Productive!

Finished Deep and Meaningful Diaries, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, and 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley.
Enjoyed Janet. As I said before, I always like diary format books. Also forgot to mention Twenty Something: The Quarter Life Crisis of Jack Lancaster by Iain Hollingshead. Bridget Jones's Diary for men. Got me through my momentary fall into a crisis. Feeling better now.
Stardust I picked up primarily because they're making a movie of it, and I like to read books first. I liked it. Some fantasy, some action, some romance; it was good. The more I read by Neil Gaiman, the more I like him. I shoud really pick up some of his graphic novels.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret I read in a day. Seriously. It's a 538 page book, but it's got an innovative style to it--there are a number of (beautiful) illustrations that continue the story when the text breaks. It's a neat idea, and I'd like to say I want to see more of it, but fear it won't have as wonderful an effect. The story itself feels slim for the size of the volume, but definitely worth a couple of hours. (My father read it in about an hour and a half.)
300 was pretty cool. I'm not widely read in graphic novels so there's really not a whole lot I can say intelligibly.
Currently paying my respects to Vonnegut by reading Bluebeard (the last of the Vonnegut books I own that I haven't read; guess it's time to troll used book stores for some more). He truly is fantastic. Makes you think about society in one paragraph, makes you laugh in the next.
Had my six month review (four months late ...) and it went well. Many positive things said. Made me feel as if I belonged, I suppose. Not that I ever really felt that I didn't belong, but that it was official, I guess.
Will update after the next batch o' books.
On a movie slant--Hot Fuzz is funny and Simon Pegg rocks.

From complicated to clueless.

I've finished Fragile Things. (I finished it last week, but this is the first I've thought of discussing it. It needed to sit in my head for a bit before I discussed.)
I suppose I'm not entirely a short story person. I like getting sucked into big, thick novels. I did enjoy quite a few of the stories and they'll stick with me, but I ... don't rightly know. This was why I tried to avoid posting.
Currently on to Deep and Meaningful Diaries from Planet Janet by Dyan Sheldon. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the diary format. Princess Diaries. Confessions of Georgia Nicholson. Bridget Jones (the second was so much better than the first, I think). And yes, I've even read a P&P continuation written in diary format. Planet Janet is pretty entertaining thus far; it's a fluff book and I always enjoy a good fluff book. Janet's sort of clueless, however. She doesn't strike me as the sort who actually would be clueless. She's not like me, for example. She seems the type of character who would recognize that two boys her own age are in to her and she's stuck on this guy who's ... not. What is it about diary keepers? Are they really that clueless? All of them in the aforementioned titles are a bit clueless. Are they too busy focusing on the words they're writing down to focus on their lives?
Who knows?

A Moment for Poetry

Still in the midst of Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, but came across this stanza of one of the poems, "Instructions", and felt the need to share:
Remember your name.
Do not lose hope--what you seek will be found.
Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have
helped to help you in their turn.
Trust dreams.
Trust your heart, and trust your story.

I just really like it. Encouraging for those times we need encouragement.
Proper update will follow when I've finished the book. Maybe. :>)

April fool?

Right. Been a bit lax lately with the whole updating thing. But I have been reading! Sadly, I can't remember everything that I've been reading, except the past two books I've just finished. Oh, three.
Cry Havoc! The Crooked War to Civil War, 1861 by Nelson Lankford. It wasn't bad. But really, there aren't many history books I feel are fabulous. It has lots of interesting information, but the writing was a bit dry and the one bit of the book I really remember is Lankford writing something to the effect of: It's interesting to consider the different ways this situation could have gone. Yes, we understand that. D'you really need to keep repeating? I don't know. I find it difficult to find history books I really enjoy reading.
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde. Second in the Nursery Crime Series. Good. Prefer the Thursday Next series (new one coming out in July! Woohoo!). Funny and touching and Jack's an excellent character. As is Mary. All around, Fforde's always enjoyable.
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. Fantastic, though towards the end I was trying to read with the tv on and that didn't work so well. Will probably pick up more by Pratchett (after I finish Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, which I've really just begun, and Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, and maybe Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, which I haven't gotten round to yet, and an Austen continuation, but I might read that while I'm on vacation so I can get my yearly dose of P&P or maybe Persuasion; I'm undecided. I do have some more Pratchett suggestions, which I'm sure I'll read ... eventually). I like Pratchett--there have been moments in every one of his books that I laugh out loud. Clever as well.
I'm a late bloomer. I'm going through my sci-fi/fantasy reading phase now. But you're never too late to cultivate your nerdiness, right?
As for work, I love storytime. And I'm looking forward to some of the programs we're doing this summer at the library; I've written a couple mysteries for the kids--one is the kids as the detectives, the other is a participatory mystery party where they get to be characters. I *hope* that one will go well (it's for the teens--who knows how into they'll be). Other excitement includes a video game tournament I get to run that's coming up this month. I'm super excited.
Hopefully I'll post more frequently. I'll try. Until the next, read well.