Holiday Book Wish List

I never did a holiday book wish list before the holidays. :( I was thinking about it the other day. Well, I'm going to do one now! Hey, I could get a New Year's gift, couldn't I? *laughs* And...my birthday is coming up in March... *hint hint to anyone out there who wants to send me a gift* It's going to be a long list, so I hope you're prepared. I'll keep it to the books I KNOW I want (instead of the books I know I want and the books I sorta want and the books I want b/c I can't find them at the library). :)

Oooh, please?:

• Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller
• Babymouse: Beach Babe, Babymouse: Heartbreaker, & Babymouse: Rock Star by Jennifer Holm & Matt Holm
• Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer by JT Petty
• Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka
• Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories by Cheryl Katz & Jeffrey Katz
• New Moon & Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth & Gaia Girls: Way of Water by Lee Welles
• The Gift of Nothing & Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell
• The Lady of Ten Thousand Names by Burleigh Muten
• Owly #4 by Andy Runton
• Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? by Esther Pearl Watson
• Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World by Jean Shinoda Bolen
• Sexual Lives by Robert Heasley & Betsy Crane (my dear friends)
• The Psychology of Harry Potter
• Firefly: The Official Companion volume 2 by Joss Whedon
• To Hell and Back by Lilith Saintcrow

Not vital, but it'd make me happy:

• 200 Braids to Twist, Knot, Loop or Weave by Jacqui Carey
• Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel
• Chester by Melanie Watt
• Black Sun Silver Moon #1 by Tomo Maeda (to complete my collection)
• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
• Y: The Last Man volumes 2-9 by Brian K Vaughan et al
• How Loathesome by Ted Naifeh & Tristan Crane
• All the Postsecret books by Frank Warren
• Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Robert Asprin (duh)
• Very Easy Circular Knits by Betty Barnden
• Kids Crochet by Kelli Ronci & Lena Corwin
• Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux
• The Psychology of Joss Whedon
• Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan

Not out yet, but they can be preordered!:

• Tramps Like Us #14 by Yayoi Ogawa
• White Night by Jim Butcher (in paperback!)
• Steady Beat #3 by Rivkah
• Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach by Melanie Watt
• Re:Play #2 by Christy Lijewski
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus volume 3
• Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
• Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
• The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
• Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
• Kizuna #9 by Kazuma Kodaka
• Off*beat #3 by Jen Lee Quick (I don't know when this is coming out)

Hard to find, but I'd love them if I had them!:

• Angel Diary #6 & Angel Diary #7 & Angel Diary #8 by Yun Hee Lee & Kara
• Crying Men by Sam Taylor-Wood
• The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen
• Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone by J.K. Rowling in French
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince & Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling British editions

And I just ordered these with my $50 B&N gift card!

• Scaredy Squirrel & Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watt
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• Serenity Found by Jane Spensen

And I always want the next volumes in the manga series I read regularly:

• Fruits Basket
• Hana-Kimi
• After School Nightmare
• Her Majesty's Dog
• Vampire Knight
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Never Give Up
• Black Sun Silver Moon
• Millennium Snow

Phew! And that's probably not all. :) I'm a greedy little bitch, aren't I? Oh well...

Yay, Vault!

My visit to Vault today produced:

• Hana-Kimi #21 by Hisaya Nakajo

YAY!

• Angel: After the Fall #2

The new Angel "season" like the Buffy Season 8. I really need to read my comics. Especially BUFFY! :) Another challenge...and no time. Blah.

Love from the library

Free from the Northfield Township Library:

• The Power of a Woman: Timeless Thoughts on a Woman's Inner Strengths edited by Janet Mills

And from the Friends of AADL (but I forgot I already had it):

• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

My parents got me a $50 B&N gift certificate. WOO HOO! I just don't know what to get. :) Probably the Scaredy Squirrel books b/c they totally rock and I adore them. But I don't know what else... Hmmmm... How exciting. :)

More new additions

From half.com:

• The Goddess Companion: Daily Meditations on the Feminine Spirit by Patricia Monaghan

And do you know what's mentioned in the March 11th (my birthday) meditation? GOATS! I love goats...I do. Almost as much as books.

• The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor by Gail McMeekin

A plethora of new things

From Vault the other day (Monday, maybe?):

• Dirty Found #3
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #9

And from half.com:

• Offering to Isis by M. Isidora Forrest
• The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan

Why I love Paperbackswap

B/c I get new books like:

• Babymouse: Puppy Love by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Yay, I love Babymouse!

Maybe when the holidays are over...

...I will stop buying so many books! *snorts* Yeah, right...

Well, while I was buying my brother in law his holiday gift, I got these for myself:

• Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton
• Tactics #3 by Sakura Kinoshita & Kazuko Higashiyama

Speaking of holidays... I get a bit of break next week. I'm hoping to get lots of reading done and lots of knitting done. :) I volunteered to work at the library on Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's. So, besides working 3 hours on those days, I don't have anything to do, which I think is pretty sweet. I do have a couple family visits to fit in between this Saturday and January 1st, but other than that... It's going to be sweet! Maybe I can use that time to catch up on my manga. That will be my personal challenge: the My Manga Holiday Catch Up Challenge. *laughs* That's a name, isn't it?

New books, new books!

From Borders, while I was buying my sister a holiday gift (the coupons TOTALLY rock during the holiday season)...

• Black Sun Silver Moon #3 by Tomo Maeda

And I found:

• Holidays Are Hell by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M. Liu, & Vicki Pettersson

SWEET!!! Now, (again) if I could only stop borrowing library books and start reading my own... It may be time for another my manga challenge. I'm starting to build up my collection again without reading them!

Oh, new books, how I love thee...

Bookmooched:

• 10 Things I Hate About You by David Levithan

Okay, I love the movie and it was written by David Levithan, whom I adore. How could I not want it???

From Borders b/c I was so excited to see it came out that I couldn't wait:

• Dramacon #3 by Svetlana Chmakova

This deserves a squee. *squees* Hee hee.

Sweet quotes!

These were in Zen Cat but are from various sources.

Even a cat is a lion in her own lair.
--Proverb

Love's gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Don't listen to what they say. Go see.
--Chinese Proverb

Wisdom is sometimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.
--William Wordsworth

If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?
--Buddha

Time is the longest distance between two places.
--Tennessee Williams

New books!

From half.com:

• Serenity: The Official Visual Companion by Joss Whedon

Mwa ha ha! My Firefly/Serenity library is nearly complete!

From Borders, b/c of those damn good coupons:

• The Devil's Right Hand by Lilith Saintcrow
• Living Out Loud by Keri Smith

I really need to stop getting library books and just read the books I have. I have so many good ones that I desperately WANT to read!!! :(

No power :(

My power went off sometime around 3 am. I had hoped that it would've come back on by the time I woke up to go to work, but sadly, it hadn't. Having learned my lesson the last time (around the time HP #7 came out), I called all the necessary people--the electric company, my apartment complex's emergency maintenance. It was supposed to come on around noon.

Let me tell you, no power for more than an hour or so in the winter sucks ass. It was so freaking cold in here. I was freaking out, particularly about my cats. I called in to work. I think the supervisor on duty thought I was crazy (she did say that cats love fuzzy warm blankets and that she thought they'd be okay), but I wasn't about to leave my poor cats alone, especially since the power was off for days last time. I had a contingency plan for what I'd do if the power didn't come back on and the temp in my apartment dropped below 60 degrees (I think it got to about 62).

Needless to say, I got to read a lot today! A lot of it was by candlelight...which was good and bad. It's cool, but my eyes get tired out. The power came back right around 4 pm. Yay! That's why I can post this now.

I'm content with the amount of reading I did today. Yay, me! And the fact that I had a whole blissful (if freezing) day without working.

Also, I gave up on Feminism by June Hannam. It was boring.

Books I've Read November 2007

11/2/07

• New X-Men: Academy X: X-Posed by Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir (GN)
• Goat and Donkey in the Great Outdoors by Simon Puttock & Russell Julian (PB)
• Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin (Y)
• Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night edited by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly (GN)
• Smitten: A Kitten's Guide to Happiness by Rachael Hale (A-NF)
• The Wallflower #8 by Tomoko Hayakawa (M)
• Tokyo Boys & Girls #5 by Miki Aihara (M)

11/3/07

• Ultra Maniac #3 by Wataru Yoshizumi (M)
• Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts! #2 by Haruka Fukushima (M)
• The Barefoot Book of Trickster Tales by Richard Walker & Claudio Munoz (Y)
• Every Person on the Planet by Bruce Eric Kaplan (GN)
• Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew, & Marc Hempel (GN)
• The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer & Jesse Reisch (Y-NF)
• The Story of Divaali by Jatinder Verma & Nilesh Mistry (Y)
• Kipper's Birthday by Mick Inkpen (PB)
• Kipper's Monster by Mick Inkpen (PB)
• Clatter Bash!: A Day of the Dead Celebration by Richard Keep (PB)
• Miki Falls #3: Autumn by Mark Crilley (M)

11/4/07

• Robot #1 edited by Range Murata (GN)
• Earthian #4 by Yun Kouga (M)

11/6/07

• Girlosophy: The Oracle by Anthea Paul (A-NF)

11/8/07

• Sam Taylor-Wood: Crying Men (A-NF)
• The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri (PB)
• Who's Hiding? by Satoru Onishi (PB)
• The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen (PB)
• How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy) by Julia Cameron (GN)
• Princess Resurrection #2 by Yasunori Misunaga (M)
• La Vie En Rose by Sakurako Yamada (M)

11/9/07

• Gallop! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Seder (PB)
• The Great Doughnut Parade by Rebecca Bond (PB)
• Yes We Can! by Sam McBratney & Charles Fuge (PB)
• A Box Full of Kittens by Sonia Manzano & Matt Phelan (PB)
• Keep Climbing, Girls by Beah E. Richards & R. Gregory Christie (PB)
• Cowboy & Octopus by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith (PB)
• Alice 19th #3: Chained by Yu Watase (M)
• Ultra Maniac #4 by Wataru Yoshizumi (M)
• Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Peterson (GN)
• Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin (Y)

11/10/07

• Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug! by Ed Emberley (PB)
• Knitting Nell by Julie Jersild Roth (PB)
• The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers (PB)
• Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding by Lenore Look & Yumi Heo (PB)
• Hindu Festivals Through the Year by Anita Ganeri (Y-NF)

