I’m grateful for renewed inspiration.
I’m happy with the book I’m reading, it’s awesome!
I’m sad the cat’s paw infection is turning out to be something quite alike the Saga of the Spots a few months ago.
I learned, for the nth time, that cat claws are sharp *glares at kitty* and the angrier the kitty, the sharper they seem to get 😀
So, for this year I’m participating in two Book Clubs. We’ll see how that goes in reading and reviewing/discussing two books every month around all the other stuff I always want to do and actually do 😀
At the moment I’m reading Joanne Harris’ Runemarks, which I’m loving so far. I’m assuming this is going as a Young Adult book based on the cover (metallic shiny edges and such), the age of the protag (14) and the general writing style. It is an easy read, but it has a fascinating magic system based on Norse runes with a matching world building based on Norse mythology with their Gods and the 9 levels of the world and such. I read Harris is writing a sequel , I’m already sold on it 😀
The next books to be read will be Elizabeth Bear‘s Dust and N.K. Jemisin‘s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Both for the aforementioned Book Clubs. If you’re interested you can stay up to date on the reviews/discussions as I post them since I will be linking them from the Book Club page as well (see above).
Since I also have the sequel to Dust still unread I’ll probably be reading Dust second, so I can read Chill right after it. And since the third part in the trilogy is coming out in February, I’ll probably space it out in such a way that when I finish Chill, I can order Grail right after.
Others in the planning for January are the last two Euro 5 books I have left.
Oh, wow, I haven’t posted a booklist update since July, heh, bad me 😀 At least I’m speedier with this overview, the 2009 list didn’t get made until March this year. As per ususal I didn’t make my (unofficial) goal of 60, but I got one closer than last year. So I will valiantly set it for 60 again, and am convinced coming year I WILL make it! The book clubs I signed up for will make it easier, since that’s already 24 books. So, without further ado:
My favourites for this year, in the order as they appeared on the list:
- Sarah Monette – Mélusine
- Joris Luyendijk – Het zijn net mensen {They’re just like people}
- Louisa May Alcott – Little Women
- Erika Mailman – The Witch’s Trinity
- David & Leigh Eddings – The Belgariad & Malloreon
The ones I liked least:
- Karen Chance – Basically, after the first book I started enjoying the series less and less with each following book. I still have the fourth one to read, and I will do that, but I’m glad I borrowed books 2-4 instead of buying them myself.
- Jeff Lindsay – Bit the same, I have the first two Dexter books and I liked those, then I borrowed part three and I’m just losing interest in it, it’s not pulling me in anymore. I haven’t even finished part three yet and it’s been lying around the house for six months or so now.
Special mentions
The Belgariad & Malloreon gets a special mention. This was the series that got me well and truly hooked on epic fantasy and made that genre my First Love Forever in terms of books. I’d been reading fantasy and sci-fi type books before, but then without truly realising they were that. When I started reading The Belgariad at age 12 or so, it got me hooked. I wanted to be Garion so badly!
I read them in translation back then, but decided this year I wanted to read them again, and this time in the original. Since I hate how the omnibus volumes look, I decided to hit the second hand book stores to get all the single volumes. I got lucky with that, as I found a complete Belgariad in one store, and a complete Malloreon in the other, and both sets in good condition too.
I started reading them in November, and decided I would go right through, all ten in a row, and I found on rereading that I still love them just as much as I did when I first laid eyes on them as a wee 12-year-old. These books get a lot of crap for being repetitive and cliched and such. And while I’ll go with it for the cliches, I disagree in terms of the repetitiveness. Not that there isn’t repetition, but what so many reviewers seem to miss is that, for these series at least, the repetition (see what I did there 😛 ) serves a purpose and fits thematically in the book.
