Tokyojupiter - Side B

Went with M to a China Mieville reading last night. I admit that I am a plebeian when it comes to this particular author -- I've read part of Un Lun Dun (his YA novel) and skimmed through Perdido Street Station at a bookstore once -- but other than that, I don't know too much about him.

First impression: wow, this guy is hot. Okay, I didn't say that out loud with the boy in hearing distance, but I guess he knows now. He's younger than I thought (for some reason I pictured him as a 40something, don't ask me why), shaved head with 4-5 piercings in his left ear. He didn't babble on and talk too much, but I get the distinct feeling that he weighed his responses to make sure they made just enough impact.

I don't know if I like B&N's new format of having a moderator and a 'band' together with the reading. I think the other guys took over the program too much with their hipster punk music and new hippie peace-love babble. I feel that if people came there for the author, then the attention should be focused on the author, and not on the side show.

Obtained: Borders
Finished: 18-May 2009

Story Synopsis:

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

Commentary:

Despite my self-imposed rule that I'll never pay retail price on a book, I had to break it when I purchased this last volume of Percy and the Olympians.

What's nice about a children's book (or young adult book, whatev) is that certain elements are to be expected: happy ending, moral lesson, sweet kiss between expected pairing. All comparisons to J.K. Rowling's work aside, Rick Riordan knows how to tell an exciting, engaging story, and can stay funny till the last page.

The Last Olympian only covers the events of the last week before the predicted attack on Olympus, but the author capably stretches it out with all the battles and action sequences between the demigods and the invading enemies. There's minimal angst and philosophizing, because really, if the world is ending in five days, the hero really shouldn't be angsting too much, should he?

That said, I'm really glad with how everything in this series turned out. If you're in the mood for a fun action-packed reading, you'll definitely enjoy the Percy Jackson books.

01) I'm writing this HUGE momentous post about the Nana manga, but with each new volume (or chapter!) that I read, my heart breaks into teeny-tiny pieces again and/or I want to strangle one of them (usually it's Takumi, but that's my bias, whatev).

02) Failed again on the keeping up with the new anime that's coming out. That's always what happens when I go on a trip (be it for business or personal reasons) -- I just fall off the wagon and am not compelled to get back on. The Boy and I have been marathoning Gurren Lagann in small chunks so maybe that's something. We're already up to the part where Simon first meets Nia, and I really have been enjoying this part more than the first arc.

03) This rainy weather's bumming me out. I generally try not to be emo or depressed, but these past couple of days, it's been an actual struggle to get up and want to go to work. I was dearly tempted to call in sick both yesterday and today. Of course, there's probably also the reason that I'm working on this project with an absolutely hateful editor, so maybe that explains the reluctance to go to the office.

04) Somebody's cell phone is on vibrate and it's been going off once every twenty minutes for the past hour. I'm tempted to smash it.

05) The final Percy Jackson book is out today. I really want to get it but I can't justify buying the hardcover, though Amazon does have a sweet price for it. Speaking of other young-adult books, Silver Phoenix is also on my to-read list, if only to support Cindy, whose blog I've been reading since the early 2000s.

Oh yeah, there was that long weekend, right? Sorry, first days back at work are always so discombobulating.

Before leaving for that DC anime con, M took me out Wednesday for Valentine's Day. He kind of went all out: flowers, dinner, the works. The restaurant that he picked was so spectacular: we shared an an appetizer of carmelized pork belly and charred octopus, and then I had an entree of osso bucco veal tongue. Seriously, just thinking about the dinner is making me hungry again. The boy sure knows how to impress.

On actual Valentine's Day, I went to see He's Just Not that into You with my best friend Karol. It was actually the perfect movie to see, since we didn't feel out of place in the theater -- it seemed like a good number of NY single girls decided that the best way to spend that day was to go out with their girlfriends. Granted, there were a few boys in the theater, maybe five? The movie was actually okay; def. better than some of the chick flicks that I've seen of late. Jennifer Connelly is still the hottest in that cast, even with ScarJo's boobs taking up a lot of screentime.

--

And partially because it won the Newbery, and partially because I'd read any good YA that you'd throw in front of me, I have to say that I really enjoyed Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Everything about it was just right, from the characters, to the pacing, to even the structure (which admittedly bugged me at first, but then I realized the reasoning for it). It's such a departure from when I read Stardust and felt such discontentment upon finishing the book -- with The Graveyard Book, I felt that all the details were in the right places all at the right times.

I only paid for Scott Pilgrim 5 and I Saw You... the rest were courtesy of publishers and friends in manga companies ^_^

Oh, lordy.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

They even have a dedicated website with PICTURES of the cat. And a FACEBOOK page. You know you've made it when you have a facebook page.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth,humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

...and I'm not just saying that 'cause M is a librarian (in-training).

- Brooklyn Public Library already has the anthology that I requested through ILL. I only want to read it because it has Holly Black's story about fairies in the Philippines.
- The book that I'm currently reading, Primavera, is so good that I missed my subway stop on my way in to work today because I was so engrossed in it. It's a YA book (you surprised?) but it doesn't feel like a typical young adult book at all.
- For those who've read beyond vol. 1 of the Mushi Shi manga and have seen all of the anime -- will I miss out on anything if I just watch the anime? I mean, does the manga include stories that weren't touched on in the anime? I've seen the first 5 eps of the show, and apologies should I offend anyone, but I prefer the anime version, so if I'm not going to miss much by skipping on the manga, then I'd rather do that.

--

Also, am unreasonably (and unseasonably) excited about my new ice cream maker (thank you yuppie Craiglisters!). I know it's starting to get cooler, but ice cream is a year round treat! I already told M that I should have an ice cream social one of these days.

I know I'm amused by silly things. That's just how I am.

http://www.festival.newyorker.com/headquarters.cfm

But of course the events with the writers whom I want to see do not have online ticket sales. But seriously, the line-up of guests is making my nerdy heart palpitate.

--

Went to the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday afternoon. I went primarily to hear Holly Black's blackholly) reading, but by the time that I found the stage where they were, I was too late. I only got to catch the last part of Gail Carson Levine's section, and the author Q&A. It was still kinda nice just to listen to them talk about reading and writing and their literary inspirations, etc.

I didn't stay too long -- it was too hot and sunny and I really hate being outside when the weather's like that. There were a lot of publishing houses, both big and indie, and bookstores hawking their wares, but again, I wasn't in the mood to browse too much. I did buy the paperback of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, because I must be the only person who still hasn't read it.

Coming out May 5 (oh geez, Scholastic), The Last Olympian.

Tempted to try out The 39 Clues. Maybe I'll pass by the Scholastic store on Tuesday.

And I'm referring to the author Murakami, not the multimedia artist. Makes me wish that I had a reason to be over in N. California that time.