11/14/07

• Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute by Charles S. Anderson Design Co. & Michael J. Nelson (A)
• The Quotable Slayer compiled by Micol Ostow & Steven Brezenoff (A-NF)

11/15/07

• On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, & Sunny (A)

11/18/07

• X-Treme X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont, Igor Kordey, & Scott Hanna (GN)

11/20/07

• Dating 4 Demons by Serena Robar (YA)
• SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas (A-NF)

11/21/07

• The Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change--Or Live Through It by David de Rothschild (A-NF)

11/22/07

• Orisha: The Gods of Yorubaland by Judith Gleason (A-NF)
• Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light by MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi (YA)
• Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins (YA)

11/24/07

• America 24/7 edited by Rick Smolan & David Elliot Cohen (A-NF)
• Just Like Heaven by Patrick McDonnell (PB)
• I Miss You Every Day by Simms Taback (PB)
• I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry (PB)
• Love Sick: A Smoldering Look at Love, Lust, and Marriage by the Charles S. Anderson Design Co. & Michael J. Nelson (A)
• Beach Stones by Josie Iselin & Margaret W. Carruthers (A-NF)
• The Wallflower #9 by Tomoko Hayakawa (M)
• Alice 19th #4: Unrequited Love by Yuu Watase (M)
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (YA)

11/25/07

• Wool Gathering: A Sheep Family Reunion by Lisa Wheeler & Frank Ansley (PB)
• Love Letters by Arnold Adoff & Lisa Desimini (PB)
• The Ancestors Are Singing by Tony Johnston & Karen Barbour (PB)
• The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell (PB)
• Mammalabilia by Douglas Florian (PB)
• Wake the Dead by Monica A. Harris & Susan Estelle Kwas (PB)
• Ultra Maniac #5 by Wataru Yoshizumi (M)

11/26/07

• Because I'm Worth It by Cecily von Ziegesar (YA)

11/27/07

• Wagamama Kitchen by Kaori Monchi (M)
• The Moon and the Sandals #2 by Fumi Yoshinaga (M)

11/28/07

• Goth-Icky: A Macabre Menagerie of Morbid Monstrosities by Charles S. Anderson Design Co. & Michael J. Nelson (A)
• LaPorte, Indiana by Jason Bitner (A-NF)
• Elephant Prince: The Story of Ganesh by Amy Novesky & Belgin K. Wedman (PB)

11/29/07

• The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators, and Others by Greg Preson (A-NF)

11/30/07

• I Am Puppy, Hear Me Yap: The Ages of Dog by Valerie Shaff & Roy Blount Jr. (A-NF)
• If Only You Knew How Much I Smell You: True Portraits of Dogs by Valerie Shaff & Roy Blount Jr. (A-NF)

11/07 total: 78

8 Graphic Novels; 27 Picture Books; 4 Youth; 13 Adult NF; 15 Manga; 2 Youth NF; 4 Adult; 5 Young Adult

Sweet quotes

What you love is a sign from your higher self of what you are to do.
--Sanaya Roman

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time when the tide will turn.
--Harriet Beecher Stowe

And no one will listen to us until we listen to ourselves.
--Marianne Williamson

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.
--Alice Walker

Yay, new books!

Paperbackswapped:

• If Women Ran the World Sh*t Would Get Done by Shelly Rachanow

Half.com:

• Firefly: The Official Copmanion Volume 1

Hilarious book quote!

"As grand and glorious as love is, it is not without its perils. Anyone who has felt the cruel pangs of rejection knows that love is best approached cautiously, as one would approach an angry, cornered brush-tailed possum. Yes, before throwing yourself into a relationship, it's wise to buy a sturdy pair of leather gloves, and to be extra careful of love's front claws and rows of needle-sharp teeth."
--Michael J. Nelson from Love Sick: A Smoldering Look at Love, Lust, and Marriage

New books! And comics!

I finally stopped at Vault and got my subscriptions. I had bunches of stuff!
Comics:

• Buffy Season Eight #8
• Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: The First Death #2
• Y: The Last Man #59
• Angel: After the Fall #1

Manga:

• Fruits Basket #18 by Natsuki Takaya
• Loveless #7 by Yun Kouga
• After School Nightmare #5 by Setona Mizushiro

Plus, I got these in the mail over the last few days from paperbackswap/bookmooch:

• All Girls: Single-Sex Education and Why It Matters by Karen Stabiner
• Camp Babymouse by Holm & Holm
• Marked by Cast & Cast

And then, I visited the new B&N:

• Saint City Sinners by Lilith Saintcrow

Shoot! I forgot to look for Nikki at the B&N. She works there now! I'll have to check next time I go.

It was new book day. :)

Book quotes

I read the SCUM Manifesto last night. Wow. That's some crazy shit. And hard to follow. But intriguing...

"But SCUM is too impatient to wait for the de-brainwashing of millions of assholes. Why should the swinging females continue to plod dismally along with the dull male ones? Why should the fates of the groovy and the creepy be intertwined? Why should the active and imaginative consult the passive and dull on social policy? Why should the independent be confined to the sewer along with the dependent who need Daddy to cling to?"
--Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto

This part of the book just makes me laugh because look at who is included in the Men's Auxiliary and who is not. But then...it's kind of scary too, isn't it?

"Men in the Men's Auxiliary are those men who are working diligently to eliminate themselves, men who, regardless of their motives, do good, men who are playing pall with SCUM. A few examples of the men in the Men's Auxiliary are: men who kill men; biological scientists who are working on constructive programs, as opposed to biological warfare; journalists, writers, editors, publisher and producers who disseminate and promote ideas that will lead to the achievement of SCUM's goals; faggots who, by their shimmering, flaming example, encourage other men to de-man themselves and thereby make themselves relatively inoffensive; men who consistently give things away--money, things, services; men who tell it like it is (so far not one ever has), who put women straight, who reveal the truth about themselves, who give the mindless male-females correct sentences to parrot, who tell them a woman's primary goal in life should be to squash the male sex (to aid men in this endeavor SCUM will conduct Turd Sessions, at which every male present will give a speech beginning with the sentence: "I am a turd, a lowly abject turd," then proceed to list all the ways in which he is. His reward for doing so will be the opportunity to fraternize after the session for a whole, solid hour with the SCUM who will be present. Nice, clean-living male women will be invited to the session to help clarify any doubts and misunderstandings they may have about the male sex); makers and promoters of sex books and movies, etc., who are hastening the day when all that will be shown on the screen will be Suck and Fuck (males, like the rats following the Pied Piper, will be lured by Pussy to their doom, will be overcome and submerged by and will eventually drown in the passive flesh that they are); drug pushers and advocates, who are hastening the dropping out of men.

Being in the Men's Auxiliary is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for making SCUM's escape list; it's not enough to do good; to save their worthless asses men must also avoid evil. A few examples of the most obnoxious or harmful types are: rapists, politicians and all w ho are in their service (campaigners, members of political parties, etc.); lousy singers and musicians; Chairmen of Boards; Breadwinners; landlords; owners of greasy spoons and restaurants that play Muzak; "Great Artists"; cheap pikers and welchers; cops; tycoons; scientists working on death and destruction programs or for private industry (practically all scientists); liars and phonies; disc jockeys; men who intrude themselves in the slightest way on any strange female; real estate men; stock brokers; men who speak when they have nothing to say; men who sit idly on the street and mar the landscape with their presence; double dealers; flim-flam artists; litterbugs; plagiarizers; men who in the slightest way harm any female; all men in the advertising industry; psychiatrists and clinical psychologists; dishonest writers, journalists, editors, publishers, etc.; censors on both the public and private levels; all members of the armed forces, including draftees (LBJ and McNamara give orders, but servicemen carry them out) and particularly pilots (if the bomb drops, LBJ won't drop it; a pilot will)."
--Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto

What I liked best? She used groovy a lot--particularly to describe the good "male women" (in other words, women who were cool and who got what she was saying). *grins* Written in the 60s, of course. Oh, and SCUM stands for Society for Cutting Up Men. I did mention it was a little scary, right?

Bookmooched:

• Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

You totally have to look at this book just to see the illustrations. They are awesome. :)

Oooh...cool.

Paperbackswapped:

• What Makes a Man: 22 Writers Imagine the Future edited by Rebecca Walker

Less of a book quote, more of a poet quote

The world you want to create needs you. It needs you to create it. It needs to hear what you have to say. The last word has not been spoken!
--Beah E. Richards


And a new book from the Friends of AADL (it was $1!):

• The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

Why I haven't been reading...

Nanowrimo is sucking up all my reading time...big surprise. :) I've got over 8000 words! YAY! Still a lot to go, though... Still 8000 is pretty good. But I'm going to have to get reading too.

From bookmooch:

• 101 Salivations: For the Love of Dogs by Rachael Hale

From half.com:

• Quincy the Hobby Photographer by J. Otto Seibold

Borders & their coupons

From Borders:

• Boy Trouble by Beth Killian (it was CHEAP!)
• Black Sun Silver Moon #2 by Tomo Maeda
• The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith

Cheap books & hoarding

Yeah, super cheap silly YA books from Borders:

• The Scarlet Lettreman by Cara Lockwood
• Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood

And...I seem to be hoarding library books again. I was doing so good. I was keeping my checked out items around 30 (which includes DVDs and CDs). Now, I'm gathering books again. I need to just read the stuff I have. Of course, I always end up coming home with picture books and manga, which I read first b/c I can read it fast, but then the books I have get neglected (as evidenced by the fact that my currently reading list has not changed for over a week). :( I need a job where all I have to do is read books. That'd be sweet...

Ah...I'm having visions of my own bookstore again. *sighs* Dreams...

If I'm trying to do NaNoWriMo, it's not a good time to be hoarding and collecting more books. If all goes well, I won't have much time to read. But...well, it's not going so great. I doubt I'll make it to 50,000 words this year either. I think I did about 20,000 last year. I'll be happy if I can make it to 20,000 again.

I better get busy...

