Two Weeks

That's right!  I only have two weeks until I'm done for the summer!  And I'm eagerly counting down.  This summer, just as in every summer, my goal is to read.  A lot.  And so, I'm trying to craft a reading schedule; or at least a small list of some of the books I want to read.  Right now, my list consists of a few items by Camus (The Plague, and The Stranger), and the sequels to Johannes Cabal: Necromancer.  Oh, and The Hobbit, because, for those of you who weren't aware, there is a movie coming out later this year....And since The Hobbit is one of my favorite books EVER, I just HAVE to see it!!!  And, I guess after I read The Hobbit, I'll have to read the entire Lord of the Rings series, since it has been on my list for forever and a day.  (Sheesh....this "small" list is starting to become a bit more than I had expected!)

So, that being said...does anyone have anything to recommend?  Either in the way of books, or for a summer reading theme?  For those of you who aren't familiar with this, every summer, I choose a theme.  That doesn't mean that all the books I read have to fit this theme, but that I tend to look for books that fit this theme.  The past two years have been something revolving around Gothic novels/the macbre, and while I always enjoy reading scary things, I should prolly try something new this year.  Any ideas?

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer

Johannes Cabal is a brilliant scientist who sold his soul to the devil in order to gain the secrets of necromancy, or the power to raise the dead.  And not as creepy, creaking zombies, but as they were; as the normal, beautiful, human people they were before death.  And, when he realizes that his powers are pretty useless to him without said soul, he marches straight down to hell to demand it back.  Lucky for him, Satan is very, very bored, and instead of just squashing him like a bug, he proposes a wager: in exchange for his soul, Johannes must provide Satan with 100 souls within one year.  And to help him in his diabolical duties, the dark lord provides him with a travelling carnival to help him (or perhaps just to make things interesting).  100 souls, one year.  Time is running out, Johannes..............

I pretty much loved this book.  Jonathan L. Howard is a master wordsmith; I haven't had this much fun with a book in a long time!  While the topic was perhaps not the most savory, it was still an incredibly interesting book with an interesting view on the soul, damnation, and the classic Faustian bargain.  And above all, it was incredibly funny!  The humor is somewhat subtle; I didn't even pick up on it at first, but once you start finding this book funny, it's really easy to pick up on most of the jokes.

Besides just being funny, this book was chock full of interesting characters.  Johannes in particular was of great interest to me; not just because he was the leading protagonist, but because of the depth and inner conflict that Howard stuffed him with.  I guess I started this book expecting a character who would be somewhat stuffy, dull, and one-dimensional, but by the end of it, I was pleasantly surprised.

Finally, the plot is such a page turner!  At first, it was easy to put the book down and walk away, but toward the end, I neglected homework and a social life just to finish those last couple of chapters.  I just could not put the book down!  A great read; something I have not experienced in a long time!

There are two sequels so far.....The Detective and The Fear Institute.  Both are going at the top of my summer reading list :)

Pleasure Reading????

That's right, my dear readers!  Lately, I've actually had time for pleasure reading!  During school of all things....and reaching toward finals week!  It's very exciting :)

For those of you who follow me on Goodreads, you've prolly seen that I've been reading Johannes Cabal the Necromancer.  And for those of you who don't follow me on Goodreads, I've been reading Johannes Cabal the Necromancer.  And I've been loving every minute of it!

I'll be sure to post a review real soon (as soon as I finish it), but for the meantime, I'll whet your literary appetites with a short description of the book.... Johannes Cabal, scientist, socially awkward misfit and misanthrope, sold his soul to the devil in order to gain the secrets of necromancy.  But, after years of experimentation, he has learned that to fully realize his powers, he needs his soul back.  So, he just pops down to hell and demands that Satan hand it over.  In an interesting twist on the classic Faustian deal, Satan agrees to return Johannes's soul, but on the condition that he hand over to him 100 souls in one year's time.  And to make things more interesting, he also gives Johannes a travelling circus to aid him in his diabolical business of soul stealing.

The book is dark, diabolical, and damned funny so far.

Like I said before, a review will be posted soon :)

Why Do I Continue To Do This?

