( Big Long List of Books to Read )

I'm really hoping this gets shorter before it gets longer... riiiight.

I only call this room the sitting room because that's what the blueprints for the house call it. For me it's my sewing/crafting/junk room. For some reason Nancy wanted to see pictures of it, and since I actually cleaned it yesterday I decided to take some. You've all seen this before, though! Nothing new!

( Three photos, one blurry )

I am terrified of the day I move out of this house... I might even have to (god forbid) get rid of some of my crap. Gonna have to find an apartment with no windows so I have places for all the furniture...

Look, today I actually remembered!

Books:
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones

Manga:
Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei 3 by Koji Kumeta
Parasyte 4 by Hitoshi Iwaki
Tsubasa 25 by CLAMP
Two Flowers for the Dragon 4 by Nari Kusakawa

Counts:
Books: 9
Comics: 30

Treasure Island was pretty awesome, though I have the feeling I wouldn't have liked it as much if I'd read it instead of listening to it. I really loved Jim, though. He was such a weird kid.

The Tale of Despereaux actually made me never want to watch the movie instead of wanting to see the movie more. XD My favorite line in it is Mig's "Are you making a thing?" to the princess when she delivers the thread. I still hate Kate DiCamillo, though. She's evil!

Enchanted Glass was totally worth importing from Canada just to get it two months early. It was so good. SO good. I want to say it's DWJ's first book to really deal with faerie, but there's also Fire and Hemlock with the whole Tam Lin thing so I guess it's not. I really love Andrew and Aiden, too. Andrew especially, as everyone assumed he was incapable but he was really quite good at things (just bad at realizing he was supposed to be doing things). Really I loved every character in the book... DWJ is always topping herself on characters. She manages to write people who are so totally over the top, but they always seem realistic anyway, or something. You know what I mean if you've read her, I am sure!
Amusingly, I ordered this from Amazon.ca on Monday the 1st, and got it Tuesday, although the release date for the book wasn't even until Wednesday. That's... crazy shipping. Good thing it wasn't published by Macmillian!

Nothing much to say about the manga. Any given volume of Zetsubou-sensei takes me ages to read because of all the damn obscure references. I wonder how the translator even keeps track. And if you happened to notice that I finished Two Flowers 4 but haven't listed 3, it's because there's an unrelated one-shot in vol 3 I haven't read yet, so I'm not done it yet.

I'm still way behind on my manga reading... I need to make a new list of unread things, but my pile of unread things is now buried under bank statements, jewelry-making things, and boxes from cold medicine. My pile of read but not shelved things, on the other hand, I put in order in a row on the floor and it's now extending out into the middle of the room because it's going to take me a couple of hours to actually shift my collection to shelve them all! Hopefully sometime this week I'll get around to doing that... And then my bookshelves will be full again and I don't know what I'll do.

Today I went to a doll meetup for the first time in I think a couple of years... and then I hardly talked to anyone and instead wandered around taking photos. I made Branwen and Gwyneira new outfits for today, so most of these photos are of them, with a few of Zia! The meetup was at the Japanese gardens in Hermann Park (really the main reason I went).



( As usual, there's a bunch and they're stupidly large. )

Books:
Goth by Otsuichi
Kira-kira by Cynthia Kadohata
The Witches by Roald Dahl

Manga:
Rin-ne 2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Pandora Hearts 1 by Jun Mochizuki
Karakuri Odette 1 by Julietta Suzuki
Ooku 1-2 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Walkin' Butterfly 1-3 by Chihiro Tamaki
Two Flowers for the Dragon 1-2 by Nari Kusakawa
Shugo Chara! 8 by Peach-Pit

Goth was pretty good once I got used to the translation... it wasn't translated as well as the last Otsuichi I read. I love Otsuichi's ability to write twist end after twist end without them ever getting old. Many writers overdo twist endings, but despite always having a twist, Otsuichi's writing never feels like he's overdoing it. The very last story is the best, due to the unreliable narrator (or IS HE?). For a while it was bugging me that, even though the main narrator is given a name in the last story, Otsuichi still always refers to him as "Boku." But... really, if the reader knew his name beforehand it would completely ruin the last story. So Boku he will remain!
Sometimes I wish Otsuichi's stories weren't so graphic and gory, because I want to recommend him to people but I don't know everyone's opinions on such things...