Sure, I’ll give that Eddings probably wrote the Malloreon from a commercial point of view, and that they chose a slightly easy path for it, but they did find a nice way to explain that in-world. The point being that, since the event that split the universe and caused the two Purposes to exist (this will only make sense if you’ve read the books, BTW), the world can’t move forward. Everyone continuously cycles through the same things, different people, different locations but similar enough that, when you pay attention, you see the repeats. Garion and consorts realise this about halfway through their quest in the Malloreon. The new people that come along on the Malloreon quest are thematically similar to those that were on the Belgariad quest but couldn’t come for this one. In the same vein, certain situations they go through or people they meet have a direct counterpart in the first quest. And unless the Purposes are finally united again, everyone is doomed to continue repeating itself.
So, bottom line, I don’t mind the repetition in these books very much. In fact, it gives me a moment to go back and relive a certain moment from a previous book too when something is similar. And it’s nice to see if I can spot the repeat even when the characters don’t.
2010
1. Sarah Monette – Mélusine
2. Naomi Novik – Throne of Jade
3. Naomi Novik – Black Powder War
4. Kat Richardson – Greywalker
5. John Scalzi – The Android’s Dream
6. Paulien Cornelisse – Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding {Language is, like, my thing} [Dutch]
7. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Betrayed
8. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Chosen
9. Naomi Novik – Empire of Ivory
10. Joris Luyendijk – Het zijn net mensen {They’re just like people} [Dutch]
11. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Untamed
12. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Hunted
13. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Tempted
14: Louisa May Alcott – Little Women
15: Louisa May Alcott – Little Men
16: Louisa May Alcott – Jo’s Boys
17. Brent Weeks – The Way of Shadows
18. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Resistance (J.M. Dillard)
19. Brent Weeks – Shadows’s Edge
20. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 1
21. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 2
22. Brent Weeks – Beyond the Shadows
23. Preeta Samarasan – Evening is the Whole Day
24. Jeff Lindsay – Dearly Devoted Dexter
25. Terry Pratchett – Unseen Academicals
26. Bert Benson – Euro 5 antwoordt niet {Euro 5. Not answering} <A sci-fi series from my childhood, I recently stumbled across a second hand store that had almost the entire series. I only read maybe two or three of them back then, so am really enjoying the newness of most of these>
27. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Dreiging van de H-Mannen {Euro 5. Threat of the H-men}
28. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Duivels van de diepzee {Euro 5. Demons of the Deep Sea}
29. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Slaven uit de ruimte {Euro 5. Slaves from Space}
30. Bert Benson – Euro 5. De Monsters van Dr. Einling {Euro 5. The Monsters of Dr. Einling}
31. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Op drift in de tijd {Euro 5. Adrift in Time}
32. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Machten uit het heelal {Euro 5. Powers from the Universe}
33. Karen Chance – Touch the Dark [reread, in preparation for reading parts 2-4 which I borrowed from a friend]
34. Karen Chance – Claimed by Shadow
35. Erika Mailman – The Witch’s Trinity
36. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Ruimteschip Freya uit de koers {Euro 5. Spaceship Freya off course}
37. Michael White – Equinox
38. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Contact met Atlantis {Euro 5. Contact with Atlantis}
39. Star Trek: S.C.E. – Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Omnibus 1)
40. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
41. Karen Chance – Embrace the Night
42. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Groot alarm voor Sectie 5 {Euro 5. Red Alert for Section 5}
43. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Paniek op de Noordpool {Euro 5. Panic on the North Pole}
44. David & Leigh Eddings – Pawn of Prophecy
45. David & Leigh Eddings – Queen of Sorcery
46. David & Leigh Eddings – Magician’s Gambit
47. David & Leigh Eddings – Castle of Wizardry
48. David & Leigh Eddings – Enchanter’s Endgame
49. David & Leigh Eddings – Guardians of the West
50. David & Leigh Eddings – King of the Murgos
51. David & Leigh Eddings – Demon Lord of Karanda
52. David & Leigh Eddings – Sorceress of Darshiva
53. David & Leigh Eddings – Seeress of Kell
54. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Het Geweld van de zwarte orca’s {Euro 5. The Violence of the Black Orca’s}
I’m grateful for how the world looks so pretty, all covered in snow.
