yendi

Elayna has discovered the joy that is Tekken 4, and is beating people up (virtually). She's alternating this with reading Chasing Vermeer, a nifty YA novel about stolen classical paintings, pentominos, and secret codes (featuring art by Brett Helquist). She's ping-ponging from one extreme to the other, culturally. :-)

I spent the morning reading Sue Grafton's A is for Alibi, which I found quite enjoyable. Kinsey Millhone's a lot more fun than most of the carbon copies she inspired (Anita Blake included), and Grafton pulls some nice tricks, including some well-used dramatic irony. I don't think I'll follow the series obsessively, since I can't imagine any detective series staying fresh for more than a few novels (Burke excluded, but those aren't mysteries), but it was a fun diversion (especially for something I picked up for free from the freebies table at work). If nothing else, it was nice to spend the morning sitting on the couch, reading a book, and drinking coffee.

One of the more interesting things to come in the mail: A sample issue of Old News Magazine. No, it's not another name for US News and World Report. Rather, it's a "newspaper" highlighting stories from throughout history. I like the concept, but haven't had a chance to read enough of it to know if I like the execution.

The Hugo Ballot is up. There's a book I despise on the Best Novel ballot (you all know the one). There's also a book that

yuki_onna considers highly overrated there. That leaves three books for the rest of you to form some sort of negative attachment to. The other fiction categories are filled with the usual suspects (Resnick, Bujold, and another sixteen noms for Charles Stross), and since I'm years behind, I'm largely unopinionated there (although I'm fully prepared to bitch about the results). Also worth noting --

matociquala is up for the Campbell.

Not much else happening. But now I need a new book to read.