Book quote

If you ask a certain type of guy about himself, it's as good as winding a wind-up toy. For a given amount of time, said guy is in motion and requires only minimal attention from you. In this way, men are easier than plants.
--Patricia Marx from Him Her Him Again The End of Him

And yet more...

Books I bought today:

• Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations Jeffrey Brown
• Elsewhere Gabrielle Zevin

This could get rather tedious since I have a book buying obsession/compulsion whatever you want to call it...

More acquisitions!

Books I acquired today:

• Guys Write for Guys Read edited by Jon Scieszka
• Tramps Like Us #12 by Yayoi Ogawa

Acquired!

Books I acquired today (through unmentionable means):

• How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by Stephen Baker
• A Cat by Leonard Michaels

They shall be amusing, to say the least. :)

No, I didn't steal them.

Book quote!

"...how amazing are cranky people on a quest for true love, anyway--it's so cute and unrealistic."
--Rachel Cohn from Cupcake

Ha. I'm cranky and on a quest for true love--therefore I must be cute and unrealistic. :P

Acquiring and abandoning books

Books I've acquired today:

• Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara

Bookmooched--I finally beat the other people to a mooch! Bookmooch is cool, but I'm usually never fast enough!

• Fables: The Last Castle by Bill Willingham

From Vault of Midnight. It's prequel to the Fable series! I've never seen it before. It's a tiny little thing, but I can't wait to read it!

Book I abandoned today:

• Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction

I've always been somewhat confused by postmodernism, but very intrigued. The theories derived from postmodern thought in psychology are vastly interesting and useful, in my opinion. But damn was this book boring. I found myself glazing over. I read a bit, enough to confirm that perhaps I knew a bit more about postmodernism than I thought. I have a bunch of these Very Short Introductions that I got from MelCat and I can't afford to waste time on ones I can't get through. So I'm abandoning it. I moved on to The Koran: A Very Short Introduction is much more interesting.

Ann Arbor Book Festival

I sadly did not get to go for long on Saturday b/c I had to work. But it was still fun! I looked around at the different booths, bought some books from the $5 book guy, got some info and cool pins from the ACLU booth... I only managed to go to 16 places on the scavenger hunt (not 25 so I could be in the grand prize drawing). But that 16 got me a t-shirt, a book, some candy, and some sweet coupons (Brueggers & Ben & Jerry's!). I'm posting the book on bookmooch, though, b/c it's a depressing memoir of someone who was terminally ill. But still! :)

I'll have to remember next year to ask for the day off so I can go do the fun stuff. :)

Oh...I did remember to ask for Harry Potter #7 release day off from work!!!!!

Cassandra Clare & Holly Black

Borders had a booksigning & authors visit with Cassandra Clare & Holly Black this evening and I WENT!!! Holly Black is cool--I LOVED The Spiderwick Chronicles and I have her book Tithe but haven't read it yet. It was cool to see her.

But the coolest was Cassandra Clare. I've read her HP fan fiction! She did an amazing trilogy of stories and it was one of the first GOOD pieces of fan fiction that I've ever read. She also did LotR Very Secret Diaries, which were hilarious. So, when I saw her name on a book a few months ago, I wondered. Did a little digging and found out it was the same person! I haven't read her book yet (City of Bones), but I'm really looking forward to it. She was so cool. When I went up to have her sign my book, I told her I had read her fan fiction and she said cool and that she likes it when people have read her fan fiction and are now getting her book, b/c it shows her evolution and she said she hoped I'll enjoy it. SWEET! We also talked about Nicola's books and the fairy doors in Ann Arbor. :) YAY! Once I get my hoarded group of library books down, it'll be next on my list. Then Tithe too.

YAY!!!

Book quotes

One thing about loss--you decided whom to share it with. You could go around day after day and never give anyone a clue about what had been taken from you. You could hold it inside, a precious nugget of pain. Or you could say it out loud. When you trusted enough. When you felt like it.
--Naomi Shahib Nye from "Shoofly Pie"

In some ways, you could choose what you remembered and what you did with it. Memories you chose to treasure would never fly away. They were like an adhesive stuck to the underside of your heart. Maybe they kept your heart in your body.
--Naomi Shahib Nye from "Shoofly Pie"

This story was in The Color of Absence edited by James Howe

MSU Special Collections

I didn't spend the whole day in the library like I thought. One, because I left Whitmore Lake too late, two, because I had lunch with LaVera. But that was okay b/c there weren't as many books I wanted to look at as I thought. It seems the libraries in Michigan are increasing their manga collections. YAY! :)

I ended up getting a community user library card, which is cool. And I headed down to the little Special Collections room. The lady (and later gentleman) who helped me was VERY nice. I told her it was my first time using Special Collections and she said that was okay. You can't take things outside of the room, so I had to sit in there and read what I got out. I felt kind of silly, but it was cool.

