mostly keeping my promise

OK, so i've mostly been keeping my promise to myself to spend the summer reading things i KNOW will make me happy, because i've read them before, and enjoyed them before.

on the happy side of that equation is Steven Brust's The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars, which nearly has me in tears by the end. and after finishing this novel, i tearfully say to my aspiring writer other half "keep writing baby! i'll support us!" (it's easier to say these days, as I finally have a decent paying job). really, Steven Brust is a master writer, and it doesn't seem like anyone knows who he is! i flipped through some reviews of The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars on Amazon, seems like people either loved it or hated it. I think that people who didn't like it had already made up their minds about what they were looking for before they even started reading it. it's not that kind of book.

additional weight is given to the happy side of the entertaining book equation, because today i picked up my very own, paper back copy of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. and you know what? it's just as fun, snarky, and irreverant as it was the first time through. Makes me want to move to rural Minnesota (or wherever Lynch lives), to see what kind of pranks he plays on people. i get the impression that the phrase said most often in the company of Mr. Lynch is "grow up already!" coming from someone who earlier today was playing muppets with oven mits in Bed Bath and Beyond (and getting laughed at by the store manager), my response is "don't you dare, ever grow up, Mr. Lynch. and if you need some inspiration to quite your day job and write full time, just read some Steven Brust!".

now, for the not so happy end of my equation. i couldn't help myself. the book said "Steampunk". and it had the coolest steely blue pipy picture on the cover. i couldn't help myself, really, it's not my fault. seriously! scroll down and look at the picture! you know you can resist that kind of gothy, steampunky awesomeness! i bought the Steampunk anthology, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (and you know how much i love Jeff Vandermeer!). i'm about halfway through, and i gotta say, i'm pretty lukewarm on most of the entries. why is it that genre anthologies always suck so hard?

not too much food news. my husband made the most incredible pizza i've ever had. i think the trick was we cooked up some turkey sausage, and then fried onions in the sausage grease. omg, heaven! most of the rest of my cooking recently has involved tossing a bunch of stuff in a skillet, and hoping for the best. maybe with all these good books, will come some good cooking.