Kira-kira made me cry. At work. I had to go hide in the delivery area. Luckily I had donations to sort through, so I just did that while I was hiding. Cecilia saw me all red-eyed and weepy, though, I wonder what she thought I was doing?

The Witches was a lot of fun. But it's Roald Dahl, so of course it was! He's such a bloody-minded kids' writer, though... People meet horrible ends in all of his books! But kids totally go in for that sort of thing, I know.

Nothing much to say about the manga, except that I want to know what happened to Walkin' Butterfly. Volume 3 was published in 2008 and ended terribly. Is there a volume 4? If so, where is it?

And Ooku is excellent (it's Fumi Yoshinaga, of course it's excellent!)... except for the questionable editorial decision that resulted in everyone talking like they've escaped from a Shakespeare play. I get that its historical but seriously. However, by the time I'd finished volume 2 I was pretty much used to it, so I guess it wasn't that bad.

Here is a thing I wrote for my storytelling class. We were given several choices of a prompt and told to flesh out the story. I think I did it wrong but that's cool.

This is what I was given to start:
Venus and the Cat
The Goddess Venus meets a lovesick Cat who loves her master and wants to marry him. The cat begs and pleads to Venus over and over to change her into beautiful woman. Venus voices reluctance saying, "Once a cat, always a cat." After more pleading by the Cat, Venus decides to turn the cat into beautiful woman on the promise she remain a good, well-behaved woman. One day, Venus tests the woman's resolve and places a mouse before her. A cat at heart, the woman leaps with joy and begins to chase the mouse. "You've not changed at all," Venus says, and then transforms her back into a cat.

( This is what I wrote )

TODAY
-Write draft one for 5200 (due... Friday?? I hope!)
-Figure out what I need to do for 5440 this week (and do it!)
-Put away suitcase & food from this weekend's trip
-Write check for hospital bill
-Rip 1000000 audio books

TOMORROW
-Call court about ticket
-Make eye doctor appointment
-Stop by Border's (got expiring Border's Bucks I refuse to waste)
-Game night!!

FRIDAY
-Go to work, ugh
-Turn in draft one
-I don't know
-Whatever
-Clear off sewing table

THE WEEKEND
-Work on school shit (I want to be AHEAD this semester, damn it!)
-Sew sew sewsewsewsew
-Dig bicycle out of shed

In case you haven't noticed, I spend a significant portion of my time reading. In as such, I can of course rattle off a great number of authors I like. I usually have trouble choosing a favorite of anything, but lists of things I like? I'm all over that.

But in books, I have a favorite: Biting the Sun, by Tanith Lee.

However, although Tanith Lee wrote my favorite book ever, she is not my favorite author. My favorite author out of every one I've ever read is, hands down, Robin McKinley.

She's a more recent discovery of mine, and she doesn't have all that many books out. I read my first McKinley in 2007... To be honest, I'm not quite sure which I read first (I think it was The Blue Sword, but I am not 100% sure).

( But here is a list of all her books and my thoughts on them! )

SHE IS THE BEST AUTHOR, GUYS.

AND THE ONLY REASON I WOULD STILL BE AWAKE AT 11:42 AFTER DRIVING FIVE HOURS AND GETTING A SPEEDING TICKET.

