Okay, I need to say this: Ghastly nononononononononononononono. I am not even remotely okay with that. I can't remember the last book that made me cry, but that did. (Twice, actually: I also cried when it seemed like China was going to die, and she and Skulduggery were talking, but then when she was okay and turned out to be the new Grand Mage -- because OF COURSE she is -- I laughed and pumped my fist in victory.

Also, I'm pretty sure my reaction to (hopefully semi-permanent) Darquesse is "wrong," because instead of being all "Nooooo!", I'm just "Huh. Let's see what happens, shall we?"

Also, Finbar Wrong is awesome.

And Scapegrace will never ever not be funny.

I 100% agree with all those points.

In general, way more happened than I expected or was prepared for, somehow.

I'm trying to remember the title and author of a book I read when I was a kid. It had to have been first published in the seventies or eighties. It was about a girl, whose name I think was Rachel but I could be wrong, who was preparing for her bat mitzvah. She was having the ceremony together with a friend, whose name I think started with a D, but I'm even less sure of that than I am of the main character being Rachel. Their Torah portion is Leviticus 18-19, and they split it in half, and Rachel (or whatever her name is) is annoyed that the other girl's half is all sorts of famous quotes and guidelines for being a good person, while her half is a long list of which relatives you're not supposed to uncover the nakedness of. I think the cover might have had a picture of them riding bikes, but I'm not really sure about that. I've tried every search I could think of, and got nothing. Anyone know what it was? This is driving me nuts.

At the library this week, I got two books: Eleanor & Park, and Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I've finished E&P and started the other, and what a weird combo -- two books with families with too many kids and not enough money in the 80s. Of course, in Dark Places, (not really a spoiler if you read the cover flap) most of the family gets killed, so I guess things could have been worse for Eleanor??

Oh, also, I think I can put my finger on what upset those people about E&P: It says "Jesus fuck" in like the first five pages. I think that's the most vulgar/blasphemous thing in the book (aside from, you know, everything else), and it's right at the beginning.

I just got to the part where Eleanor and Park hold hands for the first time, and it almost killed me. She really hits it right on the head, that absolute newness and uncertainty and thrill.

I'm reading a little slower, though, because I'm worried about Eleanor.

Oh, Amy.

That's all I have to say.

I definitely spent a lot of time thinking about my high school romances, and how every little thing is So Big and talking is so hard.

Yeah, I know, Kat. The stuff that happened to one of the characters in Please Ignore Vera Dietz was hard enough, so I'm a little wary. But I love Eleanor! So I need to keep reading.

Amy, I'm putting this here in spoiler font but one thing I absolutely appreciate is how she shows us the humanity of the other kids. They don't get nicer per se but we understand them better.