That "No Posts." claim was depressing me.  Excuse me, Blogger, there may not be posts yet, but trust me on this one: we've got plenty of ideas.

Christina here!  Savannah lent me Storm Front (okay, ladies, are we italicizing or underlining book titles?  decide now, and may I say I like saving italics for emphasis) and GEB is, like, really difficult to read, man.  So it's less like I'm reading two books at once and more like I'm taking a vacation from discrete mathematics into a Chi-town fantasy-noir.  It's a very attractive piece.  The hero is gentlemanly and an avid reader.  What's not to like?

... His Gary-Stu dark past, for one thing.  His hackneyed wisecracking for another.  The author's inability to introduce a character without a detailed physical description, oh my... well, they can't all be Neil Gaiman, I suppose.

To switch back to the other hand, I'll allow that dark pasts can be excellent and exciting clichés, most of the wisecracking is clever, and the character descriptions are fresh and well-written, at least.  I'd recommend the book to any fan of Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett, or "Supernatural" (yeah I have no idea what to do with a tv series title; ladies, please advise).  And I'm not even halfway through it yet.

Speaking of books I'm not even halfway through yet, GEB is a beast of a puzzle book.  If you've never picked it up, do not attempt to do so without some serious soul-searching.  Do you really want to spend the rest of your life dogged by a tome on the interconnectedness of human ideas in logic, computer science, music and visual art?  (NO should have been my response.  I know that now.  I felt guilty for years because this book was sitting on my shelf untouched.  Here's hoping I get through the freaking (can we curse on here???) thing this time around.)

(seven hundred and seventy-seven pages oh god oh god WHY)

And okay, Sav, you gotta let us know.  What the heck are you reading?

It's late; I'll take my leave.  Good night!

CM