Books I've Read October 2007

10/1/07

• Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller & True Kelley (PB)
• Gothic Sports #1 by Anike Hage (M)
• Being Muslim (Groundwork Guide) by Haroon Siddiqui (A-NF)

10/2/07

• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (Y)

10/3/07

• Korgi, Book 1 by Christian Slade (Y)
• Patrick the Wolf Boy #3 by Art Balthazar & Franco Aureliani (Y)
• Three More Stories You Can Read to Your Dog by Sara Swan Miller & True Kelley (PB)

10/4/07

• Nightmares & Fairy Tales: 1140 Rue Royale by Serena Valentino & Crab Scrambly (GN)
• Nightmares & Fairy Tales: Beautiful Beasts by Serena Valentino & FSc (GN)
• Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays by Candace Savage (A-NF)

10/5/07

• Mary Jane: Circle of Friends by Sean McKeever, Takeshi Miyazawa, & Norman Lee (GN)
• Mary Jane: Homecoming by Sean McKeever & Takeshi Miyazawa (GN)
• Agate: What Good Is a Moose? by Joy Morgan Dey & Nikki Johnson (PB)
• Dead High Yearbook by Mark McVeigh & Ivan Velez (eds.) (GN)
• The Secret Life of Walter Kitty by Barbara Jean Hicks & Dan Santat (PB)
• BtVS: A Stake to the Heart by Fabian Nicieza, Cliff Richards, Brian Horton, & Will Conrad (GN)
• Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog by Sara Swan Miller & True Kelley (PB)

10/6/07

• Tokyo Boys & Girls #2 by Miki Aihara (M)
• Yurara #1 by Chika Shiomi (M)
• Metamo Kiss #1 by Sora Omote (M)

10/7/07

• Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield (A-NF)
• Miki Falls #1: Spring by Mark Crilley (M)
• New X-Men: Planet X by Grant Morrison, Phil Jimenez, & Andy Lanning (GN)
• How Loathesome by Ted Naifeh & Tristan Crane (GN)

10/8/07

• One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship by Mary Pope Osborne (Y-NF)

10/10/07

• Flotsam by David Wiesner (PB)
• What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas (PB)
• Gothic Sports #2 by Anike Hage (M)
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (PB)
• Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans (PB)

10/11/07

• New X-Men: Academy X: Haunted by DeFilippis, Weir, Ryan, Pagulayan, Medina, Ketcham, Rapmund, Vlasco (GN)
• Death Jr. by Gary Whitta & Ted Naifeh (GN)

10/12/07

• The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld (PB)
• The Magic Beads by Susin Nielson-Fernlund & Genevieve Cote (PB)
• Goat and Donkey in Strawberry Sunglasses by Simon Puttock & Russell Julian (PB)
• Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier (PB)
• Warriors #4: Rising Storm by Erin Hunter (Y)

10/13/07

• Sector 7 by David Wiesner (PB)
• Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer by JT Petty (Y)
• Tokyo Boys & Girls #3 by Miki Aihara (M)

10/14/07

• Mr. Persnickety and the Cat Lady by Paul Brett Johnson (PB)
• While We Were Out by Ho Baek Lee (PB)
• Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis & Ora Eitan (PB)
• Armadillo's Orange by Jim Arnosky (PB)
• Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian (PB)
• Mouse's First Spring by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan (PB)
• Fortunately by Remy Charlip (PB)
• Kitten Red Yellow Blue by Peter Catalanotto (PB)
• For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane & Ana Juan (PB)
• Welcome to Zanzibar Road by Niki Daly (PB)
• And Here's to You! by David Elliott & Randy Cecil (PB)
• Through the Heart of the Jungle by Jonathan Emmett & Elena Gomez (PB)
• The Story Goes On by Aileen Fisher & Mique Moriuchi (PB)
• I.Q. Goes to the Library by Mary Ann Fraser (PB)
• Book! by Kristine O'Connell George & Maggie Smith (PB)
• Monkey Lost by Ed Heck (PB)
• Punxsutawney Phyllis by Susanna Leonard Hill & Jeffrey Ebbler (PB)
• Help! by Christopher Inns (PB)
• Eddie's Kingdom by D.B. Johnson (PB)
• The Cat's Meow by Warren Kimble (PB)
• Poppy's Babies by Jill Barklem (PB)
• Sea Story by Jill Barklem (PB)
• Summer Story by Jill Barklem (PB)
• The Great Texas Hamster Drive by Eric A. Kimmel & Bruce Whatley (PB)
• Corgiville Fair by Tasha Tudor (PB)
• Clemency Pogue: The Hobgolbin Proxy by JT Petty (Y)

10/15/07

• The Dream Thief by Shana Abe (A)
• Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar (YA)
• Kedamono Damono #1 by Haruka Fukushima (M)
• Tramps Like Us #13 by Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Tenshi Ja Nai!! I'm No Angel! #8 by Takako Shigematsu (M)
• Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present by Nancy Garden (YA)

10/16/07

• Beasty Bath by Robert Neubecker (PB)
• Who Wants a Dragon? by James Mayhew & Lindsey Gardiner (PB)
• You're All My Favorites by Sam McBratney & Anita Jeram (PB)
• Don't Mention Pirates by Sarah McConnell (PB)
• The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell (PB)
• Sally and the Some-Thing by George O'Connor (PB)
• The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn & Marjorie Priceman (PB)
• Magpie Magic: A Tale of Colorful Mischief by April Wilson (PB)
• Elbert's Bad Word by Audrey Wood & Don Wood (PB)
• This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong & Yangsook Choi (PB)
• Child of Faerie, Child of Earth by Jane Yolen & Jane Dyer (PB)
• My Dog Toby by Andrea Zimmerman, David Clemesha, & True Kelley (PB)
• Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino (PB)
• Good Babies: A Tale of Trolls, Humans, a Witch, and a Switch by Tim Myers & Kelly Murphy (PB)
• How to Be a Good Dog by Gail Page (PB)
• The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino (PB)
• Groundhog Gets a Say by Pamela Curtis Swallow & Denise Brunkus (PB)
• The Popcorn Dragon by Jane Thayer & Lisa McCue (PB)
• Crictor by Tomi Ungerer (PB)
• Farley Found It! by Bruce Van Patter (PB)
• Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root & Randy Cecil (PB)
• What Does Peace Feel Like? by V. Radunsky (PB)
• Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver & Lynn Rowe Reed (PB)
• Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra L. Pinkney & Myles C. Pinkney (PB)
• Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson (PB)
• June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner (PB)
• It's Fall by Jimmy Pickering (PB)
• It's Winter by Jimmy Pickering (PB)
• It's Spring by Jimmy Pickering (PB)
• It's Summer by Jimmy Pickering (PB)
• I.Q. Goes to School by Mary Ann Fraser (PB)
• Mouse's First Valentine by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan (PB)
• I.Q., It's Time by Mary Ann Fraser (PB)
• Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson & Stephen Savage (PB)
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon (GN)
• Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: Super Crush by McKeever, Miyazawa, Strain (GN)
• Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: The New Girl by McKeever, Miyazawa, de Landro, Strain (GN)
• Is It Me or My Meds?: Living with Antidepressants by David A. Karp (A-NF)

10/17/07

• The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages by Leo Buscaglia (PB)
• You Know You Love Me by Cecily von Ziegesar (YA)
• Same Difference and Other Stories by Derek Kirk Kim (GN)
• The Tale of Mr. Tod by Beatrix Potter (PB)
• Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids edited by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly (GN)
• Kingdom Hearts #1 by Shiro Amano (M)
• New X-Men: Here Comes Tomorrow by Grant Morrison & Marc Silvestri (GN)

10/18/07

• Unearthly #1 by Ted Naifeh & Elmer Damaso (M)
• Earthian #1 by Yun Kouga (M)

10/19/07

• The Wallflower #7 by Tamoko Hayakawa (M)
• Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: My Secret Life by McKeever, Miyazawa, Mays, Strain (GN)
• I.Q. Gets Fit by Mary Ann Fraser (PB)
• The Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson (PB)
• Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu by Jill Thompson (PB)
• Boy Princess #1 by Seyoung Kim (M)
• Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts #1 by Haruka Fukushima (M)
• Princess Resurrection #1 by Yasunori Mitsunaga (M)

10/20/07

• Clemency Pogue: The Scrivener Bees by JT Petty (Y)
• Alice 19th #1: Lotis Master by Yu Watase (M)
• Miki Falls #2: Summer by Mark Crilley (M)
• Jane on Her Own by Ursula K. LeGuin (Y)

10/21/07

• Earthian #2 by Yun Kouga (M)
• If Women Ran the World, Sh*t Would Get Done by Shelly Rachanow (A-NF)
• America the Beautiful: A Photographic Journey, Coast to Coast--And Beyond edited by Robert Sullivan (A-NF)
• All I Want Is Everything by Cecily von Ziegesar (YA)

10/22/07

• Edna's Tale by Lisze Bechtold (PB)
• Scary Godmother: Spooktakular Stories by Jill Thompson (GN)
• Scary Godmother: Ghoul's Out for Summer by Jill Thompson (GN)
• Catwings Return by Ursula K. LeGuin (Y)

10/23/07

• My Side of the Story by Will Davis (YA)

10/24/07

• Three More Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller & True Kelley (PB)
• Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra & J. Otto Seibold (PB)
• Ultra Maniac #2 by Wataru Yoshizumi (M)
• Tokyo Boys & Girls #4 by Miki Aihara (M)

10/25/07

• Warriors #5: A Dangerous Path by Erin Hunter (Y)

10/26/07

• Black Sun Silver Moon #1 by Tomo Maeda (M)
• Princess Princess #3 by Mikiyo Tsuda (M)

10/27/07

• A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren (A-NF)
• Chicken and Cat by Sara Varon (PB)
• Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy by Jill Thompson (PB)
• Scary Godmother: The Mystery Date by Jill Thompson (PB)
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan (GN)
• Scary Godmother: Wild About Harry by Jill Thompson (GN)
• Kedamono Damono #2 by Haruka Fukushima (M)
• The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg (GN)

10/28/07

• Little Bear, You're a Star! by Jean Marzollo (PB)
• Star Wars: What Is a Wookiee? by Laura Buller & Kate Simkins (PB)
• Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace by MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi (YA)
• Earthian #3 by Yun Kouga (M)
• Wyvernhail by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (YA)

10/29/07

• Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies edited by Art Spiegelman & Fracoise Mouly (GN)
• Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss (PB)
• Alice 19th #2: Inner Heart by Yuu Watase (M)

10/30/07

• Fangs 4 Freaks by Serena Robar (YA)

10/31/07

• X-Day #1 by Setona Mizushiro (M)
• X-Day #2 by Setona Mizushiro (M)

Total 10/07: 166

87 Picture Books; 29 Manga; 7 Adult NF; 10 Youth; 23 Graphic Novels; 1 Youth NF; 1 Adult; 8 YA

From half.com:

• Lilly's Big Day by Kevin Henkes

Best Halloween Ever!

