Black Hole...an acrostic follwed by rambling

Things one will find in Black Hole by Charles Burns:

B - Bizarre mutations
L - Loneliness
A - Alienation
C - Creepy, yet somehow beautiful, art
K- Kainotophobia

H - Hope and hopelessness
O - Originality
L - Lots of Love--young love, obsessive love, unrequited love, sweet love
E - Epidemic

Yeah, sorry about that "k" one...I was having trouble there. Oh okay, I apologize for all of it. But good heavens...have you read this?!! It is so not an easy thing to describe...

It's a graphic novel. As in the medium of storytelling. It is also slightly graphic, as in there are naked people, sometimes having sex. It is also graphic, as in the artwork is very bold and vivid.

It's a story about growing up...you know, those teen years. It's a story about change. It's a story about figuring out who you are and where you belong.

To be perfectly honest, through about the first third of this book, I couldn't quite figure out whether or not I even liked it. For some reason, it just took a while to click with me. But once it did, I could hardly make myself put it down. And yes, I ended up liking it very much.

It felt so real, so authentic. It was set during the 70s, during those years when I too had entered my teens. Perhaps sadly :P, I related to their clothes and their hairstyles. But far more, I related to their lifestyles...hanging with friends, getting high, intense feelings of new love. Luckily, there was no sexually-transmitted virus out there causing bizarre mutations, like tails and second mouths, as there was in the book. But there was a sexually-transmitted virus out there beginning to take lives...for my high-school/college days were the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

But I hope I haven't made this sound immature and shallow. This book is not "about" teens partying. It's about navigating new territory. That new territory we all encounter as we leave childhood behind.

I found this book at turns frightening and tender and repulsive and heartbreaking. And truly, truly different from anything else I've ever read.

another three for the win column...some random thoughts

I've been on a small comics binge lately. I already talked a bit about Foiled, so I won't include that here, but really so many of the similarities I noticed between these books would also apply to that one as well. So what books am I talking about?

*I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly
*Bayou (vol. 1) by Jeremy Love
*Neil Young's Greendale by Joshua Dysart

On the surface, these books could not be more different. And yet, for some reason, their similarities jumped out at me. Maybe because these commonalities were all things that made these books so special.

1. Each of these books has a lovely young heroine. Not heroine as in "rides in on white horse and saves the day." But in my mind, heroines all, nonetheless. There is 10-year-old Barbara from I Kill Giants...and Lee, whom I'm guessing is slightly younger, from Bayou...and from Greendale, 17-year-old Sun. To various extents, we see each of them facing very real fears. Their fears and challenges are different, and the way they approach them is different. But I found myself feeling deep respect for each of them.

2. Though each approach varied, fantasy played a part in each of these books. And played its part quite well, I might add.

3. Each of these books contained beautiful art. The artists' styles were certainly different, but I loved them all. (Okay, I admit it--the art in Bayou is definitely my favorite, but I do love them all.) Here's a taste of each one:

I Kill Giants/artist JM Ken Niimura

Bayou/artist Jeremy Love

Neil Young's Greendale/artist Cliff Chiang

4. Each book deals with important issues. Trauma (I don't want to be more specific and possibly spoil it for anyone), racism, environmental issues and war. Both I Kill Giants and Bayou broke my heart, brought tears. Powerful stuff, for sure.

I'm not quite sure, but I think I may read Black Hole by Charles Burns next. While I'm open to all possibilities, I'm just sort of guessing that it's not going to remind me so much of these ones.

book gushing and blame

I'll start with the gushing. :) I read Foiled by Jane Yolen last night. I know a few different people who have read this, with somewhat mixed results. But I'm happy to report that I fall squarely in the "I adored this book!" camp. I stayed up past my bedtime finishing it. And then I immediately had to get on the computer to try to find out when the second book was coming out. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the answer. All I know is that I want it NOW!!! And then I had to email Chris to gush because I knew he'd understand. Heck, I was tempted to wake Gray up to talk to him about it, too, but I managed to stop myself. ;)

So what did I love so much about this book?

1. Aliera. Socially awkward, tremendously talented, incredibly authentic.

2. The art. Wow, Mr. Cavallaro...you are an amazing artist!

3. The black/white vs. color concept.

4. The ways it reminded me so much of Gray...fencing, social anxiety, role-playing...yeah, it's no wonder he loved this book, too.

