Book: Pratchett, Terry. Hogfather

So, this is the last time that I will count this book for the 50 book Challenge. I read it every year at Christmas, and so it seems a little unfair that I keep including it on the list. (It feels kinda like cheating.) In bidding fond farewell to this book's official place on the list (although not in my personal list of things read), I'd like to take a closer look at Hogfather.

I first read Hogfather back in 1997. It was among my first Discworld books, which I started reading completely by fluke and pretty much out of order. I was living in Scotland, attending the University of Stirling for a year as part of UCSB's Education Abroad Program. I had brought a hand full of books with me and when I went through them all (within a couple of weeks), I ended up at the local bookstore and they had two very wee and very adorable copies of The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the first two Discworld books. They were advertised as having been made by imps from the Counterweight Continent. Well, they were so small and so cute that I bought them. One evening while doing my laundry, I actually read them and fell in love. Fast forward a few months to Thanksgiving and I picked up a copy of Hogfather. It, too, was love at first sight.

The Discworld is a disc shaped planet that rides on the shoulders of four giant elephants who stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a giant space-faring sea turtle. Everything can and does happen on the Discworld. It's full of witches and wizards and dragons, warriors, thieves, cheats, monarchs, vampires, trolls, and The Watch (among other things). There are also gods and Death. An anthropomorphic personification of the concept, Death is possibly my favorite character in the entire Discworld. He's way too literal and far too fascinated with humans, some say he's "caught" if off them. He keeps cats and even, once, adopted a daughter.

( Real children don't go hoppity-skip unless they are on drugs. )

Books: Mead, Richelle. Vampire Academy series

In my hunt for good things to read, I have discovered a surprising source: the YA section of the library, untapped by me even when I was YA. I mostly skipped, going from the Children's section and straight into Adult. There are duds and there are gems, just like with any other segment of literature, however, since last year, I've been exploring the YA section with great interest and quite a bit of success. Unfortunately, it is kinda slow going. Hampered by my Twilight induced skittishness, gorgeous, atmospheric, artsy covers leave me cold and books with titles like Vampire Academy leave me positively frozen.

Me reading Vampire Academy is a bit of a fluke. My co-worker was recommended the books (it's currently a four book series with the fifth book releasing this April) by one of the receptionists. I have been loaning her books since November and in turn about, she offered to let me peek at the books first. She was in the middle of Linda Howard's Mr. Perfect, anyway (a book I had loaned her, btw). Since I read much faster, I decided to give the books a shot, although I did not expect much. The receptionist had the first three books (Vampire Academy, Frostbite and Shadow Kiss) and I took them home. I was done in less than two weeks. They are easily digested, lamentably written in first person and feature a flawed, head strong, likable and kick ass heroine named Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway.

The books revolve around Rose, her BFF Vasilissa (Lissa) Dragomir (a Moroi princess and the last of the Dragomir's), a big evil lurking half in shadow, and Rose's developing feelings for her hot mentor, Dimitri. I really like that Dimitri is only a component of the story, a lot of what happens in the series features Rose's dedication to her BFF with whom she is linked, her duty as an up and coming guardian, and the negotiation of their world (and their respective places within it) as it conflicts with and changes their relationship.

( Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes - Spoilers under the cut. )

Book: Pratchett, Terry. Hogfather (x-posted at LJ)

So, this is the last time that I will count this book for the 50 book Challenge. I read it every year at Christmas, and so it seems a little unfair that I keep including it on the list. (It feels kinda like cheating.) In bidding fond farewell to this book's official place on the list (although not in my personal list of things read), I'd like to take a closer look at Hogfather.

I first read Hogfather back in 1997. It was among my first Discworld books, which I started reading completely by fluke and pretty much out of order. I was living in Scotland, attending the University of Stirling for a year as part of UCSB's Education Abroad Program. I had brought a hand full of books with me and when I went through them all (within a couple of weeks), I ended up at the local bookstore and they had two very wee and very adorable copies of The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the first two Discworld books. They were advertised as having been made by imps from the Counterweight Continent. Well, they were so small and so cute that I bought them. One evening while doing my laundry, I actually read them and fell in love. Fast forward a few months to Thanksgiving and I picked up a copy of Hogfather. It, too, was love at first sight.

The Discworld is a disc shaped planet that rides on the shoulders of four giant elephants who stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a giant space-faring sea turtle. Everything can and does happen on the Discworld. It's full of witches and wizards and dragons, warriors, thieves, cheats, monarchs, vampires, trolls, and The Watch (among other things). There are also gods and Death. An anthropomorphic personification of the concept, Death is possibly my favorite character in the entire Discworld. He's way too literal and far too fascinated with humans, some say he's "caught" if off them. He keeps cats and even, once, adopted a daughter.

( Real children don't go hoppity-skip unless they are on drugs. )

Book: Mead, Richelle. Vampire Academy series

In my hunt for good things to read, I have discovered a surprising source: the YA section of the library, untapped by me even when I was YA. I mostly skipped, going from the Children's section and straight into Adult. There are duds and there are gems, just like with any other segment of literature, however, since last year, I've been exploring the YA section with great interest and quite a bit of success. Unfortunately, it is kinda slow going. Hampered by my Twilight induced skittishness, gorgeous, atmospheric, artsy covers leave me cold and books with titles like Vampire Academy leave me positively frozen.

Me reading Vampire Academy is a bit of a fluke. My co-worker was recommended the books (it's currently a four book series with the fifth book releasing this April) by one of the receptionists. I have been loaning her books since November and in turn about, she offered to let me peek at the books first. She was in the middle of Linda Howard's Mr. Perfect, anyway (a book I had loaned her, btw). Since I read much faster, I decided to give the books a shot, although I did not expect much. The receptionist had the first three books (Vampire Academy, Frostbite and Shadow Kiss) and I took them home. I was done in less than two weeks. They are easily digested, lamentably written in first person and feature a flawed, head strong, likable and kick ass heroine named Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway.

The books revolve around Rose, her BFF Vasilissa (Lissa) Dragomir (a Moroi princess and the last of the Dragomir's), a big evil lurking half in shadow, and Rose's developing feelings for her hot mentor, Dimitri. I really like that Dimitri is only a component of the story, a lot of what happens in the series features Rose's dedication to her BFF with whom she is linked, her duty as an up and coming guardian, and the negotiation of their world (and their respective places within it) as it conflicts with and changes their relationship.

( Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes - Spoilers under the cut. )