My visit to the MSU library wasn't as productive as I had hoped. But it was still good. I read X-Day #1 & #2. Very interesting and kinda weird, but...cool. I tried to read a couple Scary Godmothers and some X-Treme X-Men, but the Scary Godmothers I had already read in compliations and the X-Mens were just comics, not the graphic novels I had hoped. Sad. Oh well! It was still fun!

And I got some books in the mail that I ordered from half.com:

• Babymouse: Our Hero by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
• Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Lonely Ring Finger by Satoru Kannagi & Hotaru Odagiri
• Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller & True Kelley
• Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino

I'm going to MSU today...

In addition to having dinner with my best friend, visiting my favorite tree, having cider and donuts, and eating at Jersey Giant's Subs, I will also be visiting the library to read some graphic novels. YAY!!

It's going to be the best Halloween ever.

NaNoWriMo

I just logged back in to my NaNoWriMo account. I think I'm going to give it another try this year. Last year was my first year. Really, I did it so I could try to be writing every day and it worked pretty well (but sadly did not continue outside of November). I mostly did poetry. Most of it pretty bad, but some of it I was pretty happy with. It was kind of cool--the poems reflected what I was feeling/doing that month. I was quite smitten with a boy...it's cool to have that documented in a way, even if it is rather embarrassing now...

I've got lots of ideas. Let's see if any of them come to anything. :)

Wish me happy writing--starting November 1st!

Oooooh....

Bookmooched:

• Almost Crying by Mako Takahashi

And I'm foreseeing that...I'll probably ship this one back out to bookmooch again. :) It's manga that I wanted to read, but didn't really want to own.

Which is cool b/c then I could get ANOTHER cool new book! Yay! This is why I love bookmooch!

Kittens!!!

Bookmooched:

• 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats by Rachael Hale

AWWWWW!!! They're SO cute!! :)

Free Stuff Day!

I visited the Northfield Township Library again today--to return & renew books and to check out another. And they had bunches of interesting stuff on their free book table. So...

Northfield Township Library free book table:

• Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America by Elizabeth Wurtzel

But I already have it. :( I couldn't remember if I did. But that's okay, b/c I'll paperbackswap or bookmooch it!

• Learn to Relax: A Practical Guide to Easing Tension & Conquering Stress by Mike George

This looks pretty cool. And the gods know I need to relax and conquer my stress.

• Worry by Edward M. Hallowell

Yeah...not gonna say much, but again, the gods know...

I also got a bunch of free CDs. Intersting stuff too. Like late 90s dance music. Hee hee! :) I'm excited.

And my amazon.com order:

• Babymouse #7: Skater Girl by Holm & Holm
• Cloud Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow

B/c I couldn't find it at ANY library.

• Skippyjon Jones toy & book set

Yay for stuff I probably don't need!

Oh, yes, more new books

From Vault:

• Hana-Kimi #20 by Hisaya Nakajo

When the long haired bearded guy handed it to me, I think I said "Oh yay!" Then I laughed and said I'm such a girl, but I love this series. He laughed. :)

From Borders (b/c I'm reading the library copy and I NEEDED my own):

• Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti

I adore this book. It cracks me up, but lays all the bad shit out there. I want every one of my students to read it b/c you know what? I think they're all feminists.

From Bookmooch:

• Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forest by John Lechner (uncorrected proof)

It's kinda cool. :) Just the pages all rubberbanded together. NEAT!

New books!

Yes, I have totally failed my only 5 books per month challenge for October. I was feeling shitty about my life and I caved and bought a bunch of books from amazon.com and half.com. I suck. But I have a lot of cool books! The first in the batch arrived.

From half.com:

• Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forest by John Lechner

I cannot tell you how much I adore Sticky Burr. AHHH, SO CUTE!!! Highly recommended.

And I paperbackswapped:

• Girls Volume 1: Conception by the Luna Brothers

Who knows if I'll like it. I saw it at Vault and thought it looked interested. If I don't like it, I'll put it back out there and swap it for something else! :) That's the beauty of paperbackswap & bookmooch!

So much reading!

Well, since I had the week off, I read a lot. I visited a lot of libraries. I read a lot of picture books. Don't worry, things will be back to normal now. I'm back to work. I wish I could hang out and read all the time...but I guess I need to work and get money...so I have a place to sleep and all. You know.

I never did make it to MSU to read graphic novels. I'll have to try again the next time I'm off. :)

Library adventures!

I went to the library in Whitmore Lake, which is actually called the Northfield Township Library and it is CUUUUTE!! It's so tiny--one floor of a house. The lady who helped me and got me a library card was super nice and she gave me a tour and showed me where all the different sections are. It was cool b/c I saw things there that I know have a waiting list at the A2 library. :) You only get books for 2 weeks though. But that's okay. They have a writers' group and monthly movie nights. It just looks like fun! I'm excited. Oh, and they have little animals, but I can't remember what they're called. Desus or something. And you can borrow puppets!!!

Then I picked up my stuff from my library, Malletts Creek and then went to visit the Pittsfield Branch, b/c I had only been there once and never explored. I read more children's books! :) It was way fun. They have fun furniture there. But here's the list of picture books I read tonight at Pittsfield:

• Beasty Bath by Robert Neubecker (dumb)
• Who Wants a Dragon? by James Mayhew & Lindsey Gardiner (I want a dragon!)
• You're All My Favorites by Sam McBratney & Anita Jeram (love Anita Jeram's art!)
• Don't Mention Pirates by Sarah McConnell (funny)
• The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell (sweet)
• Sally and the Some-Thing by George O'Connor (funny)
• The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn & Marjorie Priceman (one of my favorites of the night)
• Magpie Magic: A Tale of Colorful Mischief by April Wilson (very cool--no words!)
• Elbert's Bad Word by Audrey Wood & Don Wood (one of my favorites of the night)
• This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong & Yangsook Choi (multicultural)
• Child of Faerie, Child of Earth by Jane Yolen & Jane Dyer (beautiful)
• My Dog Toby by Andrea Zimmerman, David Clemesha, & True Kelley (silly)
• Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino (one of my favorites of the night)
• Good Babies: A Tale of Trolls, Humans, a Witch, and a Switch by Tim Myers & Kelly Murphy (eh)
• How to Be a Good Dog by Gail Page (funny)
• The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino (cute)
• Groundhog Gets a Say by Pamela Curtis Swallow & Denise Brunkus (educational about groundhogs)
• The Popcorn Dragon by Jane Thayer & Lisa McCure (beautiful illustrations)
• Crictor by Tomi Ungerer (cute Reading Rainbow story!)
• Farley Found It! by Bruce Van Patter (funny)
• Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root & Randy Cecil (lots of silly words)
• What Does Peace Feel Like? by V. Radunsky (lovely)
• Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver & Lynn Rowe Reed (cute)
• Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra L. Pinkney & Myles C. Pinkney (okay)

Oh! And...they had free books at the Northfield Township Library, so I got this:

• The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

It's one of the retelling of old myths books like Dream Angus that I read not too long ago. It's about Penelope and Odysseus. :) It was free, how could I resist?

I'm going to MSU tomorrow to read some comics in the Special Collections (b/c none of the other MeLCat libraries have them. And I'm going to eat a Jersey Giant sub... Mmmm... Yay!!

Picture books & new books

I decided that I wanted to go to the library and read a bunch of picture books for awhile. Well, I had to go to the library anyway and see if we got paid this week (we did!), but I wanted to read picture books, so I read for an hour or so. I didn't want to include the list at the bottom of the page b/c it's a long list, so I'll just put it here:

Picture books I read today at the library (I was trying to read one author from each letter of the alphabet, but I got distracted):

• Mr. Persnickety and the Cat Lady by Paul Brett Johnson (one of my favorites of the day)
• While We Were Out by Ho Baek Lee (very funny story about a bunny left home alone)
• Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis & Ora Eitan (kinda weird, but nice rhymes)
• Armadillo's Orange by Jim Arnosky (dumb)
• Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian (dumb)
• Mouse's First Spring by Lauren Thompson & Baket Erdogan (kinda fun)
• Fortunately by Remy Charlip (very funny--alternating between fortunatelys and unfortunatelys)
• Kitten Red Yellow Blue by Peter Catalanotto (one of my favorites--calico kittens!)
• For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane & Ana Juan (cool illustrations)
• Welcome to Zanzibar Road by Niki Daly (fun)
• And Here's to You! by David Elliott & Randy Cecil (liked this bunches)
• Through the Heart of the Jungle by Jonathan Emmett & Elena Gomez (kind of like the old lady who swallowed a fly rhyme)
• The Story Goes On by Aileen Fisher & Mique Moriuchi (kinda boring about how seeds grow)
• I.Q. Goes to the Library by Mary Ann Fraser (very cute mouse and a library!)
• Book! by Kristine O'Connell George & Maggie Smith (more of baby book)
• Monkey Lost by Ed Heck (best author name ever)
• Punxsutawney Phyllis by Susanna Leonard Hill & Jeffrey Ebbler (switching up groundhog gender roles!)
• Help! by Christopher Inns (eh)
• Eddie's Kingdom by D.B. Johnson (eh again)
• The Cat's Meow by Warren Kimble (dumb--an artist's paintings with descriptions of each like "Fat Cat" and "Fluffy Cat")

Well, I also bought more books today. I know, I know. But! It was the 30% off coupon weekend...and there's the new Scott Westerfeld book which I saw that Borders had autographed, so I got it. Plus two of my manga that aren't on my Vault list. Oh, and I picked up my comics too. So...

From Borders:

• Tenshi Ja Nai!! I'm No Angel! #8 by Takako Shigematsu
• Tramps Like Us #13 by Yayoi Ogawa
• Extras by Scott Westerfeld

And comics from Vault:

• Deepak Chopra Presents India Authentic: Uma
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #7
• Runaways #25, #27, #28 (Joss Whedon is writing Runaways now!)

Yay! Good things to read on vacation! :)

Book quotes!

From Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer by JT Petty

"Of everything there is good and bad. This is just how things work.

Ideas, dogs, smells, behavior, songs, guys, machines, cheeses, rabbits, shoes, friends, enemies, days, dreams, fairies; of all of these things and others, there are good and bad.

But rules cannot be viewed except by exceptions, and the exceptions are these: newborn mammals and bees. Newborn mammals are invariably good. Bees, however, are all bad."


