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apple_pathwaysI went to the doctor, and the horrific lump on my forehead is well on its way to vanquishment. (Is that a word?) While it is an infection, it's not anything particularly scary like staph. They numbed up my forehead, drained the lump, and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. (Which I must take every six hours for a week. Any bets on how many doses I'll miss? Also of note: the warning label on the bottle says "DO NOT LIE DOWN WITHIN TEN MINUTES OF TAKING THIS MEDICATION". Um: WTF?! Before I Google the reason for the warning, anyone wanna take any guesses as to what will happen if I disregard the warning?)
So I walked around with a bandage on my forehead all day. Not necessarily because I needed it, but because the lump was particularly unpleasant-looking and I was doing society a favor by concealing it. I got to explain to every single one of my students today why I was wearing it (kids love talking about pus), but the most uncomfortable conversation came from the cashier at Kroger: "Oh dear, what happened?"
"Oh, I had to have a cyst on my forehead drained."
"Oh, my husband gets those all the time. As long as no one's beating you!"
Yeah, knock wood, right?
TOPIC CHANGE! So I am in a serious Book Slump. I can't remember the last thing I read that I just couldn't put down. I really, really need some recommendations or, at the very least, some Lovely Book Chat. So: any recs? Anything new that you've heard is good? Anything old that you've re-read a dozen times? What are you reading right now, and how do you like it? What's next on the list?
As for me, I am reading Armageddon's Children" by Terry Brooks, which I suppose I'm enjoying, but I'm more than 100 pages in (of out approximately 300 or so) and it still feels like the author is setting things up. (It's the first book in a trilogy, so that may be why. Although I prefer series where each book is more-or-less self-contained, and could be read as a stand-alone story.) The world-building is majorly creepy, which I enjoy, and there are some interesting characters. We'll see how it turns out.
I'm also reading The Metropolis Case, the debut novel of Matthew Gallaway. It sounds like a good read: if I can just get into it. Amazon.com has this to say about it: "In his ambitious debut, Gallaway jumps backward and forward in time between two cities, spiraling in on four characters connected by music: Lucien, an opera singer coming-of-age in mid-19th-century Paris; Anna, an opera singer reaching the height of her career in 1960s New York; Maria, an extraordinarily promising young singer but a difficult student; and Martin, an aging lawyer whose love of music might save his life. The ties between them are at first so tenuous that readers may wonder when, how, or if their narratives will converge." This is the point I'm at in the novel. :P
And I just bought this:
It's been awhile since I've devoted myself to a good romance novel, and this series by Madeline Hunter looks good. I've read some of her other books, and I like the way she manages to weave the romance into a larger historical plot.
SO: rec me some books, please and thank you! I can't believe I've gone this long without getting excited about a book...
So I walked around with a bandage on my forehead all day. Not necessarily because I needed it, but because the lump was particularly unpleasant-looking and I was doing society a favor by concealing it. I got to explain to every single one of my students today why I was wearing it (kids love talking about pus), but the most uncomfortable conversation came from the cashier at Kroger: "Oh dear, what happened?"
"Oh, I had to have a cyst on my forehead drained."
"Oh, my husband gets those all the time. As long as no one's beating you!"
Yeah, knock wood, right?
TOPIC CHANGE! So I am in a serious Book Slump. I can't remember the last thing I read that I just couldn't put down. I really, really need some recommendations or, at the very least, some Lovely Book Chat. So: any recs? Anything new that you've heard is good? Anything old that you've re-read a dozen times? What are you reading right now, and how do you like it? What's next on the list?
As for me, I am reading Armageddon's Children" by Terry Brooks, which I suppose I'm enjoying, but I'm more than 100 pages in (of out approximately 300 or so) and it still feels like the author is setting things up. (It's the first book in a trilogy, so that may be why. Although I prefer series where each book is more-or-less self-contained, and could be read as a stand-alone story.) The world-building is majorly creepy, which I enjoy, and there are some interesting characters. We'll see how it turns out.
I'm also reading The Metropolis Case, the debut novel of Matthew Gallaway. It sounds like a good read: if I can just get into it. Amazon.com has this to say about it: "In his ambitious debut, Gallaway jumps backward and forward in time between two cities, spiraling in on four characters connected by music: Lucien, an opera singer coming-of-age in mid-19th-century Paris; Anna, an opera singer reaching the height of her career in 1960s New York; Maria, an extraordinarily promising young singer but a difficult student; and Martin, an aging lawyer whose love of music might save his life. The ties between them are at first so tenuous that readers may wonder when, how, or if their narratives will converge." This is the point I'm at in the novel. :P
And I just bought this:
It's been awhile since I've devoted myself to a good romance novel, and this series by Madeline Hunter looks good. I've read some of her other books, and I like the way she manages to weave the romance into a larger historical plot.
SO: rec me some books, please and thank you! I can't believe I've gone this long without getting excited about a book...
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:00 am (UTC)Have you read any China Mieville yet? I've only read Perdido Street Station so far, but I have The Scar and fully intend to read it soon, and I'm excited to get my hands on, like, EVERYTHING he's written. Perdido was a cannot-put-down book for me and my mom and a few of my friends, but some of my other friends were like, "meh". That seems to be the pattern; people are either foaming-at-the-mouth-OMG for China, or decidedly unimpressed. He does this sort of dark, grimy, creepy, science fiction-fantasy stuff, with exciting plots and interesting characters, and his world-building is rich and intricate and unique. I adore him.
My favorite ever book ever in my life EVER is Watership Down by Richard Adams. As Sawyer from Lost aptly put it, "It's about bunnies." Adams gives his rabbits language and culture and mythology and laws and politics without really anthropomorphizing them; he creates a solid and interesting world with great characters and a narrative comprising friendship, adventure, danger, horror, violence, and a wee tiny bit of romance... all with wild English rabbits. I've been reading it over and over again since I was in elementary school, but it is plenty complex for adults and, actually, too complex for the vast majority of children of that age.
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:14 am (UTC)That is honestly the first thing that came to my mind! I've been very, very careful, though: I wait at least fifteen minutes before going to bed after I take my last dose! /s-m-r-t
He does this sort of dark, grimy, creepy, science fiction-fantasy stuff, with exciting plots and interesting characters, and his world-building is rich and intricate and unique.
Ok, yeah, that sounds pretty much exactly like what I'm into! AWESOME! Definitely going to put that on the spreadsheet, just as soon as I get around to making it. :P
You know, I have never read Watership Down! But I do know a lot of people who cite it as one of their favorite books. To be honest, I'm just the tiny bit hesitant to read it, because...well, regular readers of my journal will know that I have a moderate-to-occasionally-severe case of anthropomorphobia. (I wouldn't call it an actual phobia: more of a squick. One of my only ones! And yet people never think to warn for talking animals! *shakes fist*) It's rather unpredictable what will set it off. (Except for animal puppets. Those are pretty much always Minions of Satan.) BUT, since you say he doesn't really anthropomorphize them, I'll have to give it a go...
Thanks for the recs!
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:37 am (UTC)Why don't I have an icon that is about books?