I’m happy with the new books I bought today. One with the book money I got for Christmas, and the other two myself since they were parts two and three of the trilogy and I know how I am about epic fantasy books 😀
I’m sad-ish the year is almost over, there’s a few things I wanted to get done this year that I didn’t. I’m not letting myself see those things as failures, but still, it would’ve been nice to make it. More about that in the overview post(s) later this week.
I learned I stayed pretty constant, weight-wise, this month. Only gained 0,2 kilos since same time last month, nicely done.
I’m grateful for chocolate 🙂
I’m happy I got the book I wanted from St. Nicholas 😀
I’m slightly annoyed at the lack of free free-time. All my free days of late seem to be filled with obligations. Most of those obligations are fun ones I really enjoy ( like last night’s St. Nicholasmas party 😀 ) and on the whole it isn’t even always true, I think, I can’t remember :S But it does feel like I barely have any me-time left the last few weeks and it’s wearing me down since I need the me-time to regenerate my energy, being a major introvert. Yesterday I was exhausted by 21:30/22:00, and then had to get up at 6:30 this morning to be at work at 8:15, and I spent most of that time half asleep still. Next free day is Wednesday, and I have no plans for that day so I’m making that my relax day (even though I desperately need to vacuum too).
I learned listening to my body is probably a good idea. Tied in to above, the cold I’ve been having is still not gone. My voice is still messed up and I’m not done coughing either. I bought some cough medicine yesterday, and got some extra fruit for vitamins, I want to get rid of it! I finally wanna try out my Glee karaoke app 😀
I’ve a cold, and as a result I’ve been having some issues with my voice the past week or so. And somehow it also transferred over to having problems with my writing voice, hence the lack of posts lately. For now, the Weekly Four.
I’m grateful for being on the e-mail team which lets me work even if my voice doesn’t work instead of having to call in sick because of not being able to talk (which kinda sucks in a call centre 😀 )
I’m happy in general. I’ve started to actually enjoy the world around again, instead of moping around because of dark and greyness. I love the fresh wind that smells of snow, I love the start of the holiday decorating in my house. I even made a wreath, of which I will post a pretty picture later this week, I only have an evening shot on the phone and that doesn’t do it justice. I also love cake, and friends, and music, and books. Especially books. I’ve been rereading Eddings’ Belgariad books. I read them first when I was about 12, and while I had read some fantasy and sci-fi before, this series was THE one that pulled me in and made me a fantasy fan for life. And an epic fantasy fan specifically. Back then I read it in Dutch, I’m reading the original now, and it’s even better than I remembered, I’m falling right back into the story, just as I did then, and the characters walk with me in my day and night dreams.
I’m sad that my voice isn’t back yet 😀 I downloaded a Glee karaoke type app on my iPhone, and as long as my voice is still off, I don’t wanna play with it. So I’ve had to wait, and I don’t wanna wait anymore.
I learned cats can be worse hogs of bed and blanket space than humans 😀
If you need to vehemently protest something, press the Nooooooooo Button.
Twenty obsolete English words that should make a come back. I’m especially fond of Widdendream (Noun – “A state of mental disturbance or confusion”) and Brabble (Verb – “To quarrel about trifles; esp. to quarrel noisily, brawl, squabble”).
Ancient Amazonian Tribes (and current ones too) practice multiple paternity, a system where all the men who sleep with a woman are seen as the fathers to her children. This partly because each of the men was believed to be each child’s biological father, and partly because it provides a safety net if one or more of the parents were to die: there’s always someone around the kids can turn to. Check io9 for an article about the research.
The Brits have founded a new sport/game: The Lying Down Game. Described by their creators as Parkour for those who can’t be arsed, it’s main purpose is to lie down in public places (see also the Facebook Group for more pictures). There’s really just two rules: 1) The more public the better & 2) The more people involved the better. Please be aware that the palms of your hands must be flat against your side and the tips of your toes pointing at the ground. Just as if you were standing, but vertically challenged. FACE DOWN!
