Ape's 2013 Challenge (14)

Currently reading: Anansi Boys
Currently playing: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag







Thread #1 (Book 1)
Thread #2 (Book 2)
Thread #3 (Books 3-4)
Thread #4 (Books 5-7)
Thread #5 (Books 8-9)
Thread #6 (Books 10-12)
Thread #7 (Books 13-13)
Thread #8 (Books 13-16)
Thread #9 (Books 17-17)
Thead #10 (Books 18-21)
Thread #11 (Books 22-27)
Thread #12 (Books 28-33)
Thread #13 (Books 34-42)

Books read: 49
Pages read: 16,155

January:
1. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
2. The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer
3. Plague by H.W. Bernard
4. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

February:
5. Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth by Trevor Norton
6. Psychlone by Greg Bear
7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
8. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
9. Being Written by William Conescu

March:
10. The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart
11. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
12. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

April:
14. The Four Fingers of Death by Rick Moody
15. The Best of the Rejection Collection by Matthew Diffee
16. Ancient Greece by Paul Cartledge

May:
17. The Lost World by Michael Crichton
18. The Black Country by Alex Grecian
19. Notes for a War Story by Gianni Pacinotti
20. Sciencia by Burkard Polster

June:
21. Congo by Michael Crichton
22. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
23. The Winter Road by Terry Hokenson
24. Things I Learned About My Dad (in Therapy) edited by Heather B. Armstrong
25. The Isle of Stone by Nicholas Nicastro

July:
26. On Desire by William B. Irvine
27. The Ascending by T. M. Wright
28. Tithe by Holly Black
29. Next by Michael Crichton

August:
30. Among Others by Jo Walton
31. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
32. Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich
33. The Tent by Margaret Atwood
34. The Lizard King by Bryan Christy
35. Harm by Brian W. Aldiss
36. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

September:
37. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
38. Escape from Communist Heaven by Dennis W. Dunivan
39. America the Edible by Adam Richman
40. I'm Not Scared by Nicollo Ammanitti

October:
41. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
42. Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
43. The White Devil by Justin Evans
44. Blood Crazy by Simon Clark
45. Infected by Scott Sigler
46. Halloweenland by Al Sarrantonio

November:
47. Ingenious by Jason Fagone
48. Gulp by Mary Roach
49. Contagious by Scott Sigler

Good morning!

Good morning, Amber! Oh, it's blissfully cool this morning. I'm sitting here with the heater on, sipping at a pumpkin-spiced chai. Ah, fall. :)

Ha! *I'm* sitting *here* with the heater on, a cuppa Earl Grey and a slice of blueberry coffecake, which Charlie helped me make yesterday.

ETA: pumpkin-spiced chai - YUM.

Earl Grey is one I still need to try, but I'm currently going through every brand and version of Chai (or cinnamon-based black tea) I can get my hands on. :)

I just use Coffee Mate's Pumpkin Spice creamer for the pumpkin-spice flavor. It's, of course, not real pumpkin, but pumpkin-flavored chemicals, but it's delicious anyway! I'm also drinking Lipton's Cinnamon-spiced chai. Take that, hipsters!!!

Ha! Lipton is not to be snooted, I think. I love their blackberry tea. And I've never tried a chai I didn't love.

My least-favorite chai was Bigelow's Vanilla Chai and it was still quite delicious, just less delicious than others.

I agree, I'm okay with commercial dry goods because, well, there dry goods. They probably aren't loaded with chemicals or artificial ingredients. In fact, now that I think about it, the only tea I've had that had anything artificial in it was the Vanilla Chai...and that's probably due to the fact that real vanilla is so pricey. Anyway, yeah, I'm fine with commercial tea. :)

There is a variety pack of berry teas I've been meaning to try, but I'm not a big fan of berry flavors so I've been hesitant.

Happy new thread! I too am having a hot beverage in this cool weather, which is unusual for me. I'm enjoying my mom's homemade hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream and I'm in heaven.

In the realm of Earl Gray, I highly recommend Lady Gray. It's Earl Gray with a citrus kick. It's my fave tea.

Leah: Mmmmm, you can't go wrong with hot chocolate. I can't comment on the Lady Gray, considering I haven't had the Earl-variety, but in terms of citrus, there is an orange-and-cinnamon variety I'm curious about, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. I did try an orange rind and allspice black tea though, it wasn't bad. :)

If I weren't so caffeine sensitive I would drink Chai lattes and London Fogs all the time. :(

Hi, Stephen! :) Thought I'd just add some wall decoration for Halloween.

Micky: Awwww, if it makes you fair, I've gained like a bazillion pounds since I started drinking chai lattes daily. I should probably cut back, but it is so worth it. :P

Sara: Didn't I use that gif once to demonstrate my man-slave tendencies? Anyway, better him than me! :)

I don't remember. I just stumbled across him when googling man-slaves. I mean, smiley face gifs. And you're right--better him than you. :) Doesn't look very good for his arms.

Stop googling the man-slaves, you'll spoil them! ;)

Ok, ok. (ignores man-slaves)

Oh, now THAT is torturous.

Good! >:)

And you are EVIL!! :P

#12 Congrats on stumbling into Chai lattes, one of the drinks I quite like too. But then, I am a caffeine junky, with more leaning towards tea - Chai Lattes of various kinds, Earl Gray, Darjeeling Tea, Ceylon Tea, Masala Tea, Ginger Tea, Green Tea, Green Tea with Lemon, Green Tea with Honey, Lemon Tea, etc. - I welcome them all!

Crazy busy week so this is a quick fly through to second the rec for Lady Grey tea - one of my personal favs is Twinnings Lady Grey - and making quick notes of the Chai tea brands you recommend... I love the smell of Chai teas but a lot of them seem to lack any flavour/taste.

Hmmm, I have long been a huge fan of Earl Grey tea; perhaps I'll have to try the Lady.
I like a good London Fog: Earl Gray with steamed milk and (for me) a cube of sugar.

ETA: Hi Stephen!

Oh, here you are. Ah.

Piyush: The discovery is partially Foggidawn's fault. I had tried chai in the past but didn't like it, but when we had our LT meetup earlier this year I we had chai's at a little cafe and it was delicious! Turns out I just wasn't doing it right.