Books:
How to Get Suspended and Influence People by Adam Selzer
Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Manga:
Parasyte 3 by Hitoshi Iwaraki
Wish 2-4 by CLAMP
xxxHoLiC 14 by CLAMP
Princess Princess+ 1 by Mikiyo Tsuda
Mikansei No.1 1 by Majiko!
Momogumi Plus Senki 2 by Eri Sakonodo
Switch 2-4 by naked ape
Toto! 2-5 by Yuko Osada

How to Get Suspended was hilarious. Although it also made me wish I hadn't been so totally clueless all through junior high. I might've had more fun...

Born Standing Up I got on CD, with Steve Martin as the reader. It was fascinating, and also hilarious. And the best part about listening to Steve Martin reading his own book was RANDOM BANJO INTERLUDES!

Toto! had been just starting to get really good when it ended... I'm guessing it got canceled, because it really did just stop (they were only 1/3 through their little quest, and absolutely nothing was resolved or answered :/) I'm glad I got this from the library and didn't buy it, because I'd feel pretty ripped off.

Dad posted his book log for the year here. I love reading other people's book logs!

But since he actually posts descriptions of his, I got curious about some of them...

And so, I proposed a father-daughter book challenge (it's not really challenging). I'll read five books he read in 2009 and he has to read five I read.

The books I'm going to read are:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge
Flood by Stephen Baxter
Gallows View by Peter Robinson
Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell

And to make the choice maybe a little easier for Dad, here are one-sentence descriptions of every book I read (well, not every book... I'm going to skip most of the kids' books I read for classes and some I really do not think he would like).

( List. )

Of course I failed to indicate which are children's or YA and which are proper adult books... Oh well.

I DON'T KNOW. But since I already typed this up I might as well post it!

1. Finish library school (and keep my 4.0).
2. Stop moping.
3. Write more.
4. Finish all five costumes I'm planning (Shino, Sae, Zange-chan, and both versions of Beatrice)
5. Stop being so critical of other people (at least out loud) (or on Twitter).
6. Get in shape (lol right).
7. Read more books than I did in 2009.
8. Learn to dress myself e_e
9. Stop spending money on stupid things (and save more!).
10. Complain less (not going to happen, but okay).

LOOK WE'RE ALREADY FAILING. No self-confidence. Maybe that should be a resolution too.


HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYBODY.

In the order I read them!

( Books! )

In alphabetical order, now!

( Comics! )

The grand totals are:
Books: 142
Comics: 370

(EDIT) To be fair(?), if I take out everything I read for school it's only 86 books, and if I also take out every audio book it's only 63. I also read 463 chapters of various manga on the internet.

( Meme! )

Dammit I still haven't cleaned the toilet!

After that whole kidney stone incident, I feel like nothing can get me down. So I've been in a really good mood lately! Such a good mood that I managed to finish writing something for the first time since high school. Sure, it's only 14,132 words but that's 14,132 words of FINISHED STORY. Though some rewriting is in order because I just pull things out of my ass while writing and sometimes have to change earlier parts as a result. e_e

I was supposed to start on another, related story tonight, however, and kind of just... didn't. I'm going to bed soon because I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep all week.

Tomorrow I'm off work (my boss is not happy about this, but, well, he could have said no! I don't feel guilty at all) which means RUNNING ERRANDS ALL DAY. In the morning I'm going to get my oil changed and hopefully to get my car washed (I haven't washed my car in I think four years e_e). Then after Ali gets off work we're going to the mall so I can get a second piercing in my ears, then to Joann's to get crocheting supplies! Then she's going to teach me how to crochet. ♥

I should probably clean up in my room a bit before that, though. My bathroom is so disgusting right now... I feel like I'm turning into my brother. How can I live in such a mess? Ugh!

Tomorrow will also be full of year-end posts. I've already got my year-end book log just about ready to go! XD

Okay, gotta post on Poupéegirl and clean the toilet and go to bed!

