Notes from a bibliophile

Any good bibliophile understands that your favorite books say something about you. So as a (somewhat belated) introduction to myself, I want to talk about some of my favorite books. Some of these really touched me and some kept me up all night, but all of them make me who I am. 1. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig . I remember this like it was yesterday. I had this little set that was the book and an audio book that had this lovely little tune that played over it, so ephemeral and magical. I now know that it was Camille Saint-Saens "The Aquarium." It added such a lovely quality to the reading experience. The story itself is about being careful about what you do or say because you have to face the consequences. I wish I knew where to find this original set because this is one of the best memories of my childhood. 2. The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. Oh, those Star-Bellied Sneetches! Every Sneetch wants a star on their bellies and the ones that have stars are s...

I have always loved mythology. One of my favorite papers that I wrote in college was comparing different gods and goddesses of different cultures to the classic Greek and Roman gods and goddesses that almost everyone is aware of. Needless to say, all of Riordan's mythology tales, whether Greek, Roman, or Egyptian. I don't know whether to hope for a new series about a new culture (Norse is just ripe for the picking) or if I want a new series incorporating all the cultures that have been written about so far. In this novel, the Greek & Roman heroes - Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, and Reyna - are trying to get the Athena Parthenos statue back to the Greek Camp Half-Blood in order to stop both a Roman/Greek smackdown and the earth goddess Gaea from rising and destroying all creation. Of course all will end well, but it also seems incomplete. This is supposedly the last book in the series, but it came as a surprise to me. Perhaps it's a lead-in to anothe...