5. The ending! Oh, oh, oh...what can I say...I utterly adored the turn this story took! It's not that it was totally unexpected--after all, it is Jane Yolen writing, right? And she gave subtle hints throughout the book. But still, it delighted me to no end. :D

Yep, another one for the win column.

*****
I don't actually want to combine my rambling about books with a blame post. But with so many books sitting here on the computer table waiting to be put away, I figured I'd go ahead and deal with a few more.

Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honeybee by Hattie Ellis. (Sorry for the blurry image.) This is one that Rich and I sort of bought together, as we both love bees. In fact, I think if we were more of a honey-loving family, we'd really be tempted to try beekeeping. Anyway, if I have a correct feel for the book, it examines not just the honeybee but also human relationships with this incredible animal. Sort of a blend of biology, human history, and natural history.

When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race by Judith Stone. This is the story of Sandra Laing, born to Afrikaner parents in South Africa during apartheid. She was officially registered as "white" and was sent to a boarding school exclusively for whites. There she was persecuted for her brown skin, and was eventually kicked out of the school and reclassified as "coloured" (mixed race). Her parents fought this ruling, and the law was eventually changed and Sandra officially became "white" again. This book follows not only Sandra's story as a child and as an adult, but it also looks at the cruelty and the insanity of apartheid. I added this book to my wish list in the days before I started keeping track of where I first heard of them, but I'm fairly certain it was on NPR. POINT FOR NPR.

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci. No question who gets the blame for this one! It's been on my wish list ever since I read Ana's review! The only thing that makes no sense is why it took me so long to buy it! :)  POINT FOR ANA.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. There's a bit of blame sharing to be done on this one. Despite the fact that I'm a little intimidated by this book, I've wanted to read it for a long time simply because Dewey loved it so much. It's been on my paperbackswap wish list for what seems like forever. And you know, I was finally starting to get close to the top of the list. But then Ana read and reviewed it, and I found my patience had simply run out. ;)  I simply had to buy it! POINTS FOR DEWEY AND ANA.

The Unwritten: Inside Man (vol. 2) by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. (Simply could not find the cover image that graces my copy anywhere.) So Ana, I'm really sorry--I realize this seems a tad unfair, but I'm blaming you for this one, too.  It's your fault I bought the first volume, because of your incredible review. If I had read the first one and then had to buy the second, I wouldn't shoulder you with the blame. But since I haven't actually read it yet (sorry Kelly!), the fact is that I trust you so much that I knew I had to buy this one, too. See it is your fault! POINT FOR ANA.

Okay, that makes a tiny dent in this embarrassing pile anyway. But there's plenty more blame to come. :)

Well, that makes a teeny dent in this embarrassing pile...but there's plenty more blame to come...

nearly a week's worth...

and it still doesn't add up to much. :P

I finally got back to Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, and read 91 pages. I hadn't meant to set it aside exactly. But Annie needed to read it for school a few months back, and well, I just never got back to it after she'd finished. Ahhh, but I am so glad to be reading it again--I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I plan to talk about it when I finish it, because some books just deserve to be gushed over.

I read a scrapbooking book this week--We Dare You: Scrapbook Challenges about Real Life (117 pages). As far as scrapbooking books go, this one is just completely awesome. I've followed "The Dares" for a long time now online. Seriously such fun. And the women who started The Dares and put together this book...well, creative doesn't begin to describe them. They make the most edgy, unique, and meaningful pages. Someday (if--no when--I finally get my scrapbook area back into a useable state) I plan to make my own "Dare" album...I think it will be quite rewarding.

And the other night, after yet another trip to Lowes, Rich and I went to Borders to grab a coffee and relax a bit. And while there, I managed to read Sweet Tooth: Out of the Woods by Jeff Lemire (128 pages). This is the second Jeff Lemire graphic novel I've read this month (the other being The Nobody). I really enjoyed this one, and I can't wait for volume 2 to come out. It's a post-apocalyptic tale (gee, no wonder I loved it, huh?) in which most of humankind was wiped out by some sort of disease. But during the time when the sickness was really wiping people out in massive waves, some children were born. Children who are part human/part some other animal. Children like Gus (aka Sweet Tooth) who sports antlers like a deer. These children appear to be immune to the disease...and well, you can guess what kinds of things that might lead desperate, scared, and sometimes downright evil people to...

