You might have noticed that now when your mouse hovers over a link here you get a "snapshot" view of the web page the link belongs to. I have seen this on other blogs, and thought it was so cool. Thanks to Sylvia for the link, so I could set this up on my blog, too. Now you can just take a peek at links on a page and see what's there before deciding to click over or not. Technology is so fun sometimes.
Remember I mentioned Playaways? I have a stack of them sitting on my desk at work now. They are really pretty small--you could easily tuck the part that holds the recording (not sure what it is called) into a pocket. I am curious how they sound. If they play well, they would be very convenient for people who like to walk or listen to audio books while exercising. I suspect that now much discussion will follow by various parties in the library as to how they are going to be handled in the collection.
Many thanks for all the wonderful suggestions for fantasy reads. I have filled a notebook page with titles and have been looking them up on Amazon. Now that I have started thinking about fantasy writing I will have to do a little research and read about its history. I am very curious about all the mythic and fairy tale elements and how they all work together. I studied mythology in eighth grade (yes, it has been a while), and read the basic fairy tales as a child (though never studied them in depth). Why do I have a feeling that myths and fairy tales have psychological ramifications and all go deeper than I think? I have never been into fantasy novels--even as a young adult. They have always seemed too "foreign" to me (not just another country, but another world)--just looking at the descriptions of the books I have a hard time wrapping my tongue around the words and names sometimes. My list is safely in my reading notebook, and it looks as though I have loads of good recommendations, which I will of course add to, as I see other people's lists. I suspect I will mostly choose some of the more traditional (whatever that means--fantasy lite?) types of books, but I may look for something darker or heavier to try as well. This will be an interesting reading project for me. I do have to say that one of the titles that I thought I might try, Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers, is out of print and used copies start at $20 and are sold of upwards of $200! Byron, Shelley, Keats and vampires all make an appearance, and I thought it sounded sort of fun. Maybe I will see if I can get a copy through interlibrary loan...I am going to try and read what I already own or can check out of the library. Now to start narrowing down that list!
One more bookish note: I have started reading Lady Susan by Jane Austen. It sounds like Jane, but it is sort of weird--like jumping into the middle of a story. I skipped the preface, but I am wondering if I shouldn't go back now and read it to put it into some context? I have only read two other Austen novels and Margaret Drabble (who wrote the preface in my edition) goes into how these unfinished works relate to her other major writings. I guess I know all the stories more or less, even if I have not yet read them, but I have a dislike of spoilers and don't want to ruin anything when I finally get around to reading her other novels. Lady Susan, by the way, is an epistolary novel. I know a lot of people don't like this form, but I really love this type of writing, so I am looking forward to really getting into the story.