I read the first volume of Crossroad, which was pretty interesting. No one in the Mel system has any other volumes, so I may resort to buying it. I also read Sensual Phrase, the first two volumes, which I requested for the A2 library to get and they will in the new fiscal year. It was pretty interesting--bizarre, but good. I'll wait for our library to get it.

I also finally looked at Sex by Madonna. Okay, so it was a big deal when I was in high school, everyone was talking about it. I was curious. Everyone was so offended by the photos she included. So, I sat in that little Special Collections room, with this older gentleman with a long white beard and glasses (he did look kinda like Santa) sitting not 20 feet from me, and looked at all these erotic photos and read these erotic letters and stories. I felt so naughty, but defiant at the same time. It was cool as hell! *laughs* The book was all right. I can see why everyone was freaking out about it, but it really wasn't that racy. Some of the pictures were lovely. Some were lame. I guess what made it so special was that Madonna did it.

So, that was my trip to the MSU Library. :)

Vacation reading

I didn't get to read as much as I thought I would while on vacation. I drove a lot. :)

But I did read The Crow, The Fire Within, and Thicker Than Water (which I was reading, but forgot to include in my packed books list b/c it was in my purse/bag). And I'm working on the very short introduction to Buddhism. I guess that's something, hmm?

I'll write about my visit to the MSU library later. It was cool!

Packing for vacation

All right. I'm trying to pack books for vacation. This is always a problem b/c I ALWAYS bring too many. But as I'm sifting through, I'm thinking, well, what if I don't like this one or what if I won't be in the mood for a fantasy book or a kid's book or a graphic novel? So I end up bringing tons. Also, there's always the possibility that I won't have much time to read. But...I'm going on vacation alone. And while I don't usually have any problems going to dinner or movies or whatever alone, sometimes I'd rather not be alone in public, you know? So I read. In my hotel room. :)

Here's the list that I think I'm bringing:

• The Naming by Alison Croggon (I HAVE to finish this! I've had it forever and it's good)
• Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction
• Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction
• Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction
• Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction
• Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction
• Strangers In Paradise Pocket Book 3 by Terry Moore
• The Crow by J. O'Barr
• Shiva's Fire by Suzanne Fisher Staples
• Rat by Jonathan Burt
• Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
• The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacey
• Winkie by Clifford Chase
• Cupcake by Rachel Cohn

The Very Short Introductions are this series I found from Oxford Press that is exactly what it says. They look interesting and they're little. I'll let you know how they are. :)

A couple of graphic novels, a couple of kids' books, a couple of teen books, an adult book (that'd be Winkie actually), and a couple non fiction. That should cover me!

Besides, if I don't like anything I've got to read, I can always buy something...right?

Bookstore Scavenger Hunt & Free Comic Day!

The Ann Arbor Book Festival is coming up on May 19th (or somewhere around there). They had a bookstore crawl last year and this year they have a bookstore scavenger hunt. It's fun. :) I started today and went to 13 places! They aren't all bookstores, but they've all been fun so far. Except Crazy Wisdom (which I usually adore)--the cashier didn't sign my sheet b/c she said she didn't know the answer to the clue and I couldn't figure it out. It was irritating. Everywhere else, the people were nice if I couldn't figure it out. Some even gave hints to help me. It was cool.

One of the bookstores on the list is Vault of Midnight. So, of course I went there! And it was Free Comic Day!!! I totally forgot, so I'm glad I went for another reason. I got three free comics. One by Lynda Barry who wrote the 100 Demons book that I started doing my 100 demons from (see my deviantArt page). Another was by the guy who does Owly! I LOVE Owly! And the third was some multiple artist comic thingy. I haven't read them yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Yay!

Oh, the scavenger hunt. If you visit 15 of the places, you get a "small gift" (which last year was a bag with two books, candy, and magnets in it--and maybe a t-shirt too). If you visit 25 (I think there's 27 total), you get the gift and are entered into a grand prize drawing for gift baskets containing items from the stores you visited at the scavenger hunt. Neat, huh? All for visiting a bunch of cool places? I can do that. :)

I bought a lot of books today too. Which isn't good for my budget, but hey, I say fuck my budget b/c I'm going on vacation. This was part of my vacation. :P

Books I've Read April 2007

4/1/07

• Hot Gimmick #11 Mike Aihara (M)
• Hot Gimmick #12 Mike Aihara (M)
• 12 Days June Kim (M)
• After School Nightmare #1 Setona Mizushiro (M)
• After School Nightmare #2 Setona Mizushiro (M)
• Line Yua Kotegawa (M)

4/2/07

• Nana #2 Ai Yazawa (M)
• Peach Girl #8 Miwa Ueda (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #1 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/3/07

• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith (PB)
• Paradise Kiss #5 Ai Yazawa (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #2 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/5/07

• Angel Sanctuary #3 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Sidescrollers Matthew Loux (GN)

4/6/07

• Angel Sanctuary #4 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/7/07

• The Book of Bunny Suicides Andy Riley (GN)
• Magic Knight Rayearth #1 CLAMP (M)

4/9/07

• Angel Sanctuary #5 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Miffy Is Crying Dick Bruna (PB)

4/10/07

• Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play #2: Oracle Yu Watase (M)

4/11/07

• Tramps Like Us #1 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Tramps Like Us #2 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #6 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/12/07

• Tramps Like Us #3 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Tramps Like Us #4 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #7 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Mr. Wrong: Real Life Stories About the Men We Used to Love Harriet Brown (ed.) (A-NF)

4/14/07

• Ultimate X-Men #6: Return of the King Mark Millar & others (GN)
• Nana #3 Ai Yazawa (M)
• Dark Watcher Lilith Saintcrow (A)
• Return to Labyrinth #1 Jake Forbes & Chris Lie (M)

4/15/07

• Kipper's A to Z Mick Inkpen (PB)
• Kipper's Monster Mick Inkpen (PB)
• Angel Sanctuary #8 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Nightlife Rob Thurman (A)
• Ultimate X-Men #7: Block Buster Mark Millar & others (GN)
• Ultimate X-Men #8: New Mutants Brian Michael Bendis & others (GN)

4/16/07

• Tramps Like Us #5 Yayoi Ogawa (M)

4/17/07

• Angel Sanctuary #9 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #10 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/18/07

• Tantalize Cynthia Leitich Smith (YA)
• Angel Sanctuary #11 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/19/07

• Tramps Like Us #6 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• My Dead Girlfriend #1 Eric Wight (M)
• The Devil Does Exist #1 Takanashi Mitsuba (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #12 Kaori Yuki (M)

4/20/07

• Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play #3: Disciple Yuu Watase (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #13 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Guy to Goddess: An Intimate Look at Drag Queens Bill Richardson & Rosamond Norbury (A-NF)
• WE3 Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (GN)
• Tenshi Ja Nai! I'm No Angel #1 Takako Shigematsu (M)
• Tramps Like Us #7 Yayoi Ogawa (M)

4/21/07

• Can You Say Peace? Karen Katz (PB)
• "I'm Not Cute!" Jonathan Allen (PB)
• Chickens to the Rescue John Himmelman (PB)
• Angel Sanctuary #14 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Blood Alone #2 Masayuki Takane (M)
• President Dad #3 Rhim Ju-Yeon (M)
• Tramps Like Us #8 Yayoi Ogawa (M)

4/22/07

• Angel Sanctuary #15 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse Judy Schachner (PB)
• Hairstyles of the Damned Joe Meno (A)

4/24/07

• Angel Sanctuary #16 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Now We Are Sick: An Anthology of Nasty Verse Neil Gaiman & Stephen Jones (eds.) (A)

4/26/07

• Your Personal Penguin Sandra Boynton (PB)
• Angel Sanctuary #17 Kaori Yuki (M)
• Angel Sanctuary #18 Kaori Yuki (M)
• The Wolves in the Walls Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (PB)
• Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble Judy Schachner (PB)
• Skippyjon Jones Judy Schachner (PB)

4/27/07

• ABC NYC Joanne Dugan (PB)
• The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (PB)
• Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Susan Meyers & David Walker (PB)
• Ultimate X-Men #9: The Tempest Brian K Vaughan & others (GN)
• Ultimate X-Men #10: Cry Wolf Brian K Vaughan & others (GN)

4/28/07

• Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Susan Meyers & David Walker (twice) (PB)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Dust Waltz Brereton, Gomez, Florea, Major, Bruzenak (GN)
• MeruPuri #2 Matsuri Hino (M)
• Aya Marguerite Abouet & Clement Oubrerie (GN)

4/29/07

• What Elephant? Genevieve Cote (PB)
• Full Moon Rising Keri Arthur (A)
• Tenshi Ja Nai! I'm No Angel! #2 Takako Shigematsu (M)
• MeruPuri #3 Matsuri Hino (M)
• Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors Jhonen Vasquez (GN)

4/30/07

• Dogzilla Dav Pilkey (PB)
• Tramps Like Us #9 Yayoi Ogawa (M)
• Ultimate X-Men #11: The Most Dangerous Game Brian K Vaughan & others (GN)
• Wolverine: Origins & Endings Way, Texeira, Saltares (GN)

04/07 Total: 89

Break it down: 13 Graphic Novels; 2 Adult NF; 1 Young Adult; 5 Adult; 19 Picture Books; 49 Manga

(I read a lot of kids' books & manga this month!)