And speaking of evil...I started a new thriller. Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen. Whoa. I've only read 97 pages so far, but is this book intense! I'm really loving it--best thriller I've read in a long time. (Of course, I haven't really read all that many in the past couple years.) Anyway, I can see this being a series I actually follow through with. ;)

*****
And in the dangerous world of blog-reading, these books were added to my wish list:

*Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn (thanks to Amanda's very organized and fun-to-read review :D )
*Crossed Wires by Rosy Thorton (thanks to a second, and still enjoyable, read by Amanda)
*Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean (thanks to the darling Ms Eva's enthusiastic recommendation)
*Twinkle Twinkle by Kaori Ekuni (again thanks to that little book-pusher, Eva)
*The Heart That Bleeds by Alma Guillermoprieto (and yet again, thanks to Eva--three books from one post, sheesh!)
*Hidden Wives by Claire Avery (thanks to Staci's intriguing review)
*The Secret Life of Words by Henry Hitchings (thanks to Ana's wonderful review, which left me both fascinated and hopeful that I will actually understand it)

sick days

Seems like one ought to be able to get more read when one is sick. But that damn malaise just goes and ruins everything. What little I did get read, I had to *force* myself to do. 

Finished up the last 140 pages of The Storm in the Barn this morning. Overall, I would have to say I loved this book. I thought the art was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Soft, yet expressive. Beautiful, and meaningful, use of color. And I loved the setting--the Dust Bowl. I loved the point of view--life in the Dust Bowl for a young boy. The images and the events of this time are haunting. And they're very, very real. I have just one complaint--I felt the fantastical element of the story was too rushed. It was like there was all this beautiful, well-thought-out background...and then all of sudden we have this super rushed climax. Still, even that, while disappointing, doesn't stop me from loving the book.

Eight pages in Household Tales was all I'd managed. "Aschenputtel" to be specific. My brain just wasn't up for the whole jotting down discussion points and whatnot that come along with reading for school.

Read another 27 pages in Never Tell Him You're Alone. But decided it just wasn't worth my time, so off to the bags for the library sale it went. Sort of proud of myself...I have a hard time setting a book aside with no intention of ever picking it up again. I used to be much worse about it though.

So instead I picked up another thriller to take its place--you know, 'cause I didn't have enough other books started. (I'm hopeless!) I've read the first 214 pages of Cross Country by James Patterson. An Alex Cross novel. For me, this series has gone downhill from what the books used to be. Yet I can't stop reading them. I can't quite explain it, but they fill a specific sort of reading mood--when I want something fast-paced and something that doesn't require a lot of "down time" amidst my reading for thinking about the book. I know there are people who find thrillers "trash," but I find them enjoyable. And what do I care about the opinions of people who feel the need to look down their noses at other people's reading choices anyway, right? :P

And I finished the last 179 pages of Junk Beautiful. Favorite room--the kitchen redo!!! So very much my style--or at least the style I wish I could pull off! :)  And red--just like my kitchen. Of course, their kitchen is about four times the size of ours, and they have a separate dining room while our tiny kitchen has to pull double duty. So, yeah, no matter what I do, our kitchen is *never* going to compare to that one. Anyway, a very fun book.

over the last few days

So, I'm getting a little lazy here...been a few days since I updated. And silly, silly, silly me (which is my polite way of saying "stupid me") has started numerous books in those few days. What can I say--when I made my blame game post on my other blog, I realized I had all these library books to get read. So yeah, I'm sort of reading them all at once. :P

I did finish The Stand: American Nightmares. Graphic. Enough even to catch Rich's attention while he was driving and I was sitting in the passenger's seat reading. But then, the novel has some ugly shit going on, so I guess that's understandable. As I said last time, I'm not really sure how to "judge" it, because I know the novel so well and I think I'm automatically filling in details when they aren't there without even thinking about it. Anyway, I enjoyed it...and will definitely pick up the next installment when it comes out.

I read a couple articles (9 pages) in Urban Farm. A couple of really great articles. One about this incredible lady (the lemon lady :D) who pretty much single-handedly has taken thousands of pounds of fresh fruit to her local food pantries. Fruit that would otherwise have gone to waste on people's fruit trees. Definitely one inspiring woman! And I also read an article about raising chickens in your backyard. I was already determined to do it when we have the ability to move, but damn if this article didn't just make me horribly impatient!

Twelve more pages down in The Biodiversity Crisis. A very short little case study about the decline of coral reefs, the introduction to the third section of the collection (the third section being about strategies and solutions for saving biodiversity), and a very prescient essay taken from Fairfield Osborn's 1948 book, Our Plundered Planet.

