“Oddities” is one of my all-time favorite crazy words.
To begin on a less crazy note, I trekked over to Penn Station today to pick up our Amtrak tickets for this week’s holiday jaunt to Bryan’s family’s house. (The word “jaunt” is highly underused.) On my way there, I was walking through the Times Square station when I noticed, for the not-so-umpteenth time that there were signs indicating the ACE trains down a corridor. That sign — signs, really — indicate also that to go down that corridor will lead to 7th Ave. I’ve always thought that meant it was an exit to 7th Ave, from which you could find your way to 8th and the ACE lines. But apparently that is not the case! There is an entirely underground, within-the-system passage from Times Square to the ACE lines, and therefore, Penn Station! Woooo! (Granted, the 1-2-3 also go to Penn Station, but that dumps you off on the NJ Transit side and that’s not conducive to getting to your Amtrak train, which you pick up on the 8th Ave (therefore ACE) side of the station.
Long story short, I discovered something I’d thought non-existent to exist. Yay! Not that it really saved me much time or effort, but still.
Also, I could have simply taken the E from 51st/53rd & Lex to Penn Station (take the 6 downtown, then change at 51st) but… I forgot about that route.
I feel accomplished! About something lame, I know, but give me my moment of zen.
On to other things! I’ve read so many books since November 1st, which I mentioned in the last entry; I’ll list their titles/authors for your edification:
- The Riddle, Alison Croggon
- Wolf at the Door, She’s No Faerie Princess, The Demon You Know, Howl at the Moon, by Christine Warren
- Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
- The Seer and the Sword, by Victoria Hanley (my second time reading it; I’d forgotten the whole plot)
- Magic Bites, by Ilona Andrews
That’s 8 books! Wooo! The quick and dirty: The Riddle was a Tolkien take off and far less interesting than what it might have been had a more talented writer taken the same story (oh, gosh, can we stop with the creating of languages?); Christine Warren’s books were romance/urban fantasy and all were fun, quick reads (talk about thwwwp). A lot of laughs, witty dialogue, and my first experience with actual romance genre stuff. Fun, as I said. Howl at the Moon was the best… I don’t tend to like army guys, but hey, Noah convinced me he was lovable. Twilight was good, a quick read, and interesting — certainly unusual for the genre and unique, but I wasn’t floored by any part of it. The characters and characterization were okay, the plot kept me interested steadily (kudos to Meyer; not many authors keep me so riveted) but perhaps it’s because I’m 22 and not 16, but I was not really in love with this book. That’s okay; I wasn’t looking to be in love with it anyway. Hm. The Seer and the Sword is so, so a first novel in the most stereotypical sense (in a way Meyer’s was not — despite Twilight too being a first novel) and its plot was quick and fun but its characters were not nearly as fascinating as I’d wanted them to be… save the male characters. They were good. And Magic Bites was surprisingly fun and good. I’m excited for the next book in the series. Not as badly as I’m jonesing for the Mercy Thompson sequel, but that’s because of Sam and Adam… but admittedly, Curran fascinates me. I’m intrigued. Yay for urban fantasy!
Anyway. It’s Thanksgiving week! Hopefully I’ll dash through the sequels (erm, “companions”?) to Hanley’s The Seer and the Sword this week (and get them back to the library before they’re due) and have a fun time with Bryan’s family. More on that later.
