It takes me for-freakin-ever to read nonfiction.  Not sure why I can fly through fiction but nonfiction takes me at least three times as long to read.  Am I paying more attention or something?

Anyway, right now I'm making my way through Moab Is My Washpot, which is Stephen Fry's autobiography.  The

 wonderful thing is that he did write it himself and it's completely in his "voice" so it's rather like sitting across from him as he tells you the silly tales of his childhood and school years.  I always wonder how people can remember their earlier years with such detail.  I certainly remember "scenes" but if pressed I doubt I could put them into an actual factual timeline.  It's just as well since I doubt anyone would want to read my life story anyway.  Although I did have a damn fun childhood.

 

I'm also plowing (slowly, slowly) my way through Bad Science by Ben Goldacre.  I say "plowing" only because I read so dreadfully slow, not because the content is laborious.  If anything, Goldacre makes what might be snore-worthy and makes it fun and interesting.

This is a book that has been known in the Skeptical community as a must-read... along with Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy, and Simon Singh's Trick Or Treatment. It reveals what commonly-held beliefs are misplaced and generally teaches you to question what often sounds too good to be true.

 

What makes reading both of these books even more fun is both of the authors are also on Twitter so I'm "getting to know" them both through their writing and through their day-to-day twitterings as well. 

 

Originally posted on wickedlibrarianx.vox.com

Husband still hasn't been able to get into the fields to start planting, due to all the rain. This sucks because apparently the later they plant, the lower the yields, which means a lower income for the year. Blah. Go away rain, yeah? Just for a few weeks. Then come back over the summer. Kthnx.

 

Reading... I'm currently sucked into a girlie-sci-fi series that Felicia Day

recommended (via Twitter and via Goodreads... how cool is THAT now?) Right now I'm only on the first one, Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair. And loving it. I think I needed some fluff to read since I'm

also (still) working my way through Trick or Treatment by Singh and Ernst.  Why does it take so long for me to read nonfiction? And does everyone encounter this problem?

Anyway, they're good books. Especially the Trick or Treatment - I think it's something that everyoen should read, since it's so hard these days to discern "real" medicine from the quakery. 

 

 

 

What else?  Still planning my fun-exciting trip to England this autumn.  At some point I'll blog in detail about all the places I'll be going and the people I'll be seeing.  It'll be a long, grand adventure, and I can't wait!

And finally, since no blog post of mine can be without a little bit of Tim Minchin, enjoy this nice audience-vid of Tim performing Bears Don't Dig On Dancing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

 

 

 

Originally posted on slytherinlibrarian.vox.com

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie!  (Yes, Hugh Laurie, of House M.D. and Jeeves and Wooster fame!)  And man, it is hilarious.  I'm only halfway through, but I'm in a constant state of chuckle.  I really, really love his style.  Smart and witty and I just adore the main character to death.  If I knew him, I'd totally want to hang around him all the time because he would make me feel cool.

CJ, you'd love this book.

Originally posted on slytherinlibrarian.vox.com

Six and Seven? I think? I'm losing count already.

Artemis Fowl : Opal Deception
by Eoin Colfer
352 pages

Last book! Wah! I really enjoyed this one. Much more character interaction and development, and an exciting plot, too. Opal Koboi is BACK, and of course no one believes Captain Holly Short, who not only has to catch her on her own, but also has to deal with some rather terrible things besides. Artemis is a year older again, and he's really grown as a character... well. Once he remembers everything that he'd forgotten from the fairy mind-wipe performed on him from the last book.

The Geography of Girlhood
by Kirsten Smith
192 pages

This one was a quickie...
I also buzzed through one of the other books I got from ALA (and SIGNED too, by a very enthusiastic and sweet author) called Geography of girlhood by Kirsten Smith. It's very short and very sweet and really made me remember those years between 14 and 16, when everything was in flux, everything from tripping in math class to choosing the wrong shirt to wear to the dance was a huge drama, until something REAL happens, and everything else just falls away. The finding-of-self years, when you wish boys would notice you and just be nice, and want to love you. Yeah. I like to think those years aren't so far behind me that I can't remember them. They weren't exactly GREAT years, but they were important. I like that this book is written in "poetry" form... just like it was written as a journal of a young girl. Interesting, and different.

Well yeah, FINALLY I finished my first book. Good thing I said I'd read only 7 books for this thing, 'cause, MAN I used to read faster than this.

So anyway, yeah.


Title: Ptolemy's Gate (3rd book of the Bartimaeus Trilogy)... yes I've read the first two but those were before this "challenge" so I can't really count them, can I?

Author: Jonathan Stroud
Pages: 501

Commentary:
DUDE. If you like the Harry Potter books, and/or the Artemis Fowl books, you WILL like this trilogy as well. I've never read this author before, and I really liked his writing style. I loved how a lot of this story was told from the "demon" Bartimaeus' point of view, complete with footnotes and ubersnark. It's a young adult book, but like most of these things, there's enough intricate action/character development/interaction to engage an adult mind as well. Geez, how does one write a commentary without giving the whole thing away? It's been too long since I've done a book report. I'll just say that this ended JUST the way I needed it to, and I wish I had a Bartimaeus of my very own. Because he? Was cool. Yeah.

And MANY thanks to staunton for recommending this series to me. You were SO right.