I've got a peaceful easy feeling...

...because I'm already sitting on a fishing platform, listening to a woodpecker and watching for my friend Mark, who has just gone on off on a mad dash to an archaelogical site. I was reading When Zachary Beaver Came to Town for BBYA, and I don't think I'll ever think of the book again without remembering the lake, and the beautiful weather, and the rare moment of peace. In the same way, I might not think of Monster without remembering that I was in Tennessee when I read it, at Amy's lovely house, with the dogs barking outside.

Best Books for Young(ish) Librarians

I'm still on the endless - or seemingly so, though it'll all be over in fewer than two weeks - quest to read all the BBYA books. Thankfully, I've enjoyed the last few. I finished Hidden Talents by David Lubar last night. I would have written more, but I'm on the desk and my hour's almost up. Better go!

more about Jordan...

...because yes, I'm still nigh-obsessed with Pagan's Scribe. I find it interesting because I can't come to a decision about the moral questions posed in the book. And, well, because I haven't started another good book since I finished re-reading Scribe. But then again - the twenty-year jump between Pagan's Vows and Pagan's Scribe allows for a lot of fascinating backstory that Jinks doesn't tell. How much time does Jordan spend in Carcassonne? Is his presence there unwelcome to Pagan? Is Jordan a better person for having known Pagan?
Is it better to let your soldiers plunder dead bodies, on the grounds that a lot of them are fighting for the plunder anyway, and better that they get the loot than that the enemy does?
The other day I did a mean thing: checked out a book that was bad, just so I could laugh at it. I read it with my husband, and we took turns: one of us would read a page, and the other would point out all the things wrong with it. It's a picture book, you see, so there was plenty to point out. This is the book in question; seriously, it's not good. No idea how SLJ came up with a positive review of this; I like the review in Publishers Weekly better (which suggests that the illustrations have a Twin Peaks quality). It's worth noting that this wasn't a whim; I had to put a hold on this book to get it. I'd feel bad - but then I think of the spread with the helpful people standing in a row, pointing Policeman Lou in the direction of the insouciant robber, and I just laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

Crusade, In Exile, Vows, Scribe

I've just finished reading Pagan's Scribe by Catherine Jinks (see this blog entry for more) . I went on a binge last week when I re-read the first three books, then read Pagan's Scribe. The first two books have a few slightly weepy moments, but the second two - in each one, there were about ten pages where I read, and cried, and generally made a mess of myself. I was fascinated by the morally ambiguous Lord Jordan in Pagan's Scribe. The events toward the end of the book, Pagan's response to those events, and Jordan's response to Pagan's response - fascinating, and well done by Jinks. And this book made me check out a book on the Albigensian Crusade, which means it's educational as well as entertaining!