Friday in? Yes, please!

The highlight of the week: it's friday night, I'm home, wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt, doing laundry. And happy about it.

Laundry makes me happy. The clothes are warm and fluffy, so I pull them straight out of the dryer and fold them up or hang them right away. I like the cozy feeling of it. And it's such a simple, predictable task. I know how long it takes to run a load of laundry, in fact my body is practically preset to hear the *buzz* of the dryer just seconds before it goes off. There's something wonderful about a task where progress is so easily measured, particularly in a world where we like things to be new, exciting, and (damnit) unpredictable. Well, not this girl. Give me warm, cozy expectations almost any night.

WoTO Giveaway, sponsored by Maybe Tomorrow?

Beth, the author of Maybe Tomorrow?, is hosting a giveaway on her blog for Kelly Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld. Go check it out, there are lots of possible prizes and I've heard great things about the series!

What Am I Reading? (#2)

Today, for the second time, I'll be participating in "What Am I Reading?" Mondays, which is a weekly meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Today, I am reading The Little Country by Charles de Lint.

This lovely, imaginative little book is glorious to hold (de Lint's books tend to be published on soft, sumptuous paper, that smells exactly the way a new book should smell...it's a tactile experience that's hard to find). More importantly, the story is intoxicating. It involves a magical book, whose story changes for every reader--but this book is kept hidden, because it unleashes power into the world that is felt by greedy, power hungry villains who seek to bend the world to their own twisted ideas. The girl who opens the book this time, unleashing it's subtext of power, find her life ruined as these powerful people try to steal it's secrets.

De Lint is one of my favorite authors, first for his Samuel M. Key books--horror novels published under a different name because they were so gory, the publisher didn't want to alienate his original audience. Amazing books. This one looks to be no different.

Things I Like

Telling a boy I'd be out of town this weekend and asking him to text me to break up the monotony, then him texting me before I even leave.

#grinninglikeanidiot

Is that so much to ask?

I just want to do ordinary things with extraordinary people. I'm looking to find people of amazing quality, just to be a part of my life for everyday little things. I can't imagine that I'm asking too much.

Review (WaIR#1) - Empire, Orson Scott Card

Following this monday's What Am I Reading, this is my review of Orson Scott Card's Empire. 

I feel like Empire was a good read, but I would have enjoyed it more without the scifi elements which felt a bit forced. As he showed with the secondary sequels to Ender's Game (the Shadow Series--arguably my favorite series of novels ever written), Card is a brilliant author of political intrigue. He did obvious research to get the feel of a military personnel based novel, and do it well. 

Liberal media, gentle but brilliant politicians, a view of the US army that was nothing short of ideal. Within the first few chapters, there is an absurd and successful assassination of the President and Vice President that was planned by Rube, the protagonist. He was assigned through the arm to create a way that terrorists would dismantle our government, assuming others would take his plan and figure out how to defend against it, instead it was passed on to some group of terrorists. The political conspiracy that follows is almost get-out-a-paper-and-map-it-out worthy. Seriously. 

After the assassination, Rube and his new assistant Cole have to face the newly emerged Progressive Restoration movement that has used ridiculous mechs and hovercycles to take over New York City. They have to find the center of the Progressive movement (which is leftist and then some). 

Honestly the political overtones in this novel are exhausting. Up until the crazy, War-Of-The-World-esque "mechs" that were introduced in NYC, I thought this was a brilliant novel, full of intrigue and army playing the media. Sadly, it becomes over evident that Card was approached to write this novel as a backdrop to a modern civil war kind of video game. Even the home base of the Progressive movement is set inside a mountain base that reads like a game would play--choppy and predictable. 

So, honestly, this book gets a 2.5 out of 5 stars ( * * 1/2) which, for me reading Orson Scott Card is disappointing because I really love him. The first half gets an easy 4.5, but the rest pulls it down. 

What Am I Reading? (Week #1)

Today, for the first time, I'll be participating in "What Am I Reading?" Mondays, which is a weekly meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

And this week, I'm re-reading Empire, a fantastic military, sci-fi drama by Orson Scott Card, best known for the Ender's Game series. I'm also reading Sheri S Tepper's Plague of Angels, an apocalyptic fairy tale set in in the far distant future. Both, incredible reads.