Lori: Yeah, it can taste watery to me too sometimes, or sugary milk. I fix this by doubling what the box recommends. 1 bag of tea for 1 cup? I'll take two bags, thank you very much! I also brew my tea in the boiling pot, as opposed to pouring the water into a glass with the bag like the box often recommends. Also, in terms of flavor, the Lipton brand really isn't the strongest, I don't think, but it's what I like. Of the brands that I have tried, Good Earth has a pretty strong flavor. I think it's a little perfume-y without cream and sugar though, which I'm not a big fan of, but after it's creamed and sugared it's actually beneficial, and it's also pretty good with the pumpkin spice. :)

Ellen: Yeah, I like cream and sugar with all of my black teas, personally. I bought a variety pack of green teas and cream seemed like a desecration, for some reason. A little sugar never hurts though. :)

Hi Richard? Me? Here? Just as I suspected!

#18: And that's a bad thing? :P

It depends on what kind of evil, cute adorable evil like Liz Vicious or crazy malevolent evil like Mel Gibson?

I'm thinking you are leaning heavily towards the Liz Viscious side of things, possibly with Gibson's evil laugh when you set fire to people's houses. Nope, not a bad thing at all! ;)

Can I have his moustache, too?

Only if you shave it off yourself.

Oh! Forgot to mention. I saw a variety box by Twinnings that had Earl Gray and Lady Gray teas in it (and 2 others), so I bought it! I haven't tried them yet, will probably do that tomorrow. I also bought Celestial's chai tea, and I like it quite a bit! I haven't tried it with the pumpkin spice though.

Woot! That's the Twinnings variety pack that I always get! Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast are the other two, no? I feel so close to you right now. Ha!

Haha, yeah, those are the other two! Is there any difference between the Irish and English teas? It justs lists black tea leaves as the ingredient for both. I'm assuming that you are supposed to add alcohol to the Irish one, but I could be wrong. :P

#27: But I kind of wanted to rip it off his face and glue it mine. No shaving involved. :)

#30: *snort* Oh, yes, I'm sure that's the difference between Irish and English tea.

You could be all leather-face-like and remove his upper lip with a sharp rusty object and then wear it on your face whilst wielding a scary chainsaw. I don't think anyone would mind. ;)

Halloweeen Theme Read #3

Ghosts





43. The White Devil by Justin Evans



Pages: 366
Rating: 3/5

Fiction - Gothic/Horror/Haunting
Library checkout

Andrew Taylor is a little out of place. An American boy with a troubled past, he is sent to an all-boys school England as a last attempt to straighten him out. His first human interaction at Harrow School for Boys is with the matron of the school, who criticizes him for being too early and then goes on to tell him his part of the school is haunted. Unfortunately for him, this ghost is very real, and it latches on to him for reasons that unfold throughout the story in a very suspenseful, mystery-like fashion.

The White Devil is an interesting novel. It encompasses a wide range of topic and genres; it's a horror story, with a mystery, involving the life of Lord Byron, tuberculosis, gay boy-sex, and a super awesome kick-butt librarian. Oh, and unsavory poets! Can't forget those.

There are some really scary moments to be found here, but they are spaced pretty well apart and most of the plot is spent unraveling the mystery of why the ghost is haunting the building in the first place. It does a great job of making you want to read more, but I do wish the darker aspects of the 'lot ghost' had been explored, as it would have upped the tension and driven home how dangerous he was. It's still an interesting ride, however.

Irish vs. English Breakfast teas: There's a difference in taste, but I can't figure out how to describe it. I think maybe the Irish one is stronger one, but not in an alcoholic sense - ha! Just try them and see.

I "cold brewed" the English breakfast over night and it's quite good! I should just do that with both of them overnight tonight and see how they taste in the morning.

I'm interested to see which you like better...

Me too!

In other news, the video game I'm playing now (Demon's Souls) is making me want to rip my face off. Grrrrr.

#32: Least of all Mel. ;)

#33: I don't really like ghost stories, but that one sounds interesting. I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks! :)

#37: Rip your own face off? Oh no, allow me. >:) Btw, good luck with Blood Crazy. I really need to work on Simon Clark's books.

If it makes you feel any better, Blood Crazy is reading extremely quick. I really didn't read that much yesterday, but I still managed to make it over the 80 page mark. The writing is pretty average though, in my opinion.

The game is just plain evil. The developers obviously had no intention other than to totally piss off everyone who attempted to play their game. They are definitely sadists. You would like them! :)

I tried the English and Irish breakfast teas this morning. I'm afraid to say they taste exactly the same to me. Perhaps it's a very subtle difference, or maybe it's just because I was drinking them cold, but they both tasted like run of the mill black teas. *Shrug*

I think I forgot to mention that I tried the Earl Gray yesterday. It's really good! It's not at all what I imagined, and I'm looking forward to the more citrus-ified Lady version. :)

Yep, Earl Grey and Lady Grey are definitely the better of the two in the variety pack. I'm excited that we like the same teas! Ha!

Irish Breakfast Tea and English Breakfast Tea are different blends of several kinds of black tea leaves. There is no set recipe for them, but Irish has more Assam tea in it, which makes it stronger and maltier tasting.

I'm currently in love with Twinings' Blackcurrant Breeze. It's a black tea blend with pieces of Blackcurrant in it. It smells so delicious.

Earl Grey is one of my favourites as well, Englsih Breakfast, not so much.

By the way, one of the decent places to try a Chai Latte is your nearest Starbucks.

#39: Good job in getting so far in Blood Crazy! I don't own that one yet, but I do have Ghost Monster. Maybe I'll read it; that is, if I can find it in my towers of books and not get crushed. o_0

Yes, I think your game programmers and I would get along famously! :D

#40: Maybe you're supposed to drink the English tea with your pinky finger sticking up. Try that next time. Around a large group of super masculine guys, of course. ;)

Amber: I like chamomile too, but I like it at room temperature, not hot. :)

Nora: Ahh, thanks for the info!

Piyush: Ah, yes, the nearest Starbucks is probably over an hour away, so I'll stick to brewing it myself. :P

Sara: Yeah, you might remember that I bought 4 of his book at the last library sale I attended, so I have a nice stack of his work to return to.

Pffffft, super masculine guys can blow me. :P

Well, you can keep that chamomile - far away from me, please. *shudder*
Charlie and I are baking a carrot cake tomorrow, which goes very well with a nice cuppa Earl Grey. We'll save you a slice!

Oh man, carrot cake is my favorite!!

Chamomile is grossss

Mmm, chamomile is great. Last time I had some I added some lemon honey. Great pre-bedtime cuppa.

Chamomile is pretty good, and I think the lemon-honey idea is a great one! I bought a variety box that had regular chamomile and honey vanilla chamomile, I didn't like the latter but I think the lemon has potential. :)

Do you drink your tea black, or do you add stuff? I add a little bit of honey and a splash of milk to mine.

