Hope everyone had a great New Years! I didn't have more than a few drinks, but I think one of King5's reporter had enough for the entire state. :P (We were more entertained by watching her than the actual fireworks) The cold is still lingering - the runny nose part has hit me hard today.

I'm having way too much fun listening to old cartoon themes tonight. I can't believe I can still sing all the words to the opening number of "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealers." And I really need to get the She-Ra DVDs. :P And "Hey Dude" needs to come out on DVD, like, NOW, as does "Mysterious Cities of Gold" (although the latter is quite easy to find on BitTorrent). Just finished playing through the theme to "Jem." I mean, seriously, what kinky love triangle did that show have? Jerrica and Jem were the same freakin person, and Rio was in love with both of them separately, not knowing they were the same person. He was cheating on her with her!

Anyways, here's my list of books for December 2006. As usual, my current list and all-time faves list is always here!


12/31/06
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent - Anthony Rapp
Anthony Rapp's memoir is rather like reading a soap opera. The parts where he talks about his relationship with his mother and what happened during her illness are very interesting - he translates his emotions to the page well. But reading about his love life is like reading a soap opera - I didn't know people actually had relationships like that. His constant comparisons between his life and the lyrics of the musical are a nice idea, but I think he takes it a bit too far. I found myself willing him to just get on with the story rather than dwelling on the meaning of every lyric. Overall, it's a read that I'd probably only suggest to people who are big Rentheads.

12/26/06
Stargate Atlantis: Halcyon - James Swallow
Honestly? The weakest of the Atlantis novels so far. The plot was rather cliched (the team runs into a planet where violence is glorified) and the original characters felt very cookie-cutter-ish with no real depth to them. And the Atlantis characters felt rather out of character. Dialogue, behavior, it was all off. It felt more like a cheesy fanfic to me than a professional novel. The plot was really predictable and cliched, too. Bottom line: don't bother.

12/17/06
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling
Yes. I just read this for the first time. I will now pause while you laugh at me. (beat) Okay. Moving on. It was a nice, easy read, and fairly fun. This is the one Harry Potter movie that I've seen, so I knew more or less what was going to happen. I don't quite see what all the fuss over the books is about, but it was entertaining.

12/15/06
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
If you loved the movie (who doesn't?!) then read the book! The movie stays very true to the original novel, probably since the screenplay was done by the novel's author. Many conversations are verbatim from the book. But the asides, the commentary on "the original Morgenstern" just adds to the hilarity! And if you haven't seen the movie... what's wrong with you? :P Pirates, adventure, torture, true love, fire swamps, ROUSs... what's not to love?

12/10/06
Beauty - Robin McKinley
Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Although there's many variants of the story, this one is very similar to (and actually pre-dates by quite a few years) the Disney version of the film. Told from the point of view of "Beauty" (or, rather, Honour, which is her given name), it's very much a "feel good" version of the story. It's a wonderful fantasy world. I really liked Beauty's geekishness here - she's somewhat of a tomboy who loves books and horses. Now that's a character I can relate to! ;) I really got lost in this book, and was disappointed that it finally had to end! If you're a fan of the Disney movie or just like happy versions of fairy tales in general, definitely check this one out.