Else what's a heaven for?

[Poll #1923661]

I could buy all of the above + another e-copy of Shards of Honor, for a little over $10 as part of the current Humble Bundle. I read the first chapters of 5 of them and while I enjoyed them, the backs of the books sound like not my thing. I'd be buying the bundle in case I ever want to read the xkcd book on my iPad (instead of online), in hopes that the cute premise of Machine of Death is well executed, and as an intro to more Holly Black.

Speaking of Holly Black, would anyone like to recommend a book about con artists? I don't want to read a fourth Curse Workers book, bc I think that story is done, but I want a narrative that shows how they work.

I was jonesing to read all day yesterday, apparently, which is why I read so many first chapters: I wouldn't read a whole book bc zomg I have too much to do and I haven't gotten any of it done, but just one chapter... yeah. Then we watched The Lightning Thief, which was more horrible than I could've imagined. Then I started reading an urban paranormal book that was so terrble, I was on the second page when I told Jon it was too terrible to read any more. The best thing about him being around is 20mins later, he took the iPad out of my hands and made me stop reading, bc even though it was terrible, I'd've been up until 2 or 3.

I almost bought a Lilith Saintcrow book in yesterday's Kindle Daily Deal, until I discovered I could get it from the NYPL, if I was willing to wait 2 months. The reviews are terrible, but I love the idea of Sherlock Holmes' brain being a paranormal condition. I can't tell if I've heard of Saintcrow bc my friends like her, bc she is good, or bc Amazon is marketing her relentlessly.

Amazon has a new sale on, of "150 Summer Steals". I don't plan on buying anything, but there are a lot of books I've heard of, either bc they are popular, classics, or movies, everything from Last Exit to Brooklyn to On the Waterfront, Erma Bombeck to Gloria Steinem. The sci-fi choices seem particularly interesting, including a book from Buzz Aldrin, William Shatner, Timothy Zahn, Theodore Sturgeon, Alan Dean Foster, and Octavia E. Butler. Actually, the second poll question is my top two picks from the list.

While pulling in the links for this post, I discovered Malcolm Gladwell has a new book coming out in October. I bet my boyfriends will enjoy Bill Bryson's One Summer: America, 1927. Between Amity Shlae's Coolidge biography and this new book, it feels like people are really interested in pre-Depression America suddenly. I won't buy any of those new books from the third question though: I got a few more shinies recently but still haven't been able to pull the trigger on new books. The fourth question is the most likely candidates and if I get my most urgent work done today, maybe I'll click order. I've been talking about moving and real estate a lot in the past few days and I've been trying for a few weeks to read down the piles of books in my apt.

Speaking of things I never get around to... Ai recently posted to Twitter about wanting to watch Hannibal, Elementary, and Orphan Black, which reminded me I wanted to watch the first two. I love that they've planned out a 7 season arc for Hannibal. How do people have time for tv AND reading? I am coming to realize that (a) I need a certain amount of passive entertainment, either stories or tv, but not video games and (b) when I start playing mindless/simple video games, I should stop and do something more passive, bc my neurotransmitters are low.

2 more things: in case you didn't know, Apple is celebrating the fifth anniversary of iTunes with an app giveaway including Day One and Infinity Blade 2. I was amused to find a Starbucks coupon for Over in the house, while I was downloading it as part of the giveaway. Also, for New Yorkers, AmEx is giving $5 statement credits if you spend $25 at a Restaurant Week restaurant, which is the best RW promo they've offered yet.