cyphomandra

I am now much less stressed. Sure, I have no internet (currently compromising my principles in Starbucks) and no car, and there's a hold-up with one piece of paper that means I may not be able to start work next Tuesday as planned, but these are minor inconveniences compared with all the active disasters of December. Anyway. This gets me almost up to the end of 2007 in books - I still have one more post on Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman series - and then I can start on this year's lot, as part of my whole posting more regularly and writing stuff organisational thing.

I have a mental short list of authors whose next book I will buy automatically, without even bothering to check the blurb. It’s a dynamic list – Michael Chabon, for example, got onto it with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and then fell right back off again with Summerland (and his Sherlock Holmes book I just borrowed from the library and felt bitter enough about that, so The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and Gentlemen of the Road are just going to have to wait until time subdues my irritation); Connie Willis is on there for all full length novels that are not co-written romances; Glen David Gold is on there with, as far as I know, only one book (Carter Beats the Devil); Diana Wynne Jones, despite some recent hiccups…

( Anne Fadiman, At Large and at small. )

( A.S. Byatt, Unruly Lives. )

( Kate Mosse, Labyrinth. )

( Emma Bull, Territory. )

( Charlie Higson, Hurricane Gold. )

( Elizabeth George, What came before he shot her. )

( Deb Caletti, Wild Roses. )

( Veronica Bennett, Fish Feet. )

( Jason Thompson, The complete guide to manga. )

( Jo Walton, Farthing. )

( Robin McKinley, The Blue Sword (re-read, about three times in all) and The Hero and the Crown (re-read). )

( Alison Bechdel, Fun Home. )

( Marcus Zusak, The messenger. )

( Antonia Forest, Cricket term (re-read). )