The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

I was feeling restless last night. I finally finished Avaryan Resplendent, which followed the same general pattern as the first omnibus - first book interesting, second book utterly charming, third book that went off on a bizzaro tangent. Overall I'm pretty happy with the series.

But, I was in the mood for something sweet and fluffy last night, but not insulting. Luckily, this was in my latest pile from Stacey. I adore Sharon Shinn - her books always make me feel generally happy, like being wrapped up in a ratty old sweater with a cup of hot tea while it's snowing outside, and this was no exception. And yay, she's taking the series to the next logical step.

One of those Amazon links led to this book, which is notable because the list of authors is almost a laundry list of writers who just make me happy. I'll have to get this. But I need to stop exploring Amazon right now, because this list isn't getting much shorter. I blame other people - books keep arriving at my house by the box or bag full, without involving me in the process at all. I don't know where these people got the idea that I read on occasion...

My mother tried to foist off a few of her latest inspirational books on me, but I dodged that bullet...this time. *twitch* Sorry, I'm just not all that concerned about the five people I'll meet in heaven, or the seventeen people you talk to on your way to purgatory, or the dude who gives directions to the pearly gates or whatnot. They're trite and dull sorts of books - maybe I should break the news to my family that I converted to Flying Spaghetti Monsterism months ago.

Hoo boy. After my fun and exciting adventures with Dreamland double- and triple-shipping books to me, and charging me for every copy, after almost an hour on the phone getting things straight, we finally figured out how much they owe me - almost $60. Imagine my dismay when I check my account, only to discover that they charged me that exact same amount...again. *THUD*

I'm Really, Really happy that TRSI has 25% off Tokyopop books now, because I don't think Dreamland will be getting very many more of my orders. Probably just CMX and Dark Horse, because they get those quicker than anyone else - Tokyopop and Viz (the overwhelming bulk of my manga orders) will be going back to TRSI.

[EDIT] More smoke and mirrors from Netflix. I'm still pretty happy with the service they give, but I'd be much happier if they didn't play these stupid games (and then say they're not). As shocking as it was, being told bluntly on the phone that I was getting movies from somewhere around the 60's in my queue because I "rent too much" and they were therefore deliberately shipping movies from lower in my queue, even with dozens of higher movies available now, was refreshingly honest.

With this, ChrisB has taken ownership of my soul. Temporarily, at least.