Ring out the old, ring in the new

We sang that song in church today, and while it's not my favorite hymn ever, the refrain seemed appropriate. :)

( 2004 in review meme )

Whew. It's been quite the year. Lots of good, lots of bad. Like most years, I supposed. I don't know exactly what 2005 will bring, but here are some of the things I'm going to try to make happen:

( New Years Resolutions )

Heh. I think that's quite enough to be getting on with.

I've also been impressed by everyone's book lists. I've never tried keeping one of those-- I read so many books-- but I think I'd like to this year, just to keep track of it once. That means I'm going to re-read full books more than just re-reading my favorite parts. ;) It won't count otherwise. :)

Speaking of books, I found one t'other day that every single person on my flist should read, especially you Jane Austen/Harry Potter fans. I was at B&N, prowling the shelves for something to spend my gift card on, and a book on the young adult shelf caught my eye: Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. I picked it up and looked at the back. The London Season was mentioned, as well as Mysterious Marquis and the Royal College of Wizardry. Intrigued, I picked it up and read the dedication. You can imagine my interest when I found the first three names on the dedication (I was unfamiliar with the last name) were Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I bought the book.

I adored this book. Imagine Regency England where all is as we know it--Lady Jersey handing out vouchers for Almack's, young ladies eager to make their mark in society in the London Season, scandals over waltzing and engagements and Lord Byron trying to make things up with Lady Caroline, green crape and amber taffetta and pearl drop earrings-- except here, magic is real and respected and a (mostly) acceptable occupation, even for young ladies of genteel upbringing. So among the morning calls and the romances (any book where a sardonic Marquis insults a young lady and she retaliates by calling him "odious" is okay in my book-- and can you guess whether they end up together? ;) ) and the silk dresses, there are also charms and magic portals and nefarious magical plots. I remember reading Jane Austen again for the first time after reading HP and thinking that it was all well and good and brilliant, but that it could do with a bit of magic. This book does it, wonderfully.

The way the book is constructed is almost as compelling as the concept and plot. It began as a letter game between the two coauthors-- they exchanged letters over a summer, neither of them knowing what the other's idea of the plot was until they got to the end. The end result was edited and refined, and published as an epistolary novel in 1987. It's just barely been republished, and there's a sequel, too (called The Grand Tour, which takes place mostly on the continent, and in which we meet Beau Brummel and the Duke of Wellington-- who is, of course, a wizard-- and where our protagonists work with the League of the Pimpernel). It's a heckuva fun ride.

Anyway, go. Buy it. Now.

Ring out the old, ring in the new

We sang that song in church today, and while it's not my favorite hymn ever, the refrain seemed appropriate. :)

( 2004 in review meme )

Whew. It's been quite the year. Lots of good, lots of bad. Like most years, I supposed. I don't know exactly what 2005 will bring, but here are some of the things I'm going to try to make happen:

( New Years Resolutions )

Heh. I think that's quite enough to be getting on with.

I've also been impressed by everyone's book lists. I've never tried keeping one of those-- I read so many books-- but I think I'd like to this year, just to keep track of it once. That means I'm going to re-read full books more than just re-reading my favorite parts. ;) It won't count otherwise. :)

Speaking of books, I found one t'other day that every single person on my flist should read, especially you Jane Austen/Harry Potter fans. I was at B&N, prowling the shelves for something to spend my gift card on, and a book on the young adult shelf caught my eye: Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. I picked it up and looked at the back. The London Season was mentioned, as well as Mysterious Marquis and the Royal College of Wizardry. Intrigued, I picked it up and read the dedication. You can imagine my interest when I found the first three names on the dedication (I was unfamiliar with the last name) were Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I bought the book.

I adored this book. Imagine Regency England where all is as we know it--Lady Jersey handing out vouchers for Almack's, young ladies eager to make their mark in society in the London Season, scandals over waltzing and engagements and Lord Byron trying to make things up with Lady Caroline, green crape and amber taffetta and pearl drop earrings-- except here, magic is real and respected and a (mostly) acceptable occupation, even for young ladies of genteel upbringing. So among the morning calls and the romances (any book where a sardonic Marquis insults a young lady and she retaliates by calling him "odious" is okay in my book-- and can you guess whether they end up together? ;) ) and the silk dresses, there are also charms and magic portals and nefarious magical plots. I remember reading Jane Austen again for the first time after reading HP and thinking that it was all well and good and brilliant, but that it could do with a bit of magic. This book does it, wonderfully.

The way the book is constructed is almost as compelling as the concept and plot. It began as a letter game between the two coauthors-- they exchanged letters over a summer, neither of them knowing what the other's idea of the plot was until they got to the end. The end result was edited and refined, and published as an epistolary novel in 1987. It's just barely been republished, and there's a sequel, too (called The Grand Tour, which takes place mostly on the continent, and in which we meet Beau Brummel and the Duke of Wellington-- who is, of course, a wizard-- and where our protagonists work with the League of the Pimpernel). It's a heckuva fun ride.

Anyway, go. Buy it. Now.

Ring out the old, ring in the new

We sang that song in church today, and while it's not my favorite hymn ever, the refrain seemed appropriate. :)

( 2004 in review meme )

Whew. It's been quite the year. Lots of good, lots of bad. Like most years, I supposed. I don't know exactly what 2005 will bring, but here are some of the things I'm going to try to make happen:

( New Years Resolutions )

Heh. I think that's quite enough to be getting on with.

I've also been impressed by everyone's book lists. I've never tried keeping one of those-- I read so many books-- but I think I'd like to this year, just to keep track of it once. That means I'm going to re-read full books more than just re-reading my favorite parts. ;) It won't count otherwise. :)

Speaking of books, I found one t'other day that every single person on my flist should read, especially you Jane Austen/Harry Potter fans. I was at B&N, prowling the shelves for something to spend my gift card on, and a book on the young adult shelf caught my eye: Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. I picked it up and looked at the back. The London Season was mentioned, as well as Mysterious Marquis and the Royal College of Wizardry. Intrigued, I picked it up and read the dedication. You can imagine my interest when I found the first three names on the dedication (I was unfamiliar with the last name) were Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I bought the book.

I adored this book. Imagine Regency England where all is as we know it--Lady Jersey handing out vouchers for Almack's, young ladies eager to make their mark in society in the London Season, scandals over waltzing and engagements and Lord Byron trying to make things up with Lady Caroline, green crape and amber taffetta and pearl drop earrings-- except here, magic is real and respected and a (mostly) acceptable occupation, even for young ladies of genteel upbringing. So among the morning calls and the romances (any book where a sardonic Marquis insults a young lady and she retaliates by calling him "odious" is okay in my book-- and can you guess whether they end up together? ;) ) and the silk dresses, there are also charms and magic portals and nefarious magical plots. I remember reading Jane Austen again for the first time after reading HP and thinking that it was all well and good and brilliant, but that it could do with a bit of magic. This book does it, wonderfully.

The way the book is constructed is almost as compelling as the concept and plot. It began as a letter game between the two coauthors-- they exchanged letters over a summer, neither of them knowing what the other's idea of the plot was until they got to the end. The end result was edited and refined, and published as an epistolary novel in 1987. It's just barely been republished, and there's a sequel, too (called The Grand Tour, which takes place mostly on the continent, and in which we meet Beau Brummel and the Duke of Wellington-- who is, of course, a wizard-- and where our protagonists work with the League of the Pimpernel). It's a heckuva fun ride.

Anyway, go. Buy it. Now.