I suspect you've used The Reply Churlish on chatty coworker this week.

Oh, I only EVER use The Reply Churlish. Anything else is just inauthentic dissembling.

I'm reading Octavia Butler's book, The Fledgling. I know it wasn't supposed to be one of her best, but I feel almost awkward reading it, like I'm in someone else's business. The POV character is not a very informed one at this point in the book, but somehow it all feels childlike to me. Having a hard time convincing myself to finish.

Why won't the damn library find me a copy of Swordspoint???

Why won't the damn library find me a copy of Swordspoint???

I need to steal my library's copy of it. I swear I'll love it properly.

I need to steal my library's copy of it. I swear I'll love it properly.

You! You are the villain!

Somehow I managed to end up with a book after it, and now it seems there's no way I'm getting Swordspoint before I have to return what I have.

Heh. I just started rereading that the other night. Hivemind in action.

I just read that a couple of weeks ago! I really enjoyed it, though I liked The Privilege of the Sword even better -- anyone read that one yet? I fell head-over-heels for the main character, while nobody in Swordspoint quite grabbed me like she did. It also made me wonder if Swordspoint would be a significantly different book if Kushner wrote it now, instead of in the 80s, just in terms of (barely spoilery) attitudes towards sex and sexuality -- how much to show vs. tell, that sort of thing.

I read Swordspoint when it first came out, and have had to buy another copy to reread before I tackle The Fall of Kings before I get to Priviledge of the Sword. All three are in the TBR pile. Somewhere. I loved her Thomas the Rhymer, too.

I really like Swordspoint, didn't like The Fall of Kings, and loved Privilege of the Sword. I'm not sure what any of that means.

I've got Privilege of the Sword on my PDA but have not read it. I did just read Spook, by the woman who wrote Stiff. It's about scientific research into life after death, and is pretty funny, although maybe not a pay-full-price.

I also just read Accelerando (cyperpunk), Smoke and Mirrors by Gaiman, and some fantasy novel. Oh, right, Elantris. And one of Elizabeth Peters first books, which showed me how much she's improved.

Oh, and the Simon Winchester book about the San Francisco earthquake, which is a perfectly Simon Winchester book.

cross posted with Bitches because more buffistas should read this book

Tonight was a literary evern - 15 of my neighbors and friends got together for beverages and snacks - but mostly for readings from Sperm are from men, eggs are from women

a review:

From Publishers Weekly

Wild Kingdom meets Dr. Ruth in Quirk's bawdy guide to species reproduction and the differences between men and women. Each topical chapter compares romantic relationships to sociological, biological, anthropological or zoological findings, all related in Quirk's off-the-cuff prose. The easy reading can be attributed to the fact that Quirk isn't a scientist, but a fiction writer with an interest in science and a knack for finding humor in explaining why people act the way they do. Chapter titles like "Why You're So Horny" and "Why You Like Spielberg more than T.S. Eliot" set the tone for Quirk's revelations on the purpose of body hair ("It's to stink ... Now we know why the French are so sexy"); promiscuity in the animal kingdom ("the faithful sex looks drab, and the slutty sex looks fab"); and art ("I look at Michelangelo's ceiling, and I see a gay man's erotic fantasies"). Men, Quirk writes, are "sperm spreaders" bent on spraying their worthless sperm as frequently and widely as possible, while women are "womb carriers" competing against one another to land the best sperm to fertilize a precious egg. Granted, Quirk's book is far from breaking new scientific ground, but his humorous touch (not to mention the chapter on penguin prostitution) make for a readable and off-beat treatise.

I mean, really, why aren't we reading more about penguin prostitution?