She was in the book! reminded me of the Greek story ... Atalanta?
And I hadn't realized she inspired Turandot (one of my favorites, for the music more than the story). There's a theory that, since Puccini died before completing the opera, it should have had a different ending.
I highly recommend the movie Mongol [link] for a sympathetic portrayal of Genghis Khan. It's terrific.
My German ancestors are legendarily the descendants of Mongols that came conquering through the area, and some of my Russian ancestors are less legendarily Tatars, so I take a proprietary interest.
I am not sure if there is anyone else on the board who lives in New York State, but not in/near New york City, but I recently found out that anyone in the state can sign up for a library card for the New York Public library, and then have access to their e-book collections through overdrive (which are far superior to my local library, as hard as they try). It is a financial godsend for someone like me who eats romances and mysteries at about 1 every two days because of my long commute on public transport.
[link]
Maybe other states with one big city and a large rural population have something similar? (Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. P aul, Atlanta, maybe Dallas or Austin?)
Texas residents can get a MY Link card from the Houston Public Library and user their Overdrive collection. I don't know whether other Texas cities offer something similar.
Oh, that's very cool!
ETA And the SF Public Library resident requirement is just the state. I never would have thought to check!
And Oakland
This is so exciting! I want to travel around the state collecting library cards!
If you live anywhere in Ohio you can get a Cincinnati Public Library card, but you do have to come to a branch location in the city to do so.
I love all the stuff I can get with my library card! I always forget about the downloadable music.
And the SF Public Library resident requirement is just the state. I never would have thought to check!
And Oakland
Hey, I live in that state! (Not that there's anything wrong with San Diego libraries, but more is better!
Tim stole my library copy of the graphic novel of A Wrinkle in Time and is reading it (he never read the book, even as a kid). I'm so proud.
Also, it's a fantastic adaptation. Highly recommended.
Heh. He just yelled "TESSERACT!" from the other room. That was a little unnerving.