And now on to all the library books I was talking about--first up, Get Crafty. I've only read the first 8 pages (the introduction), but I'm already in love. In fact, I may end up having to buy this book. ;)  Jean Railla is just so fun. In the intro, she tells the story of how, being a strong feminist, right down to being a woman's studies major at UCLA, she came to view all things domestic as "bad." She says, "I spent most of my twenties defining myself as a feminist not by what I did, but what I didn't do. I didn't keep house. I didn't get married. I didn't cook very often. I didn't knit or sew." And you know, while I hope that attitude is less prevalent today, it certainly hasn't disappeared. Things happened in her life, and her eyes opened. She no longer viewed domestic activities as "bad." Being forced by a society or culture to stay home and wash dirty diapers and cook meals is wrong, choosing to do so of one's own free will is not. She says, "Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that every woman should enjoy knitting and cooking and embroidery. But I am suggesting the we give women's work its props as something valuable, interesting, and important, just as knowing how to build a house, keeping accounting records, or playing basketball is." (Though I do have a problem with her calling it "women's work"! If we could just stop labelling activities as in the realm of "women" or in the realm of "men," we'd be a lot further along towards equality.) Anyway, I haven't even gotten to any of the craft projects, and I'm already thoroughly enjoying this book.

I also started Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green. Haven't gotten far, just the first twelve pages. I do hope that I can get the boys to read it...though I'm not optimistic that it will be any time soon, as they're both sucked into their current reading obsessions. There was a line in the introduction that totally made me smile. "The next time your mother tells you to clean your room, tell her you will when she helps clean up the atmosphere." That is sooooo something I can hear popping out of Gray's mouth. :)  Anyway, I've only read the contributions of the first few authors, and they've had nothing to offer that we don't already do, but they're fun to read nonetheless. Thus far, they've been written in a very humorous manner.

Also begun is The Storm in the Barn. Read the first 63 pages. I have to say that I'm really, really enjoying it so far. I know both Chris and Staci liked it, but didn't love it...but while it may be too early to judge, I think I might be falling closer to the love category. I didn't realize it was set during the Dust Bowl--a definitely plus for me.

And finally from the library stack, I started Junk Beautiful (21 pages). If I remember correctly, they feature seven room makeovers in this book. I've read the first. And I adore this book! While the room featured in the first chapter is definitely not my style (too flowery formal), I absolutely loved some of the projects they showcased. And I'm eager to get to the next chapter, a room that seems much more fitting my style overall.

Okay, and this may be the dumbest reason ever for starting a book...I was moving some books around on my fiction shelves to put away some new acquisitions. Well, let's just say it appears that I really need to stop with the new acquisitions, because there is just no room! Anyway, I ended up not being able to fit this book, Never Tell Him You're Alone, back where it goes. I figured it was a book I was unlikely to want to keep after I'd read it, so I might as well just read it so I can hand it off to the library book sale or something. Besides, it's been a long time since I've indulged in a thriller, and it sounded like a good idea. ;)  After the first 24 pages, I'm not even sure if I'll end up finishing it (as far as thrillers go, I'm not finding it all that "thrilling" so far)...I'll give it a couple more chapters before deciding for sure.

And finally, I read 4 pages in Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm. "Rapunzel" to be exact. I can't be faulted for starting this though...I'm beginning to prepare for the next school year. But I do have to admit that I'm thrilled to be reading fairy tales again. I don't know why I don't make time for reading them more often, because I just so very much enjoy them!

*****
And in the dangerous world of blog reading, these have been added to my wish list:

*Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (thanks to Campaign for the American Reader)
*The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters (thanks to the lovely Ms. Ana's review)
*Disrupting Grace by Kristen Richburg (thanks to Staci's poignant and very personal review)

graphic novel binge

As shocking as it was that I finally finished a book day before last, it doesn't compare to the shocking events of yesterday...when I finished two! Both graphic novels. And then I started a third. Yep, another graphic novel. Got me thinking how awesome it would be to just indulge myself in a big old comic binge. I have so many I'm dying to read right here in my very own house. I know I must start putting together Annie's literature course here (I've already procrastinated a few days longer than I meant to). While we're using a lecture series, which should mean much less work on my part, I still have many, many books to get read. I'm thinking it might be cool to focus on that reading, with massive amounts of graphic novels thrown in. So much for my summer reading plan of finishing up all the books I have started. Maybe I can come up with some mixture of all three. Or maybe I can stop worrying about it and just see what transpires. ;)