Books:
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey
Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

Comics/Manga:
The Stonekeeper (Amulet bk. 1) by Kazu Kibuishi
Moyashimon 1 by Masayuki Ishikawa
Dogs 0-2by Shirow Miwa
Jormungand 1 by Keitaro Takahashi
Yokai Doctor 3 by Yuki Sato
Future Diary 4 by Sakae Esuno
Soul Eater 1 by Atsushi Ohkubo
Emma 10 by Kaoru Mori

Greenwitch may end up my favorite of the Dark is Rising cycle (it's been so long since I read them that I'm just considering them as if I've never read them before now...)

The Nightingale isn't the best of the Fairy Tales series, but it was pretty good. I still think Uguisu is a really awkward name, though.

Nocturnes was gooood. I read it in a day. I need to read more Kazuo Ishiguro!

Nothing much to say about the comics other than now I understand why everyone loves Moyashimon so much. It's pretty awesome. Also Emma~~ ♥ Even if she did marry that bastard William. :/

BTW I am totally writing this with KIDNEY STONE PAIN PART TWO going on. Luckily it's not near as bad this time... about the same as a fairly horrible period cramp (guys will just have to imagine). Luckily doctor gave me Vicodin.

Ah, numbers:
Books: 139
Comics: 360

Should easily hit my 365 goal for comics but there's no way I'm going to manage to read eleven books by Thursday night so 150 books for the year is definitely out.

So my Christmas holiday started off pretty great: I got my period. Oh boy! But whatever, who cares...

Then I got a horrible cold. My throat was sore at the beginning of the week, and I went to the doctor Wednesday, but was told it was only allergies. Thursday I was so full of snot and fluid that I could barely think straight... allergies my ass! Did a lot of napping on Christmas and missed church, and couldn't taste any of the delicious (I presume) Christmas dinner.

This morning I woke up at 7:00 because I had to use the toilet... for a bit I was thinking "Well, my cold doesn't feel as bad this morning! Great!"

THEN HORRIBLE PAIN.

Horrible, horrible pain. Rolling-around-on-the-floor-moaning pain. My first assumption was cramps... I couldn't find the "bed buddy" we have (it's this weird thing full of oatmeal or something that you can heat in the microwave... like a hot water bottle only without the water) so I woke Mom up and she got it for me and heated it up and listened to me moan and whine. She did not think it was a normal cramp... after about two hours of excruciating pain, she trucked me over to the ER and I writhed around in pain over there for a while before they eventually gave me a shot of some kind of awesome painkiller and I got kind of loopy but a lot less pained.

So I had a freaking kidney stone! A KIDNEY STONE. What the hell kind of Christmas present is that? Now I've got to pee in a bucket, perhaps for days, though I entirely refuse to pee in a bucket at work (just no).

SO HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS? :/

Everyone else is doing it, so here's my Christmas post... a general update on what's what since I never post anything over here anymore.

Except I feel like shit so this'll either be super long or super short (way to get sick over Christmas, yo). I'd feel considerably better if this fluid would stop sloshing around in my ear canal. The snot I can deal with... although it makes me sad that I cannot even remotely taste this delicious tea right now. What a waste of a tea bag!

So what have I been up to? Apart from being a pathetic excuse for a human and a useless waste of space, anyway (the usual). Um... pretty much nothing.

Due to having no motivation for anything whatsoever, my life has been 100% super boring lately. All I do is sit on my ass. I sit on my ass at work, then I come home and sit on my ass at home. All I've been doing of interest is reading, and, well, that's what those weekly book log posts are for.

I guess I've also been playing video games... I got a pile of games a few weeks ago, including The Orange Box (wow, it took me five times to spell "orange" right there), but haven't finished any of them (I'm on the last level of Portal, though). Other games I got were Mirror's Edge and Bioshock. I'm still playing Eternal Sonata, too, but I'm almost done that (I think I have two areas left, and then Mysterious Unison if I feel like doing that). I asked for Dragon Age for Christmas (this post is pre-opening presents) but I really want to finish ES before I start that. Then I'll have to try to finish Dragon Age before Bayonetta comes out (yeah, right, me play an RPG fast). Looking forward to Bayonetta, though... I wasn't sure about it, but I downloaded the demo Wednesday and played it yesterday and it's super fun (if... naked, and I'm going to have nightmares about Bayonetta's freaky posture).