With chai it's all about the cream and sugar! I like the breakfast teas with just sugar though, and I can drink chamomile without anything added (although I like a big of sugar.) Lady Gray is citrus-y enough I could probably drink it without anything added, but I probably won't. :P

For bedtime I prefer mint tea or Twinings' Lemon Ginger tea. Chamomile just tastes like medicine to me.

Ha, I feel the same way about cherry-flavored liquids.

I have peppermint and spearmint teas, but I didn't really like them much, unfortunately.

NO CHERRY-FLAVORED THINGS EVER! Ughh! ::hiss spit::

ETA: I LOVE cherries but they taste like cherries. Cherry flavor tastes like death.

#55: Agreed!

Fun... and informative, tea conversation over here, Stephen! We have stacks of tea here at home, including the Twinnings variety pack you recently purchased. By the way, the difference between English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast is that English is supposed to be a blend of Assam and Kenyan tea while Irish is a blend of Assam and Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) tea.

My other half is rather particular about his black tea so we have Ty-phoo brand for him, and I have my herbals like chamomile or lemon/ginger - hot chamomile tea with honey makes a nice afternoon tea when I am trying to get some work done.

Thirded! Cherries are awesome, cherry-flavored drinks make me gag. Cherry coke is okay, but that's because the noxious cherry stuff is masked...and caffeinated, I suppose.

Lori: Yeah, see, I keep hearing that chamomile is good with honey, but I don't have any. No matter, I've only got 1 bag left anyway. :P

(I like fake cherry flavor. Yum.)

In drinks? I don't mind cherry candies, sometimes, but cherry drinks are awful!

Though cherry candy can sometimes taste like cough drops....

Yep. Cherry KoolAid, Cherry Coke, Cherry 7Up, cherry starburst, cherry jelly beans...

Having carrot cake and Earl Grey for breakfast. Yum.

Something is wrong with your tongue!

*snork!* After all of that fake cherry flavoring, yeah, probably.

I drank black cherry juice for years, as it helped control the gout.

A bit tired of cherry flavor at this point. Like unswallow-lunch-from-Saturday tired.

But now I know where to send my leftovers! Straight to Stephen.

Amber: How horrible! You should find someone to trade tongues with.

Richard: My mom's husband has gout and currently has a swollen foot up to the ankle as a result of it. Terrible stuff, that!

Halloween Theme Read #4

Zombies





44. Blood Crazy by Simon Clark



Pages: 397
Rating: 3/5

Fiction: Pseudo-zombies
Owned (Library book sale)

On a day that would later be named Day 1, parents inexplicably began to murder their children. Nick Aten was staying at a friend's house, so he was "lucky," though he didn't feel that way when he returned home to find his brother dead and his parents missing. It didn't take long for him to figure out that everyone over the age of 18 had turned into murderous, psychotic maniacs.

I suppose you could call Blood Crazy a zombie novel, although I think it's an inaccurate categorization. The adults aren't undead, and they don't behave remotely zombie-like, there is just something alarmingly wrong with them. It's an interesting concept too, and Clark develops it nicely. Though it feels flat in the beginning, the plot progresses nicely and the increasingly odd behavior of the adult population is intriguing enough to keep you turning pages deep into the night.

The book tries to get philosophical in the end, but it mostly fell flat for me. I didn't really buy into it, and even though I really liked the effect it had on Nick (and my own opinion of another main character) it didn't connect well with what was actually happening. I still enjoyed the book though, it's a minor issue in what is otherwise a quick and exciting experience. I'll definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

66> I think Tomm may have something to say about that...

You mean Tomm approves of your fake cherry consumption? Yep, you are both lost causes. :P

Uh, yep. That's what I meant. Definitely.

Me too! ...

In other news, I'm getting through my Halloween books so fast I may have to find a 6th book to read. It'll depend on how fast Infected goes, though.

I saw this and thought of your tea discussions:

Tea:

Ha! Oh dear! I usually make my chai half-and-half with milk so it is a pretty hefty cup by the time I start drinking it. :P

72> *SNORK!*

Love the Halloween theme reading!

Me too, Ellen! :)

#67: Not really a zombie book, huh? Oh well. I'll still try reading him someday.

lol @ 72. So true.

Nope, not a zombie book, despite the big zombie tag on the book's page.

Infected is moving a bit slow. It's actually really good, but I don't seem to be flipping pages terribly fast, so I might not have to find an extra book after all.

Oh, and I'm nearly at the end of the video game I'm playing and I still have my face, so that's good.

Kind of like 28 Days Later. A lot of people consider that a zombie movie, too. Oh well.

Sorry to hear about Infected, or at least the reading's going slower than expected. I know how that goes. I just started The Radleys last night and got so sucked into it, I expected to finish it by today, but well, life happens and reading gets put on the back burner. I hope Infected stays a good read, and the ending doesn't suck. :)

Yay for having a face! :P

Yeah, although at least the people in 28 Days Later behaved like zombies. I mean, it's a fine line we are walking with modern zombies. A lot of zombies now, you become a zombie if you get bitten, and you don't even have to die. You get infected, and then you start zombifying. In that sense, 28 Days Later is close. In Blood Crazy, the people were capable of behaving perfectly normal...y'know, except for the part about wanting to kill their children. :P

Did you ever see Simon Pegg's essay called "Zombies Don't Run"? Good stuff...

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/nov/04/television-simon-pegg-dead-set

#80: I gotcha. Big difference. Wanting to kill your children? Sounds perfectly normal to me. :P

Jim: Hmmm, I don't know that I agree. I think myths are a representation of a people's culture, and so it should evolve along with them. I also think he contradicts himself. He says fast zombies are a bastardization of what zombies are supposed to be, he keeps using Romero's zombies as an example of what a true zombie is, but later in the article he says that Romero's zombies weren't true to the original voodoo zombie myth, that Romero incorporated parts of the vampire myth to create a new type of zombie, those making Romero's zombies a bastardization.

So if he thinks we should stick to traditional myths, he should stop worshiping Romero because he took liberties with the myth. And if he loves Romero's bastardization so much then he should be more accepting of modern takes on the zombie mythos.

I, personally, think the Romero zombie is a really cool version of them, and they are my personal favorite. Fast zombies are fine too though, I don't like them as much but I don't think people's creativity should be limited.

I also find it ironic that he would be so hyped up the ruination of zombies when he was in a zombie COMEDY, for crying out loud. ;)

Sara: Haha, you are right, it probably IS a pretty normal desire among parents. :P

You're attitude toward myth is spot on, Stephen, and that's one of the reasons I don't really care for Pegg much - he takes himself too seriously, too. The Greeks would be proud of you! Ha!

