Oh, that reminds me! I was thinking the other day about a book that was discussed here a while ago. Actually, I think someone just linked to a review on someone else's website. Anyway, the book was clearly awful (possibly self-published) and involved a protagonist who embodied nearly every current bad fantasy/romance cliche: he was a telepathic alien elf pirate, or something, and the review was fantastically snarky and funny. Is this ringing a bell for anyone? I tried googling for it, but unsurprisingly, a search for "alien elf pirate" has a pretty high signal-to-noise ratio.

Double post. Sorry.

As well as Highlander, Buckaroo Banzai, and Shawshank, Clancy's been in Starship Troopers, Blue Steel, and Shoot to Kill, all of which have been run a brazilian times on cable. He's also VO-ing the Honda Ridgeline commercials at the moment. Know that voice anywhere, by the curl of my toes.

ETA: He was also a fling of Kerry's, on ER

I've had a lovely reading morning: a book about the changes in the New Testament over the centuries and a book of essays about how gay/lesbian history has been dealt with. I feel all scholarly. Should go write some fic now.

a pretty high signal-to-noise ratio.

You mean a low ratio? Yes, that's all I have to offer -- completely unhelpful math-based kibbitzing. What do you want from me?

I don't suppose anyone knows of some great math-centered books for high schoolers?

I don't suppose anyone knows of some great math-centered books for high schoolers?

Hmm. Only thing that's coming to mind right now is Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feinman, and that's physics, not math. Slightly younger kids (middle-schoolish), Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School. Or, at least, I loved that, but (a) I loved Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and (b) I was a dork.

There's something that I'm trying to remember, a book I was looking at a little while ago that was a great high school mathy book, but I can't remember it now. It had a lot of an Alice in Wonderland feel about it.

Hil, are you thinking of The Number Devil ? I haven't read it, but heard it's pretty good.

No, it wasn't The Number Devil, but I just looked that one up on Amazon and it looks kind of cool.

You mean a low ratio?

t smacks forehead Er, yes, that is exactly what I mean.

Or, at least, I loved that, but (a) I loved Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and (b) I was a dork.

I loved all the Wayside School books! Including the mathy one. Actually, this is interesting to me, because my class (Curriculum Frameworks & Instructional Strategies for Library Teachers, don't you all envy me?) was just discussing what kinds of math-related books should be part of a school library's collection. I should mention Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School next time.

While I was waiting for a long video to download tonight, I went to the bookshelf next to my computer desk for something small to flip through. I found Ex Libris, by Anne Fadiman, a collection of essays about being a reader. My sister found this online, and immediately knew she had to give it to me after reading the following from the preface:

[T]here is a certain kind of child who awakens from a book as from an abyssal sleep, swimming heavily up through layers of consciousness towards a reality that seems less real than the dream-state that has been left behind. I was such a child.

So was I. My sister is also a reader, but she's never been one at that level. I remember reading Alcott's Rose in Bloom at my grandparents in Hot Springs and laughing over some scene or another. That laugh took me out of the book enough to have me look up from the page a few seconds later, only to find my mom and grandma looking at me with smiles on their faces. "What?" was my response, and Mom just shook her head and said, "It's nice to see you enjoying your book." I never understood people who can't get into books deep enough to enjoy them like that.

Fadiman's first essay has a wonderful paragraph about shelf organization, including this crime against nature and biblioholics:

Some friends of [friends] had rented their house for several months to an interior decorator. When they returned, they discovered that their entire library had been reorganized by color and size. Shortly thereafter, the decorator met with a fatal automobile accident. I confess that when this story was told, everyone around the dinner table concurred that justice had been served.

Definitely recommend this book!