A couple people have asked about my reading list (books I want to read eventually) so I'm blogging it. These are collected from random recommendations and reviews I've read online, as well as books I just...want to read. Here we go:
The Farseer Trilogy (Robin Hobb)
- I've read the Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb. She's a master fantasist.
Song of Albion series (Stephen Lawhead)
- reading the Pendragon Cycle by the same guy.
Dune (Frank Herbert)
The Arthurian Saga (Mary Stewart)
- because King Arthur is awesome.
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Libba Bray)
Interview With a Vampire (Anne Rice)
- I think I need to read this for some vampire fiction that isn't Twilight.
Night Watch
- almost purely because Ellie asks me if I've read it every time I talk to him.
Master and Commander (Patrick O'Brian)
- the movie was superlative.
Sophie's World and Through a Glass Darkly (Jostein Gaardner)
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
Star of the Morning, The Mage's Daughter, Princess of the Sword (Lynn Kurland)
Buried Fire, The Leap, The Last Siege (Jonathan Stroud)
- he wrote the Bartimaeus trilogy, which I love.
Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin)
The Fionavar Tapestry (Guy Gavriel Kay)
- both of the above recommended by Limyaael (see link on the left)
King Raven trilogy (Stephen Lawhead)
- again, writer of the Pendragon Cycle
Deerskin, The Outlaws of Sherwood, Sunshine (Robin McKinley)
- I adore Robin McKinley. 'Nuff said.
Winter Rose (Patricia McKillip)
Discworld (Terry Pratchett)
- I've heard it said that it should be a requirement for every fantasy lover to have read this series.
Ithanalin's Restoration, The Spell of the Black Dagger, The Misenchanted Sword (Lawrence Watt-Evans)
- do these not sound epic?
Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice (Steven Erikson)
Memory, Sorrow, Thorn (Tad Williams)
Heroes Die, Blade of Tyshalle (Matthew Woodring Stover)
The Vlad Taltos series (Steven Brust)
- again, recommended by Limyaael
Time Master trilogy (Louise Cooper)
How To Read Literature Like a Professor
- yep, LDM, it's on there.
Way of Shadows (Brent Weeks)
Hexwood (Diana Wynne Jones)
Eco-Sanity: A Common-Sense Guide to Environmentalism (Joseph R. Bast)
Ecoscam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse (Ronald Bailey)
- the above two from my chemistry textbook. If I'm going to be a global warming/environmentalism skeptic, I want to be an informed one.
And there you have it. If anyone can tell me that any of these are not worth reading, then please speak up - it's a really long list and I'd like to get to the best ones.
Quote of the Week: "Bookends around here are like unicorns. They're around when you don't need one but when you want one, they're never there."
29 January 2009
21 January 2009
I'm still not cool.
This is a farewell to President Bush, who governed America to the best of his ability for eight years, and will hopefully be remembered by history more kindly than he is remembered by the media. To all those who would criticize him - and he is not perfect, like all of us - he has served during eight of the toughest years in American government. Had I been in his position, in all likelihood I would have done no better.
From the National Post:
Re: Taking A Shoe For The Country, Charles Krauthammer, Jan 19.
Charles Krauthammer, as usual, aptly describes George Bush's legacy by citing the incident in which an ingrate launched a shoe at him during a news conference in Iraq. I prefer to extend the shoe incident metaphor to describe the entire Bush legacy. Chiefly, what Bush did in Iraq was to secure the country's freedom by dismantling its tyrannical leader. And how did Iraq respond? By throwing a shoe at him.
Mr. Bush also secured the safety of Americans over the past seven years. And how did America respond? By laughing at him. Yes, an ungrateful era ends, and an over-grateful era begins.
Nick Kandel, Montreal.
Thank you, Mr Bush, from a Canadian who does not engage in Bush hatred to be cool. America - all of North America - owes you gratitude.
And welcome, Mr Obama. May you manage to both satiate your worshipers and pleasantly surprise your opposition. You've got a tough job.
19 January 2009
The Case for Living a Non-Academic Life
[Beware, counter-cultural speculation to follow!]
First, an anecdote. On Saturday I was at my piano teacher's house hanging out for an hour or so and listening to another girl I know play her RCM grade 9 piano pieces for me. I also played mine for her. A mutual friend of ours, with whom we took History 3, came to listen. Afterward, we were discussing what careers we were looking at and what our university plans were. The one girl was going into engineering, and the other was taking sciences and then pharmacy - both of which will make them money. I'm looking at a three/four-year Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, which, while being the choice I'll enjoy the most, does not promise me a cash-filled future.
About now, I start to feel unsure about myself. What am I doing, studying English? How will that help me do anything more than become a starving writer? I should pick something that will give me a career, and write on the side. That, in turn, makes me feel gloomy. I don't want to pick a different career. Moreover, I don't want to have to work doing something I don't really enjoy.
