Books, Books and Facebook

Well, well, it's been awhile, hasn't it? You might wonder what I've been up to.

Well, for starters, I've been doing a lot of reading. I first of all got addicted to the Twilight series of books by Stephenie Meyer. They're a series of three books, with the fourth coming out this August. First of all, I have to say that I enjoyed reading them very much. However, after having read all three of them, I will now say something that may be shocking to fans of the series: Bella Swan is the most whiny, passive, selfish, and boring female protagonist that I have come across in a long time.

But you know I'll still go and buy Breaking Dawn as soon as it's out.

The other series I've been devouring like a woman possessed is the Mélusine series by Sarah Monette. I've only read the first two, but I expect to acquire the third in the series within the week. It's an adult fantasy series about two half-brothers who grow up in very different worlds. Felix is an aristocratic wizard, and his younger brother Mildmay is a cat burglar and assassin-for-hire in the lower city. And there's just something about those characters. They stay with you and you think about them and wonder about them long after the story's over. That may be because they are complex characters; neither one of them is 100% good or bad.

Here's an exchange that Felix has with Astyanax, his jilted ex-lover, shortly after Felix dumps him without warning:

He [Astyanax] stared at me for a moment, vanity and rage and wounded, throbbing, screaming self-love contorting his face. Then he said, feigning disdain, "I hope for your sake he's as good in bed as I am."

I let myself smile, sharp, wicked. "Darling, that wouldn't be hard."

Oh Felix, you nasty boy you.

And Mildmay's favourite expression: "Fuck me sideways 'til I cry."

You see? That's personality. Something Bella Swan just doesn't have.

I would also like, at this point, to proclaim my official hatred of Facebook. I am not on Facebook, nor will I ever be on Facebook. So please, for the love of God, STOP asking me. If someone wants to know what I've been up to, then they can e-mail me and ask. What's that you say? You don't have my e-mail? Well, there's probably a very good reason for that. My feelings about it are pretty much echoed in this elegantly-worded post.