What am I reading, what am I doing
Dec. 19th, 2009 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branquignoleOkay, I'll admit it. I don't blog often enough. I come with good tidings though! My horrible one-and-a-half months of class tests and revision have passed. I shall now be at your disposition... for some time. :D
Anyway, much yay for Christmas holidays! I plan on doing many fun things. Tonight, I'll go and see Avatar at the cinema with my dad and brother (I was so mesmerized by the trailer I decided I had to see it). Tomorrow, I'll have breakfast (or rather brunch) with two of my friends and we'll go and see The Way to the Stars afterwards as well as visiting the Christmas market. I also want to see Disney's A Christmas Carol (which I have recently seen the play of - loved it! I have decided that, should I ever have a male pet, I will call it Ebenezer Scrooge.) and The Princess and the Frog (going to see it on Tuesday with loads of friends!), and Sherlock Holmes. Which sadly only comes out at the end of January. *is sitting on hot coals* I told myself that it would never happen to me again that I would miss as many films I want to see as I did this summer. So you all know where I can be found during the next few weeks. (I also haven't seen HP and the Half-Blood Prince. Which is weird. Up to now, I have seen every HP film at the cinema.)
Whoa, okay, the rambling. I'll cut it in a second. So... I'm sure that all of you want to hear what I've been up to book-wise, right? What was that? Oh yes, you do.
I got Elegance of the Hedgehog for my birthday in German. First I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to read it in French, but I have to admit that I think I wouldn't have understood a word of it. Okay, maybe a word here and there. But I fear my French has gotten too rusty to read a book like that in the original.
First I thought that the book was much too complicated (since I had a longing for an easy read) but instead of making the book heavy and hard to read, the philosophical thoughts did much the contrary thing. It was a joy to read them! And the author also has this subtle and adorable humor which makes concierge Renée one of the loveliest characters I've ever read. I also love the picture of a concierge which tries to hide her intelligence - kind of like an undercover agent. This book seriously was so much fun, especially when Paloma and Renée got to know each other. I can't forgive Muriel Barbery what she did to Renée though. For the record: I'm wearing my "brow furrowed in fury I can't even look like that for two minutes straight" face. Just so you know.
But for one thing, I love Muriel Barbery all the more. Renée pees. Yes, she has to go to the toilet and instead of just telling us that she goes to the toilet, we can go to the toilet with her! Now that I write it down, I think it might be hard to see why I am so excited about this. But I always keep rambling about how people (especially in fantasy books!) never have to pee. We get told every little and mundane thing they do like "he brushed his teeth and went to bed", "she braided her hair", "he scratched his toe" - you get my meaning. People just never have to pee. And that's something I hate. So, I clearly have to love Muriel Barbery for that scene. And I love her endlessly for it.
And now on to fantasy where people don't have to pee. A year ago, my first encounter with Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews went a bit like this: No internets. Me needs books. *starts reading Magic Bites* Oh my gosh, what a huge pile of bullshit! What an annoying badass heroine! Who thought up this CRAP?
Then I saw Sarah mention that she loves Ilona Andrews a short while ago. Since it had been nagging at me for months that there was a book on my shelf I hadn't read and didn't plan on reading, I decided to pick it up once more. And I'm so glad I gave that book another chance! I hated that book with a fiery passion before and I can't really stand hating books which are in my possession. But when I picked it up a second time, I couldn't put it down again. Needless to say - I loved it. I ordered the other two books (Magic Burns and Magic Strikes) with overnight express and devoured those as well. The fourth isn't out yet, unfortunately.
Ilona Andrews, you write brilliant urban fantasy. I love the plot, I love the characters, I love the humor - oh the dialogues. And shipping is so much fun in this universe. Guys, I ship Curran/Kate forever. And ever. What a stupid, annoying teenage romance. And yet so cute. And adorable. And annoying. I also ship Raphael/Andrea. And Jim/everybody. Because he is positively smouldering. I still need somebody I can ship Derek with and although I really like Julie, I think she is a bit too young to be properly shipped. I thought about Curran/Derek for a split second before deciding that was pervy because Curran is practically Derek's brother or father or whatever, and besides that, I need him for Kate. So, since I ship Jim/everybody anyway, I'll just ship Jim/Derek. And Jim/Dali. Oh my, the hundreds of possibilities. Do you see why I love this series so much? I also have to make icons. Tons of icons. But first I have to go and write. If I come back before I have finished a decent amount of work, take my ships away from me. That'll do me in.
Anyway, much yay for Christmas holidays! I plan on doing many fun things. Tonight, I'll go and see Avatar at the cinema with my dad and brother (I was so mesmerized by the trailer I decided I had to see it). Tomorrow, I'll have breakfast (or rather brunch) with two of my friends and we'll go and see The Way to the Stars afterwards as well as visiting the Christmas market. I also want to see Disney's A Christmas Carol (which I have recently seen the play of - loved it! I have decided that, should I ever have a male pet, I will call it Ebenezer Scrooge.) and The Princess and the Frog (going to see it on Tuesday with loads of friends!), and Sherlock Holmes. Which sadly only comes out at the end of January. *is sitting on hot coals* I told myself that it would never happen to me again that I would miss as many films I want to see as I did this summer. So you all know where I can be found during the next few weeks. (I also haven't seen HP and the Half-Blood Prince. Which is weird. Up to now, I have seen every HP film at the cinema.)
Whoa, okay, the rambling. I'll cut it in a second. So... I'm sure that all of you want to hear what I've been up to book-wise, right? What was that? Oh yes, you do.
I got Elegance of the Hedgehog for my birthday in German. First I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to read it in French, but I have to admit that I think I wouldn't have understood a word of it. Okay, maybe a word here and there. But I fear my French has gotten too rusty to read a book like that in the original.
First I thought that the book was much too complicated (since I had a longing for an easy read) but instead of making the book heavy and hard to read, the philosophical thoughts did much the contrary thing. It was a joy to read them! And the author also has this subtle and adorable humor which makes concierge Renée one of the loveliest characters I've ever read. I also love the picture of a concierge which tries to hide her intelligence - kind of like an undercover agent. This book seriously was so much fun, especially when Paloma and Renée got to know each other. I can't forgive Muriel Barbery what she did to Renée though. For the record: I'm wearing my "brow furrowed in fury I can't even look like that for two minutes straight" face. Just so you know.
But for one thing, I love Muriel Barbery all the more. Renée pees. Yes, she has to go to the toilet and instead of just telling us that she goes to the toilet, we can go to the toilet with her! Now that I write it down, I think it might be hard to see why I am so excited about this. But I always keep rambling about how people (especially in fantasy books!) never have to pee. We get told every little and mundane thing they do like "he brushed his teeth and went to bed", "she braided her hair", "he scratched his toe" - you get my meaning. People just never have to pee. And that's something I hate. So, I clearly have to love Muriel Barbery for that scene. And I love her endlessly for it.
And now on to fantasy where people don't have to pee. A year ago, my first encounter with Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews went a bit like this: No internets. Me needs books. *starts reading Magic Bites* Oh my gosh, what a huge pile of bullshit! What an annoying badass heroine! Who thought up this CRAP?
Then I saw Sarah mention that she loves Ilona Andrews a short while ago. Since it had been nagging at me for months that there was a book on my shelf I hadn't read and didn't plan on reading, I decided to pick it up once more. And I'm so glad I gave that book another chance! I hated that book with a fiery passion before and I can't really stand hating books which are in my possession. But when I picked it up a second time, I couldn't put it down again. Needless to say - I loved it. I ordered the other two books (Magic Burns and Magic Strikes) with overnight express and devoured those as well. The fourth isn't out yet, unfortunately.
Ilona Andrews, you write brilliant urban fantasy. I love the plot, I love the characters, I love the humor - oh the dialogues. And shipping is so much fun in this universe. Guys, I ship Curran/Kate forever. And ever. What a stupid, annoying teenage romance. And yet so cute. And adorable. And annoying. I also ship Raphael/Andrea. And Jim/everybody. Because he is positively smouldering. I still need somebody I can ship Derek with and although I really like Julie, I think she is a bit too young to be properly shipped. I thought about Curran/Derek for a split second before deciding that was pervy because Curran is practically Derek's brother or father or whatever, and besides that, I need him for Kate. So, since I ship Jim/everybody anyway, I'll just ship Jim/Derek. And Jim/Dali. Oh my, the hundreds of possibilities. Do you see why I love this series so much? I also have to make icons. Tons of icons. But first I have to go and write. If I come back before I have finished a decent amount of work, take my ships away from me. That'll do me in.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 04:33 pm (UTC)I'm with you on Derek - he's hard to ship, because Julie crushes on him with all her might and anyone he's shipped with will automatically be seen in a negative light by the majority of readers.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 04:39 pm (UTC)Since Jim/everybody is the perfect ship, I think I can somehow squeeze Julie in. Problem solved! Hmm, now the question remains if Derek is seriously in love with Livie or just crushing on her. What to do with you, Derek, what to do with you...
no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 09:12 pm (UTC)I feel the same way. I loved that story, but the end... Ugh. But the fancy musical toilet--yay!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 09:59 pm (UTC)