"The walking stick was not for walking. Clem knew that there were places in the forest where danger lurked. And where it did not lurk, danger squatted, crouched, or lounged. There was one place where danger reclined, but Clemency usually avoided it."


""Ah," began the hobgoblin in a deep breathy voice. "Young love. Young love adds color to the cheeks, but that color must come from the brain, which grows decidedly dim. Young love is like ice cream, it's not so healthy but it sure tastes good, and you better lick it up right after it's scooped, or it becomes a sticky, sickly sweet mess. And nobody likes rum raisin young love." Chaphesmeeso nodded knowingly. "And young lovers are like doves, romanticized and quite lovely, but basically just albino pigeons. They're not so smart. A little American boy vacationing in Brazil met a local girl who took his heart away. Now he's trying to write her a letter to get it back. I guess the missing heart has reduced the blood flow to his brain, because his love letter is the worst thing ever written."


"Love was not quite her territory, but she supposed she could find her way through it if she had a map."


""Oh, good grief," Clemency said. Where to begin? Noah, give up. Grow up and hope you fall in love with somebody illiterate. Or, Noah, the world can always use another priest. Or, Noah, love is not for everybody. Maybe you should try data entry. This was hopeless. She looked again at the poem, as she would have looked at a hamster with a tumor. Hopeless."


"Tinkled like a horse back from a long night of drinking with its friends."


*giggles*

Maya Angelou is a rainbow...

Well, she is! If you had heard her speak, like I did, on Friday at U of M, then you would understand.

I was so excited when I heard that she was coming to U of M. I went and got a ticket (free!) right away. And even though I haven't felt good all week, I still went.

She walked on stage, with the help of a cane and a gentleman, and I almost cried. She has such presence. Vitality, power, and beauty. And she was so funny!

She talked about how art and science need each other. She talked about poetry and how she came to love it. She talked about her life and struggles. She talked about a quote and now I can't remember who said it, but basically, it was "I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me." And she explained how everything humans have done, have created, have learned is for every other human. She talked about how she reads poems and knows the author wrote them for her. She talked about how we're all human beings and we should value each other as such despite our differences. She talked about loving ourselves for who we are because we all have positive effects on people. She talked about always saying yes to good things. She told beautiful stories and read beautiful poems. She laughed and sang. It was simply...amazing. If you ever have the chance to see her in person, please do. You won't regret it.

At the end, she said that each of us is a rainbow in the clouds for many people and that we should remember that. She told a story of reading a poem at the UN's 50th anniversary and how when she was 16, they were forming the UN in San Fransisco and she would stare at all the people going in, thinking that some day she might able to do what the translators did. And 50 years later, she did go into that building, invited by the UN and read a poem they asked her to write and she said she took every person/rainbow who had every supported, encouraged, and cared for her into that building with her. It made me think about my rainbows... And that is why she is rainbow for me.

I adore Kevin Smith!

I just found out Kevin Smith wrote a new book--which really is just his online journal (that I started reading, but never finished b/c I don't spend THAT much time online). I had to get it. I LOVE KEVIN SMITH!!

And then I got a 30% off coupon from Borders, so...

From Borders:

• My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith by Kevin Smith (duh)

I can't wait to read it!

And this only makes one book so far in October. I might meet that 5 book total a month challenge yet.

Books I've Read September 2007

9/2/07

• Never Give Up #5 Hiromu Mutou (M)
• Wiggle and Waggle Caroline Arnold & Mary Peterson (PB)
• Happy Birthday Coco oneones (PB)
• D Is for Dancing Dragons: A Chinese Alphabet Carol Crane & Zong-Zhou Wang (Y-NF)

9/3/07

• Sensual Phrase #10 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #11 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #12 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #13 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #14 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #15 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #16 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #17 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #18 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Creatures of Habit Fassbender, Pascoe, Horton, Lee (GN)

9/5/07

• Tales of the Slayers Scott Allie (ed.) (GN)
• Avalon High Coronation #1: The Merlin Prophecy Meg Cabot & Jinky Coronado (M)

9/8/07

• Winter Moon Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, C.E. Murphy (A)
• Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder Nadia Shivack (A-NF)

9/9/07

• Adventures in Oz Eric Shanower (GN)

9/10/07

• 21 Proms David Levithan & Daniel Ehrenhaft (eds.) (YA)

9/12/07

• Inverloch #1 Sarah Ellerton (GN)
• Dangerous Girls 2: The Taste of Night R.L. Stine (YA)

9/14/07

• The Year at Maple Hill Farm Alice Provensen & Martin Provensen (PB)

9/15/07

• Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals Ashley Bryan (PB)
• Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth Lee Welles (Y)
• Love, Stargirl Jerry Spinelli (YA)

9/16/07

• My Cat Loki #2 Bettina Kurkoski (M)
• Click #2 Youngran Lee (M)

9/18/07

• Loveless #6 Yun Kouga (M)
• Hana-Kimi #19 Hisaya Nakajo (M)
• Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans Dave Eggers et al (eds.) (A)

9/20/07

• The Three Silly Billies Margie Palatini & Barry Moser (PB)
• Bizenghast #3 M. Alice LeGrow (M)
• Wallflower #5 Tomoko Hayakawa (M)

9/23/07

• BtVS: Note from the Underground Lobdel, Nicieza, Richards, Conrad (GN)
• Inverloch #2 Sarah Ellerton (GN)
• GloomCookie #2 Serena Valentino & John Gebbia (GN)
• Fire Watcher Lilith Saintcrow (A)

9/24/07

• X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic vol. 4 (GN)
• Fly on the Wall E. Lockhart (YA)
• GloomCookie #5: The Final Curtain Serena Valentino & Vincent Batignole (GN)
• Ultimate X-Men #16: Cable Kirkman, Oliver, Paquette, LaPointe, Keith, Peru, McKeever, Brooks, Mendoza, Rauch (GN)
• Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories Cheryl Katz & Jeffrey Katz (A-NF)
• Warriors #3: Forest of Secrets Erin Hunter (Y)

9/25/07

• X-Treme X-Men: Schism Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca, & Arthur Ranson (GN)
• X-Men: The New Age of Apocalypse Lobdell, Bedard, Hama, Yoshida et al. (GN)
• Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World Jean Shinoda Bolen (A-NF)
• Dream Angus Alexander McCall Smith (A)

9/26/07

• The Mouse and the Buddha Kathryn Price & Traer Price (PB)
• Skelly the Skeleton Girl Jimmy Pickering (PB)
• Power Pack: Pack Attack! Marc Sumerack & GuriHiru (Y)
• X-Men Power Pack: The Power of X Marc Sumerak & GuriHiru (Y)
• Polly and the Pirates #1 Ted Naifeh (GN)

9/27/07

• Ultra Maniac #1 Wataru Yoshizumi (M)

9/29/07

• Patrick the Wolf Boy #1 Art Balthazar & Franco Aureliani (Y)
• Patrick the Wolf Boy #2 Art Balthazar & Franco Aureliani (Y)
• BtVS: Autumnal Chris Boal, Tom Fassbender, Jim Pascoe, Cliff Richards, Jim Pimentel (GN)
• BtVS: Viva Las Buffy! Scott Lobdel, Fabian Nicieza, Cliff Richards, Will Conrad (GN)
• The Wallflower #6 Tomoko Hayakawa (M)
• Wolverine: Law of the Jungle Frank Tieri, Sean Chen, Terry Dodson, Tom Palmer, Rachael Dodson (GN)
• Pants on Fire Meg Cabot (YA)

9/30/07

• Fables: Sons of Empire Willingham, Buckingham, Leialoha, Allred, Pepoy (GN)
• Runaways volume 3 Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, & Mike Norton (GN)

09/07 Total: 63

Break it down: 19 Manga; 7 Picture Books; 1 Youth NF; 18 Graphic Novels; 4 Adult; 3 Adult NF; 5 Young Adult; 6 Youth

I've been so very bad...

...someone should spank me. Oh, hmmm, wait, this is my journal about books, isn't it? Never mind.

Well, first, the good (b/c I spent no money to get it)--
Paperbackswapped:

• The 1000 Journals Project by Someguy

Now, the bad (b/c Borders is evil and gave all educators 25% their entire purchases & had buy 4 graphic novels/manga, get one free)--

Bought:

• Her Majesty's Dog #6 by Mick Takeuchi
• Bitchfest edited by Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
• Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist by Megan Seely
• Bluntman and Chronic by Kevin Smith, Michael Avon Oeming, Pat Garrahy, & Mike Allred
• Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures v. 1 by Hamilton, Ritchie, Ruffner-Booth, & Booth
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 1 by Whedon et al.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 2 by Brereton et al.
• The Day of Revolution #1 by Mikiyo Tsuda
• The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism by Raymond Buckland

And I would like to point out that I got Day of Revolution, Bluntman & Chronic, Anita Blake, and both BtVS Omnibus books for $67.44 and I saved $34.17. Which I think is pretty fucking sweet. Even if I did spend all that money... It was stuff I really really wanted!

And b/c I'm an educator (of a sorts), I got free stuff too:

• Bluford High: The Bully by Paul Langan (complimentary teacher's edition)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky (complimentary teacher's edition)
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (complimentary teacher's edition)

SWEET!! I was so bad, but I got so much good stuff!!!!! I can't really beat myself up about it right now...

It was only $1!

Bought from the Friends of the AADL:

• There's a Wocket in my Pocket! by Dr. Seuss

How could I not buy a Dr. Seuss book for a dollar????

Oh, joy...

From paperbackswap:

• Angel: Old Friends Jeff Mariotte & David Messina

Oh, Vault of Midnight...

I went to Vault b/c I KNEW I had manga waiting for me that I hadn't gotten. When I left last week, I saw the new Hana-Kimi and I couldn't figure out why I didn't have it. So I vowed to go in this week and get it cleared up. And I did!! YAY!! There was ALL SORTS of stuff waiting for me. So, see, this doesn't count towards my 5 books in September (b/c I already got those) b/c it's my subscription.

My subscriptions from Vault:

• Hana-Kimi #19 by Hisaya Nakajo
• Loveless #6 by Yun Kouga
• Negima! #15 by Ken Akamatsu
• Fruits Basket #17 by Natsuki Takaya
• Fruits Basket Fan Book -Cat- by Natsuki Takaya
• Y: The Last Man issue 58

The guy at Vault who I think is the owner (Kay told me his name once, but I can't remember) is so nice and he gave me a Vault button for free! I love buttons. :) A good end to my crap ass day...

