Everyone's getting books! - NaBloPoMo Day 14

Unless I actually make and finish the wall hanging that's in my head for Suzie Q's apartment, every single person I might possibly give a Christmas present to will be getting a book. Possibly a movie, but a book or book related item is the far more likely gift. And why is this?

Because the bookstore loves its employees. That's right, they love us. And they want to give us the opportunity to save our money.
Or maybe they just want the opportunity for even more money - if they give us a nice, fat discount for Christmas, we're all likely to buy more of our gifts at the store, therefore bringing in money that would otherwise have gone elsewhere. So that discount might actually be business motivated.

...

Nah. They just love us. ^_^

The Last Page - NaBloPoMo Day 9

Some people use their days off to do chores around the house, or maybe to run errands across town, but me? I chose to finish a book.

Technically I chose to finish two. =)
When I woke up, I stayed in bed and finished the Mercedes Lackey book I've been reading before going to sleep. I've read it before, which is what makes it perfect for night-time reading, but I could have sworn that it had a different ending.

Then I came downstairs and finished the book I have on loan from the store - Rick Riordan's newest The Lost Hero. And man, that was definitely a good read.
The Percy Jackson series put a smile on my face, first for its own storyline and second for the wonderful way it played with and utilized Greek mythology. It's a series that makes my inner Classics nerd smile. And this new book?
Even better. It not only answered one of the lingering questions I had from the first series (of 'Umm, where's the Roman mythology in all of this?'), it took that question and turned it into the focal point for an entire new series of books. It's a fabulous book in its own right, and the moment I read that last line, I wanted to dive into the next one.

Which won't be out till next fall. Boo.

But see, that's one of the differences between a good book and one that's just okay. The Mercedes Lackey book is kind of part of a series, but only kind of. Those other books establish a universe that's interesting, that makes you want to read the books again and again. This one takes place in that universe, but it doesn't take advantage of it, and in the end it just fizzles.

The Riordan book on the other hand? Makes me want to reread the entire first series, AND the Egyptian series he started last spring. It makes me want to go paw through my mythology books, relearning the myths used in the series. It makes me want to spend as much time in that world as possible, which to me is one of the hallmarks of a truly good book. ^_^

Long Days of Books - NaBloPoMo Day 7

I want to quilt today, I really do. But I spent nine hours on my feet both today and yesterday and somehow, I just don't think it's gonna happen. Tomorrow though, tomorrow I don't work until late in the day, meaning I can spend a fairly long period of time quilting to my heart's content.

In the meantime, there's a new GO! Giveaway on the horizon. Linda over at Lavender Ridge is giving away one of these fabulous cutters and three dies to use with it. If anyone happening by here would like the chance to win one, head over to her blog sometime before November 10th. Good luck to us all!

And now, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy being off my feet for a good, long, enjoyable period of time. ^_^

It's finally here! - NaBloPoMo Day 2

Today is the day I've been waiting for. The one I've been looking forward to for at least a year now. Really for longer, since we're getting close to the point we've all been waiting for ever since this whole journey began.

That's right! My book came out today!
Wait, what? A book? This isn't about a quilt? No, today we're taking a break from quilt talk to highlight a book that has sent me into literary jubilation.

Or, I suppose that will send me into jubilation once I get to actually read it.

This is Towers of Midnight, the thirteenth book in the Wheel of Time series by the now deceased Robert Jordan. Yeah, he's dead. And still being published to boot.

Or at least kind of. See, Robert Jordan died three years ago, after battling cancer for a long time, and with only one book left to go in his epic series. One very long, very involved, and very dramatic book that was already planned out in detailed notes and probably about half written.

Luckily for the thousands of fans around the world, his wife and editor decided to get in touch with an up and coming epic fantasy author named Brandon Sanderson in order to ask him to finish the series. He said yes, broke the one enormous volume into three books comparable in size to the rest of the series (ya know, only about 800 pages each) and got to work.

The first of these final volumes, The Gathering Storm, came out last year and was amazing. In a series of over 11,000 pages, lag is pretty much inevitable. There's going to be a few slow bits. There was a good chunk in the second half of the series that kind of fizzled, lacking the punch of the earlier novels. But an explosive event at the end of the 9th book got the train rolling again, and it's been widely acknowledged that with last year's Gathering Storm the series once again reached its highest peaks.

But today is even better, because the majority of Towers of Midnight revolves around one of my favorite characters and his quest to rescue a character we've all thought dead since the fifth book. She's not dead! Nope, in fact Mat (the character I really like) and Thom (a minstrel made out of bad-assery and song) are going to go save Moiraine and make sure she's there to keep main character Rand from destroying the world in the next book. Not to mention the fact that Perrin, the third of the main male characters and the one who I've thought has been a sappy git for the last few books, is going to return to the days when he was awesome with wolf powers. And Loial gets to-yeah, I should probably stop before I start writing an essay about the reasons I'm excited for this book.

The only problem is, I have to wait. Not because the bookstore didn't have it or anything like that, but because my brother has to read our copy first and he's kind of a slow reader. He actually bought our copy, so he gets first reading rights. Just like with the Harry Potter books, except opposite since those are all mine and everyone else had to wait to read them after I did.


Oh, if only my brother read with the same kind of speed I do! But, until he's done, I'll just be sitting here, bouncing in anticipation, occasionally shooting the book longing glances. Oh to have money to spare on a second copy!