Happy New Year!

My new year's eve was very low-key and that was absolutely fine by me. Julia and I stayed up and watched some TV, then hopped into bed around 11:30. She dozed and I read. When the fireworks from the neighbors' places started going off I leaned over and gave her a kiss and that was that.

At noon today we had to go fix the exhaust fan in the bathroom of the condo. It was a bit tricky and involved two trips to two different hardware stores. One trip for a new fan motor and the other trip for a 12 cent nut to hold the motor in place.

Now I'm hanging out, about to do some editing and writing. It sounds like a fine day to me.

As part of my annual first post of the year I thought I'd make note of the books I read this year. I'm a bit surprised by how few books I've read this year, actually. I'm not exactly sure why, probably because of the move and everything that surrounded it. Plus, I've been going to bed earlier, so I haven't been staying up reading as much. I like/need the sleep, but I'd really like to read more, too. I'll have to figure out how to balance those two things.

Here's the books of 2007:

Silverlock by John Myers Myers: I aborted this book more than halfway through. It just wasn't doing it for me. I enjoyed all the literary references, but the writing was a bit . . . off-putting. I may have to jump back into it some point, but it'll be a while before that happens.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin: Fantastic book. Great writing. Funny. Involving. Affecting. Fascinating. It was great to get to read his story. I highly recommend it.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: This was lying around and I'd never read it, so I did. It was okay. I'm not entirely sure why it's the classic that it's regarded as, but I'm pretty sure it may have resonated a bit more if I'd read it when it was first published. Maybe I'd recommend it to a teenager, but I think they'd laugh at it a bit, too. Meh.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch: This was a fun, well-written (especially for a first novel), adventure story that should appeal to any gamers or fantasy fans out there. There are some standout characters here that I think make the book really enjoyable.

I started Five-Hundred Years After by Steven Brust a few months ago, but I haven't read past page 38 for some reason. I love Brust's writing and I loved the first book in the series, so I know I'll get back to it. And I have a bunch of books lined up after it that I'm looking forward to, too.

Have a great year and I'm sure I'll see or talk to you soon!