Paperbackswapped:

• The Scent of Shadows: The First Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson

SWEET!!

From Vault:

• X-23: Target X by Kyle, Yost, Choi, Oback

I'm done already...

I used up my 5 books today. I couldn't help it! They had buy 4 manga get one free at Borders AND I had a 25% off coupon AND I had $5 in Borders bucks. *sighs* Well, it was all stuff I wanted to read...

• Her Majesty's Dog #5 by Mick Takeuchi
• Kedamono Damono #1 by Haruka Fukushima
• Hot Gimmick S by Megumi Nishizaki
• Click #2 by Youngran Lee
• My Cat Loki #2 by Bettina Kurkoski

More manga to read. YAY! :) Okay...no more books for September (except what I have on subscription from Vault).

Vault wasn't open today. It was frustrating... Stupid Labor Day. Oh well, it was probably for the best. I didn't buy more today.

Books I've Read August 2007

8/2/07

• The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick) Seth Godin (A-NF)

8/4/07

• Storm Watcher Lilith Saintcrow (A)
• X/1999: Overture CLAMP (M)
• Wolf's Rain #1 BONES, Keiko Nobumoto, & Toshitsuga Iida (M)
• Kizuna: Bonds of Love #5 Kazuma Kodoka (M)
• Kizuna: Bonds of Love #6 Kazuma Kodoka (M)
• Kizuna: Bonds of Love #7 Kazuma Kodoka (M)
• Beyond My Touch Tomo Maeda (M)
• Rin! #1 Satoru Kannagi & Yukine Honami (M)
• Antique Bakery #2 Fumi Yoshinaga (M)
• La Esperanca #2 Chigusa Kawai (M)
• La Esperanca #3 Chigusa Kawai (M)
• La Esperanca #4 Chigusa Kawai (M)

8/5/07

• Vampire Knight #2 Matsuri Hino (M)
• Kizuna: Bonds of Love #8 Kazuma Kodaka (M)
• The Wallflower #4 Tomoko Hayakawa (M)
• Here Is Greenwood #1 Yukie Nasu (M)
• Cat Katharine M. Rogers (A-NF)

8/6/07

• Crossroad #4 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• Crossroad #5 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• Crossroad #6 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• Ouran High School Host Club #9 Bisco Hatori (M)
• Absolute Boyfriend #4 Yuu Watase (M)

8/7/07

• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah (A-NF)
• X-Treme X-Men: Invasion Chris Claremont & Salvador Larroca (GN)
• Let Dai #2 Sooyeon Won (M)
• Let Dai #3 Sooyeon Won (M)

8/8/07

• X-Men: Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic v. 3 (GN)
• Pantheon High #1 Paul Benjamin, Steven Cummings, & Megumi Cummings (M)
• Let Dai #4 Sooyeon Won (M)

8/9/07

• Let Dai #5 Sooyeon Won (M)
• Chain Mail: Addicted to You Hiroshi Ishizaki (YA)
• Never Give Up #2 Hiromu Mutou (M)
• Never Give Up #3 Hiromu Mutou (M)

8/10/07

• Frog in Love Max Velthuijs (PB)
• The Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and the World: The Essential Guide to Women's Circles Jean Shinoda Bolen (A-NF)
• Moonlight Meow #1 Bambi Eloriaga & Roland Amago (M)
• Never Give Up #4 Hiromu Mutou (M)

8/11/07

• Frog and the Wide World (English-Punjabi) Max Velthuijs (PB)
• La Esperanca #5 Chigusa Kawai (M)
• La Esperanca #6 Chigusa Kawai (M)
• Millennium Snow #2 Bisco Hatori (M)

8/12/07

• Negima! #13 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• Crossroad #7 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• After School Nightmare #4 Setona Mizushiro (M)
• Il Gatto Sul G #1 Tooko Miyagi (M)
• Yellow #3 Makoto Tateno (M)
• Yellow #4 Makoto Tateno (M)
• Negima! #14 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• Little Butterfly #2 Hinako Takanaga (M)
• The Boyfriend List E. Lockhart (YA)

8/14/07

• Frog and the Stranger (English-Chinese) Max Velthuijs (PB)
• Clan of the Nakagamis Homerun Ken (M)
• Here Is Greenwood #2 Yukie Nasu (M)

8/15/07

• Fire Star Chris D'Lacey (Y)
• BtVS: False Memories Fassbender, Pascoe, Richards, Pimentel, Conrad (GN)
• Our Kingdom #2 Naduki Koujima (M)
• Our Kingdom #3 Naduki Koujima (M)
• Our Kingdom #4 Naduki Koujima (M)
• Our Kingdom #5 Naduki Koujima (M)

8/16/07

• The Boy Book E. Lockhart (YA)
• BtVS: Ugly Little Monsters Fassbender, Pascoe, Richards, Pimentel, Conrad (GN)

8/17/07

• Little Butterfly #3 Hinako Takanaga (M)

8/18/07

• See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work Lois P. Frankel (A-NF)

8/19/07

• Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture Leslie Simon & Trevor Kelley (A-NF)
• Dangerous Girls R.L. Stine (YA)

8/20/07

• Il Gatto Sul G #2 Tooko Miyagi (M)

8/21/07

• The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (PB)
• Earl the Squirrel Don Freeman (PB)
• Broken Angels #2 Setsuri Suzuki (M)

8/22/07

• La Esperanca #7 Chigusa Kawai (M)

8/23/07

• 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats Rachael Hale (A-NF)
• 101 Salivations: For the Love of Dogs Rachael Hale (A-NF)
• Urgent 2nd Class: Creating Curious Collage, Dubious Documents, and Other Art from Ephemera Nick Bantock (A-NF)
• Someday's Dreamers #2 Norie Yamada & Kumichi Yoshizuki (M)

8/24/07

• Sorcerers & Secretaries #2 Amy Kim Ganter (M)
• X-Men: The Ultimate Guide Peter Sanderson (A-NF)

8/25/07

• The Gruffalo's Child Julie Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (PB)
• Behold...the Unicorns! Gail Gibbons (Y-NF)
• China Shakes the World James Kynge (A-NF)

8/26/07

• Nuts to You! Lois Ehlert (PB)
• Sensual Phrase #3 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #4 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #5 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #6 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #7 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #8 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Sensual Phrase #9 Mayu Shinjo (M)
• Warriors #1: Into the Wild Erin Hunter (Y)

8/28/07

• Eclipse Stephenie Meyer (YA)

8/31/07

• The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (PB)
• Bats at the Beach Brian Lies (PB)
• Imagine Harry Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise (PB)
• Stick Steve Breen (PB)
• Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (PB)
• My Colors, My World/Mis Colores, Mi Mundo Maya Christina Gonzalez (PB)
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney (Y)
• Warriors #2: Fire and Ice Erin Hunter (Y)

08/07 Total: 98

Break it down: 11 Adult NF; 1 Adult; 59 Manga; 4 Graphic Novels; 5 Young Adult; 13 Picture Books; 4 Youth; 1 Youth NF

Is it really buying a new book?

I forgot to post this yesterday...

I had bought Sensual Phrase #3 b/c that was one of two that hadn't come in from the library and it was holding me up in reading volumes 4-9. I was going to return it and call it done, but then I saw Never Give Up #5 so I just swapped. I did still technically buy it in August!

Here is another problem. I have $5 in Borders bucks to use before the end of September. I'm going to have to buy something... Well...maybe I can limit my book buying to five books in September. I suppose that's more realistic than buying nothing. Remember, I have my subscription manga to worry about from Vault of Midnight too...

Okay, that's my challenge. I will buy 5 books or less during September.

But this here is from August:

• Never Give Up #5 Hiromu Mutou

Not bought, mooched...

Bookmooched:

• The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo

I may buy X-23: Target if I can find it... But it's not September yet...I'm safe. :)

And it's not that I haven't been reading...I just haven't been reading much. I've worked 10 hour days every day this week...I'm exhausted... It's Move In at the University. Busy, busy, busy!

China Shakes the World & James Kynge

I finished China Shakes the World this evening. It was not by choice that I read this book--it's not my type. The living-learning program I run is reading the book as part of the inagural summer reading program at U of M. All my students are reading it...

Well, I'm just not that interested in business and economics. I found the chapter on environmental concerns interesting. Overall, I found the book frightening. Especially the last chapter... China is growing and expanding, people are living better, there are greater opportunities, education is flourishing--all that is great. But the scary part is the limited resources that everyone in the world is competing for (and the implied lengths they will go to in order to protect their share or gain new resources), the lack of concern about the environment, the nuclear weapons... I don't know that I can pull my thoughts together better than that... Everyone who has read the book has said that Kynge presents a balanced view, but it didn't seem that way to me. I don't know. I'm not good at reviewing...

James Kynge is coming to campus on Sept 18th to give a talk based on his book. I'm very curious to see what he has to say. I hope it will be interesting.

I'm also curious about what my Chinese students will have to say about the book... I know many of my students have found it deadly boring. Well, this should be interesting...

Why couldn't we have stuck with a nice book like A Thousand Years of Good Prayers? That was a nice little book with many interesting different stories touching on the lives of different people and highlighting different cultural aspects of China. That would have been so much better, in my opinion... Oh well. *sighs*

...and again...

From half.com:

• The Names of Magic by Dylan Horrocks & Richard Case

I can't find this anywhere. So I thought I'd buy it. It was cheap. If it's not good, I can send it off to bookmooch or paperbackswap. *shrugs*

I promise to try not to buy any books in the next month, except those that I get through Vault (b/c they naturally come to me on "subscription"). I may have a couple still on the way from half.com...so those don't count! And I'm going to buy Sensual Phrase #3 so that I can read it and then read the library books that I have (b/c the library hasn't gotten #3 yet), but I plan on returning that when I'm done with it... So that doesn't even count!! I'm going to try my hardest...really. New personal challenge. Can I go a month without buying books?

Maybe I should start September 1st... September is a short month too...

...and again...

From half.com:

• Only the Ring Finger Knows #2: The Left Hand Dreams of Him by Satoru Kannagi & Hotaru Odagiri

Ditto

From half.com:

• La Esperanca #7 by Chigusa Kawai

The library doesn't have the last volume. What was I supposed to do? They're slow when it comes to these sorts of things...