Well, we headed to B&N last night. Mostly to be somewhere with AC. Our third day of temps in the 90s had our house up into the mid-80s...and what can I say?...we're complete pantywaists when it comes to the heat. Anyway, while sitting there in the cafe, I ended up reading The Nobody by Jeff Lemire. I didn't mean to...I picked it up to read the first few pages to see if I wanted to buy it, but I got so sucked in that I couldn't put it down until I'd finished all 144 pages. According to descriptions, it is a loose retelling of H.G. Well's The Invisible Man. But I can't compare, as I've never read Well's classic. But I can say I very much enjoyed this book...with its themes of loneliness and loss and identity and paranoia. It won't make my top three reads of the year, but it was definitely worth my time.

At home, I finished up the last 68 pages of Arabian Nights (and Days). I think I said earlier that this wasn't my favorite in the series. But then, they can't all be my favorite, can they? The last two chapters took a detour (though a relevant one, and one that I can tell is going to connect to the main arc). At first I wasn't sure about this storyline, but I ended up loving it! (Sad to say, I really didn't like the art in these last two chapters though. A totally subjective call there--just not my style.) Had the next volume been sitting there, I undoubtedly would have picked it up immediately. However, I was just too lazy to get out of bed and get it from the library, so instead...

I started reading The Stand: American Nightmares (the second volume in the graphic adaptation of Stephen King's novel). Read the first 27 pages, before the need to sleep just overpowered me. I find it incredibly hard to judge this graphic novel series. I'm enjoying them a lot! But I've read the novel so many times now that I'm just automatically filling in all kinds of little details. I honestly cannot judge how different my reading experience might be if I wasn't so familiar with King's original book.

I could really get used to this

This whole reading purely for fun thing, that is. :)

I know that I should start working on next year's school stuff. Though Annie will be taking many of her classes at the community college for next year, I will be handling English and history. I'll be using courses from The Teaching Company for both. Which should cut down on my work, but definitely won't eliminate it. I'll need to watch the lectures, do the readings so we can discuss them, gather up additional materials, and make up assignments and tests. Anyway, this is the course we'll be using for English (Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature's Most Fantastic Works). And it involves massive amounts of reading! But I've decided not to worry about that until next week...I deserve a few days off from school, right?

Anyway, yesterday I read the next 66 pages in The Lightning Thief. I probably shouldn't be enjoying this book as much as I am. Whatever that means. ;)  But I am enjoying. Completely. Thoroughly. Undeniably. I'm learning a little about Greek mythology. I'm finding it rather humorous. I'm getting so caught up in the story that I'm constantly wanting to pick it up for just one more page. This is probably a weird thing to say, but it's making me want to read American Gods again. Yes, The Lightning Thief keeps triggering memories of American Gods, even though the books are so utterly different. Just the gods as people thing, I guess.

I also started the next Fables last night. I've been *craving* a graphic novel experience lately. Hard to believe I only started reading them a couple years ago, because I swear I could not live without them anymore. I read the first 51 pages of Arabian Nights (and Days). Thus far, not one of my favorites in the series. But that's doesn't mean I'm not loving it! Seriously, I can't believe I've gone so long without a Fables fix!!!

one for the win column

Yes, I finally finished the last 32 pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. :D  And I loved it immensely! Way more than the first two, and I enjoyed those a hell of a lot. I am such a sap though...yes, a few little tears leaked out there at the end. I really ought to keep track--the number of books that have brought tears to my eyes has got to be astronomical. Anyway, I think I would have immediately gone and pulled the fourth book off the shelf if it weren't for the fact that we were having our family book club today so I knew I would be getting assigned a new book. (More about that in a minute.)

Last night, Rich, Max, Annie, and I (Gray was at a sleepover party) headed to B&N. I sat down with this little book titled Seedfolks and started to read while I drank my coffee. I read the first ten pages, and it then had to come home with me.

I also read another seven pages in The Biodiversity Crisis. One of Rich's favorite subjects--an essay on endocrine disruptors, "Hormonal Sabotage" by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers. Good essay, I must say. Actually, if I remember correctly, it was actually a piece taken from their book Our Stolen Future. A book I'd really love to read sometime. You know, along with the other bazillion books I'd like to read.