Then, in the car on the way home - epiphany!
So I want to write. Okay. I can finance university myself. I'll do the Bachelor of Arts, and then what if I don't want a career that will make me cash? Say I want to be a stay-at-home mom. Maybe I'll home-school. I can still write (that's what the BA is for), and I won't have to make a choice between working - continuing in that prestigious career I worked so hard for - or being mommy.
It was a very liberating feeling, to realize that I don't have to stress about marks to get into university and then about getting a job out of university and then about making lots of cash. Our society tells you that marks matter and money matters and you better spend 25 hours a day doing homework otherwise you will fail at life, and what it's done is make education a god. I'm sick of my friends having too much homework to do fun stuff. I'm sick of them being stressed. In a weird roundabout way, I start to actually feel guilty about not being stressed. As I've said many times before, there are points at which school needs to stop being the top priority. Okay, so don't drop out of high school or anything, but do you really need to spend so much time at it?
Do the things you love. Maybe they won't make you money, but hey, money can only do so many things.
Nobody needs to agree with me. But this is what I think.
(As an afterthought, the world does need people in careers that take eight years in university and so on and so forth. The point is, don't do that for money, do it because you love the profession, and if it's so stressful, is it REALLY worth it?)
First, an anecdote. On Saturday I was at my piano teacher's house hanging out for an hour or so and listening to another girl I know play her RCM grade 9 piano pieces for me. I also played mine for her. A mutual friend of ours, with whom we took History 3, came to listen. Afterward, we were discussing what careers we were looking at and what our university plans were. The one girl was going into engineering, and the other was taking sciences and then pharmacy - both of which will make them money. I'm looking at a three/four-year Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, which, while being the choice I'll enjoy the most, does not promise me a cash-filled future.
About now, I start to feel unsure about myself. What am I doing, studying English? How will that help me do anything more than become a starving writer? I should pick something that will give me a career, and write on the side. That, in turn, makes me feel gloomy. I don't want to pick a different career. Moreover, I don't want to have to work doing something I don't really enjoy.
Then, in the car on the way home - epiphany!
So I want to write. Okay. I can finance university myself. I'll do the Bachelor of Arts, and then what if I don't want a career that will make me cash? Say I want to be a stay-at-home mom. Maybe I'll home-school. I can still write (that's what the BA is for), and I won't have to make a choice between working - continuing in that prestigious career I worked so hard for - or being mommy.
It was a very liberating feeling, to realize that I don't have to stress about marks to get into university and then about getting a job out of university and then about making lots of cash. Our society tells you that marks matter and money matters and you better spend 25 hours a day doing homework otherwise you will fail at life, and what it's done is make education a god. I'm sick of my friends having too much homework to do fun stuff. I'm sick of them being stressed. In a weird roundabout way, I start to actually feel guilty about not being stressed. As I've said many times before, there are points at which school needs to stop being the top priority. Okay, so don't drop out of high school or anything, but do you really need to spend so much time at it?
Do the things you love. Maybe they won't make you money, but hey, money can only do so many things.
Nobody needs to agree with me. But this is what I think.
(As an afterthought, the world does need people in careers that take eight years in university and so on and so forth. The point is, don't do that for money, do it because you love the profession, and if it's so stressful, is it REALLY worth it?)
16 January 2009
Poetic
Because if I don't post it now I'll convince myself I shouldn't.
Memory is fading
And the sun was just a lie
When naught is left but diamond drops
Within a soft dark sky
Celestial shores beckon
From a place beyond the moon
Between the dream and waking
Worry not; I'll see you soon
Diamond turns to snow, and each
Within its crystals bright
Is different as you and me
Falling out of fading night
Pale mirror shatters
When truth dawns here below
Recall it all, here in the fall
Of sparkling diamond snow.
Memory is fading
And the sun was just a lie
When naught is left but diamond drops
Within a soft dark sky
Celestial shores beckon
From a place beyond the moon
Between the dream and waking
Worry not; I'll see you soon
Diamond turns to snow, and each
Within its crystals bright
Is different as you and me
Falling out of fading night
Pale mirror shatters
When truth dawns here below
Recall it all, here in the fall
Of sparkling diamond snow.
15 January 2009
Out of a sense of duty -
- I am posting. Generally, when this happens, you all (all, what, five of you?) get to hear about my interesting life because I don't have much else to post about. I mean, I'm sure I could come up with something abstract and philosophical if I were required, but as I've filled my quota of that type of writing for today (essay on Batman and Spiderman and their heroic contrasts) - alas, it is not to be.
So. Life. What have I been doing lately?
