Words, and almost on topic: Tep's picking cinnamon reminded me of a character in my favourite Tanith Lee, "Kill the Dead". The woman was called Cinnabar.

Must replace my lost copy of that book, damnit. Been dying to reread it.

OOP? really? Oh, wait. They've been rereleasing them as combos, Raquel. Look for "Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem" and "Young Miles". I think I've seen them recently.

Also, library. It's harder to find them all in bookshops though because people tend NOT to sell their Bujolds. They're great comfort reading and people like me cling to them...

I'm definitely seeing the comfort reading aspect. I haven't enjoyed a good hedonistic jump into a book like that for a long time. I'm relieved that Miles' fucked-upedness gets explored more - WA seemed a bit like a cakewalk.

WA seemed a bit like a cakewalk.

Wait, doesn't WA end with the bleeding ulcer? Not entirely a cakewalk.

But yes. Things get much worse.

I like "preternatural" and you never see it.

Except on every other page of Anne Rice's books! At least, such is my memory of them.

My favorite words are "belligerent" and "fallopian".

Rest assured that each and every one of Miles's casual little sins will sneak up behind him with a lead bludgeon by and by.

Except on every other page of Anne Rice's books! At least, such is my memory of them.

Speaking of the Unedited One, I finished Blood Canticle the other day. All I can say in its favor is that I wanted to know what happens, in terms of the continuing story of these characters (both Lestat and the Mayfair witches), and it did in fact continue the story.

Not well. Not with any kind of compelling hook to the characters. Not with any ability to make me think the characters in this book were actually the same characters from her earlier books.

But it did continue the story. And since that's all I asked of it, I can say that it delivered.

And JILLI: if you have any hankering to read Blackwood Farm, I'll send you my copy. Let me know.

Now reading -- Fiction: The Lake of Dead Languages, foisted on me by my best friend, and, as near as I can tell, a female imitation of The Secret History; Nonfiction: Party of One -- The Loners' Manifesto, by Anneli Rufus. It was excerpted in Salon a while back. I'm really enjoying it.

Speaking of Bujold, I just read and adored Paladin of Souls (a sequel to The Curse of Chalion, but featuring different characters). I know I should read the Vorkosigan series, but I'm overwhelmed by the sheer size of it.

I know I should read the Vorkosigan series, but I'm overwhelmed by the sheer size of it.

Once you start reading it, you'll find it's not nearly big enough.

t Waiting for the next one

I've already discovered that every Miles book is out of print.

Wait, WHAT? Dude!

I mean, I already own all of them, but this makes it much more difficult to pimp Miles out to all my friends.

(Even if I was kind of disappointed in Diplomatic Immunity. It's the first one ever where I've had trouble following the plot.)

[Susan, I regularly reread the entire series in about a week, and end up sad that there's not more. There's a lot of them, but they go fast.]