Best of luck with the job!

*Blushes* Well, you have Neil Gaiman to thank for my views on mythology.

I believe that the original myths should definitely be preserved, by the way. I certanly like to see classics retold in their original form, for a number of reasons, but I also believe it is important to let them be retold in new ways.

It doesn't necessarily mean that retelling are all good, of course. I don't like Margaret Atwood's retelling of the Odysseus/Penelope myth. She had good intentions, but it was mostly bitchy and sexist. I did like Madeline Miller's retlling of the Achilles myth, however, which wsa fresh, relevant to today's politics, and encouraged acceptance of other people (as opposed to condemnation. *ahem*)

Again, I agree with you on all points, except for the Miller, but only because I haven't read it yet!

I also find it ironic that he would be so hyped up the ruination of zombies when he was in a zombie COMEDY, for crying out loud. ;)

Yeah, I had the same thought. :)

Amber: Yes, but you are going to read it SOON, aren't you. ;)

Jim: Yeah, I liked the movie, and I liked Zombie Land too, I just found it funny that he of all people would be making such an argument.

I have to get myself a copy first. I'll get there.

The Greeks would be disappointed in you.

Reading World War Z for bookgroup and thought of you. : )

Hurray! I hope you are enjoying it.

>94 norabelle414: That cartoon makes me so happy, Nora. :)

Great, now I can't stop imagining a decomposing corpse dancing about singing "I would dance and be merry, life would be a ding-a-derry, if I only had a brain..."

Ha! Google zombie wizard of oz. There's quite of bit of that stuff.

Hahaha, wow, that's AMAZING! :)

Halloween Theme Read #5

Aliens




45. Infected by Scott Sigler



Pages: 342
Rating: 4/5

Horror - Disease
Library checkout

I'm a big fan of disease fiction, and nonfiction, and some sick sadistic part of me is infinitely curious about all the horrible things that go wrong with a body as a result of a deadly disease. How can you not be intrigued by black ebola vomit and necrotizing fasciitis, I mean really! This one, however, had me both cringing and behaving like a total hypochondriac. I'm just happy I didn't read it a couple months later, after my inevitable yearly winter skin set it. Every itch would have had me paranoid, for sure!

Infected is a brutal read at times, this is not for the squeamish, but the very idea is totally horrifying and cringe-inducing. It also feels a little disjointed, in that the first half of the book feels very different than the second half. I really liked Margaret, she was an awesome kick-butt epidemiologist, but she sort of fell off the map for awhile which was disappointing. Nevertheless, I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel as soon as possible, and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Thought you'd be interested to know that Kitchen Confidential is one of the World Book Night books this year. I was surprised but it's a pretty cool choice.

Oh, cool! Hurray for cocaine and sleazy sex. :P

>99 Ape: Glad you enjoyed your germy book. :P

Thanks! I'm glad I enjoyed it too, of course. :P

It really sucked me in on the day I finished it. I had a couple bad reading days in a row, I think I read 12 pages one day and 16 the next. But I read from page 180-something to 342 in one day. Oh, how I wish I read that much every day! :)

As much as I like a good contagion style story, the squeamish person that I am when it comes to brutal reads will avoid Sigler's Infected. Great review!

Thanks Lori! Yeah, it's pretty gruesome thoughout the bulk of the book.

Halloween Theme Read #6

Halloween




46. Halloweenland by Al Sarrantonio



Pages: 233
Rating: 2/5

Horror - Halloween
Library checkout

I love reading Al Sarrantonio's Orangefield books during the month of October. Even though the writing is less than stellar, the spooky little town with it's famous pumpkin festival and eerie Lord of the Dead sightings is the perfect setting to settle into around the time of Halloween.

Unfortunately, Halloweenland didn't live up to my expectations. It starts off creepily enough; a wife and her husband decide to have a baby, but the husband is late home from work on the night they had scheduled. The wife is awoken in the middle of the night by her husband's cold hands, apologizing for being late but says he made a promise and intends to keep it. The next morning the wife discovers that her husband died during the night, in a car crash, and was already pronounced dead before the time she thought she slept with him.

The book started out as a 70-page novella called The Baby and then was boosted up to a 230-page novel for this publishing. It's a stark contrast between the original and the additional content, not just because the extra text takes place five years later, but because it doesn't evoke that Halloween atmosphere that the series is known for. I found the 2nd part to be meandering and dull, and he also sort of ruined his Samhain character that he built up with the other books. The whole thing just kind of fell flat for me.

The original novella is actually included in the book too. I skimmed it, and it seems to be the first 70 pages copy-and-pasted with a couple different paragraphs at the very end.

I still think Horrorween Hallows Eve are nice books to read during Halloween and I would still recommend them, but this one just didn't do it for me. It's too bad.

That *is* troubling when a favorite series goes wonky. Sorry. Here's hoping your next one is better!

Infected sounds right up my alley. I will have to hunt it down. : ) Skipping Halloweenland, but not Halloween. xoxo

Amber: Thanks! I don't think I have enough time to finish another horror books this month, so I'm moving on from the Halloween theme reading. I'll be reading an ER book next, and after that I plan to read the sequel to Infected, and after THAT I plan to read your recommendation: Anansi Boys! If my library has it in, that is. :)

Kim: Yay! :D

Look at you go with all the spooky and gross books how many was that this month?

I managed to fit in 6, which I'm quite pleased about, especially since one of them was 600 pages. I finished books for: Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, aliens, and a generic Halloween book. :)

Well done you!

Thanks! :)

>109 Ape:: WooHoo!

Stephen, aren't you a superuser/librarian/datamauler on this site? If you are, will you please please please fix the title of my new book? http://www.librarything.com/work/14402332/book/103229602

It's Trinacria, not Trincria. Even the cover that Ammy imported says Trinacria. Everything else looks fine and matches the book itself.

I know I'm being stupidly picky, but wrong TITLES in a book/library database make me a crazy person.

Amber: I thought you would like that.

Richard: I have fixed the canonical title, meaning that anyone who views the book should see the proper title (as I do.) However, I think because you have the book entered in your library with the wrong title it will still appear wrong for you. For example, if I search for the book, or go to the author's page, I see Trinacia, but if I click your link I see Trincia. You need to click your own link in the above post, click "edit book" (It's on the left side, just below the image of the cover) and change the book title there, so it will show up properly in your library. You can remove that "essential prose series" bit too if you wish. :)

Thanks for the reminder to edit my book! I hope someone else will add it one day and now THEY CAN FIND THE DAMNED THING!!