• Only the Ring Finger Knows #3: The Ring Finger Falls Silent by Satoru Kannagi & Hotaru Odagiri

I thought this was manga, but it's a novel. :( I got #2 as well on its way, but... I only have the manga, not the first volume of the novels. I wonder if they're any good. Guess I'll find out!

I buy too many fucking books

This is why I have no money...

From half.com:

• Broken Angels #2 Setsuri Tsuzuki

And...

Paperbackswapped:

• The Book of Night With Moon by Diane Duane

Oooh...it's about kitties! :)

From half.com:

• Il Gatto Sul G #2 by Tooko Miyagi

More quotes

Like magnets, depressed people attact one another because moping alone is, well, pathetic. But throwing yourself a pity party? That's emo.

...but most male emo-ites have no idea what to do with a woman's genitalia, therefore making it impossible to sing about them.

--from Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture by Leslie Simon & Trevor Kelley

Hilarious book quotes!

Julie and I discovered another book by the McSweeney's people. We were just flipping through and we found these:

GOOD WESTERNS, NOT PORN

by Ross Barnes

Ace of the Saddle (1919)

Bad Man Bobbs (1915)

Between Men (1935)

Deadwood Dick (1940)

Garden of Eatin' (1943)

Gay Amigo, The (1949)

Gay Buckaroo, The (1932)

Hot Lead (1951)

Inside Straight (1951)

Man Rustlin' (1926)

Man to Man (1922)

Men in the Raw (1923)

One Shot Ross (1917)

Quigley Down Under (1990)

Ramrod (1947)

Rawhide Romance (1941)

Revenge of the Virgins (1966)

Rhythm of the Saddle (1938)

Ride a Wild Stud (1969)

Rimfire (1949)

There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

Valdez Is Coming (1971)

Wild West Whoopee (1931)

and...

ELEVEN LUNCH MEATS I HAVE INVENTED

by Steven Tomsik

Brumschlagen

Cran-pepper Hen Loaf

Spiced Saucetail

Nippleroni

Fleen

Taste It

Hammed Beef

Meatwurst

Head Tongue

Buffalami

There Are Five

Both from Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans edited by Dave Eggers, Kevin Shay, Lee Epstein, John Warner, & Suzanne Kleid

*giggles* And I haven't even read it yet!

...and even MORE new books...

From half.com:

• Mr. Pusskins: A Love Story by Sam Lloyd

B/c this book rocks and I can't thank Julie enough for discovering it!

• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

Found on the Friends of AADL sale bookshelf at the library. How cool is that??

and MORE new books...

• Legends of Light: A Michigan Lighthouse Portfolio by Ed Wargin

My student Jenna bought this book of Michigan lighthouses to use as door decorations (she's our RA) and it was beautiful. I went back and bought myself a copy b/c it was only $4.99. There are a bunch of pictures of the Grand Haven lighthouse and pier! SWEET!

I also bought this b/c I am weak and cannot resist buying books:

• Little Butterfly #3 by Hinako Takanaga

*sighs*

*kisses to Paperbackswap*

Paperbackswap has been better to me lately than Bookmooch. In some ways, I like it better--you wait in line for books and you're the only one who has the option to request the book when it's your turn in line. But with Bookmooch, everyone gets an email when the book is posted and whoever gets there first gets the book. That sucks b/c I'm NEVER the first to get it. But I'm the only one wanting a book in Bookmooch where I'm not on Paperbackswap for some books. So...I guess it evens out.

Anyway!

Paperbackswapped:

• The Drag King Book Del Lagrace Volcano & Judith "Jack" Halberstam

SWEET!!

And b/c it was $0.75 on half.com:

• Pagan Polyamory: Becoming a Tribe of Hearts Raven Kaldera

*kisses to Bookmooch*

Oh how I love thee...let me count the ways... Or I'll just list the book I've recently mooched:

• Re:Play #1 Christy Lijewski

The good that comes of randomly perusing the graphic novel collections at the Downtown branch...which are so good that I then must own them.

Read MY Manga Challenge--DONE!!

Ha! I did it! I finally caught up. And only one day after my goal date of 8/11 (I finished yesterday, but forgot to post). So, here's the last of the list:

• X/1999: Overture
• Wolf's Rain #1
• Kizuna #5, #6, #7, #8
• Beyond My Touch
• Rin! #1
• Antique Bakery #2
• La Esperanca #2
• Vampire Knight #2
• Crossroad #4, #5, #6, #7
• Ouran High School Host Club #9
• Absolute Boyfriend #4
• Let Dai #2, #3
• Never Give Up #2, #3, #4
• Moonlight Meow #1
• Millennium Snow #2
• Negima! #13, #14
• After School Nightmare #4
• Il Gatto Sul G #1
• Yellow #3, #4
• Little Butterfly #2

That's 30! And really, I only read 8/4 to 8/12. Pretty sweet, huh? Let's see, that's 76 total. My goodness, I own a lot of manga. :) But it's oh so good!!!

In case you're following along with your math, yes, that doesn't add up to what I originally said I started out with--b/c I can't stop buying books and I kept adding to the long list of manga I was supposed to be catching up on! But now I've caught and I have to STAY caught up. Right?

What should I challenge myself with next????

Good coupons!

It was another $5 Borders coupon and a 20% off coupon kind of day...

From Borders:

• Crossroad #7 Shioko Mizuki

It's the last in the series. :( I like this series, for some reason. It's kinda naughty...big surprise!

From half.com:

• "I'm Not Cute!" Jonathan Allen

I ordered some books for work and I found this too. I ADORE THIS BOOK!!! If you have not read it (and I bet you haven't!), you should. It rocks.

No willpower...

I was over near the Borders in Arborland and I couldn't remember if I stopped in there to see if they had Angel Diary #6. I can't seem to find it anywhere--in a store or through ordering. But I've been checking all the bookstores in the area just in case. And I got lured in by a bargain book sale... :( At least I only spent $7.36!

For $7.36:

• Adios to My Old Life Caridad Ferrer
• Lost Summer Alex McAuley
• Submission Marthe Blau

Aaaaah...

Paperbackswapped some more:

• Yellow #3 Makoto Tateno
• Yellow #4 Makoto Tateno

Pre-ordered from bn.com:

• Exit Strategy Kelly Armstrong

I thought this was another supernatural type book like her other series, but I'm not so sure it is. I hope I like it. I enjoy her writing a lot and her strong female main characters.

Ooooh....

Paperbackswapped:

• Babymouse: Queen of the World! by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Bookmooched:

• Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex by Pat Califia

Ooooh, how I love Paperbackswap & Bookmooch!!!

Books I've Read July 2007

7/1/07

• Gravitation #10 Maki Murakami (M)
• Alabaster Caitlin R. Kiernan (A)

7/2/07

• G Is for Gzonk!: An Alpha-number-bet Book Tiny DiTerlooney aka Tony DiTerlizzi (PB)
• New X-Men: Riot at Xavier's Morrison, Quitely, Grant, Townsend, Rapmund (GN)
• Little Fur: A Fox Called Sorrow Isobelle Carmody (Y)
• Gravitation #11 Maki Murakami (M)
• Gravitation #12 Maki Murakami (M)
• A Cool Moonlight Angela Johnson (Y)

7/3/07

• Click #1 Youngran Lee (M)
• Tramps Like Us #12 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• After School Nightmare #3 Setona Mizushiro (M)
• Warriors #1: The Lost Warrior Hunter, Jolley, Barry (M)
• Crossroad #2 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• Crossroad #3 Shioko Mizuki (M)
• Millennium Snow #1 Bisco Hatori (M)
• Steady Beat #2 Rivkah (M)

7/4/07

• Negima! #9 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• Negima! #10 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• Negima! #11 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• Negima! #12 Ken Akamatsu (M)
• The Turbulent 60s: 1960 Loreta M. Medina (ed.) (YA-NF)

7/5/07

• Lean Mean Thirteen Janet Evanovich (A)
• The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac Dawn Casey & Anne Wilson (PB)
• Keturah and Lord Death Martine Leavitt (YA)
• Hana-Kimi #17 Hisaya Nakajo (M)
• Hana-Kimi #18 Hisaya Nakajo (M)

7/6/07

• Fruits Basket #14 Natsuki Takaya (M)
• Fruits Basket #15 Natsuki Takaya (M)
• Fruits Basket #16 Natsuki Takaya (M)

7/7/07

• Crow Boria Sax (A-NF)
• Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play #16: Assassin Yuu Watase (M)
• Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play #17: Demon Yuu Watase (M)

7/8/07

• Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book #4 Terry Moore (GN)

7/9/07

• What Would Dewey Do?: An Unshelved Collection Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum (GN)
• Ceres: Celestial Legend #9: Progenitor Yuu Watase (M)
• Ceres: Celestial Legend #10: Monster Yuu Watase (M)
• Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play #18: Bride Yuu Watase (M)
• Spellbinders: Signs & Wonders Mike Carey & Mike Perkins (GN)

7/10/07

• Tenshi Ja Nai!! I'm No Angel! #7 Takako Shigematsu (M)

7/12/07

• Ceres: Celestial Legend #11: Maiden Yuu Watase (M)
• Ceres: Celestial Legend #12: Toya Yuu Watase (M)
• Ceres: Celestial Legend #13: Ten'nyo Yuu Watase (M)
• Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City Kirsten Miller (YA)
• Witchling Yasmine Galenorn (A)

7/13/07

• Princess Princess #1 Mikiyo Tsuda (M)
• Princess Princess #2 Mikiyo Tsuda (M)

7/14/07

• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah (A-NF)
• The Sandman: Endless Nights Neil Gaiman (GN)
• Genocide (Groundwork Guide) Jane Springer (YA-NF)

7/15/07

• The Library Sarah Stewart & David Small (PB)
• Sleeping Bobby Will Osborne, Mary Pope Osborne, & Giselle Potter (PB)
• Brave Charlotte Anu Stohner & Henrike Wilson (PB)
• Flower of Life #1 Fumi Yoshinaga (M)
• Gravitation Ex #1 Maki Murakami (M)
• Loveless #5 Yun Kouga (M)

7/16/07

• Bee Frog Martin Waddell & Barbara Firth (PB)
• Midsummer Knight Gregory Rogers (PB)
• Bad Cat Tracy-Lee McGuinness-Kelly (PB)
• How a Book Is Made Aliki (Y-NF)
• Bats at the Beach Brian Lies (PB)
• Kimi Shiruya--Dost Thou Know? Satoru Ishihara (M)
• Babymouse: Queen of the World! Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)
• The Black Tattoo Sam Enthoven (YA)