Five Books is a website where every day a writer, thinker, politician, academic or what have you shares five non-fiction books on their specialist topic. The choices are such that, if you were to read all of the five books (or even just one) you get a good introduction into whatever the topic happens to be. Be an instant expert, as the website’s tagline says 😀
I feel good, happy and at peace and stuff like that. I’ve tidied up, re-arranged my books a bit so they fit better in the available space, vacuumed and just went to the store. A nice, balanced day of doing stuff, instead of a flying-all-over-the-place day or a sit-on-my-ass-and-do-nothing-at-all day 😀 (Although I now do have my standard vacuuming head ache :/)
Bought pears and apples to make stuff with tomorrow and next week and a bunch of grapes to take with me to work on the irregular shifts. And since I was quite proud of myself for actually vacuuming today instead of pushing it away again and again, I rewarded myself by buying a cake. It’ll be a delayed reward since it needs to defrost, but it should be ready to eat tonight. Yum!
This week was mostly a good week too, was a bit tired on occasion, but felt good on the whole. Slowly getting used to the time change, but early evenings still completely derail me. I’m continuously misjudging the time and get grouchy at the early dark. Fortunately the mornings aren’t as dark yet.
Met Gert on Wednesday for our usual belated mutual birthday hanging out and gift exchange. I’d bought him a pretty book, but he couldn’t choose so we went shopping to find me a present. No fun Star Trek things to be found, so we headed for the regular book store. Finally decided on E.E. Knight’s Dragon Champion, and Trudi Canavan’s The High Lord. I’ve read the last one, but I didn’t have it yet, and I hate unfinished series in my bookcase. Plus, they’re awesome books, so this makes a re-read easier, too.
Afterward we hit the shops for some clothes. Gert was successful, but I didn’t find anything (except a new hat). I wanted to get some t-shirts at V&D, but they didn’t have them anymore. Shortly after, Gert had to go. I had a last hour to kill before my train would go, so decided to check out the H&M Man. Their basement has the best accessories. There I came across very nice sweaters with the Ghostbusters logo, and they were only €29,95. Together with some heavily discounted ties (one with colourful dogs, and a pink/purple striped one), my mission was successful after all.
And, suprise, surprise, earlier today Gert called. He was in Utrecht at the V&D and they did have the shirts I wanted there! So he bought two shirts for me, and we’ll exchange later this week. Yay!
Also, finally new Glee again this Tuesday. I thought there’d be a new episode right the week after the Rocky Horror Glee Show, so I was all set last week and then nothing 🙁
But! Mash-ups next week, and Kurt’s new (possible boy)friend!
Neil Gaiman proposed a new Halloween tradition to give each other scary books on Halloween: All Hallow’s Read.
Stud Magazine. To quote their own blurb: An online based magazine aiming to redefine the term stud and introduce non gender conforming females into mainstream media. There’s some awesome photos to see on the site! See also their Facebook page. Their definition of Stud: Stud (std) noun. A person belonging to either female or intersex sex that blurs society’s understanding of gender. Often displays “masculine qualities”(strong, dominate, powerful, and independent ) and/or varying degrees of “masculine” appearance.
Jessica Joslin is a sculptor who makes awesome skeletal animals from bone and metal. Very steampunk, I like! See some images of her work here.
How to explain the internet to a 19th century British street urchin.
More flowchart! Evolution of the Geek!
When the Yogurt Took Over, by John Scalzi.
Are you awesome? Or maybe cute?
Since I just bought me a new tie (purple! yay!), this one’s mostly for me. I had dad tie my other tie and have never untied it because I can’t manage to properly re-tie it. This site has instructions AND videos.
A helpful Venn Diagram.
And finally some inspiration for when I carve my pumpkins tomorrow. It’ll be hard to decide what to do. Probably more pumpkins next year 😀
Encore: Pumpkin soup and pie recipes. Plus a basic guide to carving pumpkins focusing on tools and preservation.
I’m grateful for having some book gift cards left so I can get me some good books tomorrow.
I’m happy my Glee dvd box is here.
I’m sad because some dreams just won’t happen, and while it’s great fun to indulge the fantasy, facing the reality can make me a bit saddish some times.
I learned I definitely need some new clothes, even the binder is getting too loose…