*fumes off to drink away annoyance and irkedness with scotch rocks x2*

Congrats on completing your personal Halloween challenge. Sorry the last book was a bit of a dud.

Richard: Haha, yeah, I'm poking around the 'add books'' page and I definitely don't see it anywhere. That's one you have to enter manually, for sure! I have to do that with my video game account, of course. :P

Thanks Micky. *Smooches*

Wow, smooches just for that. What do I get if I do something really spectacular/adorable? ;)

#99: Glad you liked Infected! :) I might get to that...maybe. Sorry to hear about Halloweenland, though. :(

#120: Oooh, don't ask, Micky. It won't be chocolates, believe me!

Micky: What happens is I go spend "alone time" behind closed door. :P

Sara: I'll be picking up Contagious tomorrow. Should be fun to submit my job application and then turn around a check out a book with a cover like that.

>122 Ape: Gah!

>121 saraslibrary: You were so right, Sara.

#122: Good luck with your job application! :) Which is the creepier cover, though, for Contagious: the mask or shackles (the German edition)? Either way, make sure you sniffle and cough a lot when you check out. ;)

#123: Unfortunately, I'm always right about Steven. :P Do I get a treat for that?

Reviewed a very "you" book: OCTOPUS!: The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea.

Micky: Don't let that stop you being spectacular/adorable all the time, though! :P

Sara: I was thinking the mask, although the shackles are creepy too. Unfortunately my mom's husband had to borrow my car yesterday so I didn't get to browse the library, but I did submit my job application.

Speaking of which, you guys can totally spam them with "Why Stephen should be hired" emails if you want! :P

Richard: Oh yes!! I've seen that one...but I'm not sure when/where, it must have been when you entered it into your library. It does look very interesting! Oh and by the way, I'm super happy you said octopuses and not octopi. Thank you!

The pedantically proper plural is "octopodes" which is like "penes"...correct, but just WRONG.

As Amber once said, this is ENGLISH people, use these rules not the furrin ones. (I paraphrase.)

I like octopodes better than octopi, which I loathe.

You know my opinion one language shackles (errrr, I mean, "rules"), I see nothing wrong with octopuses.

Language is a tool. It should be used to convey meaning, not convince of erudition. It's a shame, though, that so many people mistake conveying a fine shade of meaning for being uppish.

>126 Ape: That is my constant state of being. You just don't get to witness it because you don't know me IRL. :P

Richard: Yes, I hate snobby uppish people more than most other people combined, and there is a lot of hate there. :P

Micky: That's what you think! *Is secretly your neighbor* Oh by the way, you may want to avert your eyes for the next post. Lots of creepy imagery! ;)

October summary:

Books: 6
Pages: 2,335

Fiction: 6
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 1
Library checkout: 5

>131 Ape: Yeah, you so don't live in my apartment building. :P

Okay fine, I only take week-long trips there to watch you from across the street. :P

#126: Bummer about your stepdad bogarting the car. What, he wouldn't let you ride on the hood or even the trunk?? :P

Congrats on submitting your job app, though! :) As for spamming your future employer...um, something seems wrong about that. But you could've totally put me down as a reference and said you volunteered where I work. Yeah, like that sounds so much more kosher. ;) I would totally get fired for that.

I'm super happy you said octopuses and not octopi. -- Or octopussies.

#133-134: Maybe he lives in the crawlspace, kind of like this dude:

>134 Ape: Are you hanging out in the drycleaner's or the gay bar?

>135 saraslibrary: Highrise. No crawlspace. :P

lol @ 136. Can I pick the place for Stephen? Please oh please!

Darnit, no crawlspace? :( What about in the walls?

>137 saraslibrary: Concrete.

Certainly not concrete ceilings and floors, too? We've got to squeeze Stephen somewhere. What about the airducts?

Hahaha, that drycleaner is a genius, setting up by the gay bar. They must make some serious dough removing various unmentionable bodily fluids on a weekly basis. :P

Well, I thought it was funny. :)

Oh man, that's genius! I'll accept that use of the word "octopi." :)

Made me chuckle, too.

>142 richardderus: LOL!!!
That and the Jedi cuppa tea...brilliant. You do draw the funnies in Stephen.

My dad loves telling the story about on his first trip to the U.S. when he accidentally went into a gay bar. He couldn't believe how friendly Americans were towards him...gathering around, asking so many questions, offering him drinks....I just cant believe it took him so long to figure out they were all hitting on him!

Haha! I guess that would make Americans seem super friendly! I'm assume that misunderstanding was corrected shortly after, yeah? :P

...when he clicked he high-tailed it outa there, as it were.

47. Ingenious: A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America by Jason Fagone



Pages: 375
Rating: 3/5

Nonfiction: Science/Technology, Engineering
Owned (Early Reviewers)

In 2010, the X Prize Foundation posed a challenge to the general public: to build the cleanest, most energy-efficient car they possibly could. Green cars are a hot commodity right now, and many people are saddened that with all the technological advancement many cars don't have much better miles-per-gallon than cars built 100 years ago. That's why X Prize offered $10 million to anyone who could design a car that all the major auto makers couldn't.

Ingenious follows the journey of 4 teams as they try to build their cars. Aptera and Edison2 take radical approaches, throwing huge amounts of money into cars that resemble cars out of science fiction movies. West Philly is a group of high school kids who convert regular cars to hybrids as a school project, and enter a converted Ford Focus and Ford GT. Lastly, and my personal favorite, Team Illuminaiti cobble together a car constructed of cannibalized parts of other cars, and their numbers are quite alarming! They claim to be reaching the 207 MPGe mark right now, which is just crazy.

The book was alright, but it didn't grab me like I thought it would. It was a bit scatterbrained at times, with so many garages, concepts, and back stories to keep track of. Fortunately I found the engineering process incredibly fascinating, which makes me disappointed in myself because I have no skills and require a mechanic to change the oil in my car.

Ultimately, Ingenious does an okay job of showcasing what electric and hybrid cars are capable of being. If I had my choice, I would have ignored the X Prize aspect of the novel altogether and focused more on fuel efficiency in general, but I still walk away from the book with an ounce of hope that cars will be BETTER in the near future. There are a lot of smart people working hard on the problem, even though as I'm typing this sentence the CBS Morning News is reporting that there was another Tesla electric car fire. Hmmm...maybe give it another few years, yeah?

You found me out, young man! Miss you Stephen! I am reading currently, and I've missed everyone on here :) I am thinking about seriously starting a 2014 challenge.