7/17/07

• Angel Diary #3 Kara & Lee YunHee (M)
• Angel Diary #4 Kara & Lee YunHee (M)
• Angel Diary #5 Kara & Lee YunHee (M)

7/18/07

• The Unauthorized Harry Potter Adam-Troy Castro (A-NF)

7/19/07

• Babymouse: Our Hero Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)

7/22/07

• Carmine: A Little More Red Melissa Sweet (PB)
• Caramba Marie-Louise Gay (PB)
• Clarence the Copy Cat Patricia Lakin & John Manders (PB)
• Why I Will Never Ever Ever Ever Have Enough Time to Read This Book Remy Charlip & Jon J. Muth (PB)
• Book Club: An Unshelved Collection Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum (GN)

7/23/07

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling (YA)
• Prom Nights from Hell Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer, & Lauren Myracle (YA)

7/24/07

• New X-Men: Assault on Weapon Plus Morrison, Jimenez, & Bachalo (GN)
• Little Butterfly #1 Hinako Takanaga (M)
• Night of the Beasts #1 Chika Shiomi (M)
• The Wallflower #2 Tomoko Hayakawa (M)

7/25/07

• Comic Book Guy's Book of Pop Culture (The Simpsons Library of Wisdom) (GN)
• The Ralph Wiggum Book (The Simpsons Library of Wisdom) (GN)
• Babymouse: Beach Babe Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)
• Babymouse: Heartbreaker Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)
• Babymouse: Rock Star Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)
• Camp Babymouse Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Y)
• Bats at the Beach Brian Lies (PB)

7/26/07

• The Authority: Relentless Ellis, Hitch, Neary, & Depuy (GN)
• Gorgeous Carat Galaxy You Higuri (M)
• LoveSick Jake Coburn (YA)

7/27/07

• Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion #3 Sakurako Gokurakuin (M)
• Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion #4 Sakurako Gokurakuin (M)
• Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion #5 Sakurako Gokurakuin (M)

7/28/07

• The Wallflower #3 Tomoko Hayakawa (M)
• Flower of Life #2 Fumi Yoshinaga (M)
• Ceres: Celestial Legend #14: Hagoromo Yuu Watase (M)
• Library Mascot Cage Match: An Unshelved Collection Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum (GN)

7/29/07

• Seven Touches of Music Zoran Zivkovic (A)
• American Virgin: Head Seagle, Cloonan, Rugg (GN)
• All I See Is Part of Me Chara M. Curtis & Cynthia Aldrich (PB)
• Y: The Last Man: Motherland Vaughan, Guerra, Sudzuka, & Marzan (GN)
• The Bart Book (The Simpsons Library of Wisdom) (GN)

7/30/07

• Fashion Kitty Versus the Fashion Queen Charise Mericle Harper (Y)
• Fashion Kitty Charise Mericle Harper (Y)
• Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters Jef Czekaj (Y)

7/31/07

• Nana #6 Ai Yazawa (M)
• Sorcerers & Secretaries #1 Amy Kim Ganter (M)
• Re:Play #1 Christy Lijewski (M)
• Kissing Teiko Sasaki & Shoko Takaku (M)

07/07 Total: 108

Break it down: 52 Manga, 4 Adult, 15 Picture Books, 14 Graphic Novels, 11 Youth, 2 YA Non Fiction, 6 Young Adult, 3 Adult Non Fiction, 1 Youth Non Fiction

Harry & the Potters!

Okay, so my foot hurts terribly and I'm having cramps that could maim someone and I worked all day and it was 92 degrees outside, but I still went to see Harry & the Potters b/c they were playing at the library!! I had heard a lot about them from one of my students, but had never seen them (or listened to their songs), so I braved my discomfort and went. Draco & the Malfoys played first and they were funny. I got tired and hot, though, and went in to the library to use the restroom and cool off (and I found MORE books to hoard, dammit!). When I came back out, Harry & the Potters came on. YAY! They are hysterical! I'm on the hold list for their CDs (the library has them!) and I can't wait. They were adorable too...awwwww... My favorite quote was "We are all one big Harry Potter and we will defeat all the evil within a 500 mile radius of the Ann Arbor Library!" *laughs*

There were tons of high school girls there. It was ridiculous. Many of them have been following Harry & the Potters around as they go on a library tour. Since it's HP's birthday, many of them brought cake/cupcakes. I guess they sent an email out on their list and told everyone to bring stuff. It was funny. I waited in this hideously long line (I waited for at least a half hour) to get a t-shirt (okay, so I'm a little bit of a fangirl, we know this). It's even RED (one of my three least favorite colors), but it says "Harry & the Potters Rock the Library", which I love. :) I didn't stay long. Just long enough to hear a few songs and laugh and take in the crowd and spectacle. The other library peoples thought there were 650-700 people in the little library lot behind the buliding. Pretty amazing, if you ask me. :)

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! :) *kisses to Harry* *squees for good measure*

I love BookMooch!

Mooched:

• The Magic Fart by Piers Anthony

So, I found this book, Pornucopia by Piers Anthony when I was working at B&N the first time. I love Piers Anthony and I get up on his Xanth series. The Apprentice Adept and Incarnations of Immortality series were two of my absolute favorites (that my mom got me into, actually). So when I found Pornucopia, I was intrigued. I still haven't read it all the way through. But I will! Then, I saw The Magic Fart somewhere, so I put it on my Paperbackswap & BookMooch lists and LOOK, here it is!! Yay!!!

Once I catch up on my manga and get my library book list down to something manageable, I'll have to start reading some of my own books too. It'll happen...someday.

Books & Comics!

Well, I was going to take myself out on a date tonight--dinner and a movie. But I wasn't feeling well, so I settled on dinner and books. :)

Today, I treated myself to:

• Little Butterfly #2 by Hinako Takanaga

And comic books:

• Deepak Chopra Presents India Authentic: Kali
• Runaways #25, #26, & #27

Um, hello, Joss Whedon wrote them! How as I NOT getting them?

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #5

I really ought to start reading these b/c they look amazing. The comic book lady (who is SO COOL!) said that Buffy is their biggest selling comic EVER! We were talking about how cool Joss Whedon is and that he should do more Serenity comics. *nods* She says she thinks if he does more Serenity comics, they will sell as well if not better than the Buffys. Amazing. There, a bit of comic book geekdom for you. :)

What? More new books?

All because I wanted Angel Diary #6 and bn.com was the only place that looked like they MIGHT have it...and you only get free shipping if you order over $25...

From bn.com:

• Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

I was reading the Wheel of Time series AGES ago...I don't think I've read the last 3 books, but...I do like them. They're just so BIG. And this was the hardcover for only $5, how can you pass that up???

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie Poster Book

Yeah, don't comment. And neither will I. :)

A million posts and new books too!

Sorry for all the posts today. See what happens when I'm without power for days?

Paperbackswapped:

• Y: The Last Man: Unmanned by Vaughan, Guerra, & Marzan Jr.

I love Y: The Last Man. If you haven't read it, get to it. It's so intersting! :)

Purchased b/c I couldn't stop myself (and 2 of them were only $3.99):

• Everything You Need to Know About Latino History by Himilce Novas
• How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Moonlight Meow #1 by Bambi Eloriaga & Roland Amago

And two of my students have sent me emails/messages about the new HP book with spoilers and I haven't finished it yet! I managed to not read them, but did catch bits and glimpses, damn it all! My one student sent me THREE emails, the little shit! Oh, well, I know she's just excited. I'm hoping to finish it tonight. I better get busy!

Reading MY Manga Challenge

I didn't make it. I did not finish my manga before 7/20. In fact, I barely read any of my own manga in the last couple weeks. Very sad. Let's see where I'm at:

• Tenshi Ja Nai!! I'm No Angel! #7
• Gravitation Ex #1
• Loveless #5
• Angel Diary #3, #4, #5

6 in 2 weeks? A sad showing, indeed. Well, that makes 46 since 6/11. Maybe I'll extend things to 8/11. That sounds good. My challenge is extended to 8/11. We'll see how I fare then.

(It's my personal challenge, I can change the rules if I like!)

Where have I been??!!??

I lost power on Thursday sometime. We had a terrible storm here and I guess a small tornado when through my town. Friday morning, I went to GH and stayed until Saturday evening. No power when I got back, no power yesterday, but finally power this morning! That's why I hadn't updated. :(

The fun (?) part of no power--reading by candlelight (and flashlight late last night). Although, it did make my eyes hurt. I got through 300 pages of Harry Potter by candlelight, which is kind of cool! I've got about 200 pages to go--and I'm very glad that I won't be reading it by candlelight anymore.

Books I've acquired since I posted last week:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

2 copies actually. Knowing I wasn't going to be at home to get my copy early enough on Saturday, I bought one Friday night (well, at 1:15 am Saturday morning). So I could read when I got back to my dad's (which I did). I got my copy from amazon.com on Saturday evening when I returned home. I'm going to bring one copy back to B&N today.

• Insecure at Last: Losing It in Our Security Obsessed World by Eve Ensler

Paperbackswapped. :)

Harry Potter Party!!

I must say that it is not as much fun to "work" the Harry Potter Party when you're not actually working at B&N. Eh, it just gets boring. And I don't like kids all that much...

Well, I made my Harry Potter Fortunes cards and I carried those around and stopped and asked people if they wanted their Harry Potter fortune? The fortunes were actually silly little things that were book related. I thought they were funny. Kids didn't get them or took them all serious like ("Consult my godfather? I don't have a godfather!"). Or I used words that were too big or mentioned characters or things they didn't know about ("Who's Peeves?"). The manager in charge was constantly hounding me about doing whatever it was that I wasn't at the time (while walking around--"Go manage the line at the table!"; while chatting with people--"Go walk around!"; etc.). And after about 2 hours, there were just too many people in the store for it to be any fun.

After midnight (I didn't even get to see them take out the first book), I was manning the "Photos with the HP Standee" area, which no one was coming to. Eventually I gave up and went up to the registers to help. That was much better! :) They sold something like 700 books in an hour and fifteen minutes. And there were tons of people in the store and tons of people lined up outside (b/c the store reached capacity (as they estimated) at 10:30 pm). Way more people than last time.

Overall, it was cool to be a part of history, but ultimately boring and irritating. *laughs* But I did get my book and I went home to my Dad's (got home about 2 am) and read for a good 2 1/2 hours!