Uh, right. All I have to talk about is video games... see, this is why I never post anymore. e_e;

I guess I can say a bit about school. Cleared this semester with my 4.0 intact, for all the good it does me. Next semester is That One Class and Storytelling. I'm going to have to truck my ass up to Denton for the first one, and am really not looking forward to it (that reminds me... I never reserved a hotel room). I've only got two more semesters of this crap and I am done. Although then I must face the future, which is a scary thought (I am looking forward to finally moving out to live on my own, but it's also terrifying... especially what with my utter inability to save money and all :/).

My post-grad school plans still consist of trucking over to Austin and going to UT for an Asian Studies degree. It's the technical details that are sketchy on that one... I'd love to go to school full-time, but I'm obviously going to need a job if I'm going to be living on my own. I've probably said this before, though... in an ideal world, I could get a job at the UT library, but that's a pretty long stretch.

Aaah whatever. Mom and Dad are home now so I'm posting this shit.

I was kind of busy this week! Sooo I barely read a thing.

Books:
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Manga:
Honey Hunt 2-3 by Miki Aihara

Every so often, Alex Jennings randomly sounds like he wants to cry in the middle of narrating the book. Hmmm.

Of Bees and Mist was totally a weird book! Setiawan took fairy tale logic up to a whole new level, and I liked it. He managed to tell a very serious story about very serious people while still having really strange things go on constantly, both in the background and foreground. People turning invisible, being deformed by nothing more than malice, mists that attack people, bees brought into being through hatred and fireflies through a mother's love... Crazy shit! Ghosts, guilty consciouses causing literal ice to build up... It's got a quote on the cover from Michael Connolly, and I think that his Book of Lost Things and The Gates are the only books I can really compare it to, though it never calls itself a fairy tale like The Book of Lost Things does, and there's no real humor like The Gates. Well, it's really not like them at all. The entire world of the book is just... crazy!
I can't find good words to praise this book (or even to make it sound interesting) without giving too much away... I don't know that everyone would enjoy it, so I'll just leave it at "it's really, really good."

Now I have to read The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey 'cause it's ILL and due Wednesday. e_e Though I'm having trouble taking it seriously 'cause she called the O-bon festival "U-Bon." Also Uguisu is a seriously awkward name to pronounce, even if it is quite a reasonable name for the heroine to have. e_e Uguuuu

I want to go back to bed...

But instead I have to:
-Get eyebrows threaded
-Get nails done (mani and pedi, I think!) Trust me to ruin my nails the minute I get home... FAIL.
-Wrap Christmas presents (and wedding gift)
-Wedding rehearsal @ 4:30
-Cry

Wedding's tomorrow, then this whole affair is done with and I can veg out all weekend. Going to see Princess and the Frog again Saturday with Ali! :D

EDIT: Failed to wrap one Christmas present and the wedding present... shall do in the morning.

My nose won't stop running!!

Books:
The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian
Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian

Manga:
Rin-ne 1 by Rumiko Takahashi
The Good Witch of the West 1-3 by Noriko Ogiwara/Haruhiko Momokawa
Big Adventures of Majoko 1 by Machiko Fuji/Tomomi Mizuna
Ghosttalker's Daydream 1 by Saki Okuse/Meguro Sankichi
Fullmetal Alchemist 20 by Hiromu Arakawa
ChocoMimi 2 by Konami Sonoda
Goth by Otsuichi/Kendi Oiwa

Finished the Aubrey/Maturin books! Yaay! Or, more... T_T Next book to listen to is Sabriel by Garth Nix (a reread!)

Counts:
Books: 134
Comics: 347