A Wandering Eyre

Geez, I stop paying attention and all hell breaks lose.

The Morning News Announced their Second Annual Tournament of Books. I watched the competition closely last year though I only read one of the books on the list.

This year I have a head start because I have already read two of the books. I may not get around to reading very many of the 16 finalists, but at least I will have something to which I can look forward. The reviews of the books are always wonderful and sometimes snarky. A perfect mix.

–Jane, wishes to be reading now

The little town of Friendswood is about 15 minutes from my house in the burbs in Galveston County. This story makes me laugh and cry hysterically at the same time.

[Councilman]Peden said he felt the book deals with issues young teens are not yet ready for.

“We should give them wings, but they should be smaller when they are young,” he said. “This is too much, too soon.

Oh, no. We can not have teenagers reading bad words or reading about sex because then they might know those things exist. Egads!

For a nice summary, read Michael Schaub’s take. It is better than reading the actual story which can lead to hyterical sobbing and hair pulling.

–Jane, does not have enough hair to pull, not really

Because it has been on my mind lately due to the talk of wire taps without permits:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Benjamin Franklin
An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania (1759)

–Jane, keeps it private

Pictures and the mystery of the “lost post” is revealed. I had been wondering about that. As a bonus, there is also a rather amusing picture of me talking to Walt Crawford and Andrea Mercado. I am, apparently, shaking a finger at Walt about something. The Lord only knows.

–Jane, memories

The Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop

This is the first book in the Tir Alainn Trilogy. Bishop’s first trilogy, The Black Jewels, won her acclaim and was a bestseller. I did not read the first trilogy, which is not connected with this one, but I think I might have to go back to them when I complete Tir Alainn. It has been a long time since I have liked a pure fantasy novel this much. It was one of those books that consumes you, instead of the other way around.

There are many things at work in this novel. The land of the Fae is disappearing into swirling white mists for reasons unknown. Roads leading to the human world are closing, cutting the Fae off from escape, though it does not occur to them that this is escape. A man, known as the Witch’s Hammer, is traveling the land, ridding men of the evil influence of witches and the occasional outspoken woman. Finally, Ari, a young witch, alone on her family’s land after the death of her grandmother and mother, struggles to find her place in the world.

Of course, these things intersect by the time the novel has reached its conclusion, but the journey is wonderful. Bishop weaved common theories about witch trials into her creation of the Witch’s Hammer and his ability to whip a city into a frenzied mob. The basic mythology of some versions of present day wiccan beliefs also find a home in this story. (from what little I know) Bishop also plays with some different ideas regarding elves and their relationships with humans.

With this sound background, Bishop adds to it a writing style that is engaging and characters that are true.

Highly Recommended: I loved this book, but it may not be for everyone; it is a fantasy novel, after all.

The deadline for submissions for HigherEd BlogCon is January 31st, tomorrow. This is open to all and the more viewpoints expressed the better. Don’t be shy. Share your thoughts and projects with others!

Encourage others that you think would be great to participate.

–Jane, learning and sharing

I am now the proud owner of an iPod Shuffle thanks to my very generous friend who owns an iPod and had the crazy luck to win a Shuffle at Midwinter. You are fabulous, darling. Fabby. Fabuloso. *big toothy grin*
Now, I want to go home and start downloading all the Lost and The Signal podcasts. Teehee.

–Jane, might actually read the manual for this gadget

Not only is it Monday, but I fear that my allergies have turned into a full blown cold. *sneeze*

On a lighter note, Mr. Rochester and I are attending classes for Nearly-weds and Newly-weds at our church. They are pretty standard in many churches whenever a couple wishes to marry. You learn how to communicate effectively and about personality traits, but there are also discussions about the physical aspect of marriage: sex.

I know I am an adult, but when the minister said intercourse last night in a discussion on physical love, (one of the 5 important kinds of love in a marriage, the others being romantic, friendship, belonging, and self-sacrificing) I wanted to giggle. My inner self reverted back to junior high when fart jokes were still funny. We were in church! And someone said sex!

The minister, still in the context of the above discussion, said that sometimes, in love, you have to do things for your partner that you would not do otherwise. I wanted Mr. R to look at me so I could make a crude gesture and get him to laugh. Alas, he knows me too well and refused to look at me.

Despite my best efforts, we behaved for the duration of the class and did not call any undue attention to our foolishness. One of these days, I will act my age, but not today.

–Jane, silly at the best of times

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This book has been on many, many reading lists since it was published in 2003. It has been on my list for awhile, but my book club chose it for our next meeting.

It was hard to read at first because I just could not get into the characters. I struggled through the first 50 or so pages hoping that it would get better. The writing was fine, I just was having trouble investing myself in the story. The turning point came for me at the same time that it does for the main character, Amir. He makes a tragic decision that haunts him for the rest of his life.

From that point on, I could not put the book down. It reminds me of something Joss Whedon was fond of saying. He said that his shows were only good when the characters were not happy and it is true of Hosseini’s novel as well. Amir is a character you care about because he is faulty, as are we all. The story is a reminder of why war can be so tragic, how immigrants fleeing their own countries fare in America, and the small acts that change lives.

Recommended – If you can get past the beginning, it is worth the read.

Over Midwinter, I, along with the other plotters, convinced one of our friends to just start a blog already. Amazingly enough, he did and is off to a great start with this post about library buildings.

My personal theory has always been that the library is the dumping ground for the lost bastards of the university world. Don’t get me wrong - I love libraries. It’s just that we’re the only ones accepting enough to tackle the world’s problems - sort of the intellectual version of Ellis Island. We’re open minded and… well, just plain open!

An interesting and not exactly wrong notion of how we end up with some buildings and the people that fill them.

–Jane, the library is always open