Blood: it's in you to give. Maybe.

In complete opposition to my own blood donating story (in which the only point of interest was finding out what blood type I am), vestra went to donate blood and ended up in the emergency room! Talk about New Year's Resolutions gone bad. I hope that eating more fruits and veggies doesn't turn out quite this dramatically.

(My side of the story: I got a phone call from the blood services nurse saying that they'd called an ambulance to take her to emergency, and I thought that was a bit of an overreaction, because she said "your friend was feeling a little faint", not "your friend passed out twice in Indigo". True facts make for much better reactions. Also, emergency waiting rooms are a little scary when you're not too sick to notice that everyone around you is vilely ill.)

Also...

...Now Magazine is evil. As IF I need more encouragement to buy DVDs.

Booktalk

Holiday reading, not including the stuff and randomness that is always in the house after Christmas - comic collections, books of funny facts and the like.

Mercedes Lackey By the Sword

Another book from the Valdemar stories, this one, unlike most of the others, is not part of a trilogy. It's a little strange. I love this series, and enjoy this one in particular because of the kick-ass heroine, although the ending always feels rushed, mostly, I think, because it runs into a different book there, so assumptions are made.

Harmon Leon The Harmon Chronicles

I picked this up from a pile of promotional books left at work because it looked funny, and lo and behold, it actually was. Leon basically created these silly fake personas and set out to, for instance, choose a religion (during which he signed up at a Scientology centre) or see how fast he could get hired, then fired, from a job. It could have been insulting and mocking, but it's written with such breathless mock innocence and enthusiasm that it's hard to resist.

Christopher Moore Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

I love this book. Each time I read it, it moves a little higher up in my list of favourite books. I read it on the plane coming back in anticipation of the Chicklit book club discussion starting on the 15th (part of my Readolutions!), and I'm excited to tell even more people how much I love it!

Basically, it's the story of Jesus as a kid, up until the Gospels start, but it's brilliantly funny and silly. Plus I actually learned things from it. I'll be interested to see what people think who aren't atheists like myself, though.

Ann Patchett Bel Canto

After pretty much everyone in the world recommended this, I thought I should probably read it, just so that I wouldn't have to sit through another passionate lecture. A birthday party is held for a Japanese businessman at the home of the vice-president of an unnamed South American party. Before the night is over, though, the guests (including the businessman, his translator, and a world renowned soprano who had been hired to perform at the party) are being held hostage by a group of terrorists looking for the president, who backed out at the last minute and isn't there. The book is pretty fabulous - emotional without being manipulative, and the author creates some wonderfully delicate relationships.

Minette Walters Disordered Minds

A bit of a departure for Walters, as the people digging up facts are not the police, but researchers working on a book. She still manages to create some of creepiest writing out there, just by looking at the warped minds of people.