Well, working. Working is excellent because it means cash. The possibilities that open up when one has cash are just endless. It's definitely a bonus when one enjoys working, which I do. With the exception of clean-up, generally. The perfectionist in me starts to wail when it's time to do clean-up, because especially if one is cleaning the non-fiction, there just isn't time to make it look more than sort-of-halfway-presentable-if-you-don't-look-too-closely. The first time I cleaned up non-fiction, I got woefully behind and it was not a good thing. However, I am improving.
What else? School. Definitely school. Piano and quizzing included. Grade 9 RCM will come to a glorious close with my exam on the 27th, after which I will never be touching those pieces ever again in my entire life. I'm also in the middle of learning That's How You Know from Enchanted. It's got crazy syncopation, but it's a lot of fun. I discovered that the library has music books, so I also got one with love/romance songs, and started on If I Never Knew You from Pocahontas. It always reminds me of M/K. Quizzing is a whopping 43 verses from Acts 18, which I finished today. Well, 'finished'. It needs fine-tuning. The rest of school is chemistry (molecular structure), math, english (Batman/Spiderman essay!), French, reading Evidence That Demands A Verdict and 7 Men Who Rule The World From The Grave. I recommend both.
Working, school...oh, I'm rewriting my NaNoWriMo novel, and by rewriting I mean almost completely reworking so that you might not even recognize it. That's coming along more slowly, but the working and the school sort of get in the way. I'm also finally reading #3 of the Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb. Those books are definitely not for kids, but I really like her style and the way she doesn't tell you what you're supposed to think about the characters. One I'm done that I'll start Pendragon, #4 of the Pendragon Cycle (Stephen Lawhead).
And in the category of miscellany...I made this recently, for one of the A-U contests. I really like the images and I would rather not have put text in, but I still think it looks nice.
Upcoming events: Inkheart, January 23rd! Very exciting. Also quiz meet, February 6th and 7th in Innisfail.
And now I will get back to work.
So. Life. What have I been doing lately?
Well, working. Working is excellent because it means cash. The possibilities that open up when one has cash are just endless. It's definitely a bonus when one enjoys working, which I do. With the exception of clean-up, generally. The perfectionist in me starts to wail when it's time to do clean-up, because especially if one is cleaning the non-fiction, there just isn't time to make it look more than sort-of-halfway-presentable-if-you-don't-look-too-closely. The first time I cleaned up non-fiction, I got woefully behind and it was not a good thing. However, I am improving.
What else? School. Definitely school. Piano and quizzing included. Grade 9 RCM will come to a glorious close with my exam on the 27th, after which I will never be touching those pieces ever again in my entire life. I'm also in the middle of learning That's How You Know from Enchanted. It's got crazy syncopation, but it's a lot of fun. I discovered that the library has music books, so I also got one with love/romance songs, and started on If I Never Knew You from Pocahontas. It always reminds me of M/K. Quizzing is a whopping 43 verses from Acts 18, which I finished today. Well, 'finished'. It needs fine-tuning. The rest of school is chemistry (molecular structure), math, english (Batman/Spiderman essay!), French, reading Evidence That Demands A Verdict and 7 Men Who Rule The World From The Grave. I recommend both.
Working, school...oh, I'm rewriting my NaNoWriMo novel, and by rewriting I mean almost completely reworking so that you might not even recognize it. That's coming along more slowly, but the working and the school sort of get in the way. I'm also finally reading #3 of the Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb. Those books are definitely not for kids, but I really like her style and the way she doesn't tell you what you're supposed to think about the characters. One I'm done that I'll start Pendragon, #4 of the Pendragon Cycle (Stephen Lawhead).
And in the category of miscellany...I made this recently, for one of the A-U contests. I really like the images and I would rather not have put text in, but I still think it looks nice.
Upcoming events: Inkheart, January 23rd! Very exciting. Also quiz meet, February 6th and 7th in Innisfail.
And now I will get back to work.
07 January 2009
Since when is the existence of God subject to probability?
They have free speech, same as me. But please show me the study that can prove God's existence as unlikely.
“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
I like my life fine, thanks.
“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
I like my life fine, thanks.
01 January 2009
Because I am oh so original
Resolutions for 2009
- Invest in people, not things
- Don't let fear of failure stop me from trying
- Give hugs
- Remember to say I love you
- Go for walks
- Do my best...
- ...without forgetting that sometimes a break is okay
- Do some headbanging
- Splurge occasionally
- Give of myself
- Grow spiritually
- WRITE
- Remember how much a smile can do
- Curl up with a book and some hot chocolate once in a while
...clean out my dresser, and floss my teeth.
- Invest in people, not things
- Don't let fear of failure stop me from trying
- Give hugs
- Remember to say I love you
- Go for walks
- Do my best...
- ...without forgetting that sometimes a break is okay
- Do some headbanging
- Splurge occasionally
- Give of myself
- Grow spiritually
- WRITE
- Remember how much a smile can do
- Curl up with a book and some hot chocolate once in a while
...clean out my dresser, and floss my teeth.
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