Starbody

warning: i’m about to go on and on about books.

but before i begin, i’d like to say that Skinny Puppy is not good working. or maybe it’s just the kind of work i’m doing. or maybe it’s just Too Dark Park. either way, i can’t say that i recommend Skinny Puppy for writing excessively long specification documents to. some might say that it’s obvious, but i never really know until i try, and i’m trying to break this Arcade Fire problem i’m having. and on another unrelated topic, what was i thinking with the purple design? ack. i would change it all now if i hadn’t promised not to mess with it in favor of working on the new site. i feel like Hello Kitty just threw up all over the page. seriously, what was i thinking?

oh right, we were talking about books. i can’t remember if i’ve been babbling on about the Diana Wynne Jones books here or not. in short, i took a recommendation from an online acquaintance and started with The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I. i hadn’t known anything about the author or much about the contents of the book, other than they were actually considered young adult type fiction. not very far into the book i realized i really enjoyed it and Mark was nice enough to pick up Volume II for me (so as to avoid a gap between reading). once those were finished, i moved on to Howl’s Moving Castle which i loved even more. at this point, i was full swing into obsessive mode and dove into The Dark Lord Of Derkholm, a book that i barely enjoyed. i had (at the same time) bought its sequel The Year Of The Griffin which was equally mediocre. in the end it worked out for the best as it allowed me to move on to other writers. i’ll no doubt be back to give her writing another try (she has a million books).

enter Diana and Josh. for Christmas i received Books I-III of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials which i am very excited to start reading. instead though, i’ve started to read one of the other books they sent Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West from Gregory Maguire which received rave reviews from Diana. so far, so good. Mark received The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians by Scott Stanton, “a music lover’s guide to all graves, shrines, and memorabilia of the greatest rock, jazz, blues, country, and classical musicians of all time”. i am anxious to leaf through that book as well. i know i gush about new books all the time, but they truly hold so much excitement for me. the very possibility that the next book i read might change the way i think, introduce me to a point of view i’d never dreamed of, is invaluable.

before i leave you, a quick reminder that my favorite author of all time has a new book coming out on January 18th called Kafka On The Shore. i can hardly stand the wait for it. i almost gave in to the temptation and bid on a review copy from eBay, but managed to resist. and this summer, the sixth Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released on July 16th. while i might be a little worn out from my fantasy bender by then, i’m sure i will pick it up shortly after its release.

happy reading and as always, all recommendations are welcome.