I realized today that I'm desperately infatuated with a man who is just a bad match for me, and one whom, if we started dating, would only bring me unhappiness in the long term.  This is worse than previous crushes, mostly because he's the ultimate bad boy intellectual (yes, there is such a thing), I find him completely fascinating, and he's actually rather nice to me (when he chooses to talk).  The more I learn about him, the more I know he's bad for me, and the more he makes me want to back off, but the more I want him at the same time.  We agree on next to nothing, and I'm pretty sure he's a communist.  What have I gotten myself into?  I think I'm going to be fine, though, as long as he doesn't start crushing on me as well....

I think the biggest problem is I kinda just want to be his best friend, but I think right now, in the state I'm in, that's a REALLY bad idea....Oh dear....

To Much Emotion...

Today was the first official day of my Easter Break, and my dad came to pick me up from school.  On the way back, however, I learned some very sad news.  Mrs. R, my old grade school librarian, passed away.

Now, that might not sound like a huge deal; it was a librarian from when I was in grade school.  I'm in college now, and I'll get over it.  But, this is different.  Mrs. R means a lot more to me than just any librarian...She is singlehandedly the reason why I decided I wanted to be a librarian.  She was my inspiration.  And I guess I'd just like to take a few minutes to talk about her...

Since I was little, I always loved the library.  Always.  And the school library was always a safe and special place for me.  I would spend all my time there if I could, but I was always limited to about half an hour once a week for our scheduled library time.  Still, in that span of time, I developed a beautiful relationship with the school librarian; she was always the one I went to for recommendations, opinions, or just to talk.  It was wonderful.

When I was in seventh grade, a lot of my classmates stopped going to the library, but I would always be sure to go.  Since there were even less of us, I would spend more time talking to the librarian.  It was during this time that I realized that there was nowhere I would rather spend my time.  And it was then that I realized I just HAD to be a librarian; I needed to spend the rest of my life surrounded by books.

In eighth grade, I was the only one to go to the library.  The only one.  And I'd spend as much time as possible there.  When library time came around, I would leave in the middle of my English class and spend my half an hour there.  Mrs. R and I would talk; we'd have a great time.  And toward the end of the year, I learned that she was retiring and moving out of state.  I was crushed.  True, I was graduating, but her leaving meant that I would not  be able to see her when I made the customary return to visit the school.

Even back then,  I was really bad with words.  Speaking, I mean.  I could never talk about things.  So, I wrote her a letter, and I poured my heart into that letter, telling her everything about her inspiration and how much I loved that library; how much she would be missed.  And I slipped it between the pages of my favorite book, the one I checked out too many times to count.  And I returned it with the rest of my books, as though nothing had changed.

When I went down to the library a little while later (I honestly can't remember if she called me or if I went to say goodbye, or what the reason was...I wish I did).  And she told me that she found my letter.  She got so choked up as she told me that it had made her cry; she was so touched.  And we both cried there in the library.  It was so beautiful and so sad.  I was going to miss her so much.

That was nearly seven years ago.

Every time I advance in my dreams of becoming a librarian, I think of her.  I guess that means I think about her a lot.  She was, is, and will always be my source of inspiration when it comes to library science.  If it were not for her, I would not want to be a librarian.

I was thinking about looking up her new address and sending her a letter.  But, by the time I thought of it, she would have been already dead, or close to it.  I started thinking about her a week ago; that's right about the time she died.

I'm feeling really lost right now.  I have so much emotion, and I'm not sure how to process it all.  I have no idea what to say.

Easter Break

Easter Break is almost a tease.  I have five days off--not quite a week--so I have just enough time to get settled before I'm required to pack up my life and move back to school.  Right now, I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best book to devour over the break?  I'll probably only have time for one, since I have a paper due over the break as well.  I'm looking at possibly something Chesterton, but if anyone has any ideas, let me know.  I'll try to pick up a few tomes before I leave school, since the library here is literally a ten minute walk from my dorm.

For those of you who are intereseted, regardless of what my Goodreads account tells you, I'm currently reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross.  Also, I'm starting to realize that I'll need to empty all my booklists off my phone and onto Goodreads so that I'll actually remember to read them, haha.

Hope you all are doing well :)

Date a Hipster

I think I discovered the solution to my lack of a dating life.  I just need to find a pretentious hipster who finds me attractive, and tell him he should date me because he can later say that he dated Emmy before anyone else realized it was so cool :)