet, over and over again, I find myself buying books out of this section of the bookstore. And very rarely, in only a tiny fraction of cases, am I ever disappointed with what I select.

I think the reason why is that, as a general rule, kids' books just have better stories. And when you read for enjoyment, for the sheer pleasure of it, the stuff you want to read is the stuff that has the wonderful characters and the delicious flights of fancy. Harry Potter, anyone? Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Stuart Little? The Phantom Tollbooth?

That isn't to say that I don't read "adult" books. Sue Grafton is one of my top-five favorite writers, as is Carl Hiaasen -- I read his YA novels in the first place because I love the rest of his stuff so much. I can't get enough of Laurie Notaro and Hollis Gillespie. There are more than one of Oprah's Book Club selections on my multitude of bookshelves. I love Terry Pratchett, and I will totally cop to owning Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. And believe me, I have read every single Jackie Collins novel ever written: you can't get more adult than that.

But I keep coming back to the kids' books, which is why Shae already has a bookcase in her room, filled with things she is not "allowed" to touch because she is not ready. These were my books, which I am handing down to her. A complete Series of Unfortunate Events in hardcover. Special edition Winnie-the-Pooh books with color versions of Ernest Shepard's original illustrations. An annotated edition of Charlotte's Web that was a gift to my husband for Christmas 1994, the first year we were dating.

Boy, am I glad she likes to read.

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In case you are interested, here are some of the children's / YA novels that I have read in the past year or so that I have really enjoyed:

• Magyk, Flyte, Physik, and Queste by Angie Sage -- I have also picked up Syren, book 5 in this series, but haven't yet read it. A boy magician and his magical friends, but this is not Harry Potter. It's set in a more medieval place and time. Very charming, and significantly less Messianically and self-importantly written than Rowling. (And bear in mind that I absolutely love Harry Potter, but some of the writing at the end gets ... tortuous.)
  
• Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series -- About a boy who is literally a demigod, with a Greek god for a parent. I have always sort of dug the whole tempestuousness (and incestuousness, strangely) of Greek mythology, and setting these stories in modern times doesn't hurt the fantasy at all. I've read the first four books; just waiting for The Last Olympian to come out in paperback to finish the set.
  
• The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo. Winner of the 2003 Newbery Medal. Such a sweet, sweet story about a ... well, everything you need to know about what the book is about is right there in the title. This was made into a movie in 2008, and one of these days I will get around to seeing it, but I don't feel like I'm in a hurry, because the book was just so fantastic. I can't wait until Shae is old enough and patient enough for chapter books, so I can read this with her.
• 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers. This is one of those books I picked up at the bookstore because the cover intrigued me. Very Dahl-esque. It started a bit slow for me, and I had a hard time reading much at a time in the beginning, but it was such a treat at the end. Haven't picked up anything else by Moers yet, but I have several of his books in my queue.

If you find anything good, let me know! I am always looking for new authors!


* = Haven't finished it yet, still only halfway through, but I am expecting to pick up the second book in this series, Catching Fire, before I leave for Chicago, if that tells you anything at all about how I feel about this particular choice, which I had some reservations about originally. I first heard about this author via this NPR story. This is heavier stuff than I am used to, kind of scary even, but it's kind of ... not refreshing, exactly, but liberating, maybe? Enlightening, definitely.