I am in the Francesca Annis = Stone Hottie corner. And Ralph Fiennes - several years her junior, and a man I would do in Macy's window, speaking of stone hotties - apparently agrees.

That's right, I knew she was romantically linked with someone interesting.

So I went to Dawn Treader to raid the stash of Christopher Pike books I saw in there the other day. I left a few I was wary of since I hadn't read them, but got Spellbound, Chain Letter, and Slumber Party. Also snagged Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, which I haven't read.

Now, here's the deal. I love Half-Price Books. Love love love. Cause their policy is simple: half the cover price, no foolin'. If the cover says seventy-five cents, hell, you get it for thirty-eight. If the cover says $2.50, you get it for $1.25. That's the deal.

In Ann Arbor, books aren't cheaper cause they're old, they're more expensive. A book that says seventy-five cents will still run you two bucks. And these Pike books, despite being priced at $3.50, $2.50, and $3.50...all cost me $2.50 each. Where's the half-price love, huh?! Apparently it's half of the in-print price. LAME! God, I miss Half-Price.

Also snagged Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, which I haven't read.

I love this book. Have you read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency yet?

Have you read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency yet?

I read it long ago and it confused the crap out of me. I snagged it at Half-Price down in Houston on my Rice trip, and I'm going to read it again before I hit Tea-Time. Whenever that is. My reading queue is a big mess.

Oh yay! I love Dirk Gently and Teatime. There's one passage in one of those books (Teatime or Gently, I can't remember) that describes some large object (a couch? a piano?) being stuck in the hallway stairs, and I swear it breaks me every single time I read it. It's not a major plot point, nothing all that important, and yet his description of it is one of my all-time favorite comic passages.

I get giddy with laughter with those books.

Oh, and based on the conversation here, I got Watership Down at the library today. I'm a few chapters in now, and loving it. Why did no one tell me about this book when I was 11?

There's one passage in one of those books (Teatime or Gently, I can't remember) that describes some large object (a couch? a piano?) being stuck in the hallway stairs, and I swear it breaks me every single time I read it. It's not a major plot point, nothing all that important, and yet his description of it is one of my all-time favorite comic passages.

It's a couch. One of my teachers at CTY read that to us the summer I was taking geometry, and that's what got me hooked on those books.

I get giddy with laughter with those books.

Have you read The Salmon of Doubt, which contains the first couple chapters of the next, never-to-be-fucking-finished Dirk Gently novel? It was good stuff, dammit.

Oh, and based on the conversation here, I got Watership Down at the library today. I'm a few chapters in now, and loving it. Why did no one tell me about this book when I was 11?

Yay! Better late than never. Join the rabbit cult! And actually, I had the opportunity to snag Tales from Watership Down, but I've heard it's disappointing.

Why did no one tell me about this book when I was 11?

It was a conspiracy. Me, I wouldn't have made head nor tail of it at 11, because I was a clueless lump at that time. High school junior, though, it worked. I'm almost afraid to read it again, because I know which sections are just lurking around waiting to make my grown-up mind hurt.

Though Bigwig's Last Stand is worth a re-visit.

My elementary school teacher caught me reading WD and recommended LeGuin to me. I've never looked back.

Hazel-rah! I love the Prince With a Thousand Enemies.

And did you know there's a political blog out there called Silflay Hraka? Heee!