*****
As I mentioned above, today was family book club. This month we hit Pizza Hut, where we stuffed ourselves and had a mighty good time talking books.

--Max had assigned Pokemon Junior: Two of a Kind adapted by S.E. Heller to Gray...

Max: Who was your favorite character?

Gray: Rhydon.

Debi: Who's Rhydon? Never heard of that Pokemon.

Gray: A horned guy.

Max: Not Meowth?

Gray: No. Rhydon had a big horn and tried to kill everyone.

Debi: Was Meowth your favorite, Max?

Max: It's a tie. Meowth and Rhydon.

Max: Who was your least favorite character?

Gray: Ash.

Debi: Why?

Gray: Because he's too perfect.

Annie: Yeah, he's such a Mary Sue.

(At which time, I had to ask what the heck a Mary Sue was.)

Max: What was your favorite part?

Gray: When the Rhydon attacked.

Debi: Why was that your favorite part?!!

Gray: 'Cause he was rampaging.

 --Debi had assigned Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi to Max...

Debi: Did you like the book, Max?

Max: Uh huh. (yes)

Debi: What did you like about it?

Max: The monsters.

Debi: Why did you like the monsters?

Annie: Were they scary?

Max: No.

Debi: Actually, the monsters are pretty cute, aren't they?

Max: *gives funny look, as if to say I'm crazy*

Debi: Did you like the art in the book?

Max: Yes!

Debi: Yeah, I think it has some of the prettiest art of any comic I've ever read.

Gray: Why is it called Amulet?

Max: Because there's an amulet with special powers.

--Rich had assigned Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling to Debi...

Rich: Well, I know you liked the book. What your favorite or several favorite parts?

Debi: I thought it was hilarious when Neville imagined the boggart as Snape in his grandmother's clothes. And I loved the end when Harry got the letter from Sirius. And I was blown away when I found out about Scabbers.

Rich: Were you surprised to find Sirius was really a good guy?

Debi: Yeah, I was surprised. But not surprised that Professor Lupin was a werewolf...I mean what else automatically popped to mind with that name, you know.

Rich: Of course "dense guy" *points to self* needed it spelled out to him. How excited are you to read the next one on a scale of 1 to 10?

Debi: You've no idea how hard it was stopping myself from immediately going and grabbing the next one off the shelf!

--Annie had assigned Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter to Rich...

Annie: Did you like this book?

Rich: Yeah, I like it, but it wasn't great.

Annie: What made it not great?

Rich: Too much fighting. It was just too focused on territorial stuff. And I hated it when that sweet medicine cat got killed.

Annie Do you think you're going to read the other books?

Rich: Probably not.

Annie: Who was your favorite character?

Rich: Well, of course, I like Rusty/Firepaw/Firestar. And I liked Yellowfang.

Annie: Yellowfang reminds me of Aldo. Except Yellowfang's much smarter!

Rich: Who do you really like?

Annie: Spotted Leaf and Yellowfang and Ravenpaw and Bluestar.

Rich: I didn't like all that talk about the cutter.

Annie: Yeah. Uhh, that was awkward.

(The cutter is the vet...who cuts "important" bits...and the cats come back not quite the same.)

Annie: Did you see any romance in the book?

Rich: I thought Firestar and Spotted Paw were going to get together, but then she died. Do Bluestar and Firestar get together in the future?

Annie: Dad!!! Bluestar's like a really old woman, and Firestar's just a young apprentice.

Debi: So what!!! Do you have something against May-December romance, Annie?

Annie: Well, no.

Rich: Yeah, me neither...after all, I married your mom, didn't I?

Debi: *promptly wallops Rich*

--Gray had assigned Pokemon Adventures: Volume 1  by Hidenori Kusaka to Annie...

Gray: Who's your favorite person or Pokemon or whoever?

Annie: I guess Misty, because she's both strong and smart.

Gray: What was your favorite part?

Annie: Probably the part with the zombies.

Debi: There's zombies in Pokemon?!!

Annie: Yeah, Pokemon zombies.

*****
And, of course, new names were drawn, and new assignments made:

Annie picked Chris. And has assigned him Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

Chris "picked" Annie. Not sure what he's assigning her yet.

Debi picked Max. And has assigned him The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith.

Max picked Rich. And has assigned him a set of Warriors graphic novels, the Graystripe's Journey series.

Rich picked Gray. And has assigned him Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.

Gray picked Debi. And has assigned her The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.