It has been so long since I've curled up with a good book and just lost myself in it. I've had some good reads, but with the real world forcing me to keep one eye on the clock. Which interferes with the whole "lost in book world" thing. But this time I made plans. Knowing I was about to dive into the latest Robert Jordan, knowing that the reviews were positive, I delayed reading until I had the time to let the real world go and just read.

It was lovely. :)

Which is beyond awesome all things considered. The Wheel of Time series has been through some serious drama. It was already long and getting longer. The last two books, while not series-destroying-bad, were a slog. There was a sense that Jordan had lost control of the plot and the series was going stumble on forever. And then he died. With a new author hired to finish the series, I was afraid that the ending we were going to get would be rushed and unsatisfying.

I'm pleased to say, I don't think that's going to happen. The Gathering Storm was a lovely read. The characters were familiar and vibrant, the plot twists were exciting and fulfilling, and I had a hard time putting the book down for silly things like eating, sleeping and bathing. In other words, it was just like reading a Jordan book. For the most part.

( Spoilers to follow )

Greetings from lovely, lovely Colorado! Where every single view is pretty much breath-taking (hence my stealing from French Kiss for my subject line *g*). I'm having the best time in the whole world visiting with my two sisters. It reminds me so strongly of our childhood summers in Canada, nature and family and long laugh-filled chats around the dinner table. The other day, after putting my little niece to bed, my sister broke out some ice cream treats. Which confirms it!! Every time the adults sent us to bed it meant they were up to something fun and cool and guaranteed to give us joy. Grownups do suck. ;P

Here's an irony: I expected no internet connecting issues at my tech-loving sister's house. ( But there's no wireless! )

And now it's time for cute pet stories! Otherwise known as ( Bandit the Cat meets Fanny the Bulldog )

Next up, ( cute niece stories! :D )

Another irony: When we visited Seattle they had a record breaking sunny-streak. Here in "sunny Colorado" they're getting an unusual amount of rain. It's the greenest I've ever seen it. Frankly, I'm loving it. :)

And now to answer those Top Five Meme questions you all asked (I apologize for the delay):

( Top 5 things you would say to a specific fictional character if you could. )


( Top five things you really liked in SGA... )


( ...and the top five you would have seriously changed/done differently in SGA. )


( YOUR top five Top Gear moments! :-D )


( top five moments reading fic and going guh! How is that hot? I didn't know that was hot. )


( Top Five things you can DO to fictional character (different characters please but otherwise yes, you can interpret it as broadly as you like ;) )


( Top five favorite minor SGA characters. )

I have just picked up "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". How could I not?!?

I actually finished on Sunday but delayed posting because... well, some of it was work related (as in, I was working and too tired to write when I got home) but the largest reason was ( spoilers beneath cut )

Would I recommend "1984"? Yes, but carefully. I think it's a good book to have read, but I think it's good to know what you're getting into.

Oh! I have to add, my edition (the 1984 commemorative edition *g*) has a commentary by Erich Fromm. I've never heard of him, but apparently? He's really hates nuclear weapons, mm-kay? And pretty much everything that went wrong in "1984" occurred because of nuclear weapons, mm-kay? And if we're to survive into the '90's without going all Big Brother ourselves, we should rid the world of nuclear weapons, mm-kay? (He's probably a very thoughtful guy, but his focus on the possibility of nuclear war was hilarious. I'd forgotten what a big deal that was back in the '80's. We had drills. Ah, nostalgia...)

On to Part Two of Orwell's "1984"! Spoiler warning same as the first: ( General for the entire book, specific for Part Two )

As a challenge to myself I decided to pick up George Orwell's "1984" and give it another go. I'd tried reading it as a little girl and was unimpressed. Vastly unimpressed, even. I didn't finish it. This time? Oh, I'm definitely finishing; I'm well and truly hooked. :)

Behind the cut tag I babble on a bit. Beware spoilers for the entire book; I'm fairly familiar with how it goes and that awareness is included in the babble. But specifically, ( these are my thoughts on part one. )

The fanfic moratorium is over! :D I did fairly well, except... I stopped by the bookstore. *sheepish grin* But still, I think I've managed to pull myself out of lurking-mode. Also? I've read "Watchmen". Of which I have thoughts.

( Okay, there will now be spoilers regarding Watchmen, Avatar, and Harry Potter. Vague spoilers, but consider this the warning of the paranoid. )

First and foremost, thank you dragonladyk for the userpics! I celebrate with the cutest Rodney picture evah. (That's him not dropping Teyla's baby. *g*)

And now, to meme:

* Comment on this post.

* I will give you a letter. (I'm heading out of town for 2 days, so there may be some delay.)

* Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.

sistermagpie ( gave me the letter L )

I read The Last Battle when I was little girl.  Once. My thoughts?  "Well, that was depressing."   So this should be fun! :D

 

On a completely different note:  I think I've become addicted to Project Runway.  Why did no one warn me!!

For the most part, I liked it. :)   


Next up, The Last Battle  (eventually... *g*)

I've never read The Magician's Nephew before, so I've no idea how it ends, but I got to tell you, I love the beginning... 

 I'm spamming, I know -- but I've got to knock out my impression of the latest installment of The Horse and His Boy before I totally succumb to utter sleepiness. (Which could be labeled as exhaustion, only I'm not really exhausted so much as plain old sleepy, you know?) 

Grabbed from sistermagpie

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;)

sistermagpie wrote: "I don't quite get that #4 there"  and I'll ditto that.  But in the interest of keeping this meme kosher, it stays. 
Re: #3, I'm going to define "LOVE" as rereadable and worthy of recommendation.  I'd lean towards "squee" but I'm fickle and that changes with my mood.

First and foremost.... Happy Birthday

ariadnemajic !  (This is my first ever birthday post; this means a bar has been raised, heaven help me. *g*) 

Doctor Who, I'm totally over my previous rant and am completely charmed by you again.  (This is the awesome power of The Unicorn and The Wasp -- so clever, so funny, so much a collection of some of my favorite things. *g*)

I've created a google page and love it to bits and am this close to making it my home page.  The hang up is my yahoo email.

TPTB have decided things for me: the newest SGA episode was taken down from You Tube, and downloading it myself seems like too much work.  Plus, I've got to, got to, finish my Aurora review and limiting the shiny seems like a good way to keep me motivated. :)


Onto, The Horse and His Boy...