>147 LovingLit: Did they discuss the unsustainability of car batteries at all? That is one of the major drawbacks of electric cars, that they basically rely on toxic car batteries that are made of ungreen materials. Well, that and the whole thing about so much electricity still coming from coal plants which just replaces the source of pollution.

I want clean cars to be a viable thing soooo bad but so far they aren't really any cleaner in the big picture, just more "fuel efficient" on paper. Hydrogen cars still feel the most promising to me.

Tam: *Malicious grin* Well, you simply MUST send me a link if you decide to rejoin us, okay? :)

Leah: Most of the focus was on the X Prize competition and the engineering fo the cars, but he did mention that driving electric cars that need to be plugged in are just as toxic sense the electric power has to come from a dirty power plant.

The MPGe statistic is supposed to take that into account though. Also remember that electric cars can be charged with green energy sources like windmills, so it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Car batteries weren't mentioned at all (other than how heavy they are) but I do always wonder if people take that into consideration at all. Do environmentalists think about the toxicity of car batteries at all? I wonder...

Well, my library removed the job posting from their website. *Sigh* :(

Are you trying to get a job at the library?

I've been trying for 2 years, but they won't give me the light of day. They have never responded to any of my applications and they ignore all of my emails.

Oh, dag. I'm sorry. I wonder why they keep passing up on you?

Sorry about the bad news... :(

Are they actually hiring people to fill these jobs or are the postings just going up and down?

Stephen, have you gone into talk to their HR department? I know they have one here for my library system. I would personally hand deliver a resume and cover letter.
Also, I would definitely look into volunteering to get your foot in the door (most volunteer positions only ask for 2ish hours a week).

Amber: I assume because my resume is empty. I'm not very appealing in general, but especailly on paper. They didn't even contact me for a cleaning position. -.-

Jim: I assume they are hiring people, there are 5-6 librarians that are there regularly but there is always an extra person or 2 that I've never seen just abotu every time I visit.

Tam: I offered to volunteer and they weren't interested. Actually, I called about volunteering and turned me down, said they weren't interested but they would contact me if anything opened up. Literally a month or so later they posted a Page position, which I offered to do for free! They didn't contact me to let me know the position opened, and of didn't call me in for an interview when I applied.

Wow, I can't believe they would turn you down for volunteering! Usually libraries will take anyone who wants to volunteer! Is there another Library system in a county over that you can check into for volunteering (if it is not too far)? Stephen, if you want to send me your resume, I can look at it to see what kind of stuff you have on there- also, some counties/cities offer classes on resumes, too. Skills that you acquire do not have to be related to jobs you have already worked- most people have lots of skills they have acquired by virtue of just doing things on their own. If I am being too nosy just tell me! :) I just hate to see you upset!

I have run into that with the libraries in Oklahoma and here a bit, I think a lot of libraries end up hiring internally or something.

#158: Just speaking for the library system I work for, it is next to impossible to volunteer here, espcially at the smaller branches. They typically look for high schoolers anyway, I guess to help them with college admission.

Btw, when I was in high school (some 20 years ago), I asked to volunteer and was turned down, too, because they didn't have enough work for volunteers. Between then and now, it took me about 10 years to get hired on, if that makes you feel any better. It's very, very difficult to get into, and I hate to say it, it does feel a bit sexist (the majority of employees are women, especially older ones). So it really is not you. Just keep at it, ok? :) We're all rootin' for ya.

#159: We do a lot of internal hiring here, too, in WA. I really don't know any new hires (even our temps) that don't have years of previous library experience.

Sending well wishes for your ongoing job hunt.

Stephen, I have a thread now! YAY!

Hooray! Now we can stalk you, too. ;)

Stephen, I suggest you meander over to my thread to see the book I finished reading on the weekend. Make sure you're sitting down.

Paging Dr. Stephen!

Sorry, I've been behaving like a whiny petulent child that didn't get what he wanted so I just haven't been around the past few days.

48. Gulp by Mary Roach



Pages: 319
Rating: 4/5

Nonfiction: Science - Biology - Health/Digestive System
Library checkout

I'm a big fan of Mary Roach and her books. A lady who writes science books about things like dead bodies and defecating in zero-gravity is obviously one after my own heart. And since I've been thinking about her alimentary canal for years, I was pretty excited when I saw she had published a book about it. Well, it turns out the alimentary canal is something completely different than what I was imagining all these years, but it was still a wonderful book!

Gulp is a fun read about the various gastro goings-on in your body that you've probably given little to no thought about in the past. She is both humorous and fascinating, and so long as you aren't squeamish or prudish you'll find Roach's witty humor a delightful compliment to the well-researched information she so adequately feeds you, so to speak. She has a way of making taboo topics more...ah, shall we say, digestible. Yeah, I said it. For those not interested in reading deep, scholarly books on things like stomach acid and bowel movements, her lighthearted banter makes such topics much more approachable and, I assume, less embarrassing at the checkout counter in your local library/book shop.

Once again, another fun read by the lovely Mary Roach. Now I sit and eagerly anticipate the next.

I need to get round to reading Mary Roach's stuff soon.

*Nods* Definitely!

I put this on my list Stephen! I'm sorry Stephen :( I know how frustrating that can be, believe me!

>166 Ape: Fair, but if you're not around you don't get hugs. :P

Thanks, ladies. I'll probably feel better tomorrow night when I pick up my Playstation 4 at the midnight release, something I've never done in my life. I sold 2 of my old consoles and a ton of games so I could buy it, so it better be worth it. :P

Oh, wow, that's exciting!

Yeah, I was planning on picking it up Friday morning/noon, but I was notified today that my local store is going to do a midnight release after all, so I'll be going in with my sister and her boyfriend tomorrow night instead.

I'm currently training to stay up that late by not going to bed at 9:00 tonight. :P

Wewt Stephen!

#167: I guess having a mouth on the cover is better than having other digestive organs on it....I'll have to read that one sometime. It really does sound interesting.

#174: Sounds horrifyingly fun! ;) I've never done one of those midnight release dealies, and for some reason, it makes me think of Black Friday madness. Hope you get your console without any bruises! :)

Tamara: =)

Sara: I live in a small town, so it shouldn't be so bad as all that. Plus, everyone has already paid for their consoles, so there's know elbowing and left-hooks over that precious 50-percent-off discount.

I've been to a couple of midnight released for products, and it's not pushy-shovey at all, really. They're usually a lot of fun - a group of people all excited about the same thing in a store in the middle of the night.

I think the last (and only) midnight release I went to was for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was fun, and not really Black Friday-like at all.

Have fun picking up your new toy tonight. :)

My plan to stay up late last night backfired, because I woke up at my normal time of 4:30-ish and now I'm operating on 5 hours of sleep. Plan B: Lots of caffeine.

Why do you wake up so early? You're brave!

Habit, I guess! Even when I stay up late several days in a row, I'll inevitably get up around 5am regardless.

#177: Aww, no violence? :*( What's a video game sale with no violence?

#178-9: Good to know. I've never been to one. I have yet to find anything I absolutely need at midnight...surrounded by a bunch of strangers. (shudders)

#180: Oh, it is tonight, isn't it? Or this morning. Oh well. What Micky said.

#181: (offers Stephen her Rockstar)

#182: Brave or weird. Either one. ;)

#183: You must be related to my (evil) cat. She's up and knocking my sh*t over about that time in the morning (before I kick her out of my room).

So, judging by my clock, you should be picking up your new console right about now. Woo hoo! :) Happy gaming!

I can assure you there was no violence. In fact, the consoles were given out based on pre-order number, so there wasn't even any jostling to get in line. ;)

It was, indeed, quite fun. Thankfully the store manager was nice enough to open the store so there wasn't any waiting in line out in the cold, there was just a big crowd of people hanging out in the store until the "official" countdown to Midnight meant it was legal for them to give them to us, so yes, no violence I'm afraid.

I'm pretty happy with the console so far. I have a few minor gripes that I know will be fixed in the future. Like the fact that there is no way to sort trophies, or change your background. I'm sure system updates in the future will fix that. Also, as expected, it's very much geared for online connectivity, so I can only experience a small portion of it with my dial-up. Speaking of which, there is a day 1 update that I can't download, so I can't update my trophy profile.

All minor issues, of course. My first game on the Playstation 4 is Assassin's Creed 4, and I'm actually not hating it, so that is pretty impressive. :P

Woot! Exciting! Glad you had a good time.

#185 Grant has been playing AC 4 a lot- I like watching the Pirates!

#184 One of my cats is suuuper evil. We have wood floors and our doors have a gap at the bottom and he runs around the house all hours of the night mrowrrring at the top of his lungs. It is like he senses when you are on the precipice of sleep and he's like " Welp, got to sing the song of my peoples now." He also has a dismembered toy that just is the top half of one of those circular plastic tracks with the ball but it has a stick with a mousie on the end, and he carries the mousie around in his mouth to drag the toy and cries at the top of his lungs. I think it is like his security blanket. I don't have the heart to throw it away. At least he's outgrown playing with his water bowls I guess. *sigh*

Amber: Me too!

Tam: I hate stealth games so I'm on the fence with the Assassin's Creed games. Their fun, but there are other games I'd rather play. This one is fantastic though, and it looks gorgeous on the new console. :)

All cats are suuuper evil, some are just better at hiding it. :P

My car must have been REEKING with evil this evening then. I took Mrs. Kitty and her 4 sons to get snipped this morning and the car ride home was INTENSE! They were all VERY displeased and spent the entire 40 mins screaming for my death.

Haha, in their defense, I would be screaming too in that situation.

>189 leahbird: bwahaha! All three of my kitties cry on car rides.

My cat not only cries in the car. He's also not a fan of the elevator ride down from my apartment.

#185: (sputters) But that's so un-American. No hair-pulling even? You guys were so mild-mannered, so Canadian! :P Kidding. Glad you got your toy! :)

#187: That does sound evil. My cats are probably big opera singers at night, too, but I'm (usually) a heavy sleeper, so I wouldn't know. (shudders @ the thought of my cats playing with their water bowls) Water everywhere...metal clanging...ugh. I'm glad my cats can't read this and get more ideas.

#189-192: Oh, just wait until they start peeing on you (I had that happen walking from the door to the car). Fun stuff!

But hooray for snipping the boy kitties. I'm sure they would eat my fingers for typing that, but spaying/neutering is good.

So apparently the current generation of gaming consoles are so reliant on high speed internet that many of the features are inaccessible to me. In fact, of the 9 icons on the home screen only 4 of them are usable without an internet connection, and 1 of them is the power button. *Rolls eyes*

The digital divide sucks, man.

Happy Monday.

That is all. :-)

That does suck. :/

Hi Ellen! Thanks. :)

Micky/Sara: The sad part is how unnecessary it is, the PS3 works fine offline, but many of the offline features have been stripped away and replace with features that require you to be online. I just learned that I can't play digital games too. In the past, I could take my console to my sister's boyfriend's house and download games, then bring it back home and play them. Now the console REQUIRES YOU TO BE ONLINE to even access digital games that you've installed on your system, so if I did that I wouldn't have any way to access them at home.

Even more obscenely, the console actually disables some of its offline features once you've proven you can connect to the internet. The trophy system (similar to Microsoft's achievement system) works fine out fo the box, but after you connect to PSN the trophy icon is disables and only works if you are connected.

It's maddening, and incredibly disappointing. It's not as severe as what Microsoft was originally intending for their Xbox One, but Microsoft realized their mistake and fixed the problem...Sony apparently has not.

It's a conspiracy. They're totally out to get you, Stephen, because they know you have dial-up. ;)

Ahhhhh! *Hides under the covers*

You're on your own under there. (pokes Stephen with a stick)

*Sigh* Aren't I always.

Hi Stephen!

#202: Aww, there there. (rethinks patting Stephen on the head and pokes him with the stick again)

Hi there, Tammers! :D

Sara: YOU poking ME with a stick is not how I pictured this happening.

Me poking myself with my own stick? After disinfecting it, of course.

Okay! Can I take pictures? :D

Of the stick afterwards, sure. :P (pokes Stephen just for being a perv)

Is there anything particularly odd that will happen to the stick that will make it worthy of photographing afterward? Eep. :X

Need you ask? :P

Sara's vagina has teeth! I knew it!

Well, duh! (lol, that was fun to google, but I'm not posting any vagina dentata pics)

Yes, it's out there, and it's horrifying, and they are totally real! :P

Hi Stephen!

"Teeth" was on TV in October and it made me laugh. (I'd already seen it a couple of years ago and it made me laugh then too.) Hope you're doing well.

Hi there, Laura! I rarely do anything well. :P

>174 Ape: I'm currently training to stay up that late by not going to bed at 9:00 tonight.
LOL
Hope it works!

>198 Ape: ah poo. Im sorry the hype wasn't what it promised. That is not really fair.

And terrible manners from your library too. Fancy not even replying to an offer to volunteer. That is poor form. Shame on them.

>211 Ape: la la la........*skipping past the inexplicable posts*
(please do not take that as a sign that I want it explained....I am fiiiine not knowing any more!)

Megan: Turns out that despite the fact that I'm a total early bird, I actually function quite fine without sleep. Still like going to bed early though!

Oh, the library certainly replied to my offer to volunteer. The told me no, but that they would contact me if something came up. THEN they didn't contact me when the position was availble. :P

>217 Ape: Jerks! :(

#213: I'll take your word on them being totally real. :P

#214: That's an awesome movie! One of my faves. :)

Tam: I like to think of them as being prone to making poor decisions. :P

Sara: Surely no one would ever think about photoshopping such a thing. They HAVE to be real. :P

Just in case they are real, who would you go to if you got a toothache--a gynecologist or dentist? Hmm, there's a head-scratcher.

A gynecolentist, of course!

>221 saraslibrary: HA!

Really? What about braces or teeth whitening? Gynecologist too?

No no, you didn't read the whole word. Gynecolentist. :P

:D Got it. (smacks forehead) Brilliant!

I think it should be gynodontist.

Gynodontist sounds like a dinosaur.

>227 norabelle414:/228 bwahahah!

I would consider studying to be a gynecolentist/gynodontist, but I just can't handle having to stick my fingers in people's mouths all the time.

haha, oh dear, there goes my dinner- out my nose.
Thanks.

I don't think that's where it's supposed to go. ;)

Okay, first book review in awhile! It's been a slow month, but it's not the Playstation 4's fault, I swear. *Cough cough*

49. Contagious by Scott Sigler



Pages: 438
Rating: 3/5

Fiction: Horror/Science Fiction/Thriller (Alien Invasion)
Library checkout

Years have passed since the horrifying events of Infected, but the Triangle menace remains! The plot in the sequel is much less claustrophobic than the last one, as Perry's personal battle in his apartment has transformed into a veritable secret war against an inconceivably terrible enemy.

The characters have progressed nicely this time around. Margaret's kick-assery is stepped up a notch, and Perry is less of a douche than before...you might go so far as to say he grew a heart where is balls used to be. Yep, seriously. The Triangle infection seemed a lot less menacing though. Where I was mortified by what was happening in the first novel, I mostly felt like I was just going through the motions reading this one. Yes, the world is in peril, there is an epic struggle, a race against a clock, it's all hectic, but it just didn't grab me this time around. It also feels less like a horror novel and more like an action/thriller, which is fine, just not what I was expecting.

I liked the book overall, though I'm certainly left with a sense of dissatisfaction. I didn't realize before starting the books that it was a trilogy, so now I'm desperately hoping the 3rd book sees print soon. Argh!

>233 Ape: According to FictFact, the next one is coming out January 21, 2014. So you don't have long to wait.

Oooooh! Hurray! I hope my library gets a copy in! :)

Stephen, my library will take requests for books to purchase. They don't always acquire the books I request but usually they do. And they put me first in line to receive it when it arrives. :-)

#233: Heart-shaped balls? Um... Oh, yeah, and congrats on reading Contagious. Here's hoping the third book shows up at your library soon! :)

I echo Ellen. Submit a purchase request. If they already have the first 2 books, they're very likely to purchase the third. :)

Ellen/Sara: But then I have to talk to a librarian! *Gasp*

Sara: Aren't they vaguely heart-shaped already...depending on your vantage point? :P

Sounds interesting Stephen, I love post apocalyptic novels, esp about contagions/zombies. I'll be putting this on my list.

>239 Ape: *whispers* Stephen, when you talk to me, you're... talking to a librarian.

#239 -- You do realize that I am also a librarian, right? And not only have you talked to me, but you have met me in person. Oh, the horror!

#239 I think Sanderson has covered the creed of librarians pretty well in his Alcatraz series, you are well within your rights to be horrified/afraid.

Ooh yay, Anansi Boys! Hope you enjoy it!

Tam: Infected/Contagious aren't very apocalypse-y, but they are still pretty good. :)

Micky: There's a big difference between verbal communication and text, though. This I am comfortable with, but I feel like a fool every time I open my mouth, so I prefer not to.

Foggi: It's true, but the critical difference is I was able to talk to you online first. I'm very shy and deathly afraid of meeting new people, I'm just bad at it, so "knowing" you online, however briefly, allowed me to be comfortable enough to come out of hiding. As you saw, I believe, I was pretty much scared speechless for a good 10-15+ minutes when I met you in person. I was nervous, nearly-speechless, mumbling, and uttering 1-word responses while mostly communicating by shrugging and nodding my head. That's how I would be if I tried to talk to a librarian, which would be bad if I'm trying to convey important book-related information to them. :(

Piyush: I knew it! Actually, I think librarians are the most wonderful people on the planet. Unfortunately, my social anxiety is so severe that I am still too frightened to approach them.

#239: Ick. Talk to a librarian? Never mind then. Just steal someone else's hold. That'll fix everything. ;)

As for talking to a librarian, 1) I'm not a librarian (I'm just a lowly page, remember?), so nothing to fear; and 2) I'd just sit on you anyway so you couldn't talk, my human foot stool, bwaha! ;)

Like a non-real human heart? I suppose if you kick them a few times, sure. And paste on some hair. Wait, what're we talking about again? Chocolate, right? :P I've craving chocolate all of a sudden.

Oh, Sara, you are far more frightening than any librarian every could be. And that is a compliment, I assure you! ;)

Bwahahah!

#247: Awww, you really are a sweet little boy, aren't you? I'm flattered. :)

>245 Ape: OMG Stephen, you have met LTers in person????!!!???? I am SO jealous. If you ever feel like getting together, you let me know, mmmkay?

Sara: :P

Tamara: Yes! I've met 2, and I have photographic evidence on my profile. I'm totally up for LT meetups, I'm slightly limited in how far I can go and how much I can spend because of financial issues, but any place within an hour or 2 of Logan, Ohio is fine with me.

I'm lending my mom my car right now because her truck doesn't drive well on snow, however, so it may need to wait until spring, unless they get her husband's 4-wheel-drive fixed.

#245 Have you tried poking them with a stick to establish their harmlessness? If they don't scratch or bite you, I think you can approach them with ease.

>251 Ape: YAY! Yeah, once I'm less broke and you have your car situation sorted, we'll have to plan something. :P

Uh oh. I have this creepy feeling a whole gaggle of LT females'll show up on Stephen's porch unannounced. o_0

Piyush: Oh, yes, I dream about poking librarians with a stick all the time, but I'm afraid I'm not quite bold enough to do it in person. :(

Tam: Definitely!

Sara: Oh, that sounds wonderful! Except for the unannounced part...and the on my porch part.

Thread #15 is up! :)