Starting the year off right!

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003) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, finished January 12

Pull yourself up off the floor. Yes, I read a 662-page book in a week. Me. I don't think I've read a book with this many pages in this short a time since Harry Potter was new.

Like Harry Potter, this is the story of a boy with great parents (who are dead) who attends a school of magic. But other than the generic title of fantasy, a compelling readability, and a certain quiet artistry to the language, the books don't really have that much in common.

The Name of the Wind is one of those excellent novels that doesn't scream aloud I Am Literature and thus it can be easy to overlook the fact that it is.

I read this book because too many wildly enthusiastic people told me I must, that it was their favorite, that it would change my life. I don't think it did, but when three reasonable people make these claims during the twelve-month you're not starting new book, you begin the new year by picking it up. So I did.

But I couldn't renew it and so I considered just returning it as there was no way I was going to finish a book this length in the two weeks I had left.

Surprise surprise.

This is the first volume in an unfinished trilogy, and it is very much the beginning of something. One thing I don't understnad about the novel's boosters is how they can view it as a standalone object of excellence. I guess it is, but in some ways it's no more than chapter one of a Hardy Boys book. It is a beginning! I finely crafted and wildly fun first chapter, but this novel ends with a sense of anticipation, not completion. I think I would find that frustrating in a book that's changed my life. Or hopeful? I don't know. Anyway, meanwhile, the third volume is overdue. So I think I'll take a break before reading volume two. (Which is three-hundred pages longer and no one seems to like as much.)

a week give or take a couple days



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002) F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers by Richard Benson, finished January 10

You know the thing: real wrong answers from students are compiled and put together. Not high-brow stuff but definitely laugh-out-loud stuff. At least, I did. It was the perfect for-reading-while-waiting-in-the-car-for-somebody book. Except I already finished it....

two days



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001) States of Deseret by William Morris, finished January 10

So this was a copy-edit read and I'll be doing a couple more (and the book isn't even quite complete yet, given I haven't written the introduction yet), but I'm counting it and letting you know now: